Oz
an Episode Guide
by TVFan
Last updated:
Thu, 25 Oct 2018 21:00
Ozan Episode Guide
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| aired from: Jul 1997 to: ___ ____ | 40+ eps | HBO | 60 min | stereo | closed captioned |
regulars:
recurring characters:
Oz, the second drama produced by Tom Fontana and Barry Levinson, premiered on HBO the summer of 1997. Set at Oswald State Penitentiary (later renamed Oswald State Correctional Facility: Level Four), Oz had it's roots in an episode of Fontana and Levinson's first show, Homicide: Life on the Street. "Prison Riot" not only guest-starred Charles S. Dutton, Dean Winters, and Tim McAdams, the exterior prison shots were used in "The Routine". Many performers and directors have worked on both shows, and some go as far back as Fontana's 80's masterpiece, St. Elsewhere. Similar to these programs, Oz is a cult show, receiving critical acclaim and loyal fans, without mainstream success or a landslide of awards.
Oz follows the prison lives of both inmates and staff. At its heart, the show is about how those on both sides of the bars watch their lives change, and what they will do to survive; easier said than done. Being a Fontana show, Oz contains graphic, explosive subject matter, along with a deft mixture of drama and humor. The cast is the most diverse and impressive ensemble I have ever seen on television. Deservedly, casting director Alexa L. Fogel has won several awards. For a list of the nominations and awards the series has received, the Internet Movie Database has a complete listing.
Each episode has narration and commentary by Augustus Hill, the only character to break the fourth wall. Along with narration, flashbacks of a prisoner's crime sometimes appear, along with their prison number, conviction, and number of years he or she must serve. Every major prisoner (and most of the minors) have one. This is usually the only moment we are allowed to travel outside Oswald's gates and doors.
Season 5 will premiere on January 6, 2002, 10 PM Eastern. Repeats of seasons two through four air on HBO Zone, Wednesdays, 1 AM Eastern. HBO's Oz website has episode summaries, interviews with cast and crew, and a message board.
B.T. Whitehill designed and created both "Miss Sally's Schoolyard" and "Up Your Ante". The hands behind the puppets, Nooter and Pecky, are Noel McNeal and Matthew Vogal.
A soundtrack is available nationwide, released by Avatar records. The soundtrack features rap from Lord Jamar and Method Man, among others.
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rc: Mineo, Poet, Mark Mack, D'Agnasti
Our first day in Oz coincides with Donald Groves, who killed his parents and ate his mother, Miguel Alvarez, stabbed and sent to the infirmary before he even sees Em City, Paul Markstrom, a petty thief who gets in because he's Glynn's cousin, and former lawyer Tobias Beecher. Beecher befriends older prisoner Rebadow, gets his watch stolen by podmate Adebisi, and eventually accepts Vern Schillinger's invitation to switch pods. Vern considers him livestock, branding a swastika on his butt.
Em City's harried but dedicated unit manager Tim McManus, has to deal with a ban on smoking by Governor Devlin and antagonistic guard Healy, but still finds time to make a date with married (but separated) prison doctor Gloria Nathan.
Kareem Said, an influential and charismatic Muslim leader, makes his arrival shortly after. He clashes with the gangsters, puzzles leader Jefferson Keane, gains followers, and puts Warden Glynn and Tim McManus on notice that this is now his prison.
Dino Ortolani, a lifer, begins to unravel under the numbing stress of the prison routine. He beats Jefferson Keane's flirtatious brother Billie near-death. McManus transfers him from the kitchen to the AIDS ward. He begins to bond with Sanchez, a late-stage prisoner who wants to die. Old nemesis Ryan O'Reily arrives at Oz, making a connection with Healy and gunning for Dino. Keane refuses until Billie's beating; he then dispatches Johnny Post to kill him. Dino tells his visiting wife to move on with her life shortly before granting Sanchez's wish by smothering him. A beaten and bloodied Dino is put in restraints, locked in the Hole, and sedated by Gloria. Johnny Post, thanks to Ryan's hack connections, manages to sneak in and burn Ortolani to death, as he lies helpless.
Flashbacks:
A small clock is featured at key moments. To date, this technique has never been used since.
Ryan tells Healy his brother said hello, and that Healy could help. Since Ryan's brother Cyril received brain damage before Ryan went to prison, either a third O'Reily brother exists, or Fontana simply chose to ignore this scene when he reinvented Ryan's history.
rc: Brese, Burrano, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Mineo, Mark Mack, Peter Schibetta
Glynn sends in investigator Burrano to find Ortolani's killer. The Italians stop all distribution of illegal goods until they find the killer. As Nino grieves for Ortolani, son Peter visits, giving bad news about Mrs. Schibetta's declining health. McManus offers Nino a chance to visit his wife if he promises to wait on revenge; Nino turns him down. She dies shortly afterward. Ryan finally gets into Em City, inheriting Dino's old pod. Offering his sympathies after a visit with Nino, he also instructs Keane to give up Johnny Post to the Italians. Keane refuses. After a conversation with mob-connected Burrano, Ryan gets the hint and gives Post up. Nino has him brutally tortured and killed.
Keane's plans to marry pregnant girlfriend Mavis are stalled by Glynn. Said intervenes, persuading Glynn to allow a marriage by proxy. That Said wants nothing in return impresses Keane even more. Knowing Miguel's girlfriend will be delivering his baby soon, Father Ray goes to see him in the infirmary. Unsatisfied with Miguel's flippant attitude, he enlists the other two generations of Alvarez who live in Oz. Father Eduardo, who was sent in at 18 and got his tongue cut out by a Haitian, grandfather Eduardo, also sent in at a young age and in solitary ever since he took revenge against the Haitian and their efforts to break through work.
A depressed Beecher hasn't left his bed in days. Diane tells him to see Sister Pete about a conjugal with his wife. She arrives at Oz clearly nervous and unsure, only more so after the conjugal. Schillinger makes him beg to spend time with his wife, and later rip up family photos he kept hidden in his mattress. Devlin announces plans to ban conjugal visits, leaving Hill and other prisoners scrambling to get their time in.
Flashbacks:
rc: Burrano, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Mineo, Mark Mack
A memorial service is held for Post. Glynn speaks to Said, Keane, and Schibetta, telling them to stop the violence or face a lockdown. The Italians leave a reminder of Post in Keane's pod. The tension causes a violent confrontation between them and D'Angelo in the gym. Jefferson begins to grow distant, sets his bed on fire, and gets a physical warning from Healy in the Hole not to go after O'Reily. Tried as an adult, 16-year old Kenny Wangler arrives in Oz, attempts life as a Muslim after Keane won't make him a gangster, but quits soon after. Keane begins to suspect his wife is cheating on him. When Said berates the gangsters for allowing Wangler to follow their ways, Keane begs to be saved and converts to Islam. Spurning his old friends and brother Billie, he makes the mistake of asking Ryan to repent for setting up Ortolani's death. Ryan tells Nino Keane ordered Dino's hit, then he and Healy set up circumstances causing Keane to break the neck of a Latino trying to kill him.
Em City goes into lockdown. Devlin sweeps in, demanding an end to the lockdown and Keane's conviction and execution. Clashing immediately with the governor, McManus calls a senator friend to get on his case. Devlin then calls in feds to investigate the recent murders. Ryan asks Beecher for help with his appeal. Beecher struggles to rebuild his faith in Jesus despite the news his wife is filing for divorce. He also gets a job as Sister Pete's assistant, but accepts Ryan's offer of drugs after more humiliation from Vern.
Ray sees several surprising faces for confession. Miguel's son is born with has a bad liver, possibly because of he and Maritza's drug use before and during her pregnancy. He slices his face as a sign of penance to God. Groves gets sent to confession after sneaking into the morgue for a peek at Post's body, flirts with Catholicism for cannibalistic reasons, and tattoos Mom on his hand.
Flashbacks:
rc: Devlin, Mark Mack, Mineo
Keane is sentenced to die. The issue brews conflict for staff and inmates. Sister Pete joins protest marchers outside the prison, in spite of Glynn warning her she'll lose her job if she does (her replacement is a huge failure). McManus and Gloria break up when Tim finds out she's going to witness the execution. Watching Sister Pete fend off a pro-death penalty attacker, Tim and Whittlesey bond, drinking together and later having sex. Said passes out while watching a news report on the controversy. O'Reily accidentally lets it slip to Beecher that Keane was set up. He enlists Rebadow's help and later goes into protective custody per suggestion from Groves, but he encounters resistance from Keane. Beecher continues despite his wishes, but the hacks stop Rebadow, and Vern stops Beecher. Devoid of all hope, he gives up and lets Ryan switch him to heroin.
Rebadow reveals he was the last prisoner executed in the state, in 1965. At the moment the power switch was pulled, three states were plunged into a blackout. Keane's sister Grace needs a kidney transplant and Jefferson is a match. Tim persuades Said to help, and Ray to ensnare the cardinal, even though tension between Ray and the cardinal is how Ray got sent to Oz in the first place. Their combined efforts force Devlin to issue a stay. After successful surgery, Keane's father visits him, he begs his father to forgive Billie. Keane is later executed by lethal injection.
Fellow death row inmate Richard L'Italien is next to go. When Richard rattles off dozens of names of women he killed over a multi-state area, Glynn thinks he's stalling for time until evidence proves otherwise. He horrifies Ray with his gleeful attitude and inability to separate killing and love. Given a lethal injection, he dies as the yo-yo in his hand hits the floor.
Glynn gives Sister Pete her job back. Sick of D'Angelo and wanting to move higher in Nino's circle, Ryan dispatches Adebisi and Wangler to take him out when they're opening the kitchen the next day. Miguel's baby is taken off life support.
Flashbacks:
Leif Riddell finally gets a credit, but only as Aryan (the Mark Mack appears in the next episode). Derrick Simmons, besides being Billie Keane for 3 episodes, has also done stunts for the show.
D'Angelo isn't actually killed, he's only badly beaten, but he vanishes from the show after being seen in the infirmary. The real title of the movie Keane and L'Italien were discussing is I Want to Live!
rc: Brese, Burrano, Mineo, Mark Mack
Tim makes a concentrated effort to slow down drug traffic in Em City. When Nino turns down Tim's offer to help him get out of the business, Tim punishes him by transferring all his men into gen pop. Nino makes a deal with the gangsters. Poklewaldt hopes to avoid paying his debts to Adebisi by ratting him out to Glynn and McManus. Nino uncovers a secret that leads to Markstrom's death. A cloud of suspicion hangs overhead as Glynn orders a lockdown. A stir-crazy Miguel is calmed by podmate Groves and his acid-coated stamps, who eventually hallucinates visions of his dead son.
Despite Tim's declaration of love, Diane ends their relationship when rumors begin to spread. Three-strikes lifer Scott Ross arrives mid-lockdown, renewing old ties with Vern and Diane. She accepts his offer to smuggle cigarettes in exchange for money after the commissioner bans double shifts for guards. Said is diagnosed with hypertension, but refuses to take medication for fear of losing his focus as a leader. Rebadow later puts the fear of God into him. McManus agrees to leave him be after Said drops a hint that a hack is responsible for the drugs coming to Em City.
Nino orders Ryan to stop Healy's drug trafficking. Enlisting Poklewaldt's help, Ryan arranges for a deal between himself and Healy to be intercepted. Ryan gets sent to the Hole, tells the hacks Poklewaldt is responsible (and he gets Ryan's beating as a result), Healy is fired. Sister Pete forces Beecher to come to counseling after he shows up at work high. She and McManus arrange a visit between Beecher and his mother. Vern later dispatches an effeminate gay to give Beecher a makeover.
