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Leo Glynn (played by Ernie Hudson) is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz . He is the warden of the Oswald State Correctional Facility.
Glynn began working as a correctional officer in the early 1960s and, true to that era, is a very old-fashioned and conservative official. As described in the journal of Augustus Hill, Glynn's philosophy of running a prison is based more on retribution than redemption and rehabilitation. As stated in the journal, the reasoning behind this is so Glynn can one day be promoted to the position of Commissioner of Prisons and perhaps even become the state's first African-American Governor. He runs the entire prison, answering mainly to Governor James Devlin, a right-wing politician with whom even Glynn has policy disagreements.
Throughout the series, Glynn is well-respected by the staff and, for the most part, treats the prisoners as justly as need be. Despite this, he has had moments which show another side of his personality. He can be petty and vindictive at times, notably refusing to move Andrew Schillinger due to his dislike of Vern Schillinger and making Alvarez miss a meeting with his family out of a dislike of Latinos. Furthermore, he is often prone to take sides against those he works with. He fired—and quickly rehired—Sister Pete for protesting an execution. He was unwilling to defend McManus and Em City from Devlin as well as siding with black inmates on some issues. Glynn can also act on his disdain for prisoners on occasion, such as letting Alvarez starve and nearly commit suicide after he blinded a guard.
As Glynn's philosophy in running a prison is retribution-based, he is very conservative on issues involving Law and Order, believing that the prisoners in Oz should serve hard time for hard crimes. As warden, he cares most about maintaining order in his prison and stopping the drug trade amongst other things. Glynn is a fan of week-long lockdowns as a means of keeping the inmates from moving drugs within Oz. Knowing the demographics and power structure of Oz, Glynn also secretly assigns two black Narcotics Detectives from the Police Department on two different occasions to put a plug in the drug traffic. As a former CO, Glynn realizes that contraband or "tits" does get sneaked into Oz and won't go away completely, but he wants the staff to curtail the smuggling as much as possible.
When acts of violence occur in Oz, Glynn has a tendency to lead a harsh interrogation of the suspected inmates, but is quick to file a crime as "unsolved" when there is not adequate evidence to convict someone. Glynn also tries to only make convictions on inmates that result in a major change of Oz's power structure. On violence between the inmates, Glynn is preventive when lives are at risk and quick to lock down and isolate specific inmates as a means of stopping a war. He never seems to favor one side of inmates in any war and is quick to inflict penalties upon the gang's leaders. When inmates misbehave in general, Glynn immediately orders the staff to place them in solitary, as Glynn wants the inmates who cause the most trouble out of the general population for as long as he can keep them out. Solitary seems to be the most preferable punishment to Glynn, as he is quick to send an inmate to Ad Seg when the prison rules have been somewhat violated. When obtaining inside information about acts of violence to occur in Oz, Glynn often cares less about the informants' motives in reporting it and uses the information to cause a lockdown of the prison.
On the issue of prison rape, Glynn is typically slow to investigate acts of sexual abuse and violence for two main reasons. First, Glynn realizes rape will occur in prison no matter what he does, and second, Glynn sees the positive administrative standpoint of rape inside prison in the "leveling effect" it has upon the rape victims. Glynn feels that inmates who are victims of rape are less likely to be a discipline problem, such as when inmate Peter Schibetta, whom Glynn has a personal vendetta against, is raped on two different occasions. This attitude shocks Oz staff members such as Sister Peter Marie, who remind Leo that he should take a more compassionate view about rape following the rape of his daughter.
Amongst the inmates, Glynn is feared due to his toughened law-and-order-based attitude. Glynn's preference for the isolation ward, week-long lockdowns, and harsh interrogation style helps him empower this fear. Unlike Tim McManus, he does not try to build a working relationship with the inmates to help them better themselves; rather, he just cares that they are obedient of his command of the prison. Glynn seems to get along with the inmates who run the cafeteria as long as it is run in an efficient and respectable manner. In general, though, Glynn treats the inmates as fairly as need be, assuming they have not done anything to cross him.
Amongst his staff, Glynn is well-respected even by COs who have shown a dislike for Oz's minority inmates. When problems pertaining to COs and inmates arise, Glynn is quick to help his officers out, whether it be keeping inmates who attack them in Solitary Confinement or preventing an investigation that could lead to the firing of one of his officers. This is mainly because Glynn feels that he and his staff must remain unified and see eye-to-eye as much as possible. Throughout the series, Glynn has disagreements with some of the higher-ranking liberal staff members such as Tim McManus, Sister Pete, and Dr. Gloria Nathan, but respects their vision and does what he can to meet them halfway on most issues. Overall, Glynn is focused on maintaining order amongst the inmates, stopping the drug trade, and convicting the inmates he can for crimes that they commit when sufficient evidence is present.
Earlier in the series, Leo has a wife, Mary, with at least one daughter, Ardeth. At that point Ardeth is college-aged and Leo is stressed out when she asks him if she and her boyfriend can share an apartment. She is raped at school by a gang of Latinos, a move that puts Glynn into disarray, causing him to lash out against Latino inmate Miguel Alvarez. When Alvarez claims to know who committed the rape, he tortures Leo with this knowledge. Leo would have beaten Miguel into submission had Father Ray Mukada not been around. This starts the bad blood between Alvarez and Glynn, which continues to the end of the series.
