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The Latino inmates of Oz, nicknamed El Norte, are a group that often is more focused on making a credible presence within Oz than controlling illegal businesses in Oz.
[edit] Overview
Throughout the series, they have several internal feuds most notably between Carmen Guerra and Miguel Alvarez who spends most of his time outcast of El Norte. They appear ruthless under the leadership of Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez and are more associated with controlling the drug trade under the leadership of Enrique Morales. Throughout the show, El Norte remains on peaceful terms with the Italians, maintains a cautious view of the Homeboys and tend to stay away from the racist Aryan Brotherhood. Their work detail varies throughout the series as many of them work as orderlies in the hospital and on the inmate maintenance and repair crews.
[edit] Season 1
- Episode 1.3 "God's Chillin'" - Recovering from a stab wound on his arrival, inmate Miguel Alvarez meets his father Eduardo (who has no tongue and cannot talk), and Grandfather Ricardo, both inmates serving time in Oz as Father Mukada presses them to talk to Miguel about the importance of fathering his newborn son. When his girlfriend who was incarcerated with him is giving birth, the baby has a bad liver as both her and Miguel did several drugs while the baby was growing. Two Latino inmates at Rodrigo's request attempt to kill Jefferson Keane but the plan backfires with one of them dying.
- Episode 1.4 “Capital P” – Keane receives the death penalty and Alvarez then goes into disarray when his baby is taken off life support.
- Episode 1.6 “To Your Health” – Miguel's mental health deteriorates and Ricardo suffers from Alzheimers Disease putting the fate of the Alvarez family into a worsened state.
- Episode 1.8 "A Game of Checkers" - As Jose Torres gets paroled, Alvarez takes lead of El Norte who currently is the closest thing he has to a family. During a riot that breaks lose in Emerald City, Alvarez is a leader and begins attacking several of the COs such as Mineo who have been taken hostage. During the recapture, Miguel witnesses Rodrigo being murdered.
[edit] Season 2
- Episode 2.2 "Ancient Tribes" - Let back into Emerald City, Alvarez claims the Latinos will move higher up in the drug trade. Warden Glynn's daughter is raped by a gang of Latinos on the outside and he unjustly lashes out at Alvarez for making a snide remark. In the following episode, Alvarez knows the men responsible but refuses to give them up to Glynn.
- Episode 2.4 "Losing Your Appeal" - Alvarez is offered a partnership in the drug trade from both Peter Schibetta and Simon Adebisi in exchange for murdering each other. He decides El Norte will sit on the side and see how the war plays out.
- Episode 2.6 "Strange Bedfellows" - Alvarez decides he wants to work with the Homeboys but is refused by Adebisi as he did not participate in the beatdown and raping of Peter Schibetta. Growing tired of Miguel's passive leadership, Guerra is relieved when new inmate legendary Latino thug Raoul "El Cid" Hernandez arrives and takes control of El Norte. Alvarez is dismissed from El Norte for being "Too White."
- Episode 2.7 "Animal Farm" - A new Latino CO Eugene Rivera, a member of one of El Cid's rival gangs arrives and threatens to make Hernandez's life hell while in Oz. Out of El Norte, Miguel is told that he will be worthy enough to get back in by blinding Rivera by Hernandez.
- Episode 2.8 "Escape From Oz" - Guerra and Hernandez pressure Miguel into blinding Rivera who is looking to abuse his power against El Cid. Miguel does the deed and hides in the chaplain's office only to be found by the S.O.R.T. team who beat him senseless upon his capture. Glynn then has the DA add time on Alvarez's stay and Hernandez is not completely convinced that Miguel did his deed.
[edit] Season 3
- Episode 3.1 “The Truth and Nothing But..." – New inmate Carlo Ricardo arrives and is ready to be of use to El Norte. In solitary, Miguel Alvarez is fed only once a week by the COs in retaliation for blinding Rivera and forced to drink his own urine to survive. In the following episode, Alvarez shows suicidal tendencies and nearly dies.
- Episode 3.4 "Unnatural Disasters" - In the previous episode, Guerra agrees to help protect Augustus Hill from Kenny Wangler and the Homeboys. Ricardo goes to the hole for attacking a CO and is going mental with his family no longer visiting him. Alvarez is conditionally released from solitary. Guerra does not trust Alvarez and Hernandez is suspicious of him snitching. Miguel boxes in Carlo's place but loses to a gay inmate as Ryan O'Reilly fixes the fight. The Latinos look worse in Oz losing to the Gays in the boxing tournament and Guerra is suspicious of O'Reilly winning every bet. Simon Adebisi then convinces Hernandez to help him bring down the Homeboys to move up in the drug trade.
