scenes containing all lines spoken by Shirley from her first appearance in Great Men to her final appearance in See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Smell No Evil.
transcripts pulled from here and here.
Reporter: Shirley Bellinger, who was convicted for the murder of her four year old daughter, was sentenced to death today, the first woman in this state to be executed since 1841. She will receive a lethal injection next month at Oswald State Penitentiary. Bellinger's lawyer has already filed an appeal in federal court and will hold a press conference tomorrow. Speaking from the capital, Governor Devlin said he supports the sentence and would not consider a stay of execution if petitioned.
(On Death Row.)
Bellinger: How comfy.
---
Mukada: Hello, Shirley.
Bellinger: Thank you for coming.
Mukada: If you hadn't asked, I would have anyway.
Bellinger: I never was much for any kind of religion. I was baptized Lutheran, went to Quaker school. My first husband was a Jew, my second was a whatchadingy.
Mukada: Whatchadingy?
Bellinger: You know, when you don't believe in anything?
Mukada: An atheist.
Bellinger: Yeah.
Mukada: Are you an atheist?
Bellinger: I'm not sure. Ever since the accident, I've been full up with all sorts of feelings.
Mukada: The accident?
Bellinger: When my daughter died. Save me.
Mukada: Do you want to be saved?
Bellinger: I want you to save me.
Mukada: From what? From Hell? From lethal injection?
Bellinger: That collar looks so stiff. Why don't you take it off?
Mukada: No. Stop it! Officer!
Bellinger: Look at me. I'm so fucked up. I'm sorry!
---
Bellinger: Hello. Did you need something?
Wittlesey: No.
Bellinger: I do. I need a friend.
Wittlesey: It ain't gonna be me.
Bellinger: Of course. I'm a convicted murderer. You're not.
Wittlesey: Let me ask you something. Do you sleep at night?
Bellinger: Yes.
Wittlesey: How is that possible, given what you did, that you sleep through the night?
Bellinger: When people ask me about my daughter's death, I tell 'em it was an accident. But it wasn't an accident. It was what had to happen. It was what had to be. And so I sleep. I sleep good.
D'Agnasti: Hey, Diane.
Wittlesey: Hey.
D'Agnasti: Here, Shirley.
Bellinger: Thanks, sweetie. (She finds a note under her sandwich and writes one in return.)
---
(technically not Shirley dialogue, but included anyway as part of "things she would say/do")
Adebisi: What does that mean, brawny?
Ryan: Lots of muscles.
Adebisi: I'm brawny?
Ryan: Yeah. Among other things. Here, let me see.
Adebisi: No.
Ryan: Let me see. Oh. Bellinger says that tomorrow is her birthday and it's her last birthday on earth. And the only thing that she really wants to do is to see your brawny body naked and suck your cock.
Adebisi: Where does it say that? Where does it say that?
Ryan: Right there. Fellatio. Cunnilingus. Girlfriend can spell.
---
Ryan: All right, listen. Tomorrow, Adebisi's doing your mop duty.
Kirk: Why?
Ryan: So he can see Bellinger.
Kirk: Fuck that. Every day she shows her pussy.
Ryan: Well, you're gonna have to go without it for once. Here, take that.
(On Death Row.)
CO: Here, Shirley.
Bellinger: Thank you, Dumpling. (She opens her dinner tray to find a cupcake with a candle burning.) Well, I'll be. Simon thinks of everything.
Adebisi: Shirley, you like your cake?
Bellinger: Yes.
Adebisi: Happy birthday, baby.
Bellinger: You're Simon?
Adebisi: (He pulls down his pants.) Quickly, before the hacks come.
Bellinger: But...
Adebisi: What?
Bellinger: You're a nigger.
---
Bellinger: Don't be nervous.
Nathan: I'm not nervous.
Bellinger: Well, you seem nervous. Which I can understand, you and me being locked in this cell together.
Nathan: Breathe.
