Episode 10 of "Oz"
s02e02 Ancient Tribes

Em City's back, Hill informs us, 10 months after the world ended. McManus has decided that maybe some changes are needed to make Em City function at a better level than complete and utter chaos, so he's decided to make everyone equal. Easier said than done. To start, he has declared 10 different groups residing within Oz: the Muslims, the gangsters, the Latinos, the Italians, The Irish, the Aryans, the bikers, the Christians, the gays and the festively named: Others. You know that this group is full of the kids that no one would play with at recess. Anywho, there will be four members of each group living in Em City and one of those four will attend a weekly meeting McManus will hold so that they get a say about what happens in Oz. Said does not attend the first meeting saying his absense will speak louder than his presense. Way to rain on Tim's parade *again* Said. My favourite new group, the Others (yeah, I'll admit, I was the kid who sat alone at recess) are having their very first spat. Hill says he doesn't belong there, because he was a bad-ass on the streets and the rest of the Others crew are certifiable. Hey, that's not true. Rebadow is a good guy who just talks to God and-- oh. Well, all Beecher did was poop on a man's face and then de-genitalize another-- yeesh. Well, what about the new guy, Agamemnon Busmalis, he says he's called The Mole and is digging his way out of Oz.. I think Hill might have a point here. McManus's first meeting tackles the issue of education. He wants to make all the prisoners real smart-like, and enlists the help of Jonathan Coushaine, a prisoner who used to be a high-school teacher (so prison must seem like a breeze to him). McManus especially wants Wangler and Poet to start coming to class so he bribes them with the promise of no more floor mopping and a forbidden conjugal visit (though, thankfully, the latter is not administered by McManus). The class is a disaster when Kenny freaks out because Coushaine asks him to read--which we learn, like speaking intelligently and being kind, is something Kenny cannot do. McManus attempts to teach him on his own, in the hopes that reading will be Kenny's Anti-Drug. Despite the meetings and the motivational speeches, the whole New-And-Improved-Spring-Fresh Em City thing ain't working out so good. O'Reily and Adebisi are still worrying about the Sicilians, because though Nino Schibetta is dead, his son, Peter Schibetta is very much alive. And as of this season, is very much in Oz. Ryan forms his very own welcome wagon and tells Peter that he knows who killed his dad, and promptly turns in Adebisi. Peter isn't as easily fooled as his father and is skeptical of Ryan and his apparant allegiance to the Italians. Peter also isn't as well liked as his father, at least not by Glynn who gives in to Peter's demand to give the kitchen back to the Sicilians, but only after he deems Peter to be a not-nice guy. Way to lay down the law, Leo. *Sigh* No more pirate jokes at Schillinger's expense, I'm afraid, as the bandages have come off and ol' Vern can see the world through both hate-filled eyes again. Otherwise, his life ain't great as his father comes to visit and tells him that his boys have run off again and he has no intention of finding the brats. Vern is understandably upset, but is angered further by Beecher's never-ending presense wherever he turns. Beecher vows that Vern will never leave Oz and Vern, ignoring that his parole hearing is mere days away, searches for a hit man. When it's clear nobody wants to kill the crazy man, Schillinger tells Wittlesey that he knows about what really happened in the riots and offers to pay Diane to pull a Scott Ross on Tobias Beecher. She agrees and Beecher is led out of his cell in the middle of the night. Next morning, everyone's abuzz about what's happened to Beecher and Vern's practically giddy. Diane reaffirms that Vern asked her to kill Beecher and that he was going to pay her $2000 and then asks him if he'd like to see the body. Now, she can't actually be called a liar because she does show him a body. And it is Beecher's body. Only problem is, it's still upright and breathing. And kinda ticked off that Vern was looking to get rid of him. Vern kisses parole goodbye, Beecher kisses his chances of ever getting along with Schillinger goodbye and I kiss my rabbit's foot that Schillinger's rather large thigh completely covers his naughty bits in the hole. During a routine prisoner address, Leo flips out on Alvarez for making a routine prisoner sex-joke. He orders Alvarez to come work for him in the office which means that Miguel just stands by the door for hours while Leo pretends not to see him. The job would be worse if it weren't for Leo's pretty secretary, Sarah. When Miguel mentions that he has to go meet his mom and sisters in the visiting room in 10 minutes, Leo tells him to clean the bathroom and then he can go. Needless to say, Alvarez doesn't make it, and I hate Leo. Depriving a man of mama-time? Not cool. Then he attacks Alvarez when he flirts with Sarah, and I'm starting to wish Leo'd been trapped in the riots. We learn that Glynn's sudden hatred of Alvarez is due to his daughter's recent rape by a group of Latinos. I know Leo's hurting but, still... The only thing that makes me angrier than the above scenario is O'Reily's hideous Season 2 Mullet. Yuck, the hockey hair thing just does *not* work on him. But that isn't Ryan's biggest concern: he's got a bleeding nipple. After much prodding and poking at Ryan's nipple (and I don't have to tell you that he's liking that), Dr. Nathan deduces that Ryan has breast cancer. Ryan doesn't believe her, equating breast cancer with her calling him homosexual or a woman, and tells her that she's wrong. Scream all you want, Ryan, but you might want to start yelling at that tumour in your chest. O'Reily refuses to get anything done about it, until Mukada talks to him in a leather jacket. The priest means business. Ryan relents after realizing he might die and he almost cries so, for a few minutes, I can almost forgive him the mullet. Almost.