Ryan O'Reily
Encyclopedia
Ryan O'Reily is a main character in the television series Oz
. He was portrayed by Dean Winters
from 1997 to 2003.
violation. Sentence: Life imprisonment
, up for parole in 12 years. Convicted of murder in the first degree in 1998 and parole was extended to 40 years.
O’Reily is an Irish-American hoodlum originally sentenced to 12 years to life
for killing two people while driving under the influence of mixed drugs and alcohol, then 40 to life after confessing to a murder he had his brother, Cyril
, commit. Before he was arrested for his original crime he was running a street gang of Irish-American hoodlums called the Bridge Street Gang, with Cyril as his lieutenant/bodyguard. After his brother was permanently brain-damaged in a fight with a rival at a funeral, Ryan, blaming himself, went on a drug and alcohol-fueled rampage throughout the city.
A Machiavellian sociopath
, O'Reily survives in Oz by manipulating everyone around him, and working with the most dangerous inmates using a variety of inmate gangs to get whatever he wants; series creator Tom Fontana
has likened him to Iago
, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello
.
With all his major competition eliminated, O’Reily becomes a major player in Oz's drug
scene. He also plays a major role in feeding Tobias Beecher
's heroin addiction, being his main supplier.
Throughout the season O'Reily plays the Italians and Homeboys, but behind their backs, he often calls the Italians "dagos" and "wops", the Homeboys "niggers", and the Latinos "spics".
. He is helped through his treatment and chemotherapy
by Dr. Gloria Nathan, Oz's chief physician. O’Reily falls in love with her and is so overcome with jealousy
of her husband that he tells his mentally handicapped brother, Cyril
, to kill Dr. Nathan's husband.
Cyril is arrested and sent to Oz, but is put in a different unit from his brother. There, Cyril is rape
d by Vern Schillinger and his Aryan Brotherhood
gang. This enrages O’Reily, but he can't do anything about it. In order to protect Cyril, he asks the manager of his unit, Tim McManus
, to transfer Cyril into Em City with him. McManus agrees in return for O’Reily's admission of guilt in Preston Nathan's death, which O’Reily refuses.
Later, when a guard is blinded by Miguel Alvarez
and needs a blood transfusion
, it turns out that O’Reily is the only prisoner in Oz to match his blood type
. He uses this as leverage to secure a place for his brother in Em City with him. O’Reily then admits his guilt in Preston Nathan's murder so that he can remain in Oz to protect Cyril. McManus then informs him he will be brought up on charges for ordering the murder of Preston Nathan.
into attacking Shillinger, but Schillinger escapes unharmed. Furious, O’Reily joins forces with Tobias Beecher
and Chris Keller
, two other inmates who are looking to get even with Schillinger. When Schillinger's son Andrew comes to Em City, O’Reily tortures him when he stops selling him drugs, forcing Andrew to buy them through non-white inmates. Because Andrew has been trained as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, he can't bring himself to buy drugs from those inmates. After Andrew (having befriended and received counseling from Beecher and becoming clean from drugs) publicly embarrasses his father, Vern Schillinger, by ignoring his attempts to reconcile with him and renounces his racist beliefs, his humiliated father gives his son enough heroin to overdose when Andrew is sent to the hole as a kind of test - which he "fails" by dying.
Meanwhile, the prison administrators hire a new CO supervisor, Sean Murphy
. Murphy and O'Reily bond over the Spanish Armada myth of the Black Irish
and develop a kind of friendship. When Murphy organizes a boxing
tournament, O’Reily enters Cyril. To ensure Cyril's victory, he spikes
his opponents' water bottles with chloral hydrate
. Cyril beats James Robson in the first round. As a result, Ryan wins money in the bets and the Aryans leave Cyril alone for good. From there, Ryan then spikes Miguel Alvarez
's water and tells Alvarez's opponent, gay inmate Jason Cramer
, that the Latinos will rape his lover if he loses the fight. Alvarez loses, the Latinos look worse, and Carmen Guerra
grows suspicious of O’Reily's winning streak. In round two, Cyril must fight Italian inmate Chucky Pancamo
. O'Reily arranges the death of William Cudney
, who threatened to expose him for cheating, and spikes Pancamo's water with heroin. Cyril easily beats Pancamo.
