If there’s anyone who can make an orange jumpsuit look good, it’s TV characters.
At some point in a series, the main character does something that lands them behind bars.
Usually, it’s split right down the middle with characters who are guilty and characters who have been framed but are, in fact, innocent.
The crimes that land our favorites in jail range from petty crimes to crimes that deserve a harsh punishment like theft, battery or even murder.
Here’s a list of TV characters who have served time and look way too good in orange.
It’s important to note that not all prisoners wear orange jumpsuits, but those brown jumpsuits don’t make as much of a statement.
The Ladies of Litchfield – OITNB
The ladies of OITNB made the orange jumpsuit a whole ‘lewk’ when it debuted in 2013! Piper was thirty and thriving in New York City until her past caught up to her and she was forced to serve 15 months at Litchfield Penitentiary where she was reunited with her ex-girlfriend, Alex.
Rose aka Sin Rostro – Jane the Virgin
Rose undoubtedly deserves to be in prison for all the pain she’s caused the Villanueva women, Rafael, Michael, and even her ex-lover, Luisa. But being locked up hasn’t stopped the mastermind from running her illegal plastic surgery operation to alter criminals’ faces.
The Liars – Pretty Little Liars
The liars have done their fair share of questionable things, including murder, but it was all at the behest of A. They never deserved to be incarcerated for protecting themselves, but when they were, at least they were all together.
Jake and Rosa – Brooklyn 99
Detectives Jake Peralta and Rosa Diaz were wrongly put behind bars for a crime they didn’t commit after attempting to infiltrate a dirty squad led by Lt. Melanie Hawkins. As they assimilated to their new normal, their team looked for ways to bust them out.
Archie Andrews – Riverdale
Archie has endured a lot of trauma at the hands of Hiram Lodge, but his stint in prison took the biggest toll on him. He was framed for the murder of Cassidy Bullock, marked by the Warden as the Red Palladin, and forced to fight in an underground prison fight club. Thankfully, his friends broke him free just before he broke.
Maya Pope – Scandal
At the tender age of 16, Maya began selling government secrets and later, caused her husband to shoot down a plane of over 300 innocent people. It’s no surprise she spent most of her life in prison with her own daughter believing she was dead.
Annalise Keating – How to Get Away With Murder
After Wes was killed in a house fire, Annalise was arrested at the scene and charged with his murder and arson, which reduced her home/office to ashes. You better believe she got her revenge the moment she was free again.
Nic – The Resident
Nic was framed by the show’s biggest villain, Dr. Lane Hunter, for allegedly killing Lily Kendall. Hunter, who treated perfectly healthy patients for cancer as part of an insurance fraud scheme, killed Lily but made it seem like it was Nic’s carelessness. In the end, Dr. Hunter got everything she deserved.
Olinksy – Chicago PD
Olinsky was a ride-or-die partner who took the fall for a murder that Voight committed. While Voight tried his best to clear Olinsky’s name, the detective was attacked in prison and succumbed to his injuries in one of the saddest moments on the series.
Oliver Queen – Arrow
Oliver Queen confessed to being his vigilante alter ego, The Green Arrow, which landed him a sentence at Slabside Maximum Prison alongside all the bad guys he personally locked up there. Yeah, not an ideal situation.
Barry Allen – The Flash
DeVoe framed Barry for his murder by assuming Dominic’s body, and planting his previous body in Barry and Iris’ apartment stabbed with a knife that had Barry’s fingerprints.
Callie – The Fosters
Callie was a trouble magnet and had multiple juvie stays on her record. Some of the biggest crimes included destruction of property and leaving the scene of a crime, which she quickly learned was a felony.
Brooke, Peyton, Haley – One Tree Hill
Surprisingly, these three found themselves behind bars fairly often for various crimes like robbery, assault, and even fraud. It’s even more surprising that Tutor Girl, Haley, has been behind bars the most. Oh, ladies. At least, their mugshots look good!
Ian – Shameless
In his final episode, Ian goes to jail for his role in blowing up a van as part of a protest against conversion therapy.