Bellinger: You don't touch many women, do you?
Nathan: Nope.
Bellinger: I can tell. You're twisting and turning my body like I'm a man.
Nathan: I'm treating you like a patient, any patient.
Bellinger: That's right. Doctors can't feel emotion toward their caseloads.
Nathan: That's not true. We're compassionate. Look up.
Bellinger: Ah, yes, compassion. That marvelous thing which allows you to be human and still be above the rest of us.
Nathan: You're fine. We're done.
Bellinger: Am I well enough to die? Healthy enough to execute?
Nathan: Look, if I'm nervous it's because I don't understand how a woman, a mother could do that to her own child, her own flesh and blood.
Bellinger: It was an accident.
Nathan: Officer! The next time I see you, Shirley, I'll be standing over a gurney about to poke you with a lethal injection.
(Kirk leaves a tube of lipstick for Bellinger on one of her cell bars.)
Bellinger: Thank you, darling.
---
Bellinger: Hi there. I'm Shirley.
Hanlon: Yeah, I know. Shirley Bellinger. Only woman on death row. Looks like I'm the only man.
Bellinger: Adam and Eve.
Hanlon: No. This ain't no garden of Eden.
Bellinger: What's your name?
Hanlon: Uh, Richie. Richie Hanlon.
Bellinger: Who'd you kill?
Hanlon: No one.
Bellinger: Me neither. My daughter, she died in a terrible accident. I lost control of the car and she drowned.
Hanlon: Yeah.
Bellinger: And you?
Hanlon: I'm a victim of circumstances.
Bellinger: Hmm. You're appealing.
Hanlon: Huh?
Bellinger: The verdict.
Hanlon: Oh, sure. You?
Bellinger: Mine comes up next week. Lawyer says judge might overturn on a technicality. Fingers crossed. Show me your prick.
Hanlon: What?
Bellinger: You show me your prick, and I'll show you my pussy.
Hanlon: I'm gay.
Bellinger: Look, I don't care if you're Portuguese. I don't want to die with never having seen another prick again. You and me, we're all we've got now. We have to help each other. Show me. Please, show me.
(Hanlon unzips.)
Bellinger: Stick it through a little farther. Well, well. You must have made some boy very, very happy.
---
Lawyer: The court rejected our appeal.
Bellinger: Oh. So what's the next step?
Lawyer: Well, normally, the next step, the last step, is the State Supreme Court.
Bellinger: Well, let's do that then. What's the matter, Lawrence?
Lawyer: I'm recusing myself as your attorney.
Bellinger: What? Why? Was it something I said? Something I did?
Lawyer: Not at all. It's just that with these new lower fees the state is spending I, uh, I can't afford to work on your defense. Murder cases are complicated, they take a lot of time, and I've been neglecting the rest of my practice.
Bellinger: Well, what'll happen to me then?
Lawyer: The court will appoint you another lawyer.
Bellinger: One that won't be as good. Because the ones that will take the jobs at the lower rates are the ones that no one else will hire.
Lawyer: I'm sorry. (He leaves.)
Bellinger: Oh, my.
Hanlon: What's the matter, Shirley?
Bellinger: It just hit me for the first time. I'm gonna die.
---
Bellinger: Richie? Hon? Hold up your arm, willya?
Hanlon: Hmm?
Bellinger: For the sweater. What do you think, about four bars?
Hanlon: Three.
(Schillinger enters with a CO.)
Schillinger: Mail!
Bellinger: Long time, no see, Vern.
Schillinger: Mmm-hmm. Did you miss me?
Bellinger: Breathlessly.
Schillinger: Got that teapot you ordered.
Bellinger: Thanks, darling.
Schillinger: My, you are turning this cell into quite the little nest.
Bellinger: My new lawyer is taking my appeal to the state supreme court. I figure I'll be here a while longer.
