"OITNB", The Basics - Life at Litchfield Quiz

Answer: Piper Chapman

Piper Chapman, who comes from an upper-middle class affluent family, finds herself convicted and sentenced to 15 months incarceration in a federal prison for the crimes of money laundering and the smuggling of illegal drugs across international borders.
The series follows Piper through her transition and acclimation to life in prison, which comes as quite an eye-opening "cultural shock" for her.

Taylor Schilling plays the lead role as Piper Chapman.

Taylor Schilling was born and raised in Massachusetts, and earned a Bachelor's Degree in acting in 2006 from Fordham University, Lincoln Center, New York.
Taylor Schilling made her acting debut in the 2007 film "Dark Matter".
Taylor, the daughter of a former prosecutor (her father) and an administration worker at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), was born in Boston on July 27, 1984.

The series is based on the book, "Orange Is the New Black: My Year In a Women's Prison" by Piper Kerman, whose memoirs written during her 13 months in prison, are reflected by the Piper Chapman character.

The selection of Taylor Schilling for the role was due in part to her strong physical resemblance to Piper Kerman.

The series title is a reference to the color of the formal/dress prison uniforms worn by the inmates. Their normal "everyday" uniforms are a tan color.

Answer: Natalie Figueroa

Natalie "Fig" Figueroa served during the first two seasons as the Executive Assistant to the Warden at Litchfield Federal Correctional Institute. Figueroa was despised by both the prison inmates and staff for her cold-hearted bullying of nearly everyone she encountered. Seen as "power-hungry" by her peers and subordinates, she is known to use her authority to better herself personally and financially, at the expense of the needed maintenance care for the prison and those who work and live there. Funds for the prison were often re-directed for her personal use and to support the campaign of her politician husband. Season two ended with her embezzlement of prison funds being discovered, which lead to her decision to resign from her position.

Natalie Figueroa is played by film, television, and off-Broadway theatrical actress Alysin Reiner.

Alysin Reiner is married to actor David Alan Basche. The couple first met while they were performing in a summer-stock production of Shakespear's "Twelfth Night".

Answer: Joe Caputo

Despite his sometimes lecherous and questionable appearance, Joe Caputo was a decent man who kept the welfare and safety of the inmates and guards he supervised as his top priority.

Caputo was considered too soft on both the guards and inmates by some of the top prison officials. He is dedicated on seeing that the prison ran as efficiently as possible, even with the limitations placed on him, especially those of his immediate supervisor Natalie Figueroa.

Away from the job, Caputo plays bass guitar and sings in a rock band called "Side Boob", which was featured in episodes five and six during season two.
Near the end of season two, Caputo, with the assistance of Piper, found proof of Natalie's unethical prison mismanagement and embezzlement of prison funds, and forced her to "resign" from her job.

Joe Caputo is played by Nick Sandow.

Sandow has appeared in recurring roles on several television series, including "Third Watch" (2000), "How To Make It In America" (2010), "Blue Bloods" (2010), and "Boardwalk Empire" (2011). Sandow's performing resume includes over 50 additional movie and television credits.

Answer: Piper and Pennsatucky

The season ended with a brutal fight between inmates Piper Chapman and Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett, in the snow outside of the prison recreation hall.

Earlier in the episode, Piper returned to her bed only to find a dead rat on it with a note threatening her life. She surmised that the note was from Pennsatucky.

In an earlier episode, Piper admonished Pennsatucly in front of other inmates for trying to hang an oversized makeshift cross in the prison chapel, which resulted in the cross falling and breaking a water pipe. Pennsatucky, who considered herself as "a messenger doing the Lord's work", felt disrespected by Piper's comment, and felt that the only solution for righting the wrong was to kill her.

Later while she was in the shower, Piper was confronted by Pennsatucky who verbally threatened her, cut her own hand with a homemade shiv, and smeared blood from her cut hand on Piper. The encounter was interrupted by a passing correctional officer who ordered Pennsatucky and her crew to "move on".

