The title says it all, but here’s some white space for those who want one last warning

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Ok, we’ve been doing some hunting and gathering, and here’s what we’re on to:

Season 2 isn’t going to be a clone of Season 1, even though it was wildly successful. OITB is going to start branching out from Piper’s story to explore the backstory of more characters. We saw glimpses of that in Season 1, but they’re going to expand on it in Season 2. Expect much more about “Crazy Eyes” and her unexpected privileged background , the bible thumping Pennsatucky, and  Taystee.

The love triangle between Piper (Taylor Schilling), Alex (Laura Prepon), and  Larry (Jason Biggs), will still play a major story in Season 2. However, both Alexa and Larry are pretty fed up with Piper going back and forth between them. It seems they both start backing away from her … and yet keep getting drawn back in. This is going to be interesting. That back/forth can get really frustrating for viewers… OITB is going to have to be careful to not push viewers beyond the breaking point.

Some details, speculation, and reversals:

LARRY
After being jerked around by Piper, Larry realizes he needs to take care of himself. “But to what extreme, and how far should he take that exactly?” Jason Biggs (Larry) tells Entertainment Weekly:  “Ultimately, he ends up taking advantage of Piper and the situation she’s in, and becomes a little greedy and a little questionable.”

Biggs told TVGuide that Larry will have to decide whether to get back with Piper. “He loves Piper, but he doesn’t really know where to go from there. So beginning of Season 2 and throughout we’re going to see or at least explore if the damage that was done is irreparable or if they can work through this.”

ALEX
Depending on the source, Laura Prepon (Alex Vause) will be back for either just the 4 episodes of Season 2. However, the series creator, Jenji Kohan, later said that Prepon will appear in most of the season. We’ll be watching closely for additional spoilers. Our gut: she’s going to be in the whole season. The drama of the triangle and the strength of Piper’s attraction to Alex make her too much of a dramatic figure to lose.

TAYSTEE
Remember her: she had been released AND re-imprisoned in Season 1. ”I’m going to tease you a little bit about Taystee [in] season two—you’ll get more of me!” Danielle Brooks told Entertainment Weekly. “The only thing I can give you is that for me Taystee has shocked me for season two so I think people will be excited to see what she does in season two.” Hmmm. Ok. But don’t shortchange Alex and Piper for this!

POUSSEY
Poussey is Taystee’s friend. She’s serving her third year of a six year sentence in Season 2. “We will see Poussey’s back story so I hope people are excited about that. I’m excited about that,” Samira Wiley said. “We will see a lot more of her in prison. I feel like in season one, she’s really seen as the joyous sidekick for Taystee and that’s great,” she added. “She’s such a good friend and really good at that, but we’ll see really more of her, her morals, where her loyalty lies, who she is as a woman, all that kind of stuff.”

PENNSATUCKY
Taryn Manning (Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett) has been upgraded to a series regular, reported Deadline, so she’ll definitely be back. In other words – Piper didn’t kill her, which is good for Piper. Hopefully the beating of Pennsatucky won’t get her thrown into the SHU for too long – or extend her sentence. However, extended sentences could mean additional seasons. Oh what a dilemma!

 

NEW CHARACTERS
Season 2 will also feature new characters. Lorraine Toussaint (Any Day Now) will guest star as a woman who owned a drug ring that employed children. Also, Lori Petty (Tank Girl) is joining the cast, but so far there are no details known about her character.

 

-Creator Jenji Kohan told TVGuide that this season will focus less on Piper. ”It’s becoming much more of an ensemble,” Kohan said. “As much as I love Piper and Taylor and her journey, I think people are interested in everybody’s journey.” That includes more of Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba). And more of the history behind Poussé (Samira Wiley) and Black Cindy (Adrienne Moore).