Flashbacks:
rc: Arif, Armstrong, Mineo, Poet
Wangler and a friend beat up Rebadow to get his package from home. He confides in orderly Groves that he wants to escape Oz, and feels reborn despite being unsuccessful. Ray, Gloria and Pete suggest a senior's section of Oz. A distant and depressed McManus turns down Gloria's dinner invitation and attempts to strangle Wangler in his office.
Ricardo Alvarez is found babbling incoherently in his solitary cell. Diagnosed with late-stage of Alzheimer's, Glynn refuses Pete and Ray's suggestion he go free, so Miguel and Eduardo (who already work as orderlies) take care of Ricardo for the rest of his life. Miguel worries he's going to be exactly like him. Groves goes to a dentist reluctant to treat him, and goes into business with Ross to sell his tooth as killer memorabilia.
Beecher dresses in drag and sings "I've Got It Good And That Ain't Bad" at the prison variety show. Pete arranges a visit with Kathy Rockwell's mother to make Beecher realize he's not the only victim. Vern kicks him out of the pod in favor of Ross, but doesn't want anyone else to have Beecher. He orders him to wear a Confederate flag t-shirt and walk toward Adebisi and the other blacks. Flying and enraged after Ryan gives him PCP, he throws a chair through Vern's glass pod door, sending Vern to the hospital with severe eye damage, and Beecher to the Hole. Nino replaces Adebisi with Ryan as head of the kitchen. Adebisi and his men hold up the service until Ryan convinces him to join forces. They plan to slowly kill Nino by putting ground glass into his food. Ryan mentions his travel plans after parole in 12 years and teasingly invites Pete to go with him.
Basketball star Jackson Vayhue arrives at Oz, persuading adoring sponsor Hill to start taking drugs again, scoring drugs from Adebisi, refusing to do any menial tasks, rejecting Said's admonishment that he is a role model, and generally being a pain in the ass. New Muslim prisoner Huseni Mershah clashes with Ross and challenges Said's policy of nonviolence. A worsening Said rejects staff pleas to take his medicine, later suffering a heart attack as podmate Mershah leaves him to die.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Arif, Burrano, Devlin, Mineo, Mark Mack, Poet
While Said recovers, Huseni attempts to rally the Muslims around him. Said returns against medical advice after agreeing to take his medication, casting Huseni out. After unsuccessful attempts to get back in, and persuade Adebisi to kill Said, Huseni tries to convince Glynn and McManus Said is planning a riot. Glynn calls for a shakedown, finding countless weapons and revoking the prisoner's privileges for 2 months. Huseni is transferred out, gets a salivary farewell from Em City prisoners, and dies after going to gen pop.
Said gives an interview casting doubt on the recent deaths and Glynn puts him under a press blackout, McManus bans his religious apparel. The prisoners' tune out Glynn's official report, claiming other prisoners caused all deaths. Said begins exerting control over the masses. An impressed Groves tries to kill Glynn in honor of Said; Officer Lonnie Smith gets in the way. Widespread abuse of prisoners by guards follows. New guard Wood leaves a gun for Said inside the dryer. Groves requests death by firing squad. Officer Smith's mother visits him on death row, reducing him to tears with her forgiveness. Groves attempts suicide, but recovers in time to be executed. Ray attempts to write down Donald's last words for Smith's mother, but no one heard them. Hunt volunteers for the squad and is visibly shaken afterward.
Famous cellist Eugene Dobbins is allowed to practice in the cafeteria, but feels lonely because he has no one else to play with. Hill defends him from the attacks of a jealous Vayhue and stops taking drugs. He finds a trumpeter to rehearse with Dobbins. The beautiful music stops when Vayhue and Wangler break into Mukada's office, destroying the cello.
Ross and Ryan form an alliance in case of future riot. Nino hemorrhages throughout his body, Ryan feeds him glass even on his deathbed and takes over his operation with Adebisi. Beecher gets out of the Hole, McManus sends Vern to gen pop and refuses Beecher's request to transfer him to another cellblock. Vern takes a beating and a dumping from him in the gym.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Arif, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Mineo, Mark Mack
Beecher comes back to Em City, bearded and insane. Vern arrives around the same time, rattled after a visit from his drug-addled sons and on his best behavior for his upcoming parole date. Ross cuts him off when he won't kill Beecher. McManus tells Diane he knows about the cigarette deal, they argue over Ross. Her attempt to break off the deal with Ross leads him to threaten her with going to the authorities. New Polish guard Knowakowski starts his first day in Em City. Dobbins spends all day in front of the television, depressed, since he lost his cello and. Rebadow feels God has betrayed him and begins to think he never talked to God at all. Miguel takes over as leader of the Hispanics.
Despite Said's plans to have Arif start the riot, it begins right under his nose, with two men fighting over a game of checkers. Mineo, D'Agnosti and Knowakowski are overtaken when they attempt to intercede; Ryan and Scott Ross deal with Hunt and Armstrong, the Muslims save Diane from possible rape. Dobbins is stabbed repeatedly by another inmate. Rebadow hides behind a mattress, Beecher revels in the madness, Adebisi, Wangler and crew destroy Tim's office, Mukada is beaten by prisoners in spite of his begging Miguel for help. Said takes control of the riot with his gun.
Adebisi, Said, Ross, Ryan, and Miguel share power and divide responsibilities. Hill convinces Vayhue to finally do the right thing by carrying Dobbins' body outside Em City for get medical treatment, but a hostile SORT team meets them. Beecher warns Vern he'll be there to ruin every parole hearing. Miguel beats Mineo into unconsciousness for a remark he made about his dead baby. Tension builds between Wangler (the gangsters) and Ross (the Aryans/bikers).
McManus offers himself as a hostage in exchange for Diane the badly inured Mineo and Armstrong. Ross in particular refuses to let Diane leave, but Mineo and Armstrong go. Tim's attempts to get through to Said fail, Hunt blames him for the entire riot, in a moment of hallucination he sees the 6 prisoners whose deaths he feels responsible for. Devlin rejects all prisoner demands. The gangsters begin going through heroin withdrawl, Adebisi nearly kills Wangler before the other prisoners tie them all up. The lights go out. Shortly after Said puts the hostages in the immediate line of fire, tear gas spreads through, and the SORT team enters, ordered to fire at anything that moves.
Flashbacks:Douglas Crosby also does stunt work for the show.
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rc: D'Agnasti, Devlin, Robson
After the smoke clears, Knowakowski, Hunt, and Ross are dead, with 5 other prisoners and 34 injured. Em City's prisoners are transferred to gen pop. A hospitalized McManus recovers from a gunshot wound. Ryan, Said (beaten by guards) and a detoxing Adebisi go into solitary. The governor appoints dean Alvah Case to investigate the riot and his actions, implying a possible attorney general position. Case grows more interested in discovering who killed Scott Ross, going through a zigzag of prisoners and hacks before uncovering the killer, Diane. Unapologetic, she leaves her fate in his hands, but he doesn't press the matter further. Vern taunts her with the knowledge of the cigarette deal and Ross' murder, telling her he'll forget if he gets parole. Under pressure from those around him, Case files his report, exonerating both the prisoners and Devlin. He leaves after threatening Devlin that he'd rather be governor than attorney general. Beecher goes to the Hole after sinking his teeth into aggressive cellmate Robson. Hill runs into Vayhue and learns Dobbins is dead.
b: 11 Jul 98 pc: 201 w: Tom Fontana d: Nick Gomez NOTE: Charles S. Dutton received an Emmy nomination for his performance in this episode.rc: Armstrong, Coushaine, D'Agnasti, Hanlon, Kirk, Mark Mack, Mineo, Pancamo
10 months after the riot, Em City reopens. An invigorated McManus promises reforms, orders prisoners to be a part of his new GED program, and forms a council made up by himself and a member of each group (Latinos, Muslims, Gays, Italians, Bikers, Aryans, Irish, Gansters, Christians, Others). Christian Coushaine agrees to teach the classes. When Wangler proves to be illiterate and unwilling to learn, McManus forces him. He also expresses interest in Poet and his work. Em City newbie Busmalis declares his intention to tunnel out of Oz. Hill fights his group status, and fears for his anatomy with Beecher as a podmate. Said tells McManus he plans to write a book about the riot. Peter Schibetta, now a prisoner, blackmails Glynn into letting him run the kitchen. Ryan tells Peter Adebisi put glass in Nino's food, but any future plans are stopped when he's diagnosed with breast cancer. Ray helps him to accept the news.
Vision restored (but with a scar), Vern returns to Em City. Close to his parole date, he pays Diane to kill Beecher, realizing only when he asks to see the body that he's been set up. He loses parole and gains conspiracy to commit murder charges. McManus begins to lose faith in Diane after Vern tells everyone she killed Ross. Glynn's daughter Ardith is raped by a gang of Latinos, he takes it out on Miguel. They trade punches after Miguel flirts with secretary Sarah. Miguel goes to the Hole until Sister Peter convinces Glynn to drop the vendetta. Ray tells Miguel he forgives him for not intervening him during the riot.
Flashbacks:
If Vern's parole date in season 1 was 3 months, how did it stretch to 10 months in season 2?
rc: Armstrong, Coushaine, Giles, Hanlon, Kirk, Mark Mack, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce
Hanlon overhears Miguel boast he knows Ardith's rapist. He tells Ray, Ray tells Glynn, and has to stop Glynn from beating the truth out of Miguel. Glynn later turns down Peter's offer to learn the truth in his own way. Rebadow agrees to join forces with Busmalis after he catches him digging a tunnel in their pod. Beecher and Hill argue over farts. McManus gives Diane the brush-off on her first day back in Em City. McManus gives Wangler a present after he makes strides in his reading ability, but Adebisi quashes any future progress. The Others vote Sister Pete sexiest woman in Oz, Beecher reveals she had a husband before becoming a nun. Pete visits solitary prisoner Giles after he's heard repeatedly babbling her name. The conversation turns violent before she gets any answers. Copies of Said's book arrive and he begins studying law. Hill learns the judge who sentenced him has been accused of taking bribes; he joins forces with Said to fight for a new trial. Hill berates his former public defender and begins to hope for an overturned verdict. He and Said meet with the prosecutor in his trial, Marilyn Crenshaw (Said's fiancée before he became a Muslim), she and Said share bitter words. Said and McManus clash over how much leeway he deserves for preparation.
Against Gloria's wishes, the prison chooses to make Ryan have a lumpectomy, rather than the more expensive mastectomy. Ryan meets with wife Shannon and "slow" brother Cyril, breaks down in Gloria's arms, and takes the opportunity to breathe in the air of the outside world. After being beaten by black inmates on his first day back in gen pop, Vern kills Alexander Vogel, carving "Jew" on his chest and hanging him upside down from the gym. With the fear toward the Aryan Brotherhood regained, he tells Mark Mack his next target is Beecher. Shirley Bellinger, sentenced to die for killing her daughter (the first woman to be executed in that state since 1841), arrives at Oz.
