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Following the wider scope of the season premiere, episode 2 does what

does best — offers an in-depth and emotional look into the life of a woman we’ve spent so long with but never really knew well. This time, it’s Maria Ruiz. Until now, the most we’ve seen of Maria is when she had her baby in Litchfield in season 1, and when the newborn was taken from her to live with her taciturn boyfriend Yadriel, she dealt with the depressing heartbreak of being away from her child.

But before we get to Maria, let’s hit all of the new conflicts that the beginning of this episode sets up. Daya is upset that her newborn daughter will be raised in the foster care system following the news that her mother’s boyfriend was arrested during a drug bust. Aleida assures her daughter that her boyfriend (Cesar) will get off and return to taking care of the girl.

Elsewhere, the new bunking arrangements are causing trouble for Red, Piper, and Black Cindy. Red’s new bunkmate has a snoring problem that keeps her up all night, and Piper still can’t seem to intimidate her Hawaiian bunkmate. But the most heated of these bunking conflicts involves Black Cindy and her new roomie, a Muslim woman. The two bicker over space before religion comes into the argument. When Cindy, who goes by Tova following her conversion to Judaism in the season 3 finale, tells her bunkmate her name, she responds “You ain’t no Jew,” eliciting Tova to fire back “Like you was born in Karachi.”

The overcrowding concerns drive Caputo to call a prison-wide meeting to try and smooth things over with the inmates. Unfortunately for him, his solutions of Porta Potties, earplugs, and breathing exercises are not well received. Another thing that will likely not be well received by the inmates is his promotion of the super strict C.O Piscatella to captain of the guards. During the meeting, Sister Ingalls shouts out “Where is Sophia Burset!?,” a question which Caputo nervously avoids. (As a reminder, Sophia was last seen being placed in SHU “for her own protection” after being attacked by fellow inmates last season.)

happy about the overcrowding: Blanca. Most of the new inmates are Dominican, which prompts Blanca to turn to Maria (who is also Dominican) and say, “We’re the majority now.” This leads into a flashback of Maria’s childhood — we see an angry, machete-wielding Dominican man riling up a group of impassioned listeners into a drug war with the Mexicans. But then the tone dramatically shifts from aggressive war-mongering to jubilee as the man lifts up his young daughter (Maria) to celebrate her birthday.

Soon after the prison-wide meeting, Blanca stirs up even more memories for Maria in the TV room. Blanca and her new Dominican posse take over the television to watch a game of soccer to the annoyance of the two white inmates also in the room, who beg to watch a show about hotels instead. After Blanca intimidates the two white women out of the room, Maria implores her friend to be less aggressive. She remembers a day that she returned home from school with one of her friends, and her father openly flirts with the young friend. Embarrassed and upset, Maria vents to her friend that she can’t stand her father’s prideful, do-nothing lifestyle.

Young Maria then looks out the window to find the police chasing down a Mexican drug dealer that hangs out near her school. Noticing that he threw his drugs in the bushes before being arrested, Maria runs down and pockets them. Later on, Maria finds the drug dealer (who turns out to be Yadriel, the future father of her child) at a boxing gym and gives him back the drugs, also starting a romance with him as they each open up about their dreams.

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