Simon Adebisi
Encyclopedia
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
on the HBO dramatic series Oz
, set in an experimental prison unit.
Serving a life sentence for beheading an undercover cop with a machete, and as the leader of the black gang in Oz (dubbed the "Homeboys"), Simon Adebisi is considered one of the prison's most dangerous inmates, and becomes one of the most recognizable characters on the show. He is well known for his trademark tilted hat, a trademark which Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje suggested as inspired by gang members in Nigeria named "Area Boys", where he is from.
Adebisi is a native of Nigeria
, of the Yoruba people
, and speaks with a strong accent, but had been in America for about 15 years prior to his incarceration. Despite often appearing short-tempered and hedonistic, Adebisi is very capable of engineering and executing long-term plans and shows a surprising intellect and skill for manipulation. Adebisi is extremely muscular.
. When Keane died in Episode 4, Adebisi becomes the leader of the Homeboys gang, after he and Wangler kill Paul Markstrom
, taking the drug trade from the Italians with the help of Ryan O'Reily
. The Italian Mob boss Nino Schibetta
saw him as the best drug player among the black inmates and respected his leadership skills. Unbeknownst to Schibetta, Adebisi and O'Reilly intend to take over the drug trade and began putting crushed glass into Schibetta's food to slowly kill him. In the Season 1 finale, Adebisi, along with O'Reily, Kareem Said
, Miguel Alvarez
and Scott Ross
, is a leader of the riot in Emerald City. He is taken prisoner by the other inmates, however, when he is incapacitated due to heroin withdrawal. In that episode, it is revealed that Adebisi is serving a sentence of life imprisonment
without parole
for beheading an undercover cop in 1993, an act that seems to have swept the previous governor out of office and gave Governor James Devlin
his opening to reinstate the death penalty.
's son Peter Schibetta
comes to Oz and learns that Adebisi is responsible for the death of his father Nino, and is himself poisoned by Adebisi. Schibetta swears revenge and tries to kill Adebisi with help from Chucky Pancamo
. Adebisi is able to defend himself against the two and knocks Pancamo out with an industrial can opener and a large can of peaches. He then brutally rapes the semi-conscious Schibetta. As a result, Schibetta, traumatized
by the rape, begins losing his mind and is transferred to the psych ward. Adebisi freely uses the slur "guinea" towards the Italian Mafia to show he is not afraid of them.
However, two distractions held Adebisi's attention: first, his crush on death row
inmate Shirley Bellinger
, who flirts with him through notes before rejecting him upon discovering that he is black.
Secondly, his heroin addiction is out of control. The Italian Mob, seeking revenge for Schibetta's rape, takes advantage of this when new inmate Antonio Nappa
gets Adebisi put into drug rehab through his staff connections. Adebisi is deposed as the head of the Homeboys and cut out of the drug trade through the help of Nappa's former friends. Another Nigerian Yoruba prisoner, an elderly man named Kipekemie Jara
, comes to Oz, and begins to rehabilitate Adebisi, but at the same time the stress of the change brings on schizophrenic visions and severe psychosis
. The Italians and the blacks consider Jara a threat, so they kill him. The shock and trauma of the event triggers a nervous breakdown
in Adebisi and he is moved to the psych ward, placed in a cell right next to Peter Schibetta.
that a potential change in heart from Adebisi could prove useful for the Italian mobsters. This is all a ploy, however, as he takes a job in the AIDS
ward as a means of obtaining blood from AIDS patient Robbie Gerth
to prick Nappa undetected with an HIV
-infected needle. When Dr. Nathan confirms that Nappa is HIV-positive, he is sent to the AIDS ward, and Pancamo assumes leadership among the Italians. From here Adebisi gets ready to take control of the Homeboys once again.
