Kenny Wangler

Kenny Wangler
First appearance	"God's Chillin'" (episode 1.03)
Last appearance	"A Cock and Balls Story" (episode 4.01)
Reason/Cause	Murdered by Guillaume Tarrant
Details
Prisoner No.	97W566
Aliases	Bricks
Gender	Male
Age	19 (Deceased)
Date of Conviction	July 6, 1997
Date of Death	July 12, 2000
Affiliations	The Homeboys
Spouse	Laura Wangler (Deceased)
Children	1
Relatives	Rosetta Wangler (Mother) Jordan Wangler (Son)
Kill Count	3
Episode Count	23 Episodes
Portrayed by	J.D. Williams

Kenneth "Kenny" Wangler, later known by his moniker Bricks, was an African American inmate and Underaged Criminal featured in Oz. Portrayed by J.D. Williams.

Plot Summary

"Prisoner #97W566, Kenny Wangler. (16 years old tried as an adult) Convicted July 6, '97 - Murder in the first degree. Sentence: 20 years, up for parole in 6."

―The Narrator

Season 1

Wangler is sent to Oz for murder and is immediately seen as a target. After he compliments Kareem Said, Said tries to convert him to Islam but his heroin addiction keeps him off the straight and narrow path. Adebisi suggests to current Homeboy leader, Jefferson Keane to let him in so that the Homeboys can wipe out the Italians. Wangler and Adebisi ambush Joey D'Angelo, Nino Schibetta's right hand man, in the kitchen and proves that he has a place in the gang. He robs elderly inmate Bob Rebadow for no apparent reason other than it is easy to do so and is choked by Unit Manager Tim McManus for his behavior and lack of respect. Throughout the season up to the riot, Wangler remains a key drug dealer and user who goes insane during the riot from withdrawal.

Season 2

Kenny "Bricks" Wangler

In General Population, Wangler goes through severe heroin withdrawal and is assaulted by the prisoners and guards for his disruptive behavior. He is let back into Em City, and McManus convinces him to get his GED instead of mopping floors. In the classroom, Wangler is disrespectful and verbally berates several inmates, especially Poet, who has a talent for writing. He flips out when he is asked to read. Later on, it is discovered that Wangler is illiterate. McManus proposes that he learn how to read instead of going to the hole to Warden Glynn and his behavior improves as he becomes more literate. Adebisi, however, is not pleased by Wangler getting more book smart. After Wangler gets out of pocket with Adebisi he physically threatens him and tells him to never disrespect him again. Adebisi forces him to stop going to class and tears up a book that McManus gave him to hide his tits. Wangler's behavior worsens as a result, and he is not allowed to walk the stage at graduation when McManus decides he is too much of a discipline problem. Wangler then gets back into the routine, even making peace with Poet and berates the Italian inmates after Adebisi takes out their leader, Peter Schibetta and his enforcer, Chucky Pancamo.

As Adebisi becomes increasingly unstable, it becomes clear that he cannot lead the Homeboys. The Italians offer Wangler a partnership in the drug trade if he kills Jara, the man responsible for salvaging Adebisi. He kills Jara with the help of Junior Pierce, his main sidekick in the Homeboys. Adebisi has a psychotic episode and goes to the psych ward as a result. Also, Poet comes back to Oz after killing a man while on parole and Wangler and Pierce accept him upon his return.

Season 3

Wangler's defeat against Hamid Khan in the boxing tournament.

Malcolm Coyle arrives and is immediately welcomed by Wangler. Coyle is beaten by the Homeboys in the gym as a loyalty test that is often performed in their housing project neighborhoods. Wangler proves that he is worthy of being in their gang to Antonio Nappa. Adebisi is released from the psych ward and the other Homeboys, especially Wangler and Pierce, plot to kill him. Nappa, however, tells them to stand back for the time being. Wangler is upset when Coyle is kicked out of the kitchen on Nappa's suspicions. Later Augustus Hill testifies against Coyle for murdering an Italian-American family, and Wangler seeks revenge. With the help of Kareem Said, Antonio Nappa, Carmen Guerra, and Vernon Schillinger, Hill is protected and Coyle is killed by the Italians so that the Homeboys learn a lesson about seeking revenge.

