The second half of season 4 of Oz is considered by many to be the point where the show nose dives in quality. Season 5 of the show is very strange, and even features a musical episode!
Ok but Lee and J.K. kinda slayed when they sang last duet On a real note, I agree that the later seasons are harder to get through, not necessarily to increased violence but more so due to the increasingly bizarre and stupid plot lines. I do believe that there are still some good parts, though. Thanks for talking about the show!! It's been my obsession since my early teens and I think more people should know about it.
Season 5 was quite odd but I really loved burr reddings and augusts final scene together,it was so raw and touching, one of the best moments of the whole show,no overtly dramatic bs no annoying cuts to a random plot,and just pure well acted dialogue that felt so genuine between two characters I loved.
I have the box set for Oz and used to watch it all of the time until I retired from the Department of Corrections. Now that I’m retired, I don’t watch ANY movies about jail or prison after twenty five years of working in the department.
@@K37-h1z Nope! After looking at inmates for those many years, I’d like to see something different on TV. And Oz was good but I grew tired of it once I retired and looked at how outlandish that show was.
That was my main issue with Oz: things start to recycle themselves. How can they not, I guess? You're confined to Emerald City and a few other wards and thats it. This really started to wear on me with O'Riley. I felt like every other episode later on we would get the O'Riley gambit: Ryan has an enemy, so he tells the enemy of that person that they are looking to kill them. After a while, wouldn't prisoners get wise to this? Definitely not the first show that wears out its welcome by staying around too long, but maybe the most annoying.
You also have the fact that his revenge against Schillinger was dropped, which sucked because that was such a cool story arc and the fact that it's dropped after Season 4A is just tragic.
Sorry, but that Beecher Schillinger duet was one of the best wtf moments in tv history. The way both fully commit to that scene and the thrusting choreographed dances its worthy of being in the show. if it had been a regular thing to have gone goofy, or they didnt full commit i'd have hated it, but as it happened unexpectedly and was so well framed by the other scenes it was perfect. Kirk the religious kid drawing burning satan and hell in his cell showing his dark intent, the fade to the mic then beecher walks in and starts all dramatic - then it just flipped perfectly into full on insanity for a min, to then cut to Big Vern taking a dump in his cell like nothing happened, it really was outstanding.
By this point in the series, Beecher, Said, and Alvarez carried the show by their storylines and their characters’ great performances. Tone is something that Tom Fontana has struggled with. If you watch the 90s series Homicide, you’ll see how it tries being this dark, down-to-Earth crime drama one minute then have absurd story the next.
Honestly burr and Omar helped carry it imo,burr I just love his character and Omar is just so well acted and entertaining and a breath of fresh air on how different he was.
Am I the only one but I have a hard time watching Keller play a hard ass manly cop after watching him jump off tier cause another guy didn't love him anymore
That’s the hard scene with him but not when he literally bends over, shows his ass, then proceeds to part his cheeks to show his hole? Lol I respect that hell outta that actor because that takes serious guts. It was even weird to see the Hispanic detective from Dexter naked.
Has anyone here seen the short film Zo? It's basically a sequel to Oz that features Tobias Beecher and Ryan O'Reily and it was written by Tom Fantana. If that film is a pitch for a sequel series then I'm in.
This show is... difficult, yeah difficult to properly review. Started out so well and ended so in dumpster 🔥 mode. It was the catalyst for multi episodic shows on cable, like the sopranos and the wire. Literally share the cast with both shows. But it got BAD at the end. Adebisi was the best tho
It took a weird turn, sure. But there are still moments of pure brilliance there, like, the first episode is literally perfect. But yeah, I am a tolerant guy 😁I am cool with aging pills and immigrants housed in OZ, but the whole plot centered around Hoyt, Kirk and Cloutier was a bit too much even for me. 😄
But Cloutier or however you spell it… (Luke Perry’s character) was a pastor? Not a priest. That was a whole subplot between the catholic and Christian divide, so that’s a major thing you’re missing in regards to what you said.
Wow, you really didn't like the musical show! All of the actors bar Chuck Zito were theatre darlings, this was an episode for them to let loose from these false personas.
