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Bubbles and Prez are guests on this week's Elementary. Really pleasant to see old faces again.
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Mar 15, 2013 04:16
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Mu Zeta posted:Bubbles and Prez are guests on this week's Elementary. Really pleasant to see old faces again. Moments before Prez was on screen I was saying to someone "eh, it's not the Wire, It doesn't need my full attention"
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Mar 15, 2013 04:51
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Episodes 8: Lessons McNulty proves his Dad of the Year status once again when he takes his boys shopping at the North-East Market and cuts off a fun bit of sports trivia when he spots, purely by chance, Stringer Bell. He has boys play the "spy game", having them work as a team to tail the Number Two man in a brutal drug dealing operation, apparently thinking this is a totally normal thing to do. Of course Stringer isn't a frothing at the mouth lunatic, and the boys won't really be in any danger (if he even notices them he'd just think they were a couple of weird kids doing weird kid things) but the fact Jimmy is so casual about doing this says a lot about how obsessive he is about his job/his cases. Michael and Sean have no idea that Stringer is anything but a random African-American man (they call out McNulty for using the term "black") and set up an effective flanking system that keeps Stringer in sight as they follow him out of the market, McNulty gesturing to them to spot his car. He heads out the back to get his car and meet them around the front, but winds up blocked in by somebody attempting to park. By the time he gets around to the front, Stringer (who received a pager message) has gone back inside, followed by the boys who spot him taking another exit and getting into his car. They get the license number, while McNulty in inside at security further cementing Dad of the Year status by trying to describe the boys to a security guard and having little to go with other than,"Brown hair, about this high and I can't remember what clothes they were wearing." Jimmy McNulty, ladies and gentlemen. Lester, Kima and Prez are discussing the low rises payphones having their service interrupted, with Lester saying that both being down indicates that it was done deliberately. They're still up on the Tower payphones, so the wiretap itself hasn't been discovered, but they know they did something to spook the Barksdale Organization - maybe grabbing the runner last episode did it, maybe something else, but Lester says it goes to show just how incredibly cautious Avon is. However, if the Low Rises crew can't use their own payphones, then they have to use SOMETHING, and Prez quickly realizes that they need to find out exactly what that is. In the main office, Carver is studying for the Sergeant's exam and Herc is looking over a lesbian porno mag, not concerned about studying even though he'll be taking the same exam. Prez shows up and tells them they need to get onto the Low Rises crew and spot what they're using to make calls now, which gets an incredulous response from "Batman and Robin" who note that Prez doesn't outrank them, can't give them orders, and should be pulling his own weight. Prez - who they were fairly chummy with before he became an office-bound paper pusher - reminds them he isn't allowed to operate outside of the office and they mock him over his many previous gently caress-ups, and Prez gives up and leaves. They say they can't believe the balls on Prez (who only made a reasonable suggestion), but when Kima comes walking by and TELLS them they need to get up to the Low Rises and keep an eye on the crew, they don't make a peep. They're fairly inept police themselves but they have absolutely no respect for Prez, who they consider a loser and a gently caress-up, but they respect (and fear) Kima, who doesn't outrank them but has always quite clearly been in charge of the trio. Wee-Bey, Stinkum and Savino burst into Omar's home with guns drawn, checking corners with practiced ease. They begin tearing the place apart, looking for evidence of where he is now (presumably the money on offer for Omar was too much for somebody in the know to resist), and Wee-Bey is disgusting and amused to find loving pictures of Omar and Brandon together. He shows the other two and they all laugh, none of them really believes Omar was a homosexual till this point, it seems. They continue to tear the place up, then leave and set fire to the van, observed from across the road by Omar who holds the baby of the drug addict who came begging for free drugs from him a few episodes earlier. During that episode I questioned what the purpose of that scene was, and it was pointed out that THIS scene is the answer. Omar has a safe place to hide and observe thanks to a grateful addict, one who is shooting up right behind him and even offering to share with him, and Omar is kind in his rejection - he knows how to establish and maintain networks.   At Homicide, McNulty is amused to see Bunk is wearing a pink shirt. He teases him, unable to resist making playful assertions that Bunk is gay. Compare it to the previous scene, in which the three gangsters react with amused disbelief that Omar would dare to be homosexual, because to them homosexuality is a sign of weakness and a lack of masculinity (how could anyone ever call Omar unmasculine!?!). In this Homicide scene, the ribbing is playful and not intended to be offensive, but it plays on the same macho, regressive belief that homosexuality is in some way inferior or to be mocked. Bunk asks what McNulty is doing and learns that he is looking up the license plate of an old woman whose car Stringer Bell was driving on Saturday. Was McNulty working on Saturday? Nope, McNulty without any element of self-awareness cheerfully explains that he had his boys "front and follow" Stringer and lost them in the market, but to his great pride his "flesh and blood" got down the license plate of the Camry. Bunk shakes his head over the "family McNulty" and walks away, leaving behind a confused McNulty who still sees absolutely nothing wrong with what he did with his own two sons. Wallace is trying to sleep when one of the young'uns who lives with him pushes him awake needing help with his math homework. Wallace - still half asleep - reads through the problem and tells the kid to work it out in his head and tries to go back to sleep, but Poot shows up with news that testers are going out. This is an exciting and busy time for dealers and junkies alike - a new package is out, and testers are put together of the highest quality drugs and given out to junkies to try. Junkies get good quality drugs, get a great high and rave about the quality of the package to other junkies who then flock to buy the drugs (which probably aren't quite as high a quality as the initial test vials) meaning the dealers are kept busy and plenty of money comes in. Wallace can't work up any enthusiasm though, his quest to escape the memory of Brandon's corpse and his part in that torture/murder have seen him turn to drugs and sleep, and he tells Poot he'll be down later, maybe. Poot won't go though, trying to get through to Wallace that he can't keep covering for him by saying that he's sick, but Wallace just wants to be left alone.... though not before asking for $10 from Poot that he promises to pay back later. Poot has been around long enough to know exactly what Wallace is asking for the money for, and points out he won't be able to pay him back if he doesn't work, and Wallace loses it, shouting out gently caress the testers, gently caress D, gently caress everything and just leave him alone. Poot hands over the 10 and leaves, and the kid (who has sat listening to all of this) asks for more help with the math problem. Wallace tells him to close his eyes and fires off a rapid series of addition and subtraction using drug vials as an example, and the kid has the answer instantly. Wallace is furious, how can this kid keep track of "the count" but not be able to work out the other math problem? The kid's answer is depressingly accurate,"You get the count wrong, they gently caress you up." Freamon, Greggs and Sydnor are listening in on a call from Stringer Bell to a Towers Dealer named Little Man about "20" going out to be picked up by somebody called Day. They're very curious, because usually packages are delivered TO the towers, not from it, and Sydnor and Greggs head out to see if they can see exactly what is going on. In the Low Rises, Poot is (somewhat) confiding his fears re: Wallace to D'Angelo, telling him that Wallace is in a funk and spends all day lying around and not doing anything. In Poot's version of the story, Wallace is begging for money to buy lunch, and D doesn't push it any further, since personally he would far prefer Wallace to stay the hell away from their business before it kills whatever innocence he has left. D watches deals going down, telling Poot he can't force anybody to work for him if they don't want to, but Poot's concern is that Wallace isn't doing anything else INSTEAD of dealing. D agrees to speak with Wallace, then heads away as Wee-Bey pulls up with Stinkum and Savino, and tells him to hop in and come with them. D is taken aback by the invitation, but Wee-Bey laughs and tells him this is a good thing. D looks around and notes that nobody else is around, so shouts out to Poot that he is the man for an hour. They drive away, and Poot climbs up on the couch and struts about tossing his orange in the air, king of all he surveys.  Is it just me or does he absolutely look like the kid he should be in this shot? Sydnor and Herc are up on the roof outside the tower courtyard looking for Little Man, with Herc bothering Sydnor with constant questions about what will happen if Little Man isn't working today, or Day doesn't show up, or or or or and Sydnor finally shuts him up, asking him what if his mother and father never met. Herc ponders this carefully. Finally they spot Little Man and Sydnor passes the word down to Carver and Greggs, who follow him as he heads out with whatever the "20" is to meet Day. Wee-Bey, Stinkum, Savino and D'Angelo have stopped at a burger place for a meal. It's a strange kind of work outing, D'Angelo has always been presented as basically being the outsider amongst the top echelon of Avon's troops, with Wee-Bey even openly chastising D'Angelo in the first episode and Stringer sharing in their jokes about D when he isn't around. For whatever reason though they seem to have decided to befriend him now, and happily joke around about Wee-Bey's overuse of hot spreads on his burger. D asks why they've been cut loose for the day and they explain they're celebrating Stinkum's promotion to running his own piece of territory and getting points on the package, and Wee-Bey is quick to note to D'Angelo that he'll be getting the same treatment if he continues to run the Low Rises as well as he has been. This may explain their sudden friendship - they've considered D'Angelo a weak link and a bit of a joke before but he's started earning the Organization plenty of money and proving himself an effective leader, and given that Avon AND Stringer are both impressed by his moneymaking and he is Avon's nephew, it makes sense to start being on good terms with him. D'Angelo, who has had his own doubts about his place in the Organization, seems to react well to this positive reinforcement and tests the waters a little, telling them about Orlando's offer. All three are instantly concerned, telling him the best thing to do is to let Avon know what is going on. D instantly agrees, acting like it was his intention all along, his peers have made it clear that going behind Avon's back is a bad idea. He makes a point of turning the conversation back around to Stinkum's promotion and congratulates him for it - it's his day. His night too, they're planning to have a party at Little Man's later in the evening, and bring around Orlando's "good pussy", and invite D along as well, asking if he's up for it. They laugh at his reaction, declaring he definitely is, and Wee-Bey takes a big bite out of his burger and reacts badly to the hotness that he "didn't give a gently caress about" before, and they all laugh - good work buddies out having lunch. Little Man has made his trade with Day, and with Little Man gone Kima and Sydnor feel safe in pulling over Day. It's Day-Day, the driver that Daniels met the previous episode, which is a bit convenient but does instantly inform us - the viewer - about the deeper possibilities of how far the Barksdale Empire reaches, a theme that will come to be an obsession for one particular detective in the Detail (and it's not McNulty). They explain the reasons for pulling him over - he was spotted in a known drug area with no-loitering laws and a known drug dealer was seen leaning into his car and passing him something, and when Day-Day was pulled over they could see him trying to hide something under the passenger seat. Day-Day thinks it is ridiculous but they take that to mean he won't mind them searching the car, and he watches in horror as Greggs pulls out a garbage sack from the passenger seat and finds.... money. $20,000 in a garbage bag, given to the driver of a State Senator.    