Oz (TV series)

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Oz was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by HBO. The show, which aired for six seasons (1997-2003), is set in a maximum-security prison. The State that it is set in is never named, however through most of the viewing, it is assumed to be in upstate New York. The series was created by Tom Fontana and produced by Barry Levinson.

Oz is the nickname for the Oswald State Correctional Facility. Many of the plot arcs are set in Emerald City ("Em City"), an experimental unit of the prison, where the unit manager tries to emphasize rehabilitation and learning responsibility during incarceration. Emerald City is a controlled environment. There is a limited number of members of each racial and social group (Muslims, Italian Americans, Latinos, Homosexuals, Neo-Nazis, African Americans, Irish Americans and others). The microcosm of Emerald City is a metaphor for racial and economic struggles.

Oz avoids any easy answers as to the origin of violence and criminality. Even the worst offenders are shown to have moments of humanity, while the supposedly "normal" characters come to commit their own atrocities.

The ensemble cast included many famous actors including Rita Moreno, Ernie Hudson, as well as Law and Order stars Kathryn Erbe, Christopher Meloni, B.D. Wong, J.K. Simmons, Dean Winters and Kirk Acevedo. Many of the actors from Oz have appeared as guest stars or stars in the various Law & Order series, The Wire, and Homicide: Life on the Street.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Oz is narrated by wheelchair-user Augustus Hill (played by Harold Perrineau Jr.) in surreal segments that usually relate to an overall theme of the episode. Hill, a former drug dealer and ex-junkie, appeared as a recurring character in the show's storylines until the end of the 5th season, when he was killed and narrating duties were taken up by various deceased characters as well as Hill. The narrations by Hill are thus a form of breaking the fourth wall, although he did not address the camera during scenes where he was interacting with the other characters in the story.

The major plotlines in Oz typically involved rivalries between the different prison gangs, which often resulted in murder and retaliation. There are some long-standing individual rivalries including the ongoing struggle between Vernon Schillinger (played by J.K. Simmons), Aryan Brotherhood leader, and Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen), a family man jailed for killing a child while driving drunk.

Oz took advantage of the freedoms of cable television to show material that would be too extreme for traditional broadcast networks: coarse language, drug use, violence, male frontal nudity, homosexuality, rape, and ethnic and religious conflict. Interestingly, in Australia, Oz was screened on the relatively liberal-minded free-to-air channel SBS. This was also the case in Israel, where Oz was displayed on the free-to-air, commercial Channel 2, the United Kingdom where Channel 4 aired the show late night and in Ireland on TG4 where it was shown at 11pm. In The Netherlands Oz aired on the commercial Channel RTL5 and in Sweden and Norway Oz aired on the commercial channels TV3 and ZTV, and in Finland, on the free-to-air channel Nelonen (TV4). In Canada, Oz aired on the Showcase Channel at 10pm est. In Denmark, Oz appeared late night on the non-commercial public service channel DR1.

Contents

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Cast and Characters

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Main cast

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Character Synopses

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Prison Groups

There are ten main groups of prisoners on Oz, all divided by ethnicity or religion. The prison is 78% black and racial problems constantly arise throughout the series. Some groups, such as the Italians, run the whole prison while others, such as the gays, just appear as background prisoners. However, most gangs tend to be like the Latinos or Aryans; just doing whatever is necessary to show that they are credible and not be crossed.

The groups were denoted in the second episode of Season 2, when Tim McManus formed an inmate council consisting of one member of each group. He determined that four prisoners from each description would be in Em City at all times; no more, no less. This system was scrapped when Querns took over and started loading the unit with Homeboys, but was (apparently) reinstituted when McManus took over. On occasion, new inmates would be inserted directly into Em City; in this case, someone would have to leave for Unit B.

Described below are each of the groups.

