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Oz
1997-2003

Episode guides are still a work in progress. Galleries are complete.

 

Season 1

 
July 11-Aug. 25, 1997 Season 1 Synopsis from HBO:

1.1 The Routine // Gallery
1.2 Visits, Conjugal and Otherwise // Gallery
1.3 God's Chillin' // Gallery
1.4 Capital P // Gallery
1.5 Straight Life //Gallery
1.6 To Your Health // Gallery
1.7 Plan B // Gallery
1.8 A Game of Checkers //Gallery

Beecher's sheltered life as an attorney provides no preparation for his new life as an Oz inmate. After being transferred from Adebisi's pod, he lands with Vern Schillinger, leader of the Aryans. Beecher's relief is short-lived when he realizes he must submit to Vern's seemingly endless abuses. To help him cope, Beecher turns to drugs and spends hours with O'Reily getting high. His drug use alters his personality and in a fit of rage, he throws a chair through the glass pod at Schillinger. The glass shatters and cuts Vern in an eye. Beecher is put in the hole and placed on psychiatric watch. Once he returns to Em City, Beecher strikes out at Schillinger again by beating him in the gym. Beecher later confronts Schillinger and warns him of his plan to thwart Schillinger's parole.
 

Season 2

 

July 11-Aug. 31, 1998

Season 2 Synopsis from HBO:
2.1 The Tip // Gallery
2.2 Ancient Tribes // Gallery
2.3 Great Men // Gallery
2.4 Losing Your Appeal // Gallery
2.5 Family Bizness // Gallery
2.6 Strange Bedfellows // Gallery
2.7 Animal Farm // Gallery
2.8 Escape from Oz // Gallery
While being forced to fellate an inmate, Beecher bites off the tip of the victim's genitalia. Promising to make Schillinger's life miserable, Beecher sets him up on a murder conspiracy charge that gets more years added to Vern's sentence with no parole. Soon Beecher gets a new podmate, Keller, who he begins to trust and fall in love with. However it's all a trick to weaken Beecher's defenses; he discovers this in the gym when Keller and Schillinger gang up on him and break both his legs and arms.

Season 3

 

July 14-Sept. 1, 1999

Season 3 Synopsis from HBO:
3.1 The Truth and Nothing But... // Gallery
3.2 Napoleon's Boney Parts // Gallery
3.3 Legs // Gallery
3.4 Unnatural Disasters // Gallery
3.5 U.S. Male // Gallery
3.6 Cruel and Unusual Punishments // Gallery
3.7 Secret Identities // Gallery
3.8 Out o' Time // Gallery
Beecher returns to his pod with revenge on his mind. He starts his rampage by slashing Metzger's throat. Beecher forces Keller to admit to authorities that he had something to do with breaking Beecher's limbs, but the confession doesn't change much. Beecher has a more devious plan for getting back at Schillinger. Vern's son, Andy, arrives in Oz and Beecher immediately gets chummy with him. Beecher lets Vern know how much chummier he and Andy could get, but Vern swears it will never happen. After Andy's overdose. Beecher says he wants to clear his conscience and seek forgiveness from Schillinger. Toby turns to Islam for redemption, and joins Said studying the Koran. Soon the two become pod mates. Beecher forgives Schillinger for the past, but when Toby tries to make amends, Vern pulls a knife and a fight ensues. The result? Beecher gets stabbed and Keller comes to his aid. Once healed, Toby realizes his feelings for Keller are sincere and they embrace in their pod.