Schillinger: Well, that is good news. (The CO pulls him away.) Yeah. Hello, Richie. Nothing for you today. Guess all your little fag friends are too busy getting their legs waxed.
Hanlon: Fuck you, Schillinger. (Said with a soft "g".)
Schillinger: Schillinger, asshole. (Said with a hard "g". He leaves.)
Bellinger: Richie?
Hanlon: Hmm?
Bellinger: What's this thing between you and Vern? Everytime he comes around here you boys snarl at each other.
Hanlon: Long story.
Bellinger: Well, I've got no other appointments today.
Hanlon: That bastard is the reason I'm on death row. He and another Aryan creep killed a Russian. Hung him by his ankles in the gym, carved "Jew" on his chest, and then told me if I didn't confess to the murder they'd kill me.
Bellinger: Mmm. Death sentence either way.
Hanlon: Mmm-hmm.
Bellinger: But if you know you're gonna die, why not tell the truth?
Hanlon: The other one, Mark Mack, is already dead. Besides, why should the hacks listen to me now? I tell them Schillinger did it, they'd say "Prove it." I have no proof.
Bellinger: Unless you say you did it together.
Hanlon: What?
Bellinger: Lie. Tell 'em you and Vern both killed the Russian.
Hanlon: How does that save me?
Bellinger: It doesn't, honey. But it does mean his ass will be sitting up here in the cell next to yours. Something to consider, Richie. Just something to consider.
---
Hanlon: Morning.
Bellinger: Getting ready to go to the city for your appeal?
Hanlon: Uh-huh. I dunno, woke up today, got a good feeling.
Bellinger: Well, I hope the judge overturns your verdict. 'Course if he does, I'll never see you again. I'll miss you, Richie.
Hanlon: Yeah, but if they don't overturn the verdict... I decided I'm gonna do what you suggested. I'm gonna tell the cops that Schillinger and I killed Alexander Vogel together. At least if I have to die, he'll die too. Get some justice.
Bellinger: Good boy. Hey, I'm almost done with your sweater.
CO: OK, Hanlon, let's go.
Hanlon: Au revoir, cherie.
Bellinger: No. Goodbye, my darling.
---
McManus: Hello, I'm Tim McManus.
Bellinger: Yes, hello. I really appreciate your coming, taking time out of what I know is a busy, busy schedule.
McManus: To tell you the truth, I'm very curious as to why you asked me here.
Bellinger: Please, be seated. Would you like some tea?
McManus: No.
Bellinger: May I call you Tim?
McManus: Sure.
Bellinger: Well, Tim, in the past few weeks I've suffered a series of stunning blows. Richie Hanlon's murder...
McManus: Yeah, we're still investigating.
Bellinger: And yesterday, my new lawyer, who is court appointed and who I do not like at all, told me that the state supreme court rejected my final appeal. Next Thursday is the date set for the execution. It's the first time I've said that word out loud. The execution. My execution. Well, the warden informed me I may choose the means in which I will die and I was hoping you might help me pick one out.
McManus: Me?
Bellinger: Richie always spoke so highly of you. Said you were a good man.
McManus: Did he?
Bellinger: If you were going to die, which way would you choose?
McManus: Well, um, uh.... I, I'm not sure. Uh, they say that lethal injection is the least painful.
Bellinger: Oh, pain's definitely part of the consideration.
McManus: I'd say the only consideration.
Bellinger: No. The style in which I die must have a sort of lyricism, if you will. Some significance.
McManus: Ah. There's the gas chamber.
Bellinger: They say the gas turns your skin green.
McManus: Well, how 'bout a hanging? When you die, your feet do a little dance, a little dance of death.
Bellinger: Richie was right about you. A hanging, that's perfect. I want to go out of this life dancing. Thank you, kind sir. You know, Richie had a little crush on you.
McManus: Did he?
Bellinger: Uh-huh. And I can see why.
McManus: Officer!
Bellinger: You mustn't despair over this sexual harrassment thing.
