Tobias Beecher
Encyclopedia
Tobias Beecher is a main character on the television show Oz
, played by Lee Tergesen
. He is one of only eight regular characters to survive the entire run of the show (not including Augustus Hill
, who is killed at the end of season 5 but comes back as the narrator for season 6). The others are Bob Rebadow
, Ryan O'Reily
, Miguel Alvarez
, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo,
Father Ray Mukada
, Tim McManus
and Dr. Gloria Nathan.
Beecher, a graduate of Harvard Law School
, is a successful attorney, husband and father, but also an alcoholic. One night, he drives drunk — something he had already been arrested for twice — and hits and kills a nine-year-old girl named Kathy Rockwell. He is offered a plea bargain
that would have allowed him to serve his sentence in a minimum security prison, but Beecher, not wanting to do any time in prison, instead goes to trial seeking an acquittal
. The effort fails and the judge, a family friend of the Beechers, decides to make an example of him and sentences him to 15 years in a maximum security prison with a chance for parole after four.
Beecher's personal transformation forms the majority of the show's drama, particularly in season one. Arriving in Oz without any street skills and having a naturally timid personality, he became a target for abuse and was hardened by his experiences, particularly with his archnemesis, Vern Schillinger. He later remarks that, in Oz, he "became the man he always was and never knew". Despite having done some terrible things while in Oz including murdering a guard,Beecher has many moments where he seems aware of how far he has gone and often tries to atone, most notably for his part in the death of Andrew Schillinger.
during his first week in the titular facility. Inmate Vern Schillinger offers to be his new cellmate. Beecher accepts the offer from the seemingly helpful Schillinger, but on their first night in the cell together the leader of the Aryans
rapes Beecher and "brands" him by burning a swastika
design into his right buttock. Beecher is regularly sexually humiliated by Schillinger. In attempting to deal with the trauma, Beecher starts using heroin and develops an addiction. In preparation for the prison talent show Schillinger has Beecher get a "makeover" by one of Em City's drag queen
s. Among other tortures, Schillinger makes Beecher beg to have sex with his wife before a conjugal visit
, forces him to eat pages of a law book, and orders him to tear up pictures of his family. In an attempt to reach him, prison psychologist Sister Peter Marie Reimondo arranges for Beecher to meet with Kathy Rockwell's mother. Beecher is too ashamed to speak, and she condemns him.
Eventually, Schillinger tires of him and forces him to leave the cell wearing a Confederate Flag t-shirt. Beecher, fearing for his own safety amidst the racially charged environment of Em City, goes to Ryan O'Reily
, who provides him with PCP
. Beecher then seeks out Schillinger, smashing the acrylic glass wall of Schillinger's cell and sending a broken shard flying into his eye. Beecher almost jumps to his death immediately afterward, but is restrained by guards and thrown in the isolation ward.
After being released, he confronts Schillinger (who is now sporting an eyepatch) in the prison gym's basketball court. He incapacitates Schillinger by kicking him in the groin and assaulting him with a piece of gym equipment, then defecates upon him in front of many of Emerald City's fiercer inmates. This earns him respect from inmates such as O'Reily, Miguel Alvarez
, and even Adebisi. When a riot erupts in Em City, Beecher sides with O'Reily in the chaos, defending him from an attack by the Muslim
s, as neither belongs to any strong gangs.
Upon his release from isolation, Beecher begins taunting Schillinger, threatening to manipulate Sister Pete's psychiatric reports to ruin his chances at parole
. Frightened, Schillinger unsuccessfully seeks other inmates to kill Beecher for him. Finally, Schillinger seems to find somebody willing to do the deed: guard Diane Wittlesey
, whom he blackmails with knowledge that she had shot a prisoner during the riot. Wittlesey reluctantly agrees to get rid of Beecher if Schillinger will keep quiet. Beecher disappears and Schillinger subsequently meets with Wittlesey to pay her for her services. At this point Wittlesey reveals that she has been recording their conversation. Schillinger is arrested for attempted murder, lengthening his sentence.
Afterwards, with Schillinger in the hole, Beecher brags to his new cellmate, Augustus Hill
, that his plan worked perfectly. Hill warns him that Schillinger, who now has nothing to lose, will be out for revenge even more than he was before. Beecher is too happy to care. During this time, McManus also forces Beecher to confront the judge who sentenced him. She expresses remorse for her ruling and apologizes to Beecher. He responds that she was right in her ruling, but adds that he can't forgive her. Beecher continues to be haunted by dreams of the accident.