Flashbacks:
rc: Coushaine, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Giles, Guerra, Hanlon, Kirk, Mark Mack, Pancamo
Richie's day goes from bad (servicing Mark Mack) to worse (pushing an Aryan off the railing). Richie attempts to barter his way out by telling McManus that Mack and Schillinger killed Vogel. In the Hole, Aryan hack Metzger threatens his life if he doesn't confess to the murder, he does. Hill's appeal is denied, forcing him to accept life in Oz all over again. Wangler continues to act out in class. Impressed by Poet's talent, McManus works with Said to get Poet a publishing deal. Disappointed with Poet's use of advance money (drugs), Said informs him a group of writers are working to get him parole. At first sign of hair loss, Ryan shaves his head. Released back in Em City while still weak, he runs into dead ends and violence before Gloria recommends he spend the rest of his treatment in the infirmary. His flirtation deepens; she admits her attraction to him to Sister Pete. Her advice is to forget it. She responds to Ryan's kiss with a slap. Giles gives Pete a new word. Adebisi and Schibetta's feud grows, with Miguel caught in the middle. Guerra begins to question his leadership. Beecher gets a new podmate, Chris Keller, and jumps to his defense after he breaks Mack's nose. A meeting with Judge Grace Lema, who sentenced him for killing Kathy Rockwell (and also convened over Hill's recent hearing), brings Beecher new nightmares. Keller's attempt to comfort him is met with rejection, but a friendship blossoms the next day. Unbeknownst to Beecher, Keller is an old acquaintance of Schillinger, part of a plan to break Beecher's spirit. First step, get Beecher to fall in love with Keller. Shirley exposes herself to Kirk.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Coushaine, Giles, Kirk, Mark Mack, Mineo, Pancamo
Vern asks Said to defend him against conspiracy to commit murder charges. After Wangler picks a fight with Poet, McManus bans him from graduation. Wangler enlists Poet's help in writing a letter of apology to his mother. Poet gets parole and valedictorian. Devlin eliminates the GED program from the budge, planning to announce this after graduation; McManus spills the information while speaking during the ceremony. During a visit, Shirley comes on to Father Ray before breaking down in his arms. McManus asks Vern about the Ross murder. Heim informs Diane of Tim's belief that she's guilty; she confirms the truth to Tim, asking him to understand her decision and drop it. Hill learns Busmalis and Rebadow's secret, but keeps it in exchange for the two doing his laundry. Sick of blackmail, Glynn forces his brother Mark to confess a murder he committed under the eye of Schibetta's mob. Miguel and Adebisi poison Schibetta, while he recovers Glynn transfers Pancamo and the other Italians from the kitchen to the dress factory. Beecher and Keller wrestle. Beecher's growing attraction to him is derailed by the news that Genevieve committed suicide, and his grandmother asking him to not see the kids. Gen leaves him a note blaming him for her death. With Ray's help, Sister Pete realizes Giles' scattered words translate to the street corner where her husband was killed. He tells her he saw the murder, and says "Aim", before going into another rage. Lovesick Ryan pays Miguel to steal Gloria's stethoscope, and confesses his love to her via telephone. Pete and Tim's attempt to dissuade him only makes him more determined, he convinces Cyril to kill Gloria's husband.
b: 10 Aug 98 pc: 205 w: Tom Fontana & Bradford Winters d: Kathy Batesrc: Burrano, Coushaine, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Giles, Guerra, Kirk, Mark Mack, Pancamo, Pierce
To the shock of everyone (including their followers), Said represents Vern. McManus and Diane lie at the deposition. Said gives up, with Vern convinced he deliberately sabotaged the case. Diane and Shirley have a talk. Shirley later passes a note through the food to her secret (and unseen) pen pal, Adebisi. Burrano informs Schibetta he will be replaced if Adebisi isn't taken out. Pancamo and Schibetta try, leading to Adebisi raping the latter. Schibetta refuses to talk about it. Learning he's out as leader, he deliriously asks Burrano not to tell his father what happened. The inmates see Poet on TV, accepting an award. Fed up with Miguel, the Latinos welcome new arrival El Cid as leader. He immediately rejects Miguel for being too white. Jiggy Walker arrives in Em City, telling wild tales of being Devlin's cocaine dealer. Everyone assumes his guilt until Devlin produces evidence clearing him of any involvement. Walker goes to gen pop, Devlin feels nothing but glee that he finally faced an accusation he could honestly prove false. Hill, Giles cellmate before solitary, tells Pete the name of the toothpaste they both use: Aim. She deduces Ron Bebe, the man Giles was sent to solitary for killing, murdered her husband. Giles confirms, but doesn't know why Bebe killed him. Unable to get him out of solitary, Pete gives him the perfect present instead. Ryan tries to get pot for medicinal purposes, then tells Shannon he wants a divorce. Gloria bitterly confronts Ryan when she learns Cyril killed her husband, Cyril arrives in Oz (this time as a prisoner). Keller schemes to get Beecher back on the bottle, unsuccessfully at first. Beecher admits to Pete he has fallen in love. Keller convinces him to see his kids, when Beecher returns he finds Keller in the laundry room, drunk after learning of an ex-wife's remarriage. After mutual declarations of love, they kiss, hacks intervene, Keller takes a swing and goes to the Hole. A devastated Beecher begins drinking again.
Flashbacks:
rc: Burrano, Coushaine, D'Agnasti, Jazz, Kirk, Guerra, Mark Mack, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce
The morning after Keller goes to the Hole, Diane finds Beecher hung over in his pod. Sister Pete gives him a one-time break, sending him to the infirmary, where Vern taunts him further about his wife's suicide. Coushaine offers to help Ryan with his brother, unsuccessfully. Vern rapes Cyril. When Ryan finds out, he gets his brother sent to the Hole for protection. McManus refuses to let Cyril in Em City until Ryan confesses to planning Preston's murder. A new law requiring sex offenders to register passes around the same time former priest Robert Sipple finishes his sentence. Ray refuses to help Sipple, a child molester, despite Pete's requests to get him a job. After Coushaine's strenuous objection to the new law, Hill and Wangler speculate on his possible sex crime. Speaking with him face to face, he relents and makes a pointless attempt to help. Hill asks Vern and Miguel about ways to escape. In exchange for getting back in the kitchen, Ryan helps Adebisi understand Shirley's letter. She requests a visit for her birthday. When he arrives, she rejects him with a racial slur. Retreating into a haze of drugs, he begins pushing Pierce and Wangler away. Pancamo returns from the hospital.
New arrivals Hoyt, Jarra, and Nappa make waves. Revenge on his mind after Schibetta's rape and move to the psych ward, Nappa takes control of the Italians and works with Burrano to begin random drug testing. Adebisi, naturally, tests positive; Pete warns him he'll go to the psych ward if he can't stop using. After Ryan tells him who caused the tests, Adebisi snaps and is only stopped from killing Nappa in broad daylight by Jarra. Jarra, a fellow African, tells him he is better than the rest. His words begin to sink in, causing hallucinations of tribal dancing. Hoyt gets a job at the post office and helps to raise money so Rebadow's grandson (diagnosed with leukemia) can go to Disneyworld. Every group (even Vern and El Cid!) contributes. McManus and the guards agree to match what the prisoners gave. The money is sent with Rebadow asking his mother to tell the family it was an anonymous donation, since they all think he's dead and never went to prison. New hack Rivera has an old gang tie to El Cid. El Cid tells Miguel the only way he will ever gain acceptance from him is to cut out Rivera's eyes. He later smuggles a scalpel into his pod. Unable to deal with her any longer, McManus transfers Diane to Unit B. Said tries to stop Beecher's alcohol abuse. To pop his self-righteous bubble, Beecher tells him Poet's coming back to Oz. Ironically, only former nemesis Wangler greets him warmly.
Flashbacks:
rc: Brese, Coushaine, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Kirk, Mark Mack, Pierce, Pancamo, Schibetta
Metzger replaces Diane as Em City supervisor. The escape tunnel almost completed, Busmalis and Rebadow are forced to give their pod to Mark Mack and Hansel, who were watching them build. Mack gets to switch pods after showing his Nazi tattoo to Metzger. The tunnel collapses after Rebadow and Busmalis loosen the support beams, killing the two Aryans. Poet has to work in the morgue as punishment from McManus. Hill discusses possible escape plans with Poet, Wangler, and Coushaine. Sipple returns after being unable to find a home, Sister Pete convinces Glynn to let him stay in Oz at night. Ray hires him as an assistant; he helps with an anointing and meets with his victim before being (literally) crucified by Vern in the gym. An uncomfortable Gloria examines Shirley. Miguel cuts Rivera's eyes out, hiding in Ray's office and taking him hostage. The prison goes into lockdown. Rivera needs an immediate transfusion, but only Ryan has his rare blood type. Ryan agrees to give blood as long as Cyril's transferred to Em City. Ryan confesses to Preston's murder out of guilt, and a need to stay inside to protect Cyril. Miguel decides to commit suicide, but a vengeful SORT team barges in, beating him as he goes to solitary.
Keller returns from the Hole, rejecting Beecher completely. As Operation Toby draws to a close, Metzger takes Beecher to the gym, where Keller and Vern wait. Keller tells Beecher he never loved him, he's been working with Vern all along. They proceed to break Beecher's arms and legs. A flicker of remorse appears on Keller's face during his first night alone in their pod. Em City is abuzz with the news and McManus begins to doubt Metzger. Nappa takes Adebisi's drug shipment. He decides to follow Jarra's ways. Adebisi becomes joyfully happy and finds inner peace, but appears completely unhinged to everyone else. Fed up, Wangler and Pierce agree to work for Nappa. In the kitchen, Wangler kills Jarra. Adebisi is blamed and sent to the psych ward, in a cell beside Peter Schibetta. Said surprises McManus by refusing to help Poet again. Devlin decides to pardon Said in honor of Ramadan, Said almost accepts, but turns it down after Arif expresses envy. He walks through Em City's gates to the cheers of every inmate. The season ends with Hill climbing inside a coffin, ready to be shipped out of Oz.
Flashbacks:
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TO Title List |
rc: Brese, Devlin, Guerra, Hanlon, Jazz, Khan, Margarita Ricardo, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce, Ricardo, Schibetta
Oswald Maximum Security Penententiary is renamed Oswald State Correctional Facility: Level Four. To cut costs, Devlin brings in the Weigert Corporation to oversee medical matters. Gloria soon clashes with brusque Dr. Garvey, who cuts off Miguel's anti-depressants because he sees no need for solitary patients to be medicated. When Gloria tells him, she learns he's been having conversations with his (dead) grandfather. Ray learns from a visit that the hacks aren't feeding Miguel, but is sworn to secrecy. Carlo Ricardo, Malcolm Coyle, and Hamid Khan arrive. Coyle goes by Snake and befriends Wangler (who now wants to be known as Bricks). Poet now goes by Arnold and has given up on poetry. The other new face only appears on tv, Miss Sally of Miss Sally's Schoolyard, who captures viewers thanks to her ample mammary glands. Nappa warns Kenny against confiding in him, and only gains trust after subjecting him to a beatdown by Poet, Wangler, and assorted black inmates. News of Adebisi protecting Peter Schibetta in the psych ward gets to Pancamo and Nappa. Sister Pete and McManus, impressed with his progress, send Adebisi back to Em City. He apologizes to all those he hurt, Nappa puts him back in the kitchen to stop Wangler from being too cocky. Clayton Hughes, son of a guard killed in Oz decades ago, pressures old family friend Glynn to hire him as a guard. He wants a high-risk placement; Glynn puts him in the visitors' area. New guard Claire Howell rejects Diane's friendly overtures and asks McManus on a date. Ricardo gets a visit from his father and siblings, but his mother doesn't show up. Cyril's nightmares of rape and Hoyt's conflicts with Vern at the post office lead Ryan and Hoyt to join forces. Ryan manipulates Hoyt into losing his job and trying to kill Vern in the gym, but Hoyt's murder attempt results only in a trip to the Hole.
