• Episode Number: 1
• Original Air Date: July 12, 1997
• Written by: Tom Fontana
• Directed by: Darnell Martin
• Screenplay by: Tom Fontana
• Story by: Tom Fontana
• Guest Cast:
  • Jon Seda (Dino Ortolani)
  • Jose Soto (Sanchez)
  • George EM Kelly (Travis Ballard)
  • Desiree Marie Velez (Gintare Ortolani)

Opening credits: Someone (yes, it's Tom Fontana's arm that got offered for the carving) is getting an OZ tattoo on their arm from a pretty hardcore looking guy as various shots of inmates in chains, fights breaking out, people spiking up, and guys showering as the background music plays: the heavy bass and drum lines with a trombone and trumpet as the only melody.

Augustus Hill starts speaking about how prison can tear you up. He makes clear what the real punishments and dangers are: other inmates, but mostly - yourself. Men will destroy themselves. The monotony, the loss of support, the isolation, the sheer fact of being stuck with themselves is terrible punishment.

The action of the show starts with a man in a suit waiting to get led into Em City. While he's waiting, a young Latino guy gets shanked in the chest and he falls to the floor and sort of writhes towards Beecher and grabs hold of one of his ankles. Beecher shakes free and screams at the bars.

We do learn who the stabbed inmate is, Miguel Alvarez, through Tim McManus. He runs Em City. He goes to Warden Glynn and tells him that of the new inmates being brought in today, he wants Tobias Beecher, Miguel Alvarez, and Donald Groves. Alvarez has been stabbed, so Tim isn't able to get a hold of HIM quite yet. But he can have Beecher, and Groves - a cannibal. That's right. Groves killed his mom and dad and ATE his mother, froze his Dad's corpse. Glynn thinks McManus is tripped for even wanting Groves, but he lets him have him on the condition that he also takes Paul Markstrom. Tim does NOT want Markstrom, but he relents, cause, well, cause Glynn insists, and he tells Tim that Markstrom is his cousin.

Next, McManus pairs Beecher up with Ortolani as his sponsor. Sponsor? You ask. Why yes, sponsor. While getting led into Em City, tough chick female guard Dianne Whittlesey tells everyone all about it. There's a time stamp on the screen which will continue through the show. It pounds into our heads the whole routine; when things happen, how days bleed the same. Dianne seems to get this already, cause she's a bit listless, we can tell she knows this rap by rote now, but she's gotta inform everyone, and us, of what to expect. "In Em City we've got rules, more rules than anywhere else in Oz. Your cell is your home, keep it clean. Spotless. You are to exercise regularly, attend classes, go to drug and alcohol counseling, work in one of the prison factories. You are to follow the routine. We tell you when to sleep, when to eat, when to piss. There is no yelling, no fighting, no fucking. Follow the rules. Learn self discipline. Cause if you had any self discipline to start with you wouldn't be here."

Groves doesn't want any fucking routine. He then meets his sponsor, Bob Rebadow, and proceeds to lick the palm of his hand.

Dino is Beecher's sponsor, and he pretty much just blows Beecher off totally. He does give him some advice - don't smile. Ever. Then Dino steps away to use the phone and Billy Keane - younger, gayer, MUCH gayer brother of Jefferson Keane - sort of leers at him and we can tell it bugs Dino. We also know that Dino's well hooked up with the wiseguys in Oz, Nino Schibetta particularly.

In what becomes a standard shot, we get to know Tobias Beecher by a quick re-cap of what landed him in Oz. Augustus narrates, gives us his name, prisoner number, crime, and sentence. Tobias Beecher, 97B412 (for anyone who still hasn't got it, it's the year they were incarcerated, first letter of last name, then three digit number, seemingly going in order of arrival in Oz. Like, Miguel came in with Beech, and he's 97A413. Get it?) Beecher was driving drunk and hit and killed a little girl. We get a flashback to his black car turning a corner and smashing into little the youngster, her body flying onto the hood of the car, and his horrified face.