Meanwhile, Kenny Wangler
is leading the Homeboys, who no longer trust Adebisi. Adebisi approaches Pancamo about becoming partners in the drug trade. Pancamo initially refuses because he is still angered about the beating Adebisi gave him and Schibetta. However, when Adebisi points out that he could be "a strong ally," Pancamo realizes that Adebisi is the best black inmate to work with in the drug trade and is willing to work with him as long as he takes Wangler down. Adebisi then shows his sincerity with a plot to depose current black gang member Wangler by burning the skin of Wangler's allies, Poet and Junior Pierce
, while Wangler is away at a funeral. When Wangler arrives back in Oz he is locked in as Adebisi's cellmate. Sharing a cell with Wangler, Adebisi practices various African "warrior training" activities such as hog tying Wangler naked, exposing his anus. Adebisi goes one further with Wangler forcing him to accuse Unit Manager Tim McManus
of sexual harassment
. The claim hurt McManus, as he is already facing a sexual harassment suit from Claire Howell
, putting McManus's credibility at further risk.
He begins to formulate a plan to take over Emerald City and make it "all black." The first step is to convince the impressionable Correctional Officer Clayton Hughes
to help his Black American counterparts behind bars as opposed to keeping them locked in. Adebisi tells him that his father had also died in Oz and then convinces Hughes that a white inmate murdered his father. Hughes, after seeing a few white officers make racist
statements, starts accusing other black staff members, including Warden Leo Glynn
, of betraying their own people and working for an oppressive white-run system. Adebisi's second step involved rallying the Black inmates as a means of taking over the prison. He engineers a plan which results in the hacks throwing Hill in the hole. He exploits the perceived racism of the white officers in order to incense the black inmates to riot. Despite opposition from Muslim
inmate Kareem Said
, the black inmates led by Adebisi begin shouting "Set Hill Free" and start physically confronting both the White inmates and correctional officers. Glynn fearing for a riot locks Oz down into the new millennium and then fires Hughes for being sympathetic to Adebisi's cause. Hughes however leaves Adebisi with a gun on his last day of work as New Year's Eve approaches.
, who is a solitary loner unfit to handle the stress of prison life. Seeking revenge for the death of Jara, Adebisi then leaves the gun under Tarrant's mattress. The next time Wangler tries to bully Tarrant, Tarrant pulls the gun and kills him, his friend Junior Pierce
, Lou Rath, and officer Joseph Howard, all four of whom are black before turning the weapon on himself. With four blacks including one correctional officer dead at the hands of a white inmate, Adebisi's goals are accomplished (In the journal of Augustus Hill
, it is claimed that with the death of Officer Howard, Adebisi figuratively hit the jackpot
) and his plan is set in motion as Glynn fires McManus for overlooking the gun smuggling incident. Raoul Hernandez informs on him, convinced that the Latinos will move to aid the Whites. Hernandez tells Glynn that Adebisi used the gun to stir up racial tension and that it was given to him by Hughes. Adebisi and Pancamo agree that it is time for El Cid to die, and use new inmate Enrique Morales
to kill Hernandez and take his position as El Norte's gang leader. Meanwhile, a new inmate named Desmond Mobay, who is supposedly Jamaica
n, wants in with the gangsters. Mobay is actually a narcotics detective named Johnny Basil who is sent in to bust the drug trade in Emerald City. Adebisi suspects this and opposes having Mobay join as a member their crew. But Mobay comes though and passes every initiation test successfully, eventually gaining their confidence, especially that of Pancamo.
Over the course of the season Adebisi, with the help of Zahir Arif
, persuades outside community leaders to pressure Glynn into hiring a black man to replace McManus. Glynn is running for Lieutenant Governor, and sees that hiring a black man to run Em City is likely to gain him more support from the regisitered African American
voters. Eventually, Glynn does indeed hire a black man for the job named Martin Querns
. Querns, himself an ex-drug dealer, is told to rid Emerald City of violence and racial tension. Querns tells Adebisi that he and his followers can do whatever they wished as long as they prevent any violence. Head guard Sean Murphy
, an ardent supporter of McManus, is appalled by Querns' system, especially because it makes Adebisi, Pancamo, and Morales the trustees. Murphy questions Querns' motive in transferring all of the Aryan
and Biker inmates out of Em City. Querns fires Murphy and instates a black officer Travis Smith
as the head of Emerald City. Querns later recommends that Glynn transfer all of the guards loyal to Sean Murphy out of Em City. Glynn allows Querns to transfer all of the white guards with the exception of Claire Howell
, who hates McManus. All of the new guards transferred into Em City are black, as are all of the new inmates. However, none of these inmates are Muslim. This angers Arif, who had helped Adebisi get a black man to run Emerald City in the first place. The new inmates are also all loyal to Adebisi who now becomes the most powerful and influential inmate in the prison, and is given free rein by Querns as long as he suppressed violent incidents. Adebisi now has the freedom to satisfy all his vices, installing a curtain in his cell and creating his own version of "paradise", although he could not escape the fact that he was still in prison. In time, the Christian
and gay
gangs, both predominantly white, are replaced by black inmates, and soon the Italian and Latino inmates are deprived of the drug trade. When these two groups are sent to Unit B, two of Adebisi's lieutenants, Poet and Supreme Allah
, are named trustees to replace Pancamo and Morales.
