Feeling newly motivated in the series finale, Taystee chooses to make the most of her life sentence by teaching a financial literacy class to inmates and establishing the Poussey Washington Fund, a real-life initiative to help released convicts get back on their feet. In one of the season's most tear-jerking flashbacks, Taystee receives a phone call from her best friend Poussey, who reminds her there are always better things ahead. "It comes in places that you least expect it." And I actually think she found that (fortitude) within herself, but also in the relationship that was building between her and Pennsatucky," whom she was tutoring. "When the system that's supposed to serve justice for the wrongfully accused fails you, how do you get back on your feet? (Taystee) is a reminder for so many people that you have to keep going, and that life is worth living. "It's very difficult to have to surrender to a lie," Brooks says. Looking back at Taystee's devastating yet ultimately uplifting arc this season, Brooks is reminded of the so-called Central Park Five, a group of five black and Hispanic teenagers who were falsely convicted of raping a jogger in 1989, only to be exonerated years later. Minutes later, she discovered the lifeless body of Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning), who died of a drug overdose. News: 'Orange Is the New Black' star Danielle Brooks is 'happily pregnant' with her first childīut in the season's penultimate episode, Taystee was delivered a one-two punch when her lawyer rejected Suzanne's account, saying it wasn't enough to change her case. She even contemplated suicide, until Suzanne (Uzo Aduba) offered witness testimony clearing her of the crime, giving her renewed hope for a retrial. Netflix's groundbreaking, Emmy-winning drama "Orange Is the New Black" released its seventh and final season Friday, neatly tying up storylines for most of its major characters, although not everyone got a happy ending.Īll season long, Taystee ( Danielle Brooks) struggled with the prospect of spending the rest of her life in prison, after being falsely convicted of murdering corrections officer Desi Piscatella (Brad William Henke) amid the Season 5 prison riot that followed Poussey's (Samira Wiley) death. It was a bittersweet goodbye to the ladies of Litchfield Penitentiary. Spoiler alert! This story contains details about the 'Orange is the New Black' series finale. Watch Video: Piper Kerman: Locking up mothers creates devastating ripples