Escape From Oz
Written By: Tom Fontana
Directed By: Jean de Segonzac
Original Airdate: August 31, 2000
Transcribed: March 25, 2000. Last Revised: March 26, 2000.

Oz is the property of Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Rysher Entertainment, and HBO. This page is not authorized by any of the above. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this page.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: The dictionary says escape means "to break loose, to bust free." Yeah, there are all kinds of ways to get the fuck out of Oz. For example, you can dig your way out.

(In Rebadow and Busmalis' pod.)

Rebadow: Hurry up. I'll put the tiles back.

(In Em City.)

McManus: OK, everybody, listen up. As you probably know, Officer Wittlesey has transferred to Unit B. Replacing her as Em City supervisor is Karl Metzger. Officer Metzger?

Metzger: Some of you know me from Ad Seg. My rep is that I'm tough, but I'm fair. I won't take any shit from anybody, but I don't intend to give any either. All right, that's all.

CO: Count!

(In Busmalis and Rebadow's pod.)

Mack: It's gotta be here somewhere.

Rebadow: What's going on?

Mack: Where is it?

Busmalis: Where's what?

Mack: Hey, don't play games with me, asshole. Where's the tunnel?

Busmalis: What tunnel?

Mack: We've been watching you.

Rebadow: Leave him alone. Here it is.

Mack: Holy shit. How far along are you?

Busmalis: We figure about a mile and we're on the other side of the prison wall.

Mack: When you go, we're going with you.

Rebadow: How? We're going to leave at night. You'll be locked into your own pod.

Mack: Then we'll switch pods.

Busmalis: What?

Mack: You two will switch pods with us. Otherwise, we tell the hacks about what's going on.

Rebadow: All right. If you can arrange the exchange, the tunnel's yours.

Busmalis: Rebadow!

Rebadow: Shut up, Busmalis.

Mack: Yeah, shut up, Bushman.

Busmalis: I can't let those Nazis go through Lizzie. It would be like they were raping her.

Rebadow: In my years at Oz I've learned one rule: accept the hand you're dealt. We'll lose the tunnel either way. Better to let it go and start a new one in the next pod.

Busmalis: Oh, fuck.

(In Em City.)

Mack: Metzger?

Metzger: Yeah?

Mack: (He shows Metzger a tattoo on his stomach.) I need an ask.

(In the locker room. The same tattoo as Mack's is on Metzger's shoulder.)

Metzger: Hey, Tim, I want to move Rebadow and Busmalis out of their pod.

McManus: Fine.

Metzger: Don't you want to know why?

McManus: I trust you.

(In Em City. Busmalis and Rebadow are exchanging pods with Mack and the other Aryan.)

Busmalis: Take care of her.

Mack: Fuck you. Stupid fucks.

(In Busmalis and Rebadow's pod at night.)

Busmalis: There they go. How can you be so calm?

Rebadow: What would you have me do?

(Mack and the other Aryan crawl into the tunnel.)

Mack: All right. Let's go, pussy.

(In Busmalis and Rebadow's pod.)

Busmalis: They should almost be there.

Rebadow: Yes.

Busmalis: We shoulda told 'em.

Rebadow: No.

Busmalis: Yes. We should've warned them that we weakened all the support beams. We should've warned them that the tunnel will collapse on top of them.

(Mack and the Aryan are crawling through the tunnel and knock over a beam.)

Mack: Oh, shit. You all right?

Aryan: Yeah.

(Hill narrating, with flashbacks of Mack's crime.)

Hill: Prisoner number 96M542, Mark Mack. Convicted June 1, '96, murder in the second degree, vandalism, hate crimes. Sentence: 70 years. Up for parole in 40.

(In the tunnel, the ceiling starts caving in.)

Mack: Yo, back up! Back up, man! Back up! The tunnel's collapsing! Shit, man, back up! Go, man, go!

(In Em City.)

Metzger: I've been here five minutes, I got two bodies on my floor! This is not the way shit's gonna happen with me here! If we find one more hole, who's going in it? I'm putting one of you Goddamn cocksuckers in the next fucking hole we find! Who wants a shovel, huh? Dig me a Goddamn hole! You gonna dig me a hole? Go ahead! Goddammit!

(In McManus' office.)

McManus: The tunnel was found in what used to be your pod.

Rebadow: Yes, he dug it.

Busmalis: Rebadow!

Rebadow: Under orders from Mark Mack.

McManus: Mack forced you to dig?