At this point, Augustus is talking again, and he's telling us how Em City is supposed to be MORE than just retribution, it's supposed to be about redemption. That's McManus's grand plan. But, as Augie notes, you gotta wanna be saved. It just won't work for guys who don't want to be saved.

And then, back to the action. We're in the cafeteria, and the camera pans to Poet. We don't know HIM yet either, but he's onstage and he gives his cigarette rap. Meanwhile, Beech is walking around and Dino won't let him sit with him at lunch, so he ends up sitting with Rebadow. Beech sits down and Bob starts laying the inside rap on him, he knows his wife's name, and that she's gonna divorce him. And Beech asks how he knows this, he, he THROWS his head back, looks up at the ceiling, and PROCLAIMS, "God told me!"

Then Glynn gets up onstage and tells the inmates they aren't allowed to smoke anymore.

So, on the heels of him announcing this, the caf breaks out into a pretty big all out brawl, and we particularly see Dino jumping on someone and punching them out along with other bodies flying as Beecher just looks like he really is ready to shit his pants.

So, then Beecher gets bunked up with Adebisi, and for some weird reason Simon gives him the top bunk. Adebisi generally hangs with this Jefferson Keane dude, and he steals Beecher's watch, but tells him he won't be fucking him - tonight.

The what happens is the first SHAKEDOWN in Em City. They bring in dogs and search pods to look for drugs. Also at about this point is when Glynn informs McManus that shakedowns aren't enough, he wants to stop the FLOW of drugs into the prison somehow.

But that really has nothing to do with Beecher, and he's alone and scared in the cafeteria eating the next day. So Vern Schillinger cozies up to him in the caf and tells him he oughta get his pod switched to be away from Adebisi. Next thing we see is Beech moving OUT of Simon's cell because McManus allowed him to move in with Schillinger instead of Adebisi.

As soon as Beecher moves in with Schillinger, he's very happy, but that quickly gives way to horror as he realizes his mistake when Vern informs him he's now his property. Like cattle, and that he's even going to brand him. And then, at night, he does. He burns a swastika into Beecher's butt.

So, we end up "Bitcher's" (as Vern has taken to calling him) section of the show with him huddled in bed with a lost, zoned out look on his face, pretty much despondent, confused, and broken.

We do see Vern a few more times in the episode, making it blazingly apparent to us that he's not just a rapist, but also the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood in Oz. Translate, he's a Nazi. He scoffs at Said when he arrives but also regards him with caution and tries to get Dino to take sides with him against Kareem. When Dino blows him off though, Vern goosesteps away in his shitkickers and all puffed up in his blue shirt and calls Dino a greaseball. He's an equal opportunity racist you know.

So, the next person to arrive is Kareem Said. And Glynn warns everyone that he's a potential powder keg cause of his prominence in the Muslim community and general celebrity. To punctuate that point, we see Kareem's crime - blowing up a white owned warehouse. Then Glynn, McManus, and Said have a little sit down, and this guy just could not BE any more arrogant. We've already had a scene where McManus freaks a little and says the smoking ban is gonna cause a riot, and now we've got this haughty, smart, powerful man in Em City threatening exactly that.

He basically tells McManus and Glynn that he can take the prison at any time. McManus says he'd like to work WITH Said to help keep things moving around Em City, and Said sort of just blows him off. Said then goes right after Glynn and tells him that from now on, HE runs Oz. Leo gets fired up about THAT lemme tell you. He barks at him good, but as Kareem's walking through Em City, we hear this chanting getting louder and louder as everyone is stopped and just watching him and men start to gather around him.

Kareem then has to get over some immediate battles with inmates. Schillinger's eyeing him up, Dino regards him curiously, but Jefferson Keane and his crew, they want a piece of his ass. Said's preaching about the evils of drugs to Keane's crew see, and that shit don't fly. So when Markstrom, Adebisi, and Keane confront Said, he tells Jefferson that he believes in respecting his fellow man and non-violence. Well, Keane DON'T. So, before Jefferson can rough him up, Said tells one of his OWN brethren to start punching him out. And the guy DOES. He cracks him good a few times in the jaw and Kareem just sucks it up and bleeds out the mouth and says "A salaam alaikum" to Keane, who now thinks he's as crazy hell, but he backs off.

