|
Jerusalem posted:The day that I find having to watch an episode of The Wire a chore is the day that.... I will be very depressed. It's not that it's a chore. It's just finding the time to devote 3 consecutive hours to it. Once you get the ball rolling, it's a lot of fun. Starting the write-up is the hardest part.
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 02:55
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 00:08 |
|
|
ShaneMacGowansTeeth posted:on a note apropros of nothing, this year is the 25th anniversary of the year Simon embedded himself with the Baltimore Homicide department. And again, I'm re-reading that book again, and it's brilliant. Sample dialogue below: I'll second that, it's a really good book. A must-have for Wire fans, you can really see the influence it had on the show. One of the most stand-out facts from it that sticks in my mind is about how the body acts when people get shot. The book explains that when most people get shot, the only reason they fall backwards is because movies and television have programmed them to believe that that's what they're supposed to do. But in reality, if a bullet was strong enough to force a body back, then by the laws of physics, it would also be strong enough to knock back the person shooting the gun; that doesn't happen, though. So you hear stories of people who get shot without realizing it (either because they didn't see it coming, or because they're too pumped up with adrenaline to notice they've been shot or something like that) and just carry on normally; it's not until blood loss forces you down that your body has no choice but to actually fall. I don't know why I remember that part, and it never comes up in The Wire, so I don't know why I mentioned it, but the point is that the book is really good and you should read it. It's not super-long, and it's so engrossing that it's sort of over before you know it.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 03:28
|
|
|
So i just finished Season 5 today. What a ride. The last episode really had me thinking about the characters. They were so well written, and I feel like most characters had a pretty good arc. What I found really fascinating upon thinking about it was the almost all of the characters either progress personally, or within the institution of which they are a part, but never both. It shows that to play the game, you've got to sacrifice certain morals, values, or even family. Daniels stuck to his morals, and was hosed. Carcetti was only concerned with heading to Annapolis and became just another dishonest politician. It was so interesting how almost as soon as Carcetti becomes mayor, we begin to see less and less of Carcetti the man, and begin to simply see him in meetings or press conferences and letting his cronies speak for him. Then there is the street, where the same thing applies. But on the street, loyalty to the institution gets you fame, street cred, and money.....but no future. Almost everyone who was loyal to the street had their moment, then wound up dead or in jail. I'm glad certain people got out, especially my boy Poot. Namond, too. It just at least gives you some  silver lining in an otherwise bleak view of the streets. And how could I forget Bubbles....who's story in the 5th season, as little as he was shown, really carried the season for me personally. No joke I started crying during the montage when he sat down to dinner with his sister. That was a storyline you could really cheer for in the 5th season, which was full of lovely selfish people making lovely selfish decisions. Ironically, it was Bubbles coming to terms with his own selfish behavior that became a personal breakthrough for him.I'd love to talk about characters and character arcs until the next synopsis is up, so fire away folks.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 04:06
|
|
|
Season 3, Episode 2 - All Due RespectColvin posted:There's never been a paper bag Two Barksdale muscle shoot the poo poo on a stoop in Baltimore, only pausing to bristle at two passersby who linger a little too long near the stoop. Shamrock and Country arrive and are greeted happily, as Stringer noted last episode business is currently booming despite the loss of the best territory in Baltimore - the now destroyed towers. A nurse wheels up an old man to the stoop but they don't let their guard down, first trying to prevent them from entering and then making an invasive check of the trembling old man's body to make sure he isn't carrying any weapons. He is the brother of an old woman who lives on the bottom floor of the Barksdale property in the back room (the house is probably in her name), and they carry the wheelchair up the steps, separating so one enters the house with them and the other stays outside to maintain his vigil. Inside the muscle finally lets his guard down, stopping to flirt with the nurse, but his guard is up again when the old man speaks and he takes a close look at his face for the first time - it's not an old trembling man, it's a young, laughing Omar. The nurse - Kimmy - pulls a gun and Omar grabs the muscle's, and when Kimmy opens the door Tosha and Dante have already gotten the drop on the other muscle. A still laughing Shamrock and Country come down the stairs, spot the scene and make to run, but Omar stops them. Resigned, Country drops the bag of money from the re-up down to the ground, while one of the muscle with surprising politeness reminds Omar "with all due respect" that this is a Barksdale house. Avon's name still rings out on the street, but it has only ever attracted a predator like Omar, who seems bemused by the idea. This scene is important for a couple of reasons. It shows that the union of Omar/Dante and Kimmy/Tosha is not only continuing but that they have become a well-oiled unit. It also shows that Omar is still gunning for revenge on the Barksdales. But more importantly than that for me is the conversation taking place between the two vigilant but none-too-bright muscle - one is telling a story before everything goes to hell, about how a tourist came looking for the "po' house" and seemed disappointed in him when he didn't know what he was talking about. The "Po' House" is of course the home of Edgar Allan Poe, an important cultural landmark of the city, but one that many of the residents in the poorer areas of Baltimore are completely ignorant of. He mistakes the comment as slang, thinking that the tourist is looking for the poor house and telling him to "Take his pick". It serves as a pretty good reminder of the stark differences in America and particularly in Baltimore - the poor people are mostly ignorant of the cultural riches of their city because they're too busy trying to survive, while richer people ignore the poor and their plight but happily go and explore the sites of culture to be found amongst them. McNulty goes to see Doc Frazier at the morgue, having discovered D'Angelo's death. The discovery happened off-screen, and McNulty doesn't appear to be particularly distressed about it, but he's looking for an angle to continue on the Barksdale case so he's exploring further. Kids are present at the morgue, watching what should be the horrifying sight of a murdered dealer's autopsy. The cop shows them the shredded remains of the man's heart, trying to get through to them the danger of following that road, but the kids - while quiet - don't seem particularly upset. Frazier quips to McNulty that it's more "bored stiff" than "scared straight", and that in and of itself is pretty horrifying. McNulty gives over the notes on D'Angelo, explaining that he was hoping to see if D'Angelo was ready to flip after spending some time in jail only to discover he committed suicide. He wants to make sure it really WAS a suicide before moving on to another avenue of attack. Stringer Bell visits Avon in prison, where he gives a more muted and conciliatory version of the speech he gave to the dealers in the last episode. Avon is pondering all the hard work that went into winning the towers, only to see them out on the streets with "the rest" again. Avon explains they're going to get out early