Season 4

 

July 12, 2000-Feb. 25, 2001

Season 4 Synopsis from HBO:

4.1 A Cock and Balls Story // Gallery
4.2 Obituaries // Gallery
4.3 The Bill of Wrongs // Gallery
4.4 Works of Mercy // Gallery
4.5 Gray Matter // Gallery
4.6 A Word to the Wise // Gallery
4.7 A Town Without Pity // Gallery
4.8 You Bet Your Life // Gallery

4.9 Medium Rare // Gallery
4.10 Conversions // Gallery
4.11 Revenge is Sweet // Gallery
4.12 Cuts Like a Knife // Gallery
4.13 Blizzard of '01 // Gallery
4.14 Orpheus Descending // Gallery
4.15 Even the Score // Gallery
4.16 Famous Last Words // Gallery

Part 1: The pain continues for Beecher. After Keller gets shot, Toby worries steadily about Keller's recovery. Once Keller's released from the hospital, he and Beecher come to blows after Keller accuses Beecher of being weak for wanting to make peace with Schillinger. A fight ensues and Beecher is sent to the hole. Beecher still wants to make peace with Schillinger as he's tired of the conflicts. To do this, he arranges to have Schillinger's son Hank found and brought to Oz to visit Vern. Although done in earnest, Vern's suspicions convince him that Beecher is up to no good. Beecher then finds out that his children have been kidnapped. He snaps and goes on an anger-filled rampage. To make matters worse, Beecher receives a mystery package containing a child's severed hand -- his son Gary's. Sullen and solemn, Beecher decides on revenge and pays Pancamo to have Vern's son Hank killed. At the last minute, Beecher changes his mind, but it's too late as the murder's already happened.

Part 2: Beecher's still in love with Keller, but they disagree on how to deal with Schillinger. Meanwhile, Beecher and Schillinger decide to participate in Sister Pete's victim offender program. Just when it seems as progress is being made, Schillinger finds out his son Hank was found dead. Schillinger accuses Beecher and swears revenge. Keller hears about this and takes the rap for the murder, when in fact, it was Beecher that arranged for the hit. When Keller gets transferred out of Oz, Schillinger makes a delicate pact with Beecher not to harm him anymore only that changes when Robson tells Schillinger that Beecher's having a parole hearing. This infuriates Schillinger who sends Robson to kill Beecher. Robson's attempt is unsuccessful but Beecher is then kept under guard. Beecher goes to his parole hearing, but is denied.

Season 5

 
Jan. 6-Feb. 24, 2002 Season 5 Synopsis from HBO:

5.1 Visitation // Gallery
5.2 Laws of Gravity // Gallery
5.3 Dream a Little Dream of Me // Gallery
5.4 Next Stop: Valhalla // Gallery
5.5 Wheel of Fortune // Gallery
5.6 Variety // Gallery
5.7 Good Intentions // Gallery
5.8 Impotence // Gallery

Beecher's world continues to swim in emotional upheaval. Beecher admits that he misses Keller, so he's ecstatic upon hearing the Keller will be returning. He participates in one of Sister Pete's interventions with Said and Schillinger. Later, McManus assigns new inmate, Adam Guenzel, to Beecher's pod. Beecher knew Guenzel's family in the past. After getting a threat from the Aryans, Beecher gets the Italians to protect Guenzel. This leads to a major fight in the gym with Guenzel and Beecher escaping unscathed and the Aryans strengthening their resolve. Guenzel's pal Winthrop, who's now become Schillinger's "girl," tells Guenzel that Beecher is gay and his protection will lead only to Beecher attempting to "convert" Guenzel. Furious, Guenzel confronts Beecher, they fight and Guenzel asks to be moved from Beecher's pod. Soon the slithery Schillinger offers to let Beecher deliver the daily mail so he can see Keller. Schillinger wants Guenzel for himself in trade. When Guenzel continues to refuse Beecher's attempts to help him, Beecher agrees to Schillinger's deal. Beecher goes to deliver Keller's mail only to find Keller has been taken to the hospital because of the beating Howell delivered to him. After hearing about Guenzel's death, Beecher gives information that implicates Schillinger. This information leads to Schillinger's conviction on major charges and subsequent transfer to solitary confinement.

