| "The Routine" | |
|---|---|
| Oz episode | |
 Dino Ortolani introduces Tobias Beecher to Emerald City | |
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 1 |
| Directed by | Darnell Martin |
| Written by | Tom Fontana |
| Production code | 101 |
| Original air date | July 12, 1997 |
"The Routine" is the pilot and first episode of the HBO prison drama television series Oz . [1] Written by Tom Fontana and directed by Darnell Martin, it aired originally on July 12, 1997.
Augustus Hill, the series' narrator, introduces the audience to Cell Block 5 of the Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary ("Oz"). Nicknamed "Emerald City" or "Em City," the experimental block is designed to rehabilitate select inmates by allowing them certain privileges in exchange for greater surveillance. The violence of Oz is demonstrated right away as new inmate Miguel Alvarez is shanked before even being brought inside, horrifying fellow arrival Tobias Beecher. The violence upsets Em City's unit manager, Tim McManus, who asks Warden Leo Glynn to allow the cannibalistic killer Donald Groves into Em City, believing no inmate is a lost cause. Glynn reluctantly agrees on the condition that drug dealer Paul Markstrom, his own wayward cousin, be brought there as well.
Correctional officer Diane Whittlesey assigns the arrivals to their "sponsors", veteran prisoners who at least nominally look after them and ensure they integrate appropriately. Groves is assigned the kindly Bob Rebadow; Markstrom's sponsor is Jefferson Keane, a fellow "Homeboy"; and Beecher is given Italian-American mobster Dino Ortolani. Ortolani is not interested in babysitting the anxious Beecher, but gives him basic pointers for surviving Oz. Glynn informs the inmates that cigarettes will be confiscated due to new state laws. Beecher is alarmed to find cellmate Simon Adebisi rifling through his possessions. Adebisi intimidates Beecher when he tries to stop it, and threatens to rape him at bedtime.
An unassuming-looking prisoner named Vernon Schillinger suggests that Beecher appeal to McManus to move out of Adebisi's pod, implying that Schillinger will gladly take Beecher into his own. Unfortunately, Beecher soon realizes Schillinger belongs to the Aryan Brotherhood and that he has just become Schillinger's "livestock." That night, Schillinger tattoos a swastika onto a petrified Beecher's buttocks. The following morning, McManus complains about the draconian laws passed by Governor James Devlin, saying that banning cigarettes will make the inmates uncooperative. Kareem Said, a radical black Muslim leader convicted of arson, arrives at Em City. Keane and Adebisi try to intimidate Said out of his anti-drug preaching, but Said purposefully injures himself to display his determination.
Ortolani, plagued by insomnia and violent flashbacks, puts in a request for a conjugal visit with his wife. Later, he is furious to find out that Irish-American hoodlum Ryan O'Reily, the victim of the assault which landed Ortolani in Oz, is coming to the same prison. Upon arriving, O'Reily sets out to arrange a hit on Ortolani. After getting into a bloody fight with gay inmate Billy Keane in the showers, Ortolani tries to flirt with Dr. Gloria Nathan in the infirmary. McManus punishes Ortolani by assigning him to work with the gay inmates in the AIDS ward. Nathan hates working with Ortolani and thinks McManus can't change people like him. Nonetheless, McManus successfully asks Nathan to dinner with him.
Since Ortolani had attacked his brother, Jefferson Keane agrees to O'Reily's hit. When Ortolani reacts poorly to working in the AIDS ward, McManus vindictively cancels his conjugal visit, replacing it with a behind-the-glass visit between Ortolani and his family. Ortolani tells his wife to go on with her life as though he were dead. During Ortolani's next round in the AIDS ward, he is told by a patient named Emilio Sanchez that he wants to die. In the restroom, Ortolani and O'Reily get into a fight. That night, Ortolani suffocates Sanchez in a mercy killing and is beaten, tranquilized, and left in solitary confinement by the guards. As he is sleeping, a bribed guard lets one of Keane's henchmen, Johnny Post, pour lighter fluid on Ortolani and set him on fire. A dejected McManus examines the photos of Ortolani's corpse. [2] [1]
More prominent prisoners in Oz are given a stylized "crime flashback," narrated by Augustus Hill, depicting the crime for which they were incarcerated. The flashbacks of the debut episode were:
"<...>there's something in the first episode. As I was writing it, I had to close my eyes; because I didn't want to see myself writing the words I had to write down. And the actor. The poor actor. [laughs] He read the script, and he called me up, and he went: "Now, you...this is a joke, right? You're not really doing this?"
–Tom Fontana about his commitment to daring, taboo-breaking writing that would become the signature of the series [3]
Creator Tom Fontana pitched the idea of Oz to the cable channel HBO after years of dissatisfaction working within the constraints of network television and their expression-limiting censoring requirements. [4] Executive producer Barry Levinson had visited penal institutions, such as the Baltimore City Jail and the Maryland House of Correction, before when researching for his previous TV series and felt that the prison was an intimidating and scary place with many stories to tell and that a dedicated TV series about the subject matter had never been done before. [3] HBO felt that they had had success with their previous prison-themed documentaries and decided to commission Oz as their very first hour-long dramatic series. Fontana felt extremely liberated and satisfied writing for Oz, developing graphic scenes and breaking taboos with which, he says, he would have never gotten away in network TV. HBO constructed prison sets inside a warehouse near the Manhattan's Meatpacking District. [4] The opening credits of the show feature Tom Fontana himself getting the "Oz" tattoo. [3]
Oz is an American prison drama television series set at a fictional men's prison created and principally written by Tom Fontana. 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 on 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.
Dean Gerard Winters is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ryan O'Reily on the HBO prison drama Oz and his roles in the TV series Millennium, Rescue Me, 30 Rock, Sex and the City, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, as well as portraying "Mayhem" in a series of Allstate Insurance commercials. He co-starred in one season of the CBS Network cop drama series Battle Creek and had a recurring role as "The Vulture" on the comedy series Brooklyn Nine-Nine. He can be seen in the 2023 Netflix film The Out-Laws and the 2024 AMC series Monsieur Spade.
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Weird Science, as Tobias Beecher in HBO's prison drama Oz, and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill, as well as guest starring in many other series. In film, he is known for his portrayal of Terry in Wayne's World and Wayne's World 2, as well as Vincent Corey in Monster.
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 nine 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, Father Ray Mukada, and Dr. Gloria Nathan.
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character played by American actor J. K. Simmons on the HBO series Oz as a major antagonist.
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 "Wiseguys", a collection of Sicilian-American inmates connected to the Mafia.
Kenny "Bricks" Wangler is a fictional character in the HBO drama series Oz, portrayed by J. D. Williams.
Dino Ortolani, played by Jon Seda, is a fictional character 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.
Governor James Devlin is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Željko Ivanek.
Law enforcement is an integral part of the HBO drama series The Wire. The show has numerous characters in this field and their roles range from those enforcing the law at street level up to those setting laws citywide. The Baltimore City Police Department has been explored in detail from street level characters to the upper echelons of command. The show has also examined those setting laws in city politics and touched upon the FBI, the correctional system and the family of police officers.
Anthony Maurice Hemingway is an American television and film director. He has worked extensively in television, directing numerous episodes of CSI: NY, Treme, True Blood and Shameless, among others. He has also directed one feature film, Red Tails (2012). Before becoming a director he worked extensively as an assistant director in television and film.
