A Game of Checkers
Written By: Tom Fontana
Directed By: Jean de Segonzac
Original Airdate: August 25, 1997
Transcribed: November 23, 1999. Last Revised: November 24, 1999.

Oz is the property of Tom Fontana, Barry Levinson, Rysher Entertainment, and HBO. This page is not authorized by any of the above. Absolutely no copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made from this page.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: Remember when your high school history teacher said that the course of human events changes 'cause of the deeds of great men. Well, the bitch was lying. Fuck Caesar, fuck Lincoln, fuck Mahatma Gandhi. The world keeps moving cause of you and me, the anonymous. Revolutions get going cause there ain't enough bread. Wars happen over a game of checkers.

(Shots of Schillinger being moved out of Em City and into his new cell.)

CO: Hey, goodnight, turd.

(Hill narrating, with flashbacks of Schillinger's crime.)

Hill: Prisoner number 92S110, Vernon Schillinger. Convicted October 21, '92. Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: 8 years. Up for parole in 5.

(In Mukada's office.)

Schillinger: I had a visit from my sons. They're almost out of their teens now, almost men. They live with their grandfather, the man who taught me everything I know about hate. Yesterday, my boys sat there across from me, ranting and raging. They were both fucked up on drugs. They know I hate drugs. But I'm in here because I hate drugs and 'cause I love them. I yelled at them and they just laughed. They laughed at me. It's funny, you know, with one eye, I can see finally that they are becoming the men I made them. I got about three months, 'til I'm up for parole. All I want is to get out of here, be there for them, try to help my kids. That's all.

McManus: If I let you back into Em City, you'll kill Beecher.

Schillinger: I wanted him dead, he'd already be dead.

McManus: You say you've changed. Why should I believe you?

Schillinger: Trust me, McManus, you lose an eye, you get kicked in the balls, you get a face full of shit, you become a different man.

(In Em City.)

Ross: He's back.

Schillinger: Hey. Where's Beecher?

Ross: He's still in the hole.

(In the hole.)

McManus: Put these on. Get up.

Beecher: Do you wanna touch my dick?

McManus: Get dressed.

Beecher: I shit all over a man.

McManus: I know.

Beecher: It's not normal.

McManus: No. Get dressed. Schillinger's back in Emerald City. He says he won't harm you. Tell me you won't harm him.

Beecher: He burnt a swastika into my flesh. He made me rip up pictures of my family. He made me eat the pages of a lawbook. He made me wear women's makeup and he fucked me up the ass.

McManus: I know.

Beecher: So now I just forgive him?

McManus: Yes.

Beecher: Could you?

McManus: Yes.

Beecher: All right. I forgive him.

(In Beecher's pod.)

Ryan: Hey, roomie. So, how crazy are you?

Beecher: Crazy?

Ryan: Well, you broke the glass, you blinded Schillinger, took a shit on his face...

Beecher: (Sees several Aryans staring at him through the glass.) Hey! What the fuck are you looking at?

Ryan: You see, this is what I'm talking about. The old Beecher woulda hid just now.

Beecher: Yeah, well, I left the old Beecher in the hole.

Ryan: I hear you.

Beecher: Hey, don't get so close to me. OK?

Ryan: OK. Look, any day the Muslims are gonna riot. I may need you, crazy or not.

Beecher: Need me to do what?

Ryan: Be my brother.

Beecher: (Sees Schillinger and goes out of the pod.) Hey! Hey! It's your move, asswipe!

Wittlesey: Beecher! Watch it! You're gonna have the fastest turnaround time in the history of the hole.

Ross: I'm telling you, you're gonna have to take Beecher out, otherwise you're not gonna have any jizz left in Em City. The boys are gonna think you're a pansyass.

Schillinger: I don't care. Let 'em.

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: When you're playing poker, you can't let anyone else at the table know which cards you have, what you're feeling, what you're thinking. You gotta develop a game face. In Oz, we wear our game face all day. And, into the night. You wear your game face so much that when you look in the mirror, you're not sure which face you're shaving.

(In Ross' pod. He finds a carton of cigarettes under his pillow.)

(In McManus' office.)