Richie goes to death row for Vogel's murder. Fellow inmate Shirley wants to play peep show even after learning he's gay. He reluctantly agrees, and Shirley is very impressed with the results. Said plans to file a class action lawsuit against Oz, the state, and Devlin for the riot and Khan objects to his use of a Jewish lawyer. Meeting with relatives of the dead individually, Said is smitten with Tricia Ross, Scott Ross' sweet and teary half-sister. She refuses to join the lawsuit. Vern catches a glimpse of their handholding and plants seeds of doubt in Muslim heads. Metzger gains revenge on Busmalis by putting him in a chokehold and throwing him down a flight of stairs. Tim begins investigating his Nazi background, but Glynn still can't fire him. Beecher and Busmalis refuse to implicate him in their injuries. Beecher is released from the infirmary, with a cane and sharp, long fingernails. Keller wants to resume a relationship between them, meeting resistance and a command to rat on himself, Metzger and Schillinger. He finally agrees, going into protective custody, Vern goes to the Hole. Metzger takes Beecher into a secluded area to learn where Keller's going, Beecher acts out wildly, slashing Metzger's throat with his fingernails. He dies before he has the chance to summon help.
Flashbacks:
Weigert Corporation is presumably the same Weigert that took over St. Eligius in the final year of St. Elsewhere.
rc: Armstrong, Devlin, Guerra, Hanlon, Khan, Lopresti, Margarita Ricardo, Mineo, Pancamo, Ricardo, Robson
Word of Metzger's death spreads. Tim hires old friend Sean Murphy as CO supervisor. After he sees a cafeteria brawl between Cyril and Robson, Tim institutes a boxing program for the prisoners. Vern makes Busmalis eat his food with a special salivary topping. Ryan loudly informs Gloria of his extra years in Oz. Coyle is transferred from the kitchen to the barbershop, where he makes a grisly confession (murdering an entire family) to Hill. After consulting Said, Hill learns of videotaped proof from Coyle, and informs Glynn. Coyle's charged with the crime, Hill goes into protective custody. After the filing of Said's wrongful death lawsuit, Diane fears the Ross shooting will be reexamined. Arif and Khan object to Said seeing Tricia for spiritual counseling, he later burns a photo of herself she gave him. McManus denies his request for food in his pod at night due to daily fasting is denied (unless he drops the lawsuit), so he begins a hunger strike. Claire physically attacks Tim after he comforts Diane over the loss of her mother. Clayton emotionally blackmails Glynn into moving him to Em City. Ricardo's family visits, minus a brother. Afterward, he almost kills Clayton before going to the Hole. Shirley's attorney excuses himself from her case after Devlin reduces the fees for court-appointed lawyers on murder cases. Schillinger learns from his father that one of his sons has been arrested, and horror of horrors, his lawyer is a Jewish woman. Keller asks to be sent back to Em City, but receives rejection from Beecher when he returns and an unseen assailant later stabs him in a storage room. Adebisi asks to be moved from the kitchen to the AIDS ward. Taking blood from a dying man, he pricks Nappa with the infected blood. Rebadow is diagnosed with diabetes. Still worried about Miguel, Gloria loses her job after a profanity-laden confrontation with Garvey. Ray's attempts to smuggle food for Miguel end when Miguel crazily lunges at him. Miguel gets a beating from Claire and another hack. Pete pitches a victim/offender program; Ray suggests Miguel and Officer Rivera as the first participants. Seeing visions of a beautiful woman beckoning to him, Miguel hangs himself.
Flashbacks:
rc: D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Hanlon, Khan, Lopresti, Margarita Ricardo, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce, Ricardo, Robson
Gloria saves Miguel's life after Claire saves him. Gloria decides to go to the press for an expose on shabby medical care. Devlin stops her by promising to loosen the purse strings, put Miguel back on medication, and reinstate her. Garvey is run out after being revealed as a former back alley abortionist. Miguel wakes up, wishing they'd let him die. Nikolai arrives, wanting to shake the hand of the man who killed Alexander Vogel. Busmalis tells him the man is Richie Hanlon. After a sparring match between Richie and mail-delivering Vern, Richie tells Shirley the back-story behind his confession to Vogel's murder. Shirley suggests he implicate Vern, that way both he doesn't die alone. McManus questions Coyle on his reasons for telling Hill. Hill testifies against Coyle. The prisoners watch the grisly video on the news; Wangler swears revenge on Hill. Said, Vern, an ailing Nappa, and Guerra (filling in for El Cid) convene on how to protect Hill, Nappa simply has Coyle murdered in his cell. Ricardo gets out of the Hole, only to clash with Hughes and Cudney after an unpleasant visit with his family. He's sent to the Hole yet again. Poet considers a return to writing, but won't approach Said with his work. After Zelman threatens a statewide hunger strike by Muslim prisoners, Glynn (over Tim's objection) grants Said's food request. Claire's attempt to apologize to McManus causes an ugly argument between them. She later takes her anger out on solitary prisoner Bevilaqua, and is fired. Sean is announced as the new CO supervisor. After Murphy cuts Ryan some slack over a cafeteria fight with Vern, the two men strike up a Black Irish kinship. Murphy gives him some boxing advice.
The first fight, between Chucky "The Enforcer" Pancamo and "Throttlin" Steve Pasquin, ends with a quick victory for Pancamo. Cyril and Ryan get a visit from Aunt Brenda, she and Ryan have an ugly confrontation over Cyril boxing. Before the second fight (Cyril vs. Robson) Ryan chooses to pay hospital orderly (and Christian) Cudney to steal chloral hydrate. Cyril wins. During a visit, Rebadow's mother mentions she told the family the truth, he wasn't dead, and he'd been in prison all these years. She wants him to see his grandson, because the grandson is growing ill again, Rebadow refuses. After a brush with death due to missing dialysis, he changes his mind, meeting son and grandson for the first time. Busmalis solves his lunchroom problem by one-upping Vern in his own unique way. Nappa's tests come back showing he has HIV, he demands a retest and a meeting with Glynn, but still has to transfer to the AIDS ward. Pancamo is appointed new leader. McManus gets no help from a recovered Keller about who stabbed him. Released from the infirmary, he asks Pete about setting up a victim/offender program with himself and Beecher, but Beecher refuses. Keller pledges his support in any revenge plans against Schillinger. Beecher taunts him over whether or not he was the one responsible for the stabbing, and claims he killed Metzger. Andrew Schillinger arrives in Em City, mouthy to the Muslims and perfect prey for Beecher's revenge plans.
Flashbacks:
rc: Brese, D'Agnasti, Guerra, Hanlon, Khan, Lopresti, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce
Schillinger learns Andrew has arrived in Em City. Glynn turns down his request to move Andrew to Vern's unit (B). At lunch, he sees his obviously high son and gets him sent to the Hole. Beecher, Keller, and Ryan begin their plan of revenge. After a staged fight between Beecher and Keller in drug counseling, Andrew befriends Beecher. Ryan cuts Andrew's drug supply off. Keller moves out of Beecher's pod, and Andrew moves in. Howell files a sexual harassment lawsuit. McManus feebly attempts to defend his actions, but the state settles and Claire gets her job back. An argument erupts between Said and his visiting sister after she tells him Tricia Ross contacted her. Said grants Poet permission to write again. Refusing to deny his feeling any longer, Said holds Tricia's hand, a gesture seen by Poet. Keller begins working his charm on Sister Pete; she later gets an eyeful of him and a visiting ex-wife. Pete asks Ray to stay away from Miguel's work in the victim/offender program. Miguel agrees to meet Officer Rivera, but his return to Em City has a condition, he has to give up the name of Ardith Glynn's rapist. Pete meets with Rivera and his wife Tina, convincing them to be a part of the program. Cyril tells Ryan he doesn't want to box anymore. El Cid forces Miguel to box, going up against Cramer. After fending off an inquisitive Cudney, Ryan drugs Miguel's water. He loses and faces teasing for being beaten by a homosexual. The prison goes into lockdown after the Christians try to stop viewing of Miss Sally. Hughes is transferred to the library after using a stun gun on El Cid. With the slight chance his case might be overturned on appeal, Richie and Shirley share a tender goodbye. The case is overturned; Richie goes back to Em City to serve the rest of his drug sentence. Nikolai greets him in the shower, slashing his throat and revealing he and Vogel were actually friends. Nappa confesses a lifetime of sins to Mukada. Adebisi makes a deal with Pancamo and El Cid to make him a partner, as long as he gets rid of Wangler. Wangler celebrates his 18th birthday, his joy is short-lived when his mother claims his wife is cheating on him and her boyfriend is abusing their son. He takes Pierce up on his offer to kill the wife and boyfriend by using outside friends.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Guerra, Khan, Lopresti, Margarita Ricardo, Pancamo, Pierce, Ricardo
Taking advice from Cudney, Cyril doesn't want to box. Ryan convinces Cudney to change Cyril's mind by beating Cudney with a Bible. He later tries to speak to Gloria. Continuing a busy day, Ryan plays the next fighters, Wangler and Khan, against each other, but realizes drugging Wangler is pointless. Khan defeats Wangler within a few rounds. Poet reads his first new work in the cafeteria, an angry diatribe against Said. Tricia visits, complaining of harassing phone calls, Said warns the other Muslims to leave her alone. He later watches Ryan scrubbing a tattoo of his wife's name off his arm. While Wangler attends his wife's funeral, Adebisi and the Italians subdue and pour hot soup over Poet and Pierce. They both go to the hospital with severe burns. When Wangler returns, he has a new podmate: Adebisi. El Cid warns Miguel not to mention his name during the session with Rivera. Miguel and Rivera separately talk to Sister Pete in preparation for their meeting. Murphy encourages Tim to fight the sexual harassment settlement. Gloria won't testify for him until she speaks to Claire, Pete agrees to testify, his lawyer advises him against fighting. During a bittersweet moment with Diane, Tim reveals he's not going to fight, because of his treatment of women in the past. Uri Kosygin (the most brutal hitter in Little Odessa) arrives, frightening Hughes, Rebadow, Busmalis, and offending Nappa. Nikolai, his sponsor, worries that he's been sent to kill him. That he is a Jew and Uri is a Cossack only makes his fear worse. Busmalis decides to write a letter requesting Miss Sally visit Oz, Beecher wants a four way with Miss Sally and the puppets. Ricardo learns his father had a stroke. Determined to learn more about his father's death, Hughes tries to manhandle the killer's name out of Rebadow. Mukada stops him, but Hughes brushes off his attempts to help unless he can find the killer. Keller's manipulations begin to affect Sister Pete; her attention is further piqued after he gets a visit from his 2nd ex, Angelique. Beecher helps Andrew detox and clean up his life. Ryan, Keller, and Beecher flaunt their close friendship with Andrew in front of Vern. Andrew and Vern get into a fight during lunch, Andrew says his father's dead to him, and goes to the Hole. Vern has Lopresti put drugs in with his son, Andrew can't resist temptation, resulting in a fatal OD. As the news hits Em City, Keller and Ryan are pleased, only Beecher feels regret.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Giles, Guerra, Khan, Mineo, Pancamo, Ricardo, Robson
Cyril and Pancamo are scheduled for the next fight. When Cudney refuses to help Ryan get more drugs and plans to tell the warden, Ryan pays Kosygin to kill Cudney. Thanks to the drugged water, Pancamo loses. Nikolai, still afraid of Kosygin, unsuccessfully tries to manipulate Ryan into killing him, then tells Pancamo Kosygin drugged his water bottle. When McManus doesn't believe the claims, Ryan advises Pancamo to tell Kosygin that Nikolai ratted on him. Kosygin stabs him in the neck during a library visit, Nikolai goes to the infirmary, Kosygin goes to the Hole. Inmates debate Nooty and Pecker's sexual preference. After El Cid orders Ryan to stop selling drugs and give him whatever stuff he has on him, Ryan rats the Latinos out to Murphy. Only Miguel, who leaves the group seconds before, escapes arrest. Miguel asks for and looks at photos taken of Rivera immediately after the blinding. To stop her requests to end the counseling, Pete tells Tina Rivera about her husband's thoughts of suicide. A memoir-writing Nappa gets a new roommate, Nat Ginsberg, who immediately becomes his secretary. A few members of Em City's gay population get word of the autobiography to Pancamo, who makes plans to take care of the book and Nappa. Adebisi teaches and punishes Wangler through bondage; Wangler's attempts at parenting classes are equally frustrating. Sick of being teased by prisoners, Hughes considers joining S.O.R.T. The tension between Howell and Diane grows. Mukada gets a cold reception when he approaches Glynn about digging for info on Samuel Hughes's killer. Giles has a heart attack, Mukada visits him in the infirmary and coaxes out the name of the man who murdered Hughes. Vern grieves for his dead son. Beecher rejects Keller's romantic overtures yet again. Keller gets a visit from larger than life ex #3 (and 4), Bonnie. During his session with Pete, he makes a few ugly confessions about himself, and cops a feel in the name of picking lint. Beecher attempts to reconnect to religion by attending a Muslim study group. Said's acceptance of him is the final straw for the others, who banish Said and choose Khan as their new leader. Said moves into Beecher's pod, agreeing to help Beecher find Allah.
