Review - OZ on HBO Max

I may be the last person in the world to watch the prison drama series, OZ, which premiered on July 12, 1997, and ran for 6 seasons until the finale on February 23, 2003.

Created, co-executive produced, and principally written by Tom Fontana, the 1-hour drama series was set at Oswald State  Correctional Facility, a fictional men’s prison, it was an original offering by HBO.

Frankly, the series sounded too grim and depressing for me in my younger days. Now older and more used to the realities of life, I found myself interested in this award-winning series.

The marketing poster for the series was a play on the beloved Wizard of Oz movie in which Dorothy chants, “There’s no place like home.” For the TV series, that line was changed to: “It’s no place like home.”

Throughout the series 6-season run, the stories are all about the prisoners struggle to fulfill their own needs—physical and emotional—and to simply survive incarceration and all of its associated dangers. Danger is all around with gangs of every ethnic persuasion and inmates usually so damaged mentally and emotionally that they give no thought to heinous actions.

Oz, Complete Collection, Amazon

Prisoners and correction officers battle to survive when every day may be a threat to their existence. As depicted by the show and by many documentaries, prison is as awful and scary as can be imagined.

 Inmate Augustus Hill narrates each episode and provides context and analysis to the events. Often this narration is told with a wry sense of humor.

The actors who can list Oz on their resumes are numerous. Here they are with their character names.

• Harold Perrineau = Augustus Hill
• Christopher Meloni = Chris Keller
• Lee Tergesen = Tobias Beecher
• Dean Winters = Ryan O’Reily
• Eamonn Walker = Kareem Saïd
• Rita Moreno = Sister Peter Marie Reimondo
• J. K. Simmons = Vernon Schillinger
• Terry Kinney = Tim McManus
• Kirk Acevedo = Miguel Alvarez
• Luna Lauren Velez = Gloria Nathan
• Ernie Hudson = Leo Glynn
• Edie Falco = Diane Whittlesey
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje = Simon Adebisi
• George Morfogen = Bob Rebadow
• Kathryn Erbe = Shirley Bellinger
• 

  Otto Sanchez = Carmen Guerra

• Craig Grant = Arnold “Poet” Jackson
• BD Wong = Father Ray Mukada
• Tom Mardirosian = Agamemnon Busmalis
• J. D. Williams = Kenny Wangler
• Scott William Winters = Cyril O’Reily
• Luke Perry = Jeremiah Cloutier
• Lance Reddick = Granville Adams
• Chuck Zito = Chucky Pancamo
• Dena Atlantic = Sandra Purpuro
• Blake Robbins = Dave Brass
• Robert Clohessy = Officer Sean Murphy
• Evan Seinfeld = Jaz Hoyt
• Luis Guzmán = Raoul “El Cid” Hernandez
• Jon Seda = Dino Ortolani
• Michael Wright = Omar White
• Tony Musante = Nino Schibetta
• R.E. Rodgers = James Robson
• Kristin Rohde = Officer Claire Howell
• Betty Buckley = Suzanne Fitzgerald
• 

  Mark Margolis = Antonio Nappa

• Anthony Chisholm = Burr Redding
• Edward Herrmann = Harrison Beecher
• Philip Casnoff = Nikolai Stanislofsk
• Antoni Corone = Frank Urbano    
• Steven Wishnoff = Tony Masters
• Charles S. Dutton = Alvah Case
• David Zayas = Enrique Morales
• Brian Bloom = Ronald Barlog
• Leon Robinson = Jefferson Keane
• Charles Busch = Nat Ginzburg
• Sean Whitesell = Donald Groves.

 SHOULD YOU WATCH OZ?

If you like well-scripted, well-acted drama, absolutely watch this. Be forewarned that it’s graphic, violent, realistic language, and often emotionally heart-breaking. 

Long after watching an episode, you’ll find yourself thinking about the stories depicted by stellar acting. 

You’ll find yourself seeing the prisoners as deeply flawed human beings who, through nurture and/or nature, did not possess the ability to be “normal” members of society. 

I’m not a shrink, but I think somewhere between conception and childhood or teenhood, something goes wrong with a human being. Whatever that is, without intercession, it sets someone on a path of destruction—of self and of anyone who comes in contact with them. That’s not to excuse criminal behavior, but it does make it somewhat understandable.

I guess those of us who think of ourselves as normal are always looking for a reason as to why a person engages in criminal behavior.

TAKEAWAY TRUTH

Oz is rivetting and sad and heartbreaking. It’s drama at its best.

Joan Reeves aka SlingWords: The Word Slinging Adventures of Joan Reeves

Source: https://slingwords.blogspot.com/2025/10/review-oz-on-hbo-max.html