Ryan O'Reily
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Ryan O'Reily is a
from 1997 to 2003.Character overview
"Prisoner #97P904: Ryan O'Reily. Convicted July 12, 1997 - Two counts of vehicular manslaughter, five counts of reckless endangerment, possession of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a weapon, parole violation. Sentence: Life imprisonment, up for parole in 12 years."
O'Reily is an
O'Reily is intelligent and ruthless and survives in Oz by manipulating everyone around him, and working with the most dangerous inmates using a variety of inmate gangs to get whatever he wants; series creator
Fictional history
Season 1
He was the cause of nearly every death in the first season of Oz:
- In the Italiangang.
- He sets up Jefferson Keane to be killed. This backfires, but Keane goes to death rowfor killing one of his attackers.
- He proposes the idea to internal hemorrhaging.
With all his major competition eliminated, O'Reily becomes a major player in Oz's drug scene. He also plays a major role in introducing Tobias Beecher to heroin, leading Beecher to become addicted and later go insane on PCP and blind Vernon Schillinger, the leader of Oz's Aryan Brotherhood, in one eye.
Throughout the season O'Reily allies himself with the Italians and Homeboys, but behind their backs, he often calls the Italians "dagos" and "wops", the Homeboys "niggers", and the Latinos "spics".
Season 2
In the second season, O'Reily is enjoying his new status in the Oz drug scene when he is diagnosed with
Cyril is arrested and sent to Oz, but is put in a different unit from his brother. There, Cyril is
Later, when a guard is blinded by
Season 3
Still eager for revenge on Schillinger, Ryan manipulates Jaz Hoyt into attacking Schillinger, but Schillinger escapes unharmed. Furious, O'Reily joins forces with
Meanwhile, the prison administrators hire a new CO supervisor,
Murphy discovers O'Reily cheating thanks to a tip from
Season 4 Part I
O'Reily and Cyril participate in an interaction session with Gloria Nathan and her deceased husband's parents. Nathan wants him there to condemn him for killing her husband, but O'Reily turns the tables on them when he says that she and McManus had an affair. She is later raped by Irish hoodlum Patrick Keenan, and she suspects O'Reily of setting her up. Although he didn't, he tells her that he did so she can feel whole again. O'Reily then kills Keenan. Nathan takes a leave of absence shortly after.
O'Reily also has a dispute over possession of a
In Em City, white and
Season 4 Part II
A television crew comes to Oz to film the prisoners' daily lives, headed by Jack Eldridge, a reporter who once reported on Irish gang activity in general, and the O'Reilys in particular. This report exposed them as criminals to their mother, who was emotionally devastated upon finding out. In his interview with Eldridge, O'Reily gets some revenge on Eldridge by refusing to give any information about Adebisi's death. Meanwhile, Dr. Nathan returns to Oz and admits to prison psychiatrist
Supreme Allah is released from solitary and tells O'Reily that he knows who framed him, so O'Reily and Keller go to Burr Redding and ask that he be eliminated. Redding then has
A woman named Suzanne Fitzgerald (Betty Buckley) comes to visit, claiming to be his birth mother. O'Reily does not believe her at first, but accepts it after his father tells him about her. His mother turns out to be a 1960s radical on the run who is looking to settle down.
Asian inmate
Season 5
O'Reily's mother turns herself in and
O'Reily, in the meantime, shares a cell with Father
Motivated by O'Reily's previous bad blood with the Aryans, O'Reily and
With Meehan's guidance, O'Reily opens up about his childhood
Season 6
O'Reily forces Shupe to tell the truth to Cyril's attorney Arnold Zelman, who is unable to get him to testify. Shortly afterward, Meehan dies from a brain embolism, Ryan then washes the body in the morgue, reading a piece from the bible out of respect for Meehan. Peter Schibetta, the son of
Meanwhile, their father,
Seamus O'Reily, while in the hospital, has come to regret how he treated his sons (with the help of a stern speech given to him by Suzanne) and asks Ryan if he can see Cyril, Ryan tells him it's too late as Cyril has already been executed, the father and son then reconnect through their grief.
Ryan O'Reily is last seen wheeling Seamus onto a bus during an attack involving a mysterious contaminate orchestrated by Keller.
Reception
Sean O'Sullivan and David Wilson describe the character as "the arch schemer,"[1] while USA Today labels him as "Oz's resident troublemaker".[4]
O'Sullivan and Wilson also write that "O'Reily is one of the most appealing characters in the show, and someone whom it is possible to follow because of his continuing story arc...O'Reily's Machiavellian scheming is one of the main entertainment features of the show."[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 9781904380085.
- ISBN 9781594741173.
- ^ Smith, Dinitia (July 12, 1999). "Prison Series Seeks to Shatter Expectations". The New York Times. New York City. Retrieved September 15, 2020.
- ^ Levin, Gary (January 1, 2003). "The inside story on HBO's 'Oz'". USA Today. McLean, Virginia: Gannett.