McManus: You know about that?
Bellinger: Even on death row, rumor lives.
---
McManus: You ready for this? Gloria Nathan just examined Shirley Bellinger. She's pregnant.
(In Bellinger's cell.)
Bellinger: Holy fuck.
---
Bellinger: I was supposed to die this Thursday, the last execution of the millenium. But the governor heard that I'm pregnant and an hour ago he issued a temporary stay.
Sister Pete: Well, knowing Devlin he's just trying to sort through the political ramifications of putting to death a woman who got pregnant while in prison. You do know who the father is?
Bellinger: Why, yes. Of course.
Sister Pete: But you won't tell.
Bellinger: No.
Sister Pete: The list is easy to pare down.
Bellinger: The father doesn't matter. I want you to go to the governor and tell him to go forward with the execution.
Sister Pete: You, you want to die?
Bellinger: I have to die.
Sister Pete: Why?
Bellinger: I did kill my firstborn. Oh, I've said it. Some things aren't real till you say 'em out loud.
Sister Pete: I know.
Bellinger: My daughter. My precious. When she was born she was a joy. But bit by bit I began to see that there was something not quite right about her. Something not quite human. Otherworldly. I'd go into her room and above the bassinet there'd be flashes of fire.
Sister Pete: Fire?
Bellinger: Or she'd speak in tongues. One day she even made a plate levitate. That's when I began to see she was possessed of the devil.
Sister Pete: Did you, um, ever talk to anyone about this?
Bellinger: Who could I tell? My mother? The child's father, that lying bastard?
Sister Pete: Uh, well, your minister? Pediatrician?
Bellinger: They would have thought I was crazy. No, I knew the only way was to kill her myself. But every time I went to strike I didn't see the devil. I only saw my daughter's sweet face. So I put her in the car and drove into the lake and let her drown, half hoping, half expecting to see her rise up out of the water on Lucifer's back.
Sister Pete: All right. I'll see what I can do.
Bellinger: God bless you.
---
Bellinger: You betrayed me.
Sister Pete: I protected you, and your baby.
Bellinger: I want an abortion and if you all won't give me one I will kill this monster inside me myself.
Sister Pete: You are being sent to the Connelly Institute where you will be on 24 hour watch.
Bellinger: You're making a mistake. Mark my word. Next year this time you won't be celebrating Christmas, you'll be bowing down before Satan. The next millenium belongs to him. Satan's the father and I'm the virgin mother!
---
TV news anchor: Shirley Bellinger, who say on death row for a year awaiting execution for the murder of her young daughter will be returning to the Oswald State correctional facility today. Bellinger’s death sentence was commuted when she became pregnant while serving time, but after she miscarried under suspicious circumstances Governor Devlin revoked his decision.
[Death Row]
Lopresti: Here you go, Shirley.
Bellinger: Well, can’t I have my old cell back?
Lopresti: As you can see, it’s occupied.
Bellinger: Well, maybe he’d switch with me. Would you switch with me?
Ginzberg: Sorry, Sister, I’m all spread out.
Bellinger: I’ll make it worth your while.
Ginzberg: Honey, there’s nothing you’ve got that I want.
Bellinger: You’d be surprised.
Lopresti: Get inside.
Bellinger: How do you do? My name’s Shirley, what’s yours?
Miles: Suck my dick you fucking cunt.
Bellinger: Well, that’s not polite. How about you? You got a kind word for a stranger?
Deyell: Yeah. Moses Deyell.
Bellinger: Moses? Well, maybe you can lead us out of Egypt to the promised land.
Deyell: I wouldn’t count on it.
Bellinger: How’d you end up here?
(Flashback. a man and woman having sex. Deyell walks in and shoots the man)
Woman: Ahh!
Hill: Prisoner number 00718.
(Deyell kisses the woman, then shoots her.)
