John Osweiller

John "Oz" Osweiller
Biographical Information
Age	25
Gender	Male
Eye Color	Brown
Hair Color	Brown
Status	Alive
Character Information
Class	3rd Class (formerly) New Eden
Alias(es)	Oz Brakeman Blowie (by The Last Australian) Wean (by Buffalo)
Occupation	Brakemen (formerly) Janitor (formerly) Head Janitor (formerly) Nightcar Manager (formerly) Security Officer for New Eden De Facto Head of Security for New Eden (formerly)
Relationships
Romance(s)	LJ Folger † (ex-wife)
Friends	Sam Roche LJ Folger † Bess Till Buffalo Bojan Boscovic
Enemies	Josie Wellstead (formerly) Lights (formerly) Anton Milius † Nima Rousseau † Wolf †
Portrayal
Portrayer	Sam Otto
Appears in	Snowpiercer (TV Series) • Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4
First Appearance	First, the Weather Changed
Last Appearance	Last Stop

John Christopher "Oz" Osweiller is a main character on TNT's Snowpiercer. He is portrayed by Sam Otto.

He is a young Brakemen and police-type figure of the train. After abandoning his post during Layton's revolution, he reluctantly accepts janitorial work from Terence soon after the return of Joseph Wilford. After Terrence's death, Oz takes over the department.

History

Background

Oz grew up with a mother who was a mean drunk and even worse sober. He used to be a soccer player, as a midfielder before the freeze. He comes from East Midland.

Throughout The Series

Normal Brakeman Duties

In the first day of the series, Oz was seen taking the Protein Bars to the Tailies with Bess Till. He then later escort Layton out to 3rd Class Mess Hall. After Oz and Till shows Sean Wise's body to Layton but he refuses to help. Oz kicked Layton several times before Roche finds out and punishes Oz and Till by putting them on two shifts at the Tail.

Selling Kronole

After Suzanne's arm is frozen off in retaliation for the revolt in the Tail, her son goes to Oz looking for medicine. Oz promises him painkillers in return for oral sex, but in the end only exchanges Kronole, citing that it numbs the pain of "everything".

A few days later, Layton gets word of this, and Layton questions Oz with Roche. Oz tells Layton that he doesn't sell Kronole and doesn't know who does, he only exchanged the Kronole that they had confiscated from the Third previously. Despite this, Layton is still weary of him, but accepts his excuse. It is later revealed that he is in league with Terence, who is a Kronole dealer.

Chasing the killer

Despite the revelation of his illegal activities, Oz is not suspended much to Bess Till's frustration. The two, who are partners, are forced to work together to chase down Erik Sotto, Snowpiercer's serial killer.

Back to work

Oz was eventually released from probation and mockingly congratulated Till on her marriage. Till retaliated by asking if her partner was still extorting addicts for sex which he claimed to not be. Later, the two noticed a disturbance in medical while patrolling and found Josie Wellstead hiding with Andre Layton in a Drawer. Enraged to find a Tailie, Oz viciously assaulted Josie and strangled her. Unable to get Oz to stop, Till hit him over the head with her baton, knocking Oz unconscious. When Till returned from helping Josie and Layton escape, she found Oz gone with only a smear of blood on the wall where he had lain after being knocked out.

Revolution

Oz was with Roche when the Tail and First rebellions began. He identified Lights as a Tailie after she disabled communications, exposing the start of the rebellion. Along with the other Brakemen, he joined Roche in blocking the Tailies way in the Chains where Layton and Till tried to convince the Brakemen to let them through. Oz was disgusted to see Till with the Tailies, but decided to look after himself and took off.

Making a new friend

In the revolution's aftermath, Oz is drinking in Third Class when he inadvertently gets into an altercation with LJ Folger who punches him in the face. The two calm down and begin bonding with each other over drinks.

After Big Alice latches onto the back of the train, Oz, wearing casual clothes, escorts LJ to the Tail. Oz receives an icy reception from the Last Australian who calls Oz "Brakeman Blowie" and Oz runs off after LJ when she takes off, excited about Wilford's return.

