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Oz


PowerButchi

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Cool.

Yeah, initial impressions were a little mixed tbh. Firstly I was surprised by how many of the cast I recognised, really strong with JK Simmons, Edie Falco & Harold Perrineau all being very welcome surprises. I loved the swerve of the new fish being seemingly rescued from an instant life of torment by Adebisi only to get quickly branded by JK Simmons & made his bitch. Unlucky son!

 

I know it was 1997 but it looks much cheaper than I imagined it would. Some of how it was lit & the camera angles were very 90

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The well-lit, clean set-up is to contrast it with the rest of the prison (gen pop) which you see later on and is utterly hellacious. One of the most striking parts of the whole series is that as things get worse in Oz, you forget that it's the *nice* part of the prison.

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The first episode is a pilot in every sense. It was shot a long time before the rest of S1, and features locations and shooting styles you never see again, so it feels a lot more aged than the rest. When you watch the whole series back, S1 looks way more dated visually than all the other seasons, which are much more consistent. Nerdy Oz titbit, in that bit where a still-handcuffed Beecher bangs his hands against the gate as it closes, Lee Tergesen permanently lost all of the feeling in one of his fingers.

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Just watched the first episode for the first time since I watched it when it showed on TV here originally, it feels really 90s which is an added element I'll be able to enjoy now, watching it as something made nearly 20 years ago as opposed to the contemporary drama it was last time I watched it. I got pumped when I heard the theme (even if it is a bit less impactful than I remember), I used to always imagine the Oz theme after the HBO ident but I haven't for years. It was amazing how quickly all the characters came back to me, that was the real novelty of watching it again, I remembered everything and everyone much better than I expected. I'm looking forward to getting engrossed in the story taking over from the feeling of nostalgia I felt watching the first episode. Watching the pilot certainly didn't disgrace my fond memories of the show.

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It's amazing at what a pace the show starts, with such iconic moments as the bottom branding happening in the first episode. They do an incredible job over years of keeping up that pace, with characters regularly being introduced, becoming the focus, and dying in the same episode.

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Can we avoid too much of the "Ooh, just you wait and see what's coming" kinda stuff to put off newcomers, please?

 

Not pointing the finger at anyone in particular, just a general comment because I can imagine it would be a bit annoying if I was fresh to the show and I'm really looking forward to reading the responses from people watching it for the first time!

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The hardest part for me as a newbie is watching the show, recognising an actor in it and thinking "Oh gee wiz, what have I seen him in?" Then proceeding to search for him via IMDB and then seeing how many episodes he was in for Oz which kind of gives away how long their character lasts.

 

I can say the same for most shows I watch on a delay/via box set.

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