Jaw droppin realness (OZ: The Complete First Season (DVD))

Member Name: Letterman

Product:	OZ: The Complete First Season (DVD)
Date:	10/06/09 (9 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great characters, unique action, addictive veiwing

Disadvantages: Little comic relief, but i guess thats prison

For anyone who has no idea what Oz is, its a prison drama. Like Prison Break you may say, and I would have to say certainly not. You see, Oz is not about contrived plots, goodies and baddies, suspense, Hollywood scripts, showing the good in people etc. No, Oz is rougher than your mum. Oz is simply the accurate portrayal of life in a maximum security prison in the US, possibly somewhere just inland of the East coast (tho that may be way off)

The crux if Oz is that although plots develop through each season, particularly the first, its the day to day interactions of the inmates with each other and the prison wardens which makes it special. And believe me, some of these interactions can get pretty unpleasant.

Based around the 'Emerald City' section of the prison, Oz gives us an incite into the tribal nature of prison, and perhaps life in general. Mafia, Arians, Muslims, Latinos, Christians, Black Americans, Irish American, all are represented in some form of gang in section, and the constant struggle for survival and the upper hand results in some hideous crimes being committed. If you think you would find a vivid depiction of male rape disturbing, this ain't for you. The same goes for eye gauging, beatings, crucifixion, torture and of course a healthy amount of good old fashioned stabbing (or shanking, which is what you will call it after watching through the full first series. In fact, Oz is a gold mine for slang fans, wait til you find out what 'tits' means). Don't get me wrong, there is more to Oz than the extreme stuff, particularly in the first season. The characters are fleshed out and human, and there is very few all good or all bad people, which makes it the heavyweight it is.

The seasons all run through in pretty similar fashion, but without giving to much away, the first season probably ends most dramatically. For this reason, this DVD is the most important, especially as you will want to continue through all 6 seasons.

Summary: If you like rough justice, its for you. If you found shawshank a bit much, step a away son