Leo's brother Mark also has economic issues in Season 2 and commits a murder for the mafia that Italian inmate Peter Schibetta uses for leverage. When Mark turns himself in, Leo remains on bad terms with Schibetta and shows no interest in investigating when Peter is raped on two different occasions.
During Season 4's election campaign, Glynn uses details about his brother and daughter as part of his campaign, a move that angers Mary, culminating in a divorce in the second half of the season. While separated, the viewers assume that Glynn will begin a relationship with new secretary Floria Mills, but no specific details on the show confirm this. As far as other family members are concerned, CO Clayton Hughes is the son of Leo's best friend, deceased CO Samuel Hughes, and Leo becomes the closest thing Hughes has to a father. When Hughes goes crazy and is incarcerated at nearby Lardner prison, Glynn demands that he be transferred to Oz where he can be protected; however, in Oz, Hughes experiences a psychotic break and tries to murder Glynn during a hostage situation. Hughes' erratic behavior drives Glynn to an alcoholic state where he is seen drinking whiskey on the job during two instances in Season 4. When Tim McManus' ex-wife Eleanor O'Connor comes to Oz, she and Leo begin a relationship.
Glynn treats prisoners of every race equally, never showing favoritism towards any specific ethnic group. (He is seen being forced to show favoritism to the Italian inmates at one point due to blackmail; similarly, he for a while took a very hard line against Latinos in the prison as a result of a Latino gang raping his daughter.) As Oz is racially divided by individual groups, several of the white inmates such as Vern Schillinger have often referred to Glynn as Oz's "Nigger Warden". Glynn states to Clayton Hughes, whom he views as a son, that he feels no sense of brotherhood toward any of the Black inmates in Oz, only towards Blacks who obey the law. Glynn is also politically conservative, so he often does not feel the same way that most other Blacks do when it comes to various state issues (in season 4, it is stated that Governor Devlin's office has a bad relationship with the state's black community). Glynn also points out in Season 3 that he began working as a CO in Oz in the late 1960s, suggesting that he could very well be Oz's first black correctional officer.
In season 1, Glynn initially attempts to get black inmate Kareem Said to tone down his rhetoric about the prison system by telling him "Don't fuck with me, my brother" as a means of telling him, as one black man to another, not to cause any racial uprisings within Oz. In season 4, Glynn is asked to run as Devlin's Lieutenant Governor mainly because Alvah Case, a well-respected African American law school dean, is the Democratic candidate for governor. Glynn agrees because he is as conservative as Devlin on most every issue. At this point, Glynn is also pressured to fire Tim McManus but does not do so until McManus commits a series of self-destructive acts closed out by the singing of "De Camptown Races", a blackface minstrel song, at the funeral of a Black CO. During the campaign, Glynn is pressured by fellow black community activists to replace McManus with a black Unit Manager. He does, but eventually McManus and inmate Kareem Said show evidence of corruption in Emerald City, which results in McManus getting his job back.
Glynn's ethnicity is brought up once again in Season 6 when an associate of Governor Devlin, City Mayor Wilson Loewen, is found guilty of aiding and abetting members of the White supremacist organization the Ku Klux Klan in a 1963 murder of two young African American girls. A race riot breaks out in the city's African-American neighborhoods and Glynn prevents one from breaking out in Oz by immediately locking down the prison upon the news airing of the trial. When Loewen is sent to Oz, Glynn is forced by Devlin to place him in a safe housing unit with no African-American inmates, as a means of keeping Loewen alive until Devlin can eventually pardon him. Loewen arrives in Oz attempting to bring up good memories between him and Leo during the governor campaign but Glynn, disgusted by Loewen's crime, states that their past relationship is now over as the courts have found him guilty. As Loewen pleads innocence, Glynn turns a deaf ear causing Loewen to presumptuously tell Glynn that as an African-American male, he should realize the courts' decisions have not always been correct.
As warden of Oz, Glynn carries out Governor James Devlin's orders and does what he can to manage the state's largest correctional facility. An experimental cell block, Emerald City, is opened up and run by unit manager Tim McManus. McManus is unlike the rest of the higher ranking staff at Oz in that he came in with a college education and never started off as a correctional officer. He is a liberal idealist with whom Glynn often disagrees. McManus has complete control of Em City from the commissioner but Glynn overrides his decisions at times. One in particular is the addition of inmate Paul Markstrom to the population of Em City: Markstrom, according to the file, is a petty African American drug dealer supposedly related to Glynn, but in actuality he is an undercover narcotics detective looking to put a plug in the drug trade. Glynn is the only staff member who knows his true identity and this becomes a problem when the Italian inmates, led by Nino Schibetta, kill Markstrom. Throughout the season, McManus and Glynn argue frequently over the methods of controlling the drug distribution amongst the inmates. Glynn believes in more lockdowns and shakedowns to stop the traffic, while McManus argues for addiction treatment. Glynn announces several new policies over the season that anger the majority of the prison population. The board of corrections has decided to ban smoking and conjugal visit privileges from the prisoners and Glynn, while not agreeing with all the policies, decides that enforcing them is more important. Tim McManus is most vocal against Devlin's administration and states that a riot may very well occur in Oz. Adding to this tension is the arrival of inmate Kareem Saïd, a black Muslim who is incarcerated for arson. Saïd is a well known militant who poses a major threat to the staff, Homeboys, and the Aryan Brotherhood inmates.
