Oz

[wilbert]

sweetpeazz said:

This show and The Wire are two of most underrated shows on HBO. The Sopranos and Sex and the City got all love.

So true.

[Yossarian]

cantienne said:

Bump because I just finished season 5 on DVD and am heading into the dreaded last season. I listened to Dean Winters and Tom Fontana's commentary on the last episode, which cracked me up. I'm always happy when i see my favorites from this show turn up in other places. I'm hoping that Kirk Acevedo gets a new show soon - loved him in this and in Band of Brothers.

Oh, the last season is so, uh, disappointing. The murder rate goes crazy (I mean, I know prisons are violent but how often do people get squashed by elevators in prison?). Also, I think it's Season 6 where we get to see Ryan O'Reilly break dancing. Yes, break dancing. That almost destroyed my love for Dean Winters it was so damn embarassing to watch. That all said, the Cyril storyline is really strong in that season.

[cantienne]

Oh, no, the breakdancing is definitely in season 5, because I just cringed my way through it. Jericho the Puppet also starts hanging around, and Omar drives everyone bugfuck. All in all, not one of the best seasons.

I think this show went downhill pretty fast after season three, but I have such a soft spot for it anyway. I know how everything is going to turn out, but I still feel the need to follow it to the end. Apparently I can look forward to Torquemada.

[TrafficChick]

When ratscabies and I were in New York a couple weeks ago, I saw a guy on the street with his hat a la Adebisi. I looked at Rat and said "I wonder how he keeps his hat on. I bet he got tips from Adebisi." - Rat had no idea what I was talking about.

Ah. My people. I think my favorite thing about Oz is how many of the actors are on episodes of Law & Order. I'm forever pointing them out to Rat and explaining their Oz characters to him. I really should have him watch some of the eps of Oz with me so he knows what I'm talking about. *sigh*

[Yossarian]

trafficchick said:

Ah. My people. I think my favorite thing about Oz is how many of the actors are on episodes of Law & Order. I'm forever pointing them out to Rat and explaining their Oz characters to him. I really should have him watch some of the eps of Oz with me so he knows what I'm talking about. *sigh*

I know! The Oz cast are everywhere. Law and Order, Lost, The Wire, you name it.

God, I'd forgotten about Jericho the Puppet. That was bad. I loved the show but it could really go to the ridiculous sometimes. The other wtf moment was when the little red headed guy (Billy?) got possessed the devil and was trying to get to BD Wong's character. Uh huh.

So, what do you all think about the Gloria/Ryan love story? True romance or something only a man would write?

[zacandmax]

I think it's believable that they could fall in love. She had the hero thing going on because Ryan killed the guy who raped her...and I think she was intrigued and turned off by him at the same time. He was really crazy. But really fine. I have been attracted to and turned off by good looking crazy men. A long time ago.

Another wtf moment. When the skinhead kept having hallucinations that the Rev. Cloutier (sp) was speaking to him. And he really was speaking to him. It was farfetched.

[Yossarian]

But did Ryan set her up to be raped? They were never very clear about that: it kind of looked like he arranged it but then he was so angry at the rapist in the jail that I wasn't sure. I thought the whole Ryan/Gloria dynamic was interesting (and pretty as hell to watch) but you'd have to wonder if a woman in her position would allow that kind of attraction to develop? Even if the prisoner in question looked as fine as Ryan O'Reilly! I liked that they strung it out though: if they'd hooked up in Season 3 that would have been the end of the show then and there.

Another WTF moment: the drug experiment that made the prisoners age overnight!

[zacandmax]

Oh yeah...I forgot about that. The aging drug. And poor Cyril getting all caught up in it.

[cantienne]

Ugh, the aging drug plotline. I think that's worse than Jericho.

I have so much love for Adebisi and his hat - I especially loved when Homer went to jail on the Simpsons, and had the same little hat perched on his head. Adebisi was both gorgeously compelling and completely evil, and I think I would watch that actor (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, whose name I always have to look up) in anything. He, Alvarez, and Ryan have to be my favorites on the show.

[Yossarian]

I loved Adebisi too. He was a psychopath, yes, but still he was a great character to watch. When he gave that mob boss HIV by spiking him with the needle and when he fed that other dude ground glass - sneaky evil genius! What a sentence to write.

I also have a soft spot for Keller - another psychopath.

I never really got the Alvarez love though. I know he has many fans but he and his depression always kind of annoyed me.