At the same time, two of the very few white inmates left in Em City, Chris Keller
and Ryan O'Reily
, decide to work together to bring Adebisi and Querns down. Keller murders inmates Nate Shemin and Mondo Browne
, and he and frames Supreme Allah
, Adebisi's lieutenant. This causes Warden Glynn to began to mistrust Querns, who in turn begins to mistrust Adebisi, who tries to force a confession out of his lieutenant and various others. Adebisi is rattled by these events and begins to distrust his own men.
Said, the re-instated leader of the Muslims, and Vernon Schillinger
, leader of the Aryan Brotherhood
, are greatly concerned about the effects of Adebisi's leadership in Em City under Querns. Said believes that Emerald City is rapidly becoming an inferno in which black inmates are being mentally poisoned, while Schillinger fears that the black "ghetto
" that Querns and Adebisi have created in Em City will eventually spread into every other unit in Oz. Taking of Adebisi's distrust of his men is light of the murders, Said pretends to join forces with Adebisi (Who is aware the Muslims do not commit murder) with the covert intention of bringing him down. Said learns of Adebisi's video recordings of drug parties held in his cell, and resolves to find a way to supply Glynn with this damning evidence of Querns' misconduct, the warden will fire Querns and have Adebisi transferred into general population.
Adebisi accepts Said's request to move into his cell and voluntarily gives him a video tape to "test his loyalty." However, Said's loyalty is called into question after fellow Homeboy Leroy Tidd
learns of the minister's plan to destroy Adebisi. Eventually the tape finds its way to the warden and Querns is immediately fired. When McManus is reinstated as unit manager of Em City, he announces Adebisi's transfer from Emerald City, Adebisi is enraged and storms into his cell to kill Said with a knife. The two of them struggle and the altercation ends when a pool of blood is seen staining the surrounding white curtain. Adebisi emerges from his cell smiling and looking victorious, before revealing his fatal injuries by spitting up blood and falling to the floor. Said comes out behind him with the bloody knife in hand, apparently having killed Adebisi in self-defense. The reason why Adebisi was killed was so that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje could film the movie The Mummy Returns
.
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje
Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is a British actor, and former fashion model best known for his roles as Mr. Eko on Lost, Simon Adebisi on Oz and Nykwana Wombosi in The Bourne Identity.-Early life and career:...
on the HBO dramatic series Oz
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...
, set in an experimental prison unit.
Character overview
Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.Serving a life sentence for beheading an undercover cop with a machete, and as the leader of the black gang in Oz (dubbed the "Homeboys"), Simon Adebisi is considered one of the prison's most dangerous inmates, and becomes one of the most recognizable characters on the show. He is well known for his trademark tilted hat, a trademark which Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje suggested as inspired by gang members in Nigeria named "Area Boys", where he is from.
Adebisi is a native of Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
, of the Yoruba people
Yoruba people
The Yoruba people are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. The majority of the Yoruba speak the Yoruba language...
, and speaks with a strong accent, but had been in America for about 15 years prior to his incarceration. Despite often appearing short-tempered and hedonistic, Adebisi is very capable of engineering and executing long-term plans and shows a surprising intellect and skill for manipulation. Adebisi is extremely muscular.
Season 1
Adebisi began as a minor character; a lieutenant of Jefferson KeaneJefferson Keane
Jefferson Keane aka Tizi Ozuo is a fictional character in the HBO prison drama Oz played by American actor Leon Robinson.-Character overview:...
