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Season 4, Episode 13: Final GradesBaltimore, traditional posted:If animal trapped call 410-844-6286. It's getting near Christmas, and Landsman arrives for his shift in a cheerful mood, singing Christmas carols under his breath and smiling till he spots the new red names going up on the board. Norris explains that Freamon's located three more corpses in the vacants, and Landsman goes on a fun little rant about Freamon as Vandal, Visigoth and Hun - a barbarian at the gate baying for Roman blood... or in this case, the squad's clearance rate. Norris makes matters worse by revealing he's investigating a "hot shot" case that isn't the simple overdose it seems, but a murder. Landsman is pissed, but Norris explains the reason he is investigating is because he as a suspect who walked right up to the Western District office and handed himself in, claiming to be the guilty party. This mollifies Landsman somewhat, at least when Norris "manufactures" a murder, he has the decency to provide a suspect to go along with it. Landsman joins Norris inside interrogation, where the suspect is none other than Bubbles. Shaky and upset, he is clearly suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Landsman and Norris roll their eyes when he insists he isn't using anymore, they're heard that a million times before, and Norris is more interested in learning where Bubbles got the cyanide he claims to have used. Bubbles, wracked with guilty over Sherrod's death, wants to be punished for his crime, but he doesn't want to implicate anybody else in HIS mistake, and clams up. Norris pushes him to answer, and Bubbles - physically and emotionally distraught - vomits suddenly across the desk, splashing Landsman in the process. Apologizing profusely, weeping and shaking, Bubbles is an utterly pathetic figure. To us the viewer it is an upsetting sight, but to Norris and Landsman he is just another junkie, maybe with something genuine to tell them but maybe just wasting their time and playing an angle. Landsman heads out to clean himself up and Norris goes to get Bubbles a soda so he'll at least have some sugar in his system. The janitorial closet is locked so Landsman washes down his shirt in the bathroom, where he is amused by the scatological humor scrawled on the wall. Amongst the graffiti is "RAWLS SUCKS COCKS", but don't read anything into that - Landsman isn't amused because he knows Rawls is a homosexual, this is just the kind of thing that people write about authority figures they dislike. His good mood restored, he and Norris return to interrogation.... where they find Bubbles hanging from the ceiling by his own belt. Horrified, they quickly slacken the belt and cut it away, Norris rushing to call for paramedics after they ascertain that Bubbles is still breathing. Landsman settles down beside the unconscious but breathing junkie and sighs. Is it relief? Annoyance? Confusion? Suffice to say that this really isn't Landsman's day.... but his minor irritations are nothing compared to the inner hell that Bubbles is going through.   Freamon and Kima are watching another body being taken from the vacants, and are joined by Dozerman and Sydnor who reveal they've found another tell-tale nail in another street. Kima notes that the killers were obviously leaving bodies in clusters and Freamon agrees, they found a block they liked and they returned to it often. What concerns him is that so far they're only really exploring one sector of one district in the city, who knows how far afield Stanfield's people roamed? The only way to find out is to expand the search, but that is going to require more manpower and resources. In a shutdown school's gym, the bodies that have been collected so far are being lined up as Daniels and Pearlman discuss progress with Rawls and - significantly - Burrell. Daniels takes a call from Freamon while Pearlman explains her understanding of the forensics situation so far - every body gets its own lab team to investigate the scene and vacuum for hairs and other potential DNA evidence. The problem is these are vacants, so there could be any number of DNA samples from various squatters and junkies. Daniels returns to reveal more bodies have been found, and notes that Major Crimes was on the organisation suspected of responsibility for the murders but were essentially shut down, making a point of looking to Rawls when he says it. They're getting back up on it now but it is going to take time, especially as the Stanfield Organization appears to have changed up their processes. Burrell promises to give him whatever support he needs and Daniels explains Freamon's predicament, he needs Patrol in order to cover more ground and speed up the process of discovery. Again significantly, Daniels is looking to Rawls but Rawls is hesitant, looking to Burrell for guidance for giving the go-ahead. It's clear that the power dynamic has shifted again, now that Rawls knows that Daniels is being groomed for the top job, he doesn't have the confidence of Carcetti's support in order to take control of the situation. Burrell clearly sees it too, because after Daniels and Pearlman leave, he openly warns Rawls of his mistakes. He dismisses Daniels, saying he is a long way from Burrell's job, and that Rawls is as well - he made a mistake in making his move too soon. Rawls admits he did, and Burrell stamps his authority down again while showing he is no fool. Rather than shutting Rawls out, he tells him to stick to operations and leave the politics to him - they're a team again, with Burrell the top dog. Burrell leaves and Rawls follows him, a chastened subordinate following in his superior's wake. For now at least, Bill Rawls' higher career aspirations have been stamped out. Given the go-ahead by Daniels, Freamon rushes into action. He has Sydnor make up a flier for Patrol's roll-call showing them the type of nail they'll be looking for. Dozerman is to go to hardware stores and find out more details about the nail itself. What about Kima? To her surprise, Freamon tells her that she needs to get him Herc. Really! Back in Homicide, Landsman and Norris share a bad-taste joke about Bubbles apparently not being in any worse condition than he was already in when he arrived. Paramedics are looking over him in the interrogation room and Landsman appears to have gotten his good mood back. It disappears again when he spots Crutchfield leaving and learns that Freamon has found another body, and looks again to the now strongly-red board of homicides. He walks into interrogation where the paramedics tell him that Bubbles is borderline, he might be fine but he might need some hospital care too. They leave the two alone and Landsman does something he very rarely does - he sits down and actually talks to a suspect with a genuine interest in hearing what he has to say. He asks why Bubbles would deliberately poison somebody and then turn himself in, and Bubbles - somewhat stable after being given a shot to help his withdrawal - explains the situation. He was trying to kill the man who had been tormenting him, and Sherrod got it instead. He admits knowing that Sherrod was dipping into drugs but never though he might find and use the doctored vials. Revealing the deep loathing he feels for himself, he tearfully explains he thought he could help Sherrod "like I wasn't what I was", flat out admitting he's nothing but a dope fiend and almost begging Landsman to put him in prison where he belongs. Landsman, surprisingly touched by the genuine depth of Bubbles' depression and self-hatred, does something even more surprising. Walking back out to Norris, he tells him to let Bubbles go. Admitting that there is no punishment the system could give Bubbles that would come close to the punishment Bubbles is putting himself through, he simply doesn't see the point in locking him up? What about the clearance, asks Norris, and Landsman says words you would never ever expect to hear from him - "gently caress the clearance".   Would Landsman have done this if the clearance rate wasn't already hosed up beyond salvation? Would he have done it if there wasn't a lot of big talk going around that the days of stats-based law enforcement were over? Maybe and maybe not, but I do think he felt a genuine sympathy for Bubbles' plight. As cruel as it might sound, Sherrod had no family or friends outside of Bubbles, and Bubbles is the only one suffering because of Sherrod's death. Whether the point of the law is to punish criminals or rehabilitate them, neither would have been achieved by putting Bubbles in prison. Hell, maybe the reason for Landsman's uncharacteristic gesture is as simple as the fact that it was Christmas. Whatever the case, he tells Norris to send Bubbles somewhere like Bellevue, a place with soft walls where he can get some actual help.... or at least not hurt himself. At an open-air meeting of the New Day Co-Op, Prop Joe does something very impressive and something else very foolish. With the latest shipment grabbed by Omar in the most audacious stick-up ever pulled, Joe has to order a fresh one and he wants everybody to pay again for it. The other members of the Co-Op are outraged, reminding Joe that they already paid for goods they never recieved and noting that it was his men running security and his men that lost the shipment, so it is him who should cover the loss. Turning his own creation on him like they and Joe once did to Stringer Bell, they reveal they called a quorum without him and already agreed to this course of action. Realizing how precarious a position he is in - the Co-Op must never realize the power of their unifying together against a single figurehead - Joe stares them down and asserts his will, showing again how he has managed to carve out the most powerful position in the East Side Drug Trade. Agreeing to cover the loss, he reveals that this new shipment will be the last they share, and all those to follow will be his and his alone, leaving them to make their own connects and deal in inferior product. Cowed, the Co-Op agrees to his terms, thus showing their own weakness, all observed by Marlo. The blocking in this scene is very telling. The Co-Op members are huddled together in place, showing their unity against Joe is standing before them as if in their judgement. That he manages to bring them around