Interspersed with these scenes were various shots of Dino. Dino padding around his cell in the middle of the night wearing only boxers and dunking his head in the sink. Sister Peter Marie arranging a conjugal for Dino, which McManus has to authorize. And he does. More than happy to - he allows Dino a six hour conjugal, to which the good Sister quips, "Geez, I hope he's not a premature ejaculator.".

But the best scene is back in the cafeteria with Dino and his boss Nino Schibetta and Joey D'Angelo talking about Donald Groves. D'Angelo's giving them the skinny on his peculiar culinary habits and Nino is just disgusted, starts talking about how murder should be murder, just business, and you certainly don't EAT the guy. He's got a pretty good sense of humor this Nino, and he's got his hands full trying to reign in Dino all the time. So Ortolani quips, "Times change." And Nino responds to that simply. "Fuck that. Times change. Nothing changes. Nothing -ever- changes." And that just encapsulates this whole episode.

Next thing you know, the wiseguys are sitting around again playing cards this time. And D'Angelo, he's apparently the man with all the news, informs them that Ryan O'Reily is coming to Oz. Dino's very stressed about this, and again Nino has to cool him down and tell him he's NOT gonna whack the guy. We flashback and see Dino shooting and kicking this skinny guy in a black trench.

Then we see said guy in an infamous scene - Ryan O'Reily having his mug shot taken while he wears red undies. And O'Reily moves quick then. Quick and fast, that's what he is. And slick, right from the start. Billy Keane walks in the caf and sort of winks at Dino which pisses Ortolani off. But right behind him comes O'Reily then, taunting Dino to get up. But he doesn't cause he knows NINO will kick HIS ass if he starts shit with O'Reily. So now he's festering a little. We follow O'Reily though who quickly makes his way to Keane and tells him he's willing to pay to have Ortolani airholed. And Keane informs us one of the main rules of the prison, they don't kill wiseguys. O'Reily's less than impressed and he sort of stalks away.

He meets up in a corridor with a hack, Healy. And here comes one of the most debated and discussed scenes thanks to two lines. "My brother says hello, he says you can help." That's O'Reily talking to the guard. Why's it such a big deal? Well, it wasn't THEN, but it was once Cyril showed up. Cause it begs the question, was he talking about Cyril? But Cyril was brain damaged, he wouldn't remember he had a friend in Oz who was a hack. Or does HE remember that? Or is there ANOTHER O'Reily brother? Or was O'Reily just blowing smoke there? Or is it a continuity error?

Then we go to the showers, where Dino Ortolani is kicking the shit out of Billy Keane and then he gets beat by by a bunch of hacks.

After that, he's in Doctor Nathan's care and flirting up a storm with her. Once Dino's all bandaged up he has to make the obligatory stop in McManus's office to have his punishment meted out to him. He sits there eyeballing the hack who brought him in while McManus tries in earnest to get through to him. Naturally, Dino's less than impressed and does't really care to listen so much. McManus has this roach trapped in a glass on his desk and Dino just taps at it as McManus tries to explain that even a lifer in Oz can find a purpose to his life. Dino don't buy it, but McManus won't give up, so instead of putting him in the hole for a while he re-assigns Dino to work in the AIDS ward. THAT gets Dino's attention and the apathy gives way to aggravation again, and WE learn something else - the kitchen is the cool place in Oz to work. Anyhow, McManus won't back down and Dino throws the roach at him and so then TIM gets really testy and makes the hack haul him away.

Now we can see that things are really spiraling quick for Dino cause he asks Nino for help, and even HE won't help him, he thinks it'd be a good lesson for Dino too. In the midst of this though, Nino manages to crack me up again, cause Ortolani gets all frustrated and loud a little and Nino just looks at him like he's crazy and says, "You're raising your voice to me!" And Dino backs off! Bottom line there, Nino has all sorts of jizz.