. When Keane died in Episode 4, Adebisi becomes the leader of the Homeboys gang, after he and Wangler kill Paul Markstrom
Paul Markstrom
Paul Markstrom, played by O.L. Duke, is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Paul Markstrom is an undercover police detective sent to Oz in order to investigate the drug trade within its walls. He is introduced as Warden Leo Glynn's cousin as his cover. He joins the...
, taking the drug trade from the Italians with the help of Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily is a main character in the television series Oz. He was portrayed by Dean Winters 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,...
. The Italian Mob boss 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...
saw him as the best drug player among the black inmates and respected his leadership skills. Unbeknownst to Schibetta, Adebisi and O'Reilly intend to take over the drug trade and began putting crushed glass into Schibetta's food to slowly kill him. In the Season 1 finale, Adebisi, along with O'Reily, Kareem Said
Kareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
, 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 Scott Ross
Scott Ross (Oz)
Scott Ross, played by Stephen Gevedon, is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz.right|thumb|Stephen Gevedon as Scott Ross.-Character overview:...
, is a leader of the riot in Emerald City. He is taken prisoner by the other inmates, however, when he is incapacitated due to heroin withdrawal. In that episode, it is revealed that Adebisi is serving a sentence of 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...
without parole
Parole
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...
for beheading an undercover cop in 1993, an act that seems to have swept the previous governor out of office and gave Governor James Devlin
Governor 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...
his opening to reinstate the death penalty.
Season 2
Adebisi continues to suffer severe heroin withdrawal while in solitary during the post-riot lockdown. However, he is able to maintain control of the Homeboys when the renovated Em City reopens. Nino SchibettaNino 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...
's son Peter Schibetta
Peter 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....
comes to Oz and learns that Adebisi is responsible for the death of his father Nino, and is himself poisoned by Adebisi. Schibetta swears revenge and tries to kill Adebisi with help from 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....
. Adebisi is able to defend himself against the two and knocks Pancamo out with an industrial can opener and a large can of peaches. He then brutally rapes the semi-conscious Schibetta. As a result, Schibetta, traumatized
Psychological trauma
Psychological trauma is a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a traumatic event...
by the rape, begins losing his mind and is transferred to the psych ward. Adebisi freely uses the slur "guinea" towards the Italian Mafia to show he is not afraid of them.
However, two distractions held Adebisi's attention: first, his crush on death row
Death row
Death 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...
inmate Shirley Bellinger
Shirley Bellinger
Shirley Bellinger is a fictional character in the HBO series Oz played by Kathryn Erbe and also referenced in the related book OZ: Behind These Walls: The Journal of Augustus Hill.-Character overview:...
, who flirts with him through notes before rejecting him upon discovering that he is black.
Secondly, his heroin addiction is out of control. The Italian Mob, seeking revenge for Schibetta's rape, takes advantage of this when new inmate Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa is a fictional character played by Mark Margolis on the HBO dramatic series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #98N744. Convicted June 4, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 80 years, eligible for parole in 50...
gets Adebisi put into drug rehab through his staff connections. Adebisi is deposed as the head of the Homeboys and cut out of the drug trade through the help of Nappa's former friends. Another Nigerian Yoruba prisoner, an elderly man named Kipekemie Jara
Kipekemie Jara
Kipekemie Jara is a fictional prisoner on the television show Oz, played by Zakes Mokae.- Character Overview :Prisoner 98J604, Kipekemie Jara. Convicted August 1st 1998 - Criminally negligent homicide...
, comes to Oz, and begins to rehabilitate Adebisi, but at the same time the stress of the change brings on schizophrenic visions and severe psychosis
Psychosis
Psychosis means abnormal condition of the mind, and is a generic psychiatric term for a mental state often described as involving a "loss of contact with reality"...
. The Italians and the blacks consider Jara a threat, so they kill him. The shock and trauma of the event triggers a nervous breakdown
Nervous breakdown
Mental breakdown is a non-medical term used to describe an acute, time-limited phase of a specific disorder that presents primarily with features of depression or anxiety.-Definition:...
in Adebisi and he is moved to the psych ward, placed in a cell right next to Peter Schibetta.