Throughout the season several inmates die in Em City, mainly caught in the drug war between the Italian and Black inmates. This angers Devlin, who is already in the process of reinstating the death penalty. The death penalty is reinstated and Homeboy leader Jefferson Keane is executed by the state for murdering other inmates. Another inmate, Donald Groves, attempts to murder Glynn as he is trying to help the cause of Kareem Saïd. Groves instead kills African American CO Lawrence Smith and as a result he is sentenced to death. Groves' attempt on Glynn and murdering of a CO causes the other guards to begin randomly assaulting prisoners throughout Oz, which appalls McManus. Glynn is urged by prison doctor Gloria Nathan and McManus to fire the guards for this, but Glynn instead temporarily suspends various COs without pay. This decision angers staff investigator Lenny Burrano, who explains to Glynn that, as they both came up through the ranks as guards, they should understand the hardness and attitude that develop with the job. Glynn also is trying to put a plug in the drug trade and urges McManus to shut down the Italian inmates who control it the most. McManus does his best to do this by transferring all of the Italians, with the exception of Schibetta, out of Emerald City.
In the meantime, Kareem Saïd is organizing the Muslims and other inmates secretly, causing McManus to be greatly concerned about a riot. When disgraced Muslim Huseni Mershah claims that Saïd wants to start a riot, Glynn orders a shakedown of Emerald City that results in a weapons seizure from every inmate but Saïd. McManus' suspicions come true and the prisoners stage a coup in Em City, taking the COs hostage. Saïd has a gun (which an unknown Black CO gave to him) during the riot and uses it to force the inmates to organize. With the help of Scott Ross, Ryan O'Reily, Simon Adebisi, and Miguel Alvarez, Saïd and the inmates make a list of demands in exchange for the guards they have taken hostage. Glynn finds most of the demands to be reasonable, but Devlin urges Glynn to have the S.O.R.T. team take back Em City force. McManus opposes this and goes into Em City with food for the prisoners in order to see how the hostages are doing. When McManus does not return, Devlin has the S.O.R.T. team go in with machine guns and a violent battle ensues. As a result, 6 inmates and 2 correctional officers die and the rest of the prisoners are sent back to Gen Pop (With the exception of the riot leaders who were taken to Solitary). McManus and several other staff members are accidentally shot and wounded in the fray, but survive.
The aftermath of the riot is investigated by Alvah Case, a law school dean whom Devlin has appointed to lead the investigation for purposes of diverting blame from Devlin. Throughout the investigation, Glynn and the staff attempt to cover up the murder of inmate Scott Ross from Case. Ross was shot in the head, heart, and genitals and after interrogating several staff members, Case is convinced that CO Diane Whittlesey is the shooter. Glynn urges Case to leave it alone, as Whittlesey is one of his best guards and Ross was widely disliked by both staff and inmates. Case concludes that the only way to clear Devlin of culpability in using force is to file no charges against any of the prisoners. He states that the riot was caused directly by anti-prisoner acts passed through the Governor's office and that if the prisoners are guilty, Devlin is too. Devlin warns Case that he will not become the state's attorney general as a result, but Case no longer wants the position as after investigating the prison conditions, he wants to run against Devlin for governor in the next election instead. Devlin is not supportive of this but goes through with it as Case announces to the press that no one in particular is at fault for the riot but improvements will be made to prevent another riot. This saves the job of Glynn and everyone else on the staff and also guarantees the reopening of Em City.
Emerald City is reopened 10 months after the riot under a new deal approved by Glynn and McManus. Ten inmate groups - The Muslims, Aryans, Homeboys, Latinos, Italians, Irish, Bikers, Gays, Christians, and Others - will have four inmates from each group living in Em City and one representative from each group will be present on a Seg Council as a means of figuring out how to make life better for themselves and the staff inside of Oz. McManus starts a GED program which Glynn supports until Governor Devlin cuts it from the state budget. The program has positive results, however, particularly with inmate Arnold "Poet" Jackson, whose talent for poetry brings a good name to Oz, a published book, and an early parole. This is short-lived however as Poet violates parole and murders a drug dealer to whom he owed money, causing his return to Oz.
Glynn is distraught when his daughter is raped at school by a gang of Latinos. A snide remark by inmate Miguel Alvarez during a speech that Glynn gives the inmates causes him to lash out and send Alvarez to solitary confinement. Sister Pete urges Glynn that he is a better man than that and that Miguel Alvarez was incarcerated at the time of the rape. Glynn lets Alvarez out of solitary; Alvarez, however, knows the men responsible for the rape and taunts Glynn with this knowledge as revenge. In an interrogation, Alvarez refuses to give names but scomments pertaining to Glynn's daughter's rape. Glynn nearly assaults Alvarez but is stopped by Father Ray Mukada. This incident causes bad blood between Glynn and Alvarez, who later in the season blinds a Latino CO named Eugene Rivera. As a result, Alvarez is gladly sent to solitary by Glynn.
