Oz

- Season 1

(1997)

In the 'Emerald City' experimental unit of Oswald State Penitentiary, we meet some of the diverse inmates who exist in a pecking order of Gangbangers, Latinos, Muslims, Westies, Aryans and Wiseguys.

With Schibetta and the prison brass in a race to uncover Ortolani's killer (for very different reasons), we see how inmates react to visits both from their wives and (in one case) family members who are also in prison.

Friction is growing in the wake of two deaths so Said, Wiseguy leader Schibetta and Gangbanger Jefferson Keane are brought together by Warden Glynn, who tells them to keep their boys quiet or else he'll lock the prison down.

Governor Devlin has reinstated capital punishment in the state--and the first Oz prisoner scheduled to die is Jefferson Keane, who killed a Latino in their skirmish. Before he's executed, Keane donates a kidney to his ailing sister.

The infiltration of drugs into Oz has reached scary levels, and the efforts of McManus and Glynn to find out who's smuggling backfire in a deadly way. Despite a lockdown, drugs continue to trickle in--and the blame shifts to corrupt officials.

Ricardo is discovered to suffer from Alzheimer's; Beecher flips out and sends Schillinger to the hospital; mob boss Schibetta develops stomach problems thanks to some ground glass; and Said has a heart attack.

A recovered Said ostracizes Huseni Mershah for turning his back on him when he was dying--and orders all the Muslims to cast him out. Impressed by Said's power, Groves decides to kill Glynn in his honor, but ends up stabbing an officer by mistake.

After a visit with his sons, Schillinger realizes he needs to get paroled. He convinces McManus to let him return to Em City with the condition that he leaves Beecher alone. Beecher comes out of the hole hell-bent on making sure Schillinger doesn't get paroled. McManus gets wind of Wittlesey and Ross' contraband operation and orders her to shut it down. Ross makes it very clear to her that this will not happen. The Muslims meet and discuss how the riot will begin. However, two rednecks beat them to it by fighting over a game of checkers. This causes all the inmates to...