Murphy discovers O’Reily cheating thanks to a tip from Nikolai Stanislofsky
, and tells O'Reily to stop to prevent a riot. In order to allow Cyril to keep his edge and win the final fight against Muslim
inmate Hamid Khan
, O’Reily invites their abusive
father to visit him and Cyril. Ryan then encourages Cyril to think about their father's abuse during the fight. Pushed into a rage, Cyril beats Khan into a coma
, making him brain dead
. The resulting racial tension forces Oz into a lockdown.
O'Reily also has a dispute over possession of a contraband
cell phone with Nikolai Stanislofsky
, eventually resulting in Stanislofsky's demise at the hands of Officer Claire Howell
, a CO whom he begins to have occasional sex with, though he quickly tries to put an end to it.
In Em City, white and Latino
inmates and guards are constantly being traded for black guards and inmates who support Adebisi
, so O’Reily and Keller unite to turn the tables. They murder inmates Nate Shemin and Mondo Browne
, and frame Supreme Allah
. As a result, Unit Manager Martin Querns
is fired and McManus is rehired.
that she did indeed have feelings for O'Reily, which Sister Pete encourages her to put out of her mind.
Supreme Allah is released from solitary and tells O'Reily that he knows who framed him, so O'Reily and Keller go to Burr Redding
and ask that he be eliminated. Redding then has Tug Daniels
visit and stab Supreme Allah, who was in Oz for murdering Daniels' brother.
A woman named Suzanne Fitzgerald (Betty Buckley
) comes to visit, claiming to be his birth mother. O'Reily does not believe her at first, but accepts it after his father tells him about her. His mother turns out to be a 1960s radical on the run who is looking to settle down.
Asian inmate Jia Kenmin
tells Cyril that he will teach him karate, resulting in a fight that puts Jia into a coma. The staff, remembering Hamid Khan, threaten to send Cyril to a mental institution. Meanwhile, Provisional IRA member Padraig Connolly
arrives and plans with O'Reily to blow up Em City. At the last minute, O'Reily decides that it is wrong and that many people including his brother and Dr. Nathan may be harmed, but Connolly attempts to set off the bomb early. The bomb, however, fails to detonate, and O'Reily goes unpunished since he had tried to rid Em City of the bomb.
reduces her charge to a two-year community service sentence at Oz. Inmate Li Chen
arrives shortly afterward, and Jia Kenmin plots with him to put the O’Reily brothers on death row. He pays inmate Glen Shupe
to lie to Cyril about Chen planning to rape Fitzgerald. Cyril and Ryan attack the two, and Cyril stabs and kills Chen while defending his brother, and stands trial for murder. The O’Reily family decides that Cyril is too mentally scarred to live, so they do not oppose his trial.
O’Reily, in the meantime, shares a cell with Father Daniel Meehan
, an Irish-American priest imprisoned for his part in a violent protest, who helped prison psychiatrist
Sister Peter Marie Raimondo fight for Cyril's life. After finding out that Shupe was paid to lie, O’Reily plots revenge. Picking up on the grudge between Kenmin and Enrique Morales
, O’Reily makes a deal with the Latinos. The Latinos agree to horribly injure Shupe, making sure it won't be traced back to O’Reily; in return, O’Reily agrees to murder Jia. The Latinos cut off Shupe's arm, and O’Reily provokes Kenmin into a fight where he ends up helping the guards restrain Kenmin. He convinces officer Robinson
that Kenmin talked badly of the guards and, as a result, they kill him in the solitary confinement
ward.
Motivated by O'Reily's previous bad blood with the Aryans, O’Reily and Poet announce in the cafeteria that Aryan James Robson had the gums of a black man surgically implanted, with O'Reily citing aloud that he "went to the dentist, and got himself a nice pair of dirty ghetto gums", and the whole cafeteria erupts in laughter. Robson is kicked out of the Brotherhood for his "black blood", leaving him defenseless from the other prisoners.
