Alex Vause is a fictional character played by Laura Prepon on the Netflix series, Orange Is the New Black. The character is loosely based on the real ex-girlfriend of Piper Kerman, author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison. Before her arrest, Vause worked for an international drug cartel and was in a relationship with protagonist Piper Chapman, who once transported drug money for her during their travels. Vause is portrayed as the catalyst for Chapman's indictment. She is reunited with her ex-lover in federal prison, nearly a decade after the events that led to their breakup. Her relationship with Chapman is reignited, as they carry out a tumultuous love affair in prison.
Vause is noted for her pragmatism, forthrightness, wit and veiled vulnerability. She is a main character in seasons one, three, four, five, six, and seven and a recurring character in season two. The character received acclaim from television critics, who often cite Alex as one of the series' best characters. For her performance, Prepon won the Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film at the 18th Satellite Awards in 2014.
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Inspiration
The character of Alex Vause is loosely based on Catherine Cleary Wolters, ex-girlfriend of Piper Kerman, the author of Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women's Prison and an executive consultant on the series. In Kerman's memoir, Wolters is given the pseudonym Nora Jansen, who is a marginal character in the book. In actuality, Kerman and Wolters did not serve their prison sentences together as depicted in the series; however, they were reunited in a flight to Chicago, where they were detained for several weeks in a detention facility to testify in the drug trafficking case. Their stint in Chicago is portrayed in the series' second season; however, the defendant they were to testify against was changed to the cartel's kingpin, as was that Wolters and Kerman were cell-mates in the prison.
Wolters met Kerman in 1991 in Northampton, Massachusetts, becoming friends around the time Kerman graduated from Smith College. Kerman wrote in her memoir that Wolters was part of a "clique of impossibly stylish and cool lesbians in their mid-30s". Wolters said both of them ran in "the same little Noho lesbian social circle", and spent time together when she returned from her travels. Wolters had told Kerman she worked for an African drug lord, moving heroin around internationally, while Kerman was fascinated by her globe-trotting, adventurous lifestyle. Wolters asked Kerman if she wanted to take part in the operation. According to Wolters, she and Kerman became romantically involved after Kerman had gotten involved in the drug ring. In her interview with Vanity Fair, Wolters said that they were not girlfriends but friends with benefits, a notion with which Kerman disagreed, stating that they may have different perspectives about their time together and their relationship was complicated.
Kerman traveled with Wolters to exotic places, and made several trips carrying drug-funds for the cartel. Kerman realized she needed to walk away when Wolters asked her to transport heroin instead of money, after which she flew home and started a new life. Years later, Kerman was indicted and pled guilty to a money laundering charge, serving 13 months in a minimum-security prison in Danbury, Connecticut. Wolters was charged with conspiracy to import heroin, serving nearly six years in a Dublin, California prison, and nearly 14 years on parole. In the series, the issue of whether Vause implicated Chapman and the effect on their personal relationship is a major plot line of the first season. When Wolters and others involved in the drug ring were arrested by federal law enforcement, Wolters said that she, like the others, named everyone involved, including Kerman. Wolters also stated that, contrary to Kerman's implication in her memoir, she was not "singularly responsible for [her] downfall", as she was honest about what she did and getting involved was Kerman's decision. Although Kerman aimed to take responsibility for her actions, she said she still carried some resentment toward Wolters [for naming her], later making peace with her when they were held together in a Chicago facility. Unlike in the series, Wolters and Kerman did not get back together when they were reunited in prison.
Storylines
Season 1
Vause is introduced in the first episode through flashbacks; she and Chapman were both involved in crimes involving drug money. At the end of the first episode, the audience sees that Vause and Chapman are both serving their sentences in the same prison, Litchfield Penitentiary. The two begin a romantic and sexual relationship in episode nine; they are also both involved in a dispute with another inmate, Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett (Taryn Manning), who locks Vause in a dryer and then attempts to kill Chapman in the season finale. Vause was raised solely by her mother and, in the ninth episode 'Fucksgiving', Vause's father is seen to be an influence on her being involved in the drug cartel. When Chapman realises that Vause was the one who told authorities about her illegal drug activities, they break off their relationship. Vause then becomes sexually involved with another inmate, Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne).
Season 2
In the first episode, Vause promises Chapman that she will lie to protect her in the upcoming trial of her former boss Kubra Balik. She breaks this promise, however, and, after testifying against Balik, Vause manages to secure release from prison while Chapman remains incarcerated. After discovering that Balik was not imprisoned for his crimes, Vause fears for her life; she is also unable to leave her apartment due to the terms of her parole. She visits Chapman in prison and confides in her that she is scared; Chapman then gets Bloom to tell Vause's parole officer that Vause is breaking her parole, which lands her back in prison, where she is safe from Balik's retribution.
Season 3
Vause appears in every episode of the third season. Chapman reports Vause to a parole officer and she is sent back to Litchfield prison; Chapman does eventually admit to doing this and the two begin frequently having hate sex. Chapman and Vause reconcile and officially resume their relationship, but become more distant again as the season progresses; Chapman becomes romantically involved with a new inmate, Stella Carlin (Ruby Rose), and this upsets Vause. Vause becomes increasingly concerned that Balik has sent someone into the prison to spy on her and bring her harm; she suspects that this person is Lolly Whitehill (Lori Petty) and attacks her in the toilet. It turns out that Whitehill is completely delusional and thinks that Vause is from the National Security Agency. In the season finale, Vause is confronted by Balik's henchman Aydin Bayat and her fate is left ambiguous.
