Mischief Night is upon Litchfield, and harsh pranks are going on throughout the prison. Fantasy Inmate is underway, with the guards already starting to influence their picks — such as Piper being goaded to instigate an fight in exchange for her chipped tooth. Tiffany is still on the run, fleeing to Canada with her beau Charlie, but she starts to have second thoughts about the future and ultimately turns herself in. Frieda and Suzanne have somewhat rocky interactions, Suzanne's naivete when finding a bundle of wooden shivs and her tendency to talk to herself at night are wearing Frieda's patience thin. Caputo is reassigned to Missouri and is shown planning his move, while Taystee is running out of defense options for the false accusation of Piscatella's murder.
This episode provides examples of the following tropes:
- Eek, a Mouse!!: Played absolutely straight during a prank in food storage, involving around a dozen rats being let loose as a mischief night prank.
- Elopement: Tiffany and Charlie are in the process of this, only for Tiffany to have second thoughts and give herself in.
- Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: As Linda rants about Caputo keeping her in the jail to fudge the numbers, Fig replies that they were actually an inmate short until Chang was found. It then hits both women that this means there's still a prisoner missing.
- Fixing the Game: Virginia Copeland has no qualms in manipulating her draft picks to score more points in Fantasy Inmate.
- Halloween Episode: Takes place on the day before and on.
- Kicked Upstairs: Caputo being told to take a position in Missouri is this, especially since the riot happened on his watch.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Played for laughs with Frieda realizing what she’s getting into by having Suzanne as a bunkmate.
- Put on a Bus: Seems since her brief appearance in season 4, Stella finally got out of prison or at least transferred to another prison.
- Self-Harm: McCullogh has been burning herself with cigarettes as a way of coping with the riot.
- Undisclosed Funds: In an almost shockingly expensive bill moment, the cost of Caputo's would-be movers is high enough that he calls them out for extortion. The figure, however, is never revealed.