With Meehan's guidance, O’Reily opens up about his childhood trauma
s and, after a while, finally joins the effort to save Cyril. His brother is nevertheless sentenced to death
. O’Reily vows to be there in the appeal
process.
, the son of Nino Schibetta
(the former leader of the Italian gang, who was killed by O'Reily in the first season), is rumored to have killed him by giving him "the evil eye" in return for O'Reily having killed his father, since Schibetta had previously vowed to curse everyone O’Reily loves. O’Reily goes to Chucky Pancamo
and tells him that Schibetta plans to use the evil eye on the superstitious Pancamo as revenge for his failure to protect him from his brutal rape from Adebisi. Enraged, Pancamo and the Italians have Schibetta killed, notably removing his eye. It's throughout this season that Zelman unsuccessfully appeals Cyril's case.
Jahfree Neema
, a former Black Panther
, is sent to Oz and turns out to be connected romantically to Suzanne. He initially hates O’Reily, who tries to get Redding to murder him. Neema, however, tells O'Reily that he wants to save Cyril, and he organizes every inmate from every gang to protest the execution, resulting in a last second stay of execution and as a result, Ryan gains respect for him. O'Reily also believes God saved Cyril because of his sincere prayers on what was meant to be the night of Cyril's execution.
Meanwhile, their father, Seamus
, arrives in Oz and tries to kill Neema, but ends up in the hospital instead. Eventually, Cyril is executed despite Ryan's efforts, it's during the execution that Ryan is seen walking the maze in the gym unsupervised and visibly upset. Dr. Nathan enters the gym and kisses O'Reily passionately, which Ryan reciprocates, cultivating the years of the saga to try to finally get Dr. Nathan's love. The screen then fades to black, leaving the two.
Seamus O'Reily, while in the hospital, has come to regret how he treated his sons (with the help of a stern speech given to him by Suzanne) and asks Ryan if he can see Cyril, Ryan tells him it's too late as Cyril has already been executed, the father and son then reconnect through their grief.
Ryan O'Reily is last seen wheeling Seamus onto a bus during an attack involving a mysterious contaminate orchestrated by Keller.
In the season 4 finale "Famous Last Words", when discussing Sex and the City
, O'Reily says "I'd fuck that Sarah whatever-her-name-is, man". This is a reference to the Sex and the City episode "The Fuck Buddy", where Dean Winters played a character who was having sex with Sarah Jessica Parker
's character.
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...
. He was portrayed by Dean Winters
Dean Winters
Dean Winters is an American actor, who has portrayed Ryan O'Reily on HBO's Oz, Johnny Gavin on FX Network's Rescue Me, and Dennis Duffy on NBC's 30 Rock...
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, criminal possession of a weapon, paroleParole
Parole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole . Following its use in late-resurrected Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners giving their...
violation. Sentence: Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
, up for parole in 12 years. Convicted of murder in the first degree in 1998 and parole was extended to 40 years.
O’Reily is an Irish-American hoodlum originally sentenced to 12 years to life
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
for killing two people while driving under the influence of mixed drugs and alcohol, then 40 to life after confessing to a murder he had his brother, Cyril
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:...
, commit. Before he was arrested for his original crime he was running a street gang of Irish-American hoodlums called the Bridge Street Gang, with Cyril as his lieutenant/bodyguard. After his brother was permanently brain-damaged in a fight with a rival at a funeral, Ryan, blaming himself, went on a drug and alcohol-fueled rampage throughout the city.
A Machiavellian sociopath
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
, O'Reily survives in Oz by manipulating everyone around him, and working with the most dangerous inmates using a variety of inmate gangs to get whatever he wants; series creator Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana
Tom Fontana is an American writer and producer.-TV career:Fontana has been a writer/producer for such series as Oz , The Jury, The Beat, The Bedford Diaries, Homicide: Life on the Street, St...
has likened him to Iago
Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello . The character's source is traced to Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio's tale "Un Capitano Moro" in Gli Hecatommithi . There, the character is simply "the ensign". Iago is a soldier and Othello's ancient . He is the husband of Emilia,...
