Vernon Schillinger

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Vernon Schillinger
Hank Schillinger
(deceased)
GrandchildrenJewel Schillinger
JK Simmons depicted Schillinger in the series

Vernon Schillinger is a fictional character played by American actor J. K. Simmons on the HBO series Oz as a major antagonist.

Schillinger is one of the most powerful and feared inmates in Oswald Maximum Security Penitentiary ("Oz"). As a leader of Oz's Aryan Brotherhood, Schillinger controls most white inmates and has a reputation for ruthless brutality and rape.[2][3] He is shown to be a high-ranking member of the Brotherhood outside of prison, thus giving him power outside of Oz through a vast network of allies.

Character overview

"Prisoner #92S110: Vernon Schillinger. Convicted October 21, 1992 - Aggravated assault in the first degree. Sentence: Eight years, up for parole in five."

Schillinger is the head of the

drug dealer with a crowbar for selling drugs to his sons. He indulges in varying degrees of sexual sadism, especially toward fellow inmate Tobias Beecher, whom he rapes to "initiate" him into prison life. In addition to Beecher, Schillinger commits several acts of rape over the series against weaker white inmates; ironically, he is virulently homophobic
. He is also quick to have the Brotherhood murder other inmates to prove that the Aryans are a legitimate threat to the rest of Oz's inmate population.

Throughout the series, Schillinger has several major family issues: his father, whom he hates, taught him everything he knows about

Kareem Saïd
, his biggest rival and bitter enemy, is the one character who always pronounces his name correctly.

Season 1

Schillinger is among the inmates in the specialized Cell Block E, or "Emerald City." After Tobias Beecher is threatened by his larger African American cellmate, Simon Adebisi, the initially harmless-looking Schillinger offers to let him move into his "pod." Beecher naively accepts the offer, unaware that Schillinger is a prison rapist who intends to turn Beecher into a sex slave, or "Prag." As a result, Schillinger rapes Beecher once he is inside the cell and burns a swastika on his right buttock.[4][5] Schillinger subjects Beecher to a series of rapes and humiliations, most notably forcing him to perform in drag for a prison talent show. To cope with the constant trauma, Beecher begins using heroin, much to Schillinger's disgust.

Schillinger forces Beecher to wear a T-shirt bearing a

Tim McManus transfers Schillinger to the prison's general population, he threatens Beecher in the gym. Beecher reacts fiercely, beating Schillinger unconscious with free weights before defecating on his face in front of other inmates. Schillinger realizes how vulnerable he is and tells McManus how badly he wants to be paroled
in his upcoming review. McManus reluctantly allows him to move back into Emerald City.

Throughout this season, Schillinger is wary of the high-profile leader of the

team supplies her with a gun.

Season 2

When law school dean Alvah Case investigates the riot, he offers Schillinger a letter of recommendation for parole. Despite this, Schillinger uses his knowledge of Ross' killing to blackmail Whittlesey. After Emerald City is reopened, Beecher begins taunting and threatening Schillinger in the hopes of ruining his chance at parole. When Schillinger approaches other prisoners to try and hire one of them to kill Beecher, they all make fun of him for being too frail to handle his own dirty deeds. As soon as Beecher becomes aware of Schillinger's deeds, he works with Whittlesey and McManus to have the parole hearing halted and an additional 10 years added to Schillinger's sentence for the murder plan. Schillinger is permanently removed from Emerald City.

Once in Oz's general population, Schillinger is brutally attacked by African American inmates. He and a fellow Aryan,

mind game on Beecher to break him down. As the plan goes forward, Beecher is informed of his wife's apparent suicide
, and Schillinger tauntingly implies that he actually arranged her murder.

Karl Metzger ambush Beecher, revealing Schillinger's revenge plan and breaking his arms and legs.[7]

Season 3

When

Vietnam. Guard Sean Murphy starts a boxing tournament in Emerald City, to which Robson agrees to compete for the Aryans. Schillinger taunts Cyril about the gang rape before he fights Robson, but Ryan pours chloral hydrate
in Robson's water, thus allowing his brother to win the match. Afterward, the Aryans leave Cyril alone.

Schillinger's son

who sympathizes with the Brotherhood, secretly provide Andrew with a highly potent package of heroin that kills him.

Beecher, after counseling from Saïd, tells Schillinger that Andrew's death was a setup. Schillinger attacks Beecher, who is now protected by Keller and the Muslims. Schillinger and Beecher both ended up in the hospital ward as a result of mutual stab wounds. When Schillinger is discharged, he realizes that Adebisi is plotting something against the white inmates. He asks all the other whites, including Beecher and Keller, to form a bond of solidarity — albeit only a temporary, opportunistic one — to prevent the Blacks from taking over the entire prison. As another

race riot
is brewing, Glynn locks down the prison.

Season 4

When Schillinger's younger son

Father Ray Mukada asks Schillinger to give up Beecher's daughter. Hank returns Holly and is arrested by the FBI. Despite Schillinger's concerns about being given up on an interrogation, Hank is freed from the murder charges on a legal technicality
. Unbeknownst to Schillinger, however, Beecher hires the Italians to murder Hank.

