Oz: Complete Fourth Season [DVD] [1998] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

There is a point in the final episode of "Oz: The Complete Fourth Season" where EM City Administrator Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) informs an inmate who is in fear for his life that there is no room in either protective custody or solitary confinement to put him. That certainly makes sense given the high body count during this season. Was it the highest body count ever for "Oz"? I have not been keeping a tally to this point, but it sure seemed like it was. After all, this was a season where most of the inmates on death row who died were not actually executed by the state. It is a good thing for Warden Leo Glenn (Ernie Hudson) that Governor James Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek) is running for re-election, because it helps to have a boss who thinks inmates killing inmates is, to put it delicately, not a bad thing.

The main dynamic for the fourth season ends up being between Simon Adebisi (Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje) and Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker). From the beginning of "Oz" it was Said who has been the voice of reason, and it was Abedisi who personified the impulse towards anarchy at the Oswald Correctional Facility. After Khan's death, and because of Said's visits from Tricia Ross, Zahir Arif (Granville Adams) moves to take over the leadership of the Muslims. While Said is cast adrift in the hierarchy of Emerald City, Adebisi achieves his objective and actually masterminds the removal of McManus as the administrator of Oz. Of course, Abedisi's success contains the seeds of his own destruction because that is the way things go in the merry old land of Oz. Meanwhile, Said finds out that Oz makes men do things they never thought they would do and changes them in ways they would not want to be changed.

For me, and I suspect many, Tobias Beecher (Lee Tergesen) is the inmate we most identify with on "Oz." Beecher is the "regular" guy who ends up in prison and is fresh meat for the inmates, and the fact that he has survived this far does not in any way, shape or form convince me that I would be able to do half as well. But Beecher has survived, and in this season his ongoing conflict with Vern Schillinger (J.K. Simmons) turns even deadlier than it has been to date. If there is an element of Greek tragedy in "Oz" it is this sick little dance between Beecher and Schillinger, with Chris Keller (Chris Meloni) as the wild card. But running a close second is the twisted relationship that has developed between Ryan O'Reilly (Dean Winters) and Dr. Gloria Nathan (Lauren Velez), which takes the "you always hurt the one you love" to some extremes.

Even our narrator, the one-man Greek chorus Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau), starts to become involved in the madness. After ruining one inmate's chances of parole, Hill finds himself in the middle of the power struggle to control the Homeboys. This problems have me worried because for me it is not "Oz" if Augustus is not explaining to us the different types of shivs you can make in prison (and the fact Perrineau is now on "Lost" and without the dreadlocks worries me even more). But then if there is anything we have learned from "Oz," in addition to never wanting to end up in prison, it is that incarceration does not change people for the better. Just look at Bob Rebadow (George Morfogen), who tells us that not only does every dog have his day, but once he does he will want another one.

The problem with the fourth season of "Oz" is that the effort to keep things boiling over has some of the developments going over the top. The experimental again drug is certainly one example, but the O'Reilly/Nathan relationship also goes beyond belief as far as I am concerned. By the time the show is drawing inspiration from Edgar Allan Poe's "The Cask of Amontillado" I am thinking it is time to be cleaning house. I have trouble remembering exactly how Emerald City was to be an innovative solution to the problem of the modern American prison in the face of the orgy of violence and keep thinking Glenn and McManus need to just lock down the whole prison. Of course, that would kill the drama of the show if all we had were men looked into cells, and HBO has no vested interest in doing that. But "Oz" is not about the escelating number of dead inmates, or even of naked inmates, but rather the life and death struggles of the place. Along with "The West Wing," "Oz" represents "politics" at its "best."

Season 4 of HBO's brilliant prison drama Oz is even more hard hitting than any previous season which is quite something considering the subject matter of seasons 1-3. The dubious internal politics of Emerald City continue to fuel dispute, gang warfare and many, many murders. Interspersed between all the killings and carnage there is rampant homosexuality and drug abuse. If this sounds like it might be difficult to watch, well that's because it is. Oz never skirts around any issue, but what makes the show fascinating to watch is its focus on character. There are dozens of interesting, well written characters who bare their souls, from the shows wheelchair bound narrator Augustus Hill, to aryan leader Vern Schillinger (who sinks to sickening new lows in season 4) to everyman Tobias Beecher who has suffered more than anyone else in Oz.

When McManus is fired a new warden takes over Oz with a dangerous new policy to quell the racial violence. Schillinger and Beechers feud continues to escalate to dangerous new heights that will shock even hardened Oz fans whilst at the same time another battle is being fought for the souls of inmates between Sister Peta Marie, Father Mukada, muslim leader Kareem Said and new inmate Reverend Cloutier. Dangerous and manipulative killer Chris Keller takes drastic action out of love for Beecher and Said stands against the psychotic Adebisi. O'Reilly proves his love for Dr. Nathan in the only way he knows how whilst his brother Cyril is tormented by the deaths he has caused. All these mini stories make for compelling viewing but the ongoing race war between the Muslims and Aryans glues everything together. The problem with season 4 are the gaping plot inconsistencies. Sub-plots are built up and dropped without explanation and some ideas are too far fetched. For example, Dr. Nathan is trialling a drug that ages prisoners so that if he is serving 20 years he can opt to be aged 20 years and go free. A bizarre idea that inevitably goes wrong but the aftermath and effects of the trial are quickly forgotten. Busmalis finds love and becomes enageged to be married. The story is built up over several episodes and on his wedding day we see him waiting for his bride who is obviously very late, the show cuts to another scene and the matter is never mentioned again. Busmalis is back in Emerald City next episode and we never learn what happened. Is this correct or has the UK version undergone some cack-handed editing like the Shield did? Another obvious one is in the final episode where the Aryans imprison an inmate behind a wall. To start with, why would they possibly have access to bricks and mortar? Why would they have opportunity to build a wall without being caught and why was the prisoner not missed at lights out? Far fetched to say the least but still essential viewing.

Like this? Try: Oz: Seasons 1-3, 5,6

Here in the 4th season of the ongoings at Oswald State Prison - you get everything from prison breaks, to riots, to a murder almost every episode. With a new Emerald City Boss chopping and changing the demographic and Siead taking back contol of the Muslim community, as well as Adabesi gaining more fire power than ever before this makes for heated exciting episodes with more twists and character turns than witnessed before! Good Stuff!