Martin Querns
Encyclopedia
Warden Martin Querns is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz
, played by Reg E. Cathey
.
prison unit manager who has a vast experience of handling various prison units. He is hired by Warden Leo Glynn
after he is asked to find a competent black unit manager to replace Tim McManus
. He is also a former drug dealer who would be in the same cells as several of the Homeboys had he been caught. In his experience controlling prisons, maintaining order is the top priority. He has also believed that drugged out prisoners were preferable as they became too weak to cause any discipline problems. As a result, he empowers the drug dealing heads of Em City, especially Simon Adebisi
, to maintain order in exchange for doing and selling all the drugs they wish, as well as preventing all violence within Em City. Kareem Said
, a militant Muslim
inmate whom Querns despises and sees as a threat to prison officials, tells McManus what he's up to, and they collaborate to get videotapes of the drugs to get him to resign. Querns is promoted to warden at the second main prison, Lardner , which he manages until he gets rehired at Oz as the warden after the former warden, Leo Glynn is killed.
and Enrique Morales
, who head the Italian and Latino inmates, respectively. While Querns comes to an understanding with the gangster Black inmates, he does not like the militant Muslims, particularly their former leader, Kareem Said.
Querns announces that there will be a system of three trustee
s who will maintain order within Em City. He names Adebisi, Pancamo, and Morales, currying favor with inmates and drawing suspicion from head CO Sean Murphy
. He then transfers out eight prisoners he thinks are potential discipline problems. The inmates are all either members of the Aryan Brotherhood
or Bikers — white inmates who hate blacks — so the racial tension is reduced. Murphy calls Querns crazy for allowing the "three worst motherfuckers in this place" to be trustees and creating inequality by getting the most visible white inmates kicked out of Em City. Querns then transfers Murphy out as the head CO and replaces him with a black CO named Travis Smith
. All the inmates who come into Em City are handpicked by Adebisi and Querns, who tells Warden Glynn that several COs are too supportive of Sean Murphy and McManus, and need to be exchanged as well. However, all of the new COs and inmates are Black and Glynn then assigns one white CO named Claire Howell
, a sadist
who hates Tim McManus, to work in Em City as well.
In the meantime, Querns is investigating some previous acts of violence to make sure it stops. He talks to Ryan O'Reily
and Nikolai Stanislofsky
, who are suspects in the murder of an inmate who had a smuggled cell phone. Stanislofsky opens up after Querns gets harsh in the investigation, and is granted a stay in protective custody. Querns ends up liking Stanislofsky enough to tell O'Reily that whatever happens to him will be his fault when he returns from Protective Custody. O'Reily then has Howell kill Stanislofsky in the hospital so that it can't be traced back to him. Meanwhile, the Muslims are angered that Adebisi and his followers are allowed to use drugs and commit sodomy
without punishment. Em City has become overwhelmingly black. Then the Italian and Latino inmates become angry because Adebisi cheated them out of the drug business. They are transferred out and Adibisi names Supreme Allah
and Poet, two of Adebisi's key enforcers, as the new trustees. Vern Schillinger, the head of the Aryans, tells McManus that Em City is out of control and could corrupt Unit B. McManus is sickened by Schillinger's suggestion to create an all-white unit but is even more sickened by the behavior in Em City. Querns is unmoved, however, as long as there is no violence in the prison. McManus almost quits before Kareem Said approaches him with a plan to stop Adebisi and Querns.
Glynn has been running for lieutenant governor, but stopped after James Devlin
is nearly assassinated by former CO Clayton Hughes
. As a result, he has not been focused on Em City and has not seen what has happened. Things get complicated for Querns when O'Reily and his erstwhile partner-in-crime Chris Keller
kill inmate Nate Shemin to get Querns fired and return the prison to "normal." They then kill Mondo Browne
in the cafeteria, a move that angers Querns, as one of Adebisi's followers is now dead. Homeboy and trustee Supreme Allah is framed for the murders and Querns allows Adebisi and the black COs to beat him into submission before he is sent to solitary. Querns' credibility is now at stake. Said then gets a hold of some video tapes showing Adebisi's behavior and delivers them to McManus, who shows Glynn. Querns is forced to resign. Angered, Adebisi tries to kill Said, but Said kills Adebisi in self defense.