to the corners and make their pitch, explain the benefits of working for them to the existing dealers and take peacefully what Avon considers his by right. He reminds Avon that murders are what ended up putting Avon into the prison in the first place, and Avon - somewhat warily - agrees to the plan, especially as Stringer is promising that they will do what needs to be done if anybody steps to them. He cheers right up when Stringer asks how his parole hearing is looking set to go though, a huge grin crossing his face, no doubt in his heart at all that he'll be getting an early release. Stringer can't quite hide his own disappointment at the notion though. Elsewhere, feelers are already going out as Stringer sends out his most trusted men to smooth the way. Shamrock and Country visit different small-time kingpins alone, acting friendly and diplomatic, laying out the benefits of embracing the Barksdales onto the corner instead of trying to fight them off. One seems belligerent but calms right down when he realizes how much a bump in profits he stands to make, the other is open right from the get go. Having less luck is Bodie, a "lesser" light than Shamrock or Country, he's been sent after what Stringer perceives as a lesser kingpin, somebody called Marlo. Unfortunately for Bodie, Marlo isn't anywhere to be seen, and the plain white shirt wearing young men on his corner just stand and stare blankly into the distance, ignoring his frustrated questioning. Finally one of them speaks up,"Yeah yeah, he was here," he says, then simply stands and says nothing more as a confused Bodie glares at him, before finally adding on,"Now he ain't."   Carcetti kicks back his feet and basks in the glow of admiration coming from Valchek, who is laughing in disbelief at the big speech that Carcetti gave tearing Burrell a new one, which has made the news. Valchek can sniff politics and he knows that Carcetti is up to something, but the Councilman is savvy enough to say nothing, leaving Valchek to run through the possibilities and come up with his own conclusion. As police he's an ineffectual, petty-minded little creep, but as a politician he's smart, and Valchek quickly picks up that Carcetti has boxed Burrell into a corner. If he won't play nice with Carcetti, he'll be trashed in the media which will make Carcetti look good. If he makes nice with Carcetti, then the Councilman has earned himself a "snitch" in the Mayor's inner circle. Carcetti just smiles and Valchek asks what HIS part in all this should be, and Carcetti tells him he needs Valchek to set up another meeting between him and the Commissioner. Valchek jokes, should he warn Burrell to bring petroleum jelly? "His rear end, his choice," smiles Carcetti. It might be win-win for Carcetti, but it's lose-lose for Bodie. His crew is supposed to be setting up on the corner currently occupied by Marlo's crew, but he hasn't been able to find Marlo to talk with him and lay out the terms of Stringer's proposed deal. If they head over to the corner then it will mean a fight and probably worse, and while Bodie has never been scared of this in the past he's been taught/warned that Stringer does NOT want this to happen. As he did in the towers with Cheese last season though, Bodie finds himself innovating to deal with the problem. So they can't set up on that corner but they HAVE to set up on that corner? Well in that case he'll set up on the other side of the street in the middle of the block - not the best territory but it will send a clear message and hopefully get Marlo to surface. Cheese - who has been infuriating the police with his discipline and silence - arrives on the scene at a dog fight, laughing and loud, flashing lots of money and talking up big. His dog (whose name is the clever and witty "Dawg") is a killer, and he mocks his opponents' dog as "bait", lovingly scratching Dawg under the chin as his lieutenant Tree washes him down with milk (Dawg, not Cheese). Handing over his gun at the security table, he loudly proclaims he is putting 25k on Dawg to win. The dog fight, disgusting as it is, is gleefully participated in by the onlookers, it's even being filmed on camcorder - one wonders how Prop Joe would feel if he learned his burdensome nephew was flashing around lots of money on camera? Unfortunately for Cheese, when it comes time to fight, he watches in horror as Dawg suddenly turns cur, tail dropping and refusing to fight back as the opponents' (Dazz and his lieutenant Jelly) dog tears into him. The fight is called against Dawg and the trainers separate the dogs, Cheese quietly lifting Dawg up and carrying it out of the ring and out to the back of the van near the entrance, where a single shot rings out. Tree winces slightly, suspecting foul play on Dazz's behalf, while one of the spectators laughs,"THERE IT IS!" after hearing the shot. It's not a very nice scene, though maybe that's my own sensibilities more than anything else - after all, I have little trouble dealing with the narrative necessity of the many deaths of human beings we see, but one poor dog is shot (off-screen) and I find myself disgusted by these vile human beings - I don't think I even blinked in the previous episode when McNulty looked at the picture of dead Wallace. The show itself breaks up this scene with humorous interludes of Herc and Carver sitting watching the streets and discussing one of the asinine things that buddies do when they're bored and shooting the poo poo - Carver has asked Herc to name the one male he would have sex with if it meant he could have any woman he wanted. Herc is convinced Carver is trying to trick him into calling himself gay and, desperately insecure, keeps trying to change the rules of the purely hypothetical game. At one point, one of Marlo's crew - Justin - passes by and Herc calls him over, joking with him and asking where he buys the "sideways baseball caps", as he himself can only find ones with the bills facing forward. Justin - loyal but not too bright - replies that it's just a regular cap that he turned to the side and heads on his way. Herc and Carver laugh, but they've also taken note of Poot's presence on the street - with the towers down, he had to go somewhere, but isn't it odd that he's on another crew's corner now and no violence has broken out?   Marlo finally arrives at the corner, where his crew have held their own desire to just throw down with violence in check thanks to the restraint of a lieutenant named Fruit. He points out Bodie and his crew to Marlo and says he wanted to hold back till he had the word from Marlo on what he wanted them to do.... so what does he want them to do? Marlo looks the Barksdale crew over and tells Fruit to get back to work, and drives on up the street. He passes Bodie who clearly suspects he's just seen Marlo go by, spitting out between his teeth, still stuck in a limbo where he can't do anything. That night, Burrell meets with Valchek at an open waterfront bar for a drink to complain about Carcetti's treatment of him. Valchek quite rightly points out that Burrell can't afford to keep take a pasting like that, especially as his role as Commissioner still isn't permanent. He tells Burrell to throw Carcetti a bone, and Burrell's instinct for self-preservation is clearly kicking in as he grunts that he will do what he can but he can't go against the Mayor, a man in his position can't backdoor the Mayor. Carcetti arrives, apologizing for being late due to his son's Little League game, and Burrell finds himself in an uncomfortable position. He's one of the most powerful black men in a predominantly black city, and yet here he is stuck between two white politicians. Valchek leaves with a joke and Burrell asks Carcetti if his son won. Carcetti - who clearly lies whenever it suits him - is confused, taking a moment to remember his excuse for being late, and laughs it off, saying who keeps score anymore? I like to think he was deliberately late as a power play, a reminder that Burrell has to wait for him, not the other way around.   