changes the setting from a courtroom to a schoolroom, with Joe as the teacher telling them what is what. But of equal importance is the place of Marlo and Chris. They stand apart from the Co-Op and behind Joe, which would seem to indicate they are figuratively AND literally on Joe's side. But they're behind him, unseen, a disturbing presence judging both Joe AND the Co-Op. This is the foolish side of things, by bringing Marlo into the Co-Op, Joe has exposed himself and the others. Now Marlo can see their in-fighting, see their weaknesses, see just who blinks when and just how other each is willing to go to protect their own interests. Interestingly, it is only Slim Charles who stands in support of Joe, and it is Charles who notes Marlo and Chris' continued presence and calls Joe's attention to it. When Marlo tells Joe he wants to "speak" with Joe's soldier who was in charge of the shipment, he is testing Joe's own resolve. Joe proves his spine by noting that it was his nephew and being adamant that he can not and will not hand over Cheese to Marlo. But he compromises, a huge mistake, and tells Marlo that his connection's people were also there and can provide independent verification. Why is this a mistake? Because it gives Marlo an in - however small - into the Connection that is Joe's source of power over the combined force of the Co-Op. It's a mistake because while Joe sees proposals and counter-proposals as part of "the game", Marlo sees compromise as capitulation. Marlo was impressed when Joe refused to accept his attempt to force financial terms on their shipment payments. Marlo was impressed when Joe stared down the Co-Op. But now Joe has shown Marlo that, if pressed, Joe will compromise and make allowances. To Marlo, that is weakness, and weakness is deadly. Meanwhile, Omar finishes the pleasant business of splitting up the take with his partners. It is hugs and smiles all around as Renaldo's friends say their goodbyes, and Kimmy packs away her share in the back of her car and happily tells Omar that she is retiring for good - she can easily live of the profits of selling these raw kilos slowly. Once they're all gone, Butchie asks how much Omar has left after splitting, and Omar has to admit he may have stolen too much for once in his life - he has more now than he could ever sell back on the street - so maybe Butchie has some advice on how to handle things. Butchie jokes that maybe Omar could sell it back to Prop Joe and they all have a good laugh.... until Omar becomes serious and Renaldo gets that old sinking feeling back that Omar is about to pull something crazy.   At the Western District, Carver is battling bureaucracy as he talks angrily on the phone with Social Services. Randy is set up on a bench carefully making his own moves for the future, tucking the cash he's worked so hard to earn away in the spine of one of his schoolbooks. Carver is trying to explain that Randy doesn't need to start fresh in the system, he's already been in a foster home so why can't he just move straight into another? Mello arrives and Carver tells him he'll be late to Roll Call while he sorts this out, complaining that Social Services wants to put Randy in a Group Home. Mello shrugs, so what? He doesn't care about the particulars of Randy's situation - either Carver finds a placement for Randy or he gets taken to a Group Home, but Carver has to deal with it one way or the other immediately. Kima goes to Herc's home, he answers the door drinking bear and wearing a Wisconsin t-shirt, and seems confused when she says she needs his help. He is suspended with pay pending a trial board hearing, and he can't do any work for anyone. gently caress that, she says, this is police work, and she is asking if he is police. Mello passes around the flier at roll call, explaining what Major Crimes wants them to look for. As he explains, shots are edited in of patrol working the streets, checking boarded up row-houses (the number on those boards, by the way, is actually the number for getting the time in Baltimore - presumably they didn't want the real world number being inundated by prank calls) and putting calls to their Sector Sergeants when they find signs of Chris and Snoop's nail gun. Meanwhile, Bunk and Kima investigate the curb where Herc pulled over Chris and Snoop, while Herc stands in the background bitterly complaining about the unfairness of his current lot. They mostly ignore him as they look around, spotting a dent in the road surface where Herc fired the nail to try and intimidate the two enforcers. Unfortunately it appears the nail worked its way loose, which is a problem. The forensics people told Bunk that the nails could actually be compared/linked like they were actual bullets (remember that opening scene from all the way back in episode one? The nail-gun is essentially a firearm). If they could find the nail that Herc shot, they could link Chris and Snoop to the murders, and that would give them a huge amount of leverage. Finally they take notice of Herc's complaints as he asks them if they think he'll be fired from the force as well as almost certainly losing his Sergeant's Stripes. They ask exactly what he did and he explains he took a camera without permission and lost it, and the evidence he got with the camera was explained away by an informant he made up. Bunk and Kima exchange exasparated looks and Bunk gives it to Herc straight,"Son, they're gonna beat on your rear end like its a rented mule." In a hospital room, a man in a neck brace laughs with pleasure as he watches Deadwood, while in the bed across from him Cutty is frustratingly hitting his call button because he can only get four basic channels on his television. A nurse enters and snatches the button from him, callously telling him the other man gets cable because he has insurance, and that Cutty is only still in hospital because of his fracture. She bitterly mumbles about gangsters selling drugs on corners, getting shot or cut and getting free care to be healed up just to go right back to slinging afterwards. Bemused, Cutty asks if she thinks he's a dealer and she tells him she pulled his admissions forms and saw he was in hospital in 1990 for a gunshot, and in 1987 for chest surgery for knife wounds. He tells her that was a long time ago and she complains back that here he is, still at it after all these years. Their conversation is broken up by the arrival of Colvin, and she leaves as Cutty is suspiciously asking if he is police. Colvin explains who he was and who he is now, and name-drops Carver as having given him Cutty's name. He went to the Gym and learned what happened to Cutty so came to see him, hoping for some help. Cutty remains suspicious till Colvin mentions he is here regarding Namond Brice, which makes Cutty sit up alert and concerned at once. Is Namond in trouble? Colvin explains it isn't anything life-threatening, but Namond is in a bad way and he's come to care for him. Cutty seems taken aback by this, but he's willing to listen. On the street, Bodie has been given some bad news by Poot. They go to one of the row-houses where police are carrying out a bodybag, Poot saying that he saw one of the police bringing out Little Kevin's necklace earlier - the dead body is Little Kevin. Bodie is furious, having been given proof of what had become word on the street - Marlo killed Little Kevin. Bodie has always considered certain things to be necessities of "the game", and if anything his anger is more to Marlo's transgression of these "rules" as it is Little Kevin's death. He convinced himself that Wallace had to die because Stringer told him he was a snitch, but he knows that Little Kevin wasn't. He sent Kevin to see Marlo to avoid just the same kind of thing that happened to Wallace, and Marlo killed Kevin for it. Not because he was a snitch, not because it was necessary, but just to do it, like it was his nature just to kill. Poot, alarmed at Bodie's increasing volume as he rants about Marlo, tries to calm his friend who slaps his hand away. An Officer moves to break up what looks to be a fight but is stopped by McNulty, who has also observed Bodie's anger, and heard his use of that magic name, "Marlo". Bodie storms away, struggling to articulate his impotent fury, realizing for the first time the true meaning of D'Angelo's season one warning about "pawns". He takes out his rage on the first available target.... which unfortunately for him turns out to be a police car. With astonishing strength he buckles in the door of the car with a kick, then smashes the windows with two more before police can grab him and slam him against the trunk. Poot can only watch his friend being arrested, people in the background laughing at Bodie's foolishness, one guy attempting to start an Attica chant.   Carcetti, Norman and Steintorf watch news coverage of the many bodies being removed from row-houses. Carcetti isn't pleased by the coverage even if the bodies are on Royce, but Steintorf sees the silver lining - this has knocked the Schools Audit off of the front pages and top headlines. He agrees that the debt should be on Royce too, but it is going to play out over the next fiscal year by which time Carcetti's political honeymoon will be over. The question is what they do about it, and Steintorf and Norman play the devil and angel respectively offering their takes on the situation. Carcetti notes that taking the Governor's money will cost him votes when he runs for that office in two years, and Steintorf tells him that when he becomes Governor, he can help the City from Annapolis. Norman reminds him he is Mayor of Baltimore NOW, and while taking the money/ceding local control will cost him with the likes of Nerese and particular districts, others in the city will see Carcetti as the guy who saved the city's children. Steintorf hits back with a callous and cynical observation that also pierces deep into Carcetti - "kids don't vote". Dukie passes his old house on the way home, the garbage from inside still piled up on the street. With a sigh he moves on, whatever stability he had in his life has been yanked away from him - what passed for a home is gone, and the small rock that was school and Prez's class has been taken from him too. At Joe's repair shop, Slim and Cheese are in agreement on the dangers of giving Marlo a meeting with the Connect - what