Flashbacks:
rc: Brese, D'Agnasti, Jazz, Khan, Lopresti, Margarita Ricardo, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce, Ricardo, Robson
Sister Pete has an erotic dream about Keller, who begins avoiding her as the next step in his plan. Beecher picks up on his scheme and confronts him. Miguel, Tina, and Eugene Rivera have the victim/offender session. Pete confronts Keller in his pod, they almost kiss, and he admits he only had interest in her so she could work on Beecher for him. Hurt and angry, she turns her back on him, confessing to Mukada that she's considering leaving the convent. The Latinos refuse to answer any drug questions, forced to stay in the Hole as a result. When Margarita visits to tell her brother she has to leave town for a new job, she can only write him a note. Tim leaves the note for Lopresti, who promptly throws it away. Clayton's mother stops by to see Leo. The other CO's throw a party for Clayton's birthday. Ray asks Diane's advice about the Hughes murder. During a confrontation with Ryan in the library, Clayton accidentally hits Diane on the head with his nightstick. After talking to Mukada, Glynn tells Clayton the name of his father's killer: Glynn himself. He blames his overzealous attitude and stupidity. In the locker room, Tim asks Diane to give their relationship another try. She declines, only to kiss him passionately after Claire makes a rude comment. Annoyed, Claire leaves. Nappa finishes his memoirs; Nat gets the only copy to Pancamo (who destroys it). After a celebratory dinner, Nat smothers Nappa with a pillow. Adebesi goes to Glynn, and eventually the local media, with claims that Tim sexually harassed Wangler. Tim is stung by Glynn's lack of trust in him. Wangler goes to gen pop. Tim visits Shirley, helping her choose her method of execution. Her choice is moot when a medical exam reveals she's pregnant. The latest bout (Khan vs. Cramer) is rife with racial tension. Adebisi manipulates the Muslims into hating Cramer for his skin color and Vern threatens Cramer. Cramer loses. Ryan stays out of it, believing any meddling will be bad luck (the winner has to fight Cyril next). Cyril's newfound love of fighting annoys those who get in his way.
Said refuses Adebisi's offer to join forces and Vern decides to kill Said and Beecher. When Said instructs Beecher to forgive Keller and Schillinger, Beecher tells him he has to forgive Khan. He does, before demonstrating his faith to Allah in a very public way. Beecher forgives Keller, still rejecting his attempts at reconciliation. Keller asks Ryan to kill Said. Vern answers Beecher's pleas for forgiveness by trying to stab him. A huge Muslim/Aryan fight breaks out in the gym, Vern manages to stab Beecher, only to get stabbed by Keller. S.O.R.T. swarm in, the prison goes into lockdown, Keller, Khan, and Said go to solitary.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Khan, Lopresti, Margarita Ricardo, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce, Ricardo
The inmates and staff celebrate Christmas in their typically dark way. Said is bitten by a rat tossed into his cell. Rebadow gets a warning from God to be very afraid. Miguel is plagued by nightmares. The Riveras decide to end the victim/offender program. Pete urges Miguel to tell Glynn who raped his daughter. The Latinos return to Em City, Ricardo believing his sister will visit, increasingly upset when she doesn't. Afraid for his life, Miguel asks to go back to solitary immediately. El Cid chooses Ricardo to kill Miguel. Before he can, Miguel kills him in self-defense. Pete apologizes to Mukada for excluding him from Miguel's sessions. Miguel finally gives up the name of Ardith's rapist. Carlo Ricardo. Ricardo's sister returns to claim his body. Shirley's execution is stayed, but she wants to die, believing her unborn child has Satan for a father. Pete persuades Devlin to put Shirley into the state asylum. Devlin forces Glynn to end the latest lockdown, as a holiday gift to appease the public. Keller and Khan get out of solitary; Vern, Nikolai, and Beecher are released from the hospital. Poet and Pierce insult Said even while wrapped in bandages. Beecher lets Keller move back in with him. Diane and Claire get into a fistfight, when Tim accompanies them to the infirmary; he and Glynn get into a screaming match. Poet and Pierce are released with a few changes in skin pigmentation. Khan and Ryan talk Glynn out of indefinitely postponing the final boxing match (due to racial tension). Nikolai rats Ryan's water-spiking scheme out to Murphy. Using a backup plan, Ryan brings he and Cyril's father to Oz. He ridicules and hits Cyril. During the fight, Ryan shouts to his brother to think of their father. Cyril wins, but Khan is left with permanent brain damage. When Cyril learns Khan is even worse off than he is, he uses Ryan as a punching bag. Khan's wife files a lawsuit when the prison won't let her take him off life support. Said comforts her as she stands by Khan's bedside. The racial tension deepens, with self-segregation prevalent in both white and black Em City dwellers. Adebisi plays games with Clayton's mind. Clayton overhears Howell and Lopresti's racist remarks. Adebisi shrugs off warnings from Pancamo and El Cid that the tension will cut into their drug business. Vern attempts to gather white support, even extending a hand to old enemies and the Jewish Nikolai. As a show of authority, Murphy confiscates all dirty magazines. Worried after a warning from Adebisi, Hill has himself thrown into the Hole. Said fruitlessly tries to quell Adebisi and Arif's hate mongering, but they use Hill's trip to the Hole as a rallying cry. In fear of being in the middle of another riot, Diane tells Tim she'll either use her vacation time or quit. Glynn fires Clayton. Before he goes, he leaves a farewell present for Adebisi. As the New Year rolls through Em City, Beecher and Keller kiss, Said bunks with Arif, Nikolai toasts himself, and Adebisi finds a gun hidden under his blanket.
b: 1 Sep 99 pc: 308 w: Tom Fontana d: Barbara Kopple| Back to TOP of Page |
TO Title List |
Production Credits
Co-executive producers: Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Jim Finnerty
Created by: Tom Fontana
Supervising producer: Bridget Potter
Producers: Sean Whitesell, Adam Bernstein (episode 33+)
Associate Producer: Irene Burns, Mark A. Baker (episode 33+)
Executive Story Editor: Sean Whitesell (episodes 25-32)
Story Editor: Sunil Nayar (episode 33+)
Staff Writers: Sunil Nayar, Bradford Winters (episodes 25-32)
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Giles, Guerra, Jazz, Khan, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Pierce, Robson
Two weeks have passed. Glynn meets with blacks and whites separately, agreeing to end the lockdown as long as they stop the violence. Khan's wife wins her case to have Khan taken off life support; Said agrees to the family's request to say a prayer over the body. Unopposed by Said, Arif takes over as Muslim leader. Cyril's dreams of Preston Nathan and Khan take their toll on him. When Gloria won't agree to Pete's request that she and Preston's parents have a victim/offender meeting with the O'Reily brothers, Ryan cuts himself to speak to her personally. The latest (and very gory) suicide in solitary leads Murphy to suggest exercise time for the solitary prisoners. Bevilaqua learns Miguel killed his cousin, Ricardo. He begins correspondence with El Cid, agreeing to kill Miguel for him. During the next exercise session, Miguel taunts Bevilaqua with the knowledge that Bevilaqua raped Ardith Glynn, even though Miguel told Glynn otherwise. Seconds before Bevliaqua moves in to kill, Giles stabs him and Miguel. Bevilaqua dies, Miguel goes to the infirmary with a wound to the side. Giles only explanation to Sister Pete is anger over the two men telling so many lies.
Vern receives an old photo of his two sons, Hank and Andrew. Mukada and Said persuade Beecher to locate Hank Schillinger so peace can be made between Beecher and Vern. Keller forbids it. Beecher gets a visit from his father, who agrees to look for Hank. When Keller finds out, the argument between them turns violent, sending Beecher to the Hole. Shirley returns to Oz after the mysterious death of her unborn baby. She meets Nat, who is on death row for killing Nappa and won't let her have her old cell back; Moses Deyell, who greets her warmly, and Mark Miles, who rejects her friendliness with a few hateful remarks. Devlin's political ads spur Busmalis to make a surprising admission. Devlin's campaign manager, Wendy, tells Glynn he might be a choice for lieutenant governor if he makes a higher profile for himself with the public. Tim's plans to propose to Diane are dashed when Pete tells him Diane isn't coming back. While on vacation in London, she began a conversation with a Buckingham Palace guard (on break), and agreed to marry him. Per Adebisi's request, Glynn forces Tim to allow Pierce, Poet, and Wangler back into Em City. New arrivals are Mobay, Galino, and Tarrant. Galino (in Oz for faulty building construction that killed 2 people) alienates sponsor Pancamo with his anti-mafia comments. Sponsor Jazz takes Tarrant's money. Mobay hits up sponsor Hill for information on the drug trade, makes a connection with Wangler, and gets a job as Glynn's secretary. The latter is the perfect cover for his real purpose in Oz, a narc. Seeing Galino use a cell phone, Nikolai manages to con the phone and charger from him. Adebisi and Ryan set a plan into motion that puts Hughes gun into Tarrant's hands. Wangler, Poet, and Pierce force Tarrant to offer Wangler his shoes. After a tearful visit with McManus, he is further terrorized by the three men on the basketball court. Ryan publicly warns McManus to transfer Tarrant out, then offers him drugs and vengeful advice. Adebisi puts the gun under Tarrant's pillow. When Wangler tries to take away his new pair of shoes, Tarrant pulls out the gun. He wounds three inmates, including Keller (who is dragged to safety by Beecher), kills Wangler, Pierce, a guard, and as the SORT team swarms in, himself.