Stringer has gathered his middle-management to see how things are going. Amusingly considering the hectic meeting that took place last episode, they're complaining about how the small organization corner boys don't listen, but otherwise everything is running smoothly. Bodie explains he hasn't been able to find Marlo and they've set up further up the block to avoid violence as ordered, and while Stringer seems pleased by this he isn't one to dole out praise to Bodie too easily, he likes to keep Bodie craving his kindness. So why isn't he looking for Marlo right now? Bodie complains he was ordered to this meeting and Stringer just stares, and Bodie gets the message and heads out truculently, looking like nothing so much as a pouty kid. With Bodie gone, Stringer turns to Shamrock for an explanation on what happened with Omar hitting the stashhouse. It's not just one, Slim Charles speaks up to remind them that this is the second stash house that Omar's crew has hit this month, and Shamrock voices a disturbing point - Omar has called out Stringer by name. The implication is clear - if Stringer doesn't go out after Omar, then it makes him look weak, and Stringer makes a fatal mistake in not recognizing this, instead he tells Slim to double the muscle on every stash house, saying that if Omar is coming, then they'll need to be ready. Inside at the bar now, Carcetti assures Burrell that there is nothing personal in his attack on him - there is NEVER anything personal. This is truer than Burrell can know, and we'll see the truth of it over the next three seasons - Carcetti's actions are always designed with only one purpose in mind, to improve his own career. Anything positive or negative that occurs as a consequence is pure happenstance, none of it is intended as anything more than a stepping stone. He's tired of three years of relative obscurity and powerlessness, made worse by the fact that Baltimore is a predominantly black city and his own real chance for political advancement is if a seat opens up in the legislature. Burrell is agog, he's loving with him.... because he's bored? Maybe a little laughs Carcetti, but assures him that he can and will be a major asset to Burrell if he'll play ball. Burrell warns him there is no dirt on the Mayor which Carcetti scoffs at, there is ALWAYS dirt, but crime is always good politics and if Burrell will tell him what he wants, he can make life easier for him by working quietly behind the scenes, no press or television, to get what he wants. Burrell considers and decides to test the waters, can Carcetti get back the police cars that are sent in for repair and take weeks to return for use? He's asked the Mayor and gotten nothing... can Carcetti deliver? At a rim shop, Marlo calmly asks the price of a set of rims which turn out to be worth $10,000 a set. Turning a surprised look on the proprietor, he comments that whoever would use these on their car is hanging a sign around their neck. The proprietor (Vinson) is more than a salesman though, he appears to be more like Butchie is to Omar, a mixture of mentor/banker/adviser. He reminds Marlo that if it is a terrace crew that has set up on his block, then they've come from Avon Barksdale. If it's Avon Barksdale, that means danger, especially as the word is that Avon will soon be out of prison (the street knows far before the police) and he can bring a lot of force down on Marlo. Marlo doesn't seem troubled by the prospect, if anything he seems intrigued by the idea of having the freight train that is Avon Barksdale bearing down on him.  McNulty and Bunk are at a bar (what a surprise!) where McNulty brings up D'Angelo, telling him how D committed suicide. Bunk is immediately skeptical, saying that men of color rarely go that way and joking that one needs only look at him - he's still there! There aren't any scene photos to examine, unfortunately, the State Police investigated the death and obviously were quick to take it on face value and rule it a suicide. They move on to more important things than some dead kid they dealt with a couple of times a year or so back, there's a pretty blond at the jukebox and McNulty wants Bunk to set things up between them. Bunk obliges, putting on that he's far drunker than he really is and slovenly trying to flirt with the blond, slurring,"IT'S ALL PINK! IT'S ALL PINK!" at her as McNulty rushes to the rescue and hauls Bunk away. Bunk slides his coat on and tells McNulty to knock it out, leaving the bar as the now heroic McNulty returns to see the girl. On the street, Jelly is joking with a couple of lower-level dealers, telling them enthusiastically a story about "Bumpy Somebody" (Bumpy Johnson), the toughest guy there ever was who once scared an entire building of police officers into hiding from him. As he happily tells the story, Tree appears behind him in a hood and blows his brains out, stopping to glare at the two horrified dealers and letting out a single,"Woof!" before moving on. The dealers flee, the street already empty, and Jelly is left lying dead in the street, the only sound the barking of a dog cut off by a whine, bringing to mind the dog fights that lead to his death. Cutty goes to see his parole officer, who recites with boredom the standard checks he must give - you haven't been doing drugs or associating with known criminals etc, then asks if Cutty is still unemployed. Cutty mistakes the question as interest and tries to engage with the PO, asking about possible laboring opportunities. Disgusted at the idea of actually having to spend any more time or effort with Cutty than necessary, he snaps that he doesn't know and he doesn't care, just go and get a job! I can't hold it against the PO too much, he's probably VERY overworked and extremely underpaid, and probably deals with some of the worst of the worst on a day to day basis. But it's also no surprise that prisoners released on parole would find little to encourage them in his attitude. The dealers who witnessed Jelly's death have reported to Dazz, including Tree's enigmatic (to them),"Woof!" He knows what that means, of course, and heads inside. McNulty meets with Frazier again who has gone over D'Angelo's case and come to the conclusion that it was "probably" a suicide. Nothing points to signs of a homicide, though he agrees with McNulty's suggestions that the double ligature mark COULD be a sign of being strangled beforehand and the large bruise in his back COULD be a sign of a knee in his back... but they could also be the sign of the body shifting when D'Angelo passed out, and the bruise could have been caused by anything in the previous few days including a slip in the shower. McNulty, desperately searching for anything he could use, jokes that there is nothing like a "definite maybe". Freamon and Prez pick up a surprisingly interesting call over the wire, but the slang is so thick they need Massey to come in and translate for them. The person on the line is describing Tree shooting Jelly and the blowback that is sure to come from Dazz, getting irritated when his girlfriend (who has replied only,"Mmmmhmmm!") asks when he is coming around, complaining that she hasn't listened to a word he said. Massey hands over a note that cuts down the long conversation to four words that lay out everything, leaving the room without a word. Poot calls a time-out as Herc and Carver arrive on the scene, Herc getting in his face and demanding he make another time-out sign right to his face. Slamming Poot on the corner and cuffing him, his crew are upset at the "unfair" treatment but are held off by Carver as Poot is loaded into the back of the car and driven away. The crew waits till the car is definitely gone before one brave soul yells out,"gently caress THE POLICE!" Herc and Carver don't go far though, pulling up at another corner and letting Poot out, demanding to know how he took the corner without kicking up a turf war? Poot insists that he and his friends are just hanging out. They warn him to be careful, the slingers on these corners are like the crack babies' crack babies, and Poot - who will abandon "the game" in a couple of years as things get too crazy for him - mocks them, saying that every year people complain about how this latest generation are the worst yet, like it's the end of the world. Carver yells at him to look around, it's hardly a brave new world they're in, and Poot demands to know if he can go now or they want to slap him around some more. Uncuffing him, they let him go, and Poot affects a disinterested swagger until the completely out of left-field,"How about a handjob?" comment from Herc to Carver gets his attention. Shaking his head at how crazy these police are, he leaves as Carver tells Herc he won't even get Weezy Jefferson for giving a guy a handjob.   