The introduction of Italian inmate Peter Schibetta is a further source of tension for Glynn. Peter is the son of deceased leader Nino Schibetta and runs the Italians with the help of Chucky Pancamo. Leo's brother Mark committed a murder for the mafia, and Peter uses knowledge of this as leverage to get what he wants from Glynn. Peter takes control of the kitchen for the Italians and then tells Leo that he will pay the price if Mark does not turn himself in for the murder. Mark turns himself in after a talk with Leo, who then furiously transfers the Italian inmates out of the kitchen and into the dress factory. Peter is later raped by Black inmate Simon Adebisi and Glynn makes no effort to investigate, as he wants Schibetta to suffer. Antonio Nappa comes to Oz to run the Italians, and with the help of the Italian staff members gets Glynn to take Adebisi off of heroin as a result.
Other issues that preside for Glynn come in the form of Vernon Schillinger and Kareem Saïd. Inmate Alexander Vogel is murdered with the word "JEW" carved into his chest. Glynn quickly interrogates Schillinger, the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood, but gets nothing besides Schillinger's obstinent and racist behavior (Schillinger tells Glynn that his "people", i.e. African Americans are as anti-semitic as the Brotherhood in addition to humming a blackface minstrel song praising slavery). Glynn finds proof from gay inmate Richie Hanlon, who is then forced to cop to Vogel's murder by Aryan Guard Karl Metzger. Schillinger thereby goes free, which angers Glynn. During the Islamic month of Ramadan, Glynn announces that Governor Devlin is pardoning a Muslim inmate from Oz. Kareem Saïd is chosen but refuses to accept at the press conference as he believes it is a cheap way of gaining Islamic voters throughout the state. Saïd stays in Oz, a move that shocks Glynn and Tim McManus.
A number of incidents involving the Aryan Brotherhood have occurred and Tim McManus thinks CO Karl Metzger is responsible. McManus' suspicions are proven right when it is discovered that Metzger used to belong to a White Supremacist organization; however, Glynn refuses to take action until there is hard evidence that Metzger is working with Vern Schillinger and the Aryans. This surprises McManus, who points out to Glynn that Metzger only thinks of Glynn as a "Nigger." Chris Keller then comes forward with evidence and Vernon Schillinger is placed in solitary, but Metzger is found murdered before charges can be brought. Glynn later approves the hiring of Sean Murphy, who is a lifelong friend of Tim McManus, as the head CO of Emerald City. Murphy starts a boxing program where one inmate from each group will be represented in a tournament. Meanwhile, Augustus Hill, with the help of Kareem Said, testifies against inmate Malcolm Coyle for murdering an Italian American family without getting caught. Glynn informs the DA but is too late as the Italians, led by Antonio Nappa, protect Hill by murdering Coyle. Glynn also must deal with letting Miguel Alvarez redeem himself for blinding Rivera by interacting with Sister Pete. In the midst of this, the Latinos are caught dealing drugs and after being unsuccessfully interrogated by Glynn, they make an attempt on Alvarez's life.
Glynn has a major issue when Clayton Hughes applies for a job at Oz. Hughes' father Samuel was an African American CO and Glynn's best friend, who died working in Oz in 1982. As a result, Leo is the closest thing Clayton has to a father since Sam's death, and he ardently refuses to hire Clayton out of fear for his safety. Glynn ultimately hires Clayton, however, to the objections of his mother, Lenore, as Clayton did well enough in CO training to be hired immediately in another State Prison. Glynn keeps a close eye on Clayton, who ends up working in Em City. Unfortunately, Clayton proves to be a poor fit, messing up on more than one occasion, and is transferred to the library as a result. Glynn must also tell Hughes about the details pertaining to his father's death, which greatly disturb Clayton. Things are made worse for Clayton when Simon Adebisi tells him that Samuel's killing was racially motivated.
In the course of the season Tim McManus is accused of sexually harassing CO Claire Howell and inmate Kenny Wangler. Because of McManus' reputation for bed hopping and womanizing, Glynn does not know what to believe and warns McManus that if any of the allegations are true, he will be fired, complaining of the "shit storms" McManus has created. McManus retorts that Glynn's judgment is clouded by racial bias, pointing out that he has automatically taken the side of any Black inmate or staff member when issues pertaining to McManus arise.
At the same time, the racial tension in Oz is on the rise due to the boxing tournament (which Ryan O'Reilly has been manipulating to ensure his brother Cyril wins all his fights) and a plan Simon Abedisi is formulating. The boxing tournament is put on hold when the Aryan and Muslim inmates fight, but Ryan O'Reily and Hamid Khan convince Glynn to let the finals happen. The finals end in tragedy, fueling to the emotional fire between the inmates, and Glynn is forced to lock down the prison. As he does so Hughes comes to him, stating that they should be helping the black inmates out instead of punishing them. Glynn then states he feels no sense of brotherhood towards any of the black inmates in Oz and then fires Hughes. As the lockdown is put into effect, Hughes sneaks Adebisi a gun as a going away gift.