Hill is eventually transferred to a different cell. A new inmate, Chris Keller
is brought in, beginning one of the show's most heated and intense rivalries. Keller is a charming sociopath
doing time for robbing a grocery store and killing the owner. Later, Beecher receives word that his wife has committed suicide. Schillinger brags that the Aryan Brotherhood held a gun to her head and forced her to write the suicide letter blaming Beecher for everything that had gone wrong in her life. As time passes, Beecher is surprised to find himself becoming attracted to Keller, and the two eventually share a kiss in the prison laundry room. Unbeknown to Beecher, however, Keller is working with Schillinger, in order to help the latter get revenge. After using Beecher's attraction to Keller to put him through an emotional wringer and start him drinking again, the two corner him with the help of an Aryan guard, Karl Metzger
, and break his arms and legs.
The conflict between Beecher and Schillinger continues throughout the run of the series. When Schillinger's son Andy is arrested and incarcerated in Oz, Beecher sees his chance to get even with Schillinger by befriending the young man and arranging to share a cell with him. While Beecher never does anything to Andy and in fact helps him cope with his withdrawal from drugs, he leads Schillinger to believe that he is going to bed Andy, since Andy now likes him. Moved by Beecher's kindness, Andy renounces his father and everything he believes in. Schillinger then arranges to have his own son killed, by having him thrown in solitary and asking a prison guard to deliver heroin to him in the hole, knowing he'd break from his sobriety and overdose on the drug. Beecher's co-conspirators in the plan (Keller and Ryan O’Reily) are happy about the outcome, since they have tormented Schillinger and turned his son against him. Beecher isn't as satisfied, despite having gotten revenge, and he feels guilty for his part in Andy's death. At this point, Beecher is cellmates with former Muslim leader Kareem Said
, who convinces Beecher to resolve his guilt by asking for forgiveness from Keller and Schillinger. As the racial tension in Oz intensifies, Beecher and Saïd are the only men of different backgrounds who remain friends.
Beecher finally forgives Keller after saving him from Schillinger's attack. In spite of Saïd's disapproval, Keller and Beecher reunite as lovers in the season's finale.
. Schillinger, however, thinks Beecher was trying to turn Hank against him like when Beecher "corrupted" Andy, and orders Hank to kidnap both of Beecher's children. Hank Schillinger severs the hand of Beecher's son and mails it to Beecher in Oz. Hank kills Beecher's son before ultimately releasing his daughter. Schillinger also pays another prisoner to tell Beecher that Keller is responsible for the kidnapping. Enraged, Beecher tries to kill Keller thus opening a rift between the two lovers.
When Beecher learns the truth, he tries to apologize to Keller, but Keller casts him aside. Beecher has sex with inmates Nate Shemin and Mondo Browne
, as he needs to "feel something." Upon learning that Hank Schillinger has been acquitted due to a legal technicality
, he approaches Chucky Pancamo
in order to commission a hit on Hank Schillinger. Beecher has second thoughts shortly afterward, but when he goes to Pancamo to cancel the hit he is informed that it is too late; Hank Schillinger is already dead. Keller later has Shemin and Browne killed in a plot to undermine the authority of Emerald City's new manager, Martin Querns
.
, who is trying to help Beecher fight his inner conflicts. With Keller in Massachusetts for confessing to Hank's murder, Beecher is up for parole and falls in love with his attorney, Katherine McClain. McClain does what she can for Beecher and Beecher is granted parole. Beecher is protected from Schillinger by Saïd and the Muslims. Beecher's parole was only a dream. His parole is denied. In the library that day, Schillinger and Robson come by to taunt Beecher, but before they can harm him, Saïd appears and stabs them both.
informs Beecher that Agent Pierce Taylor has implicated him in the murder of Hank Schillinger, and that the elder Schillinger will come after the Italians for protecting him. Sure enough, the Italians and Aryans go to war.
Shortly after, Keller is released from Massachusetts custody. Keller's return to Oz is not easy, however; Taylor now has evidence implicating him in a series of murders, and a guilty verdict will send him to death row
. Keller is isolated from the general population, and thus from Beecher.
