Oscar (Prison)

"I ain't never pleaded for my life and I ain't about to start now."

- Oscar to Rick Grimes.

Oscar is a minor protagonist and 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".

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. Oscar seemed to be friends with Axel and Big Tiny.

"Seed"
He, along with the other prisoners, were found after Rick Grimes, Daryl Dixon, 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 upon 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 captives 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, specifically the soldier who appears as a hallucination of Shane to Rick. Glenn and Maggie are both greatly distraught over his death and Maggie is forced to shoot him in the head, albeit reluctantly and tearfully, so he doesn't reanimate.

"The Suicide King"
Although Oscar was killed in the previous episode, he is mentioned a few times in this episode. Axel mentioned that Oscar was a good friend and always stood up for him when Tomas blamed Axel for something. Rick assures Axel that Oscar was a good man and went out fighting.

Killed By
Rick hallucinates a Woodbury Soldier as Shane Walsh, followed by the hallucinated "Shane" shooting and killing Oscar with a shotgun during the firefight. Rick then shoots the "Shane" later realizing it was just a hallucination.
 * Unnamed Woodbury Survivor

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.
 * Maggie Greene (Before Reanimation)

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

Rick Grimes
"You do what you gotta do."

- Oscar to Rick about deciding on whether or not to shoot him.

Oscar appeared to have a silent respect for Rick and understood his boundaries. He clearly understood his leadership and the actions he had to do in order to protect the group. This is notably seen in "Sick", when Rick points a gun at his head. Rather than plead for his life like Axel does, Oscar simply says, "You do what you gotta do." This shows that he understands the drastic measures Rick needs to go to in order to protect and keep his group safe. In the end, Rick doesn't kill him, but doesn't allow him to join the group either, revealing that he still doesn't trust him. When the prison alarm sounds, Rick enlists Oscar to help him, and Oscar eagerly complies in order to gain Rick's trust.

Oscar's loyalty to Rick is tested when Andrew, a fellow prisoner of Oscar's, gets in a scuffle with Rick and Rick's gun falls into Oscar's hands. He has a moment in which he has to decide whether to shoot Rick or Andrew, but decisively shoots Andrew in the head and returns the gun to Rick. This successfully gains Rick's trust and marks the beginning of Oscar's addition to the group. Later on, he attempts to prove his worth to Rick once again by going on a rescue mission along with Rick, Daryl, and Michonne to save Glenn and Maggie. The rescue group get involved in a gunfight with Woodbury, and Oscar ends up being the sole casualty.

After returning to the prison in "The Suicide King", when Axel mentions Oscar, Rick states that "He went out fighting". When a member of the group brings up Axel and Oscar's successful addition to the group as leverage to allow Tyreese's group in, Rick angrily shouts: "And where's Oscar now?!", hinting that he felt some amount of guilt or responsibility for Oscar's death.

Axel
Oscar and Axel were locked up together and became close friends during the apocalypse. He and Oscar were forced to live and deal with Tomas and Andrew, not showing true care or trust with either of them. Axel and Oscar were able to convince Rick's group not to kill them and to let them join the group. In "The Suicide King", after learning of Oscar's death, Axel appeared sullen and states that whenever Tomas "went off on him" Oscar would stick-up for him.

In an interview with EW, Lew Temple (Axel's actor) mentioned that there was originally supposed to be a scene where Axel attacked Rick after learning of Oscar's death, blaming him for taking him and causing his death. This shows just how close Oscar and Axel really were.

Tomas
Oscar and Tomas weren't alike at all, as explained by Oscar in "Killer Within". It is mentioned by Axel that Oscar stood up for him whenever Tomas got angry at Axel or decided to blame him for something.

Andrew
"Shoot him! We can take back this prison!"

- Andrew trying to convince Oscar to shoot Rick and take back the prison.

Oscar and Andrew were locked up together for 10 months in the cafeteria and may have known each other prior to the Outbreak. Despite all of this, they may not have cared for each other as Andrew shows cowardly tendencies, while Oscar is heroic, and Andrew's friendship with Tomas, which Oscar likely did not share.

In "Sick" Andrew along with Oscar pleaded to find a way to save Big Tiny. In "Killer Within", Andrew seemed to have firmly believed Oscar would kill Rick in his favor so that the Prisoners could reclaim the Prison for themselves, however Oscar seemed unsympathetic to Andrew, and killed him in Rick's Favor, firmly establishing his place in the Group.

Appearances
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Season 3

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Trivia

 * Oscar was first revealed by a sheet of paper that also confirmed Axel's appearance in the TV Series, however, he first appeared 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; the others being Shumpert, Jim, Michonne, Eileen, Big Tiny, Tomas, Andrew, Jimmy, Beth, and Warren.
 * Oscar shares traits with T-Dog: silent at most times, a source of muscle for the group, both being African-American, 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).
 * It appears that Oscar worked in the prison's generator room prior to the apocalypse, as he was the one who informed Rick of the need to turn off the generator, and knew both where to locate it, and how to operate it.
 * Oscar is the third person to have ever used Rick's Colt Python revolver. The other being Otis; when he left with Shane to get critically needed medical supplies and the third being Daryl when he was shooting Dale out of mercy.
 * Oscar is the only prisoner to die outside of the prison.
 * Oscar is the only prisoner to be shot to prevent reanimation. (Big Tiny, Tomas, Andrew and Axel 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).
 * His death is similar to Axel's death in the comic.
 * 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 states the same line, "Do what you gotta do".
 * Oscar used Shane's shotgun. Ironically, he was killed by Rick's hallucination of Shane.
 * Every prisoner - besides Oscar - have all died through head fatalities. Axel and Andrew were both shot in the head, Tomas' head was cut through when Rick sliced a machete through his face and Big Tiny was bashed in the head by Tomas; after being revealed to have been scratched by a walker.