Review Detail

In an ideal world, I would have enough time to run a smuggling empire from my prison cell, watch every TV show that interests me, and still get seven hours of sleep every night, but the crushing truth is that I don't have an evil henchman/vice president to assist in these endeavors. Oz is one of those shows that sounds damned good, but watching all of it is daunting as fuck. That's why Gatos's TV-to-movie edit feels as liberating as an early release from hard time. It condenses the story of Tobias Beecher into a tight arc, and evaluating the edit on its own terms, without comparing it to the first season from which it was assembled, I find the narrative coherent and gripping, hellish and darkly comic. The supporting characters—Schillinger, Augustus Hill, Ryan, Sister Reimondo—serve in this edit to flesh out Beecher's story as he grows survival balls.

Nowhere in this edit does Gatos stray from Beecher's tale. Solid construction, as if it were a stand-alone piece released by HBO itself. As a bonus, you also get the unique HBOish intro with the Gatos moniker, a stamp of quality and an indicator of the shady-good entertainment to come. Now excuse me as I return to scraping away the concrete behind my bed.

Enjoyjoy: 10 out of 10 ankle grabs.