, the villain of Shakespeare's Othello
Othello
The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1603, and based on the Italian short story "Un Capitano Moro" by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio, first published in 1565...
.
Season 1
He was a cause of nearly every death in the first season of Oz:- In the pilot episode, he bribes the guards in solitary confinement to allow Johnny Post in to burn Dino OrtolaniDino OrtolaniDino Ortolani, played by Jon Seda, is a fictional character who appeared in three episodes of the HBO series Oz. Although he dies in the first episode of the series, which is more or less centered on his character, his death has a strong impact on the rest of season 1.-Character overview:Prisoner...
. He then betrayed Post to the ItalianItalian peopleThe Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
gang. - He sets up Jefferson KeaneJefferson KeaneJefferson Keane aka Tizi Ozuo is a fictional character in the HBO prison drama Oz played by American actor Leon Robinson.-Character overview:...
to be killed. This backfires, but Keane goes to death rowDeath rowDeath row signifies the place, often a section of a prison, that houses individuals awaiting execution. The term is also used figuratively to describe the state of awaiting execution , even in places where no special facility or separate unit for condemned inmates exists.After individuals are found...
for killing one of his attackers. - Along with Simon AdebisiSimon AdebisiSimon 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...
, he feeds Nino SchibettaNino SchibettaAntonino "Nino" Schibetta, played by Tony Musante, is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #95S604. Convicted December 12, 1995 - Two counts of conspiracy to commit murder...
ground glass over the course of a few weeks, causing him internal hemorrhaging.
With all his major competition eliminated, O’Reily becomes a major player in Oz's drug
Recreational drug use
Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...
scene. He also plays a major role in feeding 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...
's heroin addiction, being his main supplier.
Throughout the season O'Reily plays the Italians and Homeboys, but behind their backs, he often calls the Italians "dagos" and "wops", the Homeboys "niggers", and the Latinos "spics".
Season 2
In the second season, O’Reily is enjoying his new status in the Oz drug scene when he is diagnosed with breast cancerBreast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
. He is helped through his treatment and chemotherapy
Chemotherapy
Chemotherapy is the treatment of cancer with an antineoplastic drug or with a combination of such drugs into a standardized treatment regimen....
by Dr. Gloria Nathan, Oz's chief physician. O’Reily falls in love with her and is so overcome with jealousy
Jealousy
Jealousy is a second emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values, particularly in reference to a human connection. Jealousy often consists of a combination of presenting emotions...
of her husband that he tells his mentally handicapped brother, Cyril
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:...
, to kill Dr. Nathan's husband.
Cyril is arrested and sent to Oz, but is put in a different unit from his brother. There, Cyril is rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d by Vern Schillinger and his 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...
gang. This enrages O’Reily, but he can't do anything about it. In order to protect Cyril, he asks the manager of his unit, 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...
, to transfer Cyril into Em City with him. McManus agrees in return for O’Reily's admission of guilt in Preston Nathan's death, which O’Reily refuses.
Later, when a guard is blinded by Miguel Alvarez
Miguel Alvarez
Miguel Alvarez is a fictional character played by American actor Kirk Acevedo on the television show Oz. He is the main Latino inmate in the series. He is a gang member of El Norte and of Cuban descent.-Character overview:...
and needs a blood transfusion
Blood transfusion
Blood transfusion is the process of receiving blood products into one's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used in a variety of medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood...
, it turns out that O’Reily is the only prisoner in Oz to match his blood type
Blood type
A blood type is a classification of blood based on the presence or absence of inherited antigenic substances on the surface of red blood cells . These antigens may be proteins, carbohydrates, glycoproteins, or glycolipids, depending on the blood group system...
. He uses this as leverage to secure a place for his brother in Em City with him. O’Reily then admits his guilt in Preston Nathan's murder so that he can remain in Oz to protect Cyril. McManus then informs him he will be brought up on charges for ordering the murder of Preston Nathan.
