Oz : Conjugal Visits and Otherwise (1997)
Directed by Nick Gomez
Genres - Drama, Thriller |
Sub-Genres - Prime-Time Drama [TV], Prison Film |
Run Time - 60 min. |
Countries - United States |
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Synopsis by Josh Ralske
In this episode, directed by Nick Gomez (Laws of Gravity), Hill (Harold Perrineau), the narrator, explains that love is a four-letter word -- a curse -- in Oz. Officer Diane Wittlesey (Edie Falco of The Sopranos) takes an interest in Beecher (Lee Tergesen), who hasn't left his cell -- not even for meals -- since his Nazi cellmate, Schillinger (J.K. Simmons), made him his "prag." She convinces Beecher to see Sister Peter Marie (Rita Moreno), the prison psychiatrist, and arrange a conjugal visit with his wife. But when Beecher returns to his cell afterward, Schillinger is looking at the family photos Beecher had hidden, and threatens their safety. The prisoners stage a minor riot in the cafeteria when they hear from Warden Leo Glynn (Ernie Hudson) that, following the recommendations of Governor Devlin (Zeljko Ivanek), the prison has banned smoking. Further unrest is created when Devlin proposes eliminating conjugal visits. Hill's arrest is shown in a flashback. He shot and killed a cop and in retaliation was thrown from the roof of a building, paralyzing him from the waste down. When Father Ray Mukada (B.D. Wong) learns that Miguel Alvarez's (Kirk Acevedo) girlfriend is expecting his baby, he does everything in his power to convince Alvarez to take responsibility for the child. Meanwhile, police investigator Burrano (Skipp Sudduth) looks into the vicious killing of Dino Ortolani (Jon Seda). Nino Schibetta (Tony Musante) lets it be known that no contraband will be sold until he finds the killer. Schibetta rejects an offer from McManus (Terry Kinney) to let him visit his dying wife, in exchange for not harming the killer. Finally, Schibetta, suspecting that O'Reily (Dean Winters) was involved in Ortolani's death, has Burrano pressure O'Reily into ratting out the killer, Johnny Post (Tim McAdams), in order to protect himself.
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Keywords
prison, inmate, criminal, murder, life-of-crime, maximum-security, unrest, death-row