if he tries to do a run-around the Co-Op and Joe himself? Joe assures them that he had no choice (does Cheese know that HE was who Marlo initially wanted?) but that the Greeks are suspicious, and wouldn't work with anybody but himself. He's right in that regard, but he doesn't seem to even consider the possibility that Marlo would deal with that in his usual direct fashion and "remove" the obstacle to what he wanted. To their great surprise, a knock on the door reveals a shocking visitor - Omar has just confidently walked up to the door and knocked. Cheese pulls a gun which just makes Omar smile, and Slim lets him in, Cheese immediately getting in his face and threatening to kill him (twice!). Omar isn't intimidated in the slightest, asking if he really doesn't want his shipment back, causing Cheese to turn an inquiring look Joe's way, and Joe tells Omar to say his piece. Omar's offer is what Cheese calls "some shameful poo poo", he is offering to sell back the heroin he stole from them at 20cents on the dollar. Slim - demonstrating he is more open-minded and has been learning from Joe - instantly counters with an offer of 10, and Omar warns him he might up his offer to 25. He's asking for $400,000, but Joe knows he can make back many times that from the heroin... and that's just if he sells it as is without stomping on it at all. When Cheese suggests they take Omar out back for some "diabolical brutality" and find the location of their shipment the old fashioned way, Omar continues to be unmoved, asking Joe if he thinks Omar would give up the location even under torture. Joe clearly does not, and much to Cheese's disgust agrees to the deal. Omar is unable to resist one final humiliation, and hands over his ticket (and payment!) for the clock he brought Joe earlier. To Joe's credit, he DID fix it, and hands it back to Omar he tells them he'll be in touch and walks safely out of the lion's den. At home, Carcetti lamely offers his reasoning for turning down the money to Jen, and it is clear that neither of them believe the bullshit about being able to do more as Governor 2 years down the track. This is about Carcetti looking out for himself and his own career, but wanting reassurance anyway that he is still doing the right thing. The best Jen can offer is that she knows that whatever he decides will be the right thing to do. It's a rather pathetic non-answer, but a fitting one for Carcetti's own excuses. Dukie arrives at his new home, a clean, middle class looking address. He lets himself in and heads up the stairs slowly, feeling like a stranger in somebody else's home. The place belongs to Michael, given to him by Marlo as a welcome to the Organization after being headhunted by Chris. He passes by Michael's room, spotting through the slightly open door that Michael has picked up a girl and that they're about to have sex (for some bizarre reason, apparently some people believed that Michael was having sex with Bug in this scene  ). He passes by and enters "his" room, which he shares with Bug, who has the top bunk. Dukie makes sure Bug is sleeping and can't hear Michael having sex, then settles down in the lower bunk. He's caught in limbo, living in a home that isn't his, stuck between childhood and adulthood. He has lost his home and his family, his school, and now he sleeps in a child's room while his friend has sex with a girl in another room. Neither boy nor man, Dukie is slipping through the cracks of the system.McNulty arrives at the school gym where more and more filled body bags are lined up along the floor. He waits as Pearlman goes over details with Crutchfield, then asks her to sign a release for Bodie, just offering a smile when she asks why. Caught up by the enormity of the case, he starts asking everybody for details and Pearlman, Bunk and Freamon offer answers, becoming amused and slightly irritated as he begins going through a checklist of forensic steps. There are 17 bodies found so far, including 4 on the East Side which caught them by surprise. Goading McNulty slightly, Bunk and Freamon tell him that this is a hell of a case, the kind that "real" police would never be able to resist. McNulty just grins and walks away... for now. Dukie approaches his new High School, an imposing edifice. He pauses and several students bump past him, turning to laugh at the look of the new kid. He too turns and walks away, but unlike McNulty, this is permanent. Dukie has slipped completely through the cracks now.   In Prez's class, he watches students taking THE TEST, the most important and defining moment of the year. Some work away at their tests, others just sit looking around blankly. Prez asks a student called Calvin if he's done and he says he is, having not even opened the booklet or answered a single question. The title of this episode is Final Grades, and I think it's very important that Michael, Randy and Dukie aren't sitting the test. In Parenti and Colvin's special class, Albert sleeps with his test untouched, while Zenobia works on her hair. Importantly though, at least a few of the formerly unteachable trouble students are quietly going about their work, including Namond. At the old school gym, Daniels, Pearlman, Freamon, Kima and Bunk go over what they have so far. They've identified the type of nailgun used and Herc has given a shaky confirmation it is the same that he found in Chris and Snoop's car. But without a nail confirmed as coming from that gun, the link between Chris, Snoop and the bodies is tenuous at best, and they've had no luck locating the one Herc shot into the road. Their best bet is to stop Chris and Snoop and search their car, but they don't have probable cause, and Freamon won't accept Bunk trying to suggest Randy was a witness, reminding him he is at best a source. Pearlman says that isn't enough, and neither is the fact that several of the identified bodies had links to the Stansfield Organization - they need more. "gently caress it," says Bunk, frustrated, and tells them if they give him an hour he'll get them what they need. Colvin visits Cutty again, who has been in contact with Wee-Bey at Colvin's request. On Cutty's say-so, Wee-Bey is willing to meet with the former police, but Cutty doesn't think he has much chance of convincing him to do what he wants. They part amicably, and out in the corridor the nurse who was sniping at Cutty the previous day asks if Colvin is going to arrest him soon. Surprised, Colvin tells her that Cutty runs a Gym Program for at-risk kids, and he got shot trying to get a kid AWAY from the corner. He leaves, the nurse left to digest this new information and her own prejudice. Bunk meets again with Lex's mother, bringing Kima with him. She hasn't been any help up to this point, but Bunk knows she is mourning for her dead son and is hoping to push her to finally give him what he needs. When she tells him she wasn't even allowed to see her son's recovered body because so little was left of it, he reminds her rather coldly that they did the best they could with the limited information they had. He's asking her to speak up on Lex's behalf now, or stay silent and live with that fact for the rest of her life. She looks to the old man in the corner who gives a silent nod, and she finally speaks. Soon after Lex disappeared, word came to her that a man called Chris and a girl named Loop or Snoop killed Lex and hid his body away so nobody would ever find it. Bunk looks to Kima, both of them sure that this information along with what they already had will be enough to get the warrant to search Chris' car. While Colvin is working inside connections and dealing with a situation outside of the system, Carver is meeting with resistance every step of the way as he tries to operate within the system on a similar problem. Randy has lost his foster mother and thus, according to the rules of the system, he must return to a group home till a new foster placement can be found for him. Through no fault of his own, he has to go to the bottom of the list, in the interests of fairness to the others. Carver tries to point out that Randy has been through the process before and that it wouldn't be in his best interests to return to a group home, but the woman will not be moved. It isn't because she's cruel or heartless, but she is very much a "Donnelly", she can't let things like emotions get in the way or approach each case on an individual basis or she would burn out or commit suicide or go on a shooting spree. When Carver gets upset at her blank, indifferent expression she warns him deadpan not to raise his voice, leaving him in despair as he crushes against the impersonal bulwark of bureaucracy. There is no way to save Randy from the horrors of the group home.... or is there? Carver - who in the first 2.5 seasons was irresponsible and disconnected - tells her that HE will foster Randy. This is it, this is the moment in any other TV show where the music swells, the camera slowly zooms in and a montage plays of hugs and tearful eyes as everything is fixed by one grand gesture. In The Wire, this grand gesture is greeted with a monotone, indifferent explanation from the DSS Worker that the foster parent screening process takes 3-4 months and that Randy would still have to go to a group home in the meantime. Carver, knowing that "snitch bitch" Randy will be brutalized from the moment he's left alone in a group home, is left deflated - there is no out here, Randy's life has been ruined and there is no escaping the fact. Elsewhere, Chris and Snoop are the indifferent ones as the system goes to work on them. Pulled over by Bunk, Freamon and Kima, the latter two are searching the car while Bunk keeps an eye on Chris and Snoop sitting cuffed on the curb. Snoop and Bunk exchange barbs, including the immortal lines: Bunk: I was thinking about some pussy Snoop: Yeah, me too While Kima and Freamon have failed to find anything. Freamon asks Kima if she thinks these two would ever ride "tame" and they go back to searching, Kima spotting wires in the glove compartment that don't belong. Pulling them out and connecting them, she opens the hidden compartment holding a gun, which they successfully hid from Herc on the earlier top. Showing it to Chris, he grunts that the car isn't even his, and they haul them both up to book them on a weapons charge.... and see where they can go from there.  