  • Muslims: The Muslims are an African American group of prisoners who read the Qur'an and look to improve life and conditions for blacks in general. They wish to expose the racism, brutality, and injustice in prison system whenever an opportunity arises. Led mainly by Kareem Said, the Muslims are against drugs and homosexuality, among other issues. They for the most part get along with various gangs, until a fight breaks out with the Aryans. However, the Muslims are often left alone and not harassed due to their solidarity, numbers and the capable leadership of Said. In contrast to other gang leaders in Oz, Said himself is not feared as much as he is respected for proving himself to be smart, tough, and charismatic. Everybody knows that the Muslims will leave them alone if nothing is done to provoke them. The wiser gang leaders in Oz avoid conflict with them, and the not-so-wise ones who start conflict with them usually come to regret it.
  • Homeboys: The second African American group, these prisoners look to control the drug trade within Oz. Having the most soldiers of any group, they often have leadership and discipline conflicts; the vast majority of their members not only sell drugs, but heavily use them. Mainly led by Simon Adebisi and Burr Redding, the Homeboys commit several murders and look to guarantee a spot in the drug trade by any means possible. They are feared by most inmates and are mainly in conflict with the Italian and Latino gangs.
  • Bikers: The Bikers are a white gang which loves two things: Tits and Tattoos. Not involved in the drug dealing business, several of their members are heavy users. They also have the most tattoos of any group in Oz. Their key members are Scott Ross, followed by Jaz Hoyt. They are allied with the Aryan Brotherhood mainly so that they have back up in case the black inmates attack them.
  • Italians: The Italians run everything illegal in Oz. Willing to work with other gangs for dealing drugs, the Wiseguys are often confronted by the Homeboys in order to dominate the drug trade. They are first led by Nino Schibetta, whose son Peter later takes over the group. They are then led by Antonio Nappa and Chucky Pancamo. They often have influence within the prison staff as well, managing to pay off and hire several members to allow them to conduct their business. They are also the most connected gang outside of Oz and set up several murders (most notably Tobias Beecher's hit on Schillinger's son, Hank) and drug trades for a negotiable price. Most if not all of the Italian inmates' ancestors come from Sicily.
  • Latinos: The Hispanic gang on Oz, El Norte are mostly drug dealers. The Latinos in Oz are mostly of Puerto Rican ancestry. This gang is extremely ruthless, especially under the leadership of Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez. They work with the Italians more often when Enrique Morales runs the group. Throughout the series, inmate Miguel Alvarez is often questioned as being loyal to the gang fueled by an ongoing feud with Latino inmate Carmen Guerra.
  • Irish: The Irish are a smaller white gang, composed mainly of street hoodlums who wish to work with the drug dealing powers in Oz. The main focus of this gang is Ryan O'Reilly, a cunning sociopath who works with and around the most dangerous inmates in Oz, often unharmed. They are not on good terms with the Aryans, ever since Schillinger raped Ryan's younger brother, Cyril.
  • Christians: The Christians are a background gang in Oz that is predominantly white and use their religion to provide sanction for their members. Not a potential danger to any other gang, they get along with everyone and are more known when a Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier comes to Oz for embezzlement.
  • Gays: The gay inmates are a combination of actual homosexuals and men forced into sexual servitude. Primarily a background gang, several of them cross dress and provide sexual or feminine services (e.g. hair braiding) for other inmates. Because of the heterosexist attitude of the prisoners, the gays are held in low regard by the rest of the prisoners. The gays do come through somewhat in Season 3, however, when Nat Ginzburg suffocates Antonio Nappa, and when Jason Cramer does well in the prison boxing tournament.
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Inmates

The inmates in Oz are a wide variety imprisoned for different activities. Some inmates such as Adebisi and Schillinger are purely evil sociopaths with little moral compromise and others such as Beecher are merely in for screwing up only once in life. As the population is 78% Black, the Islamic inmates particularly Said try to raise issues relating to racial injustices of the system. The entire show though does go back and forth between showing the inmates as savage and human with most of the inmates getting shown as both at some point throughout the series.

  • Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.): physically disabled, but socially astute. Narrator of the series, Hill represents reason and logic.
  • Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo): goes through a process of losing masculine credibility within the latino gang, then tries to redeem himself after cutting out a respectable prison guard's eyes.
  • Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker): a brilliant Muslim leader with a lust for power and a conviction that other people's racism will absolve him.
  • Ryan O'Reilly (sometimes O'Reily) (Dean Winters): an Irish hoodlum, who does what it takes to survive. He is the only Irish inmate for most of the series and survives because he is an astute political player. Compared to Othello's Iago by show creator Fontana, he is responsible for almost every death in the show's first season.
  • Nino Schibetta (Tony Musante): the show's first leader of the Sicilians, he represents mob rule in prison. He is the prisoner who rules all until Simon Adebisi and Ryan O'Reilly decide to secretly murder him.
  • Peter Schibetta (Eddie Malavarca): Nino Schibetta's son, who got into Oz for money laundering. Tried to take the place of his father, but he kept learning the hard way he was not cut out for the role. (He was a slow learner, though, which got him raped twice and ultimately killed)
  • Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen): was an alcoholic middleclass lawyer in denial until landing in prison forced him to confront himself and become self-sufficient. His character undergoes the most drastic changes throughout the seasons, during which he becomes a drug addict, falls in love with a man and finds Islam. His relationship with Keller and blood feud with Schillinger is the series' dominant story arc, beginning in the first episode and not being resolved until the series finale.
  • Vernon Schillinger (J.K. Simmons): leader of the Aryan Brotherhood (Nazis), Schillinger commits atrocities against other inmates because of race, sexual orientation, or overall weakness. His behaviour demonstrates the prison system's indifference to humanity.
  • Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje): A gigantic, deranged maniac of Nigerian descent; incarcerated for decapitating a man with a machete. His flirtations with insanity and religion are transient. However, Adebisi remains one of the most powerful inmates within the walls of Oz up until his death.
  • Burr Redding (Anthony Chisholm): leads the Homeboys, the street blacks who do not wish to partake in any form of rehabilitation from 2001-2003. He is an old black man who is a veteran of the Vietnam War and the Streets. He represents Blacks who have lived too long and hard in the ghetto lifestyle. His best friend was the father of Augustus Hill.
  • Kenny Wangler (J.D. Williams): young member of the Homeboy gang on Oz from 1997-2000. Enters prison at age of 16, he represents young black males who have grown up too fast in a ghetto surrounding.
  • Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni): An ambiguously bisexual/homosexual serial killer who preyed upon other gay men in the outside world while hiding his sexual orientation through a series of marriages. Perhaps the most amoral figure in the entire milieu, he is a master of emotional manipulation and only seems to really enjoy himself when those who care about him are made to suffer. His relationship with Beecher is also a big part in many episodes.
  • Cyril O'Reilly (Scott William Winters): Ryan's mentally retarded brother who was incarcerated after blindly following Ryan's orders to murder the husband of a woman he was obsessed with. Mentally incapacitated in a gang fight, the treatment of Cyril reflects a monstrous aspect of the prison system.
  • Robert Rebadow (George Morfogen): an elderly inmate serving life for murder. He was sentenced to death originally, but in 1965 he survived a botched execution and had his sentence commuted. He is fantastically intuitive (some think as a result of the botched execution), which in the first couple of seasons he explains by nonchalantly saying "God told me"; later he begins to doubt the source and the veracity of his insights.
  • Agamemnon Busmalis (Tom Mardirosian): known as "the Mole", he is an expert tunneller and escape artist. He tries to escape Oz three times. The first tunnel he dug was claimed by two Aryans, and he sabotaged the tunnel, getting them killed when it collapsed. He eventually does escape, but gets apprehended when he shows up outside a celebrity's house to get her autograph. He eventually marries the secretary of a TV personality he has a crush on, even though she cheats on him and becomes pregnant with another man's child.
  • Chucky Pancamo (Chuck Zito): takes over as leader of the Italian inmates after the deaths of Nino Schibetta and Antonio Nappa. A pragmatist, he forms alliances with other gang leaders...subject, of course, to revision as the circumstances warrant.
  • Jaz Hoyt (Evan Seinfeld): leader of the bikers in Em City. A tattooed muscleman in prison for beating up a video store clerk (played by Jerry Seinfeld) in a dispute over store policy.
  • James Robson (R.E. Rodgers): an Aryan. Does little of consequence early in the series (aside from making an ill-advised advance on Beecher, which results in the head of his penis being torn off) but in later seasons becomes Schillinger's boon companion. However, the insulting of an Islamic dentist during the need for a gum transplant causes turmoil for him. After being called Goonga, the dentist intentionally installs the gum tissue of a black man inside of him which causes him to be kicked out of the Aryan Brotherhood for being racially impure. Thus his lifestyle is put into complete disarray.
  • Arnold "Poet" Jackson (Mums da Schemer): a black inmate in the Homeboys, Poet has a talent for writing. However, his heroin addiction pulls him under and causes him to get incarcerated and violate his early parole. Remains a full fledged Homeboy throughout the series by helping with the African-American drug trade within the prison.
  • Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez (Luis Guzman): a leader of the Latino inmates, he represents the brutality that inmates are capable of throughout his stay in the series.
  • Enrique Morales (David Zayas): A leader of the Latino inmates, he makes his first impression on Oz by causing the murder of previous leader Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez. Willing to work with anyone for means of the drug trade, he represents the businessman aspiration of prisoners within Oz.
  • Ronald Barlog (Brian Bloom): A friend of Chris Keller who tries to tell the feds information regarding Keller's previous murders in order to get a reduced prison sentence. Keller snaps his neck in a passionate encounter.
  • Richie Hanlon (Jordan Lage): Gets set up for the murder of another inmate by Schillinger. He eventually slips free only to have his neck slit by Nikolai Stanislofsky in the shower room. (Stanislofsky was a friend of the inmate Hanlon was believed to have murdered)
  • Nikolai Stanislofsky (Philip Casnoff): A Russian Jew who has many conflicts with Ryan O'Reilly, resulting in his "electrocution when taking a bath" form of demise at the hands of Claire Howell.
  • Shirley Bellinger (Kathryn Erbe): convicted of murdering her daughter, the first and only female inmate of Oz, she is housed separately from the other prisoners, on death row, awaiting her execution.
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Prison Staff

