Okay, first off, let me start out by saying Poussey did not deserve what happened to her in season four, episode 12 of “Orange is the New Black.” As the only continually likable character in Litchfield, she deserved so much more. She was finally happy — she and Soso were going to travel the world together once they got out. Poussey had dealt with her fair share of demons, but she was finally better. Out of all the people in Litchfield, she died, and I am still not okay with it.
Poussey, the sunny, always smiling, lovable goof died at the hands of the most irresponsible CO in the prison, and I think that’s what bothers me most of all about her death. it was unceremonious in every sense of the word. She didn’t die doing something she loved, and she didn’t die in Soso’s arms. No, she died on the cold floor of the Litchfield cafeteria; unnoticed, unloved, unseen. Her body stayed on the floor of the cafeteria for hours after her death, and her parents weren’t notified until days later. She deserved so much more.
I know that characters in television shows die, and there’s nothing we can do about it (“The Walking Dead“, much?). I know that her death was an illusion to the death of Eric Garner, who died under the same circumstances at the hands of a white police officer. I know that her death was a metaphor for all of the black lives taken entirely too soon at the hands of officers sworn to protect our country. I know that a death was necessary to give the inmates of Litchfield that fuel to add to the fire they already had against the CO’s. I know all of this, and yet I’m still questioning: Why Poussey? Why, Jenji Kohan? Why must you kill the single all-over likable character, especially right after she finally found love at the hands of Brooke Soso?
It didn’t have to be Poussey. I don’t think that she had to be the martyr for Litchfield inmates to hold up as they rebelled against the system. I still think it could have been someone else–not the only inmate who has proven herself to be unproblematic and likable. She was simply caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, but I don’t think she had to pay for that with her life. At all. And yes, I know Samira Wiley (the actress who plays Poussey) is just fine, and that it’s just a television show. She isn’t real, so you’re probably questioning why I’m getting so upset about her death. I’m upset because, as I’ve stressed, she didn’t deserve it. She deserved to live out a life of happiness with Brooke, once they were both freed of Litchfield. She deserved so much more than to die alone on the floor. She simply deserved so much more.
RIP Poussey, OITNB won’t be the same without you.
Sources: cover photo, gif 1, 2