Oz (Season 5) DVD Review

Nominated for 2 Emmys, including Best Casting for a Series, Oz is widely regarded as one of the best prison dramas ever created. The brainchild of creator Tom Fontana (former writer on such hit TV shows as Homicide: Life On The Streets and St. Elsewhere), Oz was one of a number of a highly successful HBO original series to premiere in the 1990s, keeping good company among such shows as Sex And The City and The Sopranos. Premiering in mid-summer 1997, Oz quickly built a large and loyal following of viewers hypnotized by the series' vivid depiction of non-holds-barred prison life. After six critically acclaimed seasons, Oz was cancelled in early 2003, but lives on via DVD

Oz is the street name for the Oswald State Penitentary, a rough and hardened prison where survival of the fittest is the prevailing law. But the focus of Oz is Level 5, an experimental cell block deemed Emerald City that's managed by Unit Administrator Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) and the hard-nosed War den Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson). One of the prisoners, wheelchair-bound convicted murder Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr. of Lost) narrates for the viewer, tying together the various storylines that play out within the prison. In an atmosphere of well-governed anarchy, prisoners come and go (some paroled; some murdered), prison guards uphold their duty (while some are corrupt), and various groups (such as Muslims, Aryans, Latinos, Italians, gangstas, gays, etc.) compete for power over each other and over the prevalent drug trade rampant within the walls of Oz. Tobias Toby Beecher (Lee Tergesen) plays the everyday man, having been convicted for manslaughter while driving drunk, and his character's experiences force the viewer to place himself in the shoes of the inmate. Other notable characters include Prisoner Miguel Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo), Prisoner Bob Rebadow (George Morfogen), Prisoner Vernon Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), Prisoner Kareem Said (Eamonn Walker), Prisoner Tony Masters (Steven Wishnoff), Officer Diane Whittlesey (Edie Falco of The Sopranos), and Father Ray Mukada (B.D. Wong of Law & Order: SVU). Together, they form a solid cast that makes Oz one of the best original cable dramas ever produced

The Oz (Season 5) DVD features a number of dramatic episodes including the season premiere Visitation in which several months have passed since the Emerald City kitchen gas explosion. The facilities are in working order, but several prisoners are released from solitary confinement due to ventilation problems. Meanwhile, Tim realizes that he his unable to verbally communicate because his vocal chords were burned by the explosion and his body is badly burned all over Other notable episodes from Season 5 include Wheel of Fortune in which Officer Brass steals Rebadow's two million dollar winning lottery ticket, and Variety in which the inmates put on a variety show while Timmy Kirk trades a sexual favor in order to get Father Mukada's church torched, resulting in the death of two priests

Below is a list of episodes included on the Oz (Season 5) DVD:

Episode 41 (Visitation) Air Date: 01-06-2002
Episode 42 (Laws of Gravity) Air Date: 01-13-2002
Episode 43 (Dream a Little Dream of Me) Air Date: 01-20-2002
Episode 44 (Next Stop: Valhalla) Air Date: 01-27-2002
Episode 45 (Wheel of Fortune) Air Date: 02-03-2002
Episode 46 (Variety) Air Date: 02-10-2002
Episode 47 (Good Intentions) Air Date: 02-17-2002
Episode 48 (Impotence) Air Date: 02-24-2002

About the Author

Britt Gillette is author of The DVD Report, a blog where you can find more reviews like this one of the Oz (Season 5) DVD.

Author:: Britt Gillette
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