New Eden

When the trains separate, Oz decides to go to New Eden for a fresh start, looking forward to the possibilities that it holds for him. Oz ends his marriage with LJ who decides to remain behind on Snowpiercer. Unbeknownst to Oz, his ex-wife accidentally chokes to death shortly after Big Alice's departure.

A year later, Oz has become a drunk and a recluse, living on the nearby mountainside, although he works as a part of the construction crew rebuilding the old Trestle Bridge. Oz is now considered to be the town crazy, insisting that something terrible has happened to Snowpiercer, everyone died, and he is haunted by LJ's ghost as Oz has been hearing voices and music on the wind. After Zarah Ferami dies while returning to town after visiting Oz, Oz takes part in her funeral.

Still reeling from Zarah's death, Oz spots Mr. Sprinkles flying overhead and, unaware that it's Alex's bird, mistakes it as a sign from Zarah. The angry and grieving Layton harshly rebukes Oz's story about the bird. Later, at the bar, Sam Roche reveals to Oz that he's not crazy: Oz hasn't been hearing ghosts but rather the International Peacekeeping Forces who have been spying on New Eden. Roche wishes that he had listened to Oz rather than dismissing him and offers Oz a job helping him with security for the town, particularly in the face of this new threat. However, Roche refuses to help Oz move off of the mountain.

While out on patrol a week later, Oz finds a severed hand which he brings to Roche and Javi. With the help of Sykes, Javi discovers that it belongs to a Snowpiercer passenger as Oz and Roche investigate further in the area where Oz found the hand. In the midst of a blizzard, Oz picks up a mysterious radio transmission as Roche spots something and abruptly vanishes.

Oz's subsequent search for the missing Roche causes him to find a tent holding former First Class passenger and Jackboot Stu Whiggins whom Oz knows from the Nightcar. With Stu proving to be the source of the severed hand, Oz volunteers to use the skills that he had gained from running the Nightcar to question Stu. Oz eventually gets Stu to reveal that he had been brought by Admiral Anton Milius' forces to point out Zarah and Mrs. Headwood to them, but he had escaped after learning of Zarah's death, losing his hand in the process. Stu tells Oz that Milius' men were digging graves, but Oz deduces that they were up to something more alarming. Investigating, Oz discovers that they were actually planting explosives on the mountainside which can generate an avalanche that will bury the town.

Oz works with Javi, Sykes, and Lights to try to find a solution for the bombs. When Big Alice finally returns, Oz joins the others in searching for a booby trap and tending to an injured Javi after the bomb goes off.

When Roche finally returns, having escaped from the Silo and rescued Layton, Josie and Liana, Oz enthusiastically greets his friend, even hugging Roche from behind. In turn, Roche thanks Oz for stepping up while he was gone and teases Oz about what he did with Stu. Oz later joins the New Eden Town Council meeting discussing the situation, and he volunteers to help Roche with perimeter defense, citing the fact that they can't afford to lose Roche again. Roche later provides Oz and several others with flares to signal New Eden in case they see anything while out on patrol. Roche also gives Oz one of the soldiers' radios that he keeps their voices on, although they are jumbled. That night, Oz is one of the people present at town hall when Roche tells an exaggerated version of what happened after he and Oz got separated. Oz takes part in a special toast proposed by Ruth where everyone toasts to what they're fighting for. Oz toasts to Zarah for showing kindness to him even though Oz was an outsider.

Shortly thereafter, the Battle of New Eden starts when Ace of Spades opens fire from the hills in order to cover Wolf and Alex changing the track switch so that Big Alice can be stolen. Oz manages to tune the IPF radio that Roche gave him, allowing Oz and Till to eavesdrop on Animal Squad's communications. Using the radio, Oz taunts Ace in order to draw his fire so that Till can sneak up on and eliminate the sniper. When Buffalo orders Ace to ignore Oz, Oz recognizes her voice as the one that he has been hearing in the hills. Although Buffalo is confused and annoyed, having had no idea that Oz was hearing her, Oz is relieved that he wasn't crazy or hearing LJ's ghost after all. Oz's distraction allows Till to ambush and kill Ace and then use his rifle to kill Rat, the soldier who had murdered Zarah. Oz later falls victim to the gas attack, but he recovers in time to join Layton in storming Snowpiercer to retake the train and stop Doctor Nima Rousseau from launching Gemini.