Frightened and feeling dejected because she was ignored by Alex, whom she turned to for support and by her boyfriend who broke up with her over the phone, Piper sadly went to the Christmas pageant put on by the inmates in the recreation hall. The joyful singing and Christmas spirit had no effect in changing her mood. Piper stepped outside to get some fresh air, only to be followed out by Pennsatucky, who was ironically in costume from the pageant dresses as an angel. She carried with her a sharpened cross to use as a knife. Pennsatucky confronted Piper, calling her the Devil, and telling her that no one would ever love her. She announced her intention to kill her.
Pennsatucky swung the sharpened weapon at Piper. Following the advice of her lunchtime friends (Black Cindy, Poussay, and Taystee) on how to fight, Piper kicked Pennsatucky, knocked her to the ground with an elbow drop, and jumped on top of her, straddling her body. Piper appearing to have "snapped" due to her pent-up anger and rage, started to viciously hit her opponent, pounding Pennsatucky in the face. The scene and episode ended with Piper pummeling her into a bloody pulp, knocking out her decayed teeth.

Taylor Shilling played the timid mouse that became the tiger, Piper Chapman.

Taryn Manning played the deranged religious fanatic Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett.

Taryn Manning is an actress, fashion designer, and singer-songwriter. Taryn is the vocalist for the electric and pop duo band "Boomkats",
which also includes her brother, Kellin. The group released their first album, "Boomkatalog.One" in 2003, followed in 2009 by their second album, "A Million Trillion Stars".

Since the beginning of her acting career in 1999, Taryn has added over 60 movie and television credits to her resume.

Taryn was born on November 6, 1978 in Tucson, Arizona.

Answer: Lorna Morello

Lorna Morello gave the appearance of being a sweet and kind person, with a big heart and friendly disposition. She drove the prison van and was usually one of the first inmates that the new arrivals met. She was always seen wearing her trademark bright red lipstick. She was a very cheerful and optimistic person and immediately put the new inmates at ease, even though she at times displayed signs of racial prejudice for non-white inmates. She could be described as a "hopeless romantic", and spent hours (mostly during season one) discussing and planning her future wedding plans with her fellow inmates. She always spoke lovingly about her true love and fiancé Christopher MacLaren. The other inmates noted that for whatever reason Christopher never seem to come to visit her. It was generally believed by the other inmates that she was sent to prison for running a mail order scam.

During season two, the truth was revealed. She actually went on only one date with Christopher, who then decided to break off contact with her. Lorna became obsessed with Christopher, constantly stalking him, attempted on numerous occasions to contact him by phone and on social media, and violating a restraining order he obtained to keep her away. At one point, she attempted to kill him and his actual fiancée, Angela, by placing homemade bombs under their cars.

Lorna Morello is played by Australian actress Yael Stone. Yael, who was born in 1985, began her career in performing in the Australian theater, where she won the 2008 Sydney Theater Awards for "Best Newcomer" and "Best Supporting Actress" for her role as Desiree in the Griffin Theater production of "The Kid".

Playing a character from New Jersey on "OITNB", Yael was praised for the authentic "Jersey" accent she created for the role.

Yael is married to Australian actor Dan Spielman, who in 2005 was one of the youngest members of the Sydney Theater Ensemble.

Answer: ten years

Piper Chapman's prison sentence started ten years after the crimes she committed.
When Piper ended her "criminal activities", she relocated and became a "model citizen", living the upper-middle class lifestyle of a young college graduate. She again associated with her friends (Polly and Pete) and family She planned on starting a new business (a homemade soap company) with Polly, and met a guy (Larry Bloom) with whom she fell in love, and planned on marrying.

Pipers earlier "life of crime" involved, and was encouraged by her then companion, Alex Vause, who was a high level drug smuggler. Alex enticed Piper into joining her in the adventurous, lavish lifestyle of being part of an international drug ring. Piper did in fact carry a suitcase full of drugs and money at Alex's request.

Although Alex originally denied it, it was later revealed that Alex named Piper as having been involved in her criminal activities during her trial, which resulted in Piper being arrested, convicted, and sentenced to her prison term, only two years shy of the expiration of the "statute of limitation" for the crimes.