Season 4
In the first episode, Vause is seen being strangled by Aydin Bayat in the greenhouse, struggling for her life. She is saved by Lolly Whitehill who kicks him seemingly to death. However, Vause discovers in the night that he is just barely alive and is forced to suffocate him. Vause and Whitehill, planning on burying Aydin under the floorboards, discover Frieda Berlin, who has found the body in its temporary hiding place. Together Vause, Whitehill, and Berlin dismember and bury the body in the garden. As the season progresses, Whitehill becomes increasingly at risk of blowing their cover. Meanwhile, Vause is suffering from guilt and lives in constant fear of being caught. When Berlin suggests poisoning Whitehill, Vause confides in Galina "Red" Reznikov, hoping she will convince Berlin otherwise. In episode 8, Vause and Chapman bond again while getting high with Nichols in the garden, and their relationship once again progresses. Aydin's body is found in an unwarranted investigation by Desi Piscatella, resulting in Whitehill being sent to psych. Vause is never questioned about his murder. Vause's guilt manifests itself in notes left around the prison, revealing Aydin's name. Chapman convinces Vause to find them all, and prepares to burn them.
Season 5
Following Poussey Washington's death and the subsequent prison riot, Alex and Piper (Taylor Schilling) help Linda (Beth Dover) disguise herself as an inmate for her protection. Alex help Piper and Taystee (Danielle Brooks) to strengthen their negotiating position by confiscating supplies sent by the governor. Piscatella captures Red, Piper, Alex and several other inmates and violently breaks Alex's arm, Piper with the help of other inmates overpowers Piscatella. Now evidence gathered by Gina (Abigail Savage) is released online cornering Piscatella. As the negotiations collapse a big proposal takes place, Piper proposes to Alex and she accepts, providing a sigh of releif before Alex joins Piper and several other inmates in hiding inside Frieda's bunker until CERT officers breach the bunker at the end of the riot.
Season 6
Following the prison riot, Alex is transferred to Litchfield Maximum Security along with the other inmates who were found in Frieda's (Dale Soules) bunker. After initially fearing Alex has died during the riot, Piper is renuited with her in general population. Alex later becomes involved in Badison's smartphone smuggling operation, reluctantly hiding and concealing a cellphone during prison searches. As the two adjust to a life in maximum security, Piper proposes that they have a prison wedding to strengthen their relationship. Alex later agrees to work for Carol (Henny Russell) in exchange for Badison (Amanda Fuller) leaving Piper alone. As Piper's release from Litchfield approaches, she and Alex are married in prison ceremony officiated by Nicky Nichols.
Season 7
Following Piper's release, both she and Alex try to maintain their relationship while Alex is still in prison. Alex has three years left of her sentence at this point. Due to a lack of intimacy and the obvious restrictions in their relationship, Alex encourages Piper to seek physical comfort from somebody else whilst she is away with the agreement that it is a temporary arrangement and to ensure she isn't lonely. Alex herself embarks in a physical relationship with CO McCullough who is blackmailing her to sell phone chargers to inmates.
Prepon stated that Piper and Alex remain a couple at the end of the final season.
Critical commentary
Matthew Wolfson of Slant Magazine described Vause as intelligent, "with the instincts of a pragmatist, but without a strategy—a striking and emotionally direct person who may have closed off too many options for a workable future”. Dana Piccoli of AfterEllen said that Vause could be considered a villain in the first season as she is the reason Chapman is in prison, but she is also a "fascinating character that we want to understand and spend time with." Writing in The Daily Beast, Victoria Kezra similarly suggested that Vause is already a villain before the audience meets her, but the audience's "perception of her changes throughout the show", from a villainous figure to a sympathetic individual. Vause has "a great sense of humor about the whole situation" and is "pretty caring and insightful". TV Guide's Liz Raftery considered her a polarizing character, asking "is she a master manipulator or just misunderstood?". She proposed that Vause "seems to think of herself as a bad person but maybe she isn't, whereas [Chapman] is so convinced that she's a good person and is totally taken aback whenever anyone challenges that." Gerri Mahn of Den of Geek wrote that unlike Chapman, Vause "doesn’t harbor any illusions about who she is or what playing by the rules will get her". Vause sincerely loves Chapman, Mahn considered, and "continually came to her defense throughout season one", turning her down when she realized Chapman was using her as "someone to fall back on when Larry doesn’t come through".
Tim Surette of TV.com said that Vause's season one flashbacks fit the character well and "instantly gave us a story to be interested in", as they provided a more rounded view of Vause than Chapman's purview allowed. PopMatters's J.M Suarez described Vause as street-smart, "fearless" and "intimidating", contrary to Chapman who is "sheltered" and "often afraid and deferential", and it is "in highlighting these differences in prison, that their eventual backstories have even more impact." Greco Patti of Vulture complimented Prepon's "nuanced" portrayal, and noted that, despite Vause's illicit occupation and her role in Chapman's imprisonment, she is a woman who "came from nothing, who loved and lost, and who maybe got used", and seems more loyal and genuine in her love for Chapman. The A.V. Club's Myles McNutt considered Vause's relationship with her crimes to be "complicated"; he appreciates when the show does not filter character development solely through Chapman, deeming it "productive" when Vause had "a chance to open up to Nicky". Mahn said that, growing up poor, a free ride wasn't a possibility in Vause's world. She "left her scruples at the door" when she built her life on an alliance through her father's drug dealer, "worked hard, gambled big, and lost everything". McNutt said Vause's conflict with Doggett, who saw her as "coming from privilege", is a trigger for Vause's "past struggles with class hierarchies". Her despondency regarding her absent father "could either gain [her] new perspective and put her life on the right track or [she could] try to fill the absence as quickly as possible", the latter of which she chose. Autostraddle posited that Vause hates and fears vulnerability, and is a complicated character; the writer found her sexual threat to Doggett "troubling", but she empathized with Vause as a young girl "who would do anything for the life she was cheated out of".