McNulty is sitting in his car outside the home of the registered owner of the Camry his kids saw Stringer driving when he receives a message on his pager. He goes to the offices of the Narcotics Division, where a smug Greggs and Carver show him Day-Day waiting in an office and explain why he's there. Daniels arrives too and gets caught up, telling them he knows Day-Day and heading into the office to have a chat, Day-Day giving a,"Ahhh you've got to be loving kidding me!" look when he sees who it is. He refuses to talk, asking for his lawyer, and Daniels explains to the other detectives how he met Day-Day, and takes great glee in laying out his strategy for dealing with him. Day-Day refuses to talk, so they're going to confiscate the money and write him a receipt for it - if he wants the money back, he'll have to explain where it comes from and why it belongs to him. Daniels' reasoning is that Day-Day won't be able to without implicating himself, so he'll be forced to abandon the cash, which will go to fill police coffers instead - an extra 20k for Burrell's strained operating budget. Bad news is on the way though, as Major Reed - the Angel of Death - from the Internal Investigations Division shows up. Speaking of the Angel of Death, Orlando has been summoned to Avon's office, something that doesn't happen often and can't bode well for him. Avon instantly puts him off-balance, sitting casually against a table, asking him how he's doing, offering him a seat. Orlando is clearly uneasy but tries to put on a relaxed demeanor, which quickly disappears as Avon starts asking him if he needs money, then pulls out a roll and begins tossing money into his lap, growling that if Orlando needs cash then all he needs to do is ask, because that is ALL Avon does, put money in HIS pocket to keep him from "straying". Why? Because Avon NEEDS a clean name on the liquor license for the Strip Club, and having him get busted for dealing drugs is the last thing he needs to happen. Orlando tries to stand and Avon snaps at him to sit back down, grabbing him by the face and getting up uncomfortably close, his voice never really rising all that high, even in his rage he is under control. Stringer stares at Orlando with a strange mixture of disgust and fascination, like he is looking at an insect. Shortly after, Orlando is physically thrown out of Avon's office onto the floor right by where the strippers are preparing their make-up before heading out onto stage or to the bar. Avon literally kicks Orlando when he is down and snaps at him to do his job, and he and Stringer return to the office, closing the door behind them and leaving the strippers - Shardene amongst them - to stare down at Orlando, a couple of them clearly delighted to see him physically humiliated.   Daniels has been summoned to see Deputy Ops Burrell along with Major Reed. Daniels explains Day-Day's background and the money they found him with, and that he's been charged with Civil Forfeiture, he can't have the money back till he explains a legitimate source for the money. Burrell instantly notes there is no criminal charge against Day-Day, shares a look with Reed and then, unbelievably, tells Daniels to give him back the money. Just like Orlando, Daniels is humiliated by his superior, who rips into Daniels with accusations that are - on the face of it - entirely justified and reasonable ones to make. Daniels has no criminal charges to back up a civil forfeiture, he's pursuing a senatorial aide instead of the drug dealer he has been tasked with getting, he hasn't kept his superiors informed of his actions, he has allowed the Detail to grow crazily to encompass affadavits, wire-taps and cloned pagers - in short, in Burrell's eyes he has completely poo poo all over the job he was given. It's all bullshit of course, all of this is cover for the fact that a State Senator could be embarrassed by this arrest and that politically that would be bad for Burrell's career, but Burrell is a master of finding legitimate cover for amazing abuses of power. Burrell informs Daniels that the Detail is over, he has until the end of the week to charge what he can and wrap things up - the month of grace that the Detail bought the last episode is being ignored - from a political nightmare standpoint, a Senator trumps a Judge every time. Greggs is forced to count off the money, tick it off on a clipboard and then hand it over to Day-Day, who is free to pick up his garbage bag and scurry out of the office. Greggs is furious, she can't understand why they just knowingly gave $20,000 of a drug dealer's money to a criminal and let him walk out the door with it. Daniels is furious too, but he isn't going to answer, just leaving the office fuming. McNulty isn't putting up with it though, chasing after Daniels and demanding an answer - what the gently caress just happened? Daniels explains that the Deputy Ops forced this on them because it was a Senatorial Aide, and McNulty quite rightly points out that they haven't heard a word of complaint from the Senator because he doesn't want anybody asking the question WHY was a Senatorial Aide picking up $20k from a known drug dealer. They get into an argument, McNulty furious to learn that Deputy Ops is shutting them down and insisting that they don't need his support, they just need to do their job. Daniels laughs at the naivety, asking McNulty if he thinks the job can save them (a line that will be repeated to McNulty again in the future and become a central point of his character development). But more to the point, HOW did Burrell find out about the arrest so quickly, and that IS all on Daniels, who informed the Deputy Ops himself when the arrest was made. He claims he did this due to chain of command, but McNulty is completely in the right when he calls Daniels on this - he leapfrogged the chain of command directly to the Deputy Ops, he didn't inform his Major or Colonel first, and why does a Shift Lieutenant have the ear of the Deputy Ops in the first place? Daniels will not have his integrity called into question and bores holes through McNulty's soul with his glare, asking him what the hell he is implying. "Nothing," complains McNulty, and Daniels retorts that he's goddamn right he has nothing. He steps into the lift, but McNulty has one more question - if he has the ear of the Deputy Ops, then what does the Deputy Ops have on him? "Only rank, Detective" insists Daniels. The lift doors close, and we see it from a side-on perspective which makes for a nice bit of symbolism. Because of the wall, we can only see McNulty, who is effectively coming up against a wall in the investigation.   At Little Man's, D'Angelo arrives to find strippers all over the guys, Wee-Bey dancing in topless and a lot of drugs being taken, including by Stinkum. He claims it is a special occasion, and D'Angelo spots Orlando dancing with a stripper and nods a hello, only to get a cold response that leaves D confused. Is he so naive that he didn't expect Avon to react badly to the news about Orlando's proposed dealing? He tries to say hello to Bey until he realizes that Bey isn't so much dancing with his girl as he's having sex with her, pushing past D into the next room where he shoves the barely conscious girl onto the bed and closes the door behind him, having passed his drink into D's hand in the meantime. The Wire has a tendency to do (very effective) contrasting scenes. As D'Angelo tries to settle in to a party with people he doesn't really know, Daniels is sitting up alone in the lounge of his surprisingly spacious home, drinking. His wife, Marla, comes down to see him, knowing that something is wrong and communicating wordlessly with him that she is there to listen and support him. He explains that Burrell thinks he crossed him, and despairs as to how he has screwed up. Marla thinks he just needs to explain his actions, because nobody could have foreseen a Senatorial Aide being caught up in the operation, but Daniels notes that Burrell did. Not a Senatorial Aide specifically, but Burrell never wanted wiretaps because it puts things on records, and he knows the truth - if you chase the drugs you get drug dealers.... but if you chase the money, you have no idea where you will end up or who you will pull up into your net. Burrell wanted a simple case chasing a simple drug dealer, and now the Detail has turned into a monster... and Daniels is going to get the blame. He tells Marla that McNulty asked what Burrell had on him and her reaction is very interesting, she becomes alert and concerned and asked what Daniels answered. Fitzhugh claimed that Daniels was dirty, their house is far more upscale than you would expect from a police lieutenant in Baltimore, and Marla's reaction all indicate that there is something there. At Little Man's, D'Angelo returns after going on a liquor run but the party appears to have petered out, with only Bey, Stinkum and Little Man left. They explain that the party was "drugged out and hosed out" and now they're watching basketball on TV. D'Angelo can't believe he missed the end of the party, but notices one of the girls is still there, the one that Bey took to have sex with is lying passed out naked in the bed. Something about the way she is lying catches his attention though Bey dismisses it as the result of his sexual prowess knocking her out as well as all the drugs that the "greedy bitch" snorted. D approaches and touches her face, and her head lolls off to the side, the muscles slack - the girl is clearly dead. D backs away in shock despite the fact he once bragged about being responsible for the death of Dierdre Kresson, whose body was left in a similar fashion. He calls out to Bey and looks in the direction of the girl, and Bey clearly gets the message - his reaction? He looks mildly annoyed at a fresh irritation he has to deal with.   McNulty and Greggs go to see Phelan, who has summoned them. He wants to know why he received a message saying the Detail was going to be shut down by the end of the week. They explain what happened with the arrest of Clay Davis' aide (Phelan's eyes widen at Davis' name) and how Daniels can't do anything about it. They explain at the moment they only really have enough to charge Bird (already arrested) and Stinkum. Phelan clearly isn't pleased, demanding to be put through to Burrell and smugly reminding Jimmy that the Circuit Court signed documents ordering wiretaps. Getting Burrell on the line, he refuses to let him get a word in edgewise (we don't hear Burrell's side of the conversation in any case), reminding him that there were two months of wiretaps ordered and there have only been 40 days so far, so if the Detail closes on Friday then Burrell will be in contempt of Court on Monday. With a final,"Give my best to the wife and kids!" Phelan hangs up and asks McNulty who is daddy is, though neither McNulty or Greggs look entirely pleased, knowing that in 20 days time Phelan's authority ends and Burrell will be pissed. McNulty returns to watching Stringer's car, but gets a beep from Daniels demanding immediate attention. Daniels wants to know if McNulty put Phelan up to ripping Burrell a new one, and McNulty insists it was all Phelan's doing and he can confirm with Greggs if he wants. Spotting Stringer passing by in a cab he tells Daniels he has to go and heads to his car, ready to follow Stringer the moment he gets into the Camry. Back at the Detail, Daniels calls in Kima and passes on the message that they can stop packing, the Detail is still going on. He asks her if it was McNulty or the Judge responsible, and she confirms McNulty's story - this time it was all on the Judge. Herc and Carver weren't exactly packing anyway, Carver has still been studying for his Sergeant's Exam and now Herc wants to test his own knowledge, claiming it's all common sense anyway. He is surprised to learn you're supposed to know "the numbers" of the rules, regulations and laws that they enforce, a disbelieving Carver telling him that it sounds more professional. He asks a question regarding sexual harassment and offers a multiple choice of answers - A, B, or C and Herc responds with D - a hilariously misogynistic and appallingly inappropriate answer that involves loving the complainant "until she smiles". Carver's mixture of despair and horror at this answer is a thing of beauty. McNulty is following Stringer (not with his kids this time!) and is confused when he pulls into Baltimore City Community College. Following him inside from a distance, he heads down a corridor and peers through the windows of the teaching labs, finally spotting Stringer in an Introduction to Macroeconomics Class. Stringer is studious, taking notes and putting up his hand to answer questions, leaving McNulty to lean back against the wall and ponder what he is seeing - this is not how he expects drug dealers to act.   Carver and Herc go to class as well, sitting their Sergeant's Exam. Carver is the typical panicky student, thinking as hard as he can, trying to remember his research, rubbing out answers as he second-guesses himself and applying too much pressure with his pencil and snapping off the point. Behind him, Herc is unthinkingly answering whatever comes to mind/makes sense to him, blissfully untroubled by second-guessing, and cracks a quip at Carver's expense when he tells the Exam Monitor that his pencil lost his point. Stringer has left the College and gone to a Copy Shop that he presumably owns, complaining to his workers (who have all come from the Corners) that work orders are piling up and not being filled. The workers are indifferent, gently caress the customers, but Stringer is having none of that, snapping that he doesn't want them bringing a Corner attitude to the Copy Shop. He doesn't want it to be just a Front to explain away their drug money, he wants it to be a proper, running business. Stringer exposes a little of how he operates in his tirade, using the lessons he learned in his Macroeconomics Intro class earlier in the day to explain that the Copy Shop is an "elastic" business and they're treating it like an "inelastic" business. To the workers it sounds very impressive, Stringer casually dropping his superior economic knowledge into his conversation - but it is essentially just repetition of his latest class and doesn't (necessarily) indicate a deeper understanding of economics and how to run a business. At this point of the series we're being introduced to the concept that Stringer is more than your typical drug dealer, but we're also being introduced to the concept that he isn't quite as savvy as he would like to be. Wee-Bey and Stinkum are sitting in a stolen car keeping an eye on Scar, who is the only threat to Stinkum's new territory. One of the men with him is a potential danger as well, but Wee-Bey tells Stinkum that they're going to let him run if he chooses to, and will only kill him if he tries to stand and fight with Scar. Stinkum wishes Bird was with them, this was the kind of thing he enjoyed, but that only reminds Wee-Bey of the necessity of Stinkum dumping his gun when he is done. He gets out of the car and tells Stinkum he is going to go around the block and come up on Scar from the other side, pulling his hood over his head and heading into the darkness. Stinkum waits till he sees Wee-Bey reappear and then gets out himself, him and Bey approaching from different sides to close in on the unsuspecting Scar. But as Stinkum heads down the sidewalk, a voice gets his attention and he turns (in near slow-motion, atypical of The Wire's usual style) to see Omar standing in a doorway in the shadows, brandishing his shotgun. He opens fire and Stinkum is blasted to the ground, immediately dead. Scar and his allies immediately scatter, but to Wee-Bey's credit he doesn't even hesitate, pulling his gun and rushing forward, one arm over his eyes to shield from the glare of the street lamp and opening fire on Omar. That light and Omar's position/surprise make sure Bey's shots miss though, and he has to dive aside as Omar opens fire with his shotgun again, Bey's leg catching a spray of pellets. He drags himself behind a car for cover, and stares over at Stinkum who lies dead in the street. In the far background a rat can be seen rushing across the street - am I reading too much into it that I think this is an allusion to Omar's "snitching"? Regardless, it makes for a hell of a shot - Stinkum dead on the road under the harsh light of the street lamps and the only thing in motion a single rat. Omar, knowing he has the superior position, begins to whistle Farmer in the Dell, Bey's eyes widening at the sound. A great part of Omar's strength lies in his reputation and use of psychological warfare, that whistle is like a harbinger of death with a touch of the supernatural to it - the legendary Omar is out on the hunt, and Wee-Bey is his target.   