Glynn ends the lock down, telling the Black and White inmates separately that if one more racially motivated incident occurs, Oz will be permanently locked down. The Latinos in the meantime are not warned, as they are somewhat neutral throughout the racial tension. Governor James Devlin's campaign manager then tells Glenn he has been chosen as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor, as their current Lieutenant Frank Feeley has throat cancer and will not be running for re-election. Glynn immediately asks if this is because Alvah Case, a fellow African American has announced that he is running against Devlin. Devlin's campaign manager Wendy Schultz says it is a strong reason why Glynn has been chosen, as there is a bad history between Devlin and the State's African American community. Racial issues aside, Schultz states that their office figures that someone as conservative and publicly known as Glynn would be a great candidate for Lieutenant Governor and Glynn then says yes, suspiciously. In Oz, Glynn wants to stop the drug traffic as the Homeboys, Latinos, and Italians (for the time being) are allied, so he gets a narcotics detective Johnny Basil to pose as a Jamaican drug dealer named Desmond Mobay. Glynn is the only one who knows Basil's true identity and informs him of the dangers associated with Oz, as another undercover detective Paul Markstrom died many years earlier in Oz. Throughout the season, Basil is somewhat convincing as Mobay to the point where he ends up snorting a lot of heroin and murdering an inmate to get in the good graces of all three gangster groups.
Adebisi then asks Glynn to move Black inmates Arnold "Poet" Jackson, Kenny Wangler, and Junior Pierce out of Unit B and into Em City as a means of ending some of the racial tension within Oz's walls. Tim McManus opposes this mainly because he hates Wangler for lying about a sexual harassment charge. Glynn is interested in eliminating racial issues within Oz and overrides McManus' objection. More racial issues arise, however, as those three inmates harass a new White inmate unfit for prison. Adebisi, wanting revenge on Wangler, gives a gun to this inmate Guillaume Tarrant who then shoots Wangler, Pierce and a Black CO Joseph Howard amongst others. Glynn is now under intense pressure to fire Tim McManus and solve the gun smuggling quickly as a means of making the prison look well managed during the election campaign. Adebisi and Muslim inmate Zahir Arif point out that McManus must go and a Black unit manager must be hired. Glynn does not yet give in, as he still thinks McManus is competent and mentally sound enough to run Emerald City. McManus, however, is on a self-destructive path following recent relationship problems and sings De Camptown Races, a blackface minstrel song at the funeral of Joseph Howard, the Black CO who died in the shooting. As seen through earlier issues regarding race between McManus and Glynn, Leo draws the line with McManus here and immediately fires him as Unit Manager of Emerald City.
A problem arises when inmates Agamemnon Busmalis and Miguel Alvarez escape Oz through a tunnel and Glynn asks Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez, the Latino's leader who despises Alvarez to help find him. El Cid orders a hit on Alvarez, who is now on the run. Meanwhile, when investigating the gun smuggling, Glynn is told by El Cid that Adebisi got the gun from Clayton Hughes on Hughes' last day of work. Glynn furiously calls in Clayton who admits to smuggling the gun and Glynn has Hughes arrested and told to shut up in the meantime. Since being fired, Hughes has become a Black Militant and is giving speeches that condemn Governor Devlin on a routine basis. Busmalis is then captured and the Republican party then is looking better in the preliminary polls. The Muslim inmates convince African American community leaders to pressure Glynn into hiring a Black unit manager for Em City, and he begins to listen more and more as a means of becoming Lieutenant Governor with the Black vote. Glynn then hires Martin Querns a Black man to run Em City, appeasing the general public.
Martin Querns has experience working in several state detention centers and federal penitentiaries and is also from the ghetto like several of Oz's African American inmates. Querns is told he may run Em City any way he wishes as long as racial tension and violence are eliminated. Querns immediately reduces the violence by more than 92% and eliminates the racial tension element altogether. Although he does this by empowering Simon Adebisi and his followers and sending most of the White inmates out of Em City, Glynn does not care as, for the time being, the Unit looks better managed. In the meantime, Tim McManus undergoes psychiatric therapy and wants to run Em City again; but, the only available job in the Unit Manager position is Unit B, which he reluctantly takes. During the campaign as order is maintained in Oz, Glynn stops paying attention to what changes are being made in Em City and is more focused on becoming the Lieutenant Governor. At a staff meeting, Tim McManus points out what has happened in Em City and Glynn turns a deaf ear because the violence has been almost eliminated from Em City. At a press conference shortly afterwards, Clayton Hughes goes psycho and tries to kill Governor Devlin. Devlin nearly dies, Hughes is charged with attempted murder, and Glynn drops out of the election race to stand by Clayton as he goes to trial.