Wittlesey: What's going on?

McManus: There's a rumor that you're bringing contraband into Emerald City.

Wittlesey: What?

McManus: It's bullshit, right?

Wittlesey: Who'd you hear this from?

McManus: Tell me it's not true.

Wittlesey: It's not true.

McManus: You're lying to me.

Wittlesey: No, I'm not lying.

McManus: I have an eyewitness, Diane, that saw you pass cigarettes to Scott Ross. An eye-fucking-witness.

Wittlesey: Who?

McManus: Me.

Wittlesey: Oh. So I'm fired.

McManus: You're not fired. Look, I know that you're worried about money, I know that you're worried about your mother and Didi, but this shit has got to stop.

Wittlesey: Yeah. OK, ok. I'll put an end to it.

McManus: Today.

Wittlesey: OK. I appreciate this second chance, Tim.

McManus: I've been digging through your files.

Wittlesey: Yeah?

McManus: I know that Ross and your ex were in the same biker gang.

Wittlesey: Yeah.

McManus: You shoulda told me.

Wittlesey: Yeah.

McManus: Have you slept with Ross?

Wittlesey: What?

McManus: I'm just trying to figure out if you fucked us both.

Wittlesey: What is this? You're trying to hurt me for breaking up with you? You're trying to prove to me you've got a dick? You know what, I don't need this. I quit!

McManus: Aw, fuck, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

Wittlesey: You're sorry?

McManus: Yes. I don't know what's going on. Forgive me, please.

Wittlesey: Forgive you? OK, ok, I forgive you. I forgive you. You forgave me. We're even.

McManus: Say you'll stay.

Wittlesey: I got nowhere else to go.

(In Ross' pod.)

Ross: Hey.

Wittlesey: I'm done. I'm out of the cigarette business.

Ross: Whoa, whoa, whoa, what happened?

Wittlesey: I just can't take the stress. I don't wanna get caught. I'm done.

Ross: It's not that easy.

Wittlesey: What does that mean?

Ross: That means I have customers that rely on me.

Wittlesey: Yeah, so what?

Ross: So, I'm not gonna let you fuck this up 'cause of your guilt and paranoia.

Wittlesey: If I say it's done, it's done.

Ross: No. You quit, I go to the Warden, I tell him everything. He puts me in the hole for a little while, big deal. You, you lose your job, you probably do some time, leaving little Didi a motherless child, scarred for life.

Wittlesey: No, you wouldn't do that.

Ross: Why wouldn't I? Diane, you and me, we're joined at the hip. And there ain't nothing you can do about that. Turn on me again, your life ain't worth shit. (He leaves the pod and sees McManus watching the conversation.) She's a damn fine woman, hey, man. Damn fine woman.

(At a CO station.)

Armstrong: Hey, who's that?

Hunt: New guy. Some polock.

(In the laundry room.)

Ross: If the Muslims riot, we're ready. Angels, Aryans. What about the homeboys?

Ryan: Adebisi says they're on our side, but I don't think we should fight the Muslims if we can avoid it.

Ross: You going soft on my, O'Reily?

Ryan: No, I'm just trying to stay alive. (Sees Officer Knowakowski looking at him.) What?

(In a corner.)

Officer Knowakowski: Hey, what're you doing?

Wangler: Nothing.

Officer Knowakowski: Yeah, why don't you do it somewhere else?

Wangler: Stupid hacks.

Adebisi: You're the lookout!

Wangler: I don't wanna look out.

Adebisi: Go on, look out!

Wangler: Damn.

(At the Em City CO station.)

Officer Knowakowski: Hey, I'm Anthony Officer Knowakowski.

Wittlesey: You're late.

Officer Knowakowski: I ain't never been to Oswald before. I got lost coming up route 7A.

Wittlesey: I'm Diane Wittlesey, this is Joe Mineo. Don't be late again.

Mineo: Another fucking newbie.

Wittlesey: Joe's been around for about two centuries. There's been a lot of suspensions lately.

Officer Knowakowski: So I hear. Officers beating up inmates on a regular basis.

Mineo: He killed one of our guys.