The Detail is having better news that night, the wire has lit up as the previously unbreakable phone discipline of Cheese's crew has broken down. Listening to the same dealer and his girlfriend, they learn that Dazz has "come back" and hit Peanut. The girlfriend is upset, is he dead? Nah replies the dealer, he's fine other than his brains being all over the pavement, OF COURSE HE'S DEAD! I love these little touches in this show, they give so much humanity/life to the minor characters/world. To the Detail's shock and pleasure, Cheese himself FINALLY comes on the line where he openly and sadly talks about the murder he was forced to do because he thought it was right. As they gleefully record him, they listen as he talks about killing his dawg, he had much love for that dawg and he'll never find another dawg like him. Completely misreading the context (though the bloody result is very real), Freamon calls up Homicide to get more information on the murders, only to hear one actually take place on the wire. A dealer called Chris makes a call even as he's attacked, screaming that,"THEY'RE COMING BACK!" before gunfire blasts out and a laughing voice picks up the phone and asks who is on the other end before hanging up. Ecstatic at their case finally breaking wide open, Freamon acts with his typical aloof authority when an overworked Ed Norris answers the phone at Homicide, demanding to know how many bodies they've got on them. Furious at what he thinks is a waste of his time, Norris hangs up on Freamon. Herc, Carver and Dozerman leave a movie they've just been to see with their girlfriends, Herc complaining he couldn't understand a word of the film and his girlfriend giggling that he needs to read the subtitles. To the intense discomfort of the police, they find themselves bumping into the corner boys who are also there to see a film with their girlfriends. Poot and Bodie are delighted, joking around with the police officers who must feel naked with their professional lives invading the turf of their private lives. Bodie laughs off their work as if they were colleagues with a friendly inter-office rivalry, noting that Herc and Carver are always up in their faces wanting to know where's the poo poo but they never find it. Poot tells them to have a good evening and Bodie - again showing that collegial atmosphere, tells his "workmates" he'll see them tomorrow. They leave, Dozerman and his intensely attractive girlfriend arriving late and Dozerman asking if there's any problem. Herc seems more interested in checking out Dozerman's girlfriend though.   Freamon arrives at a bustling Homicide, rushing to Norris who tells him he's too busy to chat. Holley is too, so Freamon just goes right to the files and looks over the crime scene photos, placing faces to the names and voices he's been hearing on the wire. Earlier, Kima had offered to go to Homicide in Freamon's place but he'd sent her home since she had the early shift tomorrow. Now we see why she was eager to do so, as she sits uncomfortably at home with Cheryl and the baby watching television. Clearly the birth of the child hasn't given her a Road to Damascus moment, she still finds the alien presence in the house unsettling, and can no longer comfortably chat with Cheryl who is also no longer able to hide her disdain for Kima's disinterest. Kima makes an awkward attempt at conversation, bringing up the baby's fontanelle (and getting the name wrong), but only makes things worse when she lamely offers that the fontanelle not closing for at least a couple of weeks is "good". Looking for work, Cutty heads down to where the laborers are assembled. A man pulls up in a pickup and calls out in Spanish to the assembled, and Cutty motions to him to ask if he is welcome to join in. The driver eyes him up - older but powerfully built - and agrees, and Cutty eagerly clambers into the back with the others, happy to have work to do. Freamon and Greggs play the tape of Cheese's phone-call to Daniels, who can't believe their luck but is curious WHY Cheese would suddenly break discipline. Freamon insists it is because all good things come to those who wait, and they look over the organizational chart they (probably Prez) has set up - Cheese is only one level below Prop Joe, this is huge. Kima laughs that she will rouse McNulty to let him know, while Freamon points out the obvious to Daniels - if bodies keep falling, they may have to give up their wire, which will help solve the cases, get them in good with the brass and possibly prevent more. McNulty - unaware that the case has both broken open AND is now more threatened than ever - is pursuing his own angle, having gone to see Donette who wants to know why he's just arrived out of nowhere after all this time. McNulty has made himself at home - an unwelcome display of his authority - by sitting in his chair, motioning to Tyrell (the little man) and noting how much he looks like D'Angelo. He asks what she thought when she heard D'Angelo had killed himself and notes that labwork has confirmed a hunch they had in regards to D's death. He picks up Tyrell only to instantly put him down when Donette makes it clear this is a step too far. Tyrell, for his part, is used to constantly being picked up and just continues playing with his toys, oblivious to all else going on around him. McNulty puts aside his beeper, uninterested in hearing from work, and apologizes if he has upset her, leaving his card and telling her to call him if she wants to talk - lying that he liked D'Angelo despite everything else and felt bad about his death. Meanwhile in hell, Eastern District Commander Mayor Taylor is being roasted by Rawls. Taylor's District has made only 16 felony arrests last month despite having 278 men under his command, and they've picked up no handguns at all. Rawls shows a devastating familiarity with the facts (he knows and loves the stats game) and barks them out at Taylor who keeps having to return to his files. He brings up photographs of the four dead bodies from the previous night, and demands facts from Taylor - when were these men last arrested? Where did they sling? Who were their known associates? Taylor can't answer any of those questions and a disgusting Rawls tells him he has eight hours to get his poo poo together or he is done. Colvin - who the previous evening seemed less than pleased about the massaged stats he was handed in preparation - has watched all this, as has Daniels who is uncomfortably aware of the information he is sitting on in regards to those four murders. Marlo arrives at his corner and actually gets out of his car, picking up his golf club and deliberately practicing his putting out in the open, making it clear he is there. Bodie spots him and with trepidation but some relief approaches to finally lay out Stringer's terms to him. Marlo pays him no mind at all though, continuing to practice his putt as Bodie tries to get his attention, dropping Avon and Stringers' names and asking if they can talk. Marlo finally deigns to reply, but he never once actually looks in Bodie's direction, and he doesn't enter into conversation or lay out terms, he simply tells it the way it is going to be. He needs Bodie to turn around and leave, pack up his crew and go. There will be no argument or discussion, he is being "a gentlemen" about things for now, but it is clear that he has said all he is going to say. Stretching his arms and swinging his club about his head, he's already dismissed Bodie from his mind, and Bodie knows it. Stringer's big mistake (and it's not really one you can blame him for) was that he sent Bodie as an equal to talk to Marlo, which to Marlo is a huge insult - he runs everything while Bodie works for others, he could never talk to somebody like Bodie, because it would be admitting they were on the same level. Bodie is forced to walk away, his own crew watching on.   