Vernon Schillinger - Season 4

Season 4

Glynn tells the white, Latino, and black inmates separately that if one incident of racial tension occurs, the prison will be permanently locked down. Schillinger still feels that the black inmates are up to something and remains wary. In the mean time, his younger son, Hank, visits; Schillinger is actually happy until he later finds out that Hank is only there because Beecher paid him to come. Thinking back to the plan Beecher had with Andrew, Schillinger turns the tables on Beecher, paying Hank to kidnap Beecher's kids. The FBI investigates, but the agent, Agent Pierce Taylor, blames Keller for the kidnapping. Taylor wants Keller on death row for kidnapping, raping, and murdering three gay men, and charging him with the kidnapping proves an opportunity. Schillinger then pays Jewish inmate Eli Zabitz to tell Beecher that Keller is responsible for his son's death, so the two of them go to war while the kidnapping takes place. As this is happening, Schillinger has Hank remove the hand of Beecher's son and ship it to Oz. After Gary's death Father Mukada asks Schillinger to give up Beecher's daughter after telling him that Beecher had no evil intentions with Hank rather he did what he did to try to make up for what happened to Andrew. Hank returns Holly but the FBI arrests him on the spot. Schillinger is concerned about being given up on an interrogation. Hank, however, is freed from the murder charges on a legal technicality, and Vern begins to breathe easier. Unknown to Schillinger, however, Beecher hires the Italians to murder Hank.

Hank's wife, Carrie, then comes by and tells Schillinger that he is going to become a grandfather. Over the next few months, Reverend Jeremiah Cloutier comes to Oz for embezzlement and comforts Schillinger helping him let go of his previous unhappiness and to focus on the birth of his grandchild. Schillinger then asks Sister Peter Marie to be involved in the interaction sessions, much to Beecher's surprise. During the session, however, Officer Jason Armstrong takes Schillinger to Glynn's office. In the office, Glynn tells Schillinger that the Massachusetts State Police have found Hank's body in the woods and he has been found to have been dead for several months. Convinced Beecher is behind his son's death, he enlists Robson to kill his old foe. Keller, however, convinces Schillinger that he is responsible.

Carrie gives birth and Schillinger is indeed happy — until a new inmate, Curtis Bennett, approaches him. A black pimp, Bennett tells Schillinger that Hank owed him some money over drugs and paid it off by allowing him to pimp out Carrie. He even points out that Carrie's "clients" included black men, and that the child could very well not even be Hank's. Furious, Schillinger demands the truth and forces Carrie to get a paternity test.

As his lieutenant, James Robson, is to stand trial for murder, Schillinger sends the only witness a disturbing letter in solitary that drives him to kill himself. Schillinger also warns Cloutier not to get involved with anything involving the Brotherhood again, but lets him go unharmed. Freed from the murder charge, Said savagely attacks and beats Robson, forcing Warden Glynn to consider locking Oz down. Schillinger then agrees for peace through Cloutier and for the time being there is a truce between the Muslims and Aryans. Beecher, meanwhile, is up for parole, and Schillinger vows to get it denied. Beecher gets provoked by the Aryans and Bikers until Said approaches Schillinger, warning him not to interfere with Beecher's parole. When Beecher's parole is denied, Schillinger attempts to rape him, but Said stabs and nearly kills both him and Robson.