Out of the election campaign, Glynn is brought more up to what has happened inside of Oz. Detective Johnny Basil turns himself in for the murder of Bruno Goergen, as his conscience kicks in and tell him to stop doing what he's doing to prove that he is not undercover. Two inmates then die, both residents of Em City and Glynn begins to get angered with Querns. McManus points out that Querns has empowered Adebisi and the Homeboys in Em City turning a blind eye to their behavior as long as order is maintained. He points out the lack of diversity as all the COs are now Black and White inmates are also scarce. Finally, he points out drugs are out of control as stopping the drug traffic is not a priority of Querns. Glynn isn't convinced of this until McManus, with the help of Kareem Said, brings him a videotape of a party inside of Adebisi's pod. Glynn is disgusted by the acts involving drugs, alcohol, and sex that the Black inmates are committing unpunished. As a result, Querns is immediately fired and Leo realizes he hasn't paid enough attention to what has happened in Oz. He reinstates McManus as unit manager of Em City, and Adebisi then dies making a murder attempt on Kareem Saïd.
This half of the season starts out with the investigation of a news crew coming into Oz. Glynn is afraid that several dead issues will be resurrected through the media and is fearful that Oz may be shut down altogether. To make matters worse several inmates suggest what has happened during Adebisi's reign of power in Em City. Martin Querns then comes to Glynn asking him to destroy any evidence relating to the rampant drug use that occurred in Em City as a means of saving both of them from facing criminal charges. This news crew led by Jack Eldridge eventually agrees with Glynn that the story should not be aired and this is completed by a beating at the hands of inmate Cyril O'Reily. Even though the staff is glad that O'Reily scarred off the news crew, Cyril's behavior grows worse over the season and Glynn is urged by McManus to send him to a mental institute. Amongst the O'Reily's, Cyril's brother Ryan is accused by Muslim inmate Zahir Arif of murdering Patrick Keenan, an investigation that angers Glynn and frustrates Ryan. There is not enough evidence at the time however and Glynn must let O'Reily go free.
A number of new developments occur throughout this season however for Glynn. Oz is temporarily asked to house some illegal refugees from China who get caught up in a war between the Homeboys, Italians, and Latinos. This war escalates throughout the season to the point that inmates Supreme Allah and Enrique Morales are targeted to die by the Homeboy's new leader Burr Redding. Supreme is attacked in the visiting room at one point and later dies in the cafeteria all on acts devised by the Homeboys. Morales lives though and with the help of Chucky Pancamo the Italian's leader, makes numerous attempts on Redding throughout the season. Miguel Alvarez is recaptured near the Mexican border and comes back to Oz. Alvarez then makes a deal with Glynn to remain out of solitary. He agrees to be Glynn's informant in Em City if allowed to stay there. This is short lived however as Alvarez cannot get back into El Norte and find any useful information. Amongst the Black inmates, the Muslims now have a war with the Aryans and Bikers that gets ugly throughout the season. Brotherhood initiate Carl Jenkins makes an attempt on the life of Kareem Saïd but instead kills the newly converted Leroy Tidd. This murder angers Saïd who wants Aryan inmate James Robson to suffer for setting up the murder. When Glynn tells Saïd there is not enough evidence to convict Robson of killing Tidd, Saïd violently attacks Robson and Schillinger to the point where the entire prison is threatened with a lock down until a truce is called. The truce is short lived however when the Aryans threaten the parole of white inmate Tobias Beecher. Saïd stabs Schillinger and Robson and Glynn has the DA charge him with attempted murder.
During the season, Glynn hires a new secretary and hosts the regional Warden's conference. At home, his wife requests a divorce which puts Leo into disarray. It can be assumed that his wife is divorcing him because he exploited several details of their family issues while running for Lieutenant Governor. Martin Querns has been hired by the commissioner to be Warden at Lardner, the other main prison in the state and shows up at the conference. At the conference, Querns tells Glynn that Clayton Hughes who is serving his sentence at Lardner is doing horribly and will most likely die within the year. Glynn wants Hughes to serve his sentence protected and begs for him to be transferred to Oz. In Oz, Hughes serves time in Unit J, one of the safest units in the prison as it is the Unit for convicted police officers. In that unit, Hughes serves time with Alvin Yood a small town sheriff imprisoned for assault and Detective Johnny Basil who is no longer under the alias of Desmond Mobay. Hughes is problem for both of them and kills Basil. This forces Glynn to transfer him to solitary which he manages to take over. In solitary Hughes goes psycho capturing and threatening to rape CO Travis Smith. As the SORT team attempts to recapture Hughes, Glynn goes in first to try to reason with him as a means of preventing Hughes from doing anything crazy. Clayton then tries to kill Glynn who is saved by inmate Greg Penders. The death of both Hughes and Basil, two of the only two inmates whom he had any considerable care for the well-being of and the divorce from his wife puts Glynn into a bad state. Glynn is then seen drunk in his office distraught over the bad things that have happened and then considers resigning as Warden of Oz.
In this half of the season a baptist reverend named Jeremiah Cloutier comes to Oz for embezzlement. Cloutier is really a good person who is in Oz for stealing money, so Glynn privileges him more than the other prisoners. As a result, Cloutier has a positive impact on several of Oz's inmates but is threatened by Catholic convert Timmy Kirk who is out to cause trouble. Kirk uses his conversion as an excuse to bully several Catholic inmates and then with the help of the Bikers gets Reverend Cloutier trapped into a wall that is being constructed. This gets worse when O'Reilly accidental leaves the gas stove turned on which is then ignited by a CO lighting a cigarette. The resulting explosion destroys the cafeteria leaving Cloutier with third degree burns across his body. The kitchen and Em City are both destroyed and Glynn must send all the inmates to Gen Pop.