Bey looks around the street, represented by a POV camera (again, an oddity for The Wire) as the whistling grows louder, but there is no sign of Omar. Then a disembodied voice speaks out, Omar offering a lesson to Bey that is also the opening title quote for the episode - "You come at the King, you best not miss." Omar is gone, vanished into the night, and Wee-Bey peers around nervously in the background, Stinkum's dead face taking up the foreground. Realizing that he is momentarily safe, Bey has the presence of mind to shove his gun down a storm-drain and then painfully hops away as the sound of police sirens grow louder, looking to get as much distance from the shooting as he can. If he is picked up he can clam up and refuse to answer how he got shot, and since he won't have a gun on him any decent lawyer (and Levy is more than that) would be able to argue he was simply an unfortunate innocent bystander. Freamon and Greggs hear over their Wiretap that Stinkum is dead and Wee-Bey injured, and that Omar (not Scar) is behind it. Freamon is furious, not because Omar took the law into his own hands but because this fucks their case - Stinkum was the only still active Enforcer they had a solid case against (he was the one who provided the re-up to the Runner they arrested). Using language usually relegated to cliched cop shows/movies, Freamon declares Omar is a loose cannon, though Kima is amused, saying in this case it's literal. Freamon wants to bring him in though, if only to give him a verbal tongue-lashing and attempt to reign him in. Avon has a different idea in mind, having called in all of his muscle to his little office in Orlando's to declare war on Omar and a $10,000 bounty on his head. Bey is there too, his leg in a cast and lucky this is the worst that happened to him. Bey explains he hobbled to hospital and told them he caught a stray shot on the Corner, and was only visited by a uniformed police officer and no homicide detectives. That clarified, Avon feels free to hammer home the bounty - it's 10k not only for Omar, but for anybody who stands with Omar, effectively cutting Omar off from any active support from anybody in the community. Stringer clearly looks uncomfortable with this, but Avon is in full flight and Stringer is smart enough not to publicly disagree with him. Avon extends the offer to ANYBODY, not just Barksdale people - he wants the word put out that Omar must die. Everybody leaves but Stringer, and Avon asks for his advice, wanting to know what he thinks. Stringer explains that this is the worst part of "the game", because at best they will only come out of it even. He thinks things are getting out of hand and they need to be patient and not go out after Omar all guns blazing, and Avon is clearly very disappointed in this answer, and Stringer clearly senses it. He justifies his reasoning, saying they should be smarter about it and put out the word that they're willing to negotiate, entice Omar out of hiding and THEN wipe him out. This is the first time we've seen Stringer and Avon not in perfect accord, and it's the first sense we have of their differing approaches to running Avon's Empire. Avon is clearly, unmistakably, in charge though, and Stringer's advice is only that. McNulty and Greggs go to Omar's van, discovering for the first time that it has been burned out. They leave a card under the wiper on the off chance he returns to the charred remains, watched from a nearby window by the junkie mother who heads out to let Omar know. He gets the message, because the next we see he's sitting in a chair across from McNulty, Freamon and Greggs like a naughty schoolboy called into the principal's office. He insists he isn't the one who killed Stinkum and wounded Wee-Bey, it's just that people are always willing to believe the best about poor ol' Omar - live and let live is what he says! Greggs isn't buying it, saying there is no way he'd forget about what they did to Brandon, but Omar insists that he wouldn't do anything to hurt them or their case, there are rules to play by, after all! McNulty can't help but smirk at this (he's the "cool" English teacher I guess), Freamon is astonished at Omar's notion of rules and order to "the game", and Omar explains them - no bystanders and no taxpayers caught up in the mix. He laughs at Freamon's interjection that the rules include dumping guns after they're used, but while they complain about how Stinkum's death has hosed them over, he's drinking in every detail he can of their investigation notes, spotting a picture of Orlando's on the noticeboard where they've pinned up their jury-rigged organizational chart. As good as the cops are, as smart as the likes of Freamon are, they still don't think to cover up their notes/information when Omar comes visiting.  Omar leaves, having made it clear that he'll help them as he can but "the game" is out there and it's either play or be played. McNulty asks Freamon if they're still cops, having just let a known murderer leave their office all but proclaiming that he'll murder again, and Freamon says he thinks they are - technically. At D'Angelo's place, Shardene is worried about fellow dancer Keisha who hasn't been to work and isn't answering her phone. D'Angelo has told her that she was sick at the party, and D'Angelo quickly changes the subject by heading into the kitchen to get a drink and some food and telling her that he thinks he might not be right for the drugs game. The only thing good about it is the money, and he complains about the death and brutality and the mistrust, saying it all gets so much for him that he has trouble breathing. Is he feeling guilty about complicity in Keisha's death? Was that the catalyst for the obvious concerns and fears he's had for quite some time now? Or is he just selfish and shifting the subject to himself to keep from dealing with Shardene and the fallout from Keisha's death? She tells him to do something else but he turns that back on her, asking if she likes her job and telling HER to try something else when she admits she doesn't. She plans to, noting that she can't stay pretty forever, and dismisses his attempts to kiss her, telling him that it's not forever, so then what? His response? She's pretty now, opening her top and offering her food on the tip of his finger, they kiss and start to undress, ignoring the ringing phone until the answering message reveals to him that Stinkum is dead. What does that scene tell us? It shows that D'Angelo doesn't like confrontation, but also that he's short-sighted. He refuses to look into the future when Shardene notes she can't be pretty forever, preferring to stay in the now. He's selfish, concentrating on what affects him and impacts on his life, but mostly unconcerned about others - Keisha is dead after all, but he treats Shardene's unknowning concern like an annoyance to be sidelined. Similarly, we see that Shardene has a level of self-awareness, including knowledge that her career as a "dancer" can only last so long and that her youth won't last, but that she can be sidelined. She might be good for D'Angelo, but D'Angelo definitely isn't good for her. At Homicide, Bunk is reading In A Strange City by Laura Lippman, the wife of Wire co-creator David Simon. McNulty asks for his help, wanting to know who caught Stinkum's murder. It was Cole, and McNulty quietly lets Bunk know that Omar was the shooter. Bunk immediately realizes the implications, particularly to his own case if his best witness is convicted of murder in the meantime, but McNulty has a serious favor to ask. Word is going to be out on the street that Omar is responsible, and Cole will hear that sooner or later if he starts investigating - McNulty wants Bunk to tell Cole that McNulty has heard word on the wiretap on who is responsible, and that once they wrap up their case (at this point, in less than a month) they will provide the evidence to Cole to make his arrest. Bunk knows what this means, McNulty has no intention of giving over that evidence to Cole, McNulty wants him to lie right to Cole's face, he can't do it himself because if Rawls hears of McNulty's involvement he'll suspect something. If it comes from Bunk, it will seem like one detective taking advantage of his friendship with McNulty to do a favor to another detective, the kind of thing that Rawls would appreciate. Much to his disgust, Bunk agrees, taking an unsuspecting Cole into Bunk's "office" (the interrogation room). Later at the bar, McNulty tries to justify himself, noting that Cole already has a good clearance rate for the year and doesn't need this one. Bunk isn't going along with any of that bullshit and McNulty knows it, admitting it's loving Cole over. The worst for Bunk is how grateful Cole looked (like a puppy!), though he's frequently distracted from his bad mood by an attractive middle-aged woman at the end of the bar. A chastened McNulty pays for the drinks and hands over more, saying he is going to leave early, but before he can go Bunk tells him to call his wife and let her know he caught a late case and won't be home tonight. McNulty spots the woman smiling at Bunk from the bar and gives him a hard look, but a pissed off Bunk reminds him that he lied for him tonight. Kima pops in to see Freamon, asking for his advice because she thinks she might have hosed up. She explains that during her interview with Omar she mentioned they needed an eyeball witness, and she thinks that maybe Omar took that as a cue to lie and claim he saw it. Freamon admits that she did screw up a little, but even if Omar is lying everything he says matches up with their other eyewitness. An interrogation is more art than science, relying on instinct more than anything else. To prove it he shows her a folder of some of the dancers who work at Orlandos, picked up from liquor board complaints and State Employment records, and asks her which of them Kima would try to turn as a witness if she had to pick one. Greggs immediately picked up Shardene's file, and tries to explain her reasoning - firstly because there is no criminal record attached, then admitting that there is something about her face she likes. Freamon agrees, there is something in the eyes - this girl isn't in "the game", she's just a citizen. McNulty is woken by a call from a stranger, a woman complaining that he needs to come pick up Bunk at her address. He asks how she got his number but we can't hear the answer, and shortly after McNulty arrives at the home of the woman we saw at the bar earlier. She wants Bunk out of her house, he's set off the smoke alarm twice now, causing McNulty to cheekily ask if Bunk was really that good. In no mood for jokes, she directs him to the bathroom where McNulty takes in a sorry sight indeed - Bunk Moreland passed out on the edge of a bathtub, wearing a pink robe (remember his pink shirt earlier?) with his tie loosely around his otherwise bare chest and a cigar hanging loosely out of his mouth. McNulty wakes him up, trying to keep from laughing and asking where his clothes are, and Bunk points to the bathtub where the charred remains of his clothes are. McNulty is completely perplexed, though he has had plenty of spectacular drunk moments in his own life, and asks why the hell Bunk tries to burn his clothes, tearing the pants away from a drunkly protesting Bunk as he tries to set fire to them again. The reason? Bunk apparently decided that his wife might be able to use forensic testing to find the other woman's hairs, skin and pussy, so he set fire to them to cover his tracks. It's beautiful drunk logic, but Bunk can't smell pussy on him anymore (and he kept the tie, I love that little touch) so decides McNulty should take him home, completely free from suspicion despite having only underwear and a tie. McNulty collects up his gun, badge and cuffs and heads down the corridor to ask the woman if she has seen his shoes, causing Bunk to tiredly speculate,"She gave me that pussy and took my shoes?"   Outside Orlando's, another POV camera shot shows the careful inspection of the building. The lights go out and Orlando and another man leave, closing the door behind them, and the camera pulls back to show us Omar smoking a cigarette, waiting for any sign of the top dog himself. Avon has his men hunting Omar, but Omar is hunting him. At Jimmy's place, he puts Bunk to bed in, appropriately enough, a bunk bed (  ). He tells him he can understand burning the trace evidence, but what was Bunk planning on wearing home? Bunk (still in that pink gown) seems to only realize now where he is, looking around in confusion. McNulty is enjoying himself immensely as he says goodnight, popping the cigar out of his mouth and placing it safely out of reach. But as he leaves the room Bunk speaks up and says something that hits McNulty squarely in the gut. He mumbles that McNulty is no good for people, he's bad for everybody around him. He nods off, leaving Jimmy standing in the doorway with a stricken expression on his face, his best friend in the world having just voiced what is quite probably the absolute truth - Jimmy McNulty is bad news for everybody around him.
