Andrew Schillinger
Andrew Peter Schillinger, played by Frederick Koehler, is a fictional character in the HBO drama Oz.
Character overview
Prisoner 99S333. Convicted February 16, 1999 - Murder in the second degree, possession of narcotics. Sentence: 50 years, up for parole in 20.
Raised with his brother Hank by his racist grandfather Heinrick and equally racist father Vern Schillinger, Andrew has supported the ideology of the Aryan Brotherhood throughout his whole life. As a result, he lands in Oz for his part in a hate crime — he and his brother murder a black man by dragging him from the back of a pickup truck (very similar to the James Byrd murder in Jasper, Texas).
Andrew, however, has a problem that makes his commitment to the brotherhood questionable: he is a full-blown heroin addict. Andrew's addiction causes problems between him and his father in Oz that eventually result in his death.
When he and Hank were 12 and 10 years old (respectively), Vern nearly murdered a black drug dealer from whom they were trying to buy marijuana, the crime for which he was incarcerated.
Season 3
Andrew arrives in Oz for his part in a hate crime (murdering a black man). When in Oz, he looks for drugs immediately and is supplied by Irish inmate Ryan O'Reily. He has been moved to Emerald City purposefully by unit manager Tim McManus, who hates his father Vernon Schillinger, the head of the Aryan Brotherhood, serving time in Oz's unit B. When Schillinger begs Warden Glynn to move Andrew to Unit B, Glynn refuses in order to punish him.
In the cafeteria, Vern sees Andrew drugged out courtesy of O'Reilly and then gets guard Len Lopresti to take him to the isolation ward for using heroin. Because of Andrew's addiction, Vern tells the brotherhood to ignore him until he is drug free, as the Aryans in Oz oppose the use of drugs. At the same time, the other inmates, including the blacks, who are sickened by his crime, do not make any attempts to kill or rape Andrew out of fear of Vern's wrath. When Andrew gets back to Emerald City, he is cut off from O'Reilly's drug connections, who claims that Andrew is burning through his supply too fast. O'Reilly then points out that the other dealers in Oz are of other races, who Andrew refuses to buy from.
In drug rehab, Andrew is very disrespectful to Sister Pete and his attitude starts a fight between inmates Chris Keller and Tobias Beecher, which they later reveal was staged. Beecher then befriends Andrew, a move that McManus, the staff, and other inmates question, given Beecher's longstanding feud with Vern. Over a period of time, Beecher helps Andrew beat his addiction, and Andrew befriends O'Reily and Keller as well. As all three are looking to exact revenge on Vern, Schillinger becomes worried that his son will be murdered or raped by any of the three, especially after Beecher taunts Schillinger in the mail room. Meanwhile, as Andrew gets clean, he starts to question the ideology taught to him by his family.
In the cafeteria, Vern speaks with Andrew and hugs him, happy that he is drug free. He claims that he wants have a better relationship with him, but Andrew rejects him, angered by everything that his father stands for. Vern hits him and Andrew retaliates, until the guards, led by Lopresti, take Andrew to the hole. Vern, heartbroken that his son has renounced him, arranges for the guards to take Andrew a package of heroin, as a way of "renouncing" him. Lopresti delivers the heroin to the hole. Andrew at first resists, throwing the package away, but breaks down and then overdoses on it. As the guards carry Andrew's personal effects out of his cell, Beecher, O'Reilly, and Keller reveal that this was their plan all along.
Season 6
His spirit, along with Hank's, narrate the episode "4giveness".
Murders committed
- Unknown black man - Murdered by Andrew, then got 50 years in prison.