"U.S. Male" is the fifth episode of the third season and the twenty-first overall episode of the HBO television series Oz.
Plot[]
Narrations[]
"Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." So says the United States Postal Service in their sunshine motto adapted from the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. Back then, "swift" could have meant a year and a day. Now it's 10:00 a.m. The next morning anywhere from here to Cochabamba. People all over the globe every afternoon stand at their mailboxes wondering what might be inside. You never know what to expect. And in Oz, most times, the best part is the expectation.
Prisoner number 99C124, William Cudney. Convicted February 10, '99. Murder in the first degree. Sentence: Life without the possibility of parole.
A package arrives unexpected. You open it. Sometimes, it's a gift. Bottle of vintage wine, let's say, from a relative. Sometimes, it's from the Unabomber. An innocent looking box that goes boom.
Of course, any kind of letter from the outside is a potential bomb, blowing up in your face with memories of what life was like before the gates slammed shut. Before someone, definitely not your momma, screamed "Lights out!" Sometimes the sweeter the letter, the more bitter the after-taste. "My dear son. I woke up today dreaming of what life would be like when you are free. Telling myself that every day is one day closer to you coming home. One day closer to us being together again. Everything here is the same. The neighborhood is the same. Even the faces, everyone looks the same. Is everything there okay? Is there anything we can do? We miss you. We love you."
Junk mail. Selling you this, promising you that. Publishers Clearing House. You got your American Family Sweepstakes. You got Ed McMahon warning you to open that envelope because you could be a millionaire, and you know you can never win, so uh, you toss it. But what if you made the wrong choice? What if this was the one-in-a-trillion time you win?
Prisoner number 99K871, Yuri Kosygin. Convicted March 23, '99. 8 counts murder in the first degree, 4 counts attempted murder. Illegal possession of a firearm. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
Yesterday, a letter arrived in Oz postmarked May 7, 1965.34 years. Must have got stuck in the sorting machine or something. Anyway, the inmate it's addressed to is long dead. So they take the envelope, throw it in the dead-letter box, without even opening it. Now nobody's ever gonna know what was inside.
(singing Dear John) Then, of course, there's the Dear John letter. Or Jane, as the case may be. When your loved one, or ex-loved one by that point, tells you how much you fucked up her life and hurt her. How much she gave to you and tried to help you, and all you did in return was leave her swinging in the wind. Oh, and yeah. She's found someone else. Someone other than you, who really understands what love is.
The worst day is when you wake up and realize you'll never get another piece of mail again. Your family can't take it anymore, your friends forget. Even the folks at charity correspondence start to back off. Soon, you'll give anything for another piece of mail with your name on it. To let you know you still exist, to let you know you still matter. Even to Ed McMahon.
Deceased[]
(Unnamed)- (flashback) Shot with hunting rifle by William Cudney
Ronnie Smith- Shot in the head off screen by hitmen ordered by Kenny Wangler.
Laura Wangler- Shot in the head off screen by hitmen ordered by Kenny Wangler.
(8 unnamed people) - (flashback) Shot with Uzi by Yuri Kosygin.
Andrew Schillinger- Drug overdose sent by Hank Schillinger.
Crime flashbacks[]
Yuri Kosygin: 8 counts murder in the first degree, 4 counts attempted murder, illegal possession of a firearm
William Cudney: Murder in the first degree