And it's the Pernicious Peewee! I didn't realize what a good character he is until I had to go a few episodes without him. In Glynn's office, the PP mutters to Glynn that McManus needs a little education himself, "in reality." McManus enters, and bitches to Glynn about the "sneak attack." God, shut it, you self-important git. Glynn informs him that "the state" has decided to eliminate the GED program from the next year's budget. McManus says the PP can't do that, but the PP gives the "watch me, candy-ass" answer that they need more hacks, and the budget can't handle both. He says that he'll be making a formal announcement on the fifteenth, and that the news is classified until then. McManus whines that that's three days after graduation, and the PP duhs that he planned it that way, so as not to ruin the ceremony. McManus continues in that stroppy tone that I wouldn't take with my mother, let alone my boss, demanding to know if the PP is coming to the graduation. The PP smiles and mock-sighs, "Unfortunately, yes. The wages of spin." Hee! He leaves. Pernicious Peewee, you are my anti-McManus, and a higher compliment I cannot bestow. McManus looks at Glynn, who's all, "I'm the most incompetent warden in history. Why would you even think of dragging me into this?"

McManus walks with a TV station representative, saying he doesn't want a big production that will distract the inmates. He also says that he wants the segment to run for three minutes, and perhaps you heard a wheezing sound coming from across the Atlantic? That was me, trying to catch my breath after laughing so hard. You'll take the fifteen-second sound bites they give you and like it, tool. He smarms, "I want your viewers to know that something good's coming out of Oz." Amazingly, the rep doesn't laugh in his face. You know he's going to be reciting this conversation when he gets back to the station, though.

Graduation. McManus is speaking, and in keeping with the historic (well, to me, anyway) nature of this recap, I'm going to give a shout-out to the old Dawson's Wrap days and note that my Maalox scorecard is really getting a workout here. Shots of McManus through a video camera are interspersed as he blathers about a "communal victory" and changing lives, until he gets to his big moment: He drops the bomb about the GED program being discontinued, and while this is totally inappropriate and not his place, the PP was sort of asking for it. Plus, I saw it coming from a mile away, unlike a certain later development involving this character. Also, right afterward, we get a shot of the PP's reaction through the video camera. Hee. It's the "Oh No He Di-Int!" of camera work. Needless to say, the PP doesn't look pleased, although he's certainly not fuming. Next to him, Glynn looks amused, and number one on my list of 1001 Reasons Why Glynn Is Better Than McManus is that he doesn't take himself so goddamned seriously all the time. Maybe the world needs people like McManus, but that doesn't mean I need him on my television. McManus blathers on, eventually having the nerve to quote Chuck D, and it was at this point that I thought my McManus hate could not go any further. He's already Public Enemy Number One in my book. But no. There's a whole new subbasement to be explored. And that's just in this episode.