While Netflix's series Orange Is The New Black takes place almost entirely in the setting of a women’s prison, lots of love brewed on the series. Most relationships were had between inmates, but others blossomed between inmates and prison guards, and even between the guards and management.
Some of the relationships were sweet but with others, viewers were sour on them right from the beginning. Others, still, had viewers polarized, confused, or indifferent.
So which couples did everyone love and which ones were simply annoying?
Blanca and Diablo: Loved
Blanca didn’t ever get to see her love from the outside world, Diablo, after she was sentenced to prison. Part of her backstory eventually showed how devoted Diablo was to her, and how he even got caught by immigration authorities in an effort to help her get released.
The flashback scenes of the pair, shown in the later seasons, were sugary sweet, as was their final reunion in the end. It was clear that these two had lasting love for one another, and it was nice to see that it endured even through so much hardship.
Tiffany “Pennsatucky” and CO Coates: Annoying
This relationship wasn’t just annoying, it was downright abusive. Not only did Charlie Coates, a CO from the prison, rape Tiffany, but he should never have been involved with her in the first place.
The relationship started out sweet as Coates would sneak food in for her and was a shoulder for her to lean on. But they had to hide their friendship and eventual romance, and things took a turn for the worst when Coates forced himself on Tiffany and her friends tried to help her get revenge.
Alex and Piper: Loved
While it always seemed like Alex and Piper were all sorts of wrong for one another, there’s no denying the electric chemistry and deep devotion they between them. Alex got Piper into the mess she was in and genuinely felt bad about it.
Meanwhile, Piper seems to have had an awakening whenever she was with Alex and realized who she wanted to be and, more importantly, who she wanted to be with. While it sometimes seemed like they would be better off without one another, they were simply drawn to each other in a way that couldn’t be easily dismissed.
Larry and Polly: Annoying
It was clear from the beginning that Piper never should have been with Larry. The fact that he moved on from the relationship with her best friend just made their courtship really annoying. Not only does this suggest that maybe Larry and Polly had feelings for one another all along, but it also was a big hit to Piper’s ego.
Sure, Piper reunited with her true love, Alex. Nonetheless, getting back into the real world and seeing your ex now married with children with your former friend is just too much to stomach for anyone, including viewers.
Daya and CO Bennett: Loved
Yes, CO Bennett ditched Daya in the end after getting her pregnant, leaving her high and dry to deal with the repercussions. Even after she found a desperate way to save him from getting reprimanded and fired by ensuring another CO, George “Pornstache” Mendez, would think the baby was his.
But when they were together, their forbidden romance was super sweet. They seemed to really care for one another. One has to wonder how Daya might have turned out had she stuck with Bennett and had he cared for the baby. He would have had to find another line of work, though, as he would absolutely have been fired and had his career justifiably ruined.
Maureen and Suzanne “Crazy Eyes”: Annoying
Don’t get us wrong: we loved seeing Suzanne finally bonding with someone romantically, even if it seemed to confuse her. But something always seemed off about Maureen, and the relationship, if we could even call it that, was annoying enough to make us want it to end.
It all came to a head when Maureen died from injuries she sustained in a fight with Suzanne. Maureen was manipulative, erratic, and immature, so she was the last type of partner Suzanne needed. Suzanne deserved so much better than someone who just wanted to play mind games with her.
Poussey Washington and Brooke Soso: Loved
Soso originally entered the prison and annoyed everyone with her constant fast-talking, preaching, and quirky attitude. And while they seemed like very different people, she and Poussey eventually struck up a romance.
Seeing them together was so sweet, but it ended in tragedy when Poussey was accidentally killed during a prison fight. The sadness in Soso’s eyes and the deep depression she fell into proved that there was really something true and honest behind their romance. And they might just have made it together in the outside world.
Dominga “Daddy” and Daya: Annoying
After Daya turned to the dark side, so to speak, and gave up all hope following her lengthened prison sentence, she took up with “Daddy,” a drug pusher who was once the right-hand to prison gang leader Barb. She kept other inmates hooked on oxycontin and quickly got Daya to be one of her followers.
A former female pimp, “Daddy” began a physical relationship with Daya. Her macho bravado was irritating, however, as was the way she enabled Daya in her growing drug addiction.
Joe and Natalie: Loved
Theirs was a strange love story about rage and hate turned into extreme passion. But beyond their intense sexual rendezvous, which began to happen with more and more frequency, there were clearly strong feelings there.
It turned into a true relationship when they moved in together, acted like a real couple who went out in public together, and even discussed having a child. It was clear that behind all of the anger they initially showed towards one another, and their competitive nature, that there was mutual love and respect.
CO Rick Hopper and Aleida: Annoying
What was most annoying about this relationship was how blatantly Diaz was using Hopper, and how ignorant he was to this fact. Perhaps he knew all along but was so lonely and entranced by her that he turned a blind eye.
Nonetheless, there was no real love here, just lust and desperation. And the fact that Diaz didn’t care at all about Hopper’s feelings made it sad to see the path he went down in order to please her, risking everything.