Props to Denise for taping this episode, as my VCR decided it just wants to be a VC. Also, props to whomever thought of the lemon drop martini and somehow knew it would become an integral part of my workweek. Bless you.
Fade in on Augustus Hill, narrator to the stars, yapping about the Bill of Rights and the preservation of liberty while an American flag backdrop lowers behind him. Note to Hill: Irony doesn't actually have to, you know, fall on us like a sack of iron -- we get that prison is unfair. Cut to Leo Glynn giving a statement to a bevy of reporters about the recent escape. He says in a calm, assertive and very "I'm in control here despite the fact that I'm currently shy two prisoners" kind of voice, "Sometime yesterday, before 5 pm, two inmates escaped through a tunnel, under the southeast wall of the prison." He continues, "Miguel Alvarez, thirties, Latino, Agamemnon Bousmalis, fifties, Caucasian, are not believed to be armed -- Alvarez is, however, considered to be dangerous." We cut to the TV area inside Oz and see that the inmates are watching the whole thing on TV. Cut back to Leo; flashbulbs are going off as an eager reporter, who seems to be perfecting his impression of a mid-thirties Jimmy Olsen, asks Leo how long it took them to dig the tunnel. Did it take more than a day? A week? Leo says he wouldn't know, but the reporter isn't finished. "How come none of your staff knew about the tunnel?" Leo goes into the explanation that Bousmalis was a low-risk prisoner and Alvarez, although dangerous, was on medication. We go back to the inmates watching the whole thing on TV as Simon "Toboggan Noggin" Adebesi rags Hernandez, a.k.a. "Willie Lopez," about the fact that he "missed his chance to kill Alvarez." Hernandez gives him a sour face while scrunching one eye, as if straining to pass the obstruction behind his eyebrows that causes his forehead to reach a size of Dawson Leery (tm Sars/Wing Chun) proportions, and says, "Adebesi, you better shut the fark up." You can see here how I am following the fine example set by Djb last week to keep the expletives at a minimum. He didn't really say "fark." That would be silly. Adebesi sits back and chuckles at his own cleverness.
We see Glynn enter his office with Wendy and Governor Devlin. Leo is grousing about "those gosh-golly-darn reporters." Devlin obviously went religiously to acting class to learn how to enter a room with one hand in his jacket pocket while raising an eyebrow to look confident and politically savvy. Anyway, Devlin tells Glynn, in a smug tone, that Glynn handled the reporters extremely well. Wendy breaks in with "people love a prison break -- it's sexy and exciting." Wendy needs a clue. And a boyfriend. Stat. While Glynn reassures the both of them that he will search high and low for the escaped convicts, Devil-in says, with a tell-tale I-patented-this-while-staring-in-the-mirror bobbing head that's proof of an obsession with George Clooney, "I hope so, because if you don't, you're chances of becoming Lieutenant Governor are zero."
We go to Glynn "Buster" questioning Rebadow, who says glumly that he's hurt that Bousmalis didn't ask him to go with him. Then we see Hernandez with Glynn, saying he never heard from Alvarez, while Glynn reminds him that he hates Alvarez and that turning him in would be a way to exact revenge. As Hernandez leaves, he passes Ade"beat'cha" and sees him pantomiming killing Poet but not succeeding -- in essence, ridiculing him for not being able to kill Alvarez. Hernandez says, "You won't be feeling so flippin' cocky when I talk to the hacks." And, no, he did not say "flippin'." Adebesi asks about what. Hernandez says, "About you giving Frenchy the gun." "Warden wants to know how he killed four guys, soon as they find out it was you, they'll ship you to death row." As he says this, he gives Adebesi the thumbs-up sign. Wait. That's not his thumb. Cut to Hernandez ratting Adebesi out to Glynn in Glynn's office. When asked who Adebesi got the gun from, Hernandez says it was Clayton Hughes, the day Glynn fired him.
