"You Bet Your Life" is the eighth and final episode of the first part of the fourth season and the thirty second overall episode of the HBO television series Oz.
Plot:[]
Narrations:[]
Back in the 1950's, there was a game show on tv called "You Bet Your Life", hosted by Groucho Marx. Every week, Groucho would ask inane questions and insult the contestants. A fake duck would drop down on a string and Groucho would go "Say the secret word and win 100 dollars". But not once did anyone ever actually bet their life. Unlike in Oz, no one ever put their life on the line.
There's nothing like the thrill of gambling. Nothing compares to that incredible feeling of anticipation. You wait breathlessly for the roll of the dice, for the spin of the wheel, for the flip of the card. You wait to see what fortune fate will hand you.
Everybody gambles. From a card shark in Atlantic City, to an old lady scratching at a lottery ticket. Taking a chance, risking it all. That's as basic a human need as food, clothing, shelter. It's as fundamental to our genetic makeup as killing thy neighbor.
Winning and losing, they're two sides of the same silver dollar. But winning isn't always a good thing. Think on it. You suddenly come into a lot of cash. You start worrying about how to spend it, how to save it, invest it. You buy all this stuff you don't really need, and you get weighed the fuck down. Losing, on the other hand, has a kind of purifying effect. When you got nothing, when you're stripped of all the doodads in life, you're free.
Lots of native Americans, AKA Indians, used to live on reservations in utter poverty. Alcoholism was rampant, morale was low. Then some chief got the brainstorm idea to use the land, not to hunt buffalo, but to raise money by building a casino. Then faster than you can say "Custer", the lives of the members of the tribe changed for the better. So, you see, sometimes you can eliminate your own vices by exploiting the vices of others.
Deaths:[]
Mark Miles: Suffocated by Moses Deyell after he breaks through his cell wall
Nate Shemin: Slashed/stabbed to death by Chris Keller
Raymond Browne: Stabbed to death by Chris Keller
Simon Adebisi: Stabbed in self-defense by Kareem Saïd
Crime Flashbacks:[]
(There were no flashbacks in this episode)