In an interaction session, Schillinger denies any involvement in Beecher's rape. Beecher then attacks him. Afterwards, convicted rapists Franklin Winthrop and Adam Guenzel arrive in Oz, the latter being a friend of Beecher's family. Winthrop is immediately raped by the Aryans; Beecher, fearing for Guenzel's safety, recruits the Italians to protect him. When Robson attempts to rape Guenzel, Frank Urbano
saves him. Angered by a failed attempt, Schillinger forces Winthrop to tell the anti-homosexual Guenzel about Beecher's relationships with men. Disgusted, Guenzel rejects his protector, in part due to concerns about other inmates thinking that he and Beecher are lovers.
Schillinger then apologizes to Beecher in an interaction session and shortly afterwards offers him a deal. Schillinger tells Beecher he can see Keller working in the mail room if he allows Guenzel to be transferred to Unit B, without the Italians' protection, where Schillinger will be free to do whatever he wishes to Guenzel. Beecher initially refuses, but then considers giving in after growing tired of Guenzel's verbal abuse. When Guenzel is talking with Biker Max Sands
, Beecher warns him of the Aryan/Biker alliance that is being used to set Guenzel up for Schillinger. Guenzel then sucker punches him in front of the entire Em City population and repeatedly pushes Beecher's head toward his groin to simulate oral sex. Beecher gives in to Schillinger's demands and convinces McManus that he can no longer help Guenzel. McManus then transfers Guenzel to Unit B where he is gang-raped by the Aryans with Winthrop watching. Guenzel is then seen in the gym, beaten and bloody.
Stricken with guilt, Beecher asks for Saïd's advice. Saïd counsels Beecher to give up his relationship with Keller and help Guenzel any way he can. Beecher asks Sister Pete to talk to Guenzel and Schillinger; Afraid that Guenzel will eventually inform on the Aryans, Schillinger arranges for Guenzel to "escape", which results in Guenzel's death courtesy of the electric fence
. Guilty over Guenzel's death, Beecher confesses to the authorities about Schillinger's involvement, forcing Warden Leo Glynn
to sentence Schillinger to solitary confinement for an undetermined length of time. Beecher then sees Keller, who has just been found guilty of murder, released from the hospital, where the two of them share an intimate kiss.
Soon afterward, Beecher is sent back to prison after a lonely Keller arranges for him to get caught buying illegal drugs. Keller told Beecher that his ex-wife was terribly ill and asked him to pick up a drug for her that hadn't been approved by the F.D.A.
and was thus illegal. After Beecher agrees to do so, Keller anonymously telephones the police and tells them where the deal would take place. Once in prison again, Beecher banishes Keller from his life. In an attempt to make Beecher forgive him, Keller engineers Schillinger's death; during Oz's production of Macbeth
(in which both Beecher and Schillinger had been cast), he switches a prop
knife for a real one, resulting in Schillinger's death when Beecher stabs him.
Once Beecher realizes what happened, he and Keller get into a heated argument, during which Keller realizes that Beecher would never be able to love him again. The argument ends with Beecher rejecting Keller for the final time, as Beecher pushes him away, Keller commits a final act of betrayal by throwing himself backwards and over a railing while screaming "Beecher, DON'T!" effectively committing suicide and implicating Beecher as a murderer. This also ended any hope of Beecher going home early, as Agent Taylor had proposed a deal to him earlier, stating that if he testified to Keller killing the other two homosexual men he was accused of killing, his parole violation would be erased, and he could go back home (while Keller would go back to Death Row, this time for good). At the end of the series, Beecher is in protective custody to shield him from the Aryans, and awaiting trial for Keller's death. Once the prison is evacuated, Beecher smiles on the bus, knowing Keller was responsible for sending the deadly chemical to the mailroom, as Keller had hinted he would "take care of the Aryans" before his death.
^ Sean O'Sullivan and David Wilson, Images of Incarceration: Representations of Prison in Film and Television Drama (Waterside Press, 2004) 1 ,
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...
, played by Lee Tergesen
Lee Tergesen
Lee Allen Tergesen is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Tobias Beecher in HBO’s prison drama Oz and as Evan Wright in Generation Kill.-Early life:...
. He is one of only eight regular characters to survive the entire run of the show (not including 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:...
, who is killed at the end of season 5 but comes back as the narrator for season 6). The others are Bob Rebadow
Bob Rebadow
Robert 'Bob' Rebadow is a fictional character from the television series Oz, a drama series on HBO that portrays a maximum security prison and follows the lives of the inmates in the prison. He is portrayed by George Morfogen.-Character overview:...
, 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,...
, 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:...
