"Oz didn't make you a bitch. You were born one"
ORIGINAL AIRDATE: 12th July 2000
EPISODE NUMBER: Season 4, Episode 1
WRITTEN BY: Tom Fontana
I can't believe it took me this long to put an episode of Oz on the list. It's one of my favorite shows of all time. This episode might seem like a strange choice to use first, but any episode that gets rid of a character as annoying as Kenny, and as satisfyingly as it did, deserves our gratitude.
French inmate Guillame Tarrant has an eventful character arc for a one-shot character. The impact he has on the series lasts much longer than his screentime. He's a quiet psycho with the potential to go postal, and after receiving a rough reception at the hands of the homeboys, it all finally explodes into violence when he gets his hands on Adebisi's gun. The last few minutes are totally exhilarating and the perfect pay-off to the building tension when he finally cracks.
The gun of course was planted by Adebisi as part of a pre-meditated plan to start a race riot. Adebisi's rise to power is one of the best storylines of the season, and this ruthless but brilliant scheme really set the tone. He was such a star that his increased presence on the show was definitely welcome, but I'll talk more about that when I review You Bet Your Life.
Also introduced this episode was undercover drug cop Desmond Mobay. Lance Reddick is one of the standout guest stars of the show. His gradual descent into drugs and murder was tragic, and it's heartbreaking to see how well-intentioned he started off.
But this episode proves more than most that Leo Glynn's warning had merit - it's tough to survive Oz.
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