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Mar 15, 2013 |
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Mar 15, 2013 11:11
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I don't know how I never made the Bunk in a bunk bed connection. But Jimmy takes the cigar out of his mouth, I thought, at the end? Oh, and I always wanted to point this out-- the woman who plays Bunk's one night stand in the bar... is played by the same actress who plays Randy's foster mother in Season 4! (Most asinine details) Great write-up, again! I was hoping it was a write-up when I saw that you had the most recent post  (edit: I see the doctor on Tuesday... so I should be up in the mix to take the load off for you next week. I appreciate your contributions in the mean time!) escape artist fucked around with this message at 11:20 on Mar 15, 2013 |
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Mar 15, 2013 11:13
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escape artist posted:But Jimmy takes the cigar out of his mouth, I thought, at the end? You're right, he does it just before Bunk points out how bad he is for everybody, I'll edit that out. It's really standing out to me now that I'm writing it up, but I love the use of contrasting scenes or scenes that are somewhat symbolically linked - Stringer in school followed closely by Herc and Carver sitting an exam, the party vs Daniels' quiet night at home, Avon giving orders to the troops and his disappointed conversation with Stringer and Omar being called in front of the detectives where they make clear their disappointment with him (and his utter indifference). The way Omar's "action" scenes stand out against everything else in the series is great too - if you have a chance rewatch the Stinkum murder and the scene with Wee-Bey practically helpless behind the car with the whistling growing louder and Omar's disembodied voice calling out a warning. It has a wonderful touch of the supernatural, like Wee-Bey is in a horror movie and Omar is the monster/force of nature out to get him. It flies in the face of the realism of most of the rest of the show, but it works/stands out more because of it. By grounding everything else and then adding in this near mythical figure it gives you the same sense that other people on the street must feel in regards to him. Even Avon's fury fits into the cliche of the evil bad guy leader snarling with contempt over his underling's failure to defeat 
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Mar 15, 2013 11:22
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The Wire's Greatest Fashion Moments http://four-pins.com/style/the-wires-greatest-fashion-moments/ Never realized how much Bodie wore that rag.
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Mar 15, 2013 15:07
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The way that the series builds naturally on McNulty's sense of self-worth is a great thing. At the start of the series, he's been running on a win streak that goes for pretty much his entire career. He jumped from patrol to homicide by dint of his diligence, once he was in homicide he was a natural detective. However, the longer he runs, the more full of himself he gets and the more damage he does to the people around him. His sense of entitlement just gets more and more colossal, and Bunk is the first one that he actually listens to who'll tell him about it. Then as you go along you get the scene where he basically blackmails Levy, his literal gut-churner over what happened to Kima, etc. It's then that he starts to realize, but before long he's kicked to the harbor and shifts gears to loving over Rawls and homicide as much as he can and it isn't until the third season that he really realizes how far over the line he's gone. The problem is that as Jerusalem said in a previous review, he basically regards anybody who is presently useful as great, and anybody who isn't useful or possibly impedes his vision as an obstacle to be bowled over if possible.
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Mar 15, 2013 17:51
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Randomly Specific posted:The way that the series builds naturally on McNulty's sense of self-worth is a great thing. At the start of the series, he's been running on a win streak that goes for pretty much his entire career. He jumped from patrol to homicide by dint of his diligence, once he was in homicide he was a natural detective. McNulty: "[someone] is a piece of poo poo." Daniels (I think): "We're all pieces of poo poo when we're in your way. It comes with the territory."
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Mar 15, 2013 19:46
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It was Daniels at some point in season three.
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Mar 15, 2013 19:50
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Diabolik900 posted:It was Daniels at some point in season three. That's what I was thinking. Maybe McNulty was referring to Judge Phelan?
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Mar 15, 2013 19:52
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escape artist posted:That's what I was thinking. Maybe McNulty was referring to Judge Phelan? Yeah, he was, but I don't remember the exact context.
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Mar 15, 2013 19:56
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Diabolik900 posted:Yeah, he was, but I don't remember the exact context. I think McNulty is surprised that they drew Phelan to sign off on the affidavits for the wiretaps in Season 3.
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Mar 15, 2013 19:58
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Starting season 4. The episode after the knife incident in Prezbo's classroom. One of the kids mentions how the girl that had the knife's either being bumped to or from a boarding house (can't remember which it is). Randy comments about how those places'll suck your soul out. 
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Mar 15, 2013 20:30
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That scene makes me look away every time. It's so hard to watch especially when you know it's coming. I never noticed that it was Randy who made that comment, just makes season 4 even more depressing since that's him in a couple years Re: The rat in the "Come at the King" scene - It's just pure coincidence as far as I can remember. I think they remarked on it in the commentary for that episode that it was a real rat that had nothing to do with the filming and they just got a lucky shot. Lugaloco fucked around with this message at 20:48 on Mar 15, 2013 |
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Mar 15, 2013 20:38
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Parachute Underwear posted:Starting season 4. Yeah. Group home. Then seeing Randy for a brief time in Season 5, two years after what happened to him... ugh. Such a far cry from that bright eyed kid with the wide smile who had a knack for business. Buy for a dollar, sell for two-- except he was into candy bars, not nose candy. Lugaloco posted:
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Mar 15, 2013 20:45
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This most recent write up reminds me of something else. In season two when Cheese and Prop Joe are talking about dealing with Brother Mouzone after he ran them out of the towers. Cheese suggests putting a bounty out on Brother, 'let some fiend bushwhack his rear end', which Joe shoots down, pointing out that if puts a bounty out, Brother will go straight for Joe. Which is pretty much what Omar is doing now. Likewise, if Omar found out whoever keyed Avon's boys to his place, I imagine Omar would visit him with his shotgun so everyone knows that you can't gently caress Omar and get away with it. Also, do we know if D told Avon about Orlando's schemes or if Bey or any of the other guys mentioned it first?
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Mar 15, 2013 21:03
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SpookyLizard posted:Also, do we know if D told Avon about Orlando's schemes or if Bey or any of the other guys mentioned it first?
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Mar 15, 2013 21:20
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SpookyLizard posted:Also, do we know if D told Avon about Orlando's schemes or if Bey or any of the other guys mentioned it first? Jerusalem posted:It's really standing out to me now that I'm writing it up, but I love the use of contrasting scenes or scenes that are somewhat symbolically linked - Stringer in school followed closely by Herc and Carver sitting an exam, the party vs Daniels' quiet night at home, Avon giving orders to the troops and his disappointed conversation with Stringer and Omar being called in front of the detectives where they make clear their disappointment with him (and his utter indifference).
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Mar 15, 2013 21:40
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"Heeeyy, Jimmy...You smell pussy?...I ain't smell no pussy no more. I think y'all could just take my rear end home. No fuckin' - no fuckin' case file, detective."
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Mar 15, 2013 22:20
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I'm loving the pace (and, of course the quality) of the write-ups, Jerusalem! Keep em coming!
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Mar 15, 2013 22:52
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I love looking at the thread, seeing a new post, and the page length being twice as long.
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Mar 15, 2013 22:59
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Redundant posted:Daniels however seems to alienate Carver and Herc somewhat, even though they bring back the cash that is just taken as further evidence that they did steal it in the first place which is, at least in my opinion, one of the reasons they take the cash when they're taking doors in a later episode. That to me is pretty much the entire reason they do it. Daniels poo poo on them for an honest (if suspicious) mistake, so that was their gently caress you to the Man. Also it shows how Daniels could have done something similar during his time in the Eastern without turning out to be a dirty gently caress in the end.
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Mar 16, 2013 00:49
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Reading this thread has prompted me to do a rewatch of my own. It's been a while since I last watched the whole thing, but I caught something in Season 1 Episode 3 that confused me. After Omar and company steal the stash, Bubbles is watching the whole thing. Then, right before the police raid, I could've sworn that Kima was telling McNutty about Omar's stickup, and how Bubz saw the whole thing. Why doesn't Kima bring this up to Daniels? Did she not know that the detail was planning to raid the exact same stash house, or did she just decide it wouldn't change Daniels' mind? Again, it's been a while since I last watched it so if there's a later episode that explains it I probably forgot. I can believe McNutty would keep his mouth shut and just refuse to go so he can later be all "I told you so," but Kima is still very much in Daniels' camp. Sorry if this is a stupid question.
