‘Orange Is the New Black’ Season 6 Will Feature More Taystee Flashbacks

Orange is the New Black actress Danielle Brooks says that fans can expect more flashbacks for her character Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson in season six.

Brooks revealed the new details in a recent interview with Variety, after being asked about where Taystee is “emotionally at the start of the season.”

“Man, at the start of season six she is sort of dazed out and kind of in awe of what has transpired and what hasn’t transpired,” she began. “The fact that no justice was served for Poussey, she’s really struggling with still feeling quite alone and feeling no sense of family still.”

“Everyone has left her world, and so we see her trying to fight depression, trying to fight her will to give up. We also get to go back and see more of Taystee’s flashbacks and see where she’s come from and how her past has really landed her here,” Brooks added, divulging the plans but leaving out any specifics.

She went on to say that she feels “like there’s so many people out there like Taystee who really are incredible human beings, incredible people, but the cards that they’re dealt never really pan out for them.”

“They’re kind of always getting the two of clubs, they never really get the joker, and I feel like that’s what her situation has always been. She realizes that some people really are in it for themselves,” Brooks continued. “They really are not loyal; they will do anything for their own personal gain or personal success. We definitely see this season how she deals with the people that she thought had her back not being there for her.”

The actress also spoke about how the new season compares to previous ones, saying that while “every year takes a new turn” this season is especially unique considering “all of the damage that happened in season five.”

“The structure is completely turned on its head, the structure of what we’re used to being at Litchfield — that’s over because we’re all going to max. There’s no way up from starting a riot in prison, especially when you’re already considered in the bottom of the barrel of society,” Brooks went on to say. “You’re not really considered human, and so I was never expecting it to be a victorious moment at the end.”

“These girls, they’re in for it. So this season’s really about survival, because all these other inmates from different prisons have heard about what has happened,” she said. “There’s going to be so many different versions of the truth and how that manifests in each women’s outcome, it will be very interesting.”

Fans have until July 27 to rewatch all of the previous five seasons of Orange is the New Black, as that is the date that season six of the prison-dramedy lands on Netflix.