Wittlesey: Some of the CO's decided to take it out on any prisoner they could find. Things got a little tense but I'm hoping we're past it.

Officer Knowakowski: Also hear you got a couple of celebrities in this cell block?

Wittlesey: That's Kareem Said. He's the big muckety muck Muslim.

(In Said's pod.)

Said: It's time. I want you to start an argument with the guard. Get him to swing on you. He must hit you first, do you understand?

Arif: Yes. And after he hits me.

Said: Jihad (Something in Arabic.)

Muslims: Jihad (Something in Arabic.)

(At the CO station.)

Wittlesey: That's Eugene Dobbins. He's some classical kind of musician. He played the cello 'til somebody smashed it.

(On the lower floor.)

Hill: Hey, Dobbins, you wanna go to the library?

Dobbins: No.

Hill: Come on, man, gym?

Dobbins: Leave me alone.

(At the hack station.)

Wittlesey: Now he sits in front of the boob tube all day. And that's Jackson Vayhue.

Officer Knowakowski: Vayhue? Oh, yeah, man, you see that game against the Bulls? 58 fucking points. That guy's amazing.

(In Rebadow's pod.)

McManus: Rebadow, your factory supervisor says you haven't been to work in a couple of days.

Rebadow: God lied to me.

McManus: God lied to you?

Rebadow: Yes.

McManus: Well, why should God be so different than anyone else? Oh, shit. I'm late for a meeting.

Rebadow: I used to have meetings. They never do any good, you know.

(Hill narrating, with flashbacks of Rebadow's crime.)

Hill: Prisoner number 65R814, Robert Rebadow. Convicted September 9, '65. Murder in the first degree. Sentence: death, commuted to life.

(In Rebadow's pod.)

Rebadow: I'm beginning to think I never really talked to God. That everything I thought I heard was actually my own powers of reason. McManus, you're a man of reason too, but you've gotten lost.

McManus: Yeah, well, right now I'm late. Go to work, Rebadow.

Wittlesey: Hey, Tim, I want you to meet...

McManus: Later.

(In Alvarez' pod.)

Mukada: Hey, Miguel. Could you guys excuse us for a second?

Alvarez: Hey, whatever you gotta say to me, you can say in front of them.

Mukada: Take a hike.

Alvarez: What the fuck is that?

Mukada: Jose Torres got paroled.

Alvarez: Lucky prick.

Mukada: So, I hear that you're running the gang now.

Alvarez: Ain't listening to gossip a sin?

Mukada: Miguel...

Alvarez: Hey, Father, the only reason I didn't beat the shit out of you just now is because you been there for me. Don't push your luck, ok?

(In Em City, at a table with a checkers board laid out.)

Inmate: OK, where was I?

Inmate 2: Your move.

Inmate: You, uh, you move this piece?

Inmate 2: No.

Inmate: Yes, you did.

Inmate 2: No, I didn't.

Inmate: You fucking moved the piece! You been doing it all along. Every time I have to take a shit, you move a piece. That's why I'm fucking losing!

Inmate 2: You keep losing cause you suck!

Inmate: Fucking bastard! (He jumps over the table and attacks Inmate 2.)

Wittlesey: Break it up! Hey, break it up!

(The fight escalates until Mineo, Officer Knowakowski, and another CO are overpowered. Wittlesey calls for help.)

Wittlesey: Hunt, send Armstrong out here now!

(Ryan and Ross see what's going on and overpower Armstrong as he comes in.)

Ryan: Hey, bitch! Take that, motherfucker!

(More inmates overpower Wittlesey and the rest of the CO's. Ryan and Ross take over the control room. Rebadow hides in his pod. The Latinos take Mukada and beat him.)

Mukada: Miguel, Miguel! Miguel!

(The Muslims join in the riot. Adebisi and the gangsters trash McManus' office and take it over. Dobbins is stabbed. Alarms are going off all over Oz and Glynn and McManus are running down a hallway.)

Glynn: Shut down all the cell blocks immediately! Cut off the pay phones!

McManus: What's happening?

Glynn: Our worst nightmare.

