The Routine

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Season 1, Episode 1, "The Routine." Directed by Darnell Martin, written by Tom Fontana.

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Contents

[edit] Synopsis

In the beginning of the episode, several new inmates arrive in Oz: Tobias Beecher, Donald Groves, Miguel Alvarez, and a fourth unknown prisoner. Shortly after entering the prison, the fourth inmate shanks Alvarez in the chest, sending him to the hospital. The stab wound is revealed not to have been fatal, though. In the next scene, we see Tim McManus and Warden Leo Glynn speaking. McManus asks Glynn to allow him to have Alvarez, Beecher and Groves sent to his new experimental unit called Emerald City. (Em city for short) Glynn initially refuses, saying that Groves (Who murdered his parents, carved them up and ate them) can not be rehabilitated, and believes he will be wasting his efforts. McManus persists, however, and Glynn allows him to have Groves if he takes Paul Markstrom as well, explaining that he is his cousin.

It is seen that Groves, Beecher and Markstrom arrive to Em City and, after a short explanation from Diane Wittlesey, their sponsors arrive to help them adapt to the life in Emerald City. Groves' sponsor is Bob Rebadow, Beecher's is Dino Ortolani and Markstrom's is Jefferson Keane. It is clear that Ortolani is not thrilled to be Beechers' sponsor as he hates the sponsorship program and only cares about fellow Italian inmates unlike Beecher. He refuses his handshake asking him what is he in for assuming he is in for something weak to the effect of "Shaving strokes off your golf score." Beecher's flashback shows that while driving intoxicated he struck a girl riding her bicycle. He was subsequently sentenced to 15 years, with chance for parole in four.

In Emerald city, Ortolani tells Beecher clearly that he does not care what happens to him, and he will have to take care of himself. He then advises Beecher to get himself a weapon and quit smiling. Afterwards, the Homeboys rob Beecher for his phone card as the other inmates watch doing nothing to help him. The next scene takes place in the Cafeteria, where we seen "Poet" reciting one of his poems. By the end of the poem, we see Beecher trying to find a place to sit. He first approaches the Italians, still assuming Ortolani is his friend, but he sends him away. Beecher later sees Rebadow, who does invite him to seat next to him. Upon seating, Rebadow tells him that "he is right". Beecher asks him what does he mean, and he tells him that his wife, Genevieve, indeed thinks about divorcing him, and speaks of that option with a second lawyer from his firm as they speak. Beecher is confused, and asks Rebadow how does he know his wife's name, but he only looks upwards and says "God told me so" mysteriously. Glynn then delivers news to the inmates, saying that smoking will be banned in Oz starting the following week. this statement puts the cafeteria in disorder, in which several inmates begin fighting. It is then followed by a short scene showing Beecher, Augustus Hill and Rebadow in a clothing factory, when it becomes clearer that Beecher was yet to adapt to life in prison as he says that he "is not used to that kind of work", a remark which angers Hill. The wheelchaired Hill asks Beecher what his occupation was outside of prison which he answers as a lawyer, an occupation that Hill hates.

Next comes the 5 PM count, when Beecher discovers that he has to go to his cell by 5 PM, and wait 'till lights out at 10 PM. Beecher then sees his new cellmate Simon Adebisi going through his stuff. When Beecher tried to stop him, Adebisi intimidates him and explains that as of this moment, all of that stuff is his. After lights out, Beecher appears even more frightenned and Adebisi tells him that he will not rape him that night, but hints that he will do so in the future. Vern Schillinger, noticing what has happened between Beecher and Adebisi approaches Beecher the next morning. Schillinger then suggests that he ask McManus to switch cells for reasons unrelated to Adebis, and to wear "armor", unrevealing what appears to be a phonebook placed under his shirt. Beecher, believing in Schillinger's intentions asks McManus for the transfer, and is transferred that very day to Vern's pod. Adebisi is at first mad at Beecher, believing that he ratted him out to McManus, but he does nothing to him when he sees that he is under Schillinger's protection. Shortly after entering Schillinger's pod, Beecher understands he was mistaken to have chosen Schillinger as friend, when he promises to "brand" him, and refers to him as "his livestock". That night Schillinger rapes Beecher and burns a swastika tattoo into Beecher's buttocks while Beecher is tied to the bed and is therefore unable to fight him.

Then, after a shakedown we see the prison's staff together in the meeting room, discussing several suggestions made by McManus regarding the rehabilitation process of the prisoners. McManus suggests things such as "quiet time," to which officer Mike Healy strongly opposes. Glynn accepts Healy's arguments, and denies McManus' requests. The smoking ban is then mentioned again, and while everyone agrees they will not be able to enforce such a ban, they agree that they should make it appear as if they are trying to. Next issue mentioned in this meeting is the arrival of Muslim black militant Kareem Said to Oz after Arsoning a white man's warehouse. Said is quite a prominent figure on the outside, especially in the Muslim circles, and due to his current lawyer, Glynn makes sure he will be treated well until the story of his imprisonment cools down. This statement is followed by a flashback of Kareem's crime, and Hill's narration saying that he was sent to Oz for 18 years, and will be eligible for parole in 5. Said then meets with Glynn and McManus in the Em City office where the two attempt to tell him not to start anything in Oz and just ride out his sentence. Kareem however states he will take advantage of Oz's demographics (78% of the inmates are "men of color" aka Black), the inmate to CO ratio, and other such things to start a riot and control Oz. The other Muslims see that Said has arrived and begin chanting outside of the Unit Manager office.