- Episode 3.5 "U.S. Male" – Miguel begins the interaction sessions with Rivera as a condition upon being released from solitary and then El Norte helps Adebisi El Cid injur Poet and Pierce, Wangler's bodyguards reclaiming Adebisi's leadership of the Homeboys in the drug trade.
- Episode 3.6 "Cruel and Unusual Punishments" - Running the drug trade with the Homeboys and Italians, Hernandez confiscates drugs from Ryan O'Reilly only to be busted by the COs. As Alvarez left seeing the COs come, he is El Cid's prime suspect in tipping the COs off.
- Episode 3.7 "Secret Identities" - Warden Glynn interrogates Guerra, Hernandez, and Ricardo threatening them with an extended sentence for drug possession. Miguel's interaction sessions go worse and Ricardo's family stops visiting him altogether as his sister moves to Oakland.
- Episode 3.8 "Out o' Time" - Certain that Miguel snitched on El Norte, Hernandez excommunicates him upon being released from the hole and then orders Carlo and Chico to kill him. Miguel lives though going to solitary for quitting the interaction program and killing Ricardi. As the racial tension builds, Adebisi has the Black inmates become more unified as a means of starting a riot to take over the prison. For fear of a lockdown, Hernandez and Pancamo ask Adebisi to cool the rhetoric unsuccessfully. As a riot nearly begins, Glynn locks Oz down and Hernandez is the only one to witness Black CO Clayton Hughes giving Simon Adebisi a gun.
[edit] Season 4
- Episode 4.1 "A Cock and Balls Story" - In solitary, Hernandez tries to get Beviliqua to kill Miguel Alvarez. It is also revealed that Beviliqua was involved in the rape of Warden Glynn's daughter. Beviliqua is killed and Alvarez is injured both of whom are at the hands of William Giles.
- Episode 4.2 "Obituaries" - In the hospital, Hernandez tells Guerra to deliver Carlos Martinez a weapon to kill Alvarez. Alvarez then escapes in a tunnel built by Busmalis.
- Episode 4.3 "The Bill of Wrongs" - With Alvarez gone, Hernandez puts out word on the street to kill Miguel. El Cid meanwhile is having a mental breakdown and snitches on Adebisi for the gun smuggling incident having Glynn send Adebisi to the hole. Worried about Hernandez's mental state, Pancamo offers the Latinos' third of the drug trade to new inmate Enrique Morales who then has Bob Rebadow move into Hernandez's cell and kill him
- Episode 4.5 "Gray Matter" - Inmate Desmond Mobay at Pancamo, Adebisi, and Morales' request murders Bruno Goergen to earn his membership amongst Oz's drug dealers. New Unit Manager Martin Querns then names Pancamo, Adebisi, and Morales trustees informing them they can deal all the drugs they wish as long as they prevent violence from occurring in Em City.
- Episode 4.7 "A Town Without Pity" - Querns keeps to his end of the bargain but is most partial to Adebisi helping him transfer out White inmates and COs replacing them with Blacks handpicked by Adebisi. As a result Em City becomes overwhelmingly Black to the point that the Italian and Latino inmates are cheated in the drug trade and transferred to Unit B.
- Episode 4.10 "Conversions" - Running the drug trade fully with Adebisi dead, Pancamo and Morales receive no threats from the Black inmates until Burr Redding arrives bringing the Homeboys back into full swing. Looking to eliminate Redding, Morales frames him for killing a Chinese refugee placed in Oz with the hope that he will be sent to death row. Guerra in the meantime begins trouble with troublesome Black inmate Omar White.
- Episode 4.11 "Revenge is Sweet" - Redding is released from the cage and Alvarez then comes back to Oz. Miguel agrees to be Glynn's informant if sent back to Em City where Guerra wants to kill him but Morales tells him to chill off.
- Episode 4.12 "Cuts Like a Knife" - Unable to give Glynn useful information, Miguel is going back to solitary but first kills Jorge Vasquez who makes a life attempt on him. Ex-Communicated Homeboy/Muslim Supreme Allah is released from solitary and told by Pancamo and Morales he can represent the Blacks in the drug trade through murdering Redding whom all three despise. In following episode, a plan of Reddings to eliminate the Italians and Latinos is foiled by a tip from Augustus Hill.
- Episode 4.15 "Even the Score" - Morales is relying on Supreme to kill Redding, as the Homeboys have been forced to truce with the Italians and Latinos. In a basketball game between the inmates and staff, Morales loses money and orders Martinez to slice Officer Dave Brass' tendon as a means of ending his basketball career and giving the inmates winning money.