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Oct 20, 2013 11:20
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Marlo sits on a park bench with Spiros, Joe on another bench beside them, as Marlo questions Spiros on Omar's heist. Spiros is as calm as ever, and lets Marlo know how it is in no uncertain terms - he is only here out of respect to Joe, and he believes Joe's side of the story because he trusts Joe. Joe once had to swallow some poo poo and pay out cash to Nick Sobotka purely on Spiros' say-so, and he made it clear he only did so out of respect and trust for Spiros. Now Spiros is doing the same, otherwise he would have never met with Marlo at all. Marlo asks how he knows this wasn't some scam cooked up by Joe, and Spiros looks directly at Marlo and tells him he questioned his driver and looked into the man's soul, and he was satisfied. Marlo, seeing no give or weakness in Spiros, accepts the man at his word and offers his hand. Spiros shakes it and then leaves, while Monk delivers the bad news to Marlo that Chris and Snoop were arrested on a guns charge. Marlo - always cold-blooded - agrees to put in a call to a Bail Bondsman, but only AFTER Monk puts a man on Spiros to follow him. Monk asks if Spiros is a problem that needs "dealing with" and Marlo explains that he just wants to know more - like Cheese and Slim warned Joe, Marlo is looking at bypassing Joe and the Co-Op entirely. Joe, unaware of Marlo's scheming, returns and asks if Marlo is satisfied, and you can be sure he is - now he has an in to the Connect. He tells Joe he'll get him the money he requested for the return of the drugs, and once the bodies in the vacants story dies down, another 100k for an open bounty on Omar himself. McNulty waits outside Baltimore Central Booking for Bodie. When he emerges he asks what McNulty is doing there, and he tells him that the charge didn't get dropped by itself. He offers Bodie a meal, and after a brief look around to make sure they're not being observed, Bodie agrees. As he leaves with McNulty, Monk arrives with the Bondsman to get Chris and Snoop out, spotting Bodie and not liking what he sees. Inside, Chris and Snoop are presented with Court Orders for DNA samples, and Freamon reminds them that they were at plenty of crime scenes... who knows what they left behind? At the Cylburn Arboretum, McNulty and Bodie eat a meal and enjoy the comparative silence of the greenery, even in winter. Bodie tells McNulty he isn't a snitch, and McNulty notes he never said he was, but offers nothing else. He knows not to push Bodie, and makes no offers or promises, just sits and listens as Bodie convinces himself to give evidence. Bodie says he never said anything to any cop, then with a sigh says that he feels old. Remember he is probably 20 years old at most by this point, but he's been working the corners since he was 13, and those have been hard years. With a mixture of pride and anger, he says he never hosed up a count or stole of a package, and never did some poo poo that he wasn't told to do (Wallace's death still haunts him, it seems). He's always stood tall for the people he worked for, but where were they when he needed them? It was McNulty who got this charge on him dropped, it seems he didn't even register on Marlo's radar when he was arrested (remember when Stringer got Levy to get him out of the juvenile system?). McNulty lets him rave, probably recognizing many of the complaints as similar to ones he has made in the past about HIS bosses. Bodie makes a callback to D'Angelo's long-ago chess lesson, saying he's like the "little bitches" on the chessboard. Turning to McNulty, he tells him he won't snitch on any of his boys, or his corner, or any of what is left of the Barksdale people. But Marlo? He and his have to fall, they have to. McNulty agrees but says somebody needs to stand up to do that, and Bodie commits - he'll do it. "I don't give a gently caress," he says, clearly giving a gently caress AND it being his turn to do so, and makes a comment on human dignity that McNulty can clearly identify with,"Just don't ask me to live on my knees." In return, McNulty offers him the only mark of respect that Bodie would ever value. McNulty: You're a soldier, Bodie. Bodie: Hell yeah.   True to his word, Wee-Bey meets with Colvin, as unexpected a pairing as you'll see since... well, since McNulty and Bodie! The subject of discussion is Namond, though they share some memories of their own interactions from back in the day first, finding what common ground they can. It was Cutty's word that got Wee-Bey to agree to this, and what Colvin is asking - something never actually said out loud - is a massive thing. Namond is a bright, intelligent and funny young kid with all the potential in the world, and it took Colvin a long time to see that because he hides it behind bluff and bluster and street talk. But things aren't the way they used to be, and Namond isn't made for the corner. He and Wee-Bey laugh about the West Side they used to know, the deep insider knowledge that comes from people truly "native" to an area... but that isn't Namond. The corner world that Namond has been expected to live his life on is far different, the people working them now are harder and more vicious, living without a code, without family, without honor. Namond will last maybe 2 years at most before ending up in the morgue, or if he is "lucky", in prison with Wee-Bey. Wee-Bey agrees these are possibilities, but that's all in "the game". Colvin reminds him though, that they're not talking about "the game", they're talking about Wee-Bey's son, his own flesh and blood. Chris is out now, and Monk meets with him and Marlo to discuss Bodie. Marlo dismisses Monk and tells Bodie that with all the police and media attention on Chris' "work", they can't afford any snitching at all. Chris doesn't think what Monk saw is enough to condemn Bodie to death, but Marlo coldly (and sadly, justifiably) points out that this is a risk they can't afford to take, and tells him to get Michael to do it since Chris and Snoop can't risk commiting any murders themselves for the time being. Chris, his "objection" overridden, accepts his orders but with one caveat - Michael worked for Bodie briefly, his first kill needs to be a stranger, so he'll get somebody else to do it. Marlo doesn't question Chris' expertise in these matters, and agrees to it. That business taken care of, Marlo laughs as he brings up another bit of business - Joe has let them know about Omar's proposition, and they're all now paying to get their own drugs back. Both of them enjoy Omar's balls, neither aware that they've been played by Joe who just can't help himself - he's told Marlo that Omar is demanding 30 cents on the dollar! Colvin returns to the Pilot Program class where Namond is waiting with Parenti and Duquette. He asks Namond to wait outside and tells the others that he isn't optimistic that Wee-Bey will do as he asked, and he expects Namond to be back in the "care" of his mother by the following day. Parenti tells him tomorrow will be a busy day then, because Delegate Watkins pulled through for them after all - he's got them a 30 minute meeting with the Mayor to discuss keeping the Pilot Program alive. On Bodie's corner, he's back running things as usual, though business is quiet. Spider doesn't think they're going to sell out of their product, the dealers seem to outnumber the junkies today. Looking down the street, Bodie spots a furtive figure moving between the cars and his years of instincts as a "soldier" kick in - he knows somebody is making a move. Poot was never quite on the same level as Bodie, but he can sense something in the air too, spotting Chris coming up from the other side of the street, the two figures catching Bodie between them in a pincer movement. There is a way out though, another street running down behind them, and Poot tells Bodie to run, knowing that they're coming for him specifically... but Bodie is having none of it. Grabbing a stashed gun, he cocks it and yells that this is HIS corner and he isn't running from anybody, a pawn ready to stand his ground on the one little square that is his. Spotting what is unmistakably Snoop, he opens fire, then turns and fires back in the direction he last saw Chris. Screaming out his defiance, he roars that he isn't backing down and that they're not going to put him in a vacant like all the others. Throughout the season we've seen victims walk meekly to the death alongside Chris and Snoop, pleading to live but making no move to fight their fate. Bodie stands apart here, refusing to let them take him without a fight. Poot begs him to run, and Bodie turns and stares his last remaining friend in the eyes and sadly shakes his head, patting his shoulder. The unspoken message is that he knows he is doomed, and he gives Poot "permission" to go and leave him. Distressed but knowing there is nothing he can do, Poot runs, while Bodie continues to fire on Chris and Snoop, who duck down behind cars, progress stalled. But in the shadows of a doorway, as Poot passes a hooded figure emerges and quietly steps up behind Bodie. He senses the new presence and turns too late, and a young prospect named O-Dog shoots him in the head, then fires another when Bodie hits the ground before moving on. Chris and Snoop emerge, satisfied with their new soldier's initiation, and they move on. All that is left on the corner is a single dead body, a pawn that was finally taken out as the indifferent end result of protecting bigger pieces. So passes Bodie Broadus, the last "true" soldier of the once mighty Barksdale Organization on the street.  