The Prison staff of Oswald is very much like the NYPD. The correctional officers are majority white most of whom are Irish and Italian with many Black and some Latino officers. The Warden, Leo Glynn is African American and started off at Oz as a correctional officer. Most of the correctional officers do not come from a well to do background and as a result, many of them are amoral and prone to corrupt activities. The main unit manager Tim McManus is the only authority figure who has not started off as a guard and this thereby gives him a different point of view for how to deal with the inmates. The rest of the non-correctional staff such as Dr. Nathan and Sister Pete have a much more humane view of things and often push Glynn and the others to see the inmates for their human characteristics. Overall, the staff is always conflicted trying to maintain internal affairs and order as to keep the public calm as to how the prison is being managed.

  • Warden Leo Glynn played by Ernie Hudson. Represents a conflicted person trying to maintain law and order in a prison that has too many bad things happening. He does what he can to maintain every conflict present in Oz and his family and as stated by Sister Pete later on is "The best man for the worst job."
  • Tim McManus played by Terry Kinney. A Liberal Idealist who forms Emerald City for purposes of making a perfect prison where rehabilitation and conflict are resolved. Often seen as weak for supposedly soft approaches to dealing with the inmates, he still manages to come out on top of many situations.
  • Sister Peter Marie played by Rita Moreno. A psychiatrist and nun, she is the main force of good inside of the prison and often is helpful to Tim McManus, Father Ray Mukada and Dr. Gloria Nathan in whatever conflict they are trying to solve. Gave serious thought to leaving the church after developing feelings for *Chris Keller
  • Diane Wittlesey played by Edie Falco. A corrections officer who is very conflicted. She maintains several issues at home, with Tim McManus, and with being a fair corrections officer at the same time.
  • Father Ray Mukada played by B.D. Wong. A Catholic priest who often provides spiritual counsel to many of the inmates, especially Miguel Alvarez, he assists Sister Peter Marie in being the main force of good on the show.
  • Dr. Gloria Nathan played by Lauren Velez. A prison doctor who leads the prison hospital in providing care for several of the inmates within Oz. A good person, she deals with conflict all the time, whether it is from the inmates such as Ryan O'Reilly, or state medical boards. She manages to come out calmly throughout any conflict.
  • Claire Howell played by Kristin Rohde. A female corrections officer, she is a sexually unstable character. She has sexual relationships with several staff members and inmates in a very dominant sense. She eventually learns her lesson after learning that she is pregnant, probably by an inmate of a different ethnicity.
  • Sean Murphy played by Robert Clohessy. An Irish corrections officer, Murphy is the staff member most trusted by Tim McManus. A fair and confident officer, Murphy maintains order to the best of his ability in Oz while doing what he can to support McManus' ideology. Because he is more honest and competent than the other guards, Warden Glynn also holds him in high regard.
  • Clayton Hughes played by Seth Gilliam. A young and conflicted African American officer, Hughes is very close to Warden Leo Glynn. Hughes' father died in the line of duty when Hughes was seven years old and was best friends with Glynn. After being convinced by Simon Adebisi that his father's murder was racially motivated, he becomes a Black Militant and attempts to murder the governor. When sent to prison, Hughes goes crazy and is accidently killed during an attempt on Glynn's Life.
  • Travis Smith played by Jerome Preston Bates. An African American corrections officer, he primarily runs the Isolation Ward at Oswald. He is promoted to the head CO by Unit Manager Martin Querns briefly when a virtually all black correctional staff and prisoner population are present in Emerald City.
  • Karl Metzger played by Bill Fagerbakke. A white supremacist guard who took over Wittlesey's position in Emerald City after she was transferred to Gen Pop. Has covert ties with the Aryans. Once did a favor for a couple of Aryans by forcing Busmalis and Rebadow to give them their pod, which contained a tunnel. He is killed by Tobias Beecher however when Chris Keller is about to confess to him being an actual member of the Aryan Brotherhood.
  • Martin Querns played by Reg E. Cathey. A jaded and results-oriented black man, Querns is hired by Warden Leo Glynn after pressure by community leaders to hire an African American Unit Manager in Oz. Querns, as told through a conversation to Simon Adebisi is only different from the black inmates in that he has been smart enough to have never be arrested for dealing drugs. Completely opposite of Tim McManus, he believes that drugs are good for the prisoners in making their minds too mentally polluted to cause any discipline problems inside the prison. He runs Emerald City by making Simon Adebisi and his supporters in charge with the policy that they may do all the drugs that they wish as long as no violence occurs. Kareem Said and Tim McManus completely oppose this and lead to his firing. His efficiency however promotes him to the position of warden at several state correctional facilities including Oz.
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Others