Taking the new moniker of "Bricks", Wangler represents the Homeboys in the boxing tournament and is knocked out instantly by Muslim inmate, Hamid Khan. Wangler and Poet, angered at the loss to the Muslims, expose Kareem Said for having sexual thoughts about a white woman. As a result Said is deemed unfit to run the Muslims. Later, Wangler's mother visits, telling him that his wife is cheating on him with a man he despises, who is also assaulting his infant son. He has Pierce make a phone call to their outside connections, who murder his wife and her boyfriend. Feigning remorse, he attends the funeral. While he is gone, Adebisi cuts a deal with Chucky Pancamo, who is now the head of the Italians, and with the help of the Latinos, burned Poet and Pierce severely. Adebisi is Wangler's cellmate now, and he is at his old enemy's mercy. Adebisi ties Wangler to the bed naked on a daily basis to prevent him from defending himself against rape. It is not clear as to whether or not Adebisi did indeed rape Wangler but it was very possible as Adebisi's sexual preference involved forcing sex upon young African-American men much like Wangler. He then forces Wangler to accuse Tim McManus of sexual harassment. McManus transfers Wangler to Unit B and Wangler accepts Adebisi's plan to get rid of McManus and have a black man run Em City. Poet and Pierce get out of the hospital wanting to kill Adebisi, but Wangler tells them to cool off for the time being. On New Year's Eve, amid the racial tension, Wangler, Poet, and Pierce lead the Black inmates in a chant throughout Unit B to set Augustus Hill free from solitary.

Season 4

Wangler with Poet and Pierce trying to take Tarrant's shoes again.

Adebisi gets Wangler, Poet, and Pierce back into Em City against McManus' wishes. While inside, Adebisi is trying to find someone to shoot off a gun in a specific manner so that McManus can be exposed as incompetent and unfit to run Em City. A new inmate, an insecure white man named Guillaume Tarrant, arrives in Oz and is an immediate target for Wangler, Poet, and Pierce; they steal his shoes and bully him regularly. Seeing this, Adebisi places the gun in his cell, and the next day Tarrant kills Wangler and Pierce, in addition to another black inmate and Correctional Officer Joseph Howard before committing suicide. Wangler's death, however, falls perfectly into Adebisi's plans of revenge on them for killing Jara, and to get a black Unit Manager hired, as three black prisoners and a black officer died at the hands of a White amidst a shootout.

Kill Count

Personal

• Unnamed Kid: Shot to death after not giving up his jacket to Wangler. (1997)
• Paul Markstrom: Helped Adebisi hang Markstrom to basketball rim after finding out he was an undercover cop. (1997)
• Kipekemie Jara: Stabbed several times in the back. (1998)

Proxy

• Ronnie Smith: Shot to death. Murder ordered from Oz. (1999)
• Laura Wangler: Shot to death. Murder ordered from Oz. (1999)

Cellmates

Emerald City

• Jefferson Keane: Moved in the same cell, until Keane got sent to death row. (1997)
• Simon Adebisi: After Emerald City came back after the riot, Adebisi and Wangler became cellmates. (1998)
• Malcolm Coyle: Shared the same cell until he got ratted out by Hill for the murders of the 5 family memebers who he had killed. (1999)
• Junior Pierce: Moved in Wangler's cell, until Adebisi & The Latinos put Poet and Pierce out of commission. (1999).
• Simon Adebisi: Returned back to Kenny's cell after Poet and Pierce are in hospital, where he started torturing him. But when Adebisi's plans came to show, Wangler is moved to Unit B. (1999)
• Simon Adebisi: When Wangler got transferred back to Em City, he moved back in Adebisi's cell. (2000)

Unit B

• Arnold "Poet" Jackson: Moved in Wangler's cell when got transferred to Unit B, then they got transferred back to Em City along with Pierce. (1999-2000)

Gallery

Wangler as seen in his crime flashback.

Wangler making his first appearance in Oz.

Wangler as seen trying to read McMancus' board.

Bricks with his sidekick Junior Pierce in the library teasing Officer Clayton Hughes about his stungun.

Bricks wishing himself Happy Birthday.

Wangler generously giving Augustus Hill a dish.

Wangler with Poet and Pierce taking Tarrant's shoes.

Wangler challenging Guillaume Tarrant to play him one-one.

Kenny saying must be the shoes after hitting his last basket win the pickup game.

The End of Kenny Wangler

Trivia

• When Tarrant shoots Wangler, it is the same spot where Wangler shot the kid who he attempted to steal the jacket from in his crime flashback. Ironically, Wangler was trying to steal Tarrant's new pair of shoes before Tarrant shot him.

The Homeboys
Simon Adebisi - Burr Redding - Kenny Wangler - Jefferson Keane - Poet - Junior Pierce - Supreme Allah - Tug Daniels - Leroy Tidd - Mondo Browne - Reggie Rawls - Malcolm Coyle - Paul Markstrom - Desmond Mobay - Johnny Post - Curtis Bennett

Characters who took part in Boxing
Chucky Pancamo - Kenny Wangler - Hamid Khan - Cyril O'Reily - James Robson - Jason Cramer - Miguel Alvarez - Steve Pasquin