What's Next for 'Orange is the New Black'?

The fourth season of Netflix's Orange is the New Black is just over a month away, and fans are eager to discover what surprises the show's next 13 episodes will bring. A new season-four trailer was released this week, and it puts an interesting spin on some of those questions.

The trailer makes clear that one of the season's big plot drivers will be overcrowding in the prison, as a huge new batch of inmates arrives. That means, of course, that there will be new personality clashes to go along with the stress of the inmates being packed too closely together.

The trailer also hints that Alex has survived her clash with Aydin in the prison greenhouse. We already knew that Laura Prepon, who plays Alex, was on hand for the season's production, so it was clear that Alex survived the encounter, but her inclusion in the trailer lays any lingering fears to rest.

Less certain are the fates of Nicky and Bennett, two characters who seemed to be headed away from the prison at the end of last season. Nicky is likely to come back at some point, but Bennett is probably gone for good; the new trailer offers no sign of either of them, though.

And, of course, there's Piper, the series' central character, who appears to be going the route of Breaking Bad's Walter White, as her illicit used-panty-selling empire is transforming her from a hero to a villain.