, Sister Peter Marie Reimondo,
Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada
Father Ray Mukada is a character on the HBO television series Oz, played by B. D. Wong.right|thumb|B.D. Wong as Father Ray Mukada.-Character history:...
, 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...
and Dr. Gloria Nathan.
Character overview
Prisoner 97B412. Convicted July 5, 1997 – Driving while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter. Sentence: 15 years, up for parole in four. Parole denied in 2001. Granted parole in 2003. Returned to OZ later that year due to a parole violation.Beecher, a graduate of Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
, is a successful attorney, husband and father, but also an alcoholic. One night, he drives drunk — something he had already been arrested for twice — and hits and kills a nine-year-old girl named Kathy Rockwell. He is offered a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
that would have allowed him to serve his sentence in a minimum security prison, but Beecher, not wanting to do any time in prison, instead goes to trial seeking an acquittal
Acquittal
In the common law tradition, an acquittal formally certifies the accused is free from the charge of an offense, as far as the criminal law is concerned. This is so even where the prosecution is abandoned nolle prosequi...
. The effort fails and the judge, a family friend of the Beechers, decides to make an example of him and sentences him to 15 years in a maximum security prison with a chance for parole after four.
Beecher's personal transformation forms the majority of the show's drama, particularly in season one. Arriving in Oz without any street skills and having a naturally timid personality, he became a target for abuse and was hardened by his experiences, particularly with his archnemesis, Vern Schillinger. He later remarks that, in Oz, he "became the man he always was and never knew". Despite having done some terrible things while in Oz including murdering a guard,Beecher has many moments where he seems aware of how far he has gone and often tries to atone, most notably for his part in the death of Andrew Schillinger.
Season 1
Beecher quickly learns that he is out of his element after being roomed with monstrous inmate Simon AdebisiSimon Adebisi
Simon Adebisi is a fictional character played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje on the HBO dramatic series Oz, set in an experimental prison unit.-Character overview:Prisoner #93A234. Convicted May 2, 1993 - Murder in the first degree...
during his first week in the titular facility. Inmate Vern Schillinger offers to be his new cellmate. Beecher accepts the offer from the seemingly helpful Schillinger, but on their first night in the cell together the leader of the Aryans
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...
rapes Beecher and "brands" him by burning a swastika
Swastika
The swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
design into his right buttock. Beecher is regularly sexually humiliated by Schillinger. In attempting to deal with the trauma, Beecher starts using heroin and develops an addiction. In preparation for the prison talent show Schillinger has Beecher get a "makeover" by one of Em City's drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
s. Among other tortures, Schillinger makes Beecher beg to have sex with his wife before a conjugal visit
Conjugal visit
A conjugal visit is a scheduled extended visit during which an inmate of a prison is permitted to spend several hours or days in private, usually with a legal spouse...
, forces him to eat pages of a law book, and orders him to tear up pictures of his family. In an attempt to reach him, prison psychologist Sister Peter Marie Reimondo arranges for Beecher to meet with Kathy Rockwell's mother. Beecher is too ashamed to speak, and she condemns him.
Eventually, Schillinger tires of him and forces him to leave the cell wearing a Confederate Flag t-shirt. Beecher, fearing for his own safety amidst the racially charged environment of Em City, goes to 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,...
, who provides him with PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
. Beecher then seeks out Schillinger, smashing the acrylic glass wall of Schillinger's cell and sending a broken shard flying into his eye. Beecher almost jumps to his death immediately afterward, but is restrained by guards and thrown in the isolation ward.
After being released, he confronts Schillinger (who is now sporting an eyepatch) in the prison gym's basketball court. He incapacitates Schillinger by kicking him in the groin and assaulting him with a piece of gym equipment, then defecates upon him in front of many of Emerald City's fiercer inmates. This earns him respect from inmates such as O'Reily, 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 even Adebisi. When a riot erupts in Em City, Beecher sides with O'Reily in the chaos, defending him from an attack by the 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...
s, as neither belongs to any strong gangs.
Season 2
In the aftermath of the riot, Beecher and the other prisoners housed in Em City are sent to other sections of the prison. Beecher finds himself sharing a cell with James Robson, an Aryan member who tries to make Beecher perform oral sex on him. Beecher has by now learned to fight back and bites the tip of Robson's penis off, which ends up in Beecher being sent to solitary.Upon his release from isolation, Beecher begins taunting Schillinger, threatening to manipulate Sister Pete's psychiatric reports to ruin his chances at 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...
