Oscar (Prison)

"I ain't never pleaded for my life and I ain't about to start now. So you do what you gotta do."

- Oscar to Rick Grimes.

Oscar was a prisoner who survived the zombie apocalypse with Tomas, Big Tiny, Andrew and Axel. He can be described as brave and honorable and is much nicer than the other prisoners. Oscar made his debut appearance in Season 3 of TV Series during the premiere episode, "Seed". Oscar seemed to be friends with Axel and Big Tiny.

Character
Glen Mazzara on Oscar:


 * “Oscar is another guy who has had to go along with Tomas’ rule.”

West Georgia Correctional Facility
Little is known about Oscar's life before the outbreak, except the fact that he was imprisoned for breaking and entering. Oscar has also said that he had a wife and kids and stated that he had one close friend his whole life.

Season 3
As the apocalypse began, a big rebellion started at the prison. Oscar, Tomas, Andrew, Big Tiny and Axel were taken to the prison's cafeteria by a guard, they were locked in there as the guard went out to call for backup, but he never returned and the five prisoners spent the whole time locked inside the cafeteria for 10 months without knowing what was going on outside.

"Seed"
He, along with the other prisoners, were found after Daryl Dixon, Rick Grimes, Glenn, T-Dog and Maggie broke open the cafeteria's door to escape a group of walkers. He witnessed the amputation of Hershel Greene's leg.

"Sick"
Oscar, just like the other prisoners, is confused with what is happening. When Rick tells them about what happened to the world, Oscar doesn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation as he asks if Rick or Daryl has a phone so he can try to call his family. As soon as he understands that a big part of the population has been wiped out, Oscar reveals that he had kids outside and worries about his mother. Oscar agrees with Rick's offer to give his group half of the food from the cafeteria in exchange for help cleaning Cell Block B, so the prisoners can live in it. When Big Tiny is scratched, Oscar is one of the prisoners that asks Rick if there is anything they can do to save him, but they end up witnessing Tomas brutally kill Big Tiny. While clearing out the laundry room, Tomas tries to kill Rick twice. In response, Rick impales Tomas' head with a machete, killing him instantly. Andrew tries to fight Rick, but is easily defeated and runs away through the prison corridors. Rick leaves to pursue Andrew while Oscar and Axel are held at gunpoint by Daryl and T-Dog. Axel tries to convince them that he and Oscar aren't killers like Tomas and Andrew; he begs Oscar to help him out but Oscar calmly tells him to stop talking.

When Rick returns, he holds Axel at gunpoint asking him if he was associated with Tomas, but Axel convinces him that he is not a murderer. When Rick turns his attention to Oscar, holding him at gunpoint, Oscar doesn't show any sign of fear and once again calmly tells Rick that he had never begged for his life before, and he isn't going to do it now. He just says, "Do what you gotta do." Oscar is spared by Rick. They reach Cell Block B. Oscar and Axel are horrified as they discover that every prisoner in that area was executed in cold blood, probably by the guards. Oscar tells Rick that leaving them there with all those corpses is sick. Daryl responds that if Oscar thinks this is sick, he doesn't want to know how things are outside the prison. T-Dog gives Oscar and Axel a final word of advice before he, Rick, and Daryl head back to Cell Block C, "Take those bodies outside and burn them."

"Killer Within"
Oscar insists to Rick's group that he and Axel cannot live in their section of the prison, claiming it to be haunted. The group decides to tell him and Axel to go out on their own, although T-Dog says they should be allowed to stay, wanting to give them a second chance. When the walkers begin invading and the alarms go off, Rick recruits him and Axel to get to the generator and turn the power off. There, they encounter Andrew, who survived the walker onslaught in Sick and opened the gates to bring revenge on Rick. Rick's gun skids to Oscar. He picks it up, initially aiming at Rick, but then shoots Andrew in the head, handing Rick his gun back and turning the alarms off. He and Axel are seen with the group when they reunite at the end of the episode.

"Say the Word"
Oscar and Axel are accepted in the group, but are welcomed with cold shoulders. They assist Glenn in digging Lori and T-Dog's graves, and attempt bonding with Glenn while doing so. Glenn says he requires two more graves, so Axel and Oscar begin digging. Meanwhile, Glenn talks with Hershel, saying that he wished they had killed all the prisoners when they first saw them. Hershel talks this thought away by saying that he thinks Axel and Oscar seem like good guys.