(In Em City, Beecher is setting off a fire extinguisher. Schillinger is staying out of the riot as much as possible. The Aryans block off the gate into Em City with furniture. Alvarez starts a bonfire with the bedding. At the CO Station, Said fires the gun given to him by Wood in the air. All of the inmates stop what they're doing.)

Said: Now let's get organized! (The inmates cheer.)

Glynn: This is Warden Glynn. (The inmates boo and throw stuff at him.) Surrender now and there will be no repercussions. Is there anyone in charge? Is there anyone in there we can talk to? Said!

Inmates: (Chanting.) Said! Said! Said!

Said: Gentlemen.

Glynn: What's this about, Said?

Said: If you have to ask, Glynn, we got a long day ahead of us.

(The CO's are put in one of the larger pods. Said and the other leaders are in another pod.)

Said: Glynn has given us time to come up with a list of demands. But I think the most important element is that we remain united.

Alvarez: I don't have a problem with that.

Ryan: Me neither. As long as we get a few ground rules laid down.

Said: Such as?

Adebisi: Well, you're not the boss.

Said: I am willing to share the power. That is why I asked you here. You see, we can become a kind of council. We will, together, make all the decisions.

Ross: We can talk parliamentary procedure later. How many guns do you have?

Said: Just one.

Ross: I don't believe you.

Said: Well, you're gonna have to learn to trust me, just like I'm gonna have to learn to trust you.

Ryan: Yeah, but you got the gun, and that gives you one up on the rest of us.

Alvarez: That's right. You know, I hear you talking about sharing power, but I can't turn my back on you.

Adebisi: Yeah.

Said: How would you like me to demonstrate my sincerity?

Adebisi: Give me the gun.

Said: OK, ok, how about we divide up the responsibilities? Look, O'Reily, Ross, Adebisi, you already have control of the front entrance. I propose O'Reily be our spokesman when dealing with Glynn. Ross, you be in control of the distribution of food. Adebisi, all of the comings and goings.

Alvarez: My men should have the hostages.

Said: OK. You're gonna have to give up Hunt.

Ross: No way.

Said: We all have to give up something. It is more efficient to have all the hostages in one place.

Ryan: He's got a point. Besides, as long as we've got control of the gate, the hacks aren't going anywhere.

Said: So we all agreed then?

Alvarez: Yo.

Ryan: Yeah.

Said: All right. So all that remains is our list of demands. Who wants to start?

Ross: I want some more girls.

Ryan: This ban on smoking is bullshit.

(At the CO station.)

Said: We've gotta get the wounded to a separate place.

Arif: The shower room?

Said: Good idea. Go.

(On the lower floor.)

Hill: Dobbins! Yo, can I get a hand here? Could somebody help me, please?

Muslim: Let's take him to the shower room.

(In the shower room.)

Vayhue: Hey, this is all I could find. They burned everything else, man. Oh, shit. That don't look good, man. I had a friend in a fight get stabbed like that. He died right in the middle of Polanski Boulevard.

Hill: Dobbins don't get to a hospital soon, he gonna be trading in that cello for a harp.

Vayhue: This fucking guy and his Goddamned cello.

Hill: And you broke it, didn't you?

Vayhue: No, no.

Hill: Didn't you?

Vayhue: No, no.

Hill: You gotta take him to ER!

Vayhue: Hill, I go out there, they gonna kick my fucking ass.

Hill: They gonna be kicking our asses anyway, brother.

Vayhue: No way. This ain't my fault, Hill. He is definitely not my problem, man. I did not start all this shit, Hill!

Hill: What difference does it make, huh? Look, you think 'cause of who you are you can pick and choose when to take responsibility. You can't. Sometimes you gotta step up. All right? Look at him! Look at him! Dobbins and that cello, that's all he had, man. That's like me and my chair. That's who he was. That's like you and basketball.

Vayhue: All right, all right. Fuck it. Look, fuck it. I been hit before. Come here, come on, Dobbins.

(On the lower floor.)

Vayhue: Open the gate! Come on!

Hill: Come on, let's go!

Vayhue: I gotta get Dobbins to the hospital.

Ross: Fuck Dobbins.

Vayhue: Let him out!

Hill: Yo, let him out, man!