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Mar 16, 2013 01:01
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bettsta posted:Reading this thread has prompted me to do a rewatch of my own. It's been a while since I last watched the whole thing, but I caught something in Season 1 Episode 3 that confused me. After Omar and company steal the stash, Bubbles is watching the whole thing. Then, right before the police raid, I could've sworn that Kima was telling McNutty about Omar's stickup, and how Bubz saw the whole thing. Why doesn't Kima bring this up to Daniels? Did she not know that the detail was planning to raid the exact same stash house, or did she just decide it wouldn't change Daniels' mind? It wouldn't have changed Daniels mind-- he was doing what the Deputy told him. Hell, it worked out better in the long run, because the first raids were a bust and I feel that gave Daniels a little bit of spine to stop taking the deputy's poo poo.
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Mar 16, 2013 04:10
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DarkCrawler posted:The Wire's Greatest Fashion Moments Whoa, they call season five a 10 episode poo poo factory. drat, wasn't that bad jesus.
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Mar 16, 2013 04:54
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Frostwerks posted:Whoa, they call season five a 10 episode poo poo factory. drat, wasn't that bad jesus. Yeah, and they said Bubbles was the best dressed character. Please! Marlo had some sweet threads, and they said he wasn't dressed well either.
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Mar 16, 2013 04:58
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escape artist posted:It wouldn't have changed Daniels mind-- he was doing what the Deputy told him. Hell, it worked out better in the long run, because the first raids were a bust and I feel that gave Daniels a little bit of spine to stop taking the deputy's poo poo. That makes sense, but it doesn't seem like the show's style to not include a line or two like "We should let Daniels know that this raid is a waste of time." "That's not going to change his mind. Just leave it." Of course this is the last show to spoonfeed what's going on but it still seems off. I can't stop analyzing every little thing and I'm pretty sure this is your fault.
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Mar 16, 2013 04:59
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escape artist posted:Yeah, and they said Bubbles was the best dressed character. Please! It's a blogger from Portland who seems to be the type of person that makes everyone hate Portland. Of course the homeless guy gets his "best dressed" award.
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Mar 16, 2013 05:07
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Bubbles is their oft-consulted "black friend."
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Mar 17, 2013 00:12
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Now how will they get Weebay to own up to those murders? 
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Mar 17, 2013 09:41
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I'd like to speak on behalf of all the lurkers in this thread: Jerusalem, you're doing an awesome job.
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Mar 17, 2013 11:28
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Frostwerks posted:Whoa, they call season five a 10 episode poo poo factory. drat, wasn't that bad jesus. They also claimed that some people hated season 4. Who are these people and what's wrong with them?
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Mar 17, 2013 16:20
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One thing I hadn't put together until reading that article was the "assholes in suspenders" bit. So there's that.
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Mar 17, 2013 18:49
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Episode 9: Game Day Avon and Stringer are watching a talented basketball player training - he's blocking, scoring and dunking with ease. Avon and Stringer are up in the coach's office, the coach himself down in the court watching his star nervously. The player is in Junior College, and plenty of major schools are looking at him, but Avon wants him first. Every year a "friendly" West Side/East Side game is played with Avon managing the West Side team and a Drug Kingpin called Proposition Joe managing the other - and West Side has lost the last three years in a row. Even now though, business isn't far from Avon's mind, and he asks for an update on the hunt for Omar. Avon and Stringer both make a point of refering to Omar as "human being" and "cocksucker", dehumanizing and denigrating him every chance they get, but as seen last episode this is a rare instance of Stringer Bell not being in perfect accord with Avon. He has discovered Omar's "Robin Hood" tactic of using some of his stolen drug packages to give out free vials to people in a neighborhood, assuring that the local junkies are not only not giving away information on him but actively trying to protect him. Stringer again pushes the idea of the smart, long-term play. Declare a truce, let Omar come out in the open and feel safe and THEN get him. Avon, however, wants to know about what happens in the meantime? What will people think if they see "the cocksucker" out in the sunshine? Avon's reputation is incredibly important to him, and it seems churlish and stubborn and shortsighted.... but is it? Season 3 explores this issue in far greater depth - which approach is correct? Is reputation more important than a smoothly functioning business and no police attention? They're interrupted by the coach who enters his office with the player, wanting to know what they think. Stringer questions why he isn't signed with anybody yet and the player impresses him by saying he's keeping his options open and not going for the first offer. Avon knows how to get what he wants though, the player will be getting $10,000 for playing in the local game, with the basketball program itself getting a $5,000 donation. After the player leaves the office, the coach nervously asks if his assumption of a $5,000 finder's fee on top of the $15k already spent is accurate. Stringer and Avon just seem bemused, Avon laughing that nothing comes for free. D'Angelo is making the same point to Wallace, having the sitdown with him that he promised Poot. If Wallace isn't going to be working in The Pit then what is he going to do for money? He might live in a squat but what will do to pay for food? Clothes? He brings up Brandon's death, telling Wallace he can't allow himself to stay hosed up over his part in it, the death wasn't on him and it isn't on D'Angelo either - Brandon stuck up a Barksdale Stash, he was a dead man walking from the moment he did that. Wallace's reply is interesting though, saying he doesn't want to "play" anymore. Quite often the drug business is refered to as "the game", suggesting some attempt by the "players" to distance themselves from the horrors of their existence. With Wallace though, it serves to reinforce his youth and innocence (compared to Bodie and, to a lesser extent, Poot), especially as his alternative is a desire to return to school - playtime is over, it's time to get back to class. He's 16 years old and hasn't completed 9th Grade yet. There is a FANTASTIC moment that you'll miss if you blink. Wallace says he heard that Stinkum died and D'Angelo confirms, and then for just the briefest of seconds you see a smile cross his face. Stinkum was the guy who D'Angelo felt was getting HIS due, and now he's dead. It's gone almost as fast as it happens, but it is a neat character moment and a subtle moment of facial acting from Larry Gilliard Jr. D hands over some money to a protesting Wallace who thinks he is trying to get him back to work, but D tells him it's money for him, so take it before people see. He wants Wallace to go back to school, telling him that he's smart and he has a good heart, unlike some of the others working in The Pit (a trait that D'Angelo THINKS he shares with Wallace).   In the Detail basement, Prez and McNulty monitor a call (confirmed by Greggs) from Ronnie Mo wanting to know why Wee-Bey hasn't done a pickup yet. Wee-Bey (not referred to on the phone by name) complains that he is slower getting around nowadays (he took a shot to the leg from Omar) but he is coming, and Ronnie says he will see him in a couple of hours. This gives the police plenty of time to get into place - Omar cost them their stocked away charge on Stinkum, but now they can get another Enforcer into a position where they might be able to eventually turn him. D joins Poot and Bodie and tells them there is nothing wrong with Wallace so leave him alone, then gets a beep and has to trudge off to the nearest payphone, irritated about the Low Rises phone being destroyed. When he makes it to the phone, the strange number he dials turns out to be Carver, who puts on an atrocious Korean Counterman voice and demands stridently to know if D'Angelo made an order. D, irritated and confused, hangs up, while Herc takes photos and tells Carver that the voice sounded more Chinese than Korean. An incredulous Carver says that Herc wouldn't loving know the difference anyway. In the basement, Sydnor and Prez are alarmed by the thud of a large pile of paperwork dumped on their desk by Freamon. Day-Day's arrest and subsequent release hasn't soured him on the case, it's put a bee in his bonnet that isn't ever going to go away. Carver and Herc get a heads-up from Kima who is keeping an eye on Ronnie Mo, telling them that she might have a nice jack-up for them soon. In the Low Rises, Bubbles and Johnny spot Walon amongst the other junkies waiting around for the coming free "Testers", Sterling (who can no longer handle money) hobbling by on his crutches and tells Bubbles that they're yellow-top vials and the poo poo is the bomb. Johnny is delighted to see Walon, it confirms for him that Narcotics Anonymous is bullshit and thus that there is no point in fighting his addiction. Bubbles is disappointed though, Walon got through to him and struck him as strong. The testers arrive, but to Johnny's dismay the person handing them out today is Bodie, who was the main culprit in Johnny's beatdown. As Bodie approaches with the testers (hidden in a potato chip bag) the junkies begin to swarm in on him and Sterling, looking like nothing so much as a horde of zombies, dead-eyed and desperate, clawing at the dealers for their fix.  Bodie, furious that they won't be orderly, tosses the testers through the air and the pack scrabbles desperately through the grass for them, shifting from zombies to wild animals. Bubbles is able to grab up a few vials and notices Walon walking away, leaving behind a young man he was talking passionately to before the testers arrived. Bubbles rushes to join him, telling him he has extra is Walon missed out, and Walon notes that he was at the NA meeting and stood up, not interested in the drugs. So why is Walon there if he isn't trying to get high? The young man that Walon was talking with is his nephew, and he came down to try and convince him to get clean though he knew it was a fool's errand. He's too young, only 24 and a long away from rock bottom, most addicts don't see it till 35-40. Walon asks a clearly uneasy Bubbles how old he is and Bubbles turns it into a joke, saying he is young at heart. Walon introduces himself, offering his hand, and Bubbles takes it. I think it goes without saying that this is a symbolic scene, somebody just extended their friendship, support and love to Bubbles and he reached out and took it. Wee-Bey arrives at the Tower, on crutches like Sterling. McNulty instructs Herc over the walkie-talkie to let Wee-Bey get a long distance from the projects before they bust him, he doesn't want to risk their surviving wiretap. "gently caress the wire," complains Herc to McNulty's horror, but Herc laughs that he was just trying to get a rise out of McNulty, and it's too easy to do. In the basement, Freamon is explaining what will become his obsession - following the money. In a long but fascinating scene intercut with shots of Prez and Sydnor fulfilling his instructions, he carefully lays out the footwork/paper trail/scavenger hunt side of the case that McNulty detests but will lay the foundation for an effective case against Avon Barksdale. Dierdre Kresson's friend gave them a list of businesses that Avon claimed to own, and now they're going to look them up. By cross-referencing between the different filing offices in the city, they will discover what corporations are listed as owning the businesses (such as Orlando's strip club) and look up the paperwork on those businesses (in this case, B&B Enterprises) and find the names of anybody listed as a shareholder or company director, as well as discover which law firm represents that company. Different businesses under Avon's umbrella will have different names listed, but it's likely they'll only use the one law firm - in this case, Maurice Levy's law firm. They'll then check other businesses that Levy's firm represents and compare the names on those filings with ones they already know to be owned by Avon. By communicating their findings, Prez and Sydnor will be able to build up a listing of Avon's assets, and there will be SOMEBODY listed on the paperwork