Axel and Oscar later assist with Glenn getting zombies away from the main gate, so that Daryl and Maggie can get inside the prison again. They are later seen with the rest of the group as Daryl is feeding the baby, and Oscar grins when Daryl dubs the baby "Ass Kicker".

"Hounded"
Oscar is seen eating cereal along with the rest of the group. Following this, he, Daryl, and Carl go out into the lower levels of the prison in search of supplies, as well as Carol. On the way, he discovers a pair of slippers in a bathroom and claims them for himself, saying that he likes to wear slippers after a hard day's work. Later, Oscar is seen back with the rest of the group outside.

"When the Dead Come Knocking"
He witnesses the arrival of Michonne, and her interrogation, and volunteers to accompany the group to rescue Glenn and Maggie after learning their whereabouts. Oscar sets off with Rick, Daryl, and Michonne to find Woodbury and free Glenn and Maggie. On the way, they are approached by a large group of walkers and, although Oscar beat one to death with his hammer, they were forced to take shelter in the home of a hermit. After the hermit nearly allowed walkers inside, he was killed, and fed as a distraction to the walkers. The group escaped, and made their way to the outskirts of Woodbury, where they crouched, surveying the area.

"Made to Suffer"
Oscar and the others infiltrate Woodbury. They use their skills to discover and free the captive Glenn and Maggie, in the process, however, are immersed in an intense gunfight with the soldiers of Woodbury. Oscar assists the injured Glenn over the wall to escape, however, this exposes him and he is ultimately gunned down by one of the soldiers. Glenn and Maggie are both greatly distraught over his death and Maggie is forced to shoot him in the head, albeit reluctantly, so he doesn't reanimate.

Killed By
Rick hallucinates a Woodbury Soldier as Shane Walsh, followed by the hallucinated "Shane" shooting and killing Oscar during the firefight. Rick realizes it's a Woodbury Soldier afterwards, killing him in retailiation.
 * Unnamed Woodbury Survivor
 * Maggie Greene (Before Reanimation)

After Oscar was killed, Maggie attempted getting Rick's attention. When she was unsuccessful, she shot Oscar in the head to prevent him from reanimating.

Killed Victims
This list shows the victims Oscar has killed:
 * Andrew
 * Woodbury Soldiers
 * Numerous counts of zombies.

Trivia

 * Oscar was first revealed by a sheet of paper that also confirmed Axel's appearance in the TV Series, however he appeared first in a twitter picture posted by Michael Rooker, having an unknown role at the time the picture was uploaded.
 * In "Sick", he revealed that he was serving time in prison for breaking and entering.
 * Oscar is one of the characters that did not speak in the episode he was introduced. Others being Shupert, Jim, Michonne, Eileen, Big Tiny, Tomas, Andrew, Jimmy and Warren.
 * Oscar shares some traits with T-Dog: being silent at most times, a source of muscle for the group, and both going on a rescue mission for someone they aren't incredibly close with (T-Dog for Merle and Oscar for Glenn  and Maggie).
 * Despite being a criminal, Oscar seems to be very moral-driven, and is visibly disgusted at the situation that the outside world has become. This is shown best when he calls Rick's group sick for leaving him and Axel locked in a cell block full of dead inmates, and when he says "You've got to be kidding me" when Rick and Daryl throw the Hermit's body out to the walkers.
 * Oscar is currently the only prisoner to die outside of the prison.
 * Oscar is currently the only prisoner to be shot to prevent reanimation (Tomas, Andrew, and Big Tiny all died as a result of injuries to the head, preventing reanimation instantly).
 * Oscar is the last named character to die in the first half of Season 3.
 * Oscar is the first character from Rick's group that has been killed by an unnamed/unknown survivor (Shot to death by a Woodbury soldier).
 * Entertainment Weekly quipped that Oscar was a "Three-Dimensional Human Being Who Was Absolutely Not a Plot Contrivance."
 * Oscar's death was met with heavy backlash from fans.
 * Oscar's death has sparked many accusations of racism on the part of the writers (earning his place in the group just after T-Dog is killed and dying just as Tyreese is introduced; causing some people to claim the writers are intentionally keeping a limit of 1 African American male survivor present in Rick's group at a time)
 * Oscar's reaction to Rick pointing a gun at his head in the episode "Sick", is near identical to a scene in the show "House of Payne", where Oscar's actor (Vincent Ward) has a gun shoved in his face and says the same line, "Do what you gotta do".