Tim McManus

Tim McManus is a protagonist character, Emerald City unit manager, and a liberal person trying to turn criminals into better citizens, portrayed by Terry Kinney.

McManus, the idealistic manager of Emerald City, is unlike the rest of the staff members at Oz as he has never been a CO, has a college education, and generally believes in the inmates as people more than the rest of the staff. Throughout the series, McManus believes that he can rehabilitate the prisoners hoping to turn them into better citizens. McManus is often questioned by Warden Leo Glynn with some of his motives but he usually comes on top of any situation he encounters. McManus also has multiple sexual relationships with several female staff members throughout the series which ends up being problematic in season 3. Overall, McManus exhibits many different traits, of both positive and negative natures. From a negative standpoint, McManus is over-zealous, egotistical, overly idealistic, naive, and self-righteous. From a positive standpoint, McManus believes in justice, morality, the goodness of people and is helpful and persistent to the point where his idealism can work. McManus loves Emerald City, the unit he manages as he wants to make it an ideal prison where people of all groups learn to live together and improve themselves.