Rebadow: He threatened to kill Busmalis. Didn't he?

Busmalis: Yes. The Nazi bastard.

Metzger: If that's true, you should've come to us.

Rebadow: That's easy to say. The poor man was terrified.

Busmalis: Terrified.

Rebadow: Busmalis warned him of the dangers, but they were so anxious to go.

Busmalis: They wouldn't listen to a word.

Metzger: Even so, these two should be punished.

McManus: Neither one is much of a discipline problem. You can go.

(In the morgue.)

Hill: Poet, what's up?

Poet: It's my new work assignment, here in the morgue. McManus' revenge on me, for screwing up outside, man.

Hill: Yeah, what happened, man? You was free.

Poet: And still a fiend. I spent all the money I got for that book on crack and when the cash ran out, the fucking dealers came after me, man. I was defending myself.

Hill: You shot a guy six times.

Poet: Had to make sure the nigger was dead. So, what do we do here?

Hill: You know, wait for the mortician to get back from lunch. Undertaker school in town sends a student up to work on the corpses for the practice.

Poet: We help him out?

Hill: Yeah, you know, hand him shit. Embalming fluid, cosmetics.

Poet: Cosmetics? You mean like lipstick and shit?

Hill: Sure. You gotta look pretty before they plant you.

Poet: I ain't no girl. They ain't putting none of that shit on my face, yo.

Hill: When you're dead, you don't have much of a choice. Death is a lot like life in Oz, man.

(In Em City.)

Hill: It'll work. I'm telling you, it'll work.

Wangler: What're you talking about? What'll work?

Poet: Yo, check this out. Hill's got a plan to escape out of Oz.

Wangler: What's up? What's up?

Hill: Yo, we working stiff patrol, right.

Wangler: Right.

Hill: Just now, we loaded those two Aryan fucks into boxes which get sent to funeral homes for burial. So my idea is, next time somebody dies, I get in the box instead.

Coushaine: Hill, coffins are airtight. You'd die of asphyxiation.

Poet: Thank you.

Hill: Not if I drill some subtle little holes in the right places.

Coushaine: Yeah, but the casket's gonna be sealed. You'll be trapped inside.

Hill: Not if I get a couple of friends of mine to come to the funeral home and break me out.

Wangler: Yeah, but what you gonna do with the real motherfucker that died?

Poet: Mmm-hmm.

Hill: How hard is it to hide a couple of bodies up in Oz, huh? Temporarily, at least.

Coushaine: It's a good plan.

Wangler: Shit might work.

Hill: That's what I'm saying.

Wangler: That's better than having a motherfucker mail you out.

Hill: I was bullshitting, man. I was bullshitting. You thought I wanted...

Wangler: Express mail, all right.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: Every inmate wants out of prison by hook or by crook. 'Course, there are some who find that once they're free, life on the other side ain't all it's cracked up to be.

(At the front desk.)

Sippel: I'm here to see Sister Peter Marie.

Roger: (He picks up the phone.) Robert Sippel's out front asking for you. So, Father, meet any cute boys on the outside? Any boys with the first name Dick?

(In a hallway.)

Sister Pete: You look exhausted.

Sippel: Well, the last few days have been very difficult. Registering as a convicted pervert was more difficult than I thought. I had to go down to the courthouse and stand in line with ordinary people, wanting fishing licenses and learner's permits. I stepped up to the counter and softly explained to the clerk why I was there. She boomed, "Perverts fill out these."

(In Sister Pete's office.)

Sister Pete: Oh, boy. So how's the job search going?

Sippel: "Seek and ye shall find," right? It's hard enough getting employment as an ex-con, but once they've discovered I fondled a young boy...

Sister Pete: Well, have you found a place to live?

Sippel: After ten years of imprisonment, my first two nights of freedom were spent sleeping on the subway.

Sister Pete: Well, you know I'll do anything I can to help.

Sippel: That's why I'm here. Would you please speak with Warden Glynn?

Sister Pete: About what?

Sippel: Letting me sleep here in Oz.

(At the switchboard.)

Glynn: You want me to let Robert Sippel move into a cell?

Sister Pete: Just until he finds a landlord who will rent him a room.

Glynn: I need to see the shift log. He'll have to stay in Gen Pop. He'll be at risk.

Sister Pete: Yeah, he's aware of that.

Glynn: He's not gonna get an apartment unless he has a job.

Sister Pete: Well, that's my next mission. I've got to find somebody who will hire a defrocked priest.

