Lemuel Idzik

Lemuel Idzik
First appearance	"Sonata da Oz" (episode 6.03)
Last appearance	"Exeunt Omnes" (episode 6.08)
Reason/Cause	End of Series
Details
Prisoner No.	03I462
Aliases	None
Gender	Male
Age	70
Date of Conviction	February 2, 2003
Affiliations	The Others
Spouse	Unnamed Wife
Children	2
Kill Count	2
Episode Count	6 Episodes
Portrayed by	Joel Grey

"Everything that we do, the plans we make, the hopes we have, they're futile. Being good at a job, which I was, building a home, which I did, raising a family...which I had, none of it means anything because no matter how we try, how much we strive and struggle, it'll all come to naught. Life is a waste of time. So, that's why I'm counting on you to kill me. You will, won't you?"

―Lemuel Idzik

Lemuel Idzik (Yiddish: לעמועל ידזיק) is a visitor, and later inmate, featured in Oz. Portrayed by Joel Grey.

Character Summary

"Prisoner number 03I462, Lemuel Idzik. Convicted February 2, 2003 - Murder in the second degree. Sentence: Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole."

―The Narrator

In his first appearance, he is disguised as a reporter who is in Oz to do a story on Kareem Said's efforts to self publish Augustus Hill's memoirs. When Said walks up to shake his hand, Idzik pulls out a revolver, shooting Said twice in the torso before a guard disarms him. Said dies shortly afterwards, and Idzik is convicted of second degree murder, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Plot Summary

Season 6

Idzik meeting with Omar White.

Understandably, Idzik already has enemies in Oz - notably the Muslims and Omar White. (Schillinger and other members of the Brotherhood attempt to befriend Idzik for murdering Said. Idzik quickly reveals his Jewish origin, and they leave as upset and confused as the rest of Oz.) Tim McManus talks to both parties and convinces the former to give Idzik a wide berth. White, however, is not entirely compliant, and leaves McManus' office with uncertain intentions. When Idzik moves out of Unit J and is made White's new cell mate, White becomes very agitated and conflicted, but eventually decides not to harm Idzik, much to Idzik's dismay. When repeatedly asked why he murdered Said, Idzik finally tells White he asked to come to Em City so someone would kill him, because the cosmos is coming to an end and he wants release, but not by suicide.

When, after a day of research, White refutes Idzik's prophecy and thus his desire to die, Idzik murders White in his sleep by slitting his throat. For his second murder, Idzik is placed on death row, but his conviction is overturned, again to his dismay. Finally, Sister Peter Marie coaxes out an explanation for his death wish. He tells her of how, long ago, he met Kareem Said in Istanbul, before Said's conversion to Islam. Said spoke passionately and convincingly of how the universe was ultimately doomed, and those words stuck to Idzik, changing him forever, sapping from him all purpose in life. He told Sister Pete that by killing Said, he stopped himself from doing something of a far greater danger to the world. After killing Said, he then kills Omar in hopes that he would, in turn, be executed. Ironically, his sentence is overturned and he is sent back to Em City.

He is last seen on one of the evacuation buses in the closing scenes of the series.

Appearances

Season 6

• Sonata da Oz
  
• A Failure to Communicate
  
• 4giveness
  
• A Day in the Death...
  
• Junkyard Dawgs
  
• Exeunt Omnes

Kill Count

Personal

• Kareem Saïd: Shot to death with a revolver. (2003)
• Omar White: Slit his throat during the night. (2003)

Gallery

Idzik shooting Kareem Said.

Idzik as seen in his crime flashback.

Idzik with the shiv he used on Omar.

Idzik in his solitary cell.

Idzik on the evacuation bus.

The Others
Tobias Beecher - Chris Keller - Bob Rebadow - Agamemnon Busmalis - Augustus Hill - Omar White - Nikolai Stanislofsky - Yuri Kosygin - Jia Kenmin - Li Chen - Donald Groves - Edward Galson - Ronald Poklewaldt - Glen Shupe - Stanley Bukowski - Ralph Galino - Lemuel Idzik - Guillaume Tarrant - Bruno Goergen - Adam Guenzel - Alexander Vogel - Greg Penders

Unit J
Clayton Hughes - Alvin Yood - Johnny Basil - Tobias Beecher - Wilson Loewen - Willy Brandt - Lemuel Idzik