The third season of the American comedy-drama television series Orange Is the New Black premiered on Netflix on June 11, 2015, at 12:00 am PST in multiple countries.

The season received critical acclaim, again winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series for Uzo Aduba, and numerous other awards.

The prison hosts a special visitation party to celebrate Mother's Day, as part of Caputo's attempt to "soften" his regime in light of recent controversies.

Caputo blackmails Figueroa into helping him keep the prison open, and she points him to a private company that was interested in acquiring it.

Big Boo gets a makeover, hoping to convince the religious group to give her funding, but she flies into a rage at the homophobic reverend.

MCC invests in new mattresses and improvements in the prison, but they cut the guards' hours to part time.

A new work detail that pays ten times the wage of other prison jobs is introduced, prompting the inmates to jockey for the new positions.

Caputo interviews more part-time applicants, to the consternation of the other COs. A new prisoner, Lolly, reveals that a more appetizing kosher meal may be requested from the kitchen.

Morello is visited by a series of civilian pen pals looking for romance, and she takes a shine to a Jiu Jitsu enthusiast.

Chang secretly prepares specialty foods for herself and watches Chinese movies on a cell phone stashed in a garden shack.

Stella agrees to contribute soiled Whispers underwear for Piper's planned dirty-panties business.

The controversy, paired with Ramos nearly slicing her finger off, leads to Red running the kitchen again—just as the new regime introduces "boil in the bag" meals.

Suzanne's sci-fi story gains a cult following in the prison, but its latest chapter aggravates Poussey's alcoholic depression.

Pennsatucky bonds with Charlie Coates, a new CO. At a meeting in Utica, executives at MCC are shown to be completely devoid of compassion, and are solely concerned with cost-cutting and profits.

A rabbi quizzes prisoners about their alleged devotion to committed Jewish beliefs, resulting in a short list of approved kosher meals.

Leanne bullies Soso and acts as the self-appointed vocal leader of Norma's spiritual group.

After Lolly breaks a window in a shed, Alex notices that a large shard of glass has vanished from the debris.

Suzanne tells Morello that in spite of her erotically charged novels, she is still a virgin and confused about sex.

Using veggies grown in the garden, Red prepares a small pan of ratatouille for her kitchen staffers.

Enraged that Sophia has cut off her son's ride to the prison, Mendoza picks a fight with her in the bathroom.

Suzanne's manuscript lands on the staff's radar, leading to its confiscation, and Berdie is unfairly put on leave over the scandal.

Flaca encourages Piper's girls to stop wearing the panties until they get paid real money.

Piper agrees to set up a payment plan using cash cards, but she then fires Flaca for instigating the uprising.

Following Berdie's suspension, Soso returns to Healy for counseling, who continues to recommend medication.

While Daya is at the hospital, Aleida calls Mendez's mother and falsely tells her that the baby had died.

Piper confronts Flaca about stealing the proceeds from her panty business, but soon comes to realize that Stella is the culprit, as she will have no money to live on when she gets released.

Norma faces losing her followers after Poussey angrily confronts her for Soso's attempted suicide.

Soso is taken in by the African-American group; Suzanne bonds with Maureen; Cindy, having unexpected access to the required natural body of water, performs her ritual immersion and officially becomes Jewish.

[1] For the third season, several actors were promoted to series regulars, including Selenis Leyva, Adrienne C. Moore, Dascha Polanco, Nick Sandow, Yael Stone, and Samira Wiley.

The site's critical consensus reads: "Thanks to its blend of potent comedy and rich character work, Orange is the New Black remains a bittersweet pleasure in its third season.