The kitchen and Emerald City are both rebuilt and in the rebuilding it is discovered that Reverend Cloutier has been engulfed in the explosion and is barely alive covered in third degree burns over the majority of his body. Also, the death of Patrick Keenan gets complicated as Ryan O'Reily pays and plays off two inmates against each other to state different stories. In reopening Emerald City, the prisoners in solitary are transferred in as repairs to the air ducts must be made. Glynn states to these prisoners that if they behave they do not have to return to solitary. A new liaison to the governor's office Eleanor O'Connor is hired to work at Oz. O'Connor coincidentally is the ex-wife of Tim McManus. Upon the reopening of Em City, visits are allowed for the first time in months but this ends in tragedy as the bus transporting the visitors crashes near the entry gate. As Em City is reopened, the staff warns the Muslim and Aryan inmates to temporarily call a truce so that no blood is shed. Issues develop though when James Robson kills a young Muslim inmate Ahmad Lalar undetected. This war is stopped for the most part as Sister Pete has Kareem Saïd, Tobias Beecher, and Vernon Schillinger involved in various interaction sessions.
Glynn also sees that Peter Schibetta has finally been released from the psychiatric unit recovering from the raping received three years earlier by Simon Adebisi. Schibetta is not out for long though as he is raped for a second time as the Italians and Aryan Brotherhood go to war over the death of Hank Schillinger, Vern's son. When Sister Pete wants to help bring Schibetta's rapists to justice, she discovers how much Glynn really hates Schibetta as he states that "Here in Oz, rape has a leveling effect." This war causes a crippling blow to all of the Italians' current leaders causing a request to Glynn from Burr Redding to control the cafeteria. Glynn does not want the Homeboys to manage the cafeteria mainly because of the disastrous way it was run under the management of Simon Adebisi. Redding convinces Glynn though that the Italians are currently unfit to manage the place and the Black inmates who are the majority of the staff are more likely to do a good job under his leadership so he is given control.
Glynn also deals with the issues pertaining to Reverend Cloutier this season. As he was badly burned in the gas explosion, the only inmate they can for the time being implicate is Jaz Hoyt as he was the head of the repair crew that trapped Cloutier. Things get complicated between Cloutier's flock, The Bikers, and inmate Timmy Kirk and Hoyt then after seeing a supposed vision confesses to a series of murders inside of Oz and ends up on death row. Kirk in the meantime is trying to cause trouble for Father Ray Mukada and hires inmate Clarence Seroy to set up a burning of the rectory in which Mukada resides. Glynn is angered by this and with help from the Bikers, gets Kirk moved to death row. Reverend Cloutier's body ends up missing though and leaves the staff baffled.
Glynn later sees that McManus is engaging two new programs for the inmates to help rehabilitate themselves. He is starting a singing program with the help of Ryan O'Reily's mother and a guide dog program from a woman named Alicia Hinden. Both programs have positive results especially for inmates Omar White and Miguel Alvarez, two inmates the staff have almost no hope or belief in. Alvarez is on an upward trend coming into his parole hearing which Tim McManus supports. Glynn ardently refuses to acknowledge Alvarez's attempts at rehabilitation and tells the parole board to do everything in their power not to let him go. The board is successful as Alvarez gets agitated and strikes Luis Ruiz, the only Latino on the board during the hearing. Glynn shortly afterwards gets evidence from Tobias Beecher implicating Vernon Schillinger in the raping of inmates Franklin Winthrop and Adam Guenzel. As a result, Glynn sentences Vern to solitary for an undecided length of time.
The final season of Oz begins for Glynn with the bi-annual solitary review. In this review, it is decided whether or not to release the solitary inmates back into the general population. Miguel Alvarez, Greg Penders, Vern Schillinger, Omar White, Carlos Martinez, and Henry Stanton are up for review and voted on by Glynn and the staff. Being that Glynn cares about his officers, he refuses to let Martinez and Penders out of solitary as the two of them are in for attacking COs. Omar White then remains in solitary as well. Stanton and Schillinger are released along with Miguel Alvarez whom Tim McManus insisted upon releasing into Emerald City. Glynn then sees that an associate of his, Mayor Wilson Loewen is on trial for assisting the Ku Klux Klan in a racially motivated killing of two African American girls in 1963. This trial causes a race riot in the city's African American neighborhoods and a lockdown of Oz whose Black inmates are angered at the mere presence of the trial. As the SORT team locks the prison down, they discover the dead body of Tobias Beecher's father who died at the hands of Franklin Winthrop.