Vayhue: Dobbins is dying, man.

Ryan: Let's dump him before he starts getting moldy.

Adebisi: OK.

Ross: What about Said and Alvarez?

Ryan: If you vote yes, that's a majority. We don't need them at all. This is what I'm saying. If the three of us hang together, Said's our bitch.

Ross: OK.

Ryan: Let's go!

Adebisi: We letting out one wounded prisoner. Tell Glynn.

Ross: Open the gate!

Vayhue: I'll see you around.

Hill: Yeah.

(Outside the gate, Vayhue is jumped by the SORT team and Dobbins falls to the floor and is handcuffed and dragged away.)

(In Dobbins' pod, Hill looks at all the sheet music on the floor and picks up Dobbins' cello bow, pretending to play.)

(In Schillinger's pod.)

Beecher: Hello! If you don't mind, I gotta take a shit.

Schillinger: Beecher, listen...

Beecher: Hey! You know, I'm standing in here thinking about all the good times we had, you and me.

Schillinger: I don't wanna fight.

Beecher: Oh, no. Course not. You get into a fight, you fuck up your parole. And I hear for the next three months, you're gonna be a good little boy, so you can get outta Oz, see your two sons. You know, I think that's great. But, you know what I'm wondering? What if Vern doesn't get out? What if, as he comes up for parole, he gets into a brawl, a knock-down, drag-out with his old roomie? What if every time he comes up for parole, Vern gets into some ugly incident and has to serve his entire sentence? And his two sons, they become monsters. That's what I'm wondering about. Prag. (He leaves, singing "I Got It Bad.")

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: We love to root for the underdog. You know, at half time when one team is getting their asses handed to them and they're headed for the locker room, we say a silent prayer. We pray that when they come back, they'll turn it around, they'll score, they'll beat those cocky sonsabitches, yeah. We love it when someone comes up from behind.

(In the pod where the CO's are being held.)

Wittlesey: We have to come up with a way to escape.

Mukada: How?

Wittlesey: I don't know. I can't just sit here waiting to get raped.

D'Agnasti: Or killed.

Officer Knowakowski: You really think they're gonna kill us?

Mineo: No, they're gonna invite us for tea.

D'Agnasti: Armstrong?

Mukada: Is he gonna be all right?

Alvarez: You sit over there.

Hunt: What's the matter with Armstrong?

Alvarez: Shut up, Hunt, sit the fuck down. I'm in charge of you motherfuckers now. I don't know how long this shit's gonna last, but you don't give me any trouble, you walk out of here alive. OK?

Mukada: We've all been beaten badly. Armstrong needs a doctor.

Alvarez: Armstrong. (Kicks Armstrong.) I'll see what I can do.

Mineo: I gotta piss.

Wittlesey: Father, you're friendly with Alvarez, aren't you?

Mukada: I thought I was. He let them take me without lifting a finger.

Hunt: You didn't really think he'd lift a finger to help you, did you? He'd get whacked if he helped you.

Alvarez: You know what it's like in the hole, right? You get a bucket to piss and shit in. Stays with you the whole time. Go ahead.

Mineo: Uncuff me.

Alvarez: No. You know that joke you made when my baby died? Fucking cocksucker! (He hits Mineo.)

Mukada: For God's sake, stop it! Miguel! What the fuck is going on?

Alvarez: Look, look, right now, I can't change shit if I wanted to.

Mukada: Well, maybe you can't change shit, but you don't have to give in to the brutality.

Alvarez: You see, you're so fucking naive.

Mukada: Naive? I'm not naive. I'm afraid.

Alvarez: Yeah, well, so am I, hermano. So am I.

(On the lower floor. The inmates are watching TV.)

Reporter: We have unconfirmed reports that a riot has erupted at Oswald State Penitentiary. Corrections officials and the Governor's office will neither confirm nor deny that a riot broke out in the prison, which has been plagued with violence in recent months. It is still under the tight scrutiny of the Devlin administration, as...

Alvarez: Move.

Said: Let him up. So, Alvarez, how are the hostages?

Alvarez: They need a doctor.