Season 3
Still eager for revenge on Schillinger, Ryan manipulates Jaz HoytJaz Hoyt
Jaz Hoyt is a fictional character played by Evan Seinfeld on the television program Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #98H432. Convicted August 12, 1998 - aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in four. Later, confessed to four counts of murder in the first...
into attacking Shillinger, but Schillinger escapes unharmed. Furious, O’Reily joins forces with 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...
and 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...
, two other inmates who are looking to get even with Schillinger. When Schillinger's son Andrew comes to Em City, O’Reily tortures him when he stops selling him drugs, forcing Andrew to buy them through non-white inmates. Because Andrew has been trained as a member of the Aryan Brotherhood, he can't bring himself to buy drugs from those inmates. After Andrew (having befriended and received counseling from Beecher and becoming clean from drugs) publicly embarrasses his father, Vern Schillinger, by ignoring his attempts to reconcile with him and renounces his racist beliefs, his humiliated father gives his son enough heroin to overdose when Andrew is sent to the hole as a kind of test - which he "fails" by dying.
Meanwhile, the prison administrators hire a new CO supervisor, 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...
. Murphy and O'Reily bond over the Spanish Armada myth of the Black Irish
Black Irish
Black Irish is an ambiguous term used mainly outside of Ireland. Over the course of history, it has been subject to several distinctive ascriptions, including religious affiliation and poverty. Modern traditionalists, however, maintain the term to be synonymous with a dark-haired phenotype...
and develop a kind of friendship. When Murphy organizes a boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
tournament, O’Reily enters Cyril. To ensure Cyril's victory, he spikes
Mickey Finn (drugs)
A Mickey Finn, is a slang term for a drink laced with a drug given to someone without his knowledge in order to incapacitate him...
his opponents' water bottles with chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate
Chloral hydrate is a sedative and hypnotic drug as well as a chemical reagent and precursor. The name chloral hydrate indicates that it is formed from chloral by the addition of one molecule of water. Its chemical formula is C2H3Cl3O2....
. Cyril beats James Robson in the first round. As a result, Ryan wins money in the bets and the Aryans leave Cyril alone for good. From there, Ryan then spikes Miguel Alvarez
Miguel Alvarez
Miguel Alvarez is a fictional character played by American actor Kirk Acevedo on the television show Oz. He is the main Latino inmate in the series. He is a gang member of El Norte and of Cuban descent.-Character overview:...
's water and tells Alvarez's opponent, gay inmate Jason Cramer
Jason Cramer
Jason Cramer is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz played by Robert Bogue.-Character overview:Prisoner #98C931. Convicted September 6, 1998 - Murder in the first degree, Kidnapping, Assault with a dangerous instrument. Sentence: Life imprisonment without parole...
, that the Latinos will rape his lover if he loses the fight. Alvarez loses, the Latinos look worse, and Carmen Guerra
Carmen Guerra
Carmen "Chico" Guerra is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz, played by Otto Sanchez.-Character overview:Prisoner #96G522. Convicted June 4, 1996 - Murder in the first degree...
grows suspicious of O’Reily's winning streak. In round two, Cyril must fight Italian inmate Chucky Pancamo
Chucky 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....
. O'Reily arranges the death of William Cudney
William Cudney
William Cudney, played by Will Cote, is a fictional character on the HBO prison drama Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #99C124. Convicted February 10, 1999 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibly of parole....
, who threatened to expose him for cheating, and spikes Pancamo's water with heroin. Cyril easily beats Pancamo.
Murphy discovers O’Reily cheating thanks to a tip from 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...
, and tells O'Reily to stop to prevent a riot. In order to allow Cyril to keep his edge and win the final fight against 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 Hamid Khan
Hamid Khan
Hamid Khan, played by Ernie Hudson Jr., is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz.- Character overview :Prisoner #99K515. Convicted March 6, 1999 - Aggravated assault. Sentence: 10 years, eligible for parole in five....
