Did Daya Die in the 'Orange' Finale? Dascha Polanco Says...

The final season of Orange Is the New Black premiered last week and the final episode features a cliffhanger moment with Dascha Polanco‘s character Daya.

This post will contain some spoilers, so don’t continue reading if you don’t want to know what happened!

In Daya’s final scene, her mother Aleida Diaz, played by Elizabeth Rodriguez, tackles her to the ground with her hand around her neck. It’s not clear if she survived the attack.

“They made it very clear to me that I don’t die. I thought that she did. But the writers told me, ‘She doesn’t die, but she gets knocked out really well.’ And I realized it was going to be left as that question. I acted that out really well, huh? (Laughs.),” Dascha told THR. “Because I said, ‘Wait a minute! Does she die?’ That was explained to me.”

“The entire last episode was super emotional. Everyone was in their feelings and reliving moments: ‘Remember when we were here?’ After she knocks me out, I would start crying or getting emotional. Not for the scene itself, but for the last couple of days they had everyone come in and we took a ‘last seven seasons’ group picture,” she added.