Daniels, Pearlman, McNUlty, Greggs and Freamon are having lunch at the waterfront and discussing what to do with the information they're sitting on. McNulty is all for continuing to sit on, do nothing but take notes and build a case that takes them to Prop Joe and Stringer Bell. But to his great surprise everybody else - including Freamon and Greggs - are more concerned with the number of dead bodies and the possibility of more to come. McNulty simply doesn't care, his overriding desire is getting Stringer over all else, but Daniels makes things clear - the Detail doesn't exist purely for the purpose of catching drug-dealers, that's what Narcotics is for, they're there because of violence. Stringer was responsible for violence when they first started and it rankles Daniels that they had to leave him on the street, but right now Stringer/The Barksdales are quiet and the East Side is violent, so that is what they're sticking with. Pearlman offers the rather lame suggestion that if they hit Cheese hard with the 4 murders they might be able to flip him on Joe and Stringer, but McNulty knows that this will never happen, and to his great dismay sees that the rest of the Detail is ready to move on from his White Whale. Cutty is raking leaves on the lawn when the lady of the house arrives to offer terrible Spanish to the other workers before leaving. Cutty stares at the Mexican workers who stare at each other, none of them knowing what the hell she just said, and they all just shrug and get back on with whatever they were doing. At the Detail, everybody is gearing up for a raid after hearing on the wire that Cheese's crew are gathering at somebody named Neesey's house to prepare to go to war. McNulty is sulky but unlike in season one's raid, he is going to go along with this one. Is that a measure of maturity on his part? Or does he just know everybody well enough now that he is willing to go along with them even when he disagrees with what they're doing? They head to Neesey's where an officer prepares to smash down the door, only to be left flummoxed when the door opens and one of Cheese's crew - back turned - stands in the doorway calling out to Tree to see what food he wants. Hilariously, the officer decides to hide behind the door frame and Daniels has to motion angrily at him to get the hell in there, and soon they're all charging inside. This creates a logjam in the corridor which gives Cheese and Tree time to drop their guns and rush out the back, only to find themselves facing more police (including Freamon) who demand they put their hands up and surrender. As raids go, it was hardly a shining moment for the BPD. In the Western District, Herc is continuing to bargain with Carver - he doesn't just want Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in return for sex with a man, he wants them AND Mary Tyler Moore in her prime AND Dozerman's girlfriend as well. Carver agrees angrily but demands Herc just tell him which man he'd have sex with to get these four women (this was all supposed to be a quick fun joke, after all), and Herc finally tells him - he'd have sex with Gus Triandos because he felt sorry for him for having to catch Hoyt Wilhelm's knuckleball. With that finally out of the way, he tells Carver to go ahead and mock him, but Carver informs him that there is no mocking, he made a carefully thought out choice. They all head out, preparing for a number of hand-to-hand arrests of street-level dealers, Carver warning everybody not to embarrass themselves by not loading their cameras with film, and makes a point of staring at Herc when he says it. Cheese sits in interrogation with Bunk and McNulty, where Bunk plays the old trick of making it seem like he knows everything all ready so there is no point in denying anything. Taunting Cheese, he asks him who his dawg is, and when Cheese doesn't get it ("Is this some psychology?") Bunk lays out photos of the four dead bodies and asks again who is dawg is? Cheese laughs it off, saying they're not sticking any bodies on him and calls out for a lawyer. Bunk hits a solid psychological blow though as he expertly mimicks Cheese's tearful phonecall about "Dawg", and Cheese's face slowly falls, and he actually sounds on the verge of tears as he complains that they're cold-hearted motherfuckers. Sensing they've hit a raw nerve even if they don't really understand why Cheese takes this killing so personally, they press him - why did he kill Dawg? What did Dawg do? Still fighting back tears, Cheese tells them that he thought Dawg had punked him so he had no choice, and openly admits shooting him. Daniels and Colonel Foerster are watching from the door, Foerster happy to see Cheese is talking at least, but inside things are starting to unravel as a confused Cheese finds himself being asked to give up Prop Joe so they can save him from the legal implications of killing his dog. Cheese starts to ask why he would give up Prop Joe.... then corrects himself, why he doesn't even know a Prop Joe! McNulty senses Cheese closing up and goes back to Dawg, asking for an identification. Cheese freely gives it up, the body is probably still in the warehouse he left it in... unless the SPCA picked it up. Now McNulty are Bunk are the confused ones, while outside Foerster thinks that Cheese has broken and a very pleased Rawls congratulates Daniels on "showing him something". He leaves, Major Taylor staying behind to offer his hand and telling Daniels that he owes him big time for pulling his rear end out of the fire. Daniels pleasure doesn't last long though, McNulty and Bunk emerge and say they're charging him with improper disposal of an animal, discharging a firearm within city limits and animal cruelty, but that's it. It sinks in too late for Daniels and Pearlman that "Dawg" was literally a dog.   When I first watched this season, I was concerned for Daniels when it came out that their evidence was all in relation to a dead dog. It was only as the show went on and on re-watches that I realized the simultaneously relieving and depressing truth - it doesn't matter. Daniels still comes out of this whole affair a hero to the Department, particularly the higher-ups. It doesn't matter that they don't have the damning evidence needed to convict Cheese, there is enough on the wiretap to at least get cases against a number of his underlings, which means the dead bodies can change from red to black, what's most important to the Department is that they go down in the statistics as cleared cases. The fact that Daniels gave them his wiretap information is a huge boost for him politically, because he sacrificed his own case to help out fellow officers, prevent a drug war and gained the gratitude of higher-ups. Cheese now knows that his phone is wiretapped and they're actively after Prop Joe and they have nothing to keep him from warning Joe - months of police work has gone down the tube... and Daniels' stock has never been higher. Their street-level busts almost done for the night, Herc is still bothering Carver who he expects to mock him as a homosexual at any second. Carver acts confused but when Dozerman arrives and cracks a joke about Gus Triandos being a power hitter, Carver joins in roaring with laughter. Later as Dozerman prepares to make the hand-to-hand, he drives by a stationary Herc and Carver and mimics giving a blowjob, Herc flipping the bird grumpily while Carver makes a delighted  face.Daniels, Pearlman, McNulty and Bunk drown their sorrows at the bar. Pearlman throws McNulty a come hither look but he's too depressed and decides to head home for the night, cracking a "dawg" joke at Bunk as he goes. Pearlman turns to Daniels instead and offers him one hell of a consolation prize, telling him maybe he CAN have his cake and eat it too. When he doesn't get the come on, she drops subtlety and just grabs him by the upper thigh, and those honed detective