As Said arrives, the other inmates appear cautious of his presence where several of them view him as an immediate threat. After Said arrives, Ortolani's crime is shown where he has been sentenced to Life without the possibility of parole for killing a man and attempting to kill Ryan O'Reilly. McManus and Sister Peter Marie then talk about Ortolani's conjugal visit privilages while the Italians talk about Groves' crime in the cafeteria. In Emerald City then, Said preaches to his fellow Muslims about what they must do to overcome the injustices of being locked up and as they do, Schillinger talks with Ortolani about having the Italians and Aryans stick together to eliminate Said. Ortolani refuses but Schillinger is relieved when he sees the Homeboys who view Said as a threat to all the drug dealing black inmates come up to attack him. Said defies Adebisi, Keane, and Markstrom though and purposefully takes punches to the face from a fellow Muslim as a means of showing that he does not fear anyone.

In the next scene, Ortolani hears that Ryan O'Reilly whom he tried to kill on the outside is coming to Oz and he sees him in the lunch line as they are in the cafeteria. Nino Schibetta who leads the Italians imperviously tells Ortolani to cool down as he thinks Dinos' hotheadedness will be bad for the Italians in Oz's power structure. O'Reilly then asks Homeboy Jefferson Keane what it will cost to kill Ortolani as his food is being served and Keane claims that as of now, the Homeboys don't waste Wiseguys. O'Reilly then sees Officer Healy, a friend of his brother who tells him not to worry about Ortolani as he is on a self-destructive path. Healy turns out to be right as in the next scene, Ortolani nearly murders gay inmate Billie Keane who flirted with him in the shower room. Billie is Jefferson's younger brother and because of the murder attempt made on him, the Homeboys reconsider killing Ortolani. Keane is rushed to a hospital outside of Oz while Ortolani's hand is wrapped up while in Oz's hospital. While there, Dino flirts with Dr. Gloria Nathan who tries to ignore him.

Ortolani then goes to the Unit manager officer where McManus explains that Dino's behavior has terrified or angered every staff member and inmate in Emerald City. McManus feels that a change of behavior in Dino is necessary and instead of sending him to Ad Seg, assigns him work in the AIDs ward to learn tolerance of homosexuals. Ortolani vehemently rejects this but is given no choice by both McManus and Schibetta who wants Dino to get less hotheaded in his approach to running Oz. In the AIDs ward, Ortolani is hateful of the inmates as he does not want to get AIDs and thinks most of them are homosexual. He does however begin listening to inmate Emilio Sanchez, a Latino junkie near death whose only wish is to die. In the meantime, O'Reilly arranges it with Jefferson Keane to get Homeboy Johnny Post transferred to the AIDs ward as a means of killing Ortolani. As Dr. Nathan and Tim McManus talk about Ortolani, she claims that he won't have a change in behavior as McManus asks her out to dinner. After thinking of how to change Ortolani's behavior McManus goes against Sister Pete's suggestion and cancels Ortolani's conjugal visit, replacing it with a "family visit" limited to his wife and children. At the visit, Dino tells his wife Jeanie to move on and find another man as he will never leave Oz. Afterwards, Ortolani sees O'Reilly and gets into a fight with him where he sees Kareem Said witnessing it. In the AIDs ward, Ortolani then helps Sanchez die suffocating him and then being sent to the hole restrained by multiple COs under sedation. At that point Post pays a CO off to get into the hole, where he ignites the strapped down Ortolani after covering him with lighter fluid.

[edit] Prison Groups

  • Bikers: The Bikers appear as nothing more than a background group in this episode.
  • Italians: Dino Ortolani sponsors new non-Italian inmate Tobias Beecher advising him to get a weapon to defend himself. Ortolani then cripples homosexual inmate Billie Keane for making a pass at him in the shower room. Ortolani is then transferred to work in the AIDs ward with no resistance coming from mafia cheiftan Nino Schibetta. For crippling Keane, Keane's brother Jefferson, the Homeboys leader orders Johnny Post to murder Ortolani who is then assisted by Ryan O'Reily to set up the murder.
  • Latinos: New inmate Miguel Alvarez is stabbed in the receiving and discharge room and sent to the hospital.
  • Irish: Ryan O'Reily arrives looking to kill Dino Ortolani who nearly killed him outside of Oz. He enlists the help of the Homeboys and with the help of officer Mike Healy gets Ortolani murdered.
  • Christians: The Christians appear as nothing more than a background group in this episode.
  • Gays: The Gays appear as nothing more than a background group in this episode.
  • Others: Tobias Beecher arrives for Vehicular Manslaughter and is immediately intimidated by what happens in Oz. Bob Rebadow, an elderly inmate who claims that "God" talks to him claims to know some factual information about Beecher's background and how to survive in Oz. Beecher is then raped by Vern Schillinger after moving into his pod to escape from Simon Adebisi.

[edit] Cast

Also Starring:

Guest Starring:

With:

[edit] Characters first seen in this episode

[edit] Flashbacks

  • Tobias Beecher - He is seen driving a car while intoxicated, and accidentally hitting a young girl on a bicycle.
  • Kareem Said - Kareem bombs a warehouse that explodes with a great fire.
  • Dino Ortolani - He shoots two men (one of whom was Ryan O'Reilly) outside of a building, killing one of them.
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