Hill: Moses Deyell. Convicted February 3rd, 2000, on 2 counts of murder in the first degree. Sentence: Death.
[Death row]
Bellinger: She was cheating on ya?
Deyell: Yeah...With her husband.
Bellinger: They were married?
Deyell: The bitch told me they was through. I don’t fuck with another man's wife. I got principles.
Bellinger: Oh, I love a man with principles.
---
Lopresti: Shirley?
Bellinger: Good morning, Officer Lopresti. And who is this fine gentleman?
Lopresti: Ralph Galino. He’s gonna paint your cell.
Bellinger: How do you do?
Galino: Well, the truth be told, I’m a little pissed off. On the outside, I was a contractor. Housing complex I built collapsed, killed two people, but it wasn’t my fault. I used to supervise painters, I never painted. Somehow the Warden decided I was qualified.
Lopresti: Enough yapping, get to work. Shirley, you can step out.
Bellinger: Step out?
Lopresti: Yeah. The Warden decided you'r free to roam around here ’til Galino’s done.
Bellinger: Tell Mr. Glynn I’m much obliged. Excuse me. Sorry, I’m so sorry. How’re you today , Nat?
Ginzberg: Just fine, honey lamb.
Bellinger: What are you working on?
Ginzberg: A new dress.
Miles: Fucking girlie queerbait.
Ginzberg: Oh, that pierces me to the very bone, especially coming from a jizz ball who murdered his family.
(Flashback of a young Miles killing his family)
Bellinger: You murdered your family?
Ginzberg: Twice.
(Flashback to an older Miles killing his other family)
Hill: Prisoner number 97M573, Mark Miles. Convicted July 10, 1997, three counts of murder in the first degree. Sentence: Death.
Bellinger: You murdered two of your families? My, my, that makes me feel like a down right amateur.
Miles: 20 years ago, I shot my wife and my son. I pleaded insanity, served 10 years in the Connolly institute. I was cured.
Deyell: Fucking psychopath.
Miles: Hey, that’s the pot calling the kettle black, boy.
Deyell: Hey, don’t fucking call me boy.
Bellinger: Gentlemen, please, no ruckus. At least wait ’til I’m dead.
Deyell: They set the date yet?
Bellinger: Two weeks.
Deyell: That don’t fuck with your head?
Bellinger: No. After all the bullshit, the trial, the appeals, the miscarriage, I’m ready to go. I am ready to meet my maker. ‘Course, whether he’s ready for the likes of me is another story. When you smile, you are a very attractive man.
Deyell: For a nigger?
Bellinger: I’ll admit, I’ve had my prejudices, but now that I am so close to the end I see that all of us is the same. Same needs. Same desires.
Miles: Yo, Lopresti!
Lopresti: Hey, hey, hey, hey what’s going on here?
Bellinger: Just a little fraternization.
Lopresti: That is not on the Goddamn program.
Galino: Done.
Lopresti: Good, get inside.
Galino: Careful of the fumes, you might get high.
Bellinger: I’m looking forward to it.
---
Ginzberg: I suffocated Antonio Nappa.
Deyell: The mob boss?
Ginzberg: One and the same.
Bellinger: That took balls.
Ginzberg: Not really. I killed him at the behest of Mr. Chucky Pancamo.
Deyell: Pancamo wanted to take over?
Ginzberg: I don’t know the politics, honey. I just got the job done.
Lopresti: Lights out.
(Lopresti goes into Bellinger’s cell)
Bellinger: Hi.
Lopresti: Hi.
Bellinger: Let’s get rid of this.
---
News anchor: Zeke Bellinger, the husband of condemned prisoner Shirley Bellinger, has requested that, after the execution, the State hand her body over to him for burial beside their slain daughter.
Hill: Hey, rumor had it that Shirley Bellinger wanted to be buried in an unmarked grave.
Beecher: So, why’s he going against her wishes?
Ryan: I hear hubby went born again after the drowning.