skills finally come into focus. Burrell joins Carcetti for a late night drink, pleased at the quick progress on his serviced radio cars. Carcetti asks him what else he needs and reminds a still wary Burrell that his radio car issue was solved without anybody getting hosed over or the Mayor getting backstabbed. So Burrell, emboldened, leans forward and tells him that 70 men are retiring at the end of the year (including Colvin) and he has no money for an academy class to replace them. Carcetti knows that money has been allocated for this which means the Mayor has hosed Burrell, but it's not that straightforward, Royce has actually been open with Burrell on why it is happening. By holding off till Summer, the city stands to save 2-3 million dollars... but it will mean 70 less officers amongst the ranks. Carcetti says he will see what he can do. Kima returns home, irritated at the mess of children's paraphanelia lying about. She heads to the bedroom and sees Cheryl lying in bed with the baby, an invasion of her space in her mind. Heading back down the corridor, she checks her hair in the mirror and then leaves, not being remotely subtle about it. Shot undramatically from a single stationary camera, we see Dozerman's car waiting as he prepares for his undercover hand-to-hand. The dealer however pulls a gun and fires into the car, we see nothing but a brief flash of light and hear nothing but a flat report of the gun going off. The dealers grab the money and run, and the camera holds for a brief time on the stationary car before cutting to Colvin's home where he is awoken in the middle of the night by a phone-call informing them they have an officer down. Daniels takes Pearlman to his newly leased, still mostly unfurnished apartment. He awkwardly starts to explain that he just leased the place but Pearlman really doesn't care, grabbing him and kissing him as she pulls him inside and they close the door behind them. She knows what she wants. Colvin arrives at the Western District where the other police are standing around drinking and muttering. Carver's fury is directed both at himself and the Department himself, hating that Dozerman was solo, hating that as Sergeant he allowed Dozerman to go in alone (think how often this will happen when those 70 men that Burrell mentioned retire). Herc is directed at the dealers themselves, demanding that when they catch them they beat the absolute poo poo out of them. Colvin tells the relieved men that Dozerman will live, and that they saved his life by getting him to the hospital as quickly as they did. It comes out that Dozerman actually grabbed his own gun to return fire but dropped it when he was shot, and one of the suspects grabbed it and ran with it - they have a vague description but no real clue who it was, but Herc loudly proclaims that they're "locking it down out there!". Colvin declines Carver's offer to take his empty can from him, crushing it up and tossing it onto the roof, not giving a poo poo about the regulations he himself had to warn the others about in the previous episode. Kima spots a girl checking her out at the bar and turns her head away, but then thinks again and looks back. They exchange a long look - is Kima pissed off enough at Cheryl (for no good reason) to justify in her own head cheating on her? The next morning, a shirtless Daniels (I believe the man has minus body fat somehow) tells Pearlman that the place will be nicer once he cleans it up a bit, but she laughs that she doesn't care about any of that. The unspoken statement by both is that the previous night was more than just a one night thing. Colvin has been up all night and will soon go home to crash for the day, though he has a stop to make first. On the phone he insists he is in no mood to talk to reporters about Dozerman's shooting, and pulls up to see The Deacon (played by real life drug dealer Melvin Williams. They go inside where an exhausted Colvin tells the Deacon that things have gotten so bad for him and the city that "the absence of a negative" counts as a positive for him now - he was happy and considered it a good night because his shot officer didn't die. He's facing his mortality and his lack of significance, his 30 years are almost up and he's come to realize that he will be leaving the city a worse place than he found it, and soon all that will be left to mark his career is a photo on the wall in the Western District... and nothing else. The Deacon is having none of it though - he's fighting drugs and that's like sweeping leaves on a windy day, it doesn't matter who you are, you can stop that tide, all you can do is fight the good fight.   McNulty arrives to a quiet Detail, where they inform him that there hasn't been a single call since Cheese learned about the wire, and none of them are surprised. They took a gamble and it did not pay off at all, and now they've lost what tiny progress they had made. At the Western District briefing room, Colvin arrives to report good news and bad news. Dozerman's condition has been upgraded to guarded, and from this point on all undercover hand-to-hand drug busts are suspended. The officers are horrified, even though those hand-to-hands really accomplish nothing they serve both as statistical fodder and a way to make them feel good as they shovel leaves on a windy day. Colvin isn't interested though, and places a bottle in a brown paperbag on the lectern and gives them a history lesson - a long time ago the City Council passed a law that prevented the consumption of alcohol on city streets. The trouble was that the street/the corners had been and always will be like a lounge for the poor man, a place they could stand in the heat of summer and enjoy the breeze and watch pretty women walk by. The law was the law, though, and the Western Police had no choice but to enforce it because otherwise the law would be flaunted... but it meant the police were doing nothing all day BUT arresting people for nothing more than drinking a beer. Then one day some nameless smokehound in a moment of genius bought a bottle of alcohol and slipped it into a brown paper bag before drinking it out on the street. That moment gave everybody the answer they had been looking for - the police could focus on real crime, the people could enjoy a drink. Colvin brings it back to Dozerman - Dozerman was shot over nothing, he was trying to go a hand-to-hand for THREE vials of drugs, a pathetically small amount, was that worth getting shot over. He notes there has never been a paper bag for drugs... until now, and drops all three vials into the bag in front of the mostly non-comprehending officers. Shortly after, an angry Herc and a deeply troubled Carver sit in the car watching Bodie's crew pretending to just be hanging out. Herc snaps angrily that if they're not doing hand-to-hands then what the hell DO they do (this is the problem, of course), and what the hell did that stuff with the bag and the drugs mean anyway? They drive away and Bodie instantly gets his crew back to work, almost seeming to wave a goodbye to his "colleagues" Herc and Carver as they pass. At this point I think Herc is completely in the dark, but I suspect that Carver was smart enough to pick up on what Colvin was being very careful not to just come out and say.  He's going to legalize drugs. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 14:18 on Jun 13, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 13:44
|
|
|
The part I always remember is landsman talking about how you can get a kit from Home Depot to plug a .32 hole, but with that .380 hole the guy has hes gonna nee to go buy a new head or something like that. Its right at the start of the book. Classic.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 16:06
|
|
|
Colvin's speech at thee town hall meeting in the church in episode 4 I believe is amaaaazing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 17:42
|
|
|
Way to put the pressure on Jerusalem . Anyways I kinda got some poo poo to work through and am like 20 percent and wont be able to get to it until saturday. So if anyone wants to do episode 3 within the next few days I can just hop over and do 4