somewhere even if Avon's name never appears anywhere - it'll be a relative or a trusted lieutenant or a safe front (such as Orlando). With great satisfaction, Freamon tells them what Deputy Ops Burrell knows (and fears) only too well - you chase drugs and you get drug dealers, but if you chase the money, who knows what you'll find. So what will Freamon be doing while this is going on? He'll be following the political angle, going to the Baltimore City Board of Elections and getting campaign finance reports for the Western Districts and every city-wide race. It'll be 200+ pages of information, but that doesn't daunt Freamon (a far, far, far, far better detective than McNulty), it intrigues him. Wee-Bey and Savino are pulled over in an alleyway by Herc and Carver, much to their disbelief. They're cuffed and sat down on the curb, Wee-Bey forced to drop his cane when getting out of the car in case he uses it as a weapon. He assures them there is nothing in the car, and when they pull out a garbage bag full of money he continues to insist there is nothing to be found, declaring that this isn't his money and he has no idea what they're talking about. Frustrated by his lack of concern (Herc and Carver's dream is that a suspect, once caught, will just break down and save them all that Freamon-style detective work), Carver notes that he once found a buck forty beneath his couch cushion, and they ask if Wee-Bey will mind if they take it. Wee-Bey, sticking to his guns, says that if they want to pretend they found money in his car and take it, they can go ahead and do so. But do they have a charge on him? They admit they don't and uncuff him and Savino, but snap they've got his money and he will have to explain where it came from to the State's Attorney if he wants it back. They leave, clearly irritated at having to let a known dealer get away (they still don't seem to understand the whole point of this is to have a charge to bring against Wee-Bey LATER), while Wee-Bey and Savino aren't entirely pleased either - they haven't been charged but they've just lost a chunk of money.   Bubbles is taking his life in his hands, creeping on the roof above the alleyway where a dealer is keeping an eye on the stash of drugs, bringing vials to the dealers out amongst the junkies every time they call for it. Bubbles slowly lowers a fishing line and hook to the old tire that the small ziploc of vials is hidden away in. The dealer returns and sings happily to himself as behind him the stash is slowly reeled up - a major score for a junkie, comedic as hell but also one hell of a dangerous risk to take. The dealer gets the call for more vials just as Bubbles is pulling the bag up, and as he searches amongst the tires he looks up and gets a brief glimpse of Bubbles pulling the bag over the edge of the roof. Bubbles legs it down the stairs as fast as he can, leaving the building just in time to hear two of the dealers run into two completely innocent bystanders (maybe junkies, maybe not) and attack them. One runs for it and is chased by one dealer, while the other is viciously beaten with a baseball bat, Bubbles hiding behind a wall and wincing at the sound of metal on flesh. Suddenly it's not quite as funny.   Bubbles returns to the house he and Johnny are using, where Johnny is impressed by Bubble's catch. At first Bubbles jokes about it, saying he should have seen the one that got away, but then he gets more serious, saying that he almost got killed pulling this off. Johnny repeats his mantra that it is "all in the game" and Bubbles seems to take heart, but things turn sour as they wait for the hit to take effect.... and nothing happens. Johnny is dismayed, the drugs aren't poo poo, and he takes a taste and realizes the drugs aren't drugs, it's baking powder. The dealers were pulling a quick scam for money, and Bubbles almost got murdered (and at least one innocent man was severely beaten) over loving baking powder. Johnny insists that it's okay, they'll just come up with a different plan, but Bubbles seems to be seeing that bottom that Walon mentioned. Herc and Carver return to the station and get the money out of the trunk, the bag tearing and dropping large piles of cash on the floor. As they collect it up, Herc begins a fishing expedition of his own, asking Carver about tipping. For good service, the people who did the work get a tip, right? He pushes the idea on Carver who clearly knows what he means but doesn't want to play along, but Herc won't let it go, talking about tipping, about getting a percentage, about - in short - stealing some of the money for themselves. Carver finally has to forgo all subtlety and point out the obvious to Herc - there is a wiretap on the towers. If they take some money for themselves, the total that was taken could be revealed on the wiretap by Wee-Bey and then everybody will know that they stole. Herc is surprised, and Carver guesses correctly that he never thought of that. So the money goes unstolen, not from any sense of right or wrong, but from fear of being caught - you could argue the same holds true for many law-abiding citizens. Freamon is explaining to Kima and McNulty what they've uncovered on assets so far, including a confusingly high number of vacant storefronts. McNulty isn't sure what Avon would want with those, and we won't find out for a season or two. Daniels is listening in and is concerned for a different reason - this is premature on Freamon's behalf, they don't have a charge to lay on Avon Barksdale yet but Freamon is taking up time and manpower to investigate assets? Freamon insists that now is the time to do it, and McNulty backs him, if they charge Avon with something then Burrell is going to instantly shut down the detail and it will be too late to do asset investigation. The potential argument is sidelined by Herc and Carver's arrival, they are in a triumphant mood thinking they have done "real" policework, while Prez and Sydnor have been running around town putting together the deep foundations of the case. They toss the money onto the desk, overshadowing the actual paperwork - the money is what people tend to focus on, the actual paperwork/police work is often ignored or considering too boring to be interested in. Freamon and Prez are upset at having their work sidelined, as all the other police immediately set to counting the money, the paperwork momentarily forgotten. But Daniels seems pleased, happy to see his men happy thanks to their "win" over Wee-Bey. Everybody settles down to count the cash, since the exact amount needs to be recorded on paperwork before it is handed in, but McNulty is more interested in the new payphone they saw (and photographed) D'Angelo using - he wants to get an affadavit to wiretap it. This irritates Daniels who sees it as McNulty trying to backdoor in another 30 days for the Detail to operate, and he retreats into his office, slamming the door behind him. "What the gently caress did I do?" asks McNulty (it's so weird to think of Wire characters having catchphrases, but McNulty definitely does, as do the likes of Omar and Clay Davis, though the latter is broader character), confused by the fact that one day Daniels will fight to keep the Detail going and another be furious at anybody who does the same. Freamon - who knows that Daniels has already done great damage to his career - is more sympathetic, telling McNulty that Daniels is wrestling with the angels.  Omar returns to his squat with KFC and mountain dew (Omar's a gamer!?!), checking the door to make sure his gum intruder-warning is intact. Heading inside, he settles down, all alone for now. Omar has to make a choice - either he remains in hiding, alone but relatively safe.... or he goes on the offensive and puts himself at great risk. Herc and Carver are taking great pleasure in listening in on the wiretap to Poot having phone-sex with (one of) his current girlfriend(s). Prez pops in and reminds them that after 90 seconds they have to stop listening to a call that is non-pertinent, but they insist it is too good to stop. Prez complains he isn't transcribing and leaves, McNulty coming in and repeating Prez's warning, but clearly without quite the same sense of outrage. All three listen in as Poot romantically informs his girl that he's going to come by and gently caress her in all three holes, but then as the "sex" winds down, the girl starts talking about Poot popping by to see her and he casually mentions he has to see Wallace first. McNulty checks his photographs, remembering Wallace as one of the Low Rises dealers, and then they hear Poot mention that Wallace is still hosed up over the part they played in Stinkum murdering Brandon, and has started taking drugs. Herc and Carver beam at him, saying this proves the call was pertinent, but McNulty points out they need to find a way to justify the 10 minutes of phone sex they listened to beforehand. He leaves, and Herc suggests that "gently caress you in all three holes" might refer to three stashes. He takes a swig of his Pepsi (did they buy advertising for this episode or something?) and Carver bursts out laughing. The next day the warning cries of,"OMAR COMING!" are shouted out across the Low Rises, as Omar strides confidently out in the sunshine (see Avon, it was going to happen anyway!) and heads straight to where he knows the stash is being held. The courtyard has become deserted, and Omar plants himself outside the stash house and shouts out,"HEY YO!" announcing himself without fear or concern for his own safety. From inside a dealer shouts out at Omar to leave, they're heavily armed and ready to fight, but Omar isn't remotely fooled, referring to the dealer by name (adding to his supernatural aura) and declaring that he will return each day till he gets what he wants, and if necessary he will shoot each and every one of them. Omar has clearly decided his days of hiding are behind him, understanding the nature of the street and reputation as well as Avon - if he wants Avon he has to draw him out, and the best way to do that is to continue to infuriate him by stealing brazenly from him like Avon's rep is nothing. Omar's own rep proves formidable, without a shot being fired, the stash is dropped out of the window directly behind Omar as he stands, back turned, smoking a cigarette. He collects it - 4 G Packs - and declares,"Fair enough" before slinging it over his shoulder and heading away.  Freamon and Greggs are playing on the hunch they had the previous episode, keeping an eye on Shardene. They approach her on the street and tell her they need to talk, not once identifying themselves as police but telling her they NEED to talk to her downtown. They give her the impression she has no choice in the matter, relying on the citizens' fear of the police's authority. Poot leaves a local store with a drink and spots Wallace copping drugs from a corner. He waits for Wallace to be on his way and approaches the dealer, making out he is interested, finding out what he is selling before saying he isn't "up" and heading away. His concern is growing, Wallace wanted out and he seemed to be out, but he's still getting high? On the roof near the towers, Herc is considering the deeper philosophical musings - such as where do all the pebbles he finds on the roof come from? Carver is more concerned by the fact that there doesn't seem to be anybody around in the towers. "Maybe we won?" suggests Herc (the opening titles quote for the episode), asking if the whole thing is over and nobody bothered to tell them (this will come true in season 2!). Carver doesn't like it though, the Tower Courtyard is NEVER this deserted, and he decides they're going to take a ride and find out what is happening. In the basement, Shardene is trying to make small talk with Freamon who is doing his normal stand-offish behavior thing, reserved for new people whom he doesn't particularly think much of. But Shardene is genuinely interested in his "toy furniture", and after he corrects her that they are dollhouse miniatures he allows her to handle it. He watches as she looks over the miniatures, a smile growing on his face as one grows on hers. She asks if he has a house for them but he says he just makes and sells them, and she tells him that is sad - he should have a house for them. Her face falls a little, she's obviously still nervous about being there, and Greggs pops in to tell them they can conduct the interview in the Lieutenant's office. Bubbles heads down the sidewalk of suburban Baltimore, children playing happily on the street, no junkies or dealers about, American flags fluttering on the fences, flowers hanging from the front porch awnings - it's a part of Baltimore we rarely see in this show - we see the rowhouses, the projects, and even the affluent areas. But here is middle-town American, the suburbs, the well-adjusted children, the mown lawns and white picket fences - an alien landscape to the junkie. He goes up to a door, answered by a woman who immediately says no, and he protests he didn't say anything. This is Bubbles' sister, and their entire relationship is immediately laid bare for us all in just that simple exchange - every failed attempt to get clean, every chance she gave him, every alienation and breach of trust. He tries to greet his niece (Tasha) who is sent back inside, and Bubbles reveals the simple and honest truth - he's trying to get clean. He came to her in the hope of help, but he can see she doesn't want anything to do with