Oz - My new obsession

[herzverstreut_bu]

Just finished watching OZ season 1. Am completely sold. :X I'm trying to put my thoughts down, but it's sort of difficult. There is so much happening in this show, but then again there's not that much of a real plot, so there's not much I can say about the story. Since it's so heavily character-based, I'll just go with that and sort my thoughts by character. One quote from TwoP sums up my favourite thing about this show nicely, though - ok, I'm too lazy to look for the actual quote right now, but the gist was: The people on this show are ruthless criminals, and yet you can't help but love them.

And that's what I loved most: The characters are so well-rounded, it's hard to fully condemn (or fully love) anyone - be they prisoners or prison staff. There's a lot on this show that isn't all that realistic, in my opinion, but the way the characters behave, the whole psychological aspect, it all makes sense. And it makes you think over your own ideas and morals, and that's awesome. It touches me, and that's exactly what I need in a show - I don't mind plotholes, I don't mind a lack of realism, as long as it "speaks to me". And Oz does that so very much. :X

(That, and my inner butch guy is highly entertained by the gratuitous violence and half-naked guys.)

Ok, now for the characters:

Groves

- Totally was my favourite and I can't believe they killed him off just like that. *sadface* It's not something you should say about a cannibal killer, but he was so adorable and totally owned every scene he was in. I'll miss his strangely sane brand of insanity, and the buddy-ness with Alvarez (That scene where he gave him the LSD? aJDSHFJKSFHJKASFHJKSF. Is all I can say.) and Rebadow and the priest. When he started crying when Dead Hack's Mom talked to him, I lost it. :((

Alvarez

- I just want to cuddle him and feed him chicken soup, poor guy. He's (predictably) the character I feel the strongest connection with - I've just got a thing for the emo guys. :| It's tragic how he's such a good person at heart, but can't overcome either his insecurities or his upbringing. Plus, he's pretty. Is it very wrong that I might want to slash him with either Groves or the priest?

O'Reilly

- Another person that I feel really bad about loving, but totally adore nonetheless. I mean, he's violent, scheming, cruel, gets people hooked on drugs, doesn't do anything if there's no profit for him, ... But he's so damn HOT doing it. *g* And then he has these moments where he's just nice, and you think maybe he can redeem himself (which I don't want him to, actually).

Adebisi

- Rocks. Just - completely ROCKS. And once again, I can't believe I'm saying this. But his whole way of moving, talking, acting, dressing, it just comes together to form this psychotic piece of awesome. He blew SOAP BUBBLES, people. I can't even explain it properly. And him teaming up with O'Reilly was the cherry on the awesomecakes. (Since those two and Alvarez are currently battling it out for my favourite character.)

Said

- He's another one I shouldn't like, because I'm very much against fanatics of either persuasion. Yet I can't help but admire his vision and his way of dealing with things - and he does have some good points. He shows that you don't need to be violent or even particularly flashy to be badass.

Beecher

- Is the one I'm most confused about right now. There are moments when he's awesome, but this swing from one extreme to the other completely threw me off, and I'm not yet sure if I like self-hating!prison-bitch!Beecher or psycho!violent!Beecher better, or maybe if I like neither. He's extremely interesting from a psychological point of view, but most of the time he makes me cringe for one reason or another.

The-Priest-Whose-Name-I-Always-Forget

- My favourite secondary character. Not much to say about him, but I love his real compassion and his strength in dealing with some tough tasks.

Schillinger

- Another tough case I hate him for what he did to Beecher (and for being a stupid nazi), I have a bit of pity for him because he thinks he's doing the right thinks (in regards to his sons, for example) and it all just cancels itself out to relative indifference.

McManus

- Has gotten better in the last couple of episodes, but continues to get on my nerves. I do understand that he has a vision, and that he doesn't have the easiest of times making it come true, but he's more naive than can be forgiven. And a coward - which would be ok if he didn't like to play tough guy so much.

Hill

- I quite like him when he's interacting with other characters, he's a nice guy with a lot of insecurities, but some good ideas of what's right and wrong. As a narrator I still want to gag him 90% of the time.

Other characters

I like/d: Sister Pete, the warden, Keane, Gloria (that's the nurse's name, right?)

Other characters I can't stand: Ross, Wangler, Healy, that politician guy, the basketball guy.

Other characters I'm indifferent about: Schibetta, Diane, Rebadow. Anyone I have forgotten at this point.

If you want to know my opinion on specific episodes, you might as well read the TwoP recaps, because for once I agree with Couch Baron almost word for word.

Anyone got fic or icon recs? I mean, it's almost 10 years since the first season aired, but there still is some sort of fandom, right? Hello there, new obsession!

ETA:

Please ignore the grammar and spelling of this entry. I need sleep.

