So a while ago, having finished The Wire and then Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul,
I ran a poll on my channel where I asked my subscribers what series they’d like me to watch
and make videos on next. Fargo and Mad Men both came out on top in terms of votes, and I decided
to go for Fargo. Now that I’ve finished that, I’ve decided to go with the prison drama Oz next,
for various reasons. Though it came 3rd in the poll, Oz seems to get the most amount of lip
service from my subscribers when talking about other shows – people are constantly telling me
to check it out, so I was curious, because its got an interesting reputation. On one hand,
you hardly ever hear about it when people discuss the best shows around, and yet it
is still held in high esteem as one of the great innovators of modern television and the first long
running HBO 1 hour episode series. Though the likes of The Sopranos is touted as the series
which started the new golden age of television which gave us shows like The Wire and Deadwood,
those well-versed in television history inform us that Oz walked so that The Sopranos could run.
And I’m excited, because it’s all new and fresh for me. Aside from one major spoiler, I
don’t know anything about Oz except one major spoiler, and that it is supposed
to decline in quality with the last two seasons. Oz is praised for a great many reasons. For a TV
show, especially one that first aired in 1997, it highly realistic in its depiction of prison
life. I’ve seen loads of crime films and prison movies, and even still, more than 20 years later,
the first season of Oz really leaves an impact with just how profane it is. The language,
the violence depicted, the disregard for the value of human life by inmates and guards alike. I can
only imagine how shocking it must have been back in the 90s, and the boundaries it pushed allowed
other shows to pioneer and perfect the craft. And for how preliminary Oz is, in terms of
HBO’s success, it doesn’t at all feel like a show that’s gingerly dipping its toes into the
water in the first season. Rather, it throws you, much like some of the newer inmates like Beecher,
straight into the gruelling world of Oswald, the prison where the show is set. There’s a few shots
outside the prison and whatnot during scenes of protests and stuff, but for the most part the
entire show is set inside the complex. It’s one of the many things that gives this show a really
claustrophobic, aggressive, oppressive feel. It feels like anything can happen at any moment. Out
of the blue, a major character might get shanked and killed, a fight might break out between
inmates over the smallest thing, it like, any second somethings going to happen, you need to be
alert, you need to be looking over your shoulder. It really does capture that prison vibe well.
I’ve never been myself thankfully, but know people who’ve been inside and have seen
enough videos from ex-cons to know that constant vigilance is required inside, that there is often
a strangulating atmosphere on the inside, and Oz really does feel like that. “There’s something in
the air, and it ain’t love” as one character says. Everybody’s depressed in the show, everyone’s
gloomy and down, even the guards, as one of the many things explored is the fact that the guards
are not paid a lot hence why they get involved in contraband smuggling. The characters who aren’t
so down tend to be the more psychotic ones who feel more at home in a world as oppressive as
Oz. You feel dirty after watching it, like you need a quick shower. With that being said, like
many of the heavier HBO shows, it’s still very funny, especially when you take it out of context.
One of the complaints of the show is that it feels dated. It’s true that it utilizes video
and sound effects that a high school student might be able to achieve today and you wouldn’t
get in modern prestige television, like a baby moaning sound effect and playing around with
the colour hue when a character is dizzy or something. But it works. It works for Oz,
and it’s partly because Oz embraces an element of wackiness. It’s grim and depressing,
but simultaneously its bombastic and wild, both in content and presentation. It’s so fast paced,
you hardly get a chance to breath and contemplate on what you’re watching before
Oz rushes to its next set of characters. It jumps from character to character,
sub plot to subplot, the camera wizzes around getting up close and personal in its duty as a
fly on the wall. It’s like there’s a hyperactive cameraman running around the prison desperately
trying to capture as much footage as he can. There’s a lot of characters in this show. A
lot of inmates, and then there’s the warden, the guards, the medical staff. And the show helps you
out – it’s one of the few shows or movies where I appreciate the flashbacks and don’t consider them
to be insulting the audience, because without them it can be difficult to keep up. We’re also helped,
and provided levity from the brutality by, some sequences where one of the inmates in
a wheelchair breaks the fourth wall and addresses us directly in these sometimes surreal segments,
posing philosophical questions and prison talk. There’s a lot of different factions – the Muslims,
the Aerian brotherhood, the Latinos, the wiseguys and whatnot – and encompassing of the dismissive
attitude Oz seems to have towards you as a surrogate for the new inmates, it doesn’t
really bother to explain them to you much. It feels like this world has started breathing
and living long before you entered Oz, and the dynamics between the different factions and the
complex relationships between different characters is interesting to explore and dive deeper into.
There’s a lot that happens in season one. The basis for the show is an experimental wing of
Oswald called Emerald City, presided over by the idealistic Tim McManus who finds himself
frustrated in his efforts to transform the lives of his inmates through reformative education.
There’s a lawyer Beecher who committed manslaughter, a new inmate, who’s life
spirals endlessly into chaos and despair, becoming a bitch, constantly abused, his wife leaves him,
he starts taking drugs and you can see the frustration building and bubbling in this guy,
with cathartic and explosive conclusions. There is a political prisoner Saeed, a Muslim
who strengthens the mental fortitude and vigour of his followers in prison, becoming a threat to the
powers that be in the process. An Italian mobster controls the supply and distribution of drugs,
who’s position is jealously courted by an Irishman and Adebisi, a Nigerian who is something of a
wildcard. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. You know its funny that some shows generate a lot
of controversy with the things they depict and the way they can possibly influence viewers,
especially youngsters. But Oz is such a show that you watch it and it makes you think,
“I never wanna go to prison” – you’ll think twice before you nick a pencil from your workplace.
The acting is OK – I’ve not noticed anything particularly amazing yet, though many of the
guys here in small roles would eventually improve and land major roles in subsequent HBO shows.
Although, on that point about the acting, there is actually some really good lowkey writing and
acting, like for example, just from the way he carries himself, you know that Adebisi
is a lifer before they even tell us he is. I wonder – and I’m just thinking out loud
here – but I wonder if there’s an ironic element where some of the techniques that
would have been considered innovative – like all the video effects – are now considered dated,
and elements that would have quickly felt campy and dated, like a prisoner taking
a **** on another inmate and rubbing it all over his face, actually appears more realistic than
it initially did, now that we live in the age of social media where ex-cons have been able to tell
stories of what heinous things occur behind bars. If I had to pick something that I do find dated,
its probably some of the more philosophically poised scenes and pieces of dialogue. The
narration from the wheelchair-boud Augustus for example, sometimes funny, sometimes poignant,
is also sometimes pompous a bit too flowery. The third episode talks a lot about God and faith,
for example, and some of the dialogue maybe sounded boundary-pushing at the time, but comes
off as like it was written by an edgy teenager. But all in all it’s a show I will definitely
continue watching and I look forward to seeing what come next. Thanks for watching.