[Visiting room]
Zeke Bellinger: Hello, Shirley.
Shirley: Zeke, you’re looking very thin. That new wife not feeding you?
Zeke: Patsy’s a singer, she don’t got time to cook.
Shirley: Singer, huh?
Zeke: A chanteuse.
Shirley: My, my. Lucky you. Is she pregnant?
Zeke: We decided not to have kids.
Shirley: She afraid what it might do to her figure? Might ruin that chanteuseing career?
Zeke: No, I just wouldn’t be able to survive losing another child.
Shirley: I want to be buried in an unmarked grave.
Zeke: No, it’s wrong.
Shirley: All the years we were married, you never did one thing I asked. Do this.
Zeke: No.
Shirley: I want to be lost in oblivion.
Zeke: It’s too late for that, Shirley, you’re infamous.
Shirley: I don’t understand. I’d think you wouldn’t want me buried anywhere near Katie.
Zeke: Well, you see, you’re wrong, ‘cause I forgive you.
Shirley: You forgive me?
Zeke: It took me all this time to get my heart in place, but Reverend Nahi has been very helpful to me, praying with me, praise the Lord.
Shirley: You forgive me?
Zeke: Yes.
Shirley: What makes you think I want your fucking forgiveness?
Zeke: Now Shirley, don’t cuss.
Shirley: You come in here all high and mighty, deciding to free me of my guilt. Well, Zeke, I don’t feel guilty. I did what I had to do, and unlike you, at least my balls were big enough. You came to console me? Well, I’ve got a little consolation prize for you, darling. You and the chanteuse ought to go ahead and have yourselves another child, because when Katie died, you didn’t lose a child. She wasn’t yours.
Zeke: What?
Shirley: Your father raped me. That child was his seed.
Zeke: God damn you!
(Zeke hits Shirley and knocks her tooth out.)
Shirley: I’m gonna put this under my pillow tonight, wait for the tooth fairy to come.
---
Glynn: Next item. Shirley Bellinger's execution is scheduled for dawn tomorrow.
Sister Pete: Bye.
Glynn: Peter Marie -
Sister Pete: No, no, no, Leo. I agreed that I wouldn't protest publicly again, but that doesn't mean I have to sit here and listen to the grim details.
Glynn: But Bellinger has asked you to do something for her.
Sister Pete: What?
Glynn: Well, after she's dead, she wants you to collect her personal possessions. She doesn't want anyone else touching her things.
Sister Pete: What am I supposed to do with them?
Glynn: Well, she says dispose of them as you wish.
Sister Pete: Okay. Can I go now?
Glynn: Yeah.
(Pete leaves.)
Glynn: Ray, she's asked for you to pray with her.
Ray: Right.
[Death Row. Bellinger's cell.]
Reporter: Shirley, have you any thoughts as the hour approaches?
Shirley: Thoughts? Of course I have thoughts. How could I not?
Reporter: Would you share them with us?
Shirley: Sure. I'm wondering why anyone cares what my thoughts are. Sure didn't care when my husband was drunk and beat me, or when my father-in-law raped me. No, it wasn't until I killed mydaughter, till I did something horrific, that what I think matters. All I wanted was for someone to pay attention, and now that you finally are, I see that my life then, or now, isn'tworth shit. Oh, if I say shit you can't use this, right? I'm not supposed to say shit on the air, am I?
---
Shirley: Good morning, sugar.
Moses: How you doing?
Shirley: Woke up with a crick in my neck. Must've been sleeping funny.
Moses: Maybe it's stress.
Shirley: In any case, the hanging'll take care of the crick.
Nat: What'd I - what'd I miss?
Shirley: Nothing yet, Natalie.
Nat: And Miles is sleeping?
Moses: Yeah.
Nat: The man has no sense of propriety. So, uh, so what'd you have for your final meal?
Shirley: Nice Slim-Fast milkshake. Girl's got to protect her figure, even if she's a corpse.