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 18:19
|
|
|
I'd like to do it if no one else wants to.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 19:14
|
|
|
I don't care who does it as long as somebody uploads that awesome colvin speech to youtube. It's one of my favorite moments in the entire series. It's the one where Carcetti meets Loretta Daniels and welcomes her into public service and asks who gave Colvin the gas can and told him to put out the fire.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 20:10
|
|
|
I just finished rewatching all 5 seasons and only just now noticed that McNulty is an rear end in a top hat. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 20:14
|
|
|
pigdog posted:I just finished rewatching all 5 seasons and only just now noticed that McNulty is an rear end in a top hat. A gaping rear end in a top hat, even. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 20:19
|
|
|
Anybody who wants to do a write-up could and should jump in at any time. The moment there is any delay though I'll be happy to jump in and keep on writing, I'll happily do all of them, every drat last one.  pigdog posted:I just finished rewatching all 5 seasons and only just now noticed that McNulty is an rear end in a top hat. Haha yep, once you get over the notion that he's the loose cannon hero cop and realize what an unbelievable rear end in a top hat he is, it gives you a neat take on the character. I know it tends to color my perceptions alot on rewatches, particularly in regards to his relationship with his Ex-Wife, which in turn colors my perception on things like Kima/Cheryl.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 22:26
|
|
|
Easter egg: One of the kids that Jelly is talking to right before he gets shot by Tree, is played by the actor who plays Sherrod, Bubbles' protégé, in Season 4. Also, be on the lookout for the first appearance of Kenard this season. Yep, this season. Omar's death is foreshadowed long before we are properly introduced to Kenard.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 22:42
|
|
|
escape artist posted:Also, be on the lookout for the first appearance of Kenard this season. Yep, this season. Omar's death is foreshadowed long before we are properly introduced to Kenard. Which throws Poot laughing off the,"This latest batch of kids are the worst!" mentality in a whole new light.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 23:04
|
|
|
Just had a bowl of that Honey Nut in memory of Omar.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2013 23:04
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:
Hilarious backstory for this one http://davidsimon.com/gus-triandos-1930-2013/
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 01:06
|
|
|
awesmoe posted:Hilarious backstory for this one http://davidsimon.com/gus-triandos-1930-2013/ Haha, that's awesome. And holy poo poo, he really does look like a kid who got left at the bus stop by his parents.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 02:52
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:Anybody who wants to do a write-up could and should jump in at any time. The moment there is any delay though I'll be happy to jump in and keep on writing, I'll happily do all of them, every drat last one. Aside from season 5, I find McNulty most intolerable this season. Lester puts it best, Daniels got him off a goddamn boat and he acts that insubordinate to Daniels? It's worse to me because, unlike season 1, he knows that he's going to be punished for his insubordination, but goes ahead with it anyway because of his self centered obsession with Stringer. I quite enjoy the plot coming up with Theresa D'Agostino which helps him to realize just how insignificant and arrogant he is.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 05:54
|
|
|
It's funny, I never got the feeling that when Carcetti and Burrell were having their drink Carcetti was lying about his kid having a game. My take was that he really doesn't care about the score, or how anyone is doing at anything, unless it directly involves him; his is the only score that matters. Burrell's look is him recognizing this, and that not only does Carcetti not care about Burrell, he doesn't give a poo poo about his own kid unless it's furthering his own agenda.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 07:41
|
|
|
Thaddius the Large posted:It's funny, I never got the feeling that when Carcetti and Burrell were having their drink Carcetti was lying about his kid having a game. My take was that he really doesn't care about the score, or how anyone is doing at anything, unless it directly involves him; his is the only score that matters. Burrell's look is him recognizing this, and that not only does Carcetti not care about Burrell, he doesn't give a poo poo about his own kid unless it's furthering his own agenda. That's certainly as equally a valid a reason, and the bolded line is the same in both cases for me - as much as he might love his wife and children, they're all very much secondary considerations to his own goals.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 11:43
|
|
|
I don't know- when we see Carcetti with his kids later on, it's a pretty endearing and authentic moment. There's an outside chance that he's actually got Little League in the context of 'Who cares, the kids are there to have fun' or he might not be paying attention to anything beyond the times when his kid's on the field. He just zones out and thinks on business. What's painful about Carcetti is that he cons the viewer the same way he sort of cons Norman and D'Agostino, by being sincere about what he thinks to be his moral core. Under pressure he shows his true colors, but he honestly doesn't believe he's an opportunistic snake. Carcetti felt that his seizing the day over Hamsterdam and leaving Tony Gray in a lurch was an aberration (a necessary one) and not a pattern. Hence why Norman is disappointed by him- a cynical former newspaperman turned political manager who is far more accustomed to the Royce/Davis type of politico dealing with somebody who sincerely believes he's doing it for the people. Norman actually wants to believe in him and is bitterly disappointed in the end.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 18:15
|
|
|
Randomly Specific posted:I don't know- when we see Carcetti with his kids later on, it's a pretty endearing and authentic moment. Which moment? The battleship moment or the grilled cheese in the VCR moment? Because an argument could be made that you do see a bit of Tommy the politician in both of those scenes. (Just playing devil's advocate here. I've never really thought on either of these scene.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 20:35
|
|
|
escape artist posted:Which moment? The battleship moment or the grilled cheese in the VCR moment? Because an argument could be made that you do see a bit of Tommy the politician in both of those scenes. (Just playing devil's advocate here. I've never really thought on either of these scene.) I would argue the Battleship scene is Tommy at his most human, since at that point he's convinced he has no shot of winning the election and is just going through the motions with his campaign.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 20:58
|
|
|
Randomly Specific posted:I don't know- when we see Carcetti with his kids later on, it's a pretty endearing and authentic moment. There's an outside chance that he's actually got Little League in the context of 'Who cares, the kids are there to have fun' or he might not be paying attention to anything beyond the times when his kid's on the field. He just zones out and thinks on business. I agree, I'm not sure his love of his kids vs. his political ambitions is an either/or kinda thing. Carcetti may be a conniving rear end, but he's not a utilitarian psychopath on the level of the Greek; it's entirely possible to simultaneously love one's children and be a selfish dick who's dragging the city down at one's job and perhaps doesn't realize it through a lot of rationalization (see also: McNulty, Jimmy).
