surprise season
I had never seen this season and it came to me quickly and didn't disapoint.

Such a wonderful show!
I own and have watched every episode of OZ ranging from season 1-6. The story is compelling and very deep and of course for adult audiences only. I love how the characters unfold and progressively become more complex. This series portrays prison life as very brutal and unforgiving, but there is always a subtle reminder that these convicts are still humans with feelings and a heart. Season one starts off with a bang, and some of the annoyances are cleared up by season two. Save yourself the trouble and buy all the seasons when they are on sale through amazon. You won't regret it.

Put This Show In Prison
Do NOT believe the hype and the 5-star reviews that this show is getting - trust me. Some (but not all) of the reasons I "sentenced" this show to a 1-star rating are mentioned below:

OUTDATED: This show is seriously outdated. Compared to "The Wire" which should hold up for at least 10 years, this show just seemed very ancient and not relevant to today at all.

STORYLINES: This is HBO, so you know this show is going to be extremely politically correct and left-wing. But come on HBO and OZ writers, do you have to be so blatant about it? As for the specific storylines, there were so many flaws that I won't waste your are my time dissecting each episode. Besides, the stories were so boring and unbelievable anyways, that it's not even worth discussing. If you know anything about prison (which I'm not saying I do) or have watched tv specials/documentaries about a real prison you'll know that this show is full of "you know what" and the premise would never hold-up.

SETTING: The setting for this show was absolutely horrible. The jail setting(s) were completely fabricated on a bad film stage and just made the show visually boring. I mean the producers couldn't chalk up some more money to have a `yard' scene or more realistic shots!? The lighting was too bright and everything was closed in too tight - but not in a good and intentional way.

CAST OF CHARACTERS: What were the casting directors and producers thinking? I mean Edie Falco as a tough security guard. A washed-up Ernie Hudson as the warden? Quite laughable. And the rest of the stereotypical cast of characters - were insanely unbelievable and just awful actors. All of them were extremely cheesy and seemed like they should be on a Sesame Street show depicting prison. Seriously.

OZ was supposed to be extremely cutting-edge and very gritty when it came out? The water-cooler talk parts (the few fight scenes, gay rape, etc.) were not a big deal at all and in fact were watered down and unmemorable.
Finally, what was with having the narrator spewing his words of wisdom to the viewer in some sort of spinning contraption? Not only was this technique not needed but it was quite cheesy. As for the show being gritty? - nah, this show is nothing but a lamb chop.

Great Series........
Oz Season 1 was the first "season" of a tv show I ever owned.

The show is amazing, the characters are very believable. I've never seen another episode after season one, but I can say that season one is excellent!

Great prison drama!

Overrated
I had heard a lot of good reviews about this show from various people over the years. I have to say I was very disappointed. The story lines aren't very engaging. The characters are very stereotyped. The acting isn't very good. In one sense regret having bought this but in another at least I know I haven't been missing anything.Oz