We go to Clayton entering the lunch room to meet Glynn. Clayton is wearing an outfit straight out of Eddie Murphy's last music video. Glynn looks up wearily from a bottle of scotch to remind Clayton that his (Hughes') father was stabbed at that very table by an inmate. Clayton sees his cue and says that yes, he was the one who gave Adebesi the gun. Glynn bitch-slaps him. Glynn tells him, amidst Hughes's rapid justifications for what he did, not to say another "Dad-burn word." While Hughes regards him with the look of a man in some serious fear of the fashion police, Glynn tells him quietly that he is trying to protect him. A guard walks in, and Leo tells him to arrest Hughes. (Eh? That's protection?) Cut to Adebesi telling Glynn and Murphy that the gun was stolen from his cell. Glynn shouts, "Off with his hat!" Actually, he says, "Take him to the hole!" as we see Ade"bittyhat"esi tapped on the shoulder by a guard who doesn't appear able to bend in any way. We then see Hernandez regard Adebesi triumphantly as he walks to solitary. Then we see Adebesi thrown in solitary. Naked. Yeah.
New prisoner, number zero zero M eight seven one. Thanks to Hill's helpful hints, we learn said prisoner is Enrique Morales. We see a flashback of him head-butting a man to death on what appears to be a rooftop. Cut to Morales with Chucky Pancamo. Chucky tells Morales "try Morales, all alone" that he, Adebesi, and Hernandez were partners selling tits. This is their word for drugs. Morales, in his best nod to Tony Soprano, says, "This I know." When Chucky tells him Hernandez is having some sort of a breakdown, Morales says, "This, I also know." Basically, they don't want a partner who is "loco," so they figure Morales comes with "cred," and if Morales wastes Hernandez, he's in like Flynn.
Morales goes to see Rebadow in his pod and asks him to kill Hernandez, since he is a person Hernandez wouldn't suspect. When Rebadow objects to killing, Morales reminds him that that is not only why he hears God, but why he landed his ass in Oz thirty-five years ago, and then gives Bob the option of either killing Hernandez and collecting the fruits of one granted request for this deed, or being killed himself. Rebadow opts for the former. Morales tells him that he will arrange for Rebadow to be transferred into Hernandez's pod so he can then "stick him in the neck." The rationale Morales uses as to why Bob won't then go to death row is that it will be -- ready? Self defense. Did you see that coming? No? Me neither. Wow. What a twist! Morales sets it up with Murphy later that Hernandez seems edgy. we see Bob carry his pillow and blankie, a.k.a. "wooby," into Hernandez's pod. After some light conversation between the two while Jack Tripper breezes through on his way to visit Mr. Furley, Hernandez advises Bob to go to sleep.
Oooh! Lookie! It's Busmalis, fresh from the escape tunnel with nary a bait hook in his fisherman's hat. Glynn informs him they are going on TV. Busmalis was apparently stalking a children's show star. Way to stay out of the limelight there, guy. Then we hear Glynn state to reporters that they are "closing in on Alvarez." Cut to Alvarez walking through the damp streets in a shot reminiscent of Glenn Frye's video for "Born in the City."
Back to the interior of Oz, at night; Hernandez is sleeping soundly while Bob slowly rises, clutching an ice pick that doesn't seem regulation size to me, and positions it over the sleeping Hernandez's neck. Tension-building music plays. We see Hernandez twitching his gargantuan forehead in his sleep while he dreams of chasing cars. Rebadow strikes, sticking the pick into Raoul's neck. Hernandez sits up in horror and shock and pulls out the pick, and as blood spurts out of his neck, letting us all know that an artery has been struck, he and Bob slam against the wall of the pod, grasping each other's necks and screaming. During the struggle, Hernandez loses strength and blood, and finally, Hernandez goes still as Bob continues his screaming.
Cut to Hill saying "Blah blah blah article five, blah blah due process, blah blah b-l-a-h. We see Hernandez being zipped into a body bag while Bob sobs uncontrollably, leaving us to wonder if it's all crocodile, or if he's sincerely distressed over killing another human being. We see various inmates looking on from their pods; Morales is one of them. Cut to Arif meeting with Kareem "I" Said "I don't want the power!" Arif tells Said, "You missed all the fun." Adebesi chimes in with his thoughts that the murder only helps them in their quest to have Oz run by a black man. Now they must un-seat Murphy, and Said can help them appeal to community leaders. Adebesi then approaches Said in the gym to confront him about helping them. Said refuses, since he wouldn't choose the same leader as Adebesi. As Said lets this sink in, Adebesi then says something in another language that I cannot understand no matter how many times I hit rewind. Meanwhile, Glynn and the "community" discuss how firing McManus was good, but the fact that a "man of color" is not yet running Oz is bad. Glynn plays to them and says he was planning on hiring a black man or woman for the job all along.
