At the end of season 3 of "Orange is the New Black," it looked as if Laura Prepon's character, Alex Vauss, was in grave danger as she was last seen facing down a hired killer sent by a drug dealer who's out for revenge. But in an Instagram post last June, the actress confirmed that Alex is coming back for season 4. 

In the picture, Prepon is in character holding up her inmate ID and wearing thick eyeliner and eyeglasses. It was captioned, "Glasses, Eyeliner, Badge…excited to get out there and make an awesome season for you guys!" 

Both Prepon and Taylor Schilling, who plays Piper, confirmed that Alex will be back for season 4.

Speaking to TVGuide at a Netflix event earlier this week, Prepon said that Alex's encounter with the killer will definitely have an effect on her. The actress said that Alex was justified in her paranoia about fellow inmate Lolly (Lori Petty) and that fans shouldn't expect to see "a timid side of Alex" when the show returns for its fourth season. 

But Alex is not the only "OITNB" character that fans worried about during the show's third season. Viewers witnessed how Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) and Stella (Ruby Rose) were transferred to maximum security. Nicky, determined to sell Vee's heroine, was transferred three episodes into the season after Caputo (Nick Sandow) found a bag of the drug in his office. 

When asked by TVGuide whether Nicky will be returning in the new season, Lyonne said it would all depend on show creator Jenji Kohan. 

"I certainly don't know what's in Jenji's mind…So, who knows? And I could certainly see a million different avenues to go down," said Lyonne. 

Meanwhile, new fan favorite Ruby Rose also said that she is unaware if Stella will be coming back in season 4. Stella was taken to maximum security after she was found stealing from Piper. On whether she'll be back for the new season, Rose told Variety that she doesn't know, but said that the cast has already began shooting in New York and that she's not on those episodes. 

"I think if Stella were to come back, it would be a pretty hefty storyline," she said.

"Orange is the New Black" is slated to return for a fourth season in summer 2016 on Netflix.