Will ‘Orange Is The New Black’ Season 6 Still Be At Litchfield? Here's What We Know

After five seasons set in Litchfield Penitentiary, it looks like Orange Is the New Black will be finding a new setting to call home in Season 6.

In the season finale of the newly released Season 5, a SWAT team clears out Litchfield after the inmates took over the prison in a riot. In the last few moments of the season, we see all of the prisoners being filed into buses to take them to new prisons, as Litchfield is left empty (save for the handful of inmates about to be captured in Frieda's makeshift bunker, which include Piper, Taystee, Red, Suzanne, and more protagonists).

But as we watch everyone board the buses it seems clear that the show is done with Litchfield for now.

And the show isn't going to just shepherd all of our favorite inmates to the same, new prison, either. The SWAT team makes it clear the main cast is going to be split up between multiple penitentiaries.

Not only does that splitting up create tension for viewers as to what Season 6 is going to look like with the main cast all spread out, but it also leads to one of the most heartbreaking moments of the season, as Flaca and Maritza are pulled apart and forced into different buses.

Throughout the series, the sometimes superficial but genuinely caring BFFs have been inseparable, and a rare source of comedy and joy amid the darkest moments of the show. They even grew so close this season that other inmates began referring to them with a singular name: Flaritza.

But since OITNB seems intent on squeezing ever last bit of joy out of me, it ends with a crushing scene of Flaca tearfully calling out her bestie's name, and Maritza fighting back tears as she assures Flaca it'll be OK, and she loves her.

I'm not crying, you're crying!

But the real question now is what is Season 6 even going to look like with the cast spread out among multiple prisons? The show is best known for utilizing its already massive cast to build on another by revealing new backstories — are we to expect the show to add even more new characters in these new prisons to further develop storylines?

Fans will recall Piper actually transferred out of Litchfield for a new prison in Chicago at the beginning of Season 2 but wound up coming back a couple episodes into the season. It's likely the show will find some way to bring everyone back together again for another season. We'll just have to wait and see, I guess.