Oz: Season 5

Oz is one of the best series that has ever been produced for the small screen. The problem isn't the show itself but Amazon Prime's COMPLETELY TERRIBLE SERVICE FOR STREAMING DEVICES. I have been watching the series on my Roku since I don't have it on DVD beyond season 3. I thought it was bad watching an old DVD in 4:3 format without HD quality. Try that type of quality and then it stops every 30 seconds. Last night I attempted to watch an episode and it took 30 minutes to get through the last ten minutes of content. Yup, I'm that kind of a masochist when I want to see "how it ends." Thus, if you can purchase the series, I would highly recommend it. If you can't, be prepared to have another device ready to keep you entertained while the infamous "loading" screen. Heck, this reminds me of back in the day with Real Networks and their constant "buffering" screen. Yup, I'm dating myself with that reference.As for the series itself, it doesn't get much better than this. Before the Sopranos, Orange is The Black, and House of Cards, there was Oz. The character development and plot lines that take place throughout the series are more complex than many series that are being produced today. You never know who is going to live or die. What I enjoy most about the story telling is that the creator gets you to sympathize with some horrible characters. You feel sympathy for the brutal gang-land murderer instead of wishing him to get shanked in the shower. Conversely, the guy who doesn't seem all that bad makes terrible choices and your frustration mounts at his behavior. There isn't any outright good or evil in Oz: it's all about survival on the inside.On a side note, veterans of other television series will enjoy seeing characters from Special Victims Unit, Dexter and others appear from time to time. Cameos happen from L L Cool J and other Hip Hop names. Two actors went on to appear in insurance commercials for AllState and Farmers. To this day I have a hard time watching the Farmer's Insurance commercials since the lead was such a nefarious character on Oz. I keep expecting him to murder one of the cheerful homeowners he is attempting to educate about their coverage :).Oz is also VERY Shakespearean. A mostly male cast where themes of unrequited love, treachery, and murder abound puts it up there with the likes of Othello and Romeo and Juliet.Last point of interest about the series: The first four seasons were filmed at the current location of The Chelsea Market in NYC. That's something to consider the next time you're shopping for kitchen supplies on the first floor.

Being a long time Oz fan, the release of the series on DVD is a God send and true to memory it doesnt disappoint! The 5th series offers the usual mix of high drama, ultra violence , plot twists and the occasional moments of comedy to 'lighten' the mood, as much as can be expected from Oz anyway...The fifth season opens with a brand new cafeteria and a redecorated Em City due to the fire from the climax of season 4, but while its a different look, everyone else is most definitely the same.. as usual each episode is divided into several different story arcs that generally tie into the theme of that particular show, still narrated by the excellent Hill (Harold Perrineau).The mood of season 5 is a lot more reflective and introverted than previous seasons, as all the major characters actions from seasons past begin to catch up with them all to a degree and each person begins to come to terms with their doings and the consequences of those actions, leading to some quite emotional scenes between our heroes/villains...As usual, the main players take centre stage, everyones favorite, Beecher (Lee Tergesen) struggles with his sense of morality especially over the returning Keller (Chris Meloni), and later on in the season in a complete turnabout sacrifices a young inmate to Schillinger (the fantastic J.K. Simmons)and the brotherhood just so he can see Keller, this however leads to an even bigger crisis of conflict which culminates in Schillinger being locked up indefinitely... Said (Eamonn Walker)also continues his struggle with his demons and in attempt to redeem his soul is given White (Played brilliantly by Michael Wright) to rehabilitate by McManus (Terry Kinney) which climaxes in White making a decision in good faith which ends him back in solitary...the other major character is of course the insufferable Ryan O'Reilly (Dean Winters), i have a real dislike of Ryan and im not sure whether its the character or the actor that im not keen on however it just doesnt work for me as i cant believe in 6 years he lasted without getting at least stabbed!! Anyway, the main story is his mentally challenged brother Cyril (Scott Winters) trial for murder, the big focus of course is he's brain damaged and not culpable for his actions, the season follows the attempts of Ryan, alongside his mother Suzanne (Betty Lynn Buckley), Sister Pete (Rita Moreno) and later on new inmate Father Meehan (Malahy McCourt) to quash the conviction or at least the death penalty sentence handed down to him...Other notable occurances during the 5th season, the miraculous survival from season 4 of Rev. Cloutier (Luke Perry) who then in a really daft sequence 'appears' as a vision to those who entombed him and encourages them to avenge him, and then completely disappears from hospital with no explanation or investigation at all ( I'm sorry to blow what happens before anyone sees it but it REALLY annoyed me )... Alvarez (Kirk Acevedo) manages to stay on the straight and narrow and even aids the officer he blinded back in season 2 culminating in an attempt at parole...Rebadow (George Morfogen) searches desperately for a cure for his dying grandson and is dealt a crippling blow when it appears he may have a chance,not once but twice... Hill (Harold Perrineau) begins a downward spiral after a family tragedy that may see him slide irreperably...These are, of course just some of the happenings in season 5, as per usual it has so many twists and turns involving characters i could be here all day! The feeling i had when viewing season 5 was that the end was close, as the major characters all began to reflect and become or at least attempt to (This is Oz remember!) become better people, and the writers were already preparing to tie things up.. As a result the body count is i believe the lowest out of all 6 seasons and violence whilst still prevalent is also used sparingly which to a degree is a refreshing change of pace compared to the previous seasons... Standout episode for me was episode 6 'Variety' purely because we get to see Beecher and Schillinger sing and dance (sort of)!! Seriously though, its another quality season , and the thing that always amazes me about the writing and acting, is that even though these guys have done just about every sadistic and evil thing you can imagine, you still empathise and sympathise with them, Alvarez is a prime example of that, yet you still think 'hey he's not such a bad guy'! Now THAT'S great writing and acting...All in all, another great season however you do feel the end was nigh to a degree which makes me sad hence 4 stars!! Word of note though if you havent watched Oz before this season, go back and buy the previous seasons , purely because you need to know the characters history to truly understand their actions and attitudes in this season... Hope this was useful to somebody, definitely purchase it, cant wait til season 6...

Horrific. Disturbing. Harrowing. An absolute must see.Story? TickActing? TickPlot twist? TickCharacters? TickGood final ending.......? Tick!I will NEVER brake the law now I've watched this. IF you have troublesome teenagers.....

One of the best series that was ever made.

One of my favorite tv shows ever, it is still as good now as it was when it first came out.- Wonderful acting from nearly everyone- Great writing- Good directing- It has so much depth to it that you might not notice until you watch it a few timesThere is nothing bad you can say about this series imo, every season is good. Sure some of the earlier stuff might be a little better, but its all worth checking out imo. I wish we had a show like OZ on these days, pure television bliss.

Superbe serie. Je la suivais deja sur serie club en vo et ça ne m'a jamais dérangé au contraire. Il n'y a que les 2 premières saisons qui sont doublées en français, pour ceux qui n'aime pas lire les sous titres, car M6 a essayé de la diffuser. Mais c'était toujours aux environs de minuit-1h du mat car jugée trop violente...ok c'est violent mais je pense que du 22h30 aurait été mieux. Du coup pas d'audiences et donc ils ont laissé tombé la diffusion de cette magnifique serie. Serie club la diffusant en vo, les autres saisons n'ont donc jamais été doublées. Serie remarquable ou on s'attache vraiment à certains de ses prisonniers, alors que se sont vraiment des sales types pour être poli. On connais pratiquement tous ces acteurs pour avoir fait d'autres rôles plus connus apres cette serie. Christopher Meloni le super flic de New York unité spéciale y joue un sacré psychopathe gay.

I am very satisfied with this product