Oz
Life's not a word. It's a sentence.
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorize their mutual enemies.
Episodes
The Routine
In the "Emerald City" experimental unit of Oswald State Penitentiary, we meet some of the diverse inmates who live within a pecking order of Homeboys, Latinos, Muslims, Irish, Aryans, and Wiseguys. No clear-cut leader emerges—with the possible exception of Kareem Saïd, a Muslim author who preaches non-violence and abstinence. Saïd's arrival doesn't prevent a short-fused Mafia inmate named Dino Ortolani from ticking off just about everybody—a habit that ends up burning him.
Visits, Conjugal and Otherwise
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 from both their wives and, in one case, family members who are also in prison.
God's Chillin'
As friction grows in the wake of increasing deaths, Schibetta, Saïd, and Keane are brought together by Glynn, who tells them to keep their respective groups quiet or else he'll lock the prison down. The tension increases following a visit from Governor Devlin, who was responsible for the ban on smoking and conjugal visits.
Capital P
Governor Devlin has reinstated capital punishment in the state, and the first Oz prisoner scheduled to die is Keane.
Straight Life
The infiltration of drugs into Oz has reached unprecedented levels, and the undercover efforts of McManus and Glynn to find out who's smuggling them in backfires in a deadly way. Despite a lockdown in Emerald City, the drugs continue to trickle in—and the blame shifts from prisoners to corrupt officials.
To Your Health
Three generations of Alvarezes—all prisoners at Oz—are united when the partiarch, Ricardo, is found face down in his cell, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, Beecher, who as Schillinger's "prag" has been forced to wear women's clothes, flips out after taking PCP.
Plan B
A recovered Saïd ostracizes Mershah for turning his back on him when he was dying—and orders the rest of the Muslims to do the same. Impressed by Saïd's power, Groves makes a deadly decision in his honor. Meanwhile, Beecher, transformed by prison life, finally gets revenge on Schillinger.
A Game of Checkers
Beecher is released from the hole and Schillinger is left eyeless and weak. A riot breaks out after two white punks get into a fight over checkers. Frustration, sexuality, hate, revenge, racism all rear their ugly heads, causing the violence to escalate.
Trailers & More
About Oz
- Creators
- Tom Fontana
- Cast
- Lee Tergesen, Harold Perrineau, Dean Winters, Eamonn Walker, Ernie Hudson, Terry Kinney
- Genres
- Crime, Drama
- Content rating
- TV-MA
- Original language
- English
- Production countries
- United States of America
- Status
- Ended
More Like This
Wentworth
2013 · Series
Bea Smith is locked up while awaiting trial for the attempted murder of her husband and must learn how life works in prison. A modern adaptation and sequel of the iconic Prisoner series.
MINDHUNTER
2017 · Series
An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.
Prisoner
1979 · Series
Prisoner is an Australian soap opera that is set in the Wentworth Detention Centre, a fictional women's prison.
Painkiller
2023 · Series
The causes and consequences of America's opioid epidemic unfold in this drama following its perpetrators, victims and an investigator seeking the truth.
Escape at Dannemora
2018 · Series
The stranger-than-fiction account of a prison break in upstate New York in the summer of 2015, which spawned a massive manhunt for two convicted murderers who were aided in their escape by a married female prison employee with whom they both became sexually entangled.
Power Book IV: Force
2022 · Series
Tommy Egan leaves New York behind and plans to take on Chicago, using his outsider status to break all the local rules and rewrite them on his quest to become the biggest drug dealer in the city.
Prison Break
2005 · Series
Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
S.W.A.T. Exiles
2026 · Series
After a high-profile mission goes sideways, Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson is pulled out of forced retirement to lead a last-chance experimental SWAT unit made up of untested, unpredictable young recruits. Hondo must bridge a generational divide, navigate clashing personalities, and turn a squad of outsiders into a team capable of protecting the city and saving the program that made him who he is.
This City Is Ours
2025 · Series
After trying to leave a world of crime, Michael is dragged back into the fold to answer questions. Back in Liverpool tensions continue to bubble amongst the remaining members of the gang, and a gangster who's just been let out of prison wants answers.