(1997-2003)
Alaska* and I recently plowed through all 6 seasons of the prison show, Oz. While I love the show in its entirety, here are 3 things in particular that enhanced my enjoyment.
1. Adebisi's little hats.
I just have so many questions: How does he keep it on his head, even during a fight? Does he ever keep snacks or "tits"(drugs) up in there?(We do see him stash a note from Shirley Bellinger on Death Row under there at one point in season 2) Where did these wonderful miniature hats come from?(I like to imagine Adebisi knits them himself, with toothpicks stolen from the cafeteria)
2. Charles Busch as Nat/Natalie.
I adore Charles Busch, and was beyond thrilled when he just popped up in an episode in Season 3. Playing the HIV positive Nat, he kills Mob Boss Nappa, which then gets him sent to Death Row( he passes in Season 4 from the disease, not execution) Despite being in prison, Nat got to doll himself up a couple times, in full drag with his signature flaming red hair.
3. "Crazy" Beecher.
Sane Tobias Beecher.
Crazy Beecher(as evidenced by the facial hair)
Poor Tobias Beecher. A well-off lawyer from a good family, with a wife and kids of his own, who just happens to have a drinking problem. When he runs over and kills a kid in a DUI offense, he's made an example of and sent off to Oz.
How to make a Crazy Beecher
1. Take one sane, well-mannered attorney and throw him into a maximum security prison.
2. Cell him first with Adebisi, and then the leader of the Aryans, Vern Schillinger.
3. Brand with a Swastika, beat, rape, sexually humiliate, and then discard Beecher into the
recesses of Oz with no protection(and wearing a Confederate Flag t-shirt)
4. Load him up with "tits."(which is still drugs)
Beecher being branded by Schillinger
Beecher made to drag it up at talent show
Consequences of creating a Crazy Beecher
~Partial blindness(as done to Schillinger)
~Beaten down and then shit on while other prisoners cheer(including shit in the mouth-also
done to Schillinger)
Beecher's ass, poised for action
~"No means no." Bites off the tip of a penis that is shoved into his piehole(as done to Robson,
one of the Aryan Brotherhood)
Robson looks like a dickhead, anyway
Beecher bites it off, then spits it out
~Kills the guard(Metzger) that allowed him to be severely beaten by the Aryans(both arms &
legs were broken. Metzger's death is actually a thing of beauty-Beecher allows his nails to
grow while in the hospital ward, and, basically, it's kill or be killed when he's released back
into Emerald City. Metzger mistakenly thinks that he will handle the situation, and gets
Beecher alone, only to find himself suddenly slashed to pieces and bleeding out. After this,
Beecher calmly goes back to his pod and clips his nails, thus destroying the "weapons," and
the evidence)
Before Crazy Beecher
After Crazy Beecher
There is, of course, many other Crazy Beecher moments, but too many to list and too many
to find pictures of. It's worth noting that when Schillinger tries to get someone to off Beecher in
Season 2, no one will touch him.)
Bonus- Jericho
I have never been more creeped out by a puppet than Cyril O'Reily's friend, Jericho. The one
scene that, literally, sent chills down my spine was when Cyril was on Death Row. Father
Ray is walking down the darkened hall of Death Row, and he glances to the right to see
Jericho framed in a shaft of light. And then the voice- "Good evening, Father." Nothing
at all like Cyril's little boy lisp(he has brain damage from an accident, and is mentally between
10 and 12, I believe) Jericho starts out as a friendly little outlet for Cyril, and then turns into
Cyril's "bad side," for lack of another way to put it. This was never more evident than when
Cyril/Jericho calls Sister Pete a cunt.
*my husband
Cyrils mental age is 5yo
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