wawamouse | Oz Rewatch 3: S2E07: Animal Farm

Originally posted to Tumblr.

Sister before the episode began: What happened last episode…? Beecher shaved his face, and…?

Storylines

(Mini) Beecher wakes up drunk as a skunk, the fallout of last episode’s ending
Cyril is in Oz, gets assaulted by the Aryans; Ryan finds out gets Cyril thrown in the Hole to keep him away from Schillinger; McManus refuses to let Cyril into Em City unless Ryan snitches on himself
Sippel’s storyline begins
(Mini) Augustus searches for a way out, asking Schillinger about escaping through the mail
After being rejected by Bellinger, Adebisi spirals; Nappa, having just arrived in Oz and wanting to take revenge on Adebisi for the Schibetta, takes advantage of the moment and arranges for a drug test to catch Adebisi; Adebisi agrees to stop doing drugs to avoid being sent to the psych ward by Sister Pete; already unstable, he grows disturbed in new ways after encountering Jara, who reminds him of Nigeria
(Mini) Jaz Hoyt learns the ways of the mail room from Schillinger
Rebadow learns that his grandson has leukemia; at a meeting, Hoyt proposes that the gangs pitch in to send Rebadow’s grandson to Disneyland;
(Mini) Augustus asks Miguel if he could get out through the hospital
Eugene Rivera arrives at Oz as a hack; El Cid tells Miguel that he has to take out Rivera’s eyes; Miguel resolves to do so after advice from his father
(Mini) McManus cuts ties with Diane for good, having her transferred to Unit B
(Mini) Beecher’s alcoholism continues
(Mini) Poet commits murder and returns to Oz

Again, I really liked this episode. I feel like Season 2x06-8 have a nice flow after somewhat of a lull in episodes 4 and 5. The structure of this episode is less distinct, though, with more character segments interweaving and flowing into each other. I feel like this is preferable to the character segments being less related. It makes the world in the show feel more intersecting and busy, even if visually (through background actors, camera work, etc) that’s not always the case.

Sister found McManus’s lack of compassion for Cyril an indication of his inconsistency when it comes to wanting to improve prisoner lives.

(Me: but do you think he Actually gives a shit or does he just do it to make himself feel good?
Sister: 😑…I guess he doesn’t actually give a shit)

Sister thinks that McManus, Mukada, and Sister Pete are all “tiring” because they’re constantly flip-flopping on whether or not they want to help people. Sometimes they seem to care too much, but then they turn around and don’t care at all. Sister doesn’t think any of the three have much integrity and also thinks that their pick-and-choose care tactics make it impossible to predict what their characters are going to do in whichever given storyline. She says at least with Glynn, it’s not so bad because you know he’s probably just going to say no.

I feel like I sort of agree when it comes to predicting what the characters will do, but at the same time, after something happens, I don't think it's that hard to work backwards and interpret where they come from. For example, McManus is being an asshole about Cyril because he's got a thing against Ryan and also Cyril for killing Gloria's husband, since he dated Gloria/she's a friend, so it's personal to him. Also, Cyril being mentally disabled probably just does not matter to him (although I can say this more with the hindsight knowledge that McManus has never appeared to be sympathetic to Cyril in the show).

Sister thought it was inconsistent (or rather perhaps: hypocritical) that Mukada wasn’t willing to help Sippel or accept Sippel’s remorse as Sister Pete did (i.e, on the Catholic level or whatever; the idea that if a person truly repents, they deserve absolution). I feel like Mukada being initially unwilling to help Sippel is pretty characteristic of him, though. Firstly, he probably finds Sippel even more disgusting because he was a fellow priest, and therefore Mukada probably thinks that Sippel betrayed their post/vows in some manner, causing harm when he is supposed to be doing God’s work. Also, Mukada is kind of a stubborn person, and does also get led by his own emotions often times (or at least he gives off that impression) so I think it makes sense the way he reacted to Sippel.