him, and he can understand it. He turns to leave, but something changes her mind and against her better judgement she calls him back. Handing him a key, she warns him it is to the back door basement only. He can stay down there, she'll bring down clean sheets, but if he ever attempts to come up to the back stairs into the house proper she WILL call the police and have him thrown out. Herc and Carver drive around the deserted roads of the row houses, one or two people to be seen but otherwise empty. They can't understand, and then they pass a basketball court and see scores (hundreds!) of people pressed around the chainlink fences, cheering and celebrating. They pull up and get out, joining the crowd to see a basketball game in action, and an older man explains this is an East Side/West Side Projects basketball game for bragging rights. It's a demonstration once more of just how out of touch the police are with their local community - this is an annual thing, but nobody - including McNulty or Freamon - knew it was happening. Shardene's interview has started, and she's on the defensive immediately, not wanting to talk about her job as a stripper. She insists she just works for tips, she doesn't know anything about the "players" who go there or anything illegal. Being a "citizen" she can't help but keep talking though, and reveals that there are girls who do drugs and even ones who turn tricks in the rooms upstairs (immediately revealing she knows about illegal things happening as well as giving them enough to cost Orlando a large fine at the very least). Freamon changes tack, telling her how unusual it is for somebody to just come Downtown when asked - no charge, no lawyer, no threats - she just went along with them. She mumbles that she figured they had their reasons, and Kima explains that the crew who runs Orlando is responsible for at least a dozen murders in the last year, and running drugs in the West Side Housing Projects. Shardene is clearly extremely uncomfortable hearing this, trying to insist she knows nothing about that, but Kima is already changing up, turning the interview to Keisha and asking if Shardene knows her and how she is doing. Shardene is confused and getting upset, saying she thinks Keisha is probably okay. Kima and Lester share a look and leave the office, comparing notes and discussing exactly where to go next. Show her the pictures of Keisha? Greggs has a better idea. Back at the game, Avon's ringer is dominating, blocking shots by East Side, earning his 10k. On the sidelines, Avon is making a rare appearance out in the open, alongside Stringer, Savino and Wee-Bey. They celebrate a dunk, watched with distaste by a large man in a suit - this is our first sighting of Proposition Joe, the East Side drugs kingpin, played by the late, lamented Robert Chew. A shorter, older player from East Side is doing well too though, and Stringer has done his homework, telling Avon that he has been playing in Europe. Avon can't resist mocking Joe, calling him Slim and asking why he had to go all the way to Europe to find somebody who could hang with West Side players. Joe laughs that he WAS in Europe but is home now, and points out that Avon has raided a Junior College player who is from the East Side. Avon mocks Joe's suit, pointing out it's 85 degrees, and Joe's response is to "look the part, be the part!" As they verbally joust, Herc and Carver are enjoying the game just as much as everybody else when they realize Poot and Bodie are alongside them at the fence. They tease each other about taking a break from work (again, Bodie seems to view Herc and Carver as work colleagues) and they explain to the police that this is an annual tradition, with the loser having to pay for a big party for the winners at Druid Hill Avenue. Kima's instincts are serving her well, as Freamon told her they would last episode. They've brought Shardene to the morgue, where they showed the horrified dancer Keisha's corpse. She was found dumped in an alley, rolled up in a rug and thrown into a dumpster like she was literally garbage. They found three different types of semen in her oral, anal and vaginal cavities, and Kima puts it as bluntly as possible - they hosed her and threw her away. Shardene is in tears, horrified at the dumpster detail, and Freamon tells her that they ONLY reason they know who she was is because they've been keeping track of the crew who runs Orlando's. Without giving too much away, Kima tells her that they have ways of knowing what the crew is saying, and that their reaction to Keisha's death was to claim the bitch didn't know how good the poo poo she was snorting was and it's her own fault she died. Barely about to talk, a bitter Shardene weeps that the "lying motherfucker" told her they dropped Keisha at a hospital. This is something new and unexpected for Freamon and Greggs, they picked Shardene because she struck them as somebody they could work with, they had no idea she might be connected to somebody directly involved.   At the game, Avon is pumped up by how hell is ringer is playing, and Bodie and Poot are amused to see how excited he is getting. Herc overheards them and realizes that the guy they've been hunting is right there at the game. Which one is he, asks Carver, and Herc says he has no idea what he looks like (they've only got an out of date boxing photograph) - he's a black guy rooting for West Side. They put through a call to Daniels and he leaps at the chance to finally get a visual on the drug kingpin, telling Santangelo (he's at the office today), Sydnor and McNulty that they're going to head down there, get eyes on him and follow him. McNulty doesn't understand why though, noting that Avon isn't going to be dumb enough to handle money or drugs out in the open, but Daniels isn't hearing it. With great confidence he asserts that in Narcotics they follow people they're investigating and they do it well. He's seen a chance to go back to what got him up to Lieutenant - that chain-of-command-respecting, by-the-book policework. Sydnor and Santangelo go along with Daniels but McNulty stays behind with Prez (who CAN'T leave to do anything other than paperwork), telling Prez that he wouldn't know Avon on the street if he tripped over him, but that doesn't matter - the only way they get Avon is by voice. At half time West Side is up 12 points, and Avon (joined by Stringer) can't resist goading Joe. Joe has a proposition for Avon though (hence his nickname), if he is so confident why not double-down on the bet and make it for a clean six figures. Avon is surprised but laughs that he doesn't give a gently caress, it's Joe's money after all! He agrees to the bet, and Joe give a quick nod to one of the players on the bench, who eagerly prepares to play. Daniels arrives on the street with a print-out of Avon's boxing photo and puts through a call to Herc, asking if he has a visual on Avon. Herc tells him he has no idea what to look for, so the far more helpful Sydnor is sent up to identify Avon by a process of elimination. He has become familiar with Stringer, Savino and Wee-Bey's faces (as Herc and Carver should have by now) so he can discount them - but the guy taking up the place amongst them? The one who shares facial features with the younger photograph? That's Avon Barksdale - they have an up-to-date face to go with the name. He returns to the car and double-checks the photo, then puts through the call, identifying Avon by his clothes for the others. Meanwhile in the game, Stringer is completely flummoxed by the presence of the "midget" player who has joined the game and is running all over the place, easily getting by Avon's ringer and scoring. Joe has successfully kept his ringer under wraps until he had Avon in a false sense of security and then struck. Stringer - whose job is to be on top of things like this - has been taken in as well, and Avon knows that Joe has gotten the best of him despite his team still being well ahead. He glares daggers at Joe, who can only laugh with pleasure. It's out first exposure to Joe, but we've already learned that he is forced to be reckoned with. At first he appears a fat, comical figure but he quickly reveals his intelligence and strategic mindset. To stretch things a little, the fact he found a (first) ringer from Europe while the furtherest that Avon stretched was to East Side tells us a little about the apparent short-sightedness of Avon who is king of his domain and wants little more. Joe reaches further and wider, and as a result he has more options (two ringers), and uses Avon's pride against him. A tower wiretap comes through on the recorder, lasting barely a couple of seconds, and McNulty knows immediately what it is - the MAIN stash house. He immediately notes the call down, listing it as having been monitored from the roof by Sydnor. Prez is confused, Sydnor is out on the street with Daniels, not on the roof, but McNulty insists, not willing to give up what he thinks has to be a call regarding the main stash house (as in, the place where ALL the drugs are kept) because of Daniels' wild goose chase. McNulty is willing to lie and fake to get what he thinks is the "right thing" done, something that will be taken to crazy extremes by the end of the series. At the game, Joe is starting to sweat a little as time begins to run down and West Side is still a couple of points behind. Avon's ringer is seemingly fouled but it isn't picked up by the ref, with Joe's ringer rushing to the other end of the court and scoring to give them the game. An over-excited Avon storms along the sideline and roars in the ref's face that his man was fouled, HE WAS FOULED! The ref - who knows EXACTLY who Avon is - nervously suggests he could put time back on the clock and replay it. Avon is shocked - a do-over? That's NOT how the game is played, he's disgusted that the ref isn't sticking to his guns, and sneers at him that he needs to stand up for himself and not back down just because somebody gets in his face. Joe stands beaming at the tantrum, but it informs us alot about Avon's mindset. This is a man who is willing to put his entire empire at threat just to get revenge on a man who robbed him of a few thousand dollars (while he can happily bet away 10-20 times that on a single game of basketball), a man who believes his reputation and name is more important than anything else. But during this game? During this game he is just a coach, and while it is his job to get in the ref's face and roar and bellow and threaten and complain over what he justifiably believes is an injustice, it is the ref's job to stand up for himself and stand by his calls, even if they were wrong. It's more of an offense to Avon for the ref to offer to change the rules in his favor out of terror than it would be for the ref to tell him not to question his authority. The ref is dismissed, Avon yelling at him to walk away. Joe - smirking with pleasure - asks if they're cool and Avon accepts the loss, saying that he and his boys are welcome at the park on Saturday at noon for a big party at Avon's expense.... but if they show up after that they'll be dead men. The crowd disperses happily, it's been a good day in the projects.  Back at the Detail's basement, Freamon and Shardene are discussing D'Angelo. In tears, she insists she'll have to quit the club, she can't keep working there knowing what she knows, and Freamon agrees. But not yet, not today. They need her working in there for them, and when she tries to protest he insists - not threatening her, but pointing out that if she doesn't help them stop Avon's crew, then there will be more Keishas. He notes she is holding one of his dollhouse miniatures and asks if she likes it, and she smiles down at it. He tells her to keep it, and we see that what she is holding is a small crib with a baby inside. What does this represent to Shardene? Does she desire a baby, or does it represent rebirth, hope, a fresh beginning/new start? Daniels watches as Avon gets into his car, and they begin to set up a careful pursuit, multiple cars getting ahead or riding parallel, allowing them to keep him in their sights without making it obvious that they are following. Except.... except it's incredibly obvious what is going on. Avon has clearly spotted Herc and Carver behind him and pulls up, sitting still to see what happens. Sydnor pulls up on a deserted street and begins backing up, watched by a perplexed youth. Avon suddenly doubles back and heads the other way, and when Daniels and Santangelo try to get ahead of where he seemed to be going they find nothing. Where is Avon and what is he doing? They drive around trying to operate within the area he should be found, but can't find hide nor hair of him. Daniels has them all hold their positions and heads in to see what he can see, and to his horror finds Avon driving slowly down the other side of the street. As they pass, Daniels' eyes widen - Avon is staring right at him as they pass, waggling his finger - in trying to get sight of Avon, Daniels has just exposed himself and shown Avon that there are police out actively looking for him. The Detail may have just lost their biggest advantage - Avon now knows he is being watched.   