So Dino goes to work in the AIDS ward and meets Sanchez for the first time. He's a LATE stage patient who looks rough and just keeps saying how he wants to die. Meanwhile, Doctor Nathan is a bit miffed with Tim for sending Ortolani to work under her. She thinks he's a pain in the ass who needs to be sedated. She and Tim sort of butt heads on this issue, but he manages to get her to go out with him anyhow cause she is separated from her husband.

We break away to O'Reily in the kitchen with Keane again, only this time Keane is MORE than ready to go ahead and whack Ortolani cause Dino put his brother Billy in the hospital with that shower beating. So O'Reily flexes his connection muscles and gets Johnny Post, one of Keane's underlings, assigned to the AIDS ward with Dino, and Jefferson orders Post to take Dino OUT.

Next thing is Dino back at work again and this time a bit of compassion for Sanchez seems to bleed out. Maybe it's cause he's relating more and more to the hopelessness of his situation, or maybe it's cause Sanchez bucks up and shares a smoke with him. Either way, they get to chattin again. Sanchez still wants to die, but he also wants to see his daughter. Then, he tells Dino that he caught AIDS from being a junky, he LOVED heroin. Dino snorts that he never used, but he sold a lot. So then Sanchez, he says, "maybe I got mine from you." And Dino does NOT like that AT ALL. We get another first then, that buzzing trippy locust sound instead of music as Dino festers on that comment for a second or two before taking away Sanchez's cigarette and stomping off to catch one alone in the hall.

We see Jefferson's man, Johnny Post, placing a shiv in his back pocket and ambling towards Dino in the hall, but then McManus comes striding in from the other direction and Dino gets a reprieve. He's pretty pissed off though, and McManus gets in his face a little which prompts Dino to lay the truth on him - that he AIN'T gonna change. None of the prisoners are ever gonna change.

So, Timmy's all testy again cause his grand plan isn't working. So what's he do? Oh, fine McManus form here, he kicks it up a notch. And this is so telling about him. He goes to Sister Pete and takes away Dino's conjugal, and then says he can see his wife and kids, but only behind glass - no touching. Peter Marie even warns him about this stunt, telling him to stop playing God, "or else the real one is gonna get very pissed off."

Next thing we see is Dino meeting behind the glass with his wife and kids. And it's a really touching scene, it is. Cause he seems so happy to see them, but it just turns to shit right away. The camera work makes them seem so close, and yet so separated by that glass. And then he tells her to move on, get a new life, to never bring the kids to see him again.

He then goes back to the hospital where he sees Sanchez again, and this time Sanchez asks him to help him die. Next, Ortolani goes into the bathroom where O'Reily leers over the stall at him and informs him that he's moving to Em City. He erupts with outrage and thrashes O'Reily around pretty good and even gives him a bona-fide swirly.

And then, Ortolani just collapses to worn-out despair in the shadowy hallway. He sinks to the ground without any pretense left. And yet, he's not so broken that when Said shows up to offer some, some, something - he can't pull it together enough to stand up and strut away from Said, saying it's too bad he's the wrong color.

The next thing we see is Ortolani suffocating Sanchez. He just leans right over and smothers him into finality. So of course, the hacks kick the shit out him for it and strap him down in the hole. (Note - he's fully clothed, as will be Jefferson Keane. They don't get naked in Ad Seg until about episode 5.)

Gloria and McManus come into where he's tied down and shoot him up and sedate him. Unfortunately for Dino, or, perhaps it can be seen that it's what he wanted anyhow, they aren't his last visitors. Another guard opens the door and lets Post in to see him. He douses Dino with lighter fluid and strikes a match. And it's a super-cool shot of Post looking down into the camera, which serves as Dino's perspective, and in slow motion striking the match and dropping it - therefore flaming the camera lens. Then the last thing we see is McManus looking over pictures of a very burned and very dead Dino.

End.

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