'Orange Is the New Black' season 4 news, spoilers: Laura Prepon talks Alex's traumatizing experience in episode 1

When all 13 episodes of "Orange Is the New Black" season 4 dropped on Friday, June 17, fans' binge-watching sessions began. And it wasn't long before the fourth season dished out the fates of some of the show's most beloved characters.

The very first episode saw Alex (Laura Prepon) alive and well after Lolly (Lori Petty) saved her life from the hitman sent to kill her. However, in a gory turn of events, Alex returns to the greenhouse and finds the hitman still alive (after Lolly attacked him) and she then has to kill her almost-assassin with her bare hands. Later still, she enlists the help of Lolly and Frieda (Dale Soules) in dismembering and burying the hitman's body.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Prepon spoke about Alex's traumatizing experience and how it propels her back to Piper (Taylor Schilling).

"She's never personally had to do that to someone," the actress said. "And it's kind of this necessity and it's something that really, as you can imagine, completely rattles her and it just haunts her."

The ensuing trauma then has Alex making her way back to her ex. In season 3, Piper broke up with Alex to be with Stella (Ruby Rose).

"Alex really needs Piper and needs that relationship to kind of humanize her again," Prepon explained.

Meanwhile, actress Tanya Wright, who plays Crystal, the on-screen wife of Sophia (Laverne Cox), recently spoke to Mashable about how the series has been tackling trans issues and the effect it has had on mainstream culture.

"[W]hen we first did this, several years ago now, no one was talking about these issues in quite the same way, and lo and behold five years later this conversation has become part of our mainstream society," the actress said.

"Orange Is the New Black" season 4 is now streaming on Netflix.