The camera holds on this shot for a very long time. In the Western, Carver sits at his desk till he notices Randy sleeping on the bench he left him at. Walking around to check on him, he spots a comic the boy feel asleep reading, smiles warmly and puts his coat over Randy as a blanket before taking the comic and heading back to his desk to read it. It is probably the last fatherly gesture that Randy will experience in his life. The next day, Parenti and Colvin wait in City Hall, and Colvin is a wreck, concerned that he may be more liability than asset. He awkwardly approaches a Secretary to ask if maybe the Mayor would prefer him not to be there due to the "drug legalization controversy", and she tells him that the Mayor isn't even Baltimore today. He's surprised, and she explains he's in Annapolis to meet with the Governor - it seems he may have decided to take the money after all. They still have their meeting, but they won't be meeting with the Mayor, but his representatives. Michael answers a knock at his door, Marlo has come visiting with Chris and Snoop - about as terrifying a trio of house guests as you can get. They joke with him about clearly having only just woken up - the early bird gets the worm after all - and ask how he is enjoying the new crib they got him. He thanks them, taking off his shirt to put on a hoodie, and Marlo spots the ring he is wearing around his neck. Fascinated, Marlo asks where he got the ring that he last saw as he was humiliatingly handing it over to Omar. Michael offers a vague,"Took it from a friend of the family" and asks Marlo if he wants it, but Marlo just smiles and tells him to keep it. The ring represents power and domination, and is of no value to Marlo in that way. He took it from Old Face Andre to prove his power, and it was taken from him as Omar's proof of power. Walker talk it from Omar as a demonstration of his power, and Michael took it from him as a reminder of humiliating an authority figure. What use would it be to Marlo now if freely given to him by a subordinate? He asks Michael if he is ready to go to work, and Michael agrees willingly - he knew that working for Marlo was the price of Devar's death, and he was happy to pay it, he is always happy when he knows what the other person wants from him. It's when they do something seemingly out of the kindness of their heart that he gets suspicious of their movies. Marlo tells him he'll be working Bodie's old corner, perhaps unconsiously showing belated respect to Bodie by getting his name right - remember how he pretended not to know it when he forced Bodie to join his Organization (another display of power). Bodie died standing his ground and went down fighting, something that Marlo understands and respects - there was no compromise and no capitulation from Bodie, he was a soldier. There is another job as well for Michael, similar to the one that O-Dog just did, and Michael accepts that too. Snoop, showing surprising courtesy, asks who the person they killed for him was. He looks back at Bug eating breakfast in the kitchen (an alarmed Dukie spotted the trio and instantly offered to get Bug ready for school) and tells them openly enough it was Bug's daddy. Snoop is surprised but doesn't question it, and Michael offers the information willingly enough. Devar is dead now, he can no longer threaten or intimidate Michael. In Annapolis, Carcetti and Norman are lead to the same bench to sit and wait at the Governor's pleasure - yet another display of power, one that will cost the Governor. McNulty arrives at the Western as Carver is correcting Colicchio's spelling on a report, and Carver calls him over. He wants to know if he heard about Bodie, telling him he was murdered on his corner last night. Mello roars for Carver to get into the Lieutenant's office, while McNulty rushes to check the latest homicide sheets. Confirming Bodie's death, he throws the sheets aside in a fury, yet another senseless death when they were so close to striking a blow against a major criminal organization. Meanwhile, Mello is tearing Carver a new one in front of Randy, who is still in the office despite Mello instructing him to get him to Social Services. Mello storms out and Carver settles on the corner of the desk, depressed. Randy grabs his book and, showing his naivete, asks if the 200+ dollars he has saved up can be any help? How could that be any help, asks Carver, and Randy suggests maybe they could pay somebody to get him a foster placement? Unfortunately for Colvin and Parenti, the representative for the Mayor has turned out to be Steintorf, who refuses to accept the subtleties of their proposal and will only deal in the absolutes that voters would take from a face value approach to the Pilot Program. As far as he is concerned, the Pilot Program is "tracking, plain and simple", and no matter what they say about socialization, any parent who complains will see it as segregation. They try and talk up the myriad benefits to the students and to the teachers, but Steintorf just throws the well-meaning, nice-sounding "no child left behind" catchphrase at them. Colvin makes a huge mistake by laughing and pointing out that these children are being left behind anyway, it's just that nobody will admit it, and sees Steintorf and Gerry's faces fall into grumpy "you don't admit that!" faces. Parenti tries to recover but Steintorf cuts him off, saying they'll be in contact.... which of course means that they're doomed. They leave, Colvin furious that the program was killed by a 2 minute meeting. He blames himself for being a liability, every time he opens his mouth he kills what he is trying to save. Parenti tries to placate him, saying they can publish their findings so far and even if the politicians won't listen, the research will get a lot of attention. Colvin wants to know WHO will be paying attention, and isn't thrilled by Parenti's insistence that it will be valuable to OTHER researchers. "Academics?" he asks, shaking his head in disbelief,"They're going to study your study?" They get into the lift, Colvin laughing so he won't cry, and asks the eternal question,"When do this poo poo change?"   De'Londa meets with Wee-Bey, where they discuss the future of their son... and it is not a pleasant conversation. The season has done a remarkably good job of making De'Londa into a monstrous character, a mother whose self-interest, greed, and aspirations have ruined her son's life. Initially Namond seemed to have it all, but it soon became apparent that like his friends his home life was far from ideal. Of course De'Londa wasn't created in a vacuum, there are reasons she is the way she is, and to her credit her attempts to "harden" up Namond weren't ONLY for her own benefit - she thought it was necessary to prepare him for a life on the streets that was his only future. Wee-Bey (a multiple murderer remember!) comes across the more sympathetic of the two, as he comes to a decision that will save his son's life. De'Londa agrees that she threw Namond out of the house (well rather, he left) because he needed hardening up, and her self-preservation instincts kick in when he quietly notes that if Namond is out.... then he's out. Getting fired up and indignant, she begins to snap at him in the same way she has dominated Namond and pressured Bodie in the past... and Wee-Bey is instantly sitting forward and cutting her off, asking her who the hell she thinks she is talking to. Instantly she is quiet, and it is tempting to feel glee in seeing her fright until you consider a little deeper and think about what this says about their domestic life when Wee-Bey was free. Wee-Bey reminds her that his word is still his word, in prison, in Baltimore, and it is his word that will find her wherever she might think to go and call home. Threats done, he tells her with pride that Colvin came down to the prison just to tell him that his son could be anything he wanted to be. It's both a nice and a sad moment, because apparently until Colvin told him, it was something that Wee-Bey had never once considered as a possibility. De'Londa's response is instant though, Namond can be anything but a soldier. Wee-Bey admits this is true, but in a rare moment of insight, tells her to look at him (the ultimate "soldier") and where he ended up - who would want to be him when they could be anything else? Chastised, she asks if Wee-Bey is cutting her off as well, and he shakes his head and tells her she still has him, and they'll find a way to get by.... but she's letting go of Namond, and that is final. It's an odd scene, full of catharsis but also at its heart two parents sitting down to discuss what is best for their child. The fact that this intimate scene takes place between two "monstrous" characters is one of the many reasons The Wire is such a great show.    