During the battle that follows, Oz and Till disguise themselves as IPF soldiers so that they can sneak Javi into Third Class in order to conduct sabotage, although Oz's impersonation is rather awkward. After being spotted by IPF soldiers, the two are taken to be a part of the last line of defense in front of the Rocket Car. Recognizing Till, Wolf takes her hostage, but he doesn't recognize Oz as Wolf had never met him before, thus allowing Oz to remain undetected. When Till breaks free and overpowers Wolf, Oz finishes him off with a blow to the head. Although the rocket launches, sabotage by Alex causes it to harmlessly fall from the sky, averting another apocalyptic disaster.

Retaking the train without a further fight, Snowpiercer returns to New Eden where the passengers who had remained on the train decide to join everyone else in living. Oz decides to finally move off of the mountain to be around his friends and spends time laughing and drinking at the party with Boki and Buffalo who had decided to move to New Eden as well. When Miss Audrey sings "Everything Must Change," Oz puts his own musical skills to work, joining her in a duet and playing the piano once again.

Killed Victims

• Wolf (head bashed in by John Osweiller)

Personality

Oz tends to have a quite stern and strict personality, but like Icy Bob, he has a softer side when interacting with LJ.

Relationships

Andre Layton

Oz was physically abusive towards Layton early on. However, Layton earned support from other crew members and eventually found out that Oz had been dealing Kronole, further cementing his stand. Oz seems to be somewhat humbled since.

When Snowpiercer descends into a potential civil war between Layton, Melanie Cavill and Joseph Wilford, Oz chooses to side with Layton despite LJ going with Wilford and his and Layton's past animosity.

Bess Till

Till initially went along with Oz's forceful attitude, but after a reprimand from Roche and the opportunity to bond better with Layton she quickly revised her own attitude. Learning that Oz had been dealing Kronole harmed her disposition towards him for good.

LJ Folger

LJ and Oz meet after LJ's exile to Third Class and Oz's disgrace after abandoning his post during the revolution. Their friendship quickly grows into romance and, unlike with Erik Sotto, LJ appears to genuinely love Oz.

The two eventually marry, but Oz is horrified to witness LJ kill Kevin McMahon shortly thereafter. Oz later decides to side with Andre Layton despite LJ siding with Joseph Wilford instead.

When the trains separate, Oz decides to go to New Eden despite LJ's protests, ending their marriage. LJ appears to be genuinely distraught at losing Oz, unconvincingly stating that she'll be just fine without him.

A year later, Oz is convinced that everyone on Snowpiercer is dead and that LJ's ghost is haunting him after hearing a voice speaking Gaelic while he's living in the mountains. Oz insists that he's not crazy and he knows what crazy is from being married to a psychopath. Roche later explains to Oz that he wasn't hearing LJ's ghost but rather the International Peacekeeping Forces soldiers who have been spying on New Eden in secret. Oz is relieved when he discovers that he's been hearing the Irish Animal Squad Engineer Buffalo instead of LJ, thus meaning that Oz isn't crazy or being haunted by his psycho ex-wife's ghost as Oz had feared.

Appearances

Appearance	EP1	EP2	EP3	EP4	EP5	EP6	EP7	EP8	EP9	EP10
Season 1	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔		✔
Season 2	✔	✔			✔		✔	✔	✔
Season 3	✔	✔	✔		✔			✔	✔	✔
Season 4	✔		✔	✔		✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Appeared			Did Not Appear				H = Hallucinations
V = Voice			C = Cameo				F = Flashback

Memorable Quotes

• Season One
• Season Four

Till: "You're a dick! You know that? I'm not gonna stand by while you abuse people."

Oz: "We're about to die, Till."

Till: "Fine. Then these are my last words. I won't let you extort me and you're a dick."

Oz: "I don't get you. So righteous on the small stuff, but pretty darn flexible, when it comes to high crimes."

Till: "Layton shouldn't have been in the drawers!"

