Throughout its run, Orange Is the New Black has excelled at doing two things… telling human stories about characters the likes of which are not often seen on television, and humanizing even the most unlikable of Litchfield Penitentiary’s regulars. With its richly diverse and well-drawn cast, Orange Is the New Black is unlike anything else currently in popular culture right now. Even when the plot seems to lag, every character is given a history and motivation that makes them flesh and blood.
Not only that, but the writers and creators of the show are unflinchingly willing to highlight the flaws of every character, even if that character is a fan favorite. On the flip side, they’re also unafraid to elicit sympathy for the more unlikable characters, as well. Everyone has had a heartbreaking and winding road all the way to Litchfield, whether you like them or not. If you’re up to date on all three seasons of Orange Is the New Black before the start of the fourth season (because spoilers abound here), let’s take a look at 10 of the most tragic backstories shown so far.
Claudette Pelage (Michelle Hurst)
Due, in part, to actress Michelle Hurst’s serious car accident in 2013, fans haven’t seen Miss Claudette since she was taken to a maximum security prison after choking a guard in her grief after her failed appeal at the end of season one. Brought to America to participate in an illegal housecleaning company that capitalized on child labor, Claudette eventually ended up running the business herself. When one of her girls is violently assaulted by a customer, Miss Claudette takes matters into her own hands and murders him. While it’s never clarified if it was the murder or the disregard for child labor laws that landed her in prison, her backstory left fans hoping for a happy ending with her best friend and love of her life, Batiste, that would never come.
Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox)
Laverne Cox’s sensitive portrayal of the transgender journey is one of the highlights of Orange Is the New Black, offering up a nuanced look at an often misunderstood part of life. While no one condones the credit card fraud that Sophia committed to undergo her transition, audiences are sympathetic to her plight as she struggles to adjust to her now public identity and the toll that it takes on her beloved wife and son.
Taystee Jefferson (Danielle Brooks)
Finding and creating family (no matter how motley) is a huge theme on Orange Is the New Black, and no one embodies this desire more than Taystee. Lured into selling drugs with the promise of family and a better life by the villainous Vee, Taystee’s bad decisions are made out of a desire to belong. While she finds camaraderie and a family group in Litchfield, it’s especially heartbreaking to recall that she’s there because of the betrayal of her mother figure.
Big Boo (Lea DeLaria)
Viewers still don’t know the exact reason why Big Boo ended up in Litchfield, but were given a few more pieces of the puzzle in the latest season. While many of the backstories are very dramatic and over-the-top (like Flaca’s fake drug business or Red’s dealings with the Russian mafia), the smallness and simplicity of Big Boo’s storyline is what makes it so heartbreaking. This is a woman trying to be who she really is, and her family will never understand her, despite still loving her. Even at her mother’s deathbed, neither side was willing to put aside their pride for the sake of reconciliation.
Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren (Uzo Aduba)
Like Big Boo, we do not know yet what crime landed the socially awkward and unstable Suzanne in prison. Adopted by white parents who loved her, Suzanne’s issues grew out of a society unwilling to accept her. While her family adored the little girl who dressed up as a fairy to meet her new baby sister, Suzanne’s horrible experiences with the other kids (and their judging parents) at school and in their neighborhood prove that the culture that she so desperately wants to be a part of wants nothing to do with her.
Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett (Taryn Manning)
Despite starting out as a villain in season one, Doggett has evolved from a supposed religious fanatic who shot an abortion clinic technician who “disrespected her” into a surprisingly sympathetic character over the course of three seasons. After years of being neglected by her mother and told that her only value is what she can provide for men, Doggett spends her teenage years selling her body for six-packs of Mountain Dew. Her rape as a teen foreshadowed the atrocities that she suffered at the hands of Officer Coates during season three, and audiences were given a look at a woman who’s life was one long string of exploitation at the hands of people that she trusted.
Joe Caputo (Nick Sandow)
To say that men don’t come off well on Orange Is the New Black is an understatement. Between Pornstache’s Pornstache-iness, Bennett’s cowardice, and Healy’s violent misogyny, the men of Litchfield are not a great bunch. While old Beer Can has certainly done some extremely reprehensible things over the course of the show, he genuinely believes that his is doing the right thing for the inmates of the prison that he runs. In season three, fans were shown a picture of a life lived in quiet desperation, a man constantly beaten down by the world despite trying to be better.
Leanne Taylor (Emma Myles)
One of the biggest reveals in season three was the fact that Leanne, one of Litchfield’s resident meth heads, grew up Amish. Rumspringa is a crazy time for Amish kids, and Leanne gets caught up in the world of drug trafficking while partying before officially joining the fold. In order to avoid stricter drug charges, Leanne agrees to cooperate with the authorities and narc on the other people involved in the Amish drug trade. This causes her family to be rejected by their community and impoverished, leading Leanne to leave them for good to alleviate their shame and help them regain their social standing and income.
Chang (Lori Tan Chinn)
Chang is mostly an enigma on Orange Is the New Black, staying out of the internal conflicts at the prison and instead keeping to her own quiet routine. We learned in season three that she had spent much of her life being told that she is worthless, and that she was cruelly rejected by the man who was supposed to marry her. After a lifetime of being treated like she was invisible at best and unwelcome at worst, Chang gets involved with her brother’s black market import ring and eventually orders the barbaric removal of the gallbladder of the man who rejected her. Who would have guessed that there was such a dark history to the woman who just wants some peace and an orange.
Lorna Morello (Yael Stone)
The reveal of Morello’s road to Litchfield is still one of the most shocking moments in all of Orange Is the New Black‘s run. While many suspected that the sweet inmate was no longer with her “fiancé” Christopher, no one could anticipate the deranged stalking, trespassing, and attempted murder that actually went on. Clearly unwell and unable to get the life that she desired, Morello took extreme actions that only lead to heartbreak and a lengthy prison sentence. That lipstick hides a lot of pain.