Mukada: I will.

Glynn: You?

Mukada: Yeah, as my assistant. I've got a discretionary fund from the diocese. I guess it's time I used my discretion.

(In Mukada's office.)

Mukada: Well, there's not much room here, but...

Sippel: I appreciate this, Father.

Mukada: Well, I needed a... As you can see, I'm not very organized.

Sippel: You're still uncomfortable around me. (The phone rings and Sippel picks it up.) Chaplain's office. Yes. OK, I'll tell him. (He hangs up.) A patient in the hospital is dying. He's asked for the anoiting. If I'm really here to help you, Father, let me help you.

(In the hospital.)

Mukada: "He pardons all your inequities, he heals all your ills, he redeems your life from destruction, he crowns you with his kindness and compassion. Father in Heaven, through this holy anoiting, grant Joseph comfort in his suffering. Through Christ our Lord, amen."

(In the front lobby.)

Mukada: Mr. Hanssel? Hi, I'm Father Mukada.

Hanssel: Thanks for seeing me.

Mukada: Sure.

Hanssel: The past few weeks there's been plenty of stuff in the press. What with the legislature passing that law requiring sex offenders to register, Father Sippel getting out. It stirred up a lot of things in me, feelings I thought I'd put down.

Mukada: I told him that you were coming.

Hanssel: Is he willing to talk with me?

Mukada: Yes. He feels that he owes you that much at least.

Hanssel: I've never been in prison before.

Mukada: Don't worry. There'll be a correctional officer with you the whole time.

Hanssel: Here to protect me or him? I'm sorry, Father. I have no intention of harming the man. I don't really know what my intentions are except that... I haven't seen him since that day. Ten years is a long time to carry this shit around inside. Sorry to say "shit" in front of a priest.

Mukada: Sometimes "shit" is the only word that fits.

(In the chapel. Mukada takes Hanssel to meet with Sippel.)

(In Unit B.)

Sippel: Yes?

Schillinger: How do you live with yourself?

Sippel: How do you?

Schillinger: Whatever I've done, I've done for righteous reasons. Any laws I've broken don't deserve to be laws. But you, you fucking baby raper! You should be dead.

Wittlesey: Back in your cage, Schillinger. Don't make me use this. You wouldn't want me to enjoy myself, now would you?

Sippel: Thank you, Officer.

Wittlesey: Just doing my job, pal. For once I agree with that Nazi fuck.

(In the mail room.)

Metzger: What do you need?

Schillinger: Some rec time.

Metzger: With who?

Schillinger: Sippel.

(In the gym. Schillinger and the other Aryans crucify Sippel to the gym floor while Metzger keeps a look out.)

Metzger: Keep moving.

(On Death Row.)

Bellinger: Don't be nervous.

Nathan: I'm not nervous.

Bellinger: Well, you seem nervous. Which I can understand, you and me being locked in this cell together.

Nathan: Breathe.

Bellinger: You don't touch many women, do you?

Nathan: Nope.

Bellinger: I can tell. You're twisting and turning my body like I'm a man.

Nathan: I'm treating you like a patient, any patient.

Bellinger: That's right. Doctors can't feel emotion toward their caseloads.

Nathan: That's not true. We're compassionate. Look up.

Bellinger: Ah, yes, compassion. That marvelous thing which allows you to be human and still be above the rest of us.

Nathan: You're fine. We're done.

Bellinger: Am I well enough to die? Healthy enough to execute?

Nathan: Look, if I'm nervous it's because I don't understand how a woman, a mother could do that to her own child, her own flesh and blood.

Bellinger: It was an accident.

Nathan: Officer! The next time I see you, Shirley, I'll be standing over a gurney about to poke you with a lethal injection.

(Kirk leaves a tube of lipstick for Bellinger on one of her cell bars.)

Bellinger: Thank you, darling.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: What's the opposite of escape? I don't mean arriving. I mean being in a place and getting sucked deeper and deeper inside, so far down you almost burst through to another side.

(In Em City.)

Rivera: Hey, Hernandez, get your feet off the table. Do you hear me or do I gotta translate?

Metzger: What's the problem?

Rivera: Hernandez here, he's got an attitude.

Metzger: Raoul, I'm gonna ask you nicely, once. Will you please take your feet off the table? Will you do that for me, huh? Thank you. Let's go, Eugene. Let's go, let's go.

Hernandez: Alvarez, Rivera's still got his eyes.

