Scott Ross (Oz)

Scott Ross, played by Stephen Gevedon, is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz.

Character overview

Prisoner #97R518. Convicted June 4, 1997 - Possession of controlled substance with intent to distribute, 3rd conviction. Sentence: Life imprisonment without parole.

Imprisoned for felony possession of marijuana, Ross is on his third conviction and serving life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. He leads the Biker Gang, which is allied with the Aryan Brotherhood up to his death at the end of Season 1. He is killed by Officer Diane Wittlesey during a riot, and his death is covered up by Oz's staff.

Season 1

Ross arrives and is sponsored by Mark Mack and reintroduced to his old friend Vernon Schillinger. In Oz, cigarettes have been banned and Ross presents a business offer to Officer Wittlesey, the ex-wife of a former Biker in Ross' gang, whom he had (and still exhibited) an unrequited crush on. He asks for one carton a day to be brought in and sold as he wishes to make money supplying the inmate's tobacco demands. In the meantime, he assists the Aryans and Bikers in ridiculing Schillinger's sex slave Tobias Beecher, until Schillinger attempts to dispose of Beecher, in the hope that he will be able to bunk with Ross instead. However Schillinger is attacked by a PCP-crazed Beecher and hospitalized.

As this is going on, Ross hears that a possible riot is brewing and wishes to assist Irish inmate Ryan O'Reily during the riot. O'Reilly says that the Muslim inmates intend to start it and that they should work with the Aryans and Homeboys if Muslim leader Kareem Said is to turn on them. Schillinger then comes back to Emerald City recovered from Beecher's attacks and Ross suggests that he eliminate him. However, Schillinger is back on the condition that he is trying to remain on good behavior to make his parole date which is coming up. Diane Wittlesey then warned by Unit Manager Tim McManus to stop assisting Ross in the cigarette business states that she will no longer smuggle cigarettes for Ross. Ross then briefly threatens to testify against Wittlesey if she refuses to help him. As this happens, two of the Biker inmates get into a fight that causes the rumored riot to start. After a riot breaks out, Said fires a gun into the air and starts to organize the inmates. Ross leads the Bikers and Aryans in the riot watching over the front gate on Said's orders. As the S.O.R.T. team approaches to recapture Emerald City, Ross puts the COs and McManus, who have been taken hostage into a line to be shot first. During the assault, Ross shoots McManus with Said's gun because he was jealous Wittlesey had feelings for McManus and not him. After this, Wittlesey then uses a gun supplied by SORT team member Rick Heim to shoot Ross in the head, heart, and genitalia, killing him.

As the riot is being investigated by law school dean Alvah Case, it is revealed that Ross was a compulsive liar, with a "terrible hygiene problem." One apparent lie uncovered during the investigation, was that Ross was engaged in a sexual affair with riot ally Ryan O'Reily. This is relayed to Alvah Case by the prison psychiatric staff, and is adamantly denied by O'Reily, when Case confronts him. Because Ross was disliked by the majority of the inmates and staff, Warden Leo Glynn convinces Case to state that Ross was accidentally killed.

References