OZ: GRAY MATTER (TV)
Summary
One in this series of dramas set in the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary, nicknamed "Oz."
In this episode, Hill ponders the biology of the "criminal mind," and former detective Bruno Goergen arrives at Oz for a long sentence and is recognized by undercover cop Mobay, a.k.a. Basil. They agree to keep each other's secrets, though Basil opts not to defend Goergen in a fight; Goergen angrily threatens to blackmail him. Basil gets an idea and, with Hill's unwitting help, kills Goergen by pushing him down an empty elevator shaft, thus securing his secret and landing a spot in Adebisi's crew. Kina visits Basil and realizes that he is using, but he refuses to abandon his post. Glynn films a PSA in his office and learns that the media has caught wind of his brother's crimes; at Devlin's encouragement, Glynn holds a press conference and exploits both his brother's actions and his own daughter's rape to gain voters' sympathy. McManus berates Murphy for "stealing" his job, declaring that he should have quit out of loyalty. Querns butts heads with the "self-righteous" Kareem Said. The Muslim prisoners are displeased when Kevin Ketchum, calling himself "Supreme Allah," as he arrives at Oz. Hill explains the beliefs of the "Five-Percent Nation." Poet orders his new cellmate not to preach at him, and Said informs Ketchum that he is distorting Islamic truth, but Ketchum seems unfazed.
Said's suspicions of Adebisi are seemingly confirmed when Querns announces that he has named several prisoners, including Adebisi, as "trustees." Murphy is upset when Querns moves several Aryans and bikers back to gen-pop. Arif confronts Adebisi about betraying their "deal," and Gloria struggles with her traumatic memories as she treats a prisoner who has been raped. Moses questions Lopresti about his clandestine affair with Shirley, and he ends up breaking his hand on the wall in response to Miles' taunts. Gloria finds that Ginzburg is beginning to suffer AIDS symptoms, and Ryan meets new inmate Patrick Keenan, who casually reveals that he was Gloria's rapist. Ryan angrily confronts Adebisi when his men get into a fight with Cyril, and Querns accuses Stanislofsky of orchestrating Galino's so-called overdose. Stanislofsky tells Hoyt to kill Ryan for informing on him, though Ryan warns Hoyt that Stanislofsky killed Galino for his cell phone. Ryan ends up taking the fateful phone for himself when Stanislofsky and Hoyt are caught brawling. Keller tends to a distraught Beecher, who is having nightmarish visions of his kidnapped children. Rebadow, declaring that he is no longer afraid to die, secures boxing lessons from Cyril and then asks Morales to "let" him kill someone else.
Sister Pete admits to Father Ray that she cannot bring herself to comfort Beecher, thanks to Keller's interference. Elsewhere, Robin and Schillinger plan to enact "step two" in their plot against Beecher. Beecher's father soon visits and breaks the news that Gary has been found dead, though Holly is still missing. As a numb Beecher prepares to attend his son's funeral, he demands to know if Keller has truly ever loved another man before, which Keller swears that he has not. Ray, having figured out that Schillinger is behind it all, pleads with him to release Holly unharmed; Beecher is stunned when Zabitz informs him that the kidnapper was hired by none other than Keller. An FBI agent arrives to question him, and though Keller is blasé about three other murders that he committed in the past, he firmly denies any involvement in the kidnappings. Beecher furiously attacks Keller, though Robson is seen paying Zabitz, revealing that he, too, is in on the scheme. Schillinger then calls his contact on the outside, ordering him to drop off the "second package" – but alive.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:56:24
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:60900
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: LGBTQ+ Collection - Drama; African-American Collection - Drama; Drama; Prisoners; Prisons; Asian American Pacific Islanders Collection
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 1997-2003
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Jim Finnerty … Executive Producer
- Barry Levinson … Executive Producer
- Tom Fontana … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Bridget Potter … Supervising Producer
- Mark A. Baker … Associate Producer
- Irene Burns … Associate Producer
- Brian Cox … Director
- David Darlington … Music by
- Stephen Rosen … Music by
- Adewale Akinnouye-Agbaje … Cast, Simon Adebisi
- Ernie Hudson … Cast, Warden Leo Glynn
- Terry Kinney … Cast, Tim McManus
- Rita Moreno … Cast, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
- Harold Perrineau … Cast, Augustus Hill
- J.K. Simmons … Cast, Vern Schillinger
- Lee Tergesen … Cast, Tobias Beecher
- Eamonn Walker … Cast, Kareem Said
- Dean Winters … Cast, Ryan O'Reily
- Robert John Burke … Cast, Pierce Taylor
- Reg E. Cathey … Cast, Martin Querns
- Zeljko Ivanek … Cast, Governor James Devlin
- David Johansen … Cast, Eli Zabitz
- Christopher Meloni … Cast, Chris Keller
- George Morfogen … Cast, Bob Rebadow
- Lauren Vélez … Cast, Dr. Gloria Nathan
- B.D. Wong … Cast, Father Ray Mukada
- Granville Adams … Cast, Zahir Arif
- Charles Busch … Cast, Nat Ginzburg
- Philip Casnoff … Cast, Nikolai Stanislofsky
- Robert Clohessy … Cast, Officer Sean Murphy
- Erik King … Cast, Moses Deyell
- Tom Mardirosian … Cast, Agamemnon Busalis
- muMs (See also: Craig Grant) … Cast, Poet
- Harry O'Reilly … Cast, Det. Bruno Goergen
- Lance Reddick … Cast, Johnny Basil / Desmond Mobay
- Kristin Rohde … Cast, Officer Claire Howell
- Scott William Winters … Cast, Cyril O'Reily
- David Zayas … Cast, Enrique Morales
- Edward Herrmann … Cast, Harrison Beecher
- Timothy L. Brown … Cast, Officer Jason Armstrong
- Dylan Chalfy … Cast, Patrick Keenan
- Carl DiMaggio … Cast, Officer Len Lopresti
- Sean Dugan … Cast, Timmy Kirk
- Todd Etelson … Cast, Mario Seggio
- Cyrus Farmer … Cast, Officer Adrian Johnson
- Gano Grills … Cast, Raymond 'Mondo' Browne
- Pamela Isaacs … Cast, Mary Glynn
- Lord Jamar … Cast, Kevin 'Supreme Allah' Ketchum
- Stephanie Pope … Cast, Kina Spaite
- Michael Quill … Cast, Mark Miles
- R.E. Rodgers … Cast, James Robson
- Otto Sanchez … Cast, Chico Guerra
- Philip V. Scozzarella … Cast, Officer Joseph Mineo
- Evan Seinfeld … Cast, Jaz Hoyt
- Jacques Smith … Cast, Leroy Tidd
- Chuck Zito … Cast, Chucky Pancamo
- Jonathan Demme … Cast, Commercial Director