Guerra: You gonna do the job, man? Or are you a fag?

Alvarez: I'm just waiting for the right moment. (Guerra makes chicken noises.) You shut the fuck up. I'll take your fucking eyes.

Guerra: Come and try.

Hernandez: Yo, drop it now, all right. Today, white boy. Do it today, Michael.

(In the staff break room.)

Glynn: Got tickets to the Knights game.

McManus: Who they playing?

Glynn: Chicago. Wanna go?

McManus: I can't. I got a date.

Glynn: Ray?

Mukada: I gotta go see Sippel at Benchley Memorial.

McManus: At least now he has a place to sleep, right?

Sister Pete: Tim. Leo, do you have any idea who crucified Sippel?

Glynn: No, not yet.

McManus: I bet a CO was involved.

(They hear screaming and McManus opens the door to see Rivera with his hands over his face, covered in blood.)

Sister Pete: Oh, my god!

Rivera: My eyes! My eyes! (McManus pulls his hands away and Rivera's eyes have been stabbed out.)

McManus: I need a CO in here!

Glynn: Get some help!

(In Em City.)

Metzger: Lockdown! Lockdown!

McManus: He's not in Emerald City.

Glynn: Search the whole prison! Search every fucking inch!

(In Unit B.)

Wittlesey: Lockdown! Lockdown!

(In the hospital.)

Glynn: How's he doing?

Nathan: He's sedated but, Leo, his eyes are gone. He's also lost a lot of blood and he's gonna need a transfusion.

Glynn: Then do it!

Nathan: He's AB negative. I called the blood bank. They're out.

Glynn: Then find somebody in Oz with that blood type.

Nathan: We're cross-checking staff medical records right now. It's gonna take some time.

Glynn: Christ.

(In Mukada's office. He enters and Alvarez attacks him with a bloody scalpel.)

Alvarez: Shut up! Shut the fuck up!

Mukada: Miguel...

Alvarez: All right.

(In the hospital.)

McManus: SORT team's going through every unit cell by cell. So far no sign of Alvarez.

Glynn: Shit.

Nathan: Oh, God.

Glynn: What?

Nathan: No one on the staff was AB negative so I started checking the inmates' records. I found a prisoner with the same blood type.

Glynn: So let's get him down here.

McManus: Who is it?

Nathan: Ryan O'Reily.

(In McManus' office.)

Ryan: Fuck you.

McManus: A man's life is in danger.

Ryan: A hack's life. Fuck you.

McManus: Goddamit, O'Reily! I'm sick of your fucking bullshit! Now you need to do this now!

Ryan: There's only one or two ways you're gonna get my blood out of me. You either tie me down and you take it...

McManus: Or?

Ryan: Or you let my brother Cyril out of the Hole and you put him in Em City with me.

(In Mukada's office. Alvarez has tied Mukada to a chair.)

Mukada: Miguel, you gotta think this through.

Alvarez: I'm trying, I'm trying.

Mukada: There's no way out. Eventually the SORT team is gonna find us here and then what're you gonna do? How are you gonna fight them off? They've got rifles. You got shot during the riot. You wanna get shot again?

Alvarez: If they fucking catch me, they're gonna beat the fucking shit out of me.

Mukada: Miguel, I promise you, I won't let them.

Alvarez: That's fucking bullshit, man! What the fuck are you gonna do? You gonna hold up a fucking crucifix?

(In the hospital.)

Nathan: Lie down.

(In the Hole, a CO tosses some clothes to Cyril.)

(In Mukada's office.)

Alvarez: I remember some stories about my, my grandfather. How he killed a guy who cut out my father's tongue. He ended up in Solitary, right. You know what he was like?

Mukada: Yeah.

Alvarez: He spent 20 years, 20 years in Solitary. Then he goes fucking crazy 'cause of Alzheimer's, right? I mean, the thought of that, man, the thought of that, spending the rest of my fucking life in a little fucking room. No fucking one around except a few fucking hacks. Fuck. Fuck. I tell you, man, I couldn't handle that. I couldn't handle that. No, no way. I mean, I got a problem as it is being in small places. But to be in a little fucking room, I'll fucking go bugs in a day. No, no, no, no, no. They put me in Solitary, they might as well beat me to death.

Mukada: Miguel, we've been through a lot together, you and me. And you gotta believe me when I tell you, there's no alternative.

Alvarez: Yeah, there is. You see that? When I did that, I was fucking nuts. See, I know that now. You know what I shoulda done instead? I shoulda cut my fucking throat.