Season 3
Adebisi comes out of the psych ward pretending to be a changed man. To prove he is sane, he defends Peter Schibetta, the man he raped, from an attacker in the psych ward. This convinces the Italian Don Antonio NappaAntonio Nappa
Antonio Nappa is a fictional character played by Mark Margolis on the HBO dramatic series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #98N744. Convicted June 4, 1998 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: 80 years, eligible for parole in 50...
that a potential change in heart from Adebisi could prove useful for the Italian mobsters. This is all a ploy, however, as he takes a job in the AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
ward as a means of obtaining blood from AIDS patient Robbie Gerth
Robbie Gerth
Robbie Gerth is a fictional character at HBO drama Oz played by Patrick Breen.-Season 3:When Simon Adebisi, claiming he wants to learn about AIDS, is transferred to work at the AIDS Ward. There, Adebisi meets Gerth, a patient at the last stage of HIV. Claiming that Dr. Gloria Nathan ordered him to,...
to prick Nappa undetected with an HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
-infected needle. When Dr. Nathan confirms that Nappa is HIV-positive, he is sent to the AIDS ward, and Pancamo assumes leadership among the Italians. From here Adebisi gets ready to take control of the Homeboys once again.
Meanwhile, Kenny Wangler
Kenny Wangler
Kenny "Bricks" Wangler is a fictional character in the HBO drama Oz, played by actor J.D. Williams.-Character overview:Prisoner #97W566. Convicted July 6, 1997 - murder in the first degree . Sentence: 20 years, eligible for parole in six.He was sent to prison for murdering a student he was...
is leading the Homeboys, who no longer trust Adebisi. Adebisi approaches Pancamo about becoming partners in the drug trade. Pancamo initially refuses because he is still angered about the beating Adebisi gave him and Schibetta. However, when Adebisi points out that he could be "a strong ally," Pancamo realizes that Adebisi is the best black inmate to work with in the drug trade and is willing to work with him as long as he takes Wangler down. Adebisi then shows his sincerity with a plot to depose current black gang member Wangler by burning the skin of Wangler's allies, Poet and Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce, played by Malé B. Alexander is a fictional character on the American HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:Pierce is an enforcer of the Homeboys, Oz's main African-American prison gang...
, while Wangler is away at a funeral. When Wangler arrives back in Oz he is locked in as Adebisi's cellmate. Sharing a cell with Wangler, Adebisi practices various African "warrior training" activities such as hog tying Wangler naked, exposing his anus. Adebisi goes one further with Wangler forcing him to accuse Unit Manager 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...
of sexual harassment
Sexual harassment
Sexual harassment, is intimidation, bullying or coercion of a sexual nature, or the unwelcome or inappropriate promise of rewards in exchange for sexual favors. In some contexts or circumstances, sexual harassment is illegal. It includes a range of behavior from seemingly mild transgressions and...
. The claim hurt McManus, as he is already facing a sexual harassment suit from 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...
, putting McManus's credibility at further risk.
He begins to formulate a plan to take over Emerald City and make it "all black." The first step is to convince the impressionable Correctional Officer Clayton Hughes
Clayton Hughes
Clayton Hughes is a character played by Seth Gilliam on the HBO dramatic series Oz, which takes place in an experimental prison unit.He started out as a corrections officer. Warden Glynn did not want Clayton to work in Oz. The main reason was that Clayton's father, Samuel Hughes, was murdered in Oz...
to help his Black American counterparts behind bars as opposed to keeping them locked in. Adebisi tells him that his father had also died in Oz and then convinces Hughes that a white inmate murdered his father. Hughes, after seeing a few white officers make racist
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
statements, starts accusing other black staff members, including Warden Leo Glynn
Warden Leo Glynn
Leo Glynn is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz. He is the warden of the Oswald state correctional facility-Character overview:...
, of betraying their own people and working for an oppressive white-run system. Adebisi's second step involved rallying the Black inmates as a means of taking over the prison. He engineers a plan which results in the hacks throwing Hill in the hole. He exploits the perceived racism of the white officers in order to incense the black inmates to riot. Despite opposition from 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 Kareem Said
Kareem Said
Kareem Saïd is a character played by British actor Eamonn Walker on the American television show Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #97S444. Convicted June 6, 1997 - Arson in the second degree. Sentence: 18 years, eligible for parole in five...