Flashbacks:
The HBO site has 3 exclusive "webisodes", which are prequels to Desmond Mobay's arrival in Oz.
Diane's exit is probably a wink to Edie Falco leaving the show because of her role in the London run of Side Man.
rc: Armstrong, Guerra, Jazz, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo
Adebisi and Arif demand the firing or McManus; their united front disturbs Said. Poet mourns. El Cid knows Adebisi's secret. Wendy adds to the list of people who want McManus gone, putting political pressure on Glynn. Tim burns a letter from Diane. After a bizarre display at Officer Howard's memorial service, Glynn finally fires him. Beecher's attempts to check up on a hospitalized Keller are unsuccessful; he has more luck finding Hank Schillinger. After a payment by the Beecher family (without Vern's knowledge), Hank visits his overjoyed father. Hill fears his wife is slipping away from him. Mobay fears when Hill tries to remember where he has seen Mobay's girlfriend (secretly his partner) before. Mobay has a meeting with Adebisi. Said is proud of the positive changes in Tricia, but she is upset when he won't kiss her. The lawsuit against the state begins. Said is prepared to testify until he learns all prisoners must wear orange jumpsuits. He refuses to go. Beecher accuses Said of wanting this suit to fail, so he will continue to have a cause to rail against. Beecher then takes the stand in place of Said. Cramer learns he may have grounds for a retrial after a juror tells him another juror was homophobic and bullied the others into voting guilty. He asks Said to represent him; Said offers to think it over. With the curtains drawn, Moses sees the silhouettes of Shirley and a man having sex. The next day, Shirley roams death row as Galino paints her cell. She and Moses almost kiss before Miles calls for the guard. After Gloria convinces Preston's parents to participate in the victim/offender program, Pete makes Ryan agree to speak as well. Ryan re-injures his hand to see Gloria, with no luck. Thanks to Cyril, Ryan learns of Nikolai's cell phone. When Nikolai feigns innocence, Ryan unsuccessfully searches his pod. He then manipulates Galino into trying to take his phone back. Nikolai pays Hoyt to kill Galino. Ryan and Nikolai go into partnership over the phone. Busmalis details the plans of his latest escape tunnel to Alvarez. El Cid's depression deepens after Miguel survives yet another attempt on his life. During evening count Murphy notices Busmalis is missing. Going to his last work detail (the infirmary), he finds an escape tunnel. Meanwhile, Gloria checks beds and finds Miguel's empty.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Kirk, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson
Glynn impresses Wendy and Devlin with his handling of the escape press conference. El Cid spills the secret of the gun after too much teasing from Adebisi. Adebisi goes to the Hole and Glynn has Hughes arrested. Pancamo makes a deal with newcomer Morales: kill El Cid quietly, and take over his part of the drug operation. Morales bullies Rebadow into doing the job, then convinces acting unit manager Murphy to move Rebadow and El Cid into a pod together. Busmalis is recaptured after appearing in front of Miss Sally's home, but Miguel is still free. Rebadow stabs El Cid in the neck, claiming self-defense as his reason. Adebisi and Said work together to get a black man in charge of Em City. Zelman, Said's sister, and Afsanna promise to support Glynn's election bid if he considers a person of color. As Mobay's first test, Pancamo, Morales, and Adebisi force him to sniff three lines of heroin. Sick, he goes to the Hole after a shakedown. Said's decision to represent Cramer meets with disapproval from Arif. Said throws himself into the case, barely noticing when his side wins the riot lawsuit. Tricia announces plans to move to California, but Said still can't tell her he loves her. To Said's amazement, Judge Kessler grants Cramer a new trial.
Lopresti is revealed to be Shirley's late night visitor. Her ex, Zeke, has been born again and wants to bury her next to her daughter. When he visits, she goads him. He punches her after she reveals their daughter was the product of a rape by his father. Sister Pete, Hoyt, Murphy, and Adebisi separately reject Nik and Ryan's attempts to get rid of each other. Ryan and Cyril meet with Gloria and Preston's parents. The session degenerates into an ugly screaming match between Ryan and Gloria after he exposes her affair with McManus. The next day, news of Gloria being raped spreads through Em City. Keller returns to Oz via the hospital ward. Frightened and repentant after going to Hell while dead on the operating table, he asks Mukada to ask Pete to see him. She refuses, but allows Beecher to. Howell spoils their reunion. Thanks to Kirk, Vern learns Beecher is behind Hank's visits. In anticipation of Beecher destroying another of his sons, Vern pays Hank to kidnap Beecher's children.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Kirk, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson
Beecher horrifies his parents with a violent outburst during a briefing on his children's kidnapping. When Keller becomes a suspect, Beecher's passionate defense of him culminates in revealing he and Keller are lovers. He pays inmate Eli Zabitz to find out who kidnapped Holly and Gary. Beecher tries to comfort a returned to Em City Keller as his fear of Hell continues. Sister Pete rejects his pleas to meet with Keller. Gary's hand arrives at Oz's post office, rendering Beecher inconsolable. Thanks to a letter from Keller, Cardinal Abcott visits, counseling Sister Pete, and performing mass with Ray (he was responsible for sending Ray to Oz in the first place). After his second test involves a brutal beating by Pancamo, Mobay turns to drugs. The prisoners win the maximum settlement for their lawsuit, but the case could stay in appeals court for years. Frightened by a premonition, Rebadow warns Said to recuse himself from Cramer's case; after the lead detective admits evidence tampering, Said does. To his horror, Cramer manages an acquittal, leaving Oz a free man. Martin Querns is hired as unit manager, given free reign as long as he keeps the violence down. He makes a deal with Adebisi to ensure that low violence, agreeing to let drugs pass through Em City freely. Tim accepts Unit B when he can't have his old job back. Per request from Devlin, Glynn tries to quiet Clayton's public anti-Devlin diatribes. Clayton refuses, saying someone has to stop the evil governor.
Nikolai's latest rejection of a partnership spurs Ryan to send Cyril on an unsuccessful "treasure hunt" for the phone. Gloria returns to work, wanting a meeting with Ryan as an attempt at closure. He claims responsibility for her rape; she physically attacks him. Later, Ryan confesses to Mukada that he had nothing to do with the rape, but lied because he knew she needed to go on with her life. Stung from being left behind, Rebadow shuns Busmalis when he returns to Em City.
Shirley's impending execution brings back memories for Vern, Adebisi, and Kirk. Despite her opposition to the death penalty, Pete agrees to take care of Shirley's personal belongings. Shirley meets with the press. After their final prayer, a curious Mukada asks Shirley who fathered her unborn baby. She drops a strong hint in favor of the postman (Vern). Shirley spills her fling with Lopresti to Glynn, then shares goodbyes with stoic Moses and devastated Nat (Miles feigns sleep, but later asks Pete for Shirley's mirror). Surprisingly serene, she begins to panic only when sees the noose. Screaming and praying for forgiveness, Shirley Bellinger is hanged.
b: 2 Aug 00 pc: _________ w: Tom Fontana d: Adam Bernstein NOTE: Special thanks were given to Charles S. Dutton.rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Johnson, Kirk, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Tidd
Bruno Gergan a bigoted ex-cop who turned states evidence, recognizes Mobay when he arrives in Oz. Fearful after constant threats of his cover being blown, Mobay decides to kill Gergan. Using an unwitting Hill as a decoy, Mobay pushes Gergan down a long-abandoned elevator shaft. Gergan's death ensures Mobay passing Adebisi, Morales, and Pancamo's final test. Kina Spaite visits her partner, concerned when she realizes he's using. When a reporter digs up Mark Glynn's imprisonment, Leo horrifies his wife by shifting press attention to Ardith's rape. Diane calls Unit B to check on McManus; he hangs up on her. He later berates Murphy for not leaving Em City with him. Said and Querns get off to a rocky start. Five percenter Supreme Allah arrives in Oz, clashing with Arif and the more traditional Muslims. Said turns down Adebisi's offer of shared power. Querns announces a system of trustees (Adebisi, Morales, Pancamo) to oversee the other prisoners. He then transfers the bikers and Aryans to Unit B. Murphy quits. Adebisi cuts ties with Arif. Miles begins painting a self-portrait on his wall. Sick of Miles's constant taunting, Moses punches the wall, breaking his hand. While in the infirmary, he alerts Gloria to Nat's deteriorating health. Kirk introduces Ryan to Gloria's rapist. Cyril flies into a rage after Browne tries to force himself on him. Gloria gives Cyril Haldol, sending him into a near-constant state of sleep. Thanks to a tip from Ryan, Querns suspects Nikolai in Galino's death. Ryan manipulates Hoyt into trying to kill Nikolai; as they go to solitary, Ryan pockets the dropped phone. Invigorated by killing El Cid, Rebadow begins standing up to those around him. He takes boxing lessons from Cyril, and asks Morales to let him kill someone else. Plagued by graphic nightmares, Beecher stays in his pod night and day, rejecting Keller's attempts to help. Keller tells Mukada Sister Pete hasn't come around because of him; Mukada is surprised when Peter admits Keller's right. Gary Beecher's body is found; an emotionally drained Beecher goes to the funeral. Mukada convinces Vern to spare Holly's life. Paid by Vern, Zabitz reveals the mastermind behind the kidnapping as Keller. Per Beecher's request, Taylor grills Keller on that crime and the murders of several gay men. In their pod, Beecher tries to kill Keller. A huge fight erupts between them, Keller is sent to the Hole.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Guerra, Jazz, Kirk, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Smith, Tidd
The white Christians are transferred to Unit B; Adebisi keeps the black Christian as his new plaything. Said motivates Arif to take a stand against Querns, but he accomplishes nothing. Supreme's conversion of Arif's men sends Arif on an unsuccessful bid to pit Supreme against Adebisi. McManus and Murphy make up. When Querns transfers Mineo and Armstrong, Tim moves them and Murphy to Unit B. His complaints of racism to Glynn backfire when Claire is moved to Em City. Sister Pete manages to grant Nat's request to move up his execution. Dressed as Susan Hayward, he dies in his sleep hours before his date with the gas chamber. Detective McGorry investigates Gergan's death. Miguel is sighted at Bear Mountain. While high, Mobay lets a hint of his identity slip to Hill. He later decides to kick drugs. Beecher learns Holly is alive, and that Hank Schillinger has been arrested. Vern stays cool under questioning. Keller rejects Beecher's pleas for forgiveness. Querns moves them to separate pods. Keller confesses his guilt in the gay murders to Mukada, who refuses to grant him penance. With Keller watching from overhead, Beecher consents to sex with aggressive new podmate Mondo. Rebadow fantasizes about gunning down the entire lunch crowd, makes up with Busmalis, and tries to kill him as he sleeps. Busmalis survives and Rebadow goes to the Hole. Despite Nikolai revealing all details about the cell phone, Querns's search comes up empty. Nikolai asks his girlfriend to dial a number at a certain time. The phone rings until guards find and confiscate it. Cyril overdoses on Haldol. Worried that Gloria's anger will cause her to mistreat Cyril, Pete tells Gloria about Ryan falsely confessing to arranging her rape. In the gym, Ryan kills Keenan, with an unseen Arif watching. Unsure of her feelings for Ryan after he gives her proof of how he avenged her, Gloria takes some time off.
b: 16 Aug 00 pc: 406 w: Tom Fontana d: Keith Samplesrc: Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Johnson, Lopresti, Miles, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Tidd
Ryan, who is secretly having an affair with Howell, asks her to kill Nikolai. She electrocutes Nikolai in the bathtub. Moses learns his appeal has been denied, and an appeal to a higher court would take a year. Sick of the racial taunts, Moses begins chipping a hole in the wall between his cell and Miles'. Keller and Schillinger separately plan to kill Zabitz. When Keller and Robson confront him in a storage room, their turf war is solved by Zabitz's fatal heart attack. Said catches Beecher with yet another man, as Beecher uses sex to numb his pain. Beecher rips into Sister Pete for her recent disappearing act. Hank gets vacation money from Vern after being freed by technical error. As he plans to kill Vern, Beecher pays Pancamo to kill Hank. His later attempt to stop the hit is too late. Rebadow returns from the Hole, apologizing to Busmalis, but falls to the floor before Busmalis can shake his hand. He goes to an outside hospital for removal of a brain tumor. Busmalis begins another tunnel. Hill is shaken after after a lengthy interrogation by McGorry. Allah threatens Arif, who then begs Said to retake his role as Muslim leader. The gays are transferred to Unit B. Adebisi tapes wild sex and drug parties in his pod. When Pancamo and Morales demand their share of drug money, Adebisi reveals they (along with the rest of the Italians and Latinos) are being transferred to Unit B. McManus and Said make plans to take back Em City. Said grants Adebisi's longtime wish of a partnership. Adebisi forces him to swear on Allah that he's sincere. Lenore shares her fears with Glynn. At a press conference, a Travis Bickle-esque Hughes (complete with Mohawk) shoots Devlin.