Cut to the wake-up siren, and Hill yelling at Mobay (God, we missed you, Mobay! No, actually, I don't think we did) for moving his wheelchair when he went potty in the middle of the night. They argue about it, an argument which consists of Mobay apologizing while Hill laments. They finally shut up in time for Mobay to get a signal from Poet indicating that the "powers that be" are willing to meet with him about selling him drugs. He walks in to Glynn's office and hands him his speech. Then he informs Glynn of the new development with the drug lords of Oz and tells him that he should cut his speech by half. ( Heh. Not.) Glynn tells him to be careful, since Mobay wouldn't have thought to be all on his own. We cut to Mobay meeting with Adebesi, Morales, Chucky, and various other inmates I don't know. They inform Mobay that they've seen him buy product, but they need to see it "go up his nose." Mobay, left with no other choice, snorts the drugs that they've laid neatly out on the ground for him, and we can tell it's going to have a bad effect. Afterwards, he lurches into his pod, sick, while Hill informs him helpfully that he needs some help. Then we hear an unseen officer yell, "Shakedown!" Which means everyone has to line up outside their pods while dogs sniff around their belongings. Cue Hill babbling. We'll just skip that part. Cut back to the dogs finding drugs in Mobay's mattress. They at first seem to assume the stuff belongs to Hill, but Mobay tells them the drugs are his. "To the hole!" Solitary. Mobay. Naked. Yeah. Glynn enters and asks if he's okay. Mobay tells him that he's fine as he lies on the cold, hard floor of solitary (naked. Yeah) while he gets sick from the drugs that are churning through his virgin crime-fighting system, and that it is a "momentary setback."
Cut to Said and Arif in the lunch room. Arif tells Said that he forbids him to help Jason, the gay man in the "boy" shirt, with his mistrial. Said tells him that while he will not challenge him over leadership, he "will not subjugate his actions to [Arif's] will." Cut to Said with Jason, also known as Boy, explaining that since a member of the jury at his trial made anti-gay remarks, he could possibly get a new trial. Beecher walks up to tell Said that he heard on the news that they won their lawsuit against the state. Ryan jumps up from nowhere looking all hot and bothered, exclaiming, "What!" Beecher continues to say that the jury decided the state was responsible for the deaths after the riot. Ryan slaps Beecher five and says, "Sex is on me!" I mean, he says, "Yes!"
Hey, Said is getting a visit from Tricia. She tells him that she's moving to California, and that before she leaves, she would like to hear him tell her he loves her, even though she understands they can never be together. She says sadly, "Please, just this once, say it. Tell me you love me." Said stoically says, "No; this will make your leaving easier -- on the both of us." He gets up to leave, looking as if he will be sick, while she lets a lone tear roll down her face. Trish, looking like she needs a hug, watches him go and weeps. Cut to Said in the courtroom, as the case involving the homophobic juror vs. Jason the Boy begins. We see Said summarize the reasons for contesting the fairness of the trial, and how Mr. Christopher Jacobs made defamatory statements to the other members of the jury. As he questions Christopher, we see that it's an open and shut mistrial. Thanks, Said! We then hear the judge grant Boy his motion for a new trial. Cut to Hill, go away from Hill. During his babble, we see the gay population congratulating Boy on his success while Arif and his merry band of Muslims give Said terminal stink-eye.
We now hear the death-row crew talking. The randy fellow across from Shirley is explaining how he suffocated Antonio Nappa at the request of Chucky Pancamo. Shirley drawls, "That took bawls." Did I mention that Shirley rocks? 'Cause she does. Anyway, after hearing the guard say "lights out," we see him enter Shirley's cell; while her neighbors watch, they begin making shadow puppets behind her convenient curtain. Going back to the TV room, where Ryan happens to be hanging out, we hear them discussing how Shirley's ex-husband went "born-again" after she drowned their daughter.
