Sentenced to fifteen months for a crime committed in her youth, Piper Chapman leaves her supportive fiance Larry for her new home: a women's prison.
After insulting the food in front of the prison chef, Piper is starved out by the kitchen staff and struggles to offer up an acceptable apology.
Targeted for romance by a fellow prisoner, Piper finds that subtlety is an ineffective approach to letting her suitor down.
Piper gets to know her stern new roommate; the prisoners prepare a farewell party for one of their own; a misplaced screwdriver has dire consequences.
When her sighting of a legendary feral chicken polarizes the inmates, Larry wonders if Piper is getting too absorbed in the "fishbowl" of prison life.
The inmates campaign along racial lines for positions on a prisoners council, but Piper tries to stay above the increasingly raucous competition.
Piper wants the prison's outdoor running track reopened, but in order to get it, she'll have to give her corrections officer something he wants.
Red gets pressured to smuggle drugs through her kitchen; Larry publishes an article about Piper in the "New York Times;" two babies come into the world.
Thanksgiving arrives with the promise of a visit by Larry, but Piper's raunchy dance moves land her in solitary with a holiday feast of moldy bologna.
Pennsatucky discovers a new skill; the inmates try to scare delinquent teenagers straight; Pornstache's side business suffers a tragic setback.
The prisoners mourn one of their own and even a drunken Pornstache reveals surprising emotions; Larry gives a revealing radio interview.
Painful truths reorient several relationships and careers; Pennsatucky feels disrespected by Piper, which is not good; Larry delivers an ultimatum.
Red's scheme to reclaim her kitchen backfires; the inmates stage a Christmas pageant; Piper's plans unravel even as she realizes her life is in jeopardy.