The trial of Wilson Loewen ends with him being found guilty of murder in the second degree. Loewen is a key politician that helped Governor Devlin get elected so Devlin is very insistent on how Loewen will be carefully handled when he gets sent to prison. Devlin has Loewen sent to Oz to placate and appease the African American mob that has formed. Devlin has an unannounced intention of pardoning him as the racial tension outside of Oz cools down. In Oz, Devlin insists that he be placed in the safest unit which happens to be Unit J, the bad police unit which currently has no African American inmates. As Glynn sees Loewen arriving to prison, Loewen tells him that he is innocent but Glynn does not care as the courts have found him guilty. Loewen then pleas that as a Black man, Glynn should realize that the court's decisions aren't always correct. Loewen is in Oz safely until he blackmails Governor Devlin for a pardon. Devlin then uses his African American assistant Perry Loftus to secretly cause the death of Loewen and then handpicks police detectives to help keep their hands clean from the murder. However, Glynn, Tim McManus, Eleanor O'Connor and Detective McGorry figure out that it is Loftus and CO Adrian Johnson who are responsible for the deaths of Loewen and other inmates who know about the murder. Shortly afterwards, O'Connor and Glynn have an affair which shocks McManus. As suspicions grow, Johnson has inmate Lionel Kelsch murder Glynn the night of the lifetime achievement award ceremony. Glynn's murder causes Tim McManus to put together every possible piece of evidence to convict Devlin of the whole conspiracy that took place. In the meantime, Martin Querns is named as his replacement as warden.
Oz is an American drama television series set at a fictional men's prison created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series’ 56 episodes. It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by the premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons. The series finale aired February 23, 2003.
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz. Initially a side character, Adebisi later serves as one of the main characters in the first four seasons, beginning with the fourth episode of the first season where he is eventually promoted to leader of the Homeboys gang. After the first half of season four, his character was killed off the show so Akinnuoye-Agbaje could film the movie The Mummy Returns.
Officer Diane Whittlesey is a fictional character played by Edie Falco on the television program Oz. According to an article in The New York Times, Whittlesey was modeled after a female unit manager whom series creator Tom Fontana met at a prison in southern New Jersey.
James Robson is a fictional character in the television series Oz, portrayed by R.E. Rodgers. Originally, Robson was supposed to be on for one episode and then never to be seen again. However, series creator Tom Fontana was impressed by Rodgers, so Robson became a regular from the third season to the final episode.
Ryan O'Reily is a main character in the television series Oz. He was portrayed by Dean Winters from 1997 to 2003.
Augustus Hill is a fictional character, played by Harold Perrineau on the American television show Oz, serving as the show's narrator.
Tobias Beecher is a main character on the television show Oz, played by Lee Tergesen. He is one of only eight regular characters to survive the entire run of the show. The others are Bob Rebadow, Ryan O'Reily, Miguel Alvarez, Arnold "Poet" Jackson, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo, Tim McManus and Dr. Gloria Nathan.
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character played by American actor J. K. Simmons on the HBO series Oz. TV Guide included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time and Rolling Stone has ranked him #22 of the "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time".
Cyril O'Reily is a fictional character, played by American actor Scott William Winters, on the HBO drama Oz. He is also mentioned in the companion book Oz: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill.
Charles "Chucky The Enforcer" Pancamo is a fictional character, played by Chuck Zito, on the HBO series Oz. Pancamo is a member of the "Wise Guys", a collection of Italian inmates connected to the Mafia.
Kenny "Bricks" Wangler is a fictional character in the HBO drama Oz, played by actor J. D. Williams.
Dino Ortolani, played by Jon Seda, is a fictional character and the false protagonist who appeared in three episodes of the HBO series Oz. Although he dies in the first episode of the series, which is more or less centered on his character, his death has a strong impact on the rest of the first season.
Shirley Bellinger, played by Kathryn Erbe in the HBO series Oz, is a fictional character who was first presented in the related book OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill. She is based on child murderer Susan Smith.
Thomas Silverstein was an American criminal who spent the last 42 years of his life in prison after being convicted of four separate murders while imprisoned for armed robbery, one of which was overturned. Silverstein spent the last 36 years of his life in solitary confinement for killing Corrections Officer Merle Clutts at the Marion Penitentiary in Illinois. Prison authorities described him as a brutal killer and a former leader of the Aryan Brotherhood prison gang. Silverstein maintained that the dehumanizing conditions inside the prison system contributed to the three murders he committed. He was held "in a specially designed cell" in what is called "Range 13" at ADX Florence federal penitentiary in Colorado. He was the longest-held prisoner in solitary confinement within the Bureau of Prisons at the time of his death.
Menard Correctional Center, known prior to 1970 as Southern Illinois Penitentiary, is an Illinois state prison located in the town of Chester in Randolph County, Illinois. It houses maximum-security and high medium-security adult males. The average daily population as of 2007 is 3,410.
Governor James Devlin is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Željko Ivanek.
"The Routine" is the pilot and first episode of the HBO prison drama television series Oz. Written by Tom Fontana and directed by Darnell Martin, it aired originally on July 12, 1997.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) prisoners often face additional challenges compared to non-LGBT prisoners. According to Just Detention International, LGBT inmates are "among the most vulnerable in the prison population". 67% of LGBT prisoners in California report being assaulted while in prison. The vulnerability of LGBT prisoners has led some prisons to separate them from other prisoners, while in others they are housed with the general population.