. Frightened, Schillinger unsuccessfully seeks other inmates to kill Beecher for him. Finally, Schillinger seems to find somebody willing to do the deed: guard Diane Wittlesey
Diane Wittlesey
Officer Diane Wittlesey is a fictional character played by Edie Falco on the television program Oz.-Character overview:Oz's first female correctional officer is a divorcee and single mother, who has suffered spousal abuse, poverty and substance abuse; through all of that she gained a pretty good...
, whom he blackmails with knowledge that she had shot a prisoner during the riot. Wittlesey reluctantly agrees to get rid of Beecher if Schillinger will keep quiet. Beecher disappears and Schillinger subsequently meets with Wittlesey to pay her for her services. At this point Wittlesey reveals that she has been recording their conversation. Schillinger is arrested for attempted murder, lengthening his sentence.
Afterwards, with Schillinger in the hole, Beecher brags to his new cellmate, 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:...
, that his plan worked perfectly. Hill warns him that Schillinger, who now has nothing to lose, will be out for revenge even more than he was before. Beecher is too happy to care. During this time, McManus also forces Beecher to confront the judge who sentenced him. She expresses remorse for her ruling and apologizes to Beecher. He responds that she was right in her ruling, but adds that he can't forgive her. Beecher continues to be haunted by dreams of the accident.
Hill is eventually transferred to a different cell. A new inmate, 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...
is brought in, beginning one of the show's most heated and intense rivalries. Keller is a charming sociopath
Antisocial personality disorder
Antisocial personality disorder is described by the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, fourth edition , as an Axis II personality disorder characterized by "...a pervasive pattern of disregard for, and violation of, the rights of others that begins in childhood...
doing time for robbing a grocery store and killing the owner. Later, Beecher receives word that his wife has committed suicide. Schillinger brags that the Aryan Brotherhood held a gun to her head and forced her to write the suicide letter blaming Beecher for everything that had gone wrong in her life. As time passes, Beecher is surprised to find himself becoming attracted to Keller, and the two eventually share a kiss in the prison laundry room. Unbeknown to Beecher, however, Keller is working with Schillinger, in order to help the latter get revenge. After using Beecher's attraction to Keller to put him through an emotional wringer and start him drinking again, the two corner him with the help of an Aryan guard, Karl Metzger
Karl Metzger
Karl Metzger was a fictional guard on the HBO dramatic series Oz, played by Bill Fagerbakke.-Character overview:Karl Metzger is a correctional officer assigned as supervisor of the Emerald City unit of Oswald Prison; A neo-Nazi, Metzger uses his power to intimidate prisoners and assist the Aryan...
, and break his arms and legs.
Season 3
Keller discovers that he has genuinely fallen in love with Beecher, and is desperate to win Beecher's trust. Beecher, however, rejects Keller and refuses to forgive him unless he confesses to his role in the attack. Beecher then kills Metzger. While Keller does confess, Beecher still withholds forgiveness, and ambushes Keller shortly after his release from the infirmary, stabbing him. Although Keller never sees his attacker, Beecher tells him that he'd been the one who attacked him some time later, and also said he didn't at the same time.The conflict between Beecher and Schillinger continues throughout the run of the series. When Schillinger's son Andy is arrested and incarcerated in Oz, Beecher sees his chance to get even with Schillinger by befriending the young man and arranging to share a cell with him. While Beecher never does anything to Andy and in fact helps him cope with his withdrawal from drugs, he leads Schillinger to believe that he is going to bed Andy, since Andy now likes him. Moved by Beecher's kindness, Andy renounces his father and everything he believes in. Schillinger then arranges to have his own son killed, by having him thrown in solitary and asking a prison guard to deliver heroin to him in the hole, knowing he'd break from his sobriety and overdose on the drug. Beecher's co-conspirators in the plan (Keller and Ryan O’Reily) are happy about the outcome, since they have tormented Schillinger and turned his son against him. Beecher isn't as satisfied, despite having gotten revenge, and he feels guilty for his part in Andy's death. At this point, Beecher is cellmates with former Muslim leader 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...
, who convinces Beecher to resolve his guilt by asking for forgiveness from Keller and Schillinger. As the racial tension in Oz intensifies, Beecher and Saïd are the only men of different backgrounds who remain friends.
Beecher finally forgives Keller after saving him from Schillinger's attack. In spite of Saïd's disapproval, Keller and Beecher reunite as lovers in the season's finale.
