Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Out O' Time
By Kim | Season 3 | Episode 8 | Aired on 09.01.1999
Leo speaks to the guards, informing them that the SORT teams are in full readiness, and they are all in lockdown for the foreseeable future. Leo urges them to be ready for anything, and walks off. Diane tells McManus that she can't go through this again, and she's going to take her vacation time, or if they won't let her, quit. I think by "vacation time," she meant, "work on The Sopranos". Claire asks Murphy if he's afraid, and Murphy says that he is.
Clayton walks up to Leo and claims that they can't hide behind the badge anymore. Leo doesn't understand. Clayton asks Leo if he feels that he's betrayed his own people by caging them. Leo says that he hasn't, because the men who are locked in Oz aren't his people. Leo concludes, "My people are the ones who obey the law." Clayton looks as if he's about to speak, but Leo shuts him up by telling him to go home because he's fired. Clayton looks stunned.
Hill, dressed to look like an old man, sits in front of footage of various bad things that have gone down in Oz. Hill tells us that many think that the end of the millennium will bring the end of the world. Hill then asks if God knows that it's January 1st, and if God knows that it's midnight, and if so, which time zone is he in? Good point. Hill adds that man invented calendars and clocks, and God has his own timetable, so it's stupid for us to think that he's going to go by ours. Hill concludes, "All we can do is watch the clock run out and hope for the best."
The clock in Em City reaches midnight. Murphy wishes McManus a Happy New Year. In their cell, Beecher wishes Keller a happy new year, and Keller returns the sentiment. Russky looks into the mirror and gives himself a toast in Russian. Kenny says, "Happy New Year, motherfuckers," and Schillinger replies, "Eat me, you little prick." Hernandez sleeps in his cell. Alvarez pulls apart his cell. Ryan tucks Cyril in before climbing into his own bunk. Ryan fans might like to know that he was wearing red underwear. Khan breathes with the aid of a respirator. Keller and Beecher look at each other in their cell, then start kissing. Arif and Said pray together. Adebisi puts something under his pillow, then pulls back his blankets to reveal a gun sitting on his bunk. He looks outside and sees Clayton watching. Adebisi picks up the gun, and aims it at the wall.
As we see various denizens of Oz getting into their bunks in the background, Hill sits in his wheelchair dressed as Baby New Year. Hill says that a bunch of men sit in their cells on the eve of a new millennium, staring into the future. They see themselves in those same cells, but whether they are black or white, they see that we are all on a precipice together, and it's up to us what happens. The screen goes black, and Hill blows a horn and yells out, "Happy New Year!"