  • Governor James Devlin played by Zeljko Ivanek. A very right-wing politician, Governor Devlin represents all extreme mechanisms of Law and Order necessary to keep society crime free. He passes several acts to minimize prisoner rights and increase law enforcement spending. Disliked by several staff members and the vast majority of the inmates, Devlin eventually is in a sea of controversy once a city mayor whom he was politically involved with is sent to Oz for conspiring to commit a racially motivated bombing.
  • Miss Sally's Schoolyard (Miss Sally played by Whitney Allen) is a puppet show that the inmates enjoy watching.
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Trivia

  • The opening credits include footage of a person getting a tattoo of the series logo. This person is Tom Fontana, the series creator. According to commentary, nobody else would submit to getting a tattoo.
  • An episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Jerry Seinfeld featured an "episode" of Oz (using the actual set and actors) where Jerry, who was sent to prison during the final episode of Seinfeld, is transferred to Em City; the short film combines and parodies memorable moments in both series.
  • An episode of Family Guy called Fast Times At Buddy Cinacani Junior High featured Lois Griffin believing her son Chris Griffin to have killed a man, whereas it was actually his wife. Lois briefly contemplates calling the police but forgets it, stating "if I call the police, Chris will go to prison, and we all know what happens in prison showers! I've seen Oz!"' It then cuts to a group of naked (and possibly gay) inmates scrubbing each others backs in the shower singing a song to the tune to In the Merry Old Land Of Oz.
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Slang and Terms

  • Emerald City - Also called Em City. An experimental wing of the prison where most of Oz takes place
  • Prag - An inmate who has been made the sexual slave of another inmate. More generally, it may be used as an insult for a submissive or homosexual inmate.
  • Hack - a corrections officer.
  • Pod - A cell in Emerald City. They are concrete with a plexiglass front.
  • Tits - Drugs, most often heroin or cocaine. Discussion of drugs sometimes plays off of this slang. For example "squeeze my tits" for "share drugs".
  • Gen Pop - Nickname for a general population prison unit. Unit B is the main Gen Pop unit shown in Oz.
  • CO - Correctional Officer abbreviation.
  • Jizz - Term used to give amongst inmates to recognize credibility inside of prison walls; comes from "jism", an American slang term for semen.
  • Oz - Shortened term of Oswald. The main abbreviation that the prisoners use.
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Books

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See also

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External links

fr:Oz (série télévisée) he:אוז sv:Oz (TV-serie)

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