"Baker's Dozen" is the eighth episode of the seventh season of Orange Is the New Black. It is the eighty-sixth episode of the series overall. It premiered on July 26, 2019.
Piper goes on a wilderness retreat with Neri and her friends. Neri wants to set Piper up with Zelda, a friend of a friend, but just for casual sex.
Piper does poorly at an archery exercise and has to sit out the actual hunting. She and Zelda sit in the woods and talk and they are able to open up to each other. They hear Neri screaming. It turns out that Neri killed a pregnant domesticated ewe, thinking it was a deer. Everyone in the group is traumatized except the instructor who says they are going to butcher it to continue learning about nature.
Piper and Zelda are tasked with burying the sheep fetus. They continue bonding and becomes friends but do not do anything sexual. Piper is able to talk to Zelda about being in prison without feeling judged.
Nicky feels concerned about Red's behavior. Red tells her not to worry but continues to act strangely. She gives Nicky a letter and tells her she needs Nicky to mail it but she doesn't know the recipient's address, she needs Nicky to find that out.
Later Nicky talks to Red and says she was able to track down the recipient of the letter but she had to call her first. She says the woman didn't want to give out her address and instead asked Nicky to read the letter to her, which she did. Nicky tells Red tearfully that Red sent the same letter to the woman ten years ago and "she didn't forgive you then and she's not ready to forgive you now". It's implied that the woman is Ilya's mother. Red gets upset with Nicky and tells her that she had no right to read her letter and that Red most certainly did not send it ten years ago.
The chickens are thriving under the care of the inmates in CO Alvarez's program. He credits the changes suggested by Suzanne and names her mayor of the chicken village, an honor she happily accepts. Lolly asks to be her lieutenant and she agrees. Later Suzanne and Lolly are asked by Alvarez to count the chickens. There should be 12 but they keep coming out to 13. (Lolly asks if maybe he meant "a baker's dozen" when he said a dozen, hence the name of the episode). Suzanne recognizes the chicken who doesn't belong as the one from minimum security in the earlier seasons that Red was always trying to find and that was always accepted to be a myth. She tells Lolly that they will just tell Alvarez there are 12 because the new chicken is supposed to be there.
Taystee begins tutoring Tiffany but was never told that she had a learning disability. Tiffany gives up in frustration. However, Taystee is later able to convince her to restart when she does some research about programs for people with learning disabilities.
Aleida is back in prison and tries to take over Daya's gang. She tries embarrassing Daya first but the whole crew just sits stony-faced staring at her. She finally tells them that the product has only been coming in because of her so she's really the head. Some of the crew start to follow what she is saying, causing some concern for Daya.
Aleida fakes a phone call so she can talk to Hopper who is standing a few feet away. At first he doesn't want anything to do with her since it's illegal for him to have a relationship with her. But she is eventually able to persuade him to continue bringing the drugs in and having sex with her.
Red is at her store meeting with the men from the Russian mafia. They have a new job lined up and are taking a younger, new associate named Ilya. Red is quite fond of Ilya and it's implied that she is friends with his mother. After everyone leaves, Ilya stays and talks to Red. Red asks him about his future. He doesn't seem totally comfortable with the job and she tells him she will see if she can get him out of it.
Red asks the mobsters if they really think Ilya is the best man for the big job. They reconsider and she is relieved. However, one of them ominously says that Ilya now "knows too much". Red is so happy about getting him out of the job she doesn't seem to notice the implication in his words.
The mobsters bring in a body to store in Red's freezer. She protests, saying that the health inspector could come, but they tell her they will be by first thing tomorrow to retrieve the body. One his way out, one of the men states that Red was right about Ilya and thanks her. Red suddenly realizes that the body is Ilya's. She goes back and checks and finds that she was right.
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