Oz

[Bellenda Carlisle]

I think 2 a week seems like a good pace if everyone else is up for it, it will also keep the momentum going in the thread better.

[gmoney]

I was stunned when they bumped off Ortolani the first time I saw it and it's still pretty powerful, given the amount of time spent with him and the hints of future plot-lines they seem to tease you with. Want to see him fuck up that weasely looking Irish prick? Tough! He's dead now! Kareem Sa

[Dead Mike]

Ep2. My doubts after the first episode were completely put to bed after watching this belter. JK Simmons is coming out as the early lead for my favourite character. His bullying of Beecher is played fantastically & he oozes charisma. Love it.

Everything seemed sharper with this episode, the interviews looking into finding the Italian dudes killer were pretty funny

[Egg Shen]

is anyone a fan of the narration?

[HeavyT]

is anyone a fan of the narration?

I actually do like it. It can be hit or miss though, the aforementioned part about sex was a definite miss. It seems dated but so does everything else.

 

I've just blasted through episodes 1-5, the pace is crazy and multiple characters I never thought appeared until much ater in the show have already surfaced.

 

Not a bad character but at times O'reilly's shite acting pisses me off.

[Bellenda Carlisle]

Just watched episode 2

 

JK Simmons is coming out as the early lead for my favourite character.

 

I've enjoyed him and Adebisi in loads of stuff since Oz and I'm really enjoying seeing the first thing I saw them in again, Vern Schillinger was always my favourite and he's just as good as I remembered, goofy, creepy and terrifying. It was horrible when he made Beecher ask for his permission to see his wife then asked him about it afterwards like he was his best friend before threatening his family.

 

Showing a short flashback of their crime while introducing a character is such a great device, the one where the narrator guy got paralysed was great, it had a sex scene, him shooting the cop then getting paralysed all in a couple of minutes.

 

I don't mind the narration, I do think it's dated but it fits with the time it was made and the style of the show and Harold Perrineau does a decent job of it.

[PowerButchi]

Chalk another point for Schillinger. I forgot just how funny, and dare I say it, likable a raping, bullying, head of the Aryan Brotherhood can be. He reminds me off a teddy bear with his ginger tufty hair.

[Loki]

Schillinger/Beecher is really the heart and soul of the series. It's like Rock/Austin. What I'd forgotten is how quickly they get into it.

[Boycie]

Episode 2 was very good. JK Simmons stole it. The Ortolani investigation was intriguing and O'Reilly giving up Johnny Post to Schibetta (stuff it in his mouth!). Also, Jefferson Keane's crime flashback is one of my favourites of the entire series. Schibetta at the end was the highlight for me, turning down a chance to see his dying wife so he could have his revenge. All in all a great episode.

[DeanoTheGame]

Where are you up to on this now and when are you watching the next episode by? I've been on holiday so missed this kicking off and want to catch-up without reading spoilers. Cheers.

[PowerButchi]

Get to Episode 3 by next wednesday, then I think if we do Saturdays and Wednesdays?

[JNLister]

Watched up till ep 3, but I'll avoid any specifics.

 

Main things that surprise me rewatching are:

 

how heavyhanded the first episode is in making the "this guy thinks prisoners can be rehabbed, everyone else thinks they are irredeemable" point;

 

how much of a bellend McManus is; and

 

how little of the show is actually about Beecher. It's a real ensemble show.

 

Having seen The Wire since my first viewing of Oz, and them being somewhat comparable as being hard hitting/dark HBO dramas, it's very noticable how many of the techniques The Wire specifically avoids are on display here: background score, exposition, flashbacks, visual effects.

 

It's still weird looking back to see, two years before 9/11, a strong Muslim character who, if not exactly positive, is at least morally ambiguous.

 

Also, watching it hot on the heels of Orange Is The New Black, besides the obvious difference in gender portrayal, it brings out just how bleak and with virtually no humour Oz is, and how claustrophobic it feels both in set design and content -- other than brief flashbacks to crimes, there's nothing from the outside world at all, and it's a big deal when we actually see a shot through a window.

 

Finally, without going into any detail, rewatching really brings out just how much a specific aspect of the series is telegraphed.

[JNLister]

Has everyone else got parole?

[Loki]

I'm paused on Series 3 waiting for y'all to catch up, so my memory of series 1 is a little hazy from last year. But I like your point about The Wire consciously avoiding aspects of Oz's technique. It's especially noticeable as there are casting crossovers.

 

Treme takes this even further, becoming so close to reality that it's hard to tell what is real footage and what fake, which characters are invented and which are real and played by themselves.

 

There's a real Oz/Homicide/Wire/Treme suite of actors I've noticed, like there's a Deadwood/Sons of Anarchy/Justified bunch.

[JNLister]

"It's especially noticeable as there are casting crossovers."

 

I'm glad that's the case as during the first four episodes I've rewatched, I was continuously thinking "Ooh, he was in The Wire" then checking castlists, realising he wasn't in The Wire, then worrying I was just being racist.