Oz: Racial Sparks Fly

Reviewed by:
John Walsh

The fourth season of HBO’s compelling prison series Oz begins Wednesday, July 12 with an episode titled “A Cock and Balls Story.” The action is continuous from the third-season finale, when racial tension in the maximum security wing of Oswald State Correctional Facility had reached a critical high and inmates were placed under 24-hour lockdown.

Oz fans know by now that names—especially body parts—can be deceptive in Emerald City. “Tits” is cellblock slang for heroin. So it’s no surprise that this “cock and balls story” is about a gun. Just as Warden Glynn attempts to end the lockdown, the menacing Adebisi comes into possession of a smuggled handgun.

The fourth season also begins a tense story arc involving an undercover narcotics investigator who enters Em City posing as an inmate. Guest stars include David “Buster Poindexter” Johansen, Gavin “Capt. Steubing” MacLeod, and Pepa of the rap group Salt ’n’ Pepa.

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