I thought there was some great acting all round.

The Wiseguy's were always one of my favourite "factions" or "crews", whatever you want to call them. They are one of the only crews to fully disdain prison rape and not once throughout the series do you see one of them indulging in some of the fucked up shit you see Adabisi and Schillinger do.

I thought it was pretty realistic too actually, in that the wiseguys are amongst the best organised with outside contacts, but are overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of other factions and therefore far weaker in modern prisons. Still hold their own but.

And Chuckie "The Enforcer" Pancomo is one of the longest lasting characters on the show. I think I remember reading somewhere that actor Chuck Zito insisted on his character being portrayed the way he is.

I loved how Dino Ortilani is presented as an anti-hero in the first series. Beside's Beecher, the early episodes feature much of him, a faulted character but one adverse to rape and therefore we root for him. As soon as we start to empathise, Tom Fontana lets us know early on what sort of plans he had for the show, with Dino being killed very early on. It makes for brutal viewing.