OMG! A new deleted scene from Oz!?! With Lee!

[vanillalime]

At least, I think it's new? I've never seen it before--it's not on my Season 4 DVDs!

With Steven Wishnoff tweeting a bunch of his old Oz photos, I got to wondering what he's been up to since the show. I did a Google search and came across some videos that Steven has posted to Vimeo. One of the vids is a deleted scene from "The Blizzard of '01" (episode 4.13--right after Keller is sent to Cedar Junction). It contains about 40 seconds of new footage of Lee/Toby talking with Steven/Tony and it is OZSOME:

ETA: Argh! Apparently, I can't embed the video because of Steven's privacy settings! So, just click on the link. Here's a screencap of Lee instead:



Lookit Toby with his sad puppy dog eyes missing Keller! ♥ ♥ ♥  I want to hug him and tell him it'll be all right!  Even though it won't! Heh. Also, I think this would have been the only time Steven actually had real dialog on the show?

Anyway, I was just thrilled to see this! New canon material! Even if it's only 40 seconds worth! It's nothing particularly earth-shattering, but I think it's interesting to note that this is also the episode where Toby meets Katherine McClain (*grrrr*) and gets called a faggot by that jackass "Colonel" podmate of his. Putting these pieces together, it almost implies that Toby's attraction to Katherine may have been some kind of defensive reaction to being identified as gay by others. Maybe? Just thinking out loud. Because I'm kinda excited by this discovery! And I always hated Katherine!

(Sorry for the exclamation overload in this post!!!!!!)

Comments

[lisacali.livejournal.com]

Wow, thanks for sharing this!

[vanillalime]

You're very welcome! I was happy that I could share my squee with others!

[luci-2.livejournal.com]

Thanks for posting. Why did hey cut this? Season 5 is so het sometimes that it makes my teeth hurt..

[suespur.livejournal.com]

That line about what Toby felt being because it was Keller, not because it was a guy, I swear I've heard that before.

[vanillalime]

Maybe you heard it in one of Lee's (or Tom's?) interviews when discussing Toby's sexuality? I'm pretty sure that I've read quotes from him before where he basically says the same thing.

[trillingstar]

Oh, maybe. And that expression on Toby's face was his default setting for a lot of S5. I will ponder.

Thank you for sharing this!

[vanillalime]

You're welcome!

Since it's not on the DVDs, I just don't know where it could have come from other than Steven's private collection? Unless HBO's old website for the show used to have deleted scenes? But I've never heard about or saw anything like that. (Geez, that's back before YouTube was even invented. Funny how quickly you lose perspective on what technology was like just a few years ago.)

Of course, I could always tweet Steven and ask him where he got it from, and he'd probably answer me. But I'm hesitant to do that for fear of coming across like some kind of weirdo for Googling him. Which, I am, but I figure he doesn't need to know that. Heh.

[trillingstar]

I -- me too. I don't remember where. Have we seen this scene before? I'm inclined to say yes, but... I don't remember why. :P

I'm so helpful!

[vanillalime]

You're welcome!

I've wondered before why they cut a LOT of the deleted scenes that are on the DVDs. The one that bugs me the most is the scene of Toby's and Chris's "pod reunion" in Season 4 after Chris killed Ronnie. When I watched the show initially and saw Chris freaking out after Hank's body was found, and I wondered, "Wait, did Toby and Chris make up at some point?" I mean, things were clearly headed in that direction, but other than a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment of them talking together in the background at one point, there was no definitive moment in the show that demonstrated that they'd really patched things up. It added unnecessary confusion to Chris's Great Sacrifice. (Also, that kiss that Toby gives Chris on the back of neck in that scene... *swoon*... how could Fontana cut THAT?!)

[iskra667.livejournal.com]

What I felt was because it was Keller, not because it was a guy.

I quite like this line because it's ambiguous, it could be Toby being a closet case in denial, or it could be him saying a big fuck you to labels and pigeonholing. Being Toby, it's probably a bit of both and shifting every 30 seconds... :D

[vanillalime]

I quite like this line because it's ambiguous

Yes! Exactly! Interesting, too, in that it doesn't really explain away Toby's consensual sexual relationships with guys other than Chris (i.e., Mondo, Shemin, Ronnie). Even though those relationships could be attributed to Toby's self-loathing and/or desire to punish Keller, he DID seem to enjoy the act of sex itself with guys other than Chris.

So many different directions to go with this....

[trillingstar]

Both of you might be interested in the 'Profiles in Oz' series of interviews (if you haven't read them already). Part two, with the author talking to Lee, can be read here, and you can find the rest of them by googling Profiles in Oz Guarino. There are five parts; he also interviews Dean Winters, Harold Perrineau, Tom Fontana.

I think it's interesting to get the actor's take on their character's characterization. Def some insights, there, concerning labels and unconditional love.

[bleu-daisy.livejournal.com]

Thanks for sharing the brief but precious scene. I hated Toby's hair in Season 5, but I've always loved his eloquence.

[vanillalime]

You're welcome! I was so excited by my discovery!

Aw, I could never hate Lee's hair in any style. There are just times when it's a little sexier than others. ;D