, the black inmates led by Adebisi begin shouting "Set Hill Free" and start physically confronting both the White inmates and correctional officers. Glynn fearing for a riot locks Oz down into the new millennium and then fires Hughes for being sympathetic to Adebisi's cause. Hughes however leaves Adebisi with a gun on his last day of work as New Year's Eve approaches.
Season 4
Upon the end of the lockdown Adebisi creates a tense situation by holding the smuggled gun in his cell, claiming that it will help get a black man to run Emerald City. He then manipulates Warden Glynn to let Poet, Pierce, and Wangler back into Em City claiming that the racial situation will rest easier getting them back around him. When Wangler asks why Adebisi isn't using the gun, he claims that their goal to get a black man to run Emerald City will be accomplished better if another inmate uses the gun. Adebisi then notices that the three of them led by Wangler harass and bully a new white inmate, a Frenchman named Guillaume TarrantGuillaume Tarrant
Guillaume Tarrant was a fictional character on the HBO prison series Oz played by Lothaire Bluteau.- Character Overview :Prisoner #00T416. Convicted January 2, 2000 - Destruction of private property, concealment of a deadly weapon. Sentence: 10 years, eligible for parole in 3.Guillaume Tarrant was...
, who is a solitary loner unfit to handle the stress of prison life. Seeking revenge for the death of Jara, Adebisi then leaves the gun under Tarrant's mattress. The next time Wangler tries to bully Tarrant, Tarrant pulls the gun and kills him, his friend Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce
Junior Pierce, played by Malé B. Alexander is a fictional character on the American HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:Pierce is an enforcer of the Homeboys, Oz's main African-American prison gang...
, Lou Rath, and officer Joseph Howard, all four of whom are black before turning the weapon on himself. With four blacks including one correctional officer dead at the hands of a white inmate, Adebisi's goals are accomplished (In the journal of Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill
Augustus Hill is a fictional character, played by Harold Perrineau on the American television show Oz, serving as the show's narrator.-Character overview:...
, it is claimed that with the death of Officer Howard, Adebisi figuratively hit the jackpot
Progressive jackpot
A progressive jackpot is a jackpot for a gaming machine where the value of the jackpot increases a small amount for every game played...
) and his plan is set in motion as Glynn fires McManus for overlooking the gun smuggling incident. Raoul Hernandez informs on him, convinced that the Latinos will move to aid the Whites. Hernandez tells Glynn that Adebisi used the gun to stir up racial tension and that it was given to him by Hughes. Adebisi and Pancamo agree that it is time for El Cid to die, and use new inmate 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....
to kill Hernandez and take his position as El Norte's gang leader. Meanwhile, a new inmate named Desmond Mobay, who is supposedly Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
n, wants in with the gangsters. Mobay is actually a narcotics detective named Johnny Basil who is sent in to bust the drug trade in Emerald City. Adebisi suspects this and opposes having Mobay join as a member their crew. But Mobay comes though and passes every initiation test successfully, eventually gaining their confidence, especially that of Pancamo.
Over the course of the season Adebisi, with the help of Zahir Arif
Zahir Arif
Zahir Arif aka Jerome Van Dyke is a fictional character on the HBO series Oz, played by Granville Adams.-Character overview:Arif is a former drug addict in prison apparently for possession of stolen goods. In prison, he undergoes a spiritual transformation into one of the most well-behaved and...
, persuades outside community leaders to pressure Glynn into hiring a black man to replace McManus. Glynn is running for Lieutenant Governor, and sees that hiring a black man to run Em City is likely to gain him more support from the regisitered African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
voters. Eventually, Glynn does indeed hire a black man for the job named 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...
. Querns, himself an ex-drug dealer, is told to rid Emerald City of violence and racial tension. Querns tells Adebisi that he and his followers can do whatever they wished as long as they prevent any violence. Head guard Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy
Sean Murphy may refer to:* Sean Murphy , cartoonist* Sean Murphy , professor at Royal Holloway, University of London* Seán Murphy , retired Irish football player...