Spencer Reid – Criminal Minds
Dr. Spencer Reid spent most of Criminal Minds Season 12 in prison after being framed for a murder that occurred while he was traveling through Mexico to score drugs that would help slow down the onset of his mother’s Alzheimers.
Maddie – Proven Innocent
Attorney Madeline is wrongfully convicted of murder and is represented by an attorney who was also wrongfully convicted as they explore the frequency with which wrongful convictions based on race or simply ‘being at the wrong place at the wrong time’ occur.
Ruzek and Atwater – Chicago PD
Though Ruzek and Atwater never technically served any time, they have gone undercover as inmates on a few occasions. I couldn’t pass up on including them because honestly, they really make the orange jumpsuit look good.
Olivia Benson – Law & Order: SVU
No, Olivia wasn’t a prisoner but rather, working undercover for a case involving a prison guard who was sexually assaulting and raping female inmates. While there, the inmate took a liking to her and she almost became a victim before her partner, Fin, who was working as an undercover guard, stopped him in time.
Ambrose Spellman – Chilling Adventures of Sabrina
After 75 years of house arrest, Ambrose is freed for a short time before being framed by Father Blackwood for killing the Anti-Pope. He’s thrown into a jail cell for treason and murder, and though we all know he isn’t guilty, the Weird Sisters put him through torture nevertheless while Blackwood is out of town.
Cyrus Beene – Scandal
Cyrus’ time in prison was hard to watch, and though he’s committed some heinous acts during his political career, you couldn’t help but feel bad for him because he wasn’t guilty of ordering Tom Larsen to kill President-elect Frankie Vargas. They even threatened Cyrus with the death penalty. And the moment he was freed, you remembered why he deserved to be locked up.
Leonard Peabody – Umbrella Academy
Leonard Peabody’s is a product of circumstance. Peabody’s father became an abusive alcoholic after his mother died giving birth to him. He tried to find solace by joining the Umbrella Academy, but they shunned him and turned him away. When his father hit him, he murdered his father with a hammer and was put away for 12 years.
Erica Shepard – The Enemy Within
Erica Shepherd went from being of the CIA’s most brilliant agents to America’s biggest traitor after spying for a terrorist. As she’s serving a life sentence in a Supermax prison, she teams up with Will, an FBI agent whose life she ruined, in order to track down the terrorist and save her daughter’s life.
Shadow – American Gods
The show kickstarts with Shadow being released early from prison for good behavior after serving three years of his six-year sentence. It takes a bit to figure out what Shadow was in prison for, but we eventually find out that his late wife convinced him to rob a VCR repair store. When he realized the two conspirators were planning to take his cut, he beat them to a bloody pulp.
Sam & Dean – Supernatural
It’s a mission simply to keep up with all the times Sam & Dean have been arrested! They’ve been put away on suspicion of murder, for breaking into hotel rooms, for assault, for overdosing — the list goes on and on.
Cookie – Empire
Cookie took the fall for her husband after being involved in a drug deal gone bad, which landed her behind bars for 17 years and prevented her from getting to know her son’s. Once she’s free, Cookie comes back to claim what’s hers: Lucious’ empire and her family.
Red – The Blacklist
The criminal mastermind and “most wanted man in America” finally landed behind bars after evading authorities for nearly three decades. Shortly after Red helped the FBI foil a bomb plot at the UN building, he was caught off guard and arrested while innocently buying a celebratory pretzel from a street cart.
Emily Thorne/Amanda Clarke – Revenge
Amanda Clarke, who later assumed the identity, Emily Thorne, from a girl she met in a maximum security juvenile correctional facility when she was 13 spent most of her life trying to get revenge on the Grayson family, the people responsible for framing her father. She finds herself in prison again after Victoria Grayson fakes her death to frame her and lock her up permanently.
Barbara – Gotham
Barbara killing her parents was a turning point in her character trajectory. She’d gone off the deep end, enjoyed being a villain and wreaking havoc, and clearly wasn’t going to get better at Arkham Asylum.