, O’Reily invites their abusive
Child abuse
Child abuse is the physical, sexual, emotional mistreatment, or neglect of a child. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Children And Families define child maltreatment as any act or series of acts of commission or omission by a parent or...
father to visit him and Cyril. Ryan then encourages Cyril to think about their father's abuse during the fight. Pushed into a rage, Cyril beats Khan into a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
, making him brain dead
Brain death
Brain death is the irreversible end of all brain activity due to total necrosis of the cerebral neurons following loss of brain oxygenation. It should not be confused with a persistent vegetative state...
. The resulting racial tension forces Oz into a lockdown.
Season 4 Part I
O'Reily and Cyril participate in an interaction session with Gloria Nathan and her deceased husband's parents. Nathan wants him there to condemn him for killing her husband, but O’Reily turns the tables on them when he says that she and McManus had an affair. She is later raped by Irish hoodlum Patrick Keenan, and she suspects O’Reily of setting her up. Although he didn't, he tells her that he did so she can feel whole again. O'Reily then kills Keenan. Nathan takes a leave of absence shortly after.O'Reily also has a dispute over possession of a contraband
Contraband
The word contraband, reported in English since 1529, from Medieval French contrebande "a smuggling," denotes any item which, relating to its nature, is illegal to be possessed or sold....
cell phone with 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...
, eventually resulting in Stanislofsky's demise at the hands of Officer 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 CO whom he begins to have occasional sex with, though he quickly tries to put an end to it.
In Em City, white and Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
inmates and guards are constantly being traded for black guards and inmates who support 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...
, so O’Reily and Keller unite to turn the tables. They murder inmates Nate Shemin and 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...
, and frame 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...
. As a result, Unit Manager Martin Querns
Martin Querns
Warden Martin Querns is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz, played by Reg E. Cathey.-Character overview:He is an African American 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...
is fired and McManus is rehired.
Season 4 Part II
A television crew comes to Oz to film the prisoners' daily lives, headed by Jack Eldridge, a reporter who once reported on Irish gang activity in general, and the O'Reilys in particular. This report exposed them as criminals to their mother, who was emotionally devastated upon finding out. In his interview with Eldridge, O'Reily gets some revenge on Eldridge by refusing to give any information about Adebisi's death. Meanwhile, Dr. Nathan returns to Oz and admits to prison psychiatrist Sister Peter MarieSister 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:...
that she did indeed have feelings for O'Reily, which Sister Pete encourages her to put out of her mind.
Supreme Allah is released from solitary and tells O'Reily that he knows who framed him, so O'Reily and Keller go to Burr Redding
Burr Redding
Burr Redding is one of Oz's oldest inmates.-Character overview:Prisoner #01R289. Convicted January 11, 2001 - Murder in the first degree, seven counts of attempted murder...
and ask that he be eliminated. Redding then has Tug Daniels
Tug Daniels
Carlton "Tug" Daniels, played by Method Man of the Wu-Tang Clan, is a character in the HBO prison drama Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #01D251. Convicted February 20, 2001 - Attempted first degree murder. Sentence: 28 years, eligible for parole in 14....
visit and stab Supreme Allah, who was in Oz for murdering Daniels' brother.
A woman named Suzanne Fitzgerald (Betty Buckley
Betty Buckley
Betty Lynn Buckley is an American theater, film and television actress and singer. She is a Tony Award winner and Grammy Award nominee.-Early life:...
) comes to visit, claiming to be his birth mother. O'Reily does not believe her at first, but accepts it after his father tells him about her. His mother turns out to be a 1960s radical on the run who is looking to settle down.
Asian inmate Jia Kenmin
Jia Kenmin
Jia Kenmin is an Asian American inmate on the HBO drama Oz played by Michael Delmare.-Character overview:Prisoner 01J813. Convicted February 2, 2001 - Possession and distribution of a controlled substance...
tells Cyril that he will teach him karate, resulting in a fight that puts Jia into a coma. The staff, remembering Hamid Khan, threaten to send Cyril to a mental institution. Meanwhile, Provisional IRA member Padraig Connolly
Padraig Connolly
Padraic Connolly is a fictional character, portrayed by Brian F. O'Byrne on the HBO drama Oz. He appeared in three episodes in season 4: "Even the Score", "Famous Last Words", and "Orpheus Descending"."...
arrives and plans with O'Reily to blow up Em City. At the last minute, O'Reily decides that it is wrong and that many people including his brother and Dr. Nathan may be harmed, but Connolly attempts to set off the bomb early. The bomb, however, fails to detonate, and O'Reily goes unpunished since he had tried to rid Em City of the bomb.