Hank's wife, Carrie, informs Schillinger that he is going to become a grandfather. Schillinger asks

pimp, Curtis Bennett, comes to Oz and tells Schillinger that Hank allowed him to pimp out Carrie, whose clients included Black men. Furious, Schillinger forces Carrie to get a paternity test
.

Mukada suspects Schillinger is the father of

truce
between the Muslims and the Aryans. Schillinger tries to use the Aryans and Bikers to sabotage Beecher's chances for parole, leading to a warning from Saïd. When Beecher's parole is denied, Schillinger attempts to rape him, said then stabs and nearly kills both him and Robson.

Season 5

Carrie proves Hank is the father of her baby, but is killed in a bus accident on the way to Oz. The baby survives and is sent to live with Carrie's parents in

Adam Guenzel, a family friend of Beecher's, to be left at the mercy of the Aryans in Unit B. Beecher accepts the offer after Guenzel throws homophobic
slurs at him upon learning of his relationship with Keller, allowing Guenzel to be beaten and gang raped following his transfer.

An FBI agent informs Schillinger that he strongly believes Pancamo orchestrated the murder of Schillinger's younger son Hank. The Aryans attacked the Italians in the gym with Robson stabbing Pancamo, who is hospitalized. Peter Schibetta seeks revenge and asks Saïd for help. Saïd refuses, saying Schibetta's previous rape by Adebisi cannot change Schibetta's reputation. The other Italian mobsters agree and decide not to move against the Aryans without Pancamo's order. Schibetta goes after the Aryans alone attempting to stab Schillinger, when he and Robson go to pick up their damaged pool table, after they taunt him with racial slurs and references to being raped by Adebisi. Schillinger, Robson, and another Aryan beat and gang-rape Schibetta over the pool table, during the rape Schillinger taunts Schibetta about comparing Schillinger's penis size to Adebisi's. Schibetta is returned to the psych ward, while the Aryans now get a good laugh when playing with their repaired pool table.

Meanwhile, Robson has to get his gum tissue replaced. Schillinger suggests that Robson see Dr. Faraj, the Muslim prison dentist. In retaliation for Robson's racist insults, Faraj replaces Robson's tissue with that of a Black man. When word gets out, Aryan leaders on the outside order a reluctant Schillinger to kick Robson out of the Brotherhood. Beecher, feeling

Omar White
.

Season 6

Schillinger is released from solitary, on the condition that he does not rape any more inmates. He immediately rapes

Wilson Loewen, faces trial for reportedly assisting the Ku Klux Klan
in murder of two young Black girls in 1963. The trial leads to a full-scale race riot in the city, which spreads into Oz, putting the entire prison in lockdown. When the lockdown is over, Loewen is sent to Oz and put in Unit J with Beecher.

When Beecher saves Loewen from choking, Schillinger is so grateful that he agrees not to interfere with Beecher's parole. However, Beecher (unaware of Loewen's ties to the Brotherhood) rebuffs Schillinger and tells him it was simply his "instinct" to help Loewen. When Keller intervenes in Beecher's parole and gets him sent back to Oz, Schillinger decides to call a truce with Keller. Despite Beecher saving Schillinger's idol, the truce is ultimately undone when Loewen expresses regret for supporting Schillinger, having learned of his vendetta against Beecher. In addition, Loewen tells Schillinger that he never really liked him. Disgusted, Schillinger turns against Loewen and has Willy Brandt kill his former friend.

Ryan and Cyril's father, Seamus O'Reily, is sent to Oz for murder. He unsuccessfully attempts to have Schillinger kill Jahfree Neema, a Black inmate who is dating Seamus' ex-girlfriend. Schillinger refuses due to his long-time rivalry with the brothers. Seamus attempts to murder Jahfree himself, but is instead stabbed with his own knife and put in the prison hospital, while Jahfree is sent to solitary. In a desperate attempt to win back Beecher's love, Keller switches prop knives during the prison production of

Martin Querns
and Sister Pete conclude that Schillinger's death was an accident.

Due to the deaths of Schillinger and other Aryan lieutenants, the Brotherhood is reduced to pulling mail room duty; all are wiped out when an anthrax shipment is delivered to Oz in the series finale.

Reception

TV Guide included him in their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time[8] and Rolling Stone has ranked him number 22 of the "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time".[9]

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Gaudette, Emily (March 31, 2016). "4 Ways HBO's 'Oz' Helped Invent Prestige Dramas". Inverse. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  3. ^ Rosenberg, Alyssa (June 26, 2015). "How pop culture white's supremacists help us feel good about ourselves". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 15, 2021.
  4. .
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  6. .
  7. .
  8. ^ Bretts, Bruce; Roush, Matt (March 25, 2013). "Baddies to the Bone: The 60 nastiest villains of all time". TV Guide. pp. 14–15.
  9. ^ Collins, Sean T. (September 4, 2019). "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time". Rolling Stone.

External links