Querns later throws up as he watches Cyril O'Reily
die in the electric chair
. Tobias Beecher
then kills Vernon Schillinger
in the prison production of Macbeth
with a knife that was supposed to be a prop. Querns and prison psychiatrist
Sister Peter Marie
conclude it was an accidental death. The Aryan Brotherhood on staff in the mailroom opens a package with an unknown substance that kills everyone there. As a result, Warden Querns evacuates the entire prison.
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
, played by Reg E. Cathey
Reg E. Cathey
Reginald "Reg" E. Cathey is an American stage, film and television actor.Cathey is a native of Huntsville, Alabama and a graduate of J.O. Johnson High School. He spent his childhood in West Germany. His favourite band is Blur....
.
Character overview
He is an African AmericanAfrican American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
prison unit manager who has a vast experience of handling various prison units. He is hired by Warden Leo Glynn
Warden Leo Glynn
Leo Glynn is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz. He is the warden of the Oswald state correctional facility-Character overview:...
after he is asked to find a competent black unit manager to replace Tim McManus
Tim McManus
Tim McManus is a fictional character on HBO's prison drama Oz, played by Terry Kinney.-Character overview:McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as...
. He is also a former drug dealer who would be in the same cells as several of the Homeboys had he been caught. In his experience controlling prisons, maintaining order is the top priority. He has also believed that drugged out prisoners were preferable as they became too weak to cause any discipline problems. As a result, he empowers the drug dealing heads of Em City, especially Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz, set in an experimental prison unit.-Character overview:Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree...
, to maintain order in exchange for doing and selling all the drugs they wish, as well as preventing all violence within Em City. Kareem Said
Kareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
, a militant Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
inmate whom Querns despises and sees as a threat to prison officials, tells McManus what he's up to, and they collaborate to get videotapes of the drugs to get him to resign. Querns is promoted to warden at the second main prison, Lardner , which he manages until he gets rehired at Oz as the warden after the former warden, Leo Glynn is killed.
Season 4 Part I
Querns comes to Oz and is told he may handle Em City any way he wishes, as long as the racial tension and violence are eliminated. In Em City, he tells the inmates, "like most of you, I come from the streets. I'm not some candy-ass white liberal looking to turn you into better citizens....don't fuck with Querns." He first meets with Adebisi, as he is one of the leading prisoners in the drug trade. He tells Adebisi how he worked for a drug dealer named Slim Sam Colby as a teenager, until Slim Sam died at the hands of a competitor. Querns tells Adebisi that he knows how to deal drugs better than any of them since he never was caught. He says he will allow Adebisi and other drug dealers to do whatever they wish as long as there is no violence in Em City. Adebisi accepts, as do his partners, Chucky PancamoChucky Pancamo
Charles "Chucky The Enforcer" Pancamo is a fictional character, played by Chuck Zito, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97P468. Convicted June 4, 1997 - Second degree murder. Sentence: 35 years, eligible for parole in 15....
and Enrique Morales
Enrique Morales
Enrique Morales is a fictional character played by NYPD officer turned actor David Zayas on the HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #00M871. Convicted April 6, 2000 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 25 years, up for parole in 15....
, who head the Italian and Latino inmates, respectively. While Querns comes to an understanding with the gangster Black inmates, he does not like the militant Muslims, particularly their former leader, Kareem Said.
Querns announces that there will be a system of three trustee
Trustee
Trustee is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, can refer to any person who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the benefit of another...
s who will maintain order within Em City. He names Adebisi, Pancamo, and Morales, currying favor with inmates and drawing suspicion from head CO Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy (Oz)
Sean Murphy is an Irish American Correctional Officer on the HBO drama Oz, played by Robert Clohessy. A fair and honest officer, Murphy is handpicked by Tim McManus to act as the head CO of Emerald City as he and McManus are lifelong friends...