Renaldo, armed with a shotgun, opens the door of the lock-up where they're keeping the drugs after Omar lets him know he's there. He's carrying a bag with the 400k that Joe paid over, having to take Omar at his word that he would call with the location of the drugs, making a gamble that Omar wouldn't take the money and keep the drugs anyway. Omar hands Butchie a small bundle of the cash and tells him it is for Butchie alone, he now plans to be his own bank - Omar is retiring after pulling off perhaps the biggest stick-up boy heist in Baltimore history. They leave the lock-up, padlocking the door and leaving a key in a cinderblock. He makes a call to Joe and tells him where to get the drugs, then hangs up and says his goodbyes to Butchie. The two men hug and Butchie laughs, saying that a heist this big can't go unanswered, this isn't over. Omar doesn't question it, but he seems unconcerned, and gets into the back of Renaldo's cab. They drive away up the alley and disappear into the night.... and that was the moment where Omar Little almost got out of "the game" free and clear. Almost. Carcetti returns to City Hall, going straight to his office and closing the door, while Norman storms back out the way he came in. Steintorf heads in to see the Mayor, scarcely able to believe that Carcetti turned down the money. Carcetti is furious, saying that it wasn't enough for him to take the money, the Governor wanted to hold a press conference and humiliate Carcetti in the process. Steintorf, delighted, tells him that in two years they can make the Governor pay, and oh yeah all that good stuff for the city and schools and stuff, yeah, that too. Poot works on Bodie's old corner, not really having anywhere else to go and thus there he stands on the same ground where his best friend was murdered only 24 hours before. A patrol car pulls up and everybody scatters as McNulty emerges calling out that the corner is indicted, grabbing an indifferent Poot and putting him against the wall. Speaking quietly, he tells Poot he is sorry about Bodie and says he wants to do the right thing for him, who killed him? Poot, disgusted, tells him that the police killed him, Bodie was shot because he was seen outside of Booking getting into a car with a police man.... so either arrest him or let him go because Poot doesn't want to spend any longer seen in the presence of a policeman than he has to. Dismayed, McNulty lets him go, left to ponder his part in Bodie's death. The next day, Dukie waits outside Edward Tilghman for Prez to arrive. Prez is pleased to see him but asks if he shouldn't be in High School, and Dukie assures him he's going straight there afterwards. When Prez notes the absence of a book bag, Dukie is left a little unbalanced before saying he was planning on heading by the house to pick it up on the way. Prez knows he's lying but doesn't call him on it, and is touched when Dukie offers him a bag with a gift in it, for "everything you've done". It's a pen set for his desk, and Prez thanks him, telling him that he meant what he said the last time they were in class together - Dukie can come see him any time he needs to. Dukie will take him up on that offer in season 5, and it will break his heart. In the Pilot Program, the news about the closure of the program is greeted with mixed responses from the students. Some are delighted to be returning to "Gen Pop", while others like Zenobia are distressed at going back to a system that offered them nothing. What about Namond? Colvin asks for his feelings and Namond tells them the Pilot Program was alright.... but maybe it's the right time? Enjoying a lie-in, Beadie notices McNulty is still awake in bed beside her, even though he has a 4-12 shift and should be sleeping. What's the problem? He explains its the case of the dead bodies in the vacants, being worked on by Freamon and the others under Daniels, who has suction now and can deliver on the always stymied-promise of the Major Crimes Unit. Beadie asks if McNulty wants in, knowing that part of the frustration he felt in the past was due to constant bureaucratic interference and the stats-obsessed culture of the Department. McNulty - maybe genuinely, maybe justifying his own desire to be involved in such an important case, maybe a mixture of both - says he thinks he owes it to Bodie, a Corner Kid he was attempting to turn and give to Freamon to use who got dropped in the street. Kissing Beadie, he tells her that maybe this time could be different? Maybe he could be involved in high level investigations without all the drinking and whoring and bashing his head up against the brick wall of the system. Throughout the season we've seen him resist (rather unfair) calls by the other police to drink heavily and get involved again in the detective work that ruined his life. He's been a better person, a better police officer, a better partner and father and role model. But we've also seen him unable to resist going above and beyond to solve the burglaries, seen the interest in his eyes when Freamon reopened Major Crimes as a real unit and Daniels offered real support. Despite his cynical nature, he's started to buy into Carcetti's assurances of a "new day", and now he and Beadie begin to make love as he finally stops resisting and embraces the idea of being a Detective again... one day after Carcetti made a huge financial decision that will hobble all of the MCU's hard work. This is the last time we'll see Carcetti being genuinely happy for a long time... perhaps this IS the last time we'll see him being genuinely happy ever in the series ever again. Out of options, Carver and a DSS Worker take Randy to a Group Home. As they walk up the street, Randy tells Carver it is okay, he knows he tried and he doesn't have to feel bad. He slaps Carver on the arm and heads inside, followed by Carver as they head up the stairs past staring boys who all seem to know Randy's history. Carver can't bring himself to enter the room and heads back down the stairs as Randy is shown to his bunk, the accusing eyes of the other boys staring holes in him. Carver returns to his car and sits for a moment in silence, then begins lashing out in a fury at the wheel, the rear-vision mirror, the dashboard, anything he can hit as he gives vent - he has failed Randy, and he does feel bad, because he knows at the root of everything this is his fault. He gave Randy to Herc out of loyalty to his useless old friend's usual bullshit, and the end result is a burned up kindly foster mother and one young boy's life ruined forever. Carver learned the lesson about how much decisions matter far too late.   McNulty meets with Daniels who asks for McNulty's assurance that he is sure about what he is doing - he can use him, but he wants to know if McNulty can handle it for his own sake. McNulty says he thinks he can do it and still keep "myself away from myself", and Daniels gets up and shakes his hand, welcoming him back on board. Happy, they joke about, Daniels turning McNulty's own words from season one back on him, telling him that street level rips aren't going to do it - this case needs a wiretap and Confidential Informants to work. McNulty jokes back that maybe they should do it fast and clean and simple, and with a huge grin, Daniels tells him if that's the case then they don't do it at all. The call-back to their season one dynamic shows just how much they've changed - Daniels was once all about chain of command doing as ordered, now he's in McNulty's camp of quality, high level investigations, and the Department is fully behind them. It's just a shame that the good times won't last. At Edward Tilghman, Prez chats with Sampson and is surprised at the test results, which show gains across the board from the previous year - how is that possible? Again he gets schooled on the bitter realities of the system... he doesn't really believe the numbers, doe he? "Proficient" means only two levels below their grade level, while "Advanced" means they might be at their ACTUAL grade level or "only" one grade level below. This fudging of categories means they can pretend to have shown progress and be left alone to do their actual job.... which is usually to keep things on the same treadmill of teaching to the test and then shifting the goalpost of the results. With a sigh, Prez says he's still learning, but Sampson says with a smile that he'll be fine - his first year was as much about evaluating him as it was the other teachers, and everybody seems to agree that Prez - a terrible police - is a natural teacher. He heads into his class and notes the return of Albert, Zenobia and Namond. Albert calls out that it's Prez's worst nightmare and gets zero response from the other students, while Zenobia wrinkles her nose up in disgust. Chastened, Albert tells Prez he was just playing, and everybody opens their books and goes back to work, Prez taking a student through his work to see how he got his answer. The Pilot Program was a success in that regard at least, and while much of the year will be wasted on the stats games, Prez at least knows now that when he gets the chance, he can teach, and students WILL listen. The 22nd body is wheeled into the gym past Daniels, Pearlman and Freamon. Daniels has bad news about the gun they got off of Chris and Snoop, it's not linked to any open or closed murders and there were no prints on it at all - they can't prove it actually belonged to either of them. Freamon notes they COULD get lucky on the evidence they've gathered at the scenes and DNA samples they took from Chris and Snoop, but he thinks they need to go proactive on pursuing the Stansfield Organization. They're at square one on the new wire though, they're in for the long haul. Freamon asks how Daniels thought to use this gym as a staging area, and he tells them he knew the school closed a few years back and was near the first few body locations. How did he know? Because this is where he spent to school himself. He notes that now that he thinks back on it, he got a pretty good education here, and he and Pearlman leave together - what was once a place of learning is now a place of death, an unplesant mirror of the current school system. Kima and Walon drive to treatment facility where Bubbles is being held, Kima having just recently been informed by Landsman about what happened. Walon talks about shame, how it makes you want to change and then beats you down when you can't. He hasn't seen Bubbles for a couple of years when he last tried to get clean, but says that if he is currently in D Ward, then he'll be clean all right, and he won't like it. They head up to see him, and the sight of it appalls Kima. Bubbles has always been a character, a spark in his eyes and a quip on his lips, witty and fun even when she knew he was stoned or chasing drugs hard. Now as she looks through the window at the pathetic, old-looking, haggard, empty-eyed shell sitting in a chair, she has to face up to the truth about informant whose habit she helped in some ways to support. When Bubbles realizes Walon is there he bursts into tears and tries to pull away, and Walon pulls him close to give him the human touch he needs even if he doesn't want it. Kima, unable to face seeing him like this, turns and leaves.   