Oz Rewatch: S1E5 Straight Life

[vanillalime]

This was another one of those episodes where a lot of things happened that I really didn't remember. I'm glad I'm doing this rewatch!

- Okay, while JD Williams has a nice ass, I did not need to see Kenny get a cavity search, and I definitely did not need to see him pooping out a balloon of herion. Sometimes I'm in the mood for gritty realism and

Comments

[jessrh]

I’m loving reading your Oz re-watch recaps! It’s amazing how it’s been so long since I’ve watched them, but they hold up very well & I still get a thrill when I notice little things 😍 And the implausibility and continuity mistakes crack me up 😂

[vanillalime]

I'm glad to hear that! Thanks for letting me know. I've watched my favorite scenes (mostly B/K related) many times, and bits and pieces of the show here and there while getting screencaps to use at Oz Daily, but I've never done proper rewatch. I've been really surprised by how much I'd forgotten, and it's fun to pay attention to the little things that I wouldn't have bothered to notice the first time around.

Obviously, my rewatch is pretty slow-going, but I hope you'll stick around! :-)

[jessrh]

Oh, don’t worry, I’m eagerly awaiting them! In conjunction with the Oz podcast and the 20 year anniversary last year, this is the most I’ve seen people talking about the show for ages which is just awesome. Did you ever read the TWoP recaps?

Agree- although I’ve seen it so many times, it’s been fun to pay more attention to the background action and extras this time around- I’m still finding new details to enjoy. Looking forward to the next recap!

[vanillalime]

You might find THIS POST I made at oz_rapsheet helpful-- it's a list of all the articles/interviews associated with last year's Oz anniversary/reunion. Maybe you've already read a lot of them, but there might be something new there. For sure, check out the Yahoo oral history if you haven't already.

For some reason I never read the TWOP recaps, although I used to read recaps for other shows there all the time. I think by the time I discovered Oz (2012-ish), TWOP was sort of on its last legs, and I just didn't think to look. Although oddly enough, I did read some recaps written by (I think) a TWOP forum user which I stumbled on HERE at this old forum for Oz fans. She only did recaps for Seasons 3 and 5, but they are OZSOME.

[mazephoenix]

I've only done one rewatch. Season 6 was baaad. Oh yeah Ryan's soo straight. I'm sure someone has done Ross/Schillinger..love the greeting.

[vanillalime]

Season 6 was baaad.

... which is (partly) why I've never watched it. But I will!

I looked for Ross/Schillinger fic on AO3 and couldn't find any. Not that I'm all that interested in it, I just wondered if anyone else was. :D

[mazephoenix]

Poking around the web I found this..
http://unitb.slashcity.net/archive/0/thevern.html
Not quite vern/ross but kinda fun.

[cmk418]

That was so silly, but I liked it.

[cmk418]

Ryan O'Reily... definitely not a fag, but, boy oh boy, what a beautiful man Dean is. Thanks for the screencap.

Has anyone ever written Schillinger/Ross slash? O_O
I don't know and now it's out there, taunting me. It might have to wait a minute. I have skirted around the edges of Wittlesey/Ross though. I really don't like him. I think because he wasn't on the show long enough there really wasn't a moment where I thought "gee, this guy isn't a complete scumbag."

And McManus had a plan work! Wonders never cease.

[vanillalime]

When I watched that scene of Dean's this time, one of the things I thought of was the story he told at the PaleyFest reunion-- how the show's prison consultant told him prisoners were thrown into the hole naked, so Dean did the scene naked. Then, years later, the consultant told him he'd just been joking. I loved that story. :D

I think because he wasn't on the show long enough there really wasn't a moment where I thought "gee, this guy isn't a complete scumbag."

That's funny to think, every character's starting point is basically "complete scumbag" then he hopefully, gradually moves up the ranks to "only kind of a scumbag." LOL

And McManus had a plan work!

Although, it ultimately lead to the death of Markstram, so... ;P

[frelling_tralk]

In a way, it's a shame that Keller arrived on the scene and sucked away (LOL) all of Toby's affections, because Toby and Ryan would've made a great slash couple. Well, except for the fact that, you know, Ryan CLEARLY is not gay IN ANY WAY

I was always a little bit sad about that as well! I know that Ryan had his own angles to work as ever in befriending Beecher lol, but they did have some cute moments as well in season 1. I remember a few times it came off as a genuine friendship on both sides (Ryan turning away and looking like he felt bad for Beecher when he’s forced to appear in drag by Schillinger, Beecher having Ryan’s back in the riot), and then the show just completely drops that friendship :( :( The show did have a tendency to do that though I suppose, it was the same with Alvarez and Father Mukada having a very close relationship in the beginning, and then later seasons never following up on it...

- It's weird... clearly, Lee and JK didn't actually kiss when Vern asks Toby for his goodnight kiss (JK's back blocks the shot

[vanillalime]

RE: Ryan & Toby--There were so many characters on the show, each one was probably limited to only a certain amount of screen time. So when Fontana decided to link Ryan with Gloria, and put Toby with Keller, maybe there just wasn't enough time to pursue any kind of meaningful relationship/storyline between Ryan and Toby. It was nice while it lasted, though. :|

I wonder if it was Fontana who was unsure at that stage of how far he could go without losing the majority male audience

That is a really good point. It's also possible that it was a decision by the director. I remember a story that Lee and Chris have talked about, where there was one director who was uncomfortable with the sexuality between them and their characters and cut one of their kissing scenes short because of it (I believe it was the S4 "kissing the wound" scene). I don't know if it was the same guy who directed this episode (probably not), but clearly some people working on the show were not as open-minded as others.

[frelling_tralk]

I remember a story that Lee and Chris have talked about, where there was one director who was uncomfortable with the sexuality between them and their characters and cut one of their kissing scenes short because of itOh that’s interesting, I didn’t know that

[vanillalime]

I remember a story that Lee and Chris have talked about, where there was one director who was uncomfortable with the sexuality between them and their characters and cut one of their kissing scenes short because of it

Ahh, I couldn't rest until I tracked that story down! :D In case you're interested, it was from the Advocate, and you can read it HERE. It was a great little interview with Lee and Chris from the show's last season.

Then Lee talked about it again briefly in response to a fan's question at his website. It's on THIS PAGE, about halfway down in a reply to "Becky".

It's interesting how so many of the horrific things Schillinger did were implied or happened off-screen. And, yeah, sometimes "less is more." O_O