Said: Then I say we get them one. We don't want to seem like savages, do we? Course, you're gonna have to clear that with all the others.

Alvarez: OK.

(Near the front gate.)

Ryan: Adebisi, you gotta slow down on that shit.

Adebisi: Why?

Ryan: 'Cause we need our fucking heads to be together right now. Besides, if this situation gets worse, we're gonna run out of that stuff and I don't want you detoxing on me when I need you the most.

Adebisi: You worry too much, pretty boy. Have some.

Ryan: No. I been clean since my time in the hole.

Adebisi: Clean from what, huh?

(A fight breaks down between the Aryans and the gangsters.)

Ryan: Hey! Hey! Break it up! Hey! This is exactly what those dicks out there are hoping for. Said too. Why do you think he gave you guys the archway for? He's waiting for one side to kill the other, and then he's gonna kill whoever's left, all right? We gotta stick together, Wangler.

Alvarez: Yo, there's a couple of hacks in there in pretty bad shape, so Said and I wanna get 'em a doctor. How do you vote?

Adebisi: No.

Ross: Fuck that.

Alvarez: Yo, O'Reily, it's two to two. You gonna break the tie?

Ross: Yeah, break the tie.

Ryan: What's it worth to you, Alvarez?

Alvarez: What's it worth to me?

Ryan: Yeah. What'll you give me for my vote?

Alvarez: Nothing.

Ryan: Then let the fuckers die.

(In the hostage room.)

D'Agnasti: Had an uncle was a drunk. Tried to get him into hobbies to keep from drinking. Got him into sculpting school. Didn't help. Kept coming to 'em plastered.

Wittlesey: Jesus Christ.

D'Agnasti: Had another uncle who was a rare coin dealer. One day a couple of tough guys come into the place and beat him senseless.

Officer Knowakowski: Stop.

D'Agnasti: Had another uncle, owned a grocery store. One night somebody comes in and caves his head in with a case of corn flakes. Cops think it might have been the work of a...

Hostages: ...cereal killer.

Hunt: D'Agnasti, shut the fuck up.

D'Agnasti: Just trying to break the tension.

Alvarez: All right, no doctor.

Mukada: Miguel, you gotta do something.

Alvarez: Yeah, I know. I been working as an orderly in the prison hospital so...

Hunt: Oh, so what, now you're an MD all of a sudden? All you're good for is cleaning up shit.

Wittlesey: Shut up, Eddie. I used to work as a nurse's aid. I can give you a hand.

Alvarez: No fucking way.

(In Glynn's office.)

McManus: Look, we gave 'em a couple of hours to come up with a list of demands. Before we take any action we might as well wait and see what they want.

Devlin: I say no negotiations. I say we cut off Em City's water and electricity and then tonight when they're sitting in the dark, we fire tear gas.

McManus: What about the hostages?

Devlin: Hopefully, the SORT team will reach them.

McManus: Hopefully? Governor, we don't even know where they are!

Devlin: Or if they're alive. Said says he's got 7 hostages. How do we know for sure?

McManus: We ask to see them.

Devlin: The longer we wait, the more chance we're giving them to dig in. Even if we seal off that section of the complex and lock down the other cell blocks, the inmates know what's going on. I'm sitting on a time bomb. I'm going public. I'm sending in the National Guard to surround Oswald. (The phone rings.)

Glynn: Yes? OK. That was Hofmeister. The rioters want food.

Devlin: There's no reason to give 'em anything.

McManus: Oh, yeah, let's starve 'em out.

Glynn: Governor, I see no harm in sending in some sandwiches.

McManus: I'll take 'em inside.

Glynn: What?

McManus: As a condition for giving them food, we tell them they have to let me check on the hostages.

Devlin: You're going in there voluntarily?

McManus: Yeah.

Devlin: You're even stupider than I thought.

(In Em City.)

McManus: Hello!

Adebisi: Leave it there.

McManus: No, uh-uh. The deal was I get to see the hostages.

Ryan: You, alone.

McManus: Dinner is served.

Ross: Help yourself, boys.

Adebisi: Who says we're boys?

Ross: I fucking say you're...

Adebisi: Fuck you.

