Three generations of Alvarezes—all prisoners at Oz—are united when the partiarch, Ricardo, is found face down in his cell, suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Meanwhile, Beecher, who as Schillinger's "prag" has been forced to wear women's clothes, flips out after taking PCP.

A recovered Saïd ostracizes Mershah for turning his back on him when he was dying—and orders the rest of the Muslims to do the same. Impressed by Saïd's power, Groves makes a deadly decision in his honor. Meanwhile, Beecher, transformed by prison life, finally gets revenge on Schillinger.

Beecher is released from the hole and Schillinger is left eyeless and weak. A riot breaks out after two white punks get into a fight over checkers. Frustration, sexuality, hate, revenge, racism all rear their ugly heads, causing the violence to escalate.

In the aftermath of the riot that killed six inmates and two officers, Oz is locked down, and Emerald City prisoners are sent either to solitary or "gen pop." A special committee is appointed to investigate the riot and Governor Devlin's handling of it. The committee's leader is law-school Dean Alvah Case, who roams Oz questioning inmates and officers alike. Inside a gen-pop prisoner named James Robson demands that Beecher perform oral sex on him, and gets a painful tip in return. Case determines that the death of inmate Scott Ross during the riot was no accident-but is the truth better left untold?

O'Reily is in for a surprise when a visitor reveals the truth about his past, while Cyril faces trouble for his difficult behavior. Meanwhile, Morales and Redding lay out plans that could lead to all-out war in Em City.