Season 5
O’Reily's mother turns herself in and Governor James DevlinGovernor 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...
reduces her charge to a two-year community service sentence at Oz. Inmate Li Chen
Li Chen
Prisoner 02L333, Li Chen. Convicted January 4, 2002 for four counts of attempted murder. Sentence of 32 years, up for parole in 20.Li Chen, played by Nelson Lee was a character in the HBO series Oz...
arrives shortly afterward, and Jia Kenmin plots with him to put the O’Reily brothers on death row. He pays inmate Glen Shupe
Glen Shupe
Glen Shupe is a character at HBO drama Oz played by Joel West.-Character Overview:Prisoner 99S917,. Convicted on April 22, 1999 for manslaughter. Sentence of 15 years, up for parole in eight....
to lie to Cyril about Chen planning to rape Fitzgerald. Cyril and Ryan attack the two, and Cyril stabs and kills Chen while defending his brother, and stands trial for murder. The O’Reily family decides that Cyril is too mentally scarred to live, so they do not oppose his trial.
O’Reily, in the meantime, shares a cell with Father Daniel Meehan
Daniel Meehan
Father Daniel Meehan is a fictional character on the HBO prison drama, Oz, played by Malachy McCourt.Meehan was an ordained Catholic priest convicted for a violent disruption of a protest against Amicus Chemicals Corporation that he took part in. During the protest he assaulted a police officer...
, an Irish-American priest imprisoned for his part in a violent protest, who helped 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 Raimondo fight for Cyril's life. After finding out that Shupe was paid to lie, O’Reily plots revenge. Picking up on the grudge between Kenmin 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....
, O’Reily makes a deal with the Latinos. The Latinos agree to horribly injure Shupe, making sure it won't be traced back to O’Reily; in return, O’Reily agrees to murder Jia. The Latinos cut off Shupe's arm, and O’Reily provokes Kenmin into a fight where he ends up helping the guards restrain Kenmin. He convinces officer Robinson
Tom Robinson (Oz)
Tom Robinson is a fictional character in the HBO drama Oz, played by Jon Korkes.-Character overview:A corrections officer in the titular prison, he is primarily assigned to the cafeteria and to desk duties after Roger Brese is fired. For the most part he plays a minor role, but he is involved in an...
that Kenmin talked badly of the guards and, as a result, they kill him in the solitary confinement
Solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a special form of imprisonment in which a prisoner is isolated from any human contact, though often with the exception of members of prison staff. It is sometimes employed as a form of punishment beyond incarceration for a prisoner, and has been cited as an additional...
ward.
Motivated by O'Reily's previous bad blood with the Aryans, O’Reily and Poet announce in the cafeteria that Aryan James Robson had the gums of a black man surgically implanted, with O'Reily citing aloud that he "went to the dentist, and got himself a nice pair of dirty ghetto gums", and the whole cafeteria erupts in laughter. Robson is kicked out of the Brotherhood for his "black blood", leaving him defenseless from the other prisoners.
With Meehan's guidance, O’Reily opens up about his childhood trauma
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
s and, after a while, finally joins the effort to save Cyril. His brother is nevertheless sentenced to death
Death Sentence
Death Sentence is a short story by the American science-fiction writer Isaac Asimov. It was first published in the November 1943 issue of Astounding Science Fiction and reprinted in the 1972 collection The Early Asimov.-Plot summary:...
. O’Reily vows to be there in the appeal
Appeal
An appeal is a petition for review of a case that has been decided by a court of law. The petition is made to a higher court for the purpose of overturning the lower court's decision....
process.