Ryan: For Christ's sake, we serve the sandwiches the same way we do in the cafeteria. Jesus Christ.

McManus: Where are the hostages?

Ross: I'll show you.

Ryan: OK, gents, line the fuck up. One. One. I said one, Wangler.

(In the hostage room.)

McManus: Are these two ok?

Mukada: They'd be better off in a hospital.

McManus: How 'bout the rest of you?

D'Agnasti: We're fine.

Hunt: No thanks to these cocksuckers.

McManus: Diane?

Ross: No one touched her, if that's what you mean.

McManus: Was I talking to you?

Ross: Watch your mouth, McManus. You ain't king shit around here no more.

McManus: Are there any other hostages?

Wittlesey: No, not that we know of.

McManus: What would it take to get these two and her set free.

Alvarez: We gotta put it to a vote.

(In the leaders' conference room.)

Ross: Why don't you just stand?

McManus: So, you let them go, I stay.

Adebisi: Three or one? Not an even trade.

McManus: If Mineo and Armstrong die, you will be held responsible. We're talking death sentence here.

Ryan: So, ok, the two of them go, but Wittlesey stays.

McManus: No deal.

Ross: McManus, I don't think you fully grasp your current position here. We don't have to let any of them go. Or you.

McManus: You taking me prisoner? You gonna go back on your word?

Said: We have all intentions of fulfilling our part of the bargain.

Ross: Why should we?

Said: Because if we lie to them, we become just like them. And we won't get our list of demands.

Alvarez: I say we let Armstrong and Mineo go.

Ryan: Me too. Who else? Adebisi?

Adebisi: Yeah, fine.

Ryan: Ross?

Ross: Oh, well, Wittlesey's gotta stay.

Ryan: Said? OK.

(At the gate, Mineo and Armstrong are passed through.)

Ryan: Here's a letter for Glynn from McManus explaining the exchange. Here's our demands. Let's go!

(In Glynn's office.)

Glynn: They want to speak directly to the media, uncensored.

Devlin: We'll put 'em on right after Seinfeld.

Glynn: There are to be no reprisals or repercussions to any inmate involved in the riot.

Devlin: Jesus Christ, why don't they just ask to go free?

Glynn: Most of these demands are harmless. Bring back conjugal visits, smoking...

Devlin: Yeah, well, I reject all their demands. I won't negotiate with animals.

Glynn: Then how do you expect me to end the situation?

Devlin: The old-fashioned way. By force.

(In the hostage room.)

Hunt: This is all your fucking fault, McManus.

Wittlesey: Shut up, Eddie.

Hunt: No, Goddammit. If I'm gonna die, at least I want the bastard that got me whacked to know it.

Mukada: How can you blame Tim?

Hunt: How? 'Cause all this Emerald City bullshit. 'Cause Tim thought he could help these cocksuckers. I've seen you in action, man. I've seen you fumble the fucking ball every single play. I just hope if we do die, I get to watch you go first.

(McManus is looking through the glass at Beecher and the images of Ortolani, Keane, Sanchez, Post, Markstrom, and Groves appear.)

McManus: Oh, fuck. Oh, Christ. I gotta see Said. I wanna talk to Said.

Alvarez: I dunno.

McManus: Please, Miguel.

Alvarez: I like this. I like it when you beg, McManus.

(In another pod.)

McManus: Said, I grew up in a small town, upstate New York. There was only one major industry there, the prison. Everybody's parents either worked at the prison or made a living from, you know, motels, gas stations, or, like my dad, had a diner. Right across the street. It was the fall, we'd just gone back to school, I was about to turn ten. I was very, very excited. A few days before my birthday, though, there was this riot. And it lasted four days. But then the Governor authorized 2500 troops, state troopers, to go back in, take it back. They did, firing at anything that moved. So when the tear gas cleared, 31 inmates and 9 hostages were dead.

Said: Attica.

McManus: Three of my friends' fathers were shot. Instead of going to a birthday party, I went with my family to a memorial service.

Said: So that's what this is all about? Emerald City is your birthday party.

McManus: Look, I built Em City because I wanna make a better world for you, for all of you. Right now we're on the edge of oblivion, we're on the brink of disaster. Now before we all join hands and jump, I want another chance.