Cut to said ex-husband entering the room where Shirley sits, waiting for him. They greet each other with the uncomfortable frosty distance that only ex-spouses can summon up. She says, "Zeke, you're looking too skinny. That new wife not feedin' you?" Zeke replies with all the passion that an Eeyore can muster, "Patsy's a singer, she don't have time to cook." "A singer?" Shirley repeats brightly. Zeke stupidly replies, "She's a chanteuse." Shirley asks if she's pregnant yet, to which Zeke responds that she isn't and he isn't ready. Shirley: "She afraid what it might do to her figure? Gonna ruin that chanteusan [sic] career?" Then Shirley cuts to the chase. She begs Zeke to bury her body in an unmarked grave. She says with an uncharacteristic look of fear that she just wants to float in oblivion. Zeke tells her it's wrong. Shirley reminds him that in all the years they were married he never did anything she asked, and to please do this. He refuses. He says he forgives her. Shirley regards him with the cold stare a snake gets before it strikes. Incredulously, she says, "You forgive me? What makes you think I want your fuckin' forgiveness?" Zeke says it took him a lot of time, but finally, with the help of the reverend, he found forgiveness for her. Zeke looks like a bomb fixing to blow. Shirley drops a bomb of her own on him: "Zeke, I don't feel guilty. I did what I had to do and at least my balls were big enough." Then she says in an eerie matter-of-fact tone, "You and the chanteuse should just go ahead and have that child because when Katie died, she wasn't yours -- your father raped me. That child was his seed." D'oh! Zeke hauls off and hits her hard across the table, knocking her to the ground. While a guard rushes in to restrain Zeke, Shirley slowly spits out a bloody tooth and holds it up for Zeke to see, then says, "I'm gonna put this under my pillow tonight and wait for the tooth fairy to come." God, I love her! Anyway, the guard pulls Zeke out of the room.
Ryan is using Nikolai's cell phone to make a mysterious call. He says into the phone, "Yeah, I need it by Friday, I'm dead serious." Nikolai comes in to collect his fee. Ryan proposes that Nikolai stop charging him to use the phone so he won't turn him in for having a phone. Cut to Ryan in Murphy's office, trying to start trouble by bringing up Galino's death and pointing out to Murphy that Galino was only there a week and Ryan never saw him use drugs. Then we see Stanislofsky in Sister Pete's office, trying to paint Ryan as unstable. Like, duh! Ryan is unstable for sure, but he's damn cute. Then back to Ryan telling Adebesi that Nikolai had approached Ryan about making a move against Adebesi. Back to Nikolai telling Hoyt that he heard that Ryan knows they killed Galino. Stanislofsky wants to get rid of Ryan, but Hoyt says to wait, that they'll be "right back in lockdown if we pop Ryan now." Nikolai insists, causing Hoyt to snap, "All of the sudden you don't understand English? We wait!"
Cut to Ryan on the cell phone again saying "tomorrow is great," and then we see Ryan and Cyril in the shower getting ready to meet with Dr. Gloria and the parents of her dead husband. Ryan tells Cyril to wash behind his ears while Cyril spits water in the air. Cyril is wearing a shower cap and seems to be doing his best impression of a mentally challenged adult. Wait...I'm sorry, Scott Winters's acting actually sucks rocks. My mistake. He blah blahs to Ryan about how no one can see behind his ears so why should he wash them, and Ryan reminds him of the importance of being clean before meeting with the wife and parents of the nice man he killed for his brother. We go to the room where Gloria and the parents wait. Gloria is pacing around in a blue sweat suit while the parents discuss how anxious they are. Gloria crouches down between them and says in an almost hopeful voice, "We can still cancel, you know." The dad tells her he can't understand how she can still work there.