Norman sits at a bar counter with Parker, Royce's old Chief of Staff, and watch Carcetti on the news talking about the Schools Budget Crisis. Norman is still furious that Carcetti left the money on the table, amusing Parker who tells him that he obviously hasn't been doing this job long enough. He tells him that the politicians always disappoint, all of them, without exception. Turning to shop talk, they discuss what their future plans are, which politician they'll attach themselves to now until the inevitable disappointment gets to be too much. Parker is considering sticking with Royce if he takes a shot at "Elijah's seat", but if not there is a young politician pushing for the First District he might support instead. This is their future going ahead, shifting from one politician to the next, helping to shape the young and idealistic or assist the old and experienced till the disappointment pushes them on to the next. In that respect, they're as much junkies as anybody else. On a street corner, three dealers chat as their tout calls out the seasonal name of the drugs they're slinging - Mistletoe. A hooded figure approaches from the shadows, stepping right up amongst the three dealers. Raising his head to reveal it is Michael, he looks one dealer directly in the face just long enough to confuse the man, then raises his gun and shoots him in the head. The other two scatter, Michael checks to make sure his victim is dead, then walks to where Chris is waiting in a car. He hops in the back and settles in, and as they drive away, Chris looks at him in the rearview mirror and offers his protege advice - he can look anybody in the eyes now, no matter who they are. Throughout the season we've seen how Michael always lowered his eyes when confronted by an authority figure, unless he felt he was being punked in an unacceptable way and forced himself to look up. His initiation into the Stansfield Organization now complete, he is being told by Chris that he need feel inferior to nobody. Devar's abuse is probably what hammered Michael's problems with looking people in the eye into him, but Devar is dead now and Michael is under the tutelage of his killer. Michael has passed his "final grade", and Namond was right - Michael isn't Michael anymore. That boy we knew is dead. So we reach the final montage of the season. A cover of Walk On Gilded Splinters plays. Namond visits with Wee-Bey in prison where he is told about the arrangement that Colvin has made, but assures him that he is still his father. They hug, which means Wee-Bey has to be searched before returning to his cell, but as he go he and Colvin share a nod. McNulty returns to the Major Crimes building and greets the other detectives, going straight to the already improved chart of the Stansfield Organization - amongst the photos is a new player labeled as "unknown", it's Michael. Herc faces his Trial Board and the looks on everybody's faces and the words "conduct unbecoming" are a bad sign for Herc, whose rear end is about to be beat on like a rented mule. Spiros meets with Joe to discuss business, watched unseen from across the street by Marlo, who is laying the groundwork to make his move. Parenti presents his findings to an enthralled audience of academics, but Colvin can't sit through it - like he and Parenti both noted at any earlier point in the season, none of this speaks to "his world". As Bunk discusses the various bodies found in the vacants with the rest of Homicide, a dismayed Landsman looks at the board filled with red names, many of them John Does - so many names that a sheet of paper has been taped to the board to get more on it. Elsewhere, Pearlman joins Daniels and Carcetti for lunch, spotted with interest and some concern by Burrell and Clay Davis in another booth. Poot remains on the corner, which now belongs to Michael, but is joined by a new "young'un" named Dukie. He gave up High School and turned to the only work he could find, selling drugs on behalf of his benefactor, without whom he would be homeless. He's watched from down the road by a sad Prez, who drives away when Kenard knocks on his window asking what he wants (he means drugs), Kenard spitting after his car as he goes. In the group home, Randy returns to his room to find his bunk tagged with "Snitch Bitch" and his book torn open, all his money stolen. Other boys approach and surround him, and though he gets in one punch first, the rest quickly fall on him and deliver him what will be the first of many beatings. On a brighter note, Cutty watches the trainees in his gym, happily offering advice though he is one crutches and can't be in there with them. Sitting next to him is the nurse from the hospital, who has certainly changed her tune about the wonderful Dennis Wise  Carcetti sits through a torturous budget meeting as they try to work out a way to cut expenses and to pay off the Schools' debt. Michael is woken from what might have been a dream of happier times helping Bug with his homework, Chris snapping him back to reality by asking for his gun. He hands it to Monk who drops it down a storm drain, and continue on down the street. There was one other scene in the montage I didn't mention, a sad moment and a reminder of happier, more innocent times. Carver yells at a group of kids to clear out of the the Fayette Street Mafia's old hang-out, telling them to do something constructive with their lives. As they rush away laughing and screaming, he looks over at the graffiti on the wall, and the childish proclamation of a forever unity that didn't even last through the school year.  As we reach the end of the season, it's remarkable to look back at the success of a bold and dangerous undertaking. Adding a large number of child actors, including in four very prominent roles, was a huge gamble. To my mind, it paid off in spades, and gave the series an emotional strength that surpasses even the sad tale of the Sobotka family or the individual fates of the likes of Wallace and D'Angelo. It was also a brave move to have the season end WITHOUT a climactic police wrap-up of a major case. The season began with the Major Crimes Unit pursuing the Stansfield Organization and it ends with - if anything - the police further away than they ever were to breaking it. Season One saw Avon arrested, charged and sentenced even as Stringer Bell kept things running. Season Two saw the Greeks at least temporarily chased off by the police presence. Season Three saw the death of Stringer Bell and the final collapse of the Barksdale Organization. But in Season 4, Marlo simply went from strength to strength, while the police first fell apart, and were then offered a cruel hope that things might get better. Even then, that particular storyarc isn't resolved in this season, and it ends with the police none the wiser that Carcetti's "new day" isn't coming. McNulty rejoins Major Crimes fully believing that things are going to be different this time and that they'll have all the support they need to really hit Marlo hard. Daniels feels assured that he can push quality investigations over stats, even Landsman actually threw away an easy clearance! A rude awakening is coming for them, but that is left as a foreboding presence for the viewer as the season ends. But unrelenting grimness by itself would not only be overbearing, not not make for very compelling television. What makes The Wire work is the balance they find between hope and dismay, humor and horror, frustration and catharsis. I stand by my assertion that Season 4 of The Wire is the best season of the show, and that it is probably the best single season of any television program I have ever seen in my life. Other shows have done amazing things and had amazing seasons (hell, Breaking Bad was just five amazing straight seasons) but for me, nothing has yet managed to top this season. This final episode up to the montage has a sense of foreboding for coming events, as characters break down in despair (Bubbles) or lift up to heights of pleasure while unaware of the dark times to come. But the episode ends with a final, aspirational moment and perhaps an unspoken message about what really counts. Bunny Colvin tried to work within the system, he tried to change the system, he tried to create a small isolated field within the system... and he was foiled and prevented from achieving his goals at every step. But when he stopped trying to affect large scale changes and decided to concentrate on the individual, he had at least one great success. The season ends with Namond almost literally at a crossroads - he's sitting on the veranda at Colvin's house doing his homework as cars pass by the intersection on a bright and sunny day. Colvin's wife yells to Namond he's going to be late and Colvin - sitting reading his paper outside - tells Namond to listen. Namond dutifully clears up his things and heads inside, and Mrs. Colvin tells him to go out and get the mug left outside. He returns and as he collects the mug and dish, he hears loud music and looks up to see a car slowly pull up outside the house. Is it a driveby? A threat? Some unwelcome reminder of his past? Not at all - the window lowers to reveal Donut grinning broadly up at his old friend. Namond nods and Donut drives on, passing the stop sign without slowing, another car having to pull up short as Donut continues on, unchanged after all this time and the packed events of the previous Summer, Autumn and Winter. Baltimore itself is at a crossroads too, with a new Mayor and plenty of changes coming in the Police Department and "the game" alike. Not Namond though, his transformation is complete and he has found the peace and stability he has needed all his life. He has "parents" who love and care for him, and most importantly of all he is no longer a "Corner Kid". Namond Brice, son of one of the most infamous Baltimore Gangsters there is, is now a Stoop Kid.... and he couldn't be happier.   