Season 6
O’Reily forces Shupe to tell the truth to Cyril's attorney Arnold Zelman, who is unable to get him to testify. Shortly afterward, Meehan dies from a brain embolism, Ryan then washes the body in the morgue, reading a piece from the bible out of respect for Meehan. Peter SchibettaPeter Schibetta
Peter Schibetta is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz, portrayed by Eddie Malavarca.-Character overview:Prisoner #98S112. Convicted May 19, 1998 - Five counts of extortion: money laundering. Sentence: 35 years, eligible for parole in 20....
, the son of Nino Schibetta
Nino Schibetta
Antonino "Nino" Schibetta, played by Tony Musante, is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #95S604. Convicted December 12, 1995 - Two counts of conspiracy to commit murder...
(the former leader of the Italian gang, who was killed by O'Reily in the first season), is rumored to have killed him by giving him "the evil eye" in return for O'Reily having killed his father, since Schibetta had previously vowed to curse everyone O’Reily loves. O’Reily goes to Chucky Pancamo
Chucky 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 tells him that Schibetta plans to use the evil eye on the superstitious Pancamo as revenge for his failure to protect him from his brutal rape from Adebisi. Enraged, Pancamo and the Italians have Schibetta killed, notably removing his eye. It's throughout this season that Zelman unsuccessfully appeals Cyril's case.
Jahfree Neema
Jahfree Neema
Jahfree Neema is a character at HBO drama Oz played by Peter Francis James.-Character Overview:Prisoner 03N679, Convicted Jan. 10, 2003 - Kidnapping, Assault. Sentence - Seven years, eligible for parole in three....
, a former Black Panther
Black Panther Party
The Black Panther Party wasan African-American revolutionary leftist organization. It was active in the United States from 1966 until 1982....
, is sent to Oz and turns out to be connected romantically to Suzanne. He initially hates O’Reily, who tries to get Redding to murder him. Neema, however, tells O'Reily that he wants to save Cyril, and he organizes every inmate from every gang to protest the execution, resulting in a last second stay of execution and as a result, Ryan gains respect for him. O'Reily also believes God saved Cyril because of his sincere prayers on what was meant to be the night of Cyril's execution.
Meanwhile, their father, Seamus
Seamus O'Reily
Seamus O'Reily is a fictional character on the HBO prison drama, Oz, played by Kevin Conway.-Character overview:Prisoner #03P138. Convicted February 3, 2003 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: 34 years, up for parole in 16....
, arrives in Oz and tries to kill Neema, but ends up in the hospital instead. Eventually, Cyril is executed despite Ryan's efforts, it's during the execution that Ryan is seen walking the maze in the gym unsupervised and visibly upset. Dr. Nathan enters the gym and kisses O'Reily passionately, which Ryan reciprocates, cultivating the years of the saga to try to finally get Dr. Nathan's love. The screen then fades to black, leaving the two.
Seamus O'Reily, while in the hospital, has come to regret how he treated his sons (with the help of a stern speech given to him by Suzanne) and asks Ryan if he can see Cyril, Ryan tells him it's too late as Cyril has already been executed, the father and son then reconnect through their grief.
Ryan O'Reily is last seen wheeling Seamus onto a bus during an attack involving a mysterious contaminate orchestrated by Keller.
Analysis
Sean O'Sullivan and David Wilson describe the character as "the arch schemer," while USA TODAY labels him as "Oz's resident troublemaker".In the season 4 finale "Famous Last Words", when discussing Sex and the City
Sex and the City
Sex and the City is an American television comedy-drama series created by Darren Star and produced by HBO. Broadcast from 1998 until 2004, the original run of the show had a total of ninety-four episodes...
, O'Reily says "I'd fuck that Sarah whatever-her-name-is, man". This is a reference to the Sex and the City episode "The Fuck Buddy", where Dean Winters played a character who was having sex with Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker
Sarah Jessica Parker is an American film, television, and theater actress and producer.She is best known for her leading role as Carrie Bradshaw on the HBO television series Sex and the City , for which she won four Golden Globe Awards, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and two Emmy Awards...
's character.