Oscar Hutchinson

**Oscar Hutchinson** is a recurring character on *The Rookie*. He is played by Matthew Glave.

## Biography

Oscar is incarcerated at "Victorville", which is probably the U. S. Penitentiary Victorville, located between Los Angeles and Barstow, California. The rookies' first encounter with Oscar occurs in "Manhunt", when a prison bus overturns and several inmates escape from it; Oscar is apprehended after trying to steal a car from a parking garage. He tells West and Lopez that he's been in prison for decades and expects to be in prison for the rest of his life. (In a later episode, Lopez describes him as "currently serving 40 years at Cal Correctional for multiple violent felonies".)

### Season 1

Oscar tells West several stories about his past involving Jackson's father, Percy, implying that the senior West used Oscar for tips on the drug trade, and that he planted evidence that ultimately got Oscar put away for life.

### Season 2

Oscar turns up again, this time in a courtroom where Nolan is testifying about another case. Oscar is awaiting his turn for a hearing when a city-wide alert is broadcast, with news that a missile is inbound. The inmates, along with the judge and other civilians, are sequestered in a fallout shelter in the basement of the courthouse; when the all-clear is sounded, Oscar makes an escape attempt, seriously wounding attorney Wesley Evers in the process. Oscar is returned to custody, however.

In "Under the Gun", Oscar is one of two inmates presented at the prison to converse with young delinquents as part of a "Scared Straight" program. John is annoyed to see him again, since he attacked Wesley. When a riot breaks out, the inmates are taken back to their cells, and the visitors are evacuated safely, but Harper and Nolan go back in to rescue the warden. They recruit Oscar to help, finding he chose not to participate, as he knew it would be settled soon. He agrees to help but not out of the goodness of his heart, when really in hopes that he can get more in-house privileges like a television and food rations. He leads the police to those holding the warden hostage and a deal is struck, with the help of the brother of one of the teenage visitors. He quickly follows the cops out to avoid more trouble.

### Season 3

In an attempt to track down a pair of kidnappers in "Bad Blood", Lopez, Nolan, and Harper discover a DNA trace that appears to have a familial link with Oscar, to their dismay. Oscar is visited by the officers and is speechless to hear he has a child but agrees to help in exchange for a meeting with the latter and allowed to leave the prison for a day. Nolan and Harper take Oscar to a diner, where his ex-girlfriend works but she says she doesn't have a child only for Oscar to be identified by another member of the staff named Cindy, who admits to having his child. It is revealed Oscar cheated on his girlfriend with Cindy, as he belatedly recalls and is nearly attacked by both women but this also enables them to contact said child, Ashley. Soon Ashley comes to the station to meet Oscar, who claims he took the bar in prison and asserts he's her lawyer in order to have a private conversation with her. She admits to the kidnapping being a sham, something Oscar is mildly impressed by and her anger when she learns that she was cut out until she learns that real kidnappers have captured her boyfriend. Later, Oscar tries an escape but Nolan and Harper anticipated this. Soon both he and Ashley are taken into custody for her part in the deception. Oscar is returned to the prison, though a talk with John about making a connection to Ashley leaves him pondering.

### Season 4

When Harper and Nolan have trouble identifying the backer of a "stand-in" inmate in "Heart Beat", Nolan suggests they stop by Oscar's cell for any information he might have. Oscar is shown bruised and his arm in a sling. As it turns out, Oscar is under siege for "snitch[ing] on one lifer too many", he initially jokes that they've come to tell him that he has a son. However, they reveal they need his help, and he bargains for a prison transfer; in exchange for their support, he names the people responsible for the inmate substitution. Harper writes it and he implicates the warden and several guards involved in the scam.

In "End Game", Nolan and Bailey meet with Oscar for insight on "narcissist psychopaths", of which, Oscar admits readily, he is one. He gives them valuable advice on dealing with Bailey's estranged husband Jason Wyler and sets up a deal on his own to get his attackers off his case and onto Jason.

### Season 5

During "Death Notice", he was temporarily released to prepare to donate his kidney to his daughter (who was recently released) after she got an infection and he happened to be a match. He does both out of compassion and money from her. Because of his history of escape, Oscar is heavily guarded by hospital security and police; among them are Nolan and Celina Juarez. Oscar trades words with him and Celina, who predicts to Oscar that he would die because she has an eerie feeling around him. Her warning leaves him uneasy, though he shrugs it off, but her warning seemingly comes to pass when an old enemy, working as an orderly, attacks him. Oscar tells Nolan that the orderly attacked for no reason and the latter is arrested, cursing Oscar who soon recognizes him as Rod Carmichael who went to prison because of him. After Carmichael is hauled out, Oscar taunts Celina on beating the prophecy, though she tells him that he's still doomed. As a result, he orders food, postponing the surgery. Eventually, the surgery is on the way, but it's revealed that another criminal Troy Hoffman has taken Oscar's doctor's family captive and is masquerading as a doctor to ensure Oscar dies in surgery. In the elevator, Oscar overhears this and becomes scared at this news. Oscar questions what he did to him, as Hoffman reveals that he did it in revenge for Oscar getting his brother killed in prison, though Oscar doesn't remember. Hearing this, Nolan calls him the worst human being in the world. Luckily, the cops get their team to save the Bernard family and the leader is officially arrested. The surgery is a success and Oscar wakes in a dazed state, before he is told that Ashley will no longer be sending money and refuse any CI tips from him. He was later returned to prison.

In "The Enemy Within", after crime boss Elijah Stone is incarcerated, his neighbor across the hall is none other than Oscar who notes he could use a good book. Stone then asks Oscar if he has any good revenge stories as the episode ends, implying a future alliance.

## Trivia

* Oscar says he got his law degree while in prison ("Bad Blood").
	+ In the same episode, he claims to have gotten his "doula certification".
	+ It is also revealed that he's an only child and his parents are deceased.
	+ Oscar is also shown to be quite knowledgeable on how DNA sequencing works for family members. As he himself states, it is important to know a lot about DNA in his line of work.
* He reveals in "Heart Beat" that he was bullied in middle school.
* A recurring theme is that the squad goes to him to get a better understanding of criminals.
* Nolan has eventually expressed exasperation at having to deal with Oscar so many times, as he described him as 'the worst person in the entire world' to Celina.
* He is one of the only guest characters to appear in every season, along with Quigley Smitty and Sean Del Monte.

## Quotes

Oscar: Do you still hear the lambs, Clarice?
Nolan: Oh, Oscar, you're no Hannibal Lecter. You're more "Ernest Goes to Jail."
(4x11)

## References

1. ↑ "Bad Blood"
2. ↑ Scared Straight