Answer: prosthetic left leg

It was revealed during a brief romantic encounter with inmate Dayanara "Daya" Diaz (Dascha Polanco) in a prison utility closet that Correctional Officer John Bennett wore a prosthetic left leg.
In subsequent episodes while preparing for work, Bennett is seen putting on the prosthetic prior to putting on his uniform.

It was believed by many that Bennett lost his leg during his tour of military service in Afghanistan. It was only later that it was discovered that his injury was the result of an infection he received while in a dirty hot tub in Orlando, Florida.
While at times he has displayed a tough side (primarily for show purposes) Bennett is considered by both inmates and staff as one of the nicer and most easy going guards. John Bennett's love for Daya appears to be quite genuine.

John Bennett is played by Matt McGorry. McGorry's prosthetic leg is a special effect designed for his role in the show.

One of McGorry's first entertainment ventures was performing magic tricks as a teen street performer and at birthday parties.
McGorry has performed in over 150 improv shows with the group "Out of the Woods".

McGorry is also a former Personal Trainer and Fitness Expert. Matt competed as a powerlifter, and won the "overall championship in the men's division" and "overall title for the entire show" in his first competition in 2010.

Matt has been featured in guest star role on several television series including, "Elementary" (2013), "Person of Interest" (2011), and he was featured in a recurring uncredited role in 2011 on the daytime series "One Life to Live" (1968) as a masked superhero figure.

Answer: Brook Soso

Episode three of season two marked the first appearance of new inmate Brook Soso. Brook could be described as a naïve, wide-eyed Asian girl who was terrified about going to prison. Brook was convicted and sentenced for her participation in a political protest. She quickly befriended Piper because she reminded her of her best friend named Meadow. Brook is extremely talkative, often to the annoyance of Piper and the other inmates. Brook does not use deodorant as she feels that "people should live with their natural odors", which soon becomes an issue with the other inmates. Sister Ingalls is the inmate who described Brook as a "dirty hippie who has no idea what peaceful protest really means".

Brook Soso is played by Kimiko Glenn.

Kimiko Glenn, who is half Asian, was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona. Her interest in performing started at the age of 10, when she appeared in a number of productions at the Valley Youth Theater in Phoenix.

During her first year of college at the Boston Conservatory, she was cast in the first national tour of the rock musical "Spring Awakening".
Kimiko's first movie role came in 2012 with a small part in the film "Nous York" (2012). She also won a role in 2014 on an episode of the popular television series "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999). Her biggest role came when she was cast for the second season of "Orange Is the New Black" (2013) in 2014.

Answer: Rosa "Miss Rosa" Cisneros

In her earlier life, Rosa Cisneros was a wild and attractive Latin girl who had a passion, with her male partners, for robbing banks. She continued this passion even after two of her partners died immediately following hold-ups, which led to her idea that her activities were cursed. Greed and love for excitement and money compelled her to attempt a robbery on a bank that had not been checked out in advance. This proved to be her undoing, resulting in her arrest and incarceration. Her deeds were shown in a "flashback" segment in the eighth episode in season two called "Appropriately Sized Pots".

Barbara Rosenblat plays the terminally ill inmate Rosa "Miss Rosa" Cisneros.

During the flashback sequences, the young Rosa was played by Stephanie Andujar.

Answer: she was granted a 48-hour furlough from prison

The rules of Litchfield Federal Correctional Institute did have a provision that allowed inmates to be granted a temporary furlough for good cause, but no inmate could remember one ever being granted.

Upon hearing that her grandmother was terminally ill, Piper requested a furlough to allow her to visit her. In an unexpected change of heart by Correctional Officer/Counselor Sam Healy, he agreed to help Piper get the furlough to see her dying grandmother.

To the surprise of Piper and the shock of the other inmates, the furlough was approved, which would allow Piper 48-hours out of the prison without an escort.
A number of inmates had in the past requested furloughs for their urgent family matters, but they were routinely declined.
Many of the inmates felt that Piper's success in being granted a furlough was due the Mr. Healy and the other prison officials showing favoritism for the young blonde haired, "white" inmate. For a brief time, Piper was despised by the other inmates, but this soon passed.