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 21:23
|
|
|
Jerusalem posted:Stringer's big mistake (and it's not really one you can blame him for) was that he sent Bodie as an equal to talk to Marlo This is interesting, because a lot of Stringer's mistakes are of this type. He doesn't understand the street - you can see it in this with Marlo, you can see it the conversation he has with Brother in the hospital, you can see it in a lot of his dealing with Avon (about the deal with Joe). It's what gets him killed, in the end; he doesn't understand that Omar and Brother won't/can't just forget about him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 14, 2013 23:29
|
|
|
Stringer's lack of street knowledge is odd considering he grew up the same way Avon did. You'd think he'd have been a little bit more perceptive about that sort of thing.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 00:01
|
|
|
comes along bort posted:Stringer's lack of street knowledge is odd considering he grew up the same way Avon did. You'd think he'd have been a little bit more perceptive about that sort of thing. Maybe he projects onto others the "just business" attitude that he tries to live himself?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 00:03
|
|
|
Knockknees posted:Maybe he projects onto others the "just business" attitude that he tries to live himself? This is what I always assumed. He's like that guy at work who gets pissed at having to follow a very specific process for a relatively simple task--because in a perfect world, things should work this way. Send a pawn to negotiate with a king and he's likely to get laughed off the board. But in a perfect world, they're both pieces of wood or marble--what's the difference what piece you move?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 00:08
|
|
|
comes along bort posted:Stringer's lack of street knowledge is odd considering he grew up the same way Avon did. You'd think he'd have been a little bit more perceptive about that sort of thing. He grew up with Avon right there beside him the whole time. He never really had to deal with any of that side until Avon went away.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 00:48
|
|
|
Thumposaurus posted:He grew up with Avon right there beside him the whole time. He never really had to deal with any of that side until Avon went away. What I meant was he grew up in the streets as well. If some 10 year old hopper knows how poo poo works, surely a grown-rear end man running a drug organization has half a clue. I get that it was one of his fatal flaws, but still.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 01:03
|
|
|
comes along bort posted:What I meant was he grew up in the streets as well. If some 10 year old hopper knows how poo poo works, surely a grown-rear end man running a drug organization has half a clue. "You want it to be one way, but it's the other way."
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 01:53
|
|
|
I like to think Stringer was like Dukie growing up that some how got his poo poo together. Avon was his Mike, protecting him from the streets. More things change more they stay the same?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 01:54
|
|
|
Stringer and Randy both had the dream growing up of owning some grocery stores  At least, I'm pretty sure something like that is said in the balcony scene
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 02:17
|
|
|
Randomly Specific posted:Hence why Norman is disappointed by him- a cynical former newspaperman turned political manager who is far more accustomed to the Royce/Davis type of politico dealing with somebody who sincerely believes he's doing it for the people. Norman actually wants to believe in him and is bitterly disappointed in the end. I never understood why people held that decision against Carcetti. If he took the governors money he'd be unelectable in two years. Nerese Campbell, knowing this, would resume her attempts to sabotage his term as mayor. Even with money, Baltimore would fail to fix its problems or get anything meaningful done. Either way Baltimore is screwed due to politicians backstabbing each other, but at least this way he might be able to make a difference in two years.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 07:35
|
|
|
KPC_Mammon posted:I never understood why people held that decision against Carcetti. You drank the Carcetti Kool-Aid 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 08:39
|
|
|
KPC_Mammon posted:I never understood why people held that decision against Carcetti.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 08:43
|
|
|
The thing with Carcetti is that he KEEPS making decisions like that as the show goes on, and it quickly becomes painfully apparent that regardless of how genuine he is when he makes those promises, his true goal is seeing himself gain higher and higher positions of power and everything else that falls by the wayside is a "necessity" or something he genuinely believes he'll get to,"When I'm Mayor/Governor/Senator/President". I always think about that beautiful and passionate speech he makes at the end of season 3... the one that means absolutely nothing, achieves nothing and goes nowhere. In that case it was more a conscious lie as he'd been shown Hamsterdam was a more nuanced and subtle situation than the immediate horrified reaction would suggest, but it goes to show how willing he is to use a situation to his own benefit. Just like he does with the police, the schools and eventually the homeless.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 08:45
|
|
|
Carcetti is just saving up all that political capital until the last month of his second Presidential term. Then you'll all see...
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 08:50
|
|
|
KPC_Mammon posted:I never understood why people held that decision against Carcetti. The trouble with this argument is that he gives zero sign after that decision of actually being a guy who could help out Baltimore from the governor's office. Bottom line is that Carcetti sold out the second he started to listen to that DNC woman who came in after he won, and told him he could be governor in 2 years if he did the "right" thing. I think that Odell Watkins says it best early in season 5, it's pretty thin for a guy to run for governor after <2 years of status quo poo poo as mayor. I don't think it's a certainty that Nerese beats him in the next election anyway - the show only states that taking the money would make him unelectable as GOVERNOR, which, like I say, was a cowardly and self serving route to begin with. People don't talk about this decision as much, but one of the last things Carcetti does as mayor - in order to aid his own campaign - is redirect a bunch of money to the Congressman (I think) in PG County, in return for said congressman not challenging him for governor. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 08:55 on Jun 15, 2013 |
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 08:52
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 00:08 |
|
|
Jerusalem posted:The thing with Carcetti is that he KEEPS making decisions like that as the show goes on, and it quickly becomes painfully apparent that regardless of how genuine he is when he makes those promises, his true goal is seeing himself gain higher and higher positions of power and everything else that falls by the wayside is a "necessity" or something he genuinely believes he'll get to,"When I'm Mayor/Governor/Senator/President". Carcetti is never more despicable IMO than the episode late in season 5 where he crashes Namond's debate with an entourage of press, using it as "proof" of his educational reform. Then he has the balls to try and offer some worthless apology to Bunny for not doing more to save Hamsterdam. I always love Bunny's reaction - at that point, I think, he doesn't even care about Hamsterdam, he's madder that the mayor (or more accurately, his staff) barely even looked at Hamsterdam Jr in season 4. If only he knew..
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2013 09:02
|
|