Oz was a revolutionary show for its time. I'm not sure there's a better example of a show whose impact vastly exceeds its quality. This was the first HBO drama. This set the stage for every other prestige HBO drama. I don't want to heap too much credit on Oz, because it's likely that the HBO brass were very dedicated to having a brand of making quality television early on in their process, but it's one thing for that to be a goal and it's another thing to make it happen.
Oz is a show reliant on shocks. It's not very character-based. It's schizophrenic, impatient, constantly trying to keep your attention. Season three is a case of diminishing returns. It's essentially a soap opera, except people stay dead when they are killed. It's an entertaining soap opera and about ten times more violent than any soap opera I've ever heard of, but the more I think about it, the more the comparison makes sense to me.
Oz must have been ridiculously well-praised at its time. First off, there weren't many options for good television in 1997-1998. There were some shows, but if you just compare it to now, well... it doesn't compare at all. Anyway, I bring that up because I noticed three directors that piqued my interest: Chazz Palmenteri, Steve Buscemi, and Matt Dillon. That's right, those three directed three of the eight episodes. This show must have had some serious critical buzz for those three guys to want to work on the show.
Anyway, on to the meat of the season, I'm having trouble actually getting to the plot and the characters, because essentially, if you've seen season one, you've seen season three. I don't know if I'd necessarily recommend for you to skip seasons two and three, but if you're interested in the history of television and don't really want to commit yourself to a bunch of episodes, you'll get the general vibe of Oz just from the first season.
Anyway, this season features Miguel Alvarez mostly locked up in solitary. Long-term this wasn't a very good idea. He's one of the more interesting and better acted people on the show (You've probably seen Kirk Acevedo in Band of Brothers). And he is seemingly stuck in solitary forever. You can't really do much with characters in solitary. For season three, it's not as much of an issue. He struggles with depression, not being fond of solitary, and this allows Oz to reveal that prisoners aren't really properly treated if they have depression. I'm sure most people do not give a single shit if prisoners with mental illness aren't treated for it, but the theoretical goal of prison is rehabilitation so you'd think that'd be a top priority. Gloria Nathan represents the best version of a doctor, fully committed to the patient's well-being, and her fight with cost-cutting measures is shown throughout the season.
Adebisi, while well-played by Adewale Akkinuoye-Agbaje, is a pretty good example of diminishing returns. I don't know if its the writing or what, but it truly seems like they have nowhere else to go for this character. He's manipulative, devious, and predictable at this point. Same thing with the rivalry between Schillinger and Beecher. At this point, it's implausible neither of these guys are dead yet. So they start killing each other's family members and we don't know them, so we don't really feel the impact. There's no real threat in these stories - which is an odd thing to say when family members of two of the most prominent characters are threatened - but since we do not care about them, we do not care when they are killed.
This season marks the introduction of Claire Howell, one of my least favorite characters on this show. She's poorly acted, she's abrasive, she coerces inmates into sex, and she's just not redeemable in any way. There's a way to make this character work, but I just don't think the actress is good enough to pull it off. Edie Falco is much better as the representative C.O. character. Speaking of guards, the new head of the C.O.s is Sean Murphy, which is a welcome addition if for nothing else than for the fact I like Robert Clohessy as an actor. He doesn't really get much to do, but again Clohessy does good work.
Also introduced in this season is Clayton Hughes, played by future Wire regular Seth Gillam. Gillam is great in The Wire. He's not great in this. He didn't stand a chance as his character SUCKS. He gives Adebisi a gun at the end of the season and this is completely at odds with how his character originally acted in the first episode. That's nothing new to Oz though.
As for the last two characters I'll talk about, Kareem Said goes through a crisis of faith this season. He "falls in love" with Patricia Ross, a defendant in his case against the state. As you can see, I am not buying that they fell in love, but Eamonn Walker tries to sell the hell out of it. It also features the unusual partnership of Said and Beecher by the end of the season. It's pretty natural too for this show, although I wish it last longer. (That's a complaint for next season). Lastly, I still don't really like Tim McManus, and I think the show wants me to like him. He has a sexual harassment thing against him and I kind of rooted for him to get fired so he could leave the show.
I could break down every character and every stupid storyline, but I overall enjoyed this season. JK Simmons, Lee Tergesen, Christopher Meloni and Dean Winters are just plain fun to watch. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that Sister Peter Marie questions her faith based off her attraction and the manipulation by Keller. This shouldn't work but the two actors are Meloni and Rita Moreno and the could successfully make a drama about paint drying entertaining.
This show has the oddest mix of great actors and godawful actors that it's jarring. It's basically a show designed to be judged on a scene by scene basis, not on an episode basis or even a season basis. Oz is still pretty good in season three, something that clearly changes by the next season so obviously they did something better and different in this season. I couldn't tell you what though. So if you have the time, I'd still give this season a watch.
Grade - B
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