- Episode 4.16 "Famous Last Words" - Supreme Allah dies and Redding then uses a marine colonel serving time in Oz to attempt to murder Morales who ends up murdering him. Carmen Guerra then makes fun of Omar White who gets into a fight with the Latinos killing inmate Pedro Calderon.
[edit] Season 5
- Episode 5.1 "Visitation" - Alvarez is released from solitary and Guerra makes another murder attempt on him only to end up in the cage. Omar White makes fun of him only to get in a fight with Martinez in the cafeteria. Morales' sister dies in a bus crash visiting Oz. To make a truce with Guerra, Miguel offers him a stabbing opportunity in the next episode which ends up nearly killing Miguel.
- Episode 5.3 "Dream a Little Dream of Me" - As Miguel lived through the stabbing, he realizes Guerra went too far trying to kill him but Morales offers a truce that El Norte will no longer come after Miguel. Inmate Jaime Velez is impressed by Miguel's stabbing and wishes to follow him being told to kill Guerra to gain his position as Miguel's Lieutenant. Meanwhile the Italians are knocked in Disarray by the Aryans causing Burr Redding to convince Morales to switch partners resulting in a Homeboy/Latino alliance.
- Episode 5.4 "Next Stop: Valhalla" - Velez makes an attempt on Guerra that backfires. Miguel enrolls himself in a guide dog program to make up for blinding Eugene Rivera. In the following episode, Morales learns the reasoning behind his sister's visit and beats her husband down. In Gen Pop, Martinez douses Officer Brass with a vile cocktail that results in him going to solitary confinement.
- Episode 5.7 "Good Intentions" - After an accusation of the Italians drugging Augustus Hill is proven false, Poet coerces Busmalis to state that Guerra and the Latinos drugged Augustus ending the alliance between the Homeboys and Latinos. Meanwhile Alvarez's dog goes to Rivera with miraculous results and Ryan O'Reilly fulfills his promise to get rid of Jia Kenmin.
- Episode 5.8 "Impotence" - Alvarez goes to a parole hearing that turns out to be bad when the board's one Latino member Luis Ruiz has the other board members antagonize and accuse him to the point where he assaults Ruiz. Looking to get rid of Redding, Morales truces with the Italians but is charged 10% in the drug trade which is only acceptable following Redding's death.
[edit] Season 6
- Episode 6.1 "Dead Man Talking" - The Homeboys are out of the drug trade and the Italians and Latinos run it fully as Redding is too hurt to lead them. Meanwhile Alvarez is released from Solitary at the hands of Tim McManus who then warns Guerra not to interfere with Miguel any more. Guerra and Alvarez surprisingly enough make peace.
- Episode 6.2 "See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil" - Martinez gets sick in solitary and Alvarez is told he will be let back into El Norte if he spies on the Homeboys but he refuses as he is looking to make parole.
- Episode 6.4 "A Failure to Communicate" - Morales' tendons are sliced on the previous episode and he and Martinez are both killed in the hospital by Nurse Carol Grace. Miguel then receives news that Maritza, his girlfriend is cheating on him with his best friend Reynaldo.
- Episode 6.5 "4Giveness" - Aryan inmate Wolfgang Cutler dies leaving Miguel as his sole beneficiary, a move that makes Alvarez the target of the Aryan's wrath. Miguel is working on the Oz version of MacBeth and in the following episode is asked to lead El Norte which he declines.
- Episode 6.7 "Junkyard Dawgs" - Miguel keeps visiting with Cathy Jo Cutler, Wolfgang's widow and is suspected of having an affair by Aryan leader Vern Schillinger. McManus meets with Luis Ruiz and asks him to meet with Miguel personally as a means of helping his parole chances go up. Gay nightclub owner Alonzo Torquemada arrives in Oz infatuated with Miguel whom he asks to help push in D-Tabs, a pill form of heroin.
- Episode 6.8 "Exeunt Omnes" - Guerra stoned on D-Tabs attempts to commit suicide and Miguel's visits with Cutler's widow are cut short by the Aryans who then attack him. Torquemada keeps making passes at Miguel only to be rejected. Meanwhile Miguel meets with Ruiz only to be told he will never leave as Ruiz feels he gives Latinos a bad name. Miguel then rooms with Torquemada whom he slowly begins to give into the drug and sexual desires of.
As the Latinos are a main group on Oz, they are featured more prominently on several other episodes.
