Nikolai Stanislofsky

Nikolai Petrovich Stanislofsky (Russian: Николай Петрович Станиславский) was a prisoner character played by Philip Casnoff on HBO's Oz in Season 3 and 4.^[1]

Character overview

Prisoner 99S233. Convicted February 14, 1999 - Possession of stolen goods with intent to sell. Sentence: 15 years, up for parole in five.

Season 3

Nikolai was a Russian Jew arrested for the possession of stolen goods with an intent to sell. When he initially arrives in Oz, Agamemnon Busmalis warns him that it might be difficult to adjust; however, Stanislofsky assures him that he spent 7 years in a Soviet Gulag, and that adjusting will be no problem. Originally, he had heard that his friend Alexander Vogel was killed by Richie Hanlon. He didn't know that it was really Vern Schillinger's doing. Upon his arrival, he kept a low profile until he saw that Hanlon's death sentence was overturned. Stanislofsky approached Richie in the shower and once he had a grip on Richie, he cut Hanlon's throat with a hidden razor blade kept in his mouth. Stanislofsky rinsed the razor in the water, and left the scene. After executing his "enemy," Stanislofsky continued to keep a low profile, until Yuri Kosygin came into the mix. Kosygin was a Russian cossack and a professional killer. The Russian hitman had his sights set on eliminating Stanislofsky, and this was something that made Ryan O'Reily quite glad. Once Yuri had Stanislofsky alone in a study room, he sealed the doors and managed to stab Stanislofsky right before the guards showed up to save Nikolai. Yuri was sent to isolation and Stanislofsky had to recover. When the racial tension reached an all time high during Stanislofsky's recovery, Schillinger asked all the Whites including the Jewish Stanislofsky to stick together against the majority Black inmates.

Season 4

In the season's first episode, Stanislofsky was able to coerce a cell phone from Ralph Galino, and he made illegal business related calls. However, Ryan O'Reily was able to gain knowledge of his newly acquired cell phone, and soon enough, he was paying Stanislofsky in order to use it. When Ryan told Galino about his cell phone still being in Stanislofsky's hands, he approached Nikolai with an ultimatum. Stanislofsky took matters into his own hands, acquiring help from Jaz Hoyt in order to have Galino taken out. Jaz and the Bikers forcibly overdosed Galino with a needle full of heroin. Ryan and Nikolai continued their rivalry for quite some time. Then O'Reily told Hoyt about the cell phone. Jaz attacked Nikolai and the two quarreled but the cell phone ended up in Ryan's hands. Both Hoyt and Stanislofsky were sent to isolation. When new unit manager Martin Querns investigated the cell phone dispute, Nikolai opened up after a harsh interrogation and then asked for protection from O'Reily. Querns tried to guarantee his safety telling Ryan that if anything were to happen to Nikolai when he got back to Em City, he would be held responsible. O'Reily arranged for correctional officer Claire Howell to kill him before his return to Em City. Stanislofsky had asked Querns for a favor, he wanted to take a hot bath. Officer Howell showed up, gave Nikolai a hand job while he was bathing, then picked up a rubber ducky and tossed it in. Nikolai was confused. "It's a rubber ducky," she explained. She then took a hair dryer and tossed it into the tub, while it was plugged in. This resulted in Stanislofsky being electrocuted.

References

1. ^ Idato, Michael (September 20, 2004). "Oz". Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/09/20/1095532208556.html.