The show died with adebisi. The plot lines became so contrived and ridiculous, it feels like a completely new show. Always hated the O'Reilly storylines after s1 honestly. The librarian ugghhhhhh so bad. Omar being the highlight says everything about the quality. I loved the show, but the decline hit hard. The lack of time spent after said meets his maker. The beecher nooooooo! Lmao the play? Just all kinds of awful.
When I saw this, and I know exactly what you were talking about. I started to die laughing when you mentioned the guy getting put into a wall, bc I forgot about that, and just another example of the absurdity of that show. Then the bomb 🤣🤣🤣……the aging drug made the show jump the shark. I thought that was such fake nonsense, and for a show that was filled with ridiculous shit, it was just too unbelievable at that part…..the one guy, who’s like always crazy, used to be-or still is- a heavy crack head, but he’s always doing incredibly stupid shit. I forgot his name, but when I saw his picture, that also made me laugh, bc he was so over-the-top crazy. Also….didnt the actor who played carver in the wire, also play a character in this show, where he’s the wardens nephew, and always doing crazy shit, or was that a fever dream??
Extremely zany show. I love Oz for it’s boldness but it’s truly an acquired tasted and becomes bit of a slog to finish after the second half. It’s a truly wild ride from start to finish. Just felt pointless as some points, which was its true fault. No one wins or stays endearing.
One of the stupiest storylines in Oz was Robeson being kicked out of the Aryans for getting a gum transplant from a black man. First of all, the body is extemely likely to reject tissue if its from another race- thats why close family are always the best choice when it comes to organ transplants. So its not even possible. Second, why would they care about that? Seriously, its just dumb.
Unironically I really like Omar's stuff, more than the majority of S4b-5 plots. He can be dense and stupid, but he's a good example of a criminal being rehabilitated without it feeling too easy. Like he starts out as an addicted and awful person, and he doesn't just immediately start being good. But at he slowly overcomes his addiction and is helped by more positive influences we see he wants to do good and has the potential for it. It's nice to have some optimism in this story. Only for McMannus to fuck it up cause he can excuse Omar stabbing him for no reason, but him killing a Nazi to protect Kareem and himself is suddenly too far.
I think a lot of the issues brought up in this recap might stem from binge watching the series. Back when it originally aired it was on late at night, each episode was almost an hour long and you only got 8 per season - when the season was over you had to wait 10 months to get more. And TV then wasn't like it is today where they'll rerun the heck out of a show between seasons so you were kind of left wanting more and had to wait for it... and then by the time it came around again you likely forgot all the fine details of last seasons episodes because it was a year ago and not just a couple of days or last week, like it would be if you were binge watching it.
Binge watching could also show the flaws more severely since us as an audience is digesting it as me watch. Usually people watched and then digested, now it is constant
The show completely losses it after the first half of season 4. The cliches and just cheesiness just is too heavy. There's still good parts but so few and far between
The prison hot tub was the moment they lost me. I could accept all the silly shit up til the prison hot tub. "We gonna stick him...when he on his way to the prison hot tub". Not medical, not chow, not a visit, the prison hot tub, the unguarded prison hot tub
i'm kinda upset i came across your oz reviews this late but as a person who loved the series and understand it very well i dont think you really understand the show you watched but i dont think you get it ld really like to debate you on some of the points you made about this show because while i think you make alot of great points you missed alot as well
I watched the show as it aired on Sunday. I remember finding this episode as I welcome reprieve from all the darkness of that show.😂 It was tough way to start the week but once I was invested, I felt locked in. ( Like OZ)
Some of the ideas were beyond out there, the prisoners in Solitary confinement are gonna become dog handlers???? And the concept of OZ itself didn't make sense, you would never have the most violent prisoners with low level prisoners.
My Faviorte charercters where O'Riley and Adabesi but Oz was a great show it started to go downhill after they murder Adabesi but people forget or don't relise that OZ the Sapronos Deadwood Rome Six feet under and other shows like that were what showed people you could tell great and compelling movie worthy with Shows HBO was really the network that started it so shows like Vikings Game of the thrones the walking dead Sons of Anycharcy Breaking Bad Better Call Saul and Justifyed could do there thing but OZ really set the standerd for the shows that came later and maybe it to where networks like FX and AMC would not only get behind them but really search them out