Me: (Rick Dalton point.jpg) Chico!
Sister: Oh, they're friends again! Front row!
Me: 🫥

Sister: Sometimes this show feels like we’re just watching people in the college dorms.

Sister: If I was a guy, I would not put my thing anywhere near that guy. I think he’d bite it off. But not in a crazy Beecher way. He’d do it in a weird sex addict way.

Sister: Exactly how long is she sticking around here?
Me: A couple more seasons
Sister: A couple more seasons?! All the other guys were dead in 10 minutes!
Me: Do you want her to die? Why do you hate women? 🎤
Sister: 😑🤚🏼 Ok but she's not really doing anything, though.

Sister: (gagging noises) Sepsis. Instant sepsis.
Me: If you boiled it, the bacteria would probably cook off, though.
Sister: I don’t think their stovetops could get hot enough to boil off the bacteria… Did you see what they were eating in there? Oranges and a sandwich and a juice? They can’t boil shit in there. I’m surprised they don’t have more poisonings with all those cold foods. All the guys show up again every episode, but I feel like some of them should be missing and there should be a side bit where they're like "oh, where's Harold?"—"He ate the poison tomato sauce and died".
Me: They wouldn’t be doing the blood thing in Oz!
Sister: Well, you don’t know that. They got that lady, don’t they? And they like to poison people in this show. They could use—You know, if this show was made elsewhere, they'd have guys jerking off in the sauce.
Me: What is happening right now?? (@ozimagines This part reminded me of what you said the other day about Miguel and Chico tho lmao...)

Sister: Well... it’s not like he’s had practice giving good fatherly advice, I guess.

Sister: How did he get such a big bottle inside??

Indeed, the Latinos must have major pull in the mail room, because a whole thing of Ambiguously Jack Daniels seems like quite the feat!

Stray thoughts:

Sister questions the point of Ryan ever confessing to being an accomplice in Preston Nathan's murder; she says that even if Ryan confesses, it probably won't free Cyril because he's already been sentenced; I remind her that the point in the show isn't to help Cyril (unfortunately), it's to punish Ryan
New arrivals: Antonio Nappa, Jaz Hoyt, NoName Vincent, and Kipekemie Jara arrive at Oz
Sister is convinced that Jara is an elaborate hallucination because no one but Adebisi actually interacts with him.
I wonder what movie Hoyt went to prison over
For some reason I had been under the impression that Poet had Life, when actually his new sentence was 26 years
Sister notes that sometimes the show seems to focus on a random detail as if to plant a plot point, but then there’s no pay off; in this episode, Jaz notes that the letter openers are very sharp, and that never comes into play again
Every time there has been a woman's breast on screen, Sister has yelled "boobies!"; every time there is a penis, she has gone something to the effect of "huh 🤨" or "ugh 😒"

Final Thoughts:

Sister: I feel like the show really doesn’t want anyone to succeed. Next the rapist (Sippel) is going to come back!
Sister: If anyone else gets poisoned in this show, I’m just gonna be like woooow. Like, fool me once, shame on you, feel me twice, shame on you. Third time’s the charm or whatever.

Me: Do you think Nappa will be able to take Adebisi out?
Sister: Psh! No! I think if 10 guys went in, he would use them all as bowling pins.
Me: I mean, in terms of planning, not a physical fight.
Sister: Hm, maybe... But he's going to need more than 10 guys. And if they fail, then I feel like [Adebisi]'s going to get stronger and come back for revenge and kill them all.

Me: Any thoughts on Miguel this episode?
Sister: I don’t understand why he thinks he has to be in the game.
Me: Maybe it’s all he knows.
Sister: Yeah, but I feel like when you’re facing a dilemma in life, that’s the perfect time to pivot, you know? Like, he should just hang out with the wheelchair dude. They were getting along earlier. He should just go and hang out and be one of the Others. Right now he's got some toxic friends he just needs to snip snip… Cut out those toxic friendships so you don’t get sepsis. Good friends will carry you through the poison tomato sauce!