, an ardent supporter of McManus, is appalled by Querns' system, especially because it makes Adebisi, Pancamo, and Morales the trustees. Murphy questions Querns' motive in transferring all of the Aryan
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
and Biker inmates out of Em City. Querns fires Murphy and instates a black officer Travis Smith
Travis Smith (Oz)
Travis Smith is one of the correctional officers on the HBO drama Oz, played by Jerome Preston Bates.Smith first appears as the Head CO of Emerald City under the management of Martin Querns. Querns and Smith both work together with inmate Simon Adebisi to build a virtually all-Black correctional...
as the head of Emerald City. Querns later recommends that Glynn transfer all of the guards loyal to Sean Murphy out of Em City. Glynn allows Querns to transfer all of the white guards with the exception of 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...
, who hates McManus. All of the new guards transferred into Em City are black, as are all of the new inmates. However, none of these inmates are Muslim. This angers Arif, who had helped Adebisi get a black man to run Emerald City in the first place. The new inmates are also all loyal to Adebisi who now becomes the most powerful and influential inmate in the prison, and is given free rein by Querns as long as he suppressed violent incidents. Adebisi now has the freedom to satisfy all his vices, installing a curtain in his cell and creating his own version of "paradise", although he could not escape the fact that he was still in prison. In time, the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
and gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
gangs, both predominantly white, are replaced by black inmates, and soon the Italian and Latino inmates are deprived of the drug trade. When these two groups are sent to Unit B, two of Adebisi's lieutenants, Poet and 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...
, are named trustees to replace Pancamo and Morales.
At the same time, two of the very few white inmates left in Em City, 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...
and Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily
Ryan O'Reily is a main character in the television series Oz. He was portrayed by Dean Winters 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,...
, decide to work together to bring Adebisi and Querns down. Keller murders 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 he and frames 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...
, Adebisi's lieutenant. This causes Warden Glynn to began to mistrust Querns, who in turn begins to mistrust Adebisi, who tries to force a confession out of his lieutenant and various others. Adebisi is rattled by these events and begins to distrust his own men.
Said, the re-instated leader of the Muslims, and Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger
Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character, played by American actor J. K. Simmons, on the HBO series Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #92S110. Convicted October 21, 1992 – Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, eligible for parole in five...
, leader of the 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...
, are greatly concerned about the effects of Adebisi's leadership in Em City under Querns. Said believes that Emerald City is rapidly becoming an inferno in which black inmates are being mentally poisoned, while Schillinger fears that the black "ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
" that Querns and Adebisi have created in Em City will eventually spread into every other unit in Oz. Taking of Adebisi's distrust of his men is light of the murders, Said pretends to join forces with Adebisi (Who is aware the Muslims do not commit murder) with the covert intention of bringing him down. Said learns of Adebisi's video recordings of drug parties held in his cell, and resolves to find a way to supply Glynn with this damning evidence of Querns' misconduct, the warden will fire Querns and have Adebisi transferred into general population.
Adebisi accepts Said's request to move into his cell and voluntarily gives him a video tape to "test his loyalty." However, Said's loyalty is called into question after fellow Homeboy Leroy Tidd
Leroy Tidd
Leroy Tidd is a fictional character on the series Oz, an African American inmate played by Jacques Smith.-Character overview:Prisoner #00T255. Convicted May 10, 2000 - Armed robbery, reckless endangerment. Sentence: 20 years, eligible for parole in 12.Imprisoned for armed robbery and running over a...
learns of the minister's plan to destroy Adebisi. Eventually the tape finds its way to the warden and Querns is immediately fired. When McManus is reinstated as unit manager of Em City, he announces Adebisi's transfer from Emerald City, Adebisi is enraged and storms into his cell to kill Said with a knife. The two of them struggle and the altercation ends when a pool of blood is seen staining the surrounding white curtain. Adebisi emerges from his cell smiling and looking victorious, before revealing his fatal injuries by spitting up blood and falling to the floor. Said comes out behind him with the bloody knife in hand, apparently having killed Adebisi in self-defense. The reason why Adebisi was killed was so that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje could film the movie The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns
The Mummy Returns is a 2001 American adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr, Patricia Velásquez and Freddie Boath. The film is a sequel to the 1999 film The Mummy...
.