Oz: "Yeah, and you shouldn't have locked me out!"

Till: "Something's going on! Don't you ever feel like you're being kept in the dark? Osweiller. Who are you thinking about right now?"

Oz: "No one. Just me. Bugger off. I was thinkin' about my mum at the end, if you must know."

―  Till and Oz in Trouble Comes Sideways.

Oz: "I know he blames me. And I'm -- I'm the town crazy. And if, um, Zarah wasn't worried about me, she wouldn't have been up in the hills, and then she wouldn't have --"

Roche: "It wasn't your fault. And you aren't crazy. You were right. Those voices you're hearing, those were people watching us. For who knows how long. If we had only listened to you, maybe we would have -- Look, I'm uh adding bodies to security. Round the clock patrols. We could use you. So, why don't you come back down off the mountain and, uh, rejoin the world? Just don't ask me to help you move your stuff."

―  Oz and Roche share their guilt over Zarah's loss in Life Source.

Oz: "Wanted me to keep my eyes peeled, so I did."

Roche: "Okay, a few questions come to mind, starting with --"

Javi: "A hand? A freaking hand? Where'd you get this?"

Roche: "Son, tell me you didn't chisel this off a corpse."

Oz: "What? No. How would I -- no. I was off scouting in the hills, like you wanted, and it was just -- it was just there, sticking out of a snowbank. Like it was waving hello."

Javi: "I hate to be the one to ask this, but can we trust your like --"

Oz: "I'm not crazy. Every time I try to help --"

Roche: "Javi's just asking a question. Oz, thank you. You done good. High five. (Roche and Oz high five.)"

―  Oz makes a grizzly discovery in North Star.

Roche: "Now, generally speaking, if a severed hand is lying around unattended, something bad has happened. We ought to figure out what. So, Oz, you wanna take me up to where you found this thing?"

Oz: "Yeah. Yeah, of course. If, uh, Javier approves."

Roche: "I'm sure he does. Javi, you mind running a few tests?"

Javi: "Really? I'm an engineer, not a doctor, Roche. What kind of test do you want me to run?"

Roche: "I don't know. Do a palm reading on it, for all I care. Just figure out what happened to it and how long it's been frozen."

Javi: "Okay. And what happens to the grid? What happens if the arrays go down again?"

Roche: "This takes precedent. If someone's out there, we oughta know. Listen, you guys, the town is already on edge, okay? So, in the meantime, let's just keep this quiet, all right?"

―  Javi is given a grizzly task that he's ill-equipped for in North Star.

“	Oi. You up there. You swap those rifles out for a BB gun because you couldn't hit a red elephant's ass. You animal blokes like finger painting, right? Maybe if I put a bullseye on my face, it'll help you.	”
	— Oz taunts Ace of Spades into targeting him in Dominant Traits.

Buffalo: "Ignore him, Ace. Stay on task and maintain your position."

Oz: "Do I know you? Why were you talking to me in the hills?"

Buffalo: "I wasn't. Who the hell is this?"

Oz: "All this time I thought I was going mad because my psycho ex-wife was haunting me. Turns out it's just some Irish mercenary."

Buffalo: "I'm not a mercenary. I'm a bloody Engineer. Ace, how'd this wean get a radio?"

―  Oz finally solves his ghost mystery in Dominant Traits.

Trivia

• He has spoken the opening dialogue for Trouble Comes Sideways.
• He may not be strictly heterosexual as he was willing to trade a blowjob for Kronole. However, he appears to keep this a secret, setting a lookout while having sex with Patterson. Layton later reveals that he is known to trade blowjobs for Kronole to the Tailies although this is unknown to the rest of the train staff.
  • His romantic relationship with LJ Folger shows that while he may not be strictly heterosexual, he is also not gay.
  • His engagement ring to LJ cost him a pair of heavy socks.
• He is a former soccer player, his position being midfield. This acts as metaphor for his stance in the Snowpiercer pecking order as a Brakeman, not high class but not low class either but rather in the middle.
• As revealed in The Show Must Go On, Oz is a talented pianist.

Gallery

• Season 1
• Season 2
• Season 3
• Season 4