Here comes Ryan with Sister Pete, who confronts him about hurting his hand on purpose and warns him that if he is going in there to profess his love for Gloria then she will pull him right out. Sister Pete introduces the brothers to Lars and Patricia Nathan. Patricia shrieks and quails when Cyril attempts to shake her hand. Lars says with a catch in his voice, "When a child dies of a disease, in war or gets hit by a bus, somehow you can convince yourself his death makes sense." Lars begins to lose his composure and becomes more upset. "But this...this was so premeditated. So cold-blooded." Cyril begins to wail, and I'll spare you the details, because if I have to rewind it and watch Scott Winters butchering this scene again, I may develop a twitch. He howls that he did it from behind so he couldn't see Preston's eyes, that if he saw Preston's eyes, he couldn't have killed him, and he sobs. God! Shut up, Scott! ["Really, he's verging into The Other Sister territory here." -- Sars] Patricia sadly talks of the children that Gloria and her son were almost ready to have. Ryan gets all pissy and says that she can't blame Cyril for not having grandchildren, because the marriage between Gloria and her husband was over anyway. Then Ryan tells Preston's parents about the affair Gloria had with McManus. All emotional hell breaks loose. Gloria snarls, "This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Ryan yells that he loves Gloria and he always will. As Preston's parents look on, nonplused, Gloria tells him that everything he's ever done in his life, he's done for himself. She walks out of the room. Cyril gets up and leaves too. Ryan follows.
We see Ryan on the cell phone saying that "it has to be done tonight." He hangs up, and when he's back in his pod, he looks at a newspaper clipping of Dr. Gloria. Cut to the day, as Ryan approaches a table where Hill and Beecher sit. They ask if he heard the news. Too casually: "What news?" Beecher tells him that Gloria was raped last night. Oooooh. Ryan is a bastard. Ryan's response to this news is an indifferent expression. We see him in group with Sister Pete. Ryan says, "It sucks what happened to Gloria." When Sister agrees, Beecher breaks in with, "Have you heard anymore about Chris?" Jeez, Beecher, grow some backbone, will ya? Poet, while drawing on a pad, says rumor is that Keller will be back today. Then he recites a bad poem. Again, I shall spare you. We now see Keller lying in his hospital bed with a big bandage on his right shoulder. Father Mukada approaches Keller. Keller, with a serene and weird-ass look on his face, asks Mukada about Sister Pete, and we see a flashback of Keller in her office leering and trying to molest her. He asks Mukada to help him in seeking her forgiveness. Mukada is suspicious. Keller tells him he just wants to make it up to Sister Pete. He then asks Mukada to ask Pete to visit him.
Later, we see Mukada asking Pete if she would be willing to do this, and she flatly refuses. Mukada tries to convince her, but Sista ain't budging. Pete then asks Beecher, who is sitting in the room working, to take a folder to the doctor. Beecher delivers it and sneaks in to see Keller. Keller looks at him from the bed and again, with a serene and creepy look, says "hi" softly. Beecher says "hi" and goggles at Keller, and Claire starts in on Beecher -- why the hell is he there? She makes fun of the moment they just had and twirls her moustache with wicked glee. Keller regards her with a beatific smile.
Cut to the library, where some inmate with red hair asks to give Schilinger some information. Schilinger allows him to sit. In return, the inmate wants Schilinger to retrieve his watch from the inmate who stole it. Then he tells Schilinger that Beecher was behind reuniting Schilinger with his son. Schilinger's face totally changes to stone and he gets up to leave. His crony asks him what he plans to do, and Schilinger says, "Take the offensive." We cut to Schilinger with his son, Hank. Schilinger explains, "If I was ever hard on you growing up, it's because I had to be." Hank tells him he doesn't blame him and he understands. Schilinger tells him he has a mission for him. Hank asks how much he'll be paid. Schilinger offers one thousand dollars. Uh oh.
Beecher's playing basketball, and he's called into Glynn's office, where Sister Pete, Mukada, and Glynn are waiting for him. Pete says, "Tobias, there is no easy way to say this." Beecher breaks in, "Well then, say it!" Sister Pete continues gravely, "Your son and daughter have been kidnapped." Whew! I knew it would be bad but damn! I said damn! I thought this was a good episode and all, but I am tuckered out from all the storylines. Stay tuned for week's episode, when we witness Beecher losing it and rocking back and forth in a pool of his own sick.