. He then transfers out eight prisoners he thinks are potential discipline problems. The inmates are all either members of the Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood in Oz
The Aryan Brotherhood in the TV series Oz is a gang of white supremacist inmates led by Vernon Schillinger.-Overview:The Aryans of Oz are a loosely organized gang of white supremacist inmates. As a minority, the Caucasian-American prisoners of the gang mostly come from criminal backgrounds already...
or Bikers — white inmates who hate blacks — so the racial tension is reduced. Murphy calls Querns crazy for allowing the "three worst motherfuckers in this place" to be trustees and creating inequality by getting the most visible white inmates kicked out of Em City. Querns then transfers Murphy out as the head CO and replaces him with a black CO named Travis Smith
Travis Smith (Oz)
Travis Smith is one of the correctional officers on the HBO drama Oz, played by Jerome Preston Bates.Smith first appears as the Head CO of Emerald City under the management of Martin Querns. Querns and Smith both work together with inmate Simon Adebisi to build a virtually all-Black correctional...
. All the inmates who come into Em City are handpicked by Adebisi and Querns, who tells Warden Glynn that several COs are too supportive of Sean Murphy and McManus, and need to be exchanged as well. However, all of the new COs and inmates are Black and Glynn then assigns one white CO named Claire Howell
Claire Howell
Claire Howell is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz portrayed by Kristin Rohde.-Character overview:A sexual predator serving as a guard in the eponymous prison, she preys on all the men in her orbit, prisoners and guards alike, as human sex toys who exist for her to dominate...
, a sadist
Sadism and masochism
Sadomasochism broadly refers to the receiving of pleasure—often sexual—from acts involving the infliction or reception of pain or humiliation. The name originates from two authors on the subject, Marquis de Sade and Leopold von Sacher-Masoch...
who hates Tim McManus, to work in Em City as well.
In the meantime, Querns is investigating some previous acts of violence to make sure it stops. He talks to Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily is a main character in the television series Oz. He was portrayed by Dean Winters from 1997 to 2003.-Character overview:Prisoner #97P904. Convicted July 12, 1997 - Two counts of vehicular manslaughter, five counts of reckless endangerment, possession of a controlled substance,...
and Nikolai Stanislofsky
Nikolai Stanislofsky
Nikolai Petrovich Stanislofsky was a prisoner character played by Philip Casnoff on HBO's Oz in Season 3 and 4.-Character overview:Prisoner 99S233. Convicted February 14, 1999 - Possession of stolen goods with intent to sell. Sentence: 15 years, up for parole in five.-Season 3:Nikolai was a...
, who are suspects in the murder of an inmate who had a smuggled cell phone. Stanislofsky opens up after Querns gets harsh in the investigation, and is granted a stay in protective custody. Querns ends up liking Stanislofsky enough to tell O'Reily that whatever happens to him will be his fault when he returns from Protective Custody. O'Reily then has Howell kill Stanislofsky in the hospital so that it can't be traced back to him. Meanwhile, the Muslims are angered that Adebisi and his followers are allowed to use drugs and commit sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
without punishment. Em City has become overwhelmingly black. Then the Italian and Latino inmates become angry because Adebisi cheated them out of the drug business. They are transferred out and Adibisi names Supreme Allah
Supreme Allah
Supreme Allah is a fictional character of the HBO drama Oz. He is portrayed by Lord Jamar of hip hop group Brand Nubian.-Character overview:Prisoner #00K251. Convicted March 22, 2000 - Second degree murder...
and Poet, two of Adebisi's key enforcers, as the new trustees. Vern Schillinger, the head of the Aryans, tells McManus that Em City is out of control and could corrupt Unit B. McManus is sickened by Schillinger's suggestion to create an all-white unit but is even more sickened by the behavior in Em City. Querns is unmoved, however, as long as there is no violence in the prison. McManus almost quits before Kareem Said approaches him with a plan to stop Adebisi and Querns.