Mukada: Miguel, no. You don't know what you're talking about. Just look at me.

Alvarez: Say a prayer for me, Father.

Mukada: Miguel, please don't. Miguel, no! (The SORT team breaks in and grabs Alvarez and takes him away.) Don't hurt him!

Alvarez: No!

Mukada: Don't hurt him!

Alvarez: No!

Mukada: I promised him you wouldn't!

Alvarez: No, no! Get the fuck off me! Get the fuck off me! (The SORT teams beats him up and throws him into Solitary.) Don't leave me here! Please! No! Let me out! Let me out! Let me out!

(In Em City.)

Metzger: End of lockdown!

Hernandez: They must've found Alvarez.

Guerra: Yeah.

Hernandez: They'll charge him, attempted murder. Let his ass die in Solitary.

Guerra: Yeah.

Hernandez: I feel bad, man, you know. I was wrong about him, you know. He did have balls.

(In the hospital.)

Ryan: Hey, Gloria, I have to talk to you.

Nathan: What? What would you possibly have to say to me? I'm sorry?

McManus: How's Rivera?

Nathan: We'll know more in a few hours.

McManus: All right, Cyril's been moved to Em City.

Ryan: McManus! I fucked up a lot of people's lives.

McManus: Yeah.

Ryan: My brother Cyril got slow because of me. We were at this funeral and there was this chick there that I used to date. (Flashbacks of Cyril being injured as Ryan talks.) She was there with her new boyfriend, some wise guy. But she and me, we're still hot for each other. Cyril got brain-damaged defending me. When the doctors told me that Cyril would never be the same again, that he would have the mind of a five-year-old, fuck, it crushed me. So I got wasted. I lost control. Everything I've done since I've gotten here was to protect my ass so I could make parole. But what I feel for Gloria, it blinded me. So I lost control again. So now Cyril's in Oz and he's gonna be here for 60 years and he got raped by Schillinger and he's afraid. So I gotta stay here with Cyril. I gotta protect my brother. For once in my fucking life, I'm gonna be his big brother.

McManus: You had Cyril kill Gloria's husband?

Ryan: Yes.

McManus: You'll be brought up on charges.

Ryan: That's what I deserve.

(In Em City.)

Ryan: Hey, fuck off!

Cyril: Hey, Ryan.

Ryan: Hey.

(In Nathan's office.)

McManus: Hey.

Nathan: Hey.

McManus: How are you?

Nathan: Hmm. This morning I cleaned out Preston's closet, boxed up his things in his chest of drawers. The man had seven mismatched cufflinks. Who saves one cufflink? You lose one, you throw the other one away. Who even wears cufflinks these days?

McManus: Preston had style.

Nathan: Yeah.

McManus: You hungry? You wanna have dinner or something?

Nathan: No, thanks.

McManus: Not like a date or anything.

Nathan: No.

McManus: I've gotta ask you something, about O'Reily. Do you think he really loves you?

Nathan: Yeah. No one will ever love me as much as Ryan O'Reily. And I have to live with that fact every day for the rest of my life.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: You can escape from Oz in subtle ways. Heroin, alcohol. You shellack your brain with chemicals and it's almost as good as being free. Problem is, you do too many drugs and you become a prisoner of a different sort. And it's even harder to escape the emptiness that follows.

(In Em City. Keller is released from the Hole.)

Beecher: Chris, at last. Give me a kiss.

Keller: You're drunk.

Beecher: You bet your ass I am. Did you miss me? Christ, I missed you. Come on, let's fuck.

Keller: I don't wanna fuck you, Beecher. I don't even wanna be in the same room with you.

Beecher: Where are you going? Chris...

Keller: Hey, don't fucking touch me.

Beecher: Chris...

Keller: Go away.

Beecher: Are you mad at me about something?

Keller: Forget it.

Beecher: No, if I...

Keller: I said forget it.

Beecher: If I did something, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...

Keller: Why don't you keep your voice down, huh? Look, I had a lot of time to think about things in the Hole and one of the things I've decided on is you and me are through.

Beecher: Oh, Jesus, what did I do?

Keller: Look, we'll talk about this when you're sober.

Beecher: Chris, what did I do?

Keller: Leave me alone.

Beecher: If it's the drinking, I can stop. I can stop the drinking. I can.

Keller: (He pushes Beecher down.) Don't fucking touch me.

Beecher: Chris!