McNulty informs Freamon that another call has come through, and it confirms that they're discussing the main stash house. He reveals that Sydnor wasn't on the roof and he has no idea who made the call, Freamon happily accepting McNulty's shortcut. He tells McNulty about Kima turning Shardene, and he uses surprisingly crude language in reference to her, calling her the girl who is "loving" D'Angelo. In his sister's basement, Bubbles is feeling confined and jittery, pulling hairs from his moustache and smoking cigarettes, shaking the 1-day keyring from NA and giggling slightly. He's sober for the first time in years. Daniels is in his office contemplating his failure, telling Freamon and McNulty that they did everything right and Avon still made them. McNulty notes that stupid criminals make for stupid cops, and he's proud to be chasing Avon - a line that doesn't get much appreciation from Daniels. Freamon explains what their assets investigation has revealed so far, though Avon's name isn't on any of it, and he and McNulty spitball what they believe Avon is generating financially in a year - it's a scary figure, they're conservatively estimating that Avon is making 20-25 million dollars gross annually, and even when all operating costs are taken into account he's probably clearing at least one million dollars a month in pure profit that all goes directly to him. They mention that the Wire picked up a call saying that the 22k that Wee-Bey lost to Herc and Carver wasn't such a big deal (again showing how Avon's reaction to Omar is NOT about the money). The mention of 22k raises Daniels' eyebrow but he lets it go for now, curious to hear more about what they've found. Unfortunately, where Freamon goes next is the political side of things, and McNulty gives a subtle little wince, knowing that this is a mistake. Daniels is instantly reminded of Burrell dressing him down, of how their encounter with Day-Day almost saw the Detail shut down and has perhaps irrevocably wrecked his career. Freamon admits that he knows Daniels doesn't want to hear it, but the money IS more important than the drugs, far more important. At D'Angelo's, he's confused by Shardene who is moving out. She refuses to talk to him as he at first tries to reason with her before yelling that she can leave if she wants to, but he wants a reason first. Dumping the last of her things into a garbage bag, she demands to know what she looks like to him, and he gets completely the wrong end of the stick and tells she looks like a girl, a woman, a BEAUTIFUL woman, she's fine! She asks if she looks like trash and he again gets things wrong, Keisha the last thing on his mind - he thinks she is upset because she is a stripper and somehow she isn't good enough or maybe HE thinks she isn't good enough. He tries to assure her, but she hits him with the killer blow - does she look like the kind of trash that you roll up in a rug and toss into a dumpster? He stands gaping as she storms past him, finally managing to call out her name - but there is to be no last minute reconciliation, he may have already moved on from his guilt over Keisha's death (as well as the part he played in Brandon's) but it isn't anything she can ever forgive him for. Herc and Carver have been summoned to Daniels' office, where he coldly orders them to sit. He plays them a recording revealing the loss of the 22k, then shows them a photo of the collected cash, all of which were numbered by the dealers to show where they come from. There are stacks of cash from Towers 2, 3, 5 & 6 and one labelled P for Pit, so where are Towers 1 and 4? 22k was taken from Wee-Bey, but only 15k was handed in by Herc and Carver.... so where is the other 7k? Standing up, he snarls that this does NOT happen in his unit, and they will turn in that money from whatever rock they've hidden it under by roll-call tomorrow. He leaves, closing the door behind them, ignoring their protests of innocence. Left alone, Carver turns an accusing glare at Herc, who replies that he wouldn't steal..... and not tell Carver about it! Agent Fitzhugh warned McNulty that Daniels was "dirty" and had more income than he should have. Daniels lives in a big, spacious and expensively furnished home. But he's responded coldly and adamantly to any accusation made against him, and his seething fury over Carver and Herc indicates that he is utterly opposed to theft.... or is it just to what appears to be such clumsy, ill-thought out theft?   Omar arrives at what appears to be a warehouse office shadowed by one of Prop Joe's Muscle. Prop Joe himself is sitting at a desk flanked by more muscle, and Omar drops the garbage sack worth of stash onto the desk. Joe is delighted to see the drugs are Avon's, more because it tickles him pink that Omar has Avon's entire organization hunting him and still had time to rip him off again. So what does Omar want for the drugs? Nothing at all, it's free, a price that startles Joe. All that Omar wants is a way to get in touch with Avon, and he figures that Joe is one of the few people outside of Avon's inner circle who can do that. Joe admits this is true, they've been known to talk from time to time, he pages him. Omar says he can make that work, all he needs is Avon's number and a way to make him think he's receiving a call from one of his own. Joe can handle that too, Wee-Bey uses an 07 at the end of his calls to let people know it is him calling.... but why should he? Why not just take these drugs and have his Muscle kill Omar right here and now? Omar isn't concerned, knowing that Joe is a long-term thinker, and that if Avon goes then the entire West Side is opened up again. Joe goes back over the facts - Avon owes him 100k on the basketball game, Joe now has some of his drugs for free AND has the chance to set Omar's "predatory rear end" on Avon. He grins, today just isn't Avon's day, and Omar lets his pleasure/relief wash over him - Joe is going to play ball. Herc and Carver are desperately tearing apart the trunk and back seat of the car they used during Wee-Bey's stop, trying to find the money. Carver sighs with relief as he finds two stacks in the wheel-well, they must have fallen down when the bag broke. Herc is relieved too, but will Daniels believe them? They were completely innocent after all (though the only reason they didn't steal was because they knew they'd get caught), but Carver asks if HERC would believe them. Herc knows he wouldn't, and points out that Carver didn't even believe HIM, and Carver apologizes. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't - they did the right thing for the wrong reasons and it didn't even matter, in Daniels' eyes now they'll always be thieves.   Avon is at the bar at Orlando's after closing, sitting with Wee-Bey while Orlando counts the money. Savino is meant to be coming to collect Avon who is on a money run, but he's late. Wee-Bey offers to go grab them a bite to eat, happy to grab a burger for Orlando as well. Orlando seems to have regained his position after the beating that Avon gave him, presumably feeling that Orlando has been effectively trained/warned. Two of the strippers head out the door, Avon giving them a flirty goodbye and Orlando reminding them to be on time tomorrow. Wee-Bey and the girls leave, none of the noticing the hooded man (Omar) at a nearby payphone watching them. After Wee-Bey drives away, Omar sends through an emergency call to Avon's pager, marking it down as an 07 - a call from Wee-Bey. Avon is confused, poking his head out the front door to see if Bey is still out there. He returns back inside and another 911 call come through to him, and Orlando offers him the bar phone, but Avon won't make a call from anything but a payphone - they have rules. He steps outside into the night air, alone and unprotected approaching another nearby payphone and making a call but getting a misdial. He tries again, and Omar begins to move, walking closer and closer to the man who ordered the torture and murder of his lover. As Avon dials, Wee-Bey's car pulls up to the curb around the corner far earlier than expected, Wee-Bey getting out and happily calling to Avon that they had cheese-fries so he got him some. Avon stares in shock at Wee-Bey and his survival instinct kicks in, leaping to the side as Omar pulls his gun and opens fire, hitting the payphone instead. Wee-Bey reacts with admirable speed, pulling his own gun and firing back at Omar, who ignores the threat as he tries to take his best chance and get a clear shot at Avon who is hiding behind the side of a parked car. Wee-Bey darts around the corner, fires and pulls back, and the shot hits Omar in the upper arm, and he falls back in pain. Wee-Bey cries out to Avon to stay down, he has him covered, and we're treated to the sight of the two most dangerous men in West Baltimore cowering behind cars, terrified for their lives. Omar knows he has missed his chance and backs off into the night before Wee-Bey can get into a better position or reinforcements can arrive. Avon stays in place, no gun to fight with, struggling to regain his composure, knowing that by pure luck he missed an assassination attempt by a hundredth of a second.   
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Mar 18, 2013 |
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Mar 18, 2013 10:31
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Jerusalem is the best  Since you stole my shine, I'm going to scrutinize every detail of your write-up  (Annoying nitpicks: -The kid is already in Junior College... he's being scouted by major schools. -Wee-Bey took a shot from a pistol in the leg from Omar, not a shotgun.) I was never quite sure: what exactly is a tester? Is it a free vial to get people to try the product, so they'll come back for more? Or is it just what they call a new package? -The dealer's freestyle is hilarious. "I like Patti LaBelle, but Regina Belle is better..." escape artist fucked around with this message at 11:24 on Mar 18, 2013 |
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Mar 18, 2013 11:06
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escape artist posted:I was never quite sure: what exactly is a tester? Is it a free vial to get people to try the product, so they'll come back for more? Or is it just what they call a new package? Yep the latter, and they usually make sure the drugs are the highest quality so word gets around that "this package is the bomb!", and then they can put out slightly inferior product to the guys who show up eager to buy. Also I noticed but forgot to mention that the baking powder that Bubbles steals looks to me to be yellow-capped liked the testers, so I wonder if the "off-brand" dealers were trying to slide in under the radar and pick up money from eager junkies. They'll be lucky not to end up on the wrong end of that baseball bat. And yeah, I forgot that Omar shoots Stinkum with the shotgun then pulls out his pistol and starts shooting at Wee-Bey, whoops! Will fix up that and the Junior College bit, I'm not very familiar with the US Education system, sorry! The season gets SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good from the next episode on. Not that it wasn't great before, but next episode and in particular the one after that are just incredible.
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Mar 18, 2013 11:32
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All I could think of as Omar was walking towards Avon was the "you only got to gently caress up once. Be a little slow, a little late, just once. And how you ain’t never gonna be slow? Never be late? You can’t plan for no poo poo like this, man" scene, which I guess is the point. I also like that it's Wee-Bey being fast that "saves the day", it's a nice counter to that scene. Sure, you can't "plan for no poo poo like this" but by having "good" people around you they can pick up any slack that you leave.
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Mar 18, 2013 17:39
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That bit also mirrors the "Come at the King" scene quite nicely and shows how easily things can go wrong for someone like Omar. Instead of Omar opening up and killing someone, he opens up and misses. Instead of injuring Wee Bey, Wee Bey injures him. In the "Come at the King" scene it's Bey scrambling for cover behind a car but this time around it's Omar. Wee Bey is the one that has the last word this time instead of Omar. The show really likes to do parallel scenes like this. Like, a lot.
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Mar 18, 2013 17:49
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escape artist posted:I was never quite sure: what exactly is a tester? Is it a free vial to get people to try the product, so they'll come back for more? Or is it just what they call a new package?
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Mar 18, 2013 20:19
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TheOneAndOnlyT posted:I think it's both actually; Simon goes into this somewhat in The Corner. Testers are basically "free samples" of a new package (you'll notice the addicts in the episode aren't paying anything), and as Jerusalem mentioned, they're often of the highest quality, so that the addicts who try them will tell all of their friends that the new package is really good. Later on, when the addicts come back to buy more of this great new package, the dealers will make the vials inferior by replacing some of the drugs with baking soda or whatever, allowing them to make the same amount of money for the vials while needing less product for each one.
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Mar 18, 2013 20:21
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