Glynn has been running for lieutenant governor, but stopped after James Devlin
Governor James Devlin
Governor James Devlin is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Željko Ivanek.-Character overview:Devlin, the governor of the state, is hated by most of the inmates and some of the staff members at the Oswald State Correctional facilities as he proposes several anti-prisoner acts of...
is nearly assassinated by former CO Clayton Hughes
Clayton Hughes
Clayton Hughes is a character played by Seth Gilliam on the HBO dramatic series Oz, which takes place in an experimental prison unit.He started out as a corrections officer. Warden Glynn did not want Clayton to work in Oz. The main reason was that Clayton's father, Samuel Hughes, was murdered in Oz...
. As a result, he has not been focused on Em City and has not seen what has happened. Things get complicated for Querns when O'Reily and his erstwhile partner-in-crime Chris Keller
Chris Keller
Chris Keller is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz, portrayed by Christopher Meloni from 1998 to 2003.-Character overview:Prisoner ID 98K514. Convicted June 16, 1998 - felony murder, two counts of attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, driving under the influence and...
kill inmate Nate Shemin to get Querns fired and return the prison to "normal." They then kill Mondo Browne
Mondo Browne
Raymond "Mondo" Browne, played by Gano Grills, is a fictional character on the HBO TV series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #00B563. Convicted April 10, 2000 - First degree murder...
in the cafeteria, a move that angers Querns, as one of Adebisi's followers is now dead. Homeboy and trustee Supreme Allah is framed for the murders and Querns allows Adebisi and the black COs to beat him into submission before he is sent to solitary. Querns' credibility is now at stake. Said then gets a hold of some video tapes showing Adebisi's behavior and delivers them to McManus, who shows Glynn. Querns is forced to resign. Angered, Adebisi tries to kill Said, but Said kills Adebisi in self defense.
Season 4 Part II
A television crew investigates Adebisi's death, and Querns urges Glynn to destroy Adebisi's tapes so that what went on will not be exposed. Glynn agrees with Querns and destroys the tapes. Querns' efficiency has got him another job as a warden of Lardner, the second main prison in the state. Glynn opposes it unsuccessfully. At the warden's conference, Querns tells Glynn that Clayton Hughes is not doing well at Lardner. Querns says that all the prisoners hate him because he used to be a CO, all the COs hate him for turning on them, and that he will most likely die within the year. Glynn is the closest thing Hughes has had to a father since his own died in 1982, so he wants him in Oz where Hughes can be protected. The transfer is made and Hughes is sent to Oz.Season 6
After Glynn is murdered, Governor Devlin appoints Querns as the new Warden of Oz. Querns is asked to fire McManus, but gives him a month's notice as Devlin has limited days as Governor. As warden, he installs a special chair in the hole that the prisoners will be sent to if they disobey him. Querns tells the convicts to once again, heed the warning: "Don't fuck with Querns."Querns later throws up as he watches Cyril O'Reily
Cyril O'Reily
Cyril O'Reily is a fictional character, played by American actor Scott William Winters, on the HBO drama Oz. He is also mentioned in the companion book , p. 58.-Character overview:...
die in the electric chair
Electric chair
Execution by electrocution, usually performed using an electric chair, is an execution method originating in the United States in which the condemned person is strapped to a specially built wooden chair and electrocuted through electrodes placed on the body...
. Tobias Beecher
Tobias Beecher
Tobias Beecher is a main character on the television show Oz, played by Lee Tergesen. He is one of only eight regular characters to survive the entire run of the show...
then kills Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...
in the prison production of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
with a knife that was supposed to be a prop. Querns and prison psychiatrist
Psychiatrist
A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
Sister Peter Marie
Sister Peter Marie
Sister Peter Marie Reimondo aka Sister Pete is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz played by Rita Moreno.right|thumb|Rita Moreno as Sister Peter Marie.-Creation:...
conclude it was an accidental death. The Aryan Brotherhood on staff in the mailroom opens a package with an unknown substance that kills everyone there. As a result, Warden Querns evacuates the entire prison.