THEY'RE standard scenarios for a prison drama: a guard makes a prisoner perform sex acts in exchange for the chance to place a phone call; a prisoner with breast cancer falls in love with the jailhouse doctor who makes the diagnosis and provides care. But on ''Oz,'' the HBO series that begins its sixth and final season tonight, those familiar story lines have come with a twist: the guard and the doctor were women, and the prisoners were men. But what's truly unusual for a prime-time drama is the way gender roles on the show rarely conform to popular expectation. And that might help explain something that has surprised HBO executives and the show's creator, Tom Fontana: the exceptionally violent series draws an audience that is almost half women. HBO reports that 49 percent of the show's viewers are women, and in the to age group, female viewers outnumber men. In Oswald State Penitentiary, the maximum-security prison that is the setting of ''Oz,'' the inmates have virtually all been male. The only women they have contact with are non-inmates, and thus these women are in positions of power: they are free to come and go, they have favors to dispense and they can offer safe harbors. The men, constantly fearing attack, seek out protective relationships with them. In general, the inmates act as women are often forced to act in the world outside. Fontana, who is also the primary writer, said he never intended to create a show that played with gender roles and perceptions.


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David Simon giveth, and David Simon taketh away. When watching The Wire , one was keenly aware that major and minor characters alike were one wrong turn down a dark alley from catching a bullet, or one political misstep away from committing career suicide. Only in Baltimore does a pre-teen prey upon a shotgun-toting Robin Hood who sent seasoned corner boys scattering like roaches when the lights were turned on.
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Looking back to when the first episode was released, can you remember what drew you personally to the show? Were you wary of anything about the show? At the time, the nudity and language featured in Oz was uncharted territory for TV. Tom Fontana [the show creator] and I would talk at the beginning of every year about what was going to happen with the character. The funny thing is, when I was in my early 20s, I used to get drunk and get naked in bars all the time, and now all of a sudden I was going to be paid to get naked -- I was like, alright. I feel like that is the story of Beecher. He has a very successful life on the outside and, all of a sudden through a mistake, ends up learning stuff about himself and going to a place that is terrifying. When everything externally is stripped away, who are you truly? As heightened and as scary as the show was -- sometimes it was like a horror movie, sometimes like a romance novel -- there was truth.
Teen gypsy Peter Rumancek Landon Liboiron goes through his awkward phase approximately once a month, triggered by the full moon. Any pop culture lover worth his weight in dog treats has seen plenty of wolfy changeovers, from the awesome '80s effects of An American Werewolf in London to Twilight 's practically cuddly pack to the emolicious Vampire Diaries hybrids. But, considering Hemlock is executive produced by torture porn master Eli Roth, it's no surprise Peter's shift was one of the most brutal, graphic, sickening phases ever envisioned. The crunch of bones and the sight of Peter's inner wolf literally bursting from within his body — only to eat the leftover human skin — well See the full scene. If you haven't watched Game of Thrones ' ''The Rains of Castamere'' episode and don't want to know what happens in it, click the link to skip the next slide.