Said: Not mine to give.

McManus: Yes, it is!

Said: No, it's not! Because even the best prison wouldn't be good enough! I'm gonna try one more time with you, McManus. Now, I am not saying that the men in Oz are innocent. I am saying they are not here because of the crimes that they committed, but because of the color of their skin, the lack of education, the fact that they are poor. You see, this riot is not about getting smoking back, conjugal rights, it's not even about life in prison. It's about society taking responsibility. It's about the whole horrid judicial system. And we don't need more prisons, bigger prisons, better prisons. We need better justice. Now what can you do about that?

McManus: If we don't resolve this, you and me, and soon, people will die. You could die.

Said: I am willing to lay down my life for change. Now, those deaths at Attica, they brought real changes with real reforms. But everybody's forgotten the lessons of your little hometown. Time to wake this country up again, my brother.

Ryan: Said, we gotta talk.

Said: You wanna save this place, right? And I wanna destroy it. Brick by hypocritical brick.

McManus: Wait, wait! Let me outta here!

Ryan: It's not working.

Said: What?

Ryan: The entranceway. Every ten minutes I'm putting a fire out between the gangsters and the Aryans.

Said: Well, put the Aryans in another part of the cell block.

Ryan: They're gonna want something in exchange for giving up the security office.

Said: Just move the Latinos. They can take care of the hostages.

Ryan: OK. There's something else.

Said: What?

Ryan: We're out of heroin.

Said: Good.

Ryan: Says you. Adebisi and his pals are starting to fiend. This is gonna get real ugly, real fast.

Said: When and if that happens, I will be ready.

Ryan: What are you gonna do? Don't you fucking walk away from me, Said!

Said: Enough!

Ryan: Back off, Beecher, back off!

Said: Arif! Everybody go back.

(In McManus' office.)

Wangler: I gotta get some tits, man! There's gotta be some somewhere around here.

Adebisi: Follow me! Come, come! Go through every pod. Go! Go! (The gangsters start looting through all the pods, looking for drugs. Fights breaks out among the inmates.)

Said: Adebisi! It's finished! It's over!

(Hill narrating, with flashbacks of Adebisi's crime.)

Hill: Prisoner number 93A234, Simon Adebisi. Convicted May 2, '93. Murder in the first degree. Sentence: life in prison without the possibility of parole.

(In Em City.)

Adebisi: Go ahead. Kill me.

Said: I don't wanna to kill you.

Adebisi: Right. You wanna to save my ass.

Said: Yes, I want to save you.

Adebisi: Please, give me some tits. Give me some tits. Give me some fucking tits!

(Hill narrating, with shots of the gangsters tied up.)

Hill: They say, "It don't matter if you win or lose, it's how you play the game." I call bullshit on that. It's all about winning, brother. That's the object of the game.

(The lights go out in Em City.)

Arif: What is that?

Said: The beginning of the end, my brother. Beginning of the end. OK, everybody, they're about to make their move. Bring out the hostages.

Adebisi: I'm dying, brother.

Beecher: You shouldn't have stolen my fucking watch.

Adebisi: Hey, bro, don't be like that. Untie me!

Ross: Stand in a straight line. When they come in, you get hit first. Any last words?

McManus: Suck my dick.

Ross: If only there were time.

(Tear gas is thrown in and the hostages get on the floor while the inmates hide.)

Hill: Open the fucking door, man!

Ryan: Fuck!

Beecher: Yeah, motherfuckers!

(The SORT teams breaks in and begins shooting.)

(Hill narrating.)

Hill: Yeah, who cares who lives or dies in prison? We read the names in the morning paper and they mean nothing to us. They're faceless. Truth is, we don't wanna put a face on 'em. We don't want to know who they really are. Because then it might hit too close to home, and home is what it's all about, right? Making a home no matter where you are, no matter who you are. At the end of the day, everybody wants somewhere to rest, somewhere to lay their bones, even if it's in a land called Oz. Yeah, like Dorothy says when she wakes up in her own bed back at Aunt Em's, "There's no place like home." There's no fucking place like home.