Flashbacks:
rc: Jazz, Johnson, Lopresti, Miles, Robson, Tidd
Blacks and whites divide over Devlin's shooting. Glynn drops out of the race. During questioning by McGorry, Mondo implicates Mobay in Gergen's death. Hill tells Mobay he remembers where he saw Mobay's girlfriend before (she stood over him after he was thrown off the roof). Hill then tells Mobay he knows he's a narc. Mobay beats him up, then confesses to Gergern's murder when he realizes he's no better than the prisoners. Pete has an outburst during a staff meeting, due to receiving her papers to leave the convent. She later refusing Keller's pleas to be in the group substance abuse session. Cyril threatens to tell others about Ryan and Howell; Ryan almost hits him. Ryan asks Pete to put Cyril back on medication. Her talk with Cyril helps her decide to stay a nun. She tells Ryan that Cyril is doing perfectly fine. Pete makes a belated attempt to help Keller find faith, but he gives up on redemption. Ryan realizes the mess he has made when Howell refuses to break off their affair. Rebadow and Busmalis become friends again. Busmalis gets a visit from a faux-Miss Sally, but befriends her after learning the reason for her ruse. Miles and Pete discuss his fear of death. Moses considers sparing the other man's life, only to be greeted by more racist remarks. He runs his hand through the hole in the wall, strangling Miles. Vern learns he's a father-in-law and a grandfather. Keller and Ryan team up to take Em City's regime down. Shaiman's mutilated body is found in the laundry room. Since Shaiman was seen making out with Beecher, Adebisi suspects Beecher. Beecher (who saw Keller go into the room with him) searches Keller's pod for the murder weapon. Keller threatens to tell Vern about the hit on Hank, then kills another of Beecher's lovers, Mondo. Allah goes to the Hole after Ryan frames him for the crime. Said moves into Adebisi's pod. McManus pressures Glynn. Adebisi learns of Said's deception, but gives him a tape as a test of loyalty. When Glynn sees the tape, he fires Querns and rehires McManus. McManus' first act is transferring Adebisi. Furious over the betrayal, Adebisi tries to stab Said in their pod. He walks out, collapsing to the floor, dead. Said stumbles out, covered in blood and holding the knife.
b: 30 Aug 00 pc: 408 w: Tom Fontana d: Adam Bernstein NOTE: Hill references Seinfeld visiting Oz. On Oct. 2, 1999, "Saturday Night Live" featured a film of Jerry Seinfeld in Oz. Dean Winters, JK Simmons, Lee Tergesen, and Harold Perrineau made appearances as their characters, along with a few of Oz's unidentified extras.rc: Guerra, Jazz, Lopresti, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Tidd
Six months have passed. Said was acquitted of Adebisi's murder on grounds of self-defense. "Up Your Ante", a game show, has joined Miss Sally in the prisoner's tv lineup. McManus and Glynn have done their best to keep the events leading up to Adebisi's death a secret. News producer Lisa Logan tours Oz in preparation for the arrival of hard-hitting reporter Jack Eldridge, who will also be spending a night with the new inmate the cameras will follow around on his first day. That man is Omar White, a jittery, homophobic addict fiending for drugs. Busmalis drives the cameras away. After an interview with Beecher, Lisa considers focusing the piece on his struggles in Oz. Beecher taunts Keller and Ryan with oncamera hints of their involvement in the murders; Keller threatens Ryan when Ryan wants to deal with Beecher; Pete dodges questions; Tidd interrupts a tense moment between Lisa and Vern. After a mention of Adebisi's drug-and-sex videotapes by Poet, Lisa decides to make the piece about the mystery surrounding his final days. Eldridge arrives, digging for information on Ryan after Ryan hints at their past connection. Eldridge blindsides Said with questions about his part in Adebisi's death. Worried about damage to Em City and he and Glynn's careers, Tim points Lisa toward the man he blames: Querns, who kept quiet in exchange for Glynn keeping quiet over his unethical methods. Per Glynn's advice, Querns turns down requests for an interview; per Querns' advice, Glynn destroys the tapes. Glynn and Jack have an off-the-record conversation, leading Eldridge to realize Glynn was a good man caught up in a situation he couldn't control. Jack cancels the Adebisi story. Offering him a constant supply of drugs, Ryan manipulates White into helping him settle an old score against Eldridge. Unfortunately, White tries to attack Eldridge directly in front of the guards. White goes to solitary. Eldridge chooses Cyril for his podmate, sensing good story potential. Cyril, who hasn't been taking his medication, remembers Eldridge and blames him for his mother getting cancer (Eldridge did a piece on Ryan on Cyril when they were in charge of their local Irish gang, painting them as monsters. Their mother developed and died from cancer not long afterward.). Cyril beats Eldridge to a pulp. As he recovers from serious injuries, the network decides to cancel the piece on Oz. Lisa resigns in protest.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Guerra, Jazz, Johnson, Kirk, Mills, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Smith, Tidd
McManus introduces instructional videos and the Cage, a cage in the middle of Em City that Keller is the first to test out. White returns from solitary after lying to McManus about his plans for recovery. Supreme Allah asks an uninterested White to remind Em City that he's coming back someday. Miguel is recaptured; Glynn personally escorts him to solitary. When Guerra asks White to kill Miguel, White stabs him, sending himself back to solitary. After a six-month break due to her transfer from Em City, Claire forces Ryan to resume their affair. Gloria returns. Claire taunts Gloria about her relationship with Ryan. During an overnight stay in the infirmary, Ryan tells Gloria that he killed Keenan. Gloria confesses her love for Ryan to Sister Pete. Devlin is inaugurated for a second term. Sick of Busmalis, Glynn hires the young, energetic, attractive Floria Mills as his assistant. Glynn separates from his wife. Busmalis proposes to Norma, who joyfully accepts. He reveals his latest escape tunnel to Rebadow after Rebadow agrees to be his best man. Enraged by Tidd's past tie to Adebisi, Said rejects Beecher and Tidd's pleas to accept a repentant Tidd into the Muslim circle. Tidd makes a deal with the Aryans to kill Said. Fallen televangelist Jeremiah introduces himself to Vern, offering spiritual guidance. Vern rejects his offer, but later accepts after seeing Jeremiah in action. Beecher considers Vern's offer of a victim/offender session. Vern's behavior puzzles Robson. Keller taunts Beecher over the appeal of his visiting brother, then has the tables turned when his old friend Ronnie enters Em City as Beecher's podmate. New prisoner Redding congratulates Said on killing Adebisi, shares a warm reunion with Hill (who he raised like a son), takes over the homeboys from Poet, and has an unpleasant first meeting with Pancamo and Morales. McManus is forced to house illegal Chinese immigrants in Em City until their deportation. Over his friend Pinghao's warning, Yixue assumes a leadership role for the group. Morales falsely tells him that Redding is planning to kill the immigrants, and the only way to stop Redding is to kill him. Yixue goes to McManus. Yixue, happy after speaking to his wife over the phone, volunteers for work detail. Morales kills him with a staple gun. Suspicion falls on Redding, who is placed in the Cage.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Devlin, Giles, Jazz, Johnson, Kirk, Lopresti, Mills, Mineo, Pancamo, Robson, Smith, Tidd
Redding is cleared due to lack of evidence. Miguel, working as a spy for Glynn, returns to Em City. Morales asks him to kill Redding. Ryan continues his relationship with Claire after she threatens to replace him with Cyril. Cyril has another meltdown; McManus considers sending him to the Connelly Institute. At Ryan's urging, Gloria places him and Ryan in an experimental drug program, based on aging prisoners by the length of their sentences, releasing them with their bodies at that age. McManus and Gloria clash over the program and the O'Reily's involvement in the program. After an unpleasant reunion with a cocky Vayhue, Hill calls the woman Vayhue assaulted of his upcoming parole hearing. Parole denied, Vayhue starts a cafeteria fight, going to the Hole. A horrified Giles is sent to death row for killing Bevilaqua. Tidd and Robson stage a fight, with Tidd saving Arif; Said accepts Tidd as a Muslim, bringing him to Em City. Robson and Hoyt warn Jeremiah to stay away from Vern. Vern tries to comfort Carrie with his newfound religion. Vern and Beecher have their first interaction session.Jeremiah offers harsh advice as he rebuffs Kirk's advances. Glynn agrees to Busmalis marrying in Oz as long as he promises not to dig another tunnel. Despite painful memories of the wedding he never had, Rebadow agrees to be his best man. Omar plans to tell what he knows of the tunnel in exchange for a return to Em City. In a panic to close off the tunnel, Busmalis bursts a water main, sending a shower into their pod and Busmalis to solitary. The prisoners of Em City petition for cable tv. Floria charms prisoners and staff, also finding time to redecorate Glynn's office, along with finding him an apartment and a divorce attorney. Running into Querns (now running Lardner) at the Regional Warden's Conference, he requests an endangered Hughes be moved back to Oz. Now in Unit J (cop unit), Hughes clashes with fellow prisoners Tony Basil (formerly Desmond Mobay), and Alvin Yood. Basil begs his lieutenant to convince his ex-partner to visit, but refuses to see his wife and son. Keller seduces Ronnie to keep him away from Beecher. Agent Taylor offers Ronnie a deal in exchange for information on Keller's murders of gay men. After Ronnie goes to him seeking legal advice, Beecher tells Keller. Keller, although initially disbelieving, snaps Ronnie's neck at a vulnerable moment.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Jazz, Kirk, Lopresti, Robson, Tidd
Getting nowhere with Glynn or Morales, Miguel offers his services to an uninterested Redding. Taunted into a fight by Vasquez, Miguel slits his throat. As Miguel returns to solitary, Rebadow manages to get Busmalis out. Cyril shows signs of aging; fellow subject Wicke drops dead. Tim and Gloria have dinner. Despite pressure from the Aryans, Tidd can't bring himself to klil Said. Snubbed by a drug-seeking Vayhue, an attention-seeking Omar stabs McManus. Basil's partner visits, but informs him she only came under orders, and will never forgive or visit him again. The conflict between Yood and Hughes escalates with threats of death. Jia Kenmin, responsible for the shabby boat, which brought the refugees from China, arrives in Oz. Gongjin asks Jia to avenge Yixue's murder by killing Morales. Back in Em City, Supreme unsuccessfully attempts to join with Redding, then makes plans with Morales and Pancamo to kill him. Hill learns from Redding that Supreme called the cops on him, resulting in his life sentence and paralysis. After promising vengeance on Keller and Ryan, and beating Hill so badly he has to go to the infirmary, Redding maneuvers Tug Daniels (brother of the man Supreme shot) into stabbing Supreme during visiting hours. Supreme survives the stabbing, only to end up beside Hill. Mukada returns from retreat and clashes with Cloutier over Kirk converting to Baptism. Hank's body is found. Robson goads Vern into striking out at Beecher, first by stabbing Angus during Beecher's playdate with his daughter. Beecher convinces his father to take Holly away, then plans to let Vern kill him as an end to their war. Keller knocks him unconscious, quickly uses Cloutier as an emissary to Vern, and confesses to the hit on Hank. Vern and Beecher declare a truce. Moments before his transfer to Cedar Junction, Sister Pete tells Chris God finally chose him. With Keller promising they'll meet again, in one place or another, Beecher and Keller say goodbye.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Giles, Guerra, Jazz, Johnson, Kirk, Lopresti, Mills, Mineo, Robson, Smith, Tidd
Busmalis confesses his virginity to Rebadow, but his fear is moot when Norma doesn't show up for the wedding. Wicke's family sue Gloria, Wygert and Oz for his death, putting her career in jeapordy. Ryan gets a visit from Suzanne Fitzgerald, who claims to be his mother. Cyrils returns to his normal appearance. A bored Claire ends her fling with Ryan, only to have Cyril attack her when she gropes him. Ryan is stunned when his father confirms her existence. Beecher pines for Keller, but his attractive parole liason, Catherine McClain, almost guarantees parole if he can stay out of trouble. Beecher goes to the Cage after provoking a physical confrontation with his new podmate, rigid military man Galson. When Christian Gougeon becomes a Catholic, Kirk has him beaten. Mukada and Cloutier reach an understanding of each other, even holding a service incorporating several different faiths. When Vern informs Carrie of Hank's death, she goes into labor, delivering a baby girl in the prison hospital. Basil advises Glynn to do something about Hughes, but Glynn doesn't even have time to visit. Vayhue switches to heroin when he stops getting a good high, but he stops himself moments before injecting a needle into the legs he's counted on his entire life. Influenced by Vayhue turning his life around, a conflicted Hill rats to the guards moments before the execution of Redding, Jia, and Omar's plan to kill Morales, Pancamo, and Supreme. Pete and Giles delay his execution by asking for death by stoning, not an approved method of capital punishment. Inspired, Moses asks Said to help him arrange to donate his organs. Tidd confesses his initial motives to Said, who forgives him. Robson bullies the scrawny, young Carl Jenkins into killing Said during lunch. Tidd lunges in front of the knife; upon his death, Said retreats into darkness.
