Expect more of Alex and Piper in the upcoming third season of 'Orange Is the New Black'. The on-again-off-again romance between inmates Piper Chapman and Alex Vause ended on a cliffhanger as Piper, typically the submissive one in the pairing, made an aggressive move to rekindle the affair by revealing to the authorities the location of the in-hiding Alex, who was previously released from prison after testifying against their drug-lord employer. Piper's pre-prison coupling with fiancé Larry Bloom had previously fizzled as the allure of her former flame Alex proved too irresistible.

Actress Laura Prepon, who plays Alex, previously revealed to Today that she will be a series regular in season three and will appear in all episodes. This, coinciding with the departure of actor Jason Biggs, who plays Larry, cements the shift towards the Alex-Piper pairing and thus ending the ill-fated Piper-Larry coupling. Also leaving the show, as reported by CinemaBlend, are Pablo "Pornstache" Schreiber and Diane "Ramos" Guerrero.

The Guardian reports that Australian model Ruby Rose will be joining the cast in season three as she plays Stella Carlin, a new inmate at the Lichfield prison. Her character will reportedly be a love interest to both Piper and Alex, making their already dysfunctional relationship even more dysfunctional. Also joining the cast is veteran actress Mary Steenburgen.

Details regarding the third season of Netflix's prison drama have been scarce since the end of last season's super-sized finale. The finale saw the end of main antagonist Yvonne "Vee" Parker's iron rule on the inmates as she was unceremoniously run-over by the terminally-ill inmate Rosa whilst both were escaping the prison grounds. Assistant Warden Natalie Figueroa's story arc also came to a close as she was finally caught for embezzling prison funds and subsequently removed from her position. Former assistant Joe Caputo will take over her vacated position.

The third season of 'Orange Is the New Black' is expected to release sometime in June on the on-demand streaming service Netflix. It is projected to have fourteen episodes, a bump from the usual thirteen episodes in previous seasons.