Part I
Beecher tries to resolve his guilt with Schillinger further by having a private investigator at his father's law firm discover his younger son HankHank Schillinger
Henry "Hank" Schillinger, played by Andrew Barchilon, is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:His father Vern Schillinger is an inmate who runs the Aryan Brotherhood within Oz. An amoral drug addict, Hank, like his younger brother Andrew, has been raised on white...
. Schillinger, however, thinks Beecher was trying to turn Hank against him like when Beecher "corrupted" Andy, and orders Hank to kidnap both of Beecher's children. Hank Schillinger severs the hand of Beecher's son and mails it to Beecher in Oz. Hank kills Beecher's son before ultimately releasing his daughter. Schillinger also pays another prisoner to tell Beecher that Keller is responsible for the kidnapping. Enraged, Beecher tries to kill Keller thus opening a rift between the two lovers.
When Beecher learns the truth, he tries to apologize to Keller, but Keller casts him aside. Beecher has sex with 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...
, as he needs to "feel something." Upon learning that Hank Schillinger has been acquitted due to a legal technicality
Legal technicality
The term legal technicality is a casual or colloquial phrase referring to a technical aspect of law. The phrase is not a term of art in the law; it has no exact meaning, nor does it have a legal definition. It implies that that strict adherence to the letter of the law has prevented the spirit of...
, he approaches 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....
in order to commission a hit on Hank Schillinger. Beecher has second thoughts shortly afterward, but when he goes to Pancamo to cancel the hit he is informed that it is too late; Hank Schillinger is already dead. Keller later has Shemin and Browne killed in a plot to undermine the authority of Emerald City's new manager, 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...
.
Part II
When Schillinger learns of Hank's death, he plots revenge — all chance of which is lost after Keller falsely confesses to having hired the hitman. Keller does so to make himself Schillinger's target instead of Beecher, and not long afterwards he is transferred to another facility. Beecher and Schillinger then are involved in a victim-attacker interaction program led by Sister Peter MarieSister Peter Marie
Sister Peter Marie Reimondo aka Sister Pete is a fictional character on the HBO drama Oz played by Rita Moreno.right|thumb|Rita Moreno as Sister Peter Marie.-Creation:...
, who is trying to help Beecher fight his inner conflicts. With Keller in Massachusetts for confessing to Hank's murder, Beecher is up for parole and falls in love with his attorney, Katherine McClain. McClain does what she can for Beecher and Beecher is granted parole. Beecher is protected from Schillinger by Saïd and the Muslims. Beecher's parole was only a dream. His parole is denied. In the library that day, Schillinger and Robson come by to taunt Beecher, but before they can harm him, Saïd appears and stabs them both.
Season 5
Fearing for a war between the Aryans and Muslims, Sister Pete suggests Beecher mediate interaction sessions between himself, Schillinger, and Saïd. In the first interaction session, Beecher says he felt Schillinger's attempts to ruin his parole were semi-justified, and that Saïd and Schillinger are very alike, despite drastic differences in beliefs. As the interaction sessions continue, Chucky PancamoChucky 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....
informs Beecher that Agent Pierce Taylor has implicated him in the murder of Hank Schillinger, and that the elder Schillinger will come after the Italians for protecting him. Sure enough, the Italians and Aryans go to war.
Shortly after, Keller is released from Massachusetts custody. Keller's return to Oz is not easy, however; Taylor now has evidence implicating him in a series of murders, and a guilty verdict will send him to 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...
. Keller is isolated from the general population, and thus from Beecher.
In an interaction session, Schillinger denies any involvement in Beecher's rape. Beecher then attacks him. Afterwards, convicted rapists Franklin Winthrop and Adam Guenzel arrive in Oz, the latter being a friend of Beecher's family. Winthrop is immediately raped by the Aryans; Beecher, fearing for Guenzel's safety, recruits the Italians to protect him. When Robson attempts to rape Guenzel, Frank Urbano
Frank Urbano
Francis Urbano aka "Frank the Fixer", played by Antoni Corone, is an Italian inmate on the HBO drama Oz.-Character overview:Prisoner #02U672. Convicted January 7, 2002 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Life imprisonment, eligible for parole in 25 years.A famed hitman, he was given a life...
saves him. Angered by a failed attempt, Schillinger forces Winthrop to tell the anti-homosexual Guenzel about Beecher's relationships with men. Disgusted, Guenzel rejects his protector, in part due to concerns about other inmates thinking that he and Beecher are lovers.
