What These New Orange Is The New Black Characters Mean For The Future Of The Show

On Friday, July 27, when season 6 of Orange is the New Black drops on Netflix, you're finally going to meet "Badison," the she-demon of Litchfield's Maximum Security Prison (aka "max"). Badison — real name: Madison Murphy — is played by Amanda Fuller, and is the kind of character who, like Pennywise the Clown, may show up in your dreams to torment you.

Badison is just one of many new characters in Season 6 of Orange is the New Black. After the events of the prison riot, the 10 women trapped in the abandoned pool — our main crew — are transferred from Litchfield's minimum security prison to the more severe confines of max. There, the inmates are plunged into a decades-long rivalry between two of max's prison blocks, and are forced to use their guile (or, if they're Piper, lack of guile), to weather the changes. That's not even broaching the topic of the new guards, who are, in a word, awful.

For each new character, there's an old one no longer on the show (we miss you, Big Boo). In this sense, Orange is the New Black is taking a fearless, aggressive approach in ensuring its survival isn't dependent on the presence of every single character introduced in season 1. OITNB is trying to be more than a conventional show centered around the same faces, season in and season out. It's trying to become a universe.

Here's who you'll meet in season 6.