(In the library.)

Schillinger: So?

Keller: I been out of the Hole two days, I haven't spoken more than ten words to Beecher.

Schillinger: Yeah, I've seen him. He's a fucking mess. He's on the ledge.

Keller: I say it's about time we pushed him off.

(In a hallway.)

Metzger: You look like warmed over shit, Beecher.

Beecher: It's been a rough couple days.

Metzger: Workout'll do you good. (He takes Beecher into the gym, where Keller and Schillinger are waiting.)

Keller: Hey, Beech.

Beecher: No! You fucking...!

Metzger: Behave!

Beecher: You know him?

Keller: Say what? Oh, yeah, yeah, we've known each other a long time. I've known Vernon since we were both doing time up in Lardner. I was 17 and he saved my life from some big, dumb nigger who wanted me to be his prag. I've owed him ever since. I don't love you. I've never loved you, not for a second. Let him go.

Metzger: Uh, Chris...

Keller: No, let him go! See what you got there, Toby, this time for real.

(Beecher charges and Keller wrestles him to the ground and breaks his arms.)

Schillinger: My turn now. Sieg heil, baby! Sieg fucking heil! (Schillinger breaks Beecher's legs.)

(In Em City. Various conversations.)

Coushaine: They broke both his arms and his legs?

Hoyt: Hey, what's he do if he gets an itch?

Pancamo: He looked like a fucking pretzel.

Rebadow: That's because he was in love with Keller.

Busmalis: Love hurts.

Said: Schillinger did this.

Ryan: Fucking Schillinger did this, man.

Wangler: Yo, I want to move in here.

Pierce: Why?

Wangler: It's a better view.

McManus: How'd this happen? Who took Beecher to the gym?

Metzger: I don't know, but I'll find out.

(In a hallway.)

McManus: Hey, Leo, what do you know about Karl Metzger?

Glynn: Only what's in the file. Why?

McManus: I dunno. I just got a bad feeling about this guy.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: Yeah, there are all kinds of ways to escape from Oz. You can dig a tunnel, you can die, or you can exit through your soul.

(In Adebisi's pod.)

Wangler: Yo, Nappa got a hold of our tits. That bitch stole them from us.

Adebisi: He got my tits.

Wangler: Yeah. I don't know how, but he got the package before we did. I don't know how he fucking found out, but we're fucked.

Adebisi: OK.

Pierce: We gots to burn that wop, Adebisi.

Adebisi: We will.

Wangler: When, man? Damn. All you been doing is laying in the bed these past couple of days. We've been covering for you in the kitchen and frankly, we getting tired of this shit.

Adebisi: Are you giving me orders, Kenny?

(In the library.)

Jara: I know why you have come.

Adebisi: You are a fetisher. You can see the future in those shells.

Jara: They've already told me we would meet.

Adebisi: If you're so smart, what are you doing in prison?

(Hill narrating, with flashbacks of Jara's crime.)

Hill: Prisoner number 98J604, Kipekemie Jara. Convicted August 1, '98, criminally negligent homicide. Sentence: 20 years. Up for parole in 8.

(In the library.)

Jara: I believe I was sent here for you. If you don't change your ways, stop the drugs, the violence, you will die.

Adebisi: Everyone will die. That's everybody's future.

Jara: How long have you been in America?

Adebisi: 15 years.

Jara: You see? You have lost the sense of (?).

Adebisi: Home?

Jara: Yes, home. Where you come from. You've been here for too long. You don't know who you are. You disgrace our people.

Adebisi: Our people? Our people who have let Oyin Bo come in and use us? Our people who don't protect what we have got?

Jara: Even so, when we die, our souls return to the place of birth. You have abandoned yours. You must embrace it if you want peace.

(In Sister Pete's office.)

Sister Pete: Well, Simon, your urine test came in negative.

Adebisi: You see? I'm drug-free.

Sister Pete: Yeah, that's great. So how are you feeling physically, detox?

Adebisi: I have the heart of a lion, Sister.

Sister Pete: Well, I'll be. You actually look happy.

Adebisi: You were right. In snorting all that shit, I was avoiding something: myself. But, you know, since the first time I came to Oz, I found (?). Family.

(In Em City.)

Ryan: Nappa's saying he's the man in charge now. He's got the tits and he's got Adebisi by the balls.

Wangler: Let him talk all the shit he wants, ok. Fuck Nappa.

Ryan: Yeah, well, I don't know how you can trust Adebisi now. Just fucking look at the guy.