Season 6

 
Jan. 5-Feb. 23, 2003 Season 6 Synopsis from HBO:

6.1 Dead Man Talking // Gallery
6.2 See No Evil... // Gallery
6.3 Sonata da Oz // Gallery
6.4 A Failure to Communicate // Gallery
6.5 4 Giveness // Gallery
6.6 A Day in the Death // Gallery
6.7 Junkyard Dawgs // Gallery
6.8 Exeunt Omnes // Gallery

Beecher's emotional upheaval returns again. He had to endure the death of his father at the hands of Winthrop. Later, he was given parole and began working on Keller's case. Unfortunately, his vulnerability with Keller resurfaced and he agreed to make a delivery for Keller on the outside. The delivery meeting was a set-up arranged by Keller so Beecher would get arrested and returned to Oz. Later, Beecher signed up to act in the prison's production of "Hamlet" only to have to endure more emotional trauma from Keller. During the play, Beecher performs a scene with Schillinger. As Beecher goes to stab him, the knife (real not a prop) goes deeply into Schillinger and kills him. Beecher endures a brief investigation but gets off as there's no proof of intention. Beecher later confronts Keller about switching the prop knife and tells Keller that they are finished. When Keller resists, Beecher pushes Keller, which forces Keller to fall over the rail. The fall breaks Keller's neck and kills him. Although Beecher's finally free from Keller, he's still trapped in Oz.

Oz-related links & articles:

IMDb // Wikipedia // TV.com

Oz Transcripts

HBO page for Tobias Beecher (via Internet archive. HBO no longer has a page for Oz!)

Hollywood Spotlight Chat, RealHollywood.Com, Aug. 7, 1997
Escape from L.A., New York Magazine, July 14, 1997 (PDF)

Interview transcript, HBO, 1998
Lee Tergesen sinks his teeth into return of HBO's Oz, News-Times online, July 7, 1998
Oz Beats Odds, Toronto Sun, Aug. 21, 1998
Chat transcript, TVGen, Aug. 18, 1998

Lee Tergesen does time as an 'Oz' inmate, Associated Press, July 13, 1999
The Wizard of Oz, APBnews.com, July 13, 1999
The Wizards of Oz, New Orleans Times-Picayune, July 11, 1999
Famous Oz Fan Suprises Fontana, The Buffalo News, July 7, 1999
Chat transcript, Hollywood Spotlight, 1999
Interview transcript, HBO, 1999

The Wizardry of Oz, Nerve.com, October 2000
On the Air: Oz (Season 4), The Washington Blade, 2000
Chat transcript, HBO/TalkCity, July 20, 2000
Escape to Oz, Indianapolis Star, July 2, 2000
Prison Uprising, The Bergen Record, July 9, 2000
Oz: So good it's a crime, New York Post, July 2000
The Seducer of Oz, OUT magazine, June 2000

The Inmates of OZ move into a new Emerald City, New York Times, July 15, 2001
David Bianculli On Emmys and Oz, Variety, June 6, 2001
Someplace Like Home, The Bergen Record, May 6, 2001

Rosie's People: TV Spotlight, Rosie Magazine, March 2002
'Oz' Season Finale, ExtraTV.com, Feb. 22, 2002
Oz Jailbird Sings, TV Guide Online, Jan. 4, 2002

Raw wizardry of Oz ending, Boston Globe, Feb. 23, 2003
Prisoners of Love, Variety, Feb. 18, 2003 (PDF)
Time off for Good Behavior, Crunch Magazine, Winter 2003
Profiles in Oz: Lee Tergesen, Windy City Times, Jan. 15, 2003
The End of OZ, Satellite DIRECT magazine, 2003
Oz review, Entertainment Weekly, Jan. 13, 2003
OZ review, PopMatters.com, Feb. 10, 2003
A grand slammer on HBO, The New York Daily News, Jan, 3, 2003
Oz Infinitum, Esquire magazine, 2003

Wizards of Oz, Sydney Morning Herald, May 3, 2004