Flashbacks:
rc: D'Agnasti, Guerra, Giles, Jazz, Lopresti, Kirk, Mills, Mineo, Robson, Smith
McManus returns, forcing Redding and Morales into a public display of peace. Supreme begins manipulating Hill into killing Redding. Redding disowns Hill, who isn't responsive to Supreme's attempts at friendship. New podmates Galson and Redding find they have a past war in common. Hughes transfers his hatred from Yood to Basil when Basil takes Yood's side. Basil has an emotional visit with his wife, asking her to bring their son soon. Blocking the door to keep Claire out, Hughes kills Basil. Floria gives a drunken, guilt-ridden Glynn a ride home. Seeing Beecher's continued depression over Keller, Sister Pete arranges a phone call between them. When Beecher mentions coming to visit once he's paroled, Keller begs him to leave the past behind, then hangs up. Beecher and Catherine's bond grows. Vern meets his granddaughter, Jewel, but his joy is shattered when a black inmate claims Carrie was a whore, and he slept with her himself. Said uses Cloutier to persuade Jenkins into giving Robson up, but threats delivered by mail drive him to suicide. Vern and the Brotherhood warn Cloutier never to interfere again. Tim challenges Vayhue to a basketball tournament, Tim and another staffer vs. Vayhue and a prisoner of Tim's choice, with Vayhue being allowed back in Em City if he wins. Murphy and Glynn decline, but Officer Brass agrees. Tim picks Busmalis for Vayhue. Vayhue wins, but Brass' abilities stun everyone. Moses asks to meet those who will receive his organs. En route to the hospital, Moses dies in an escape attempt, demoralizing Said yet again and reducing Giles to tears. Padriac Connelly, an Irish terrorist fighting extradition for killing a British soldier, is moved to Em City per Tim's request. Assuming he can win on appeal or be released on bail, he blows off Tim and Ryan's attempts at friendship. Connelly gets into a fight with Kirk when Kirk tries to force him into conversion. Zelman reveals, to Connelly's horror, that he has been denied bail, and must remain in Em City until a decision is made. Ryan learns Suzanne isn't Cyril's mother. A gym confrontation Cyril and Jia causes to go into a coma. Pete and Gloria successfully convince Tim to put Cyril in protective custody instead of an institute. An overheard conversation about Jia's coma spurs Arif into confessing his knowledge of Keenan's murder to Said. When informed, Glynn confronts Ryan, whose attempts at blackmail over Adebisi's videotapes anger Glynn into fully investigating the murder. Desperate, Ryan asks Gloria to help he and Cyril escape.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, D'Agnasti, Devlin, Giles, Guerra, Johnson, Kirk, Mineo, Robson, Smith
Guerra tells McManus about Omar's continued drug use, but is busted as well. Omar sparks a free-for-all in rehab, leading even Pete to give up on him. McManus refuses to. As the parole hearing nears, Beecher asks that the Rockwells be told. Pete arranges an interaction session. Despite their anger, they agree to not fight his parole. Glynn visits Hughes in solitary, tearing up his manifesto and rejecting his plans to seek the death penalty for Basil's murder. Upon release from solitary, Robson is severely beaten by Said after taunting him. The tension between Aryans and Muslims grows; Cloutier manages to talk Vern into a temporary truce (so he can visit Carrie instead of facing a lockdown), but Said refuses and stays in the Hole. Carrie owns up to her past, but asserts that Hank could be the father. Vayhue is treated as royalty due to the last game. The guards injure Vayhue's knee. Rejecting Tim's offer to postpone the game, he loses, and is met with disdain when he moves back to Em City. Accepting a spot in rookie camp from a scout Tim hooked him up with, Dave can't play the last game. When Morales gloats, Tim lies that Dave will be there. Morales pays Martinez to sever Brass' Achilles tendons, crippling him. In partnership with Tug, Supreme lets the Colonel overhear their plans for Hill to kill Redding. After a mock trial, Redding strangles Tug. Supreme uses the murder to rattle Hill further. Pete balks at Devlin's suggestion of declaring Giles mentally incompetent to stand trial. The state Supreme Court declares the death penalty unconstitutional, and Devlin ends capital punishment until a committee can look over the process. Giles' elation ends as he realizes he's back in solitary, all alone. Ryan investigates Cyril's obnxious pc neighbor, who Cyril may or may not have spilled secrets to. Claire offers to change her story of Cyril assaulting her if Ryan lets her sleep with Cyril. Bribed by Ryan with more food, Yood pushes her down a flight of stairs, breaking her pelvis. Ryan and Cloutier stop Kirk and Burns from beating Connelly. Cloutier casts Kirk out; Ryan and Connelly grow closer. After revealing that she left Ryan to join a militant group, Suzanne explains that she has been a fugitive for 35 years, and came to see Ryan before she turned herself in. Ryan asks her to join his escape plan, she advises him against it. Connelly learns he will be extradited in a week. Gloria decides not to tell Glynn what she knows about Keenan's murder, but also decides not to help Ryan escape. Stung by her comment that he has no ethics, Ryan offers to help Connelly fight for the cause. After gathering the supplies, Ryan is told at knifepoint exactly what Connelly's plan is: to build a bomb that will destroy Em City.
Flashbacks:
rc: Armstrong, Guerra, Jazz, Johnson, Kirk, Lopresti, Mills, Mineo, Robson, Smith
Drugs are planted in Hill's pod. When Supreme promises to kill Redding if he doesn't, Hill agrees, buying time until he kills Supreme by telling Poet to slip eggs (Supreme's food allergy) into his meal. Redding and Hill mend fences, but Hill declines the offer to rejoin his crew. Galson has an unpleasant meeting with his daughter, who wants her stepfather to walk her down the aisle. On Redding's orders, he tries to kill Morales while they repair an elevator, but Morales pushes him into the shaft, sending the car crashing down onto him. Wounded by being forced to resign from his church and Kirk's attempts to undermine and humiliate him, Cloutier takes Mukada's advice of working with his followers in manual labor. Kirk, Hoyt, and the other bikers brick him up behind a kitchen appliance. Hughes overpowers Smith, christens himself Gamba Kufu, and claims solitary as his new republic. He picks fellow prisoner Penders as his vice-president. When Glynn tries to break through to him, Hughes offers to surrender in exchange for a hug. As he prepares to knife Glynn in the back, Penders saves him. After being stabbed during a struggle with SORT members, Hughes dies in Glynn's arms, exactly as his father did. Glynn writes a letter of resignation, but Floria tears it up after he leaves. Murphy and Tim lose lose the third basketball match. A sober Omar follows Tim around work every day, worshipping him. When Omar defends Tim's unfortunate appearance on "Up Your Ante", an argument with Guerra causes Omar to smash another Latino's head through the tv. When Tim tells him he's going back to solitary, Omar nearly kicks Tim's head in. Tim still pledges to note give up on him. Vern gives a blood sample for Jewel's paternity test, exploding into rage when Robson tells him of Beecher's parole. Vern promises to do all he can to stop the parole, Said does his best to protect Beecher. Beecher urges Said to face and accept his part in the death of Adebisi. Beecher dreams of a life outside Oz with Catharine and his kids, but his parole is denied for another year. When Vern and Robson taunt Beecher in the library, Said stabs them, exclaiming, "Adebisi lives." Em City finally gets HBO. Upon Cyril's return and Ryan kissing Gloria, Ryan has second thoughts on the bomb. He pleads with Connelly to change his mind, finally stealing the bomb, but Connelly activates it. Ryan tips McManus off, Em City is evacuated, the bomb turns out to be a dud. Unfortunately, a guard lights a match near a burner Ryan left on while stealing the bomb, engulfing the kitchen and cafeteria in waves of flame.
b: 25 Feb 01 pc: 416 w: Tom Fontana & Sean Whitesell d: Adam Bernstein NOTE: Special thanks to Gordon Elliot, Robert Iler, Kirk Avecedo.This episode features nods to several HBO programs ("Sopranos", "G-String Divas", "Sex and the City"), the most amusing being Ryan's claim that he had sex with Sarah Jessica Parker. Dean Winters guest-starred as one of Carrie's many boyfriends in 1999.
The running time is 63 minutes. This episode was shot as both a season and series finale, with different footage in the event of a series finale. Fontana lost the lease on the set, but managed to find a new location in the nick of time.
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