Adebisi: (Chanting to himself.) I remember the peace. I remember.

Ryan: Do you see what I'm saying?

Cyril: That was bad, what you said.

Ryan: Yeah, well, in Oz, bad is good.

(In the bathroom.)

Ryan: Adebisi and his crew, they're starting to crack. I'd give it a couple of days before approaching them.

Nappa: Good. I need you to find out something else for me.

Ryan: Yeah? What's that?

Nappa: Adebisi isn't just detoxing. Something or someone is screwing with his head.

Ryan: You mean that guy Jara? Man, they got some strange shit going on.

Pancamo: (Slips some money into Ryan's toiletry bag.) Viola.

Nappa: O'Reily, you a user?

Ryan: Not anymore. Tits are purely for profit.

Nappa: Pleasure doing business with you.

Ryan: Likewise.

Nappa: That old man Jara.

Pancamo: Yeah?

Nappa: I want him dead.

(In the gym.)

Pierce: Anybody smell garlic?

Pancamo: Fuck you.

Nappa: Easy, everybody. We didn't come here to fight. Your man, Adebisi, he's lost his edge.

Wangler: No, he just a little sick, that's all. He'll be all right.

Nappa: Really? I got control of all the tits in Oz, you guys got shit. Now, rather than us taking shots at each other, I say we work together.

Wangler: We have our own operation. We don't need you.

Nappa: Think about that for a moment. Who's gonna get every pair of tits that come in this place, huh? Make the smart decision here.

Wangler: We ain't gonna be your bitches.

Nappa: Hey, we work together, we share. We in business? (Wangler shakes his hand.) Now, as a sign of good faith, there's a little job I need done.

(In the kitchen.)

Wangler: Adebisi, man, why you let that old motherfucker work in the kitchen with us? He's slowing us down.

Adebisi: Shut up, Kenny. I need more corn.

(Wangler takes a knife and stabs Jara.)

Wangler: Die, old man.

Adebisi: Jara! Jara! What happened? What happened?

Jara: I can't breathe.

Adebisi: Don't talk. I'll get some help. Get me some help!

Jara: I'm going home.

Adebisi: No, don't leave me.

Jara: I'm going home. See you, brother. See you.

Adebisi: (Imagines he hears drums.) Can you hear the drums? Can you? (He strips down to his boxers and starts dancing around Jara's body. The COs come in and he throws two of them off.)

CO: OK, Adebisi, settle down. Settle down. Johnson, grab him. (The COs grab him and take him away.) OK, Adebisi, we're just going to bring you somewhere where they can talk to you. Back to your cells, come on!

(In McManus' office.)

McManus: You were there. How can you not know what happened?

Wangler: I don't know what happened. Adebisi's been going through detox and acting all crazy lately. And then he goes and stabs that sweet old man. I don't know. I just don't know.

(Sister Pete and some COs take Adebisi to the psych ward and lock him in a cell.)

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: There's legal ways to escape from Oz. Parole hearings, court appeals, and then there's clemency. Clemency. Sounds so benign, doesn't it? So purifying.

(In Said's pod.)

Arif: The phone's ready for you.

Said: Thank you, my brother.

(At the phone bank.)

Said: Yes, this is Kareem Said. I have an interview scheduled for 10:30. Yes. Aleikuum salaam, my brother. Oh, yes, I am he. Let me first say, I am really sorry I didn't know much about your radio show. Inside Oswald, we are restricted in what we see, hear, and are exposed to. That is another reason why I wrote my new book.

(In a conference room.)

Coushaine: I say we institute a no swearing rule.

Hernandez: Fuck you.

Hill: Suck my dick.

Wangler: Asswipe.

Ryan: Cocksucker.

Pancamo: You stupid cunt.

Hoyt: Putz.

McManus: If nobody has anything intelligent to say, this meeting is adjourned. Said?

Said: Yes?

McManus: I'll take him back to Em City. It's about Poet. I've tried talking to him several times, but he's completely closed himself off to me. Have you talked to him?

Said: What's the point?

McManus: Well, to try to reach him, to start over.

Said: I've done everything I could to help that boy. So have you. I'm done with him.

McManus: Hey, wait a second. What's this? Where's your every-soul-is-redeemable, never-give-up attitude?

Said: Yeah, where is it, McManus? You know, when I was arrested, I thought to myself, "Hey, this is the will of Allah. I can go to Oz and I can help my brothers."

