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Baxter "Gerber" Bayley is a Corrections Officer at Litchfield Penitentiary, who is responsible for the death of Poussey Washington and one among the many correctional officers hired by Caputo due to a staff shortage in Season Three. He is portrayed by Alan Aisenberg.
He is nicknamed "Gerber" by Alex upon first seeing him due to his young age.
Personality
Bayley is a naive and awkward young man. Having just turned 21, he is very immature and inexperienced, which allows the inmates to take advantage of him. Unlike most guards, Bayley doesn't find pleasure in torturing the inmates.
Physical Appearance
Bayley is a young CO with short brown hair. He has clear skin and small, dark eyes. He has a high forehead and wears either his CO uniform or sweats. It was discussed/joked by Alex Vause that Bayley's penis looked like a chicken neck. He is rather tall at 6 foot 1 inches.
Biography
For a list of episodes featuring Bayley's flashbacks, see here.
Before Litchfield
Before Litchfield, Bayley is shown as a rebelling teenager doing numerous things revolving around the prison. He is shown being arrested with friends for being on the prison's water tower drinking, but later being let go. He is also shown throwing eggs at inmates picking up garbage, including Frieda Berlin.
He had a job at an ice cream stand, but was fired after giving all the girls he found cute free ice cream and costing the owner a lot of money in the process. He didn't seem to understand why he was being fired, showing an immature attitude.
Season Three
On one of his first days on the job, he overreacted when two inmates started arguing over an Uno game and pepper-sprayed them before accidentally spraying himself and Donaldson when Donaldson attempted to stop him.
Piper enlists him into her used panty business, using him to sneak underwear out of the prison so that her brother Cal can sell them on the outside. Later on, he decides that he cannot smuggle underwear out of the prison anymore, which causes Piper to assume that he wants more when it was actually due to stress. Intending to offer Bayley a hand job in exchange for his continued cooperation, Piper is interrupted by Stella , who convinces him to continue smuggling panties out of the prison for the bragging rights on the outside.
At the end of the third season, he is shown running for help when all of the inmates are leaving the prison to swim in the lake and most of the other guards have left for the strike.
Season Four
Bayley becomes increasingly uncomfortable with what he knows are heinous human rights violations in the prison. Caputo tells Bayley to leave Litchfield Prison because Caputo doesn't want Bayley's innocence and good heart to be corrupted. After the inmates stage a protest against mistreatment by guards by standing on tables, Bayley is ordered to get the inmates down by Piscatella. Bayley pulls Poussey down, intending only to follow orders, but then Suzanne Warren begins a fight that ends up involving several people including Bayley. Bayley, while defending himself, unknowingly suffocates Poussey, killing her. Bayley is distraught after the accidental homicide, and is put on leave by Caputo. He resumes working at his father's pet grooming business, but clearly feels guilty for killing an inmate.
Season Five
After the death of Poussey Washington, Bayley starts helping at his father's pet grooming business. He is remorseful for his actions and is seeking some form of punishment. The people around him continually offer sympathy he feels is undeserved. Bayley starts drinking and tries to turn himself in to the authorities. They refuse, assuming he's talking nonsense, and allow him to sober up in a cell overnight. Bayley tries to commit suicide by drinking dye but it turns out to be non-lethal. He later visits former COs Wanda Bell and Scott O'Neill to ask for advice, but they too only offer shallow life affirmations. Bayley visits General James P. Washington, Poussey's father. Bayley initially tries to apologize and ask for punishment, but Washington refuses. He explains Bayley deserves his misery and hopes he never finds peace. A distraught Bayley leaves in tears. After talking with a bartender at the bus station about what it'd be like to walk away from one's life and never look back, Bayley decides against taking the bus back to Litchfield, and leaves the bus station for parts unknown. In Poussey's flashback, when she leaves her friends and realises her phone has been stolen, Bayley is seen to walk past her with friends.
Relationships
Friends
- Lee Dixon (friend) - Dixon attempts to comfort Bayley after he has been discharged for the accidental murder of Poussey Washington by saying that he himself has killed many people in cold blood. This did not help Bayley, but it showed Dixon cared for Bayley.
- Charlie Coates (best friend) - Bayley and Coates were shown to be the "original" guards after the veterans were transferred, despite having only recently been hired themselves. After Aydin Bayat's body was found, Coates was given night duty around the greenhouse, Bayley stays with him briefly.
- Piper Chapman (friend) - After killing Poussey, Bayley attempts to go to B-Dorm to apologize to the black inmates, but is stopped by Piper and tells them not to as they are grieving.
- Wanda Bell (friend)
- Scott O'Neill (friend)
- Joe Caputo (friend) - Caputo recognizes Bayley's innocence and inexperience. He tries to warn Bayley about the corruption within the prison system, and even advises Bayley to find another job. Caputo tries to defend Bayley's actions that led to Poussey's death in order for Bayley to avoid jail time. In doing so, however, he sidelines Poussey, causing Taystee to start a prison riot. Caputo later explains he was "trying to avoid another tragedy".
Romantic
- Piper Chapman (flirt) - In order to find an outlet from the prison for her panty business, Piper chooses CO Bayley to distribute them. While working in the factory, she flirts with him directly. One night, Piper sneaks into the guard's office in A-Dorm and nearly offers Bayley a hand job, before being stopped. Alex deters Piper from doing this and the flirtation stops.
Enemies
Trivia
- In Toast Can't Never Be Bread Again, Bayley can be briefly seen walking past Poussey Washington, during her flashback to New York.
- In early episodes, Bayley can be seen with a name tag that says "C. Bayley" indicating that his name was originally going to start with a C.