Comments

[skylar-muc.livejournal.com]

Aw, just reading that makes me want to get out the DVDs again. Glad you like it! the show takes some time to get into, I think, and you have to be open to the concept of character studies, as opposed to purely plot driven shows, but once you're hooked you never want to let go. I floved Groves, too... and my darling Miguel... aww... he's just such a puppy.
Ryan O'Reilly = King of Awesome, and the true Wizard of Oz. The scheming doesn't stop, ever, and I love him for it.
(the priests name is Mukada, btw :D)

Now you need to watch season 2 for the Chris Keller Experience. I'm sure you won't be disappointed.

[scatterheart.livejournal.com]

the show takes some time to get into
I was sold by the end of episode one, actually. :D Don't know if you caught my post on this, but for the first half hour or so I thought it was complete crack, and then suddenly it turned awesome and only got better the more the season progressed and the more you learned about the characters, and now I'm absolutely obsessed.

you have to be open to the concept of character studies, as opposed to purely plot driven shows
*nod* I actually like that it's such a character-driven show. Plot is all fine, but good characterization is so much more important.

The scheming doesn't stop, ever
That's good news! :D He's so completely brilliant.

I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
If what I've heard about him so far is any indication, I certainly won't! :D God, I'm so tempted to start with 2x01 right now. But I really need to catch some sleep.

[bitter-crimson.livejournal.com]

Adebisi is my favorite 4EVA. I also love... well, see, haha, if I list them all it'll be just that, A HUGELY LONG LIST OF NAMES, because I love so many of them.

I, also, only got into this fandom recently. (Earlier this year, when I mainlined the entire series in about 2-3 weeks.) BUT I STILL HAVE SOME RECS FOR YOU, OKAY! =D I think most of them are Beecher/Keller fics, though, so you won't have encountered Keller yet. But still, I shall provide teh recs here.

Fics:
Poison. By geneticallydead. Slight AU, Post-Series, Beecher/Keller. Basically, heh, it's the author's attempt at reworking things to create a happy ending. Which, in Oz, well. "Happy" is a relative term. XD
The Kindest Use a Knife. By oz_magi. Season Three, Keller/Beecher, Keller POV. Awww, they're so fucked-up, and I love it.
Two Truths and a Lie. By Adastra. Uh, I should know based on the fact that they're in a pod together when this is set, but, um, it's been a while since I watched the show. But either Season Three or Four, I think. Again, Beecher/Keller, and this one is quite short.

Vids:
Pretty When You Cry. By lierdumoa. Vid, All Seasons, Beecher/Keller. I looooooove this vid. Definitely my favorite of the bunch I've seen floating around.
SNL Seinfeld/Oz parody. Okay, okay, this isn't a fanvid, it's a vid clip, of which there are plenty of the Oz variety on YouTube. But this sketch is absolutely hilarious. Most of the things it references happened in Seasons One and Two, but there's at least one thing that happened in Season Three. But yeah, it makes me laugh my ass off every time.

Other Useful Things:
The B/K Bin - A webpage resource for all things Beecher/Keller.
The Men of Oz - Yay, nude screencaps! Sadly I think the site no longer exists, so I have it Wayback'd.
Some fic archive - I don't know how good it is... I think I may have looked through it a little bit, but not much.

[scatterheart.livejournal.com]

*LOVES* I'll be sure to check out all of that once I have the canon background. Which, given my current obsession, will be by the end of the week, at the latest. :)) THANK YOU!


I list them all it'll be just that, A HUGELY LONG LIST OF NAMES
SERIOUSLY!! How are they all so awesome? ♥

[thefabone.livejournal.com]

I hated Said. He was boring. Diane I liked.

And that musician guy. Next to Groves (yay!), he was my favourite in season one.

[scatterheart.livejournal.com]

I was surprised to find myself liking Said as much as I do, actually. Not his storylines so much, those really tend to be on the boring side, but as a character I find him pretty fascinating. Or found, as I'm at 2x04 now and for the last two or three episodes he has been getting terribly repetitive. *sigh*

And that musician guy.
The one who got stabbed in the riot? Now that was someone who bored me to death, though the storyline made me like Hill.

[reeface.livejournal.com]

I'm still a little shell-shocked to think it's been something like 10 years since Oz debuted. o.O Anyway...*thinks hard*... I remember being in serious love with Angel's fic way back when and was in deep mourning when she stopped writing. Her "Lockdown" series was excellent. This was before I knew about LJ, so I dunno any there. Sadly, I've forgotten any other authors. But Angel's stuff is archived over at Cellblock 5.

http://archive.nu/oz/fiction.shtml

Dude. I just checked it and while you can get to the fic lists, the actual fic pages seem down. I hope it's just a temp thing and the site didn't die while I was gone. :(

[scatterheart.livejournal.com]

I just realized that I never answered to your comment. *facepalm* Anyway - thanks for the tip! The site really seems to be down, but I found someone who archived all the fic - here (http://suespur.livejournal.com/7123.html). :)

And now I need to watch the next episode. or maybe continue my quest to find screencaps (or icons I like). It's sad how very addicted I am. :|