(Lopresti, Glynn and Ray enter.)
Glynn: Ready?
Shirley: Quite. Sorry to get you up so early, Father. Warden, Officer Lopresti has been coming to my cell every night and fucking me.
Lopresti: That's a lie.
Glynn: You and I will talk later.
Lopresti: Yes, sir. (to Shirley) Bitch.
Ray: Speaking of that, Shirley, would you mind solving a mystery for me?
Shirley: If I can.
Ray: When you got pregnant here in Oz, who was the father? Was it Lopresti?
Shirley: Oh, no. He wasn't working deathwatch then. My lover was Satan in the form of a man.
Ray: Which man?
Shirley: A lady never reveals such secrets. But I'll give you a hint. Neither rain, nor snow - Goodbye, Moses.
Moses: So long, Shirley.
Nat: See you around, kiddo. Save me a seat at the beauty salon.
(Glynn, Lopresti, Ray, and Shirley begin the walk.)
Ray and Shirley: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.
(As they continue to walk and pray, we see shots of Adebisi in his pod, Schillinger in his cell, McManus in his office, and Sister Pete praying, all watching the time.)
Ray and Shirley: He guides me in the paths of righteousness, for His name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. You prepare a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. You anoint my head with oil. And I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever. Amen.
(They enter the chamber where Shirley is to be hanged. There are many witnesses for the execution, as well as Dr. Nathan, and other COs.)
Shirley: No. No, no. I changed my mind. I don't want to die this way. I don't want to die.
Glynn: It's too late.
Shirley: No, you -
(She runs off, knocking over Ray.)
Ray: Shirley!
(Lopresti captures her and brings her to the trapdoor.)
Shirley: No! No, please, please, please! No, no, please, please! Oh god, oh god, not yet, not yet! Not yet, not yet! Oh, sweet heaven, oh sweet Jesus, I'm sorry for all I've done. Please, please, please intercede for me now. Oh, sweet Jesus, help me, sweet Jesus, help me, sweet Lord. I'm sorry for all I've done. Please, please, please intercede for me now. Oh, sweet Jesus, oh help me, Mary, Jesus.
(Shirley is executed.)
---
Bellinger: You know what they say? When one of your senses fails, the other ones compensate by getting stronger. Like if you go blind, your hearing suddenly perks up. Can't smell? Your taste buds bloom. So what happens if you lost them all, If things no longer make any sense? You've got to rely on others to get you through the day, and in Oz, that could be dangerous.
---
Bellinger: A lot of times when a woman gets pregnant, her sense of smell changes for the worse. Suddenly roses are putrid, and freshly baked bread, jeez, it's more like ammonia. Epileptics got something similar. They can often tell when they're about to do a back flip because they start to smell things that aren't there, so, at least they got a chance to sit down before the seizure hits. With pregnancy, and epilepsy, you've got a pretty good sense of impending doom. Too bad we've got no sense of how to avoid it.
---
Bellinger: There's a condition called synesthesia, makes you associate letters with colors, sounds with touch. Imagine reading a book and being constantly awash in a cascade of green and purple, or hearing a guitar chord and feeling it like your lovers lips against your neck. Why they call it a condition I'll never know. It sounds more like a blessing, and just goes to prove that even the most basic reality is totally different for each of us.
---
Bellinger: Let's say a young man mugs someone. A young girls steals 20 purses from Sears. A young mother drowns her daughter. The one thing they're all said to lack is common sense. Somewhere along the way they lost their ability to think correctly. Well, look at Oz. Common sense creates the common criminal. The desire to do right is probably the most uncommon sense of all.
---
Bellinger: Sometimes the worst thing, the worst possible fucking state of being...
Hill: Is having all your senses working full tilt. How can that be bad? Well, there are certain things we do when seen, touched, heard, smelled and tasted all at the same time that'll make you wish you were dead.