<P> Miss Claudette never gets mail, has not received a visitor in a decade of being incarcerated, and initially refuses help with her case as she has nothing to live for outside . However, when she receives a letter from Baptiste (whose wife has since died) she decides to appeal her conviction . Initially optimistic, her appeal is denied, and in a fit of anger she nearly strangles a prison guard in grief, and is immediately transferred to a maximum security prison with an extended sentence . </P> <P> Galina "Red" Reznikov (played by Kate Mulgrew)--Red is a Russian inmate who runs the prison's kitchen as the master chef and is the behind - the - scenes leader of the prison's white population . In her earlier life, she and her husband had migrated from Russia and ran a struggling restaurant in Queens, eventually getting involved with the Russian mafia bosses who frequented their establishment . Red angered the mob bosses by punching one of their wives in the chest (rupturing a breast implant) after being excluded by their group, but later impressed the same boss by offering sound advice that allowed her to swiftly climb the ranks of the organization . Red is feared and respected by most of the prisoners, and has a lot of influence with Healy . She is the closest to Nicky, whom she loves like a daughter, and is always accompanied by Norma and Gina who cater to her needs and work with her in the kitchen . Red runs a smuggling business out of her kitchen, using a food company she helped the Russian mafia set up, but refuses to import drugs of any kind . She actively uses her resources to help some of the inmates overcome drug addictions, although they have only "two strikes" before she abandons them because "Russians don't play baseball ." When Mendez begins to force her to use her connections to bring in drugs, she hatches a plan to have him removed from the prison . </P> <P> Red is initially pleasant to Piper until she unknowingly insults her cooking, and in response Red punishes her by starvation . Piper eventually repairs their relationship by making a lotion to help soothe Red's injured back . Red also has an odd obsession with a chicken that is allegedly seen on the prison grounds from time to time, as she wants to cook "real food" and also wants to absorb its "power ." Towards the end of the first season, she's decommissioned from the kitchen by Caputo after he discovers Mendez's drug smuggling operation, which is blamed on Red . Caputo assigns Gloria as the new master chef, and the kitchen is then run by the Latina inmates . In an attempt to take Gloria and her "girls" out of the kitchen, Red sabotaged one of the ovens, causing Gina to get injured, thus straining her relationship with her friends severely . Red eventually becomes Piper's new roommate and befriends her, while at the same time she attempts to come to terms with her loss of friends and status, in the process befriending the "Golden Girls"--the older women in the prison . </P> <P> Upon discovering a disused sewage drain in the prison greenhouse, Red restarts her smuggling business and reunites her shattered circle of friends . She has history with Vee, a returning prisoner who had befriended her when Red first went to prison years before the series began, only to be violently beaten by Vee who tried to take over her smuggling operation . Vee's appearance in the prison puts Red in competition with her . Following repeated threats from Vee against Red's girls and her family outside prison, Red attempts to strangle Vee during a blackout, but can't bring herself to finish the job and instead agrees to a truce . However, Vee sneaks up on Red in the greenhouse and beats her violently with a sock with a padlock inside, sending her to the prison hospital . She at first keeps her silence to the authorities about Vee as her attacker, preferring instead to plot her revenge, but has a change of heart after speaking with Sister Ingalls . </P>

White girl with cornrows on orange is the new black