'Orange is the New Black' season 4 release date, plot news: Is Alex still alive? Running from killer?

The Orange is the New Black cast is seen in this file photo.(Netflix/File)

"Orange is the New Black" season 3 was recently released on Netflix for fans to binge watch and for the most part the season was light-weight on the drama until the finale took a sudden turn. Alex (Laura Prepon) had always been paranoid that her boss wanted to kill her and in the finale her former co-worker, also an assassin, assaulted her.

The episode did not reveal if Alex was dead or if she was somehow alive and free from her attacker. The series is known for killing off its characters at random but according to a report from the iDigital Times, Alex might be alive and that the majority of season 4 will show her trying to escape from the clutches of those trying to kill her.

According to the report, season 4 might depict Alex getting out just in time. Now that she knows someone really is trying to kill her, she might be spending the rest of the season trying to hide or even get the man fired from his job as a security guard in the prison.

One other aspect that the report points out is that Alex Vause, the real-life inspiration for the character, is still alive and well so there is a possibility that the fictional version will still see the light of day. However, "Orange is the New Black" is no stranger from shying away from the real events so at this point anything can still happen.

This new form of tension may also be the jolt that the series needs to stay relevent on television. Season 3 started off pretty weak but eventually found its pace before it ended.

The third season made it clear that the series isn't just about inmates fighting each other but about the prison system in the country and how it negatively affects the inmates to the point where their only chance of survival is to turn on one another.

"Orange is the New Black" is likely to premiere in June 2016, around the same time previous seasons of the series were released each year.