Schillinger then apologizes to Beecher in an interaction session and shortly afterwards offers him a deal. Schillinger tells Beecher he can see Keller working in the mail room if he allows Guenzel to be transferred to Unit B, without the Italians' protection, where Schillinger will be free to do whatever he wishes to Guenzel. Beecher initially refuses, but then considers giving in after growing tired of Guenzel's verbal abuse. When Guenzel is talking with Biker Max Sands
Max Sands
Max Sands, played by Mike Arotsky, is a Biker inmate on the HBO drama Oz. A background member for the most part, he appears as one of the Bikers in Emerald City throughout his stay on the series...
, Beecher warns him of the Aryan/Biker alliance that is being used to set Guenzel up for Schillinger. Guenzel then sucker punches him in front of the entire Em City population and repeatedly pushes Beecher's head toward his groin to simulate oral sex. Beecher gives in to Schillinger's demands and convinces McManus that he can no longer help Guenzel. McManus then transfers Guenzel to Unit B where he is gang-raped by the Aryans with Winthrop watching. Guenzel is then seen in the gym, beaten and bloody.
Stricken with guilt, Beecher asks for Saïd's advice. Saïd counsels Beecher to give up his relationship with Keller and help Guenzel any way he can. Beecher asks Sister Pete to talk to Guenzel and Schillinger; Afraid that Guenzel will eventually inform on the Aryans, Schillinger arranges for Guenzel to "escape", which results in Guenzel's death courtesy of the electric fence
Electric fence
An electric fence is a barrier that uses electric shocks to deter animals or people from crossing a boundary. The voltage of the shock may have effects ranging from uncomfortable, to painful or even lethal...
. Guilty over Guenzel's death, Beecher confesses to the authorities about Schillinger's involvement, forcing 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:...
to sentence Schillinger to solitary confinement for an undetermined length of time. Beecher then sees Keller, who has just been found guilty of murder, released from the hospital, where the two of them share an intimate kiss.
Season 6
Beecher is transferred to a safer unit, as McManus sees that he has become an Aryan target once again for testifying against Schillinger. Beecher's father, Harrison, in the meantime appeals Keller's death sentence until Winthrop kills him to earn membership in the Aryan Brotherhood. Fortunately, Beecher is paroled, inherits his father's law firm, and gets Keller's death sentence overturned.Soon afterward, Beecher is sent back to prison after a lonely Keller arranges for him to get caught buying illegal drugs. Keller told Beecher that his ex-wife was terribly ill and asked him to pick up a drug for her that hadn't been approved by the F.D.A.
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
and was thus illegal. After Beecher agrees to do so, Keller anonymously telephones the police and tells them where the deal would take place. Once in prison again, Beecher banishes Keller from his life. In an attempt to make Beecher forgive him, Keller engineers Schillinger's death; during Oz's production of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
(in which both Beecher and Schillinger had been cast), he switches a prop
Theatrical property
A theatrical property, commonly referred to as a prop, is an object used on stage by actors to further the plot or story line of a theatrical production. Smaller props are referred to as "hand props". Larger props may also be set decoration, such as a chair or table. The difference between a set...
knife for a real one, resulting in Schillinger's death when Beecher stabs him.
Once Beecher realizes what happened, he and Keller get into a heated argument, during which Keller realizes that Beecher would never be able to love him again. The argument ends with Beecher rejecting Keller for the final time, as Beecher pushes him away, Keller commits a final act of betrayal by throwing himself backwards and over a railing while screaming "Beecher, DON'T!" effectively committing suicide and implicating Beecher as a murderer. This also ended any hope of Beecher going home early, as Agent Taylor had proposed a deal to him earlier, stating that if he testified to Keller killing the other two homosexual men he was accused of killing, his parole violation would be erased, and he could go back home (while Keller would go back to Death Row, this time for good). At the end of the series, Beecher is in protective custody to shield him from the Aryans, and awaiting trial for Keller's death. Once the prison is evacuated, Beecher smiles on the bus, knowing Keller was responsible for sending the deadly chemical to the mailroom, as Keller had hinted he would "take care of the Aryans" before his death.
External links
^ Sean O'Sullivan and David Wilson, Images of Incarceration: Representations of Prison in Film and Television Drama (Waterside Press, 2004) 1 ,