McManus: And you haven't. I feel the same way sometimes.

Said: Oh, I know you do, McManus. I see you. The difference is, you can go home every night. You're free to quit, get yourself another job. I'm going to be here for another 17 years. I've been thinking a lot lately about what else I could have done with that time.

McManus: You mean like have a family?

Said: Oh, yes.

McManus: You still can when you get out. You're not too old.

Said: After two decades in maximum security, what the hell would I have to offer a wife? What could I offer a child?

McManus: Your faith. I thought your faith sustained you.

Said: It does. Most of the time.

(In Em City.)

Metzger: Attention! The following prisoners are to report to the Warden's office. 97S444, Kareem Said. 97A622, Zahir Arif. 89B267, Nasim Busmilla. 85A245, Sanjay Afsana.

(In Glynn's office.)

Glynn: Said. Have a seat.

Sister Pete: Said, every year the Governor grants clemency for a number of prisoners.

Mukada: Just around Christmastime.

Sister Pete: This year he's decided to do two special releases, one for Passover, one for Ramadan.

Said: I know all about this. I've been working with other Islamic leaders trying to get the government to initiate it.

Mukada: Right. Devlin's asked us to go over the case files of our Muslim prisoners to recommend a candidate.

Glynn: But he specifically wanted us to consider you.

Said: It's a trick, right? There has to be strings attached. Exactly what do I have to give up to gain my freedom?

Sister Pete: Nothing.

Glynn: The big question is, if the Governor offers clemency, will you take it?

Said: Yes.

(In the cafeteria.)

Said: I tell you this, we must be happy for whichever one of us is chosen.

Arif: Yeah, especially if it's you.

Said: Arif?

Arif: I'm sorry. It's just that I have children. I know they're being cared for but it's not the same thing. They miss me. I miss them.

Said: I know.

Arif: Do you?

(In Em City. Arif and another Muslim get into a fight.)

Arif: It's all about Said.

CO: Stop it!

McManus: Hey, hey, what's going on? Step away.

Said: Madness.

McManus: Come on. Come here. You're the one. The one Devlin's chosen. Ramadan starts Thursday. He's doing a press conference. I feel like I should congratulate you, but...

Said: But what? Don't tell me you're gonna miss me when I'm gone.

McManus: No, not at all. It's just... None of this sits right with me. Asalaam aleikuum.

(At the press conference.)

Devlin: The celebration of Ramadan is at the center of Islamic worship. Therefore, I am pleased, in the grand tradition of this holy time, to bestow clemency on a prisoner. Kareem Said has been an outspoken critic of our administration but political differences aside, he has been an outstanding member of the prison population. Even after suffering a heart attack last year, he's continued to work with prisoners of every race and color, especially the young, to instruct them, to guide them to better lives. So, I hereby grant Kareem Said a full pardon and I wish him well in his new life.

Said: Finally we meet, face to face.

Reporter: Mr. Said, how do you feel?

Said: How do I feel? I feel joyless. My brothers remain behind, imprisoned, suppressed. (In Em City, the inmates are watching the press conference.) I don't just mean my Muslim brothers. I mean every single man that will sleep here tonight, that was cut off from everything that he loves, cut off from his own self. You know, as the word went around that the Governor was gonna give somebody clemency, I saw a riff develop as each inmate wished himself to be the chosen one. The longing to be free became as palpable as the food that we eat. But it is a meal that I am being served right now and I am Muslim and Allah does not allow me to swallow certain things. Allah does not allow me to take scraps from the hand of a man such as this, a man who is corrupt and immoral, a man who denigrates the gift of clemency just as he violates the principles of justice, a man that gave the order that caused the deaths of eight people. And so, Governor Devlin, because even the cost of freedom can be too high, I refuse your pardon. (Everyone in Em City starts yelling.)

Glynn: Officer, take him back inside!

Devlin: Cocksucker.

Reporter: How do you respond to this, Governor?

(Said is returned to Em City as the inmates applaud and cheer.)

Inmates: Said! Said! Said! Said! Said! Said! Said!

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: Yeah, everybody wants to escape from Oz. Of course, the truth is, there is no escape. I mean, let's say you manage to sneak out. Then you gotta run and keep running. A life of running away ain't no life at all. Better to stay put, face reality, deal with what you got, and make the best of it. Yeah. The measure of a man is not where he lives, but how. How he makes the best of it. Make the best of it. Later. (Hill is shown getting into a coffin and closing the lid.)