"Orange is the New Black" returns for season two on June 6 on Netflix. If you are new to the show, allow us to catch you up on who's who, including the main character, Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling), an entrepreneur who lands in jail for drug offenses she committed years earlier.
Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) was Piper's former lover who causes her to go to jail because of Alex's involvement in drug smuggling when the two were a couple. The pair meet again in prison.
Sam Healy (Michael Harney) is a counselor and corrections officer at Litchfield Penitentiary in upstate New York. He has issues with lesbians and causes problems for Piper.
Miss Claudette Pelage (Michelle Hurst) is one of the oldest inmates at the prison. She ends up there after killing a client who abused an employee at her cleaning company. Other prisoners fear her.
Galina "Red" Reznikov (Kate Mulgrew) runs the prison kitchen and is a force to be reckoned with. Red, right, and Gloria Mendoza (Selenis Leyva), left, will probably butt heads in season two as Mendoza takes over Red's territory.
Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne), left, is a recovering drug addict and Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) a kitchen worker who, in season one, were friends with benefits.
Lorna, left, with Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren (Uzo Aduba), a disruptive inmate who takes a special liking to her "Dandelion," Chapman. Her more sensitive side is revealed later in season one.
Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox) is transgender and serves as the prison's hairdresser. Her sexual identity causes her to sometimes be bullied by some of the other inmates.
Prison guard John Bennett (Matt McGorry) and inmate Dayanara 'Daya' Diaz (Dascha Polanco) begin an illicit prison love affair that puts his job at risk.
Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett (Taryn Manning) is a meth-addicted, born-again Christian who is not above attacking fellow inmates, including Piper.
Aleida Diaz (Elizabeth Rodriguez) is Daya's mother. Doing time for drug charges, she appears to not love her daughter initially, but is later revealed to be protective of her.
Jason Biggs plays Larry Bloom, a journalist and Chapman's (formerly) doting fiancé. He stood by her in season one even when the more sordid details of her past were revealed, but becomes increasingly disenchanted and eventually exploits her prison sentence to bolster his career.
Pablo Schreiber plays corrupt prison guard George Mendez, better known as Pornstache (one guess why). He breaks all the rules, from smuggling drugs into the prison to having sex with inmates. In season one, he is suspended without pay for his actions.
Lorraine Toussaint joins the cast in season two as Yvonne "Vee" Parker, shown here with Gloria. Former drug runner Vee clashes with the other inmates, including Red.
- "Orange Is the New Black" season two releases Friday, June 6
- Show is about a well-off character who ends up in a women's prison
- A few details about the new season have slipped out
(CNN) -- "Orange Is the New Black," and it's the new face of comedy, too.
Since its debut in July 2013, the original Netflix series has become the poster child for the way many of us now watch TV -- in large doses, on our own time, and often on something other than an actual television set.
But before "Orange Is the New Black" became the hottest topic for anyone with Internet access, it was a languishing concept from "Weeds" producer Jenji Kohan, who was struggling to find a home for the series based on a book by Piper Kerman.
As viewers learned in season one, "Orange Is the New Black" follows a well-bred New Yorker named Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), who gets sent to a Connecticut women's prison on an old drug charge that involved smuggling money for ex-girlfriend Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), who just happens to be serving time in the same facility. While there, Chapman gets indoctrinated into prison life with a series of scenes that have become infamous, like a bloody tampon given to her in a sandwich and a cellmate urinating on the floor.
Chapman, along with characters like Red (Kate Mulgrew), a grim Russian cook; Sophia (Laverne Cox), a transgender former firefighter; Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), who's initially fixated on Chapman; and Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning), a disturbed drug addict, bring this dark comedy to life in a way that wouldn't have been out of place on pay-cable networks like HBO or Showtime.
Except neither network wanted it.
And then, in walked Netflix. With the company's image changing from being a source of mail-ordered movies to a streaming hub of entertainment, the service happily snapped up Kohan's dark comedy. As the writer/producer recalled to The New York Times, Netflix "pretty much bought it in the room."
The company's eagerness has paid off in full, as "Orange Is the New Black" has become the service's most-watched original series, according to an October letter to shareholders, and is already renewed for a third season.
But first, we have to prepare for season two's arrival on Friday. Though cast members and Kohan are tight-lipped about what's to come, here are a few tidbits on what to expect:
1. Nudity. "I love graphic sex, the more sex the better," Kohan said at an industry lunch in April. And the show has certainly put some of its performers on display right from showering get-go. This year may include male nudity, Kohan said, with a caveat: "I don't think it's going to be erect."
2. Triangle tension. You know that romantic triangle between prison guards Pornstache (Pablo Schreiber) and Bennett (Matt McGorry) and Daya (Dascha Polanco)? It's going to get messier. "There's kind of a tectonic shift happening between Pornstache, Bennett and Daya by the big point of the second season, and I think you might be surprised who you may be siding with in that triumvirate," Schreiber told EW.
3. A rising writer. Larry's had some success with his column about having a fiancée in prison, but his relationship with her is under strain. "If you're going to keep Larry involved, there needs to be some sort of change, and there are some in store," Jason Biggs, who plays Larry, told EW.
4. More romance and back story. Big Boo (Lea DeLaria) and Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) are going to have a "sex contest," reports TV Guide. We'll find out more about Red's (Kate Mulgrew) Russian gangster past. And watch out for a key insect.
5. A change of the guard? A number of "Orange" stars have commitments to other shows. Natasha Lyonne (Nicky) is doing an NBC show produced by Amy Poehler, and Schreiber is working on an HBO comedy. Laura Prepon (Alex) told the Daily Beast she will be in just four episodes in season two, though she's indicated she'd be willing to come back full-time for season three. Kohan is already thinking ahead. "If I could keep cycling people through and bringing in new people, the show could go on forever," she told EW.