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 11:24 on Oct 20, 2013 |
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Oct 20, 2013 11:20
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Final episode links for Season 4, PMed to escape artist too for the OP: Episode 11: A New Day Episode 12: That's Got His Own Episode 13: Final Grades - Part One Episode 13: Final Grades - Part Two
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Oct 20, 2013 11:27
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I absolutely loved season four and the last episode is my favorite of that season but I feel something important is left out of the write up. I felt like when Colvin meets with Wee-Bey in the prison he is finally 100 percent sure of the fact that everything he's done that's different from the status quo was the right thing to do in that it's the only thing that would do more to end the drug trade and potentially fix the system. He realizes he can't be police in the way he deals with people, he comes to this slowly through the season as he watches the teachers work with the corner kids; as he notices that everyone can see what he is just from his stride. And everything comes to a head when this man who takes and uses force to get what he believes he should get stops doing that and asks Bey. He hits him with the facts and makes not threats then simply asks. Maybe I'm dense or reading it wrong but this seems like what his arc was and he kind of carries the brunt of the message of these past two seasons. I just finished the series not to long ago and I haven't had a chance to read most of these write ups, the ones I have are great so thanks to everyone who wrote them. And I'm sorry if I rehashed something that's been covered. 70+ pages is a lot to get through in an afternoon.
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Oct 20, 2013 17:10
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That final shot of Namond literally at the crossroads hits me like a brick every time. Joe makes a fatal mistake this episode in giving Marlo the meeting with Spiros instead of one with Cheese (or indeed, giving him anything at all.) I wonder what would have happened if he hadn't. Would Marlo have basically seen the same thing he eventually did, and just gotten Cheese to betray Joe? Would he have gone to war with Joe? The Wire is basically a series of inevitable tragedies (though I guess Marlo killing Joe isn't really a tragedy like the rest of them) but it's still fun to unpack these stories, to try and see just how inevitable they were. Another fateful (if not fatal) decision by McNulty this episode. I think it's open to interpretation how much he actually cared about "owing it" to Bodie versus just finally giving in to Freamon and Bunk's goading about him not being "real police". (In season 5, he comes to see Marlo the same way he used to see Stringer - as a guy who simply did not "get" to defeat the cops, because McNulty is supposedly so much smarter than him). I think he does feel some guilt over Bodie's death but when I see this, I always compare it to his reaction to Wallace's death. Daniels expressed genuine compassion, whereas McNulty just grumbled that it hosed up the whole case against Stringer. Maybe it's a sign of his growth? Maybe the fact that he, like Carver, has known Bodie for years and come to have an almost friendly rapport with him? Maybe I'm too harsh on the guy, maybe he's just had bad luck with informants. Seconding the boldness of this season in placing so much of it on young actors and knocking it out of the park. The whole thing might have been undone had one of the kids been of the AJ Soprano/Dana Brody school of acting but nope, they were all fantastic. Speaking of Joe, apparently the late Robert F. Chew was instrumental in mentoring them.
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Oct 20, 2013 21:09
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dwazegek posted:Early on in episode 4 of the Corner, a police officer, played by Jay Landsman asks to see Clarke Peter's arms (marvelling at the track marks), he then calls another police officer over to look at them too. I'm certain I've seen the guy who plays that 2nd police officer in the Wire in a small role, and I'm guessing, like Landsman, he's one of the real life police from Homicide, but I just can't seem to place him. Any help? Having checked the IMDB guide, and my own memory of the show, the other detective is David Brown who was one of the detectives featured in the Homicide book. In said book though, he just gets abused by Donald Worden who also has a spoken cameo at the start of episode three (I think).
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Oct 20, 2013 22:35
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MrMo posted:I absolutely loved season four and the last episode is my favorite of that season but I feel something important is left out of the write up.
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Oct 20, 2013 22:55
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escape artist posted:I think Colvin's story specifically is to highlight the idea that you cannot change the institution, however, if you are willing, you can change an individual's life for the better. This actually seems to be a common theme in the show. Take Bubbles' story for example. Or the prostitute, Dee-Dee. And so many other examples. I agree, the idea seems to be that the grand gestures and the tilting at windmills achieves nothing but frustration and depression, as the system grinds everything into dust and keeps on moving indifferently forward. Where real progress and achievement seems to be made is on the individual level, where people make personal connections and can recognize each other's humanity. When Colvin stopped seeing Namond as one of the Corner Kids, part of a collective/experimental subject for a wider-ranging educational initiative etc, etc and started seeing him as a kid in need of help, that's when he really made a difference.
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Oct 20, 2013 23:14
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escape artist posted:I think Colvin's story specifically is to highlight the idea that you cannot change the institution, however, if you are willing, you can change an individual's life for the better. This actually seems to be a common theme in the show. Take Bubbles' story for example. Or the prostitute, Dee-Dee. And so many other examples. That's the main conclusion I drew, too. Don't forget Cutty's work with kids once he walked away from the game. And how many lives did Carcetti actually improve, with all of the talk he put up during season 3?
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Oct 21, 2013 06:31
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The Always Sunny episode "The Gang desperately tries to win an award" is so much funnier now after having seen all of The Wire.
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Oct 21, 2013 06:33
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Jono C posted:That's the main conclusion I drew, too. Don't forget Cutty's work with kids once he walked away from the game. And how many lives did Carcetti actually improve, with all of the talk he put up during season 3? Well Daniels's life is quite a bit better on Carcetti's account...
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Oct 21, 2013 07:59
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Not really Wire related, but here is a good article in Newcity about the heroin trade in Chicago as told by a junkie. http://newcity.com/2013/10/17/suppl...en-by-a-junkie/ As a Chicagoan who has never really had contact with the drug trade here, I'm almost surpised at how you could pretty much change some street names around and this would read like something straight out of The Corner. The slang is the same, setup is the same. I guess I expected it to be a little different in each city. It's also amusing and sad to see that 20 years after The Corner, things are essentially the same as they ever were.
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Oct 21, 2013 21:33
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Thanks to everyone who's written one of the recaps. The amount of detail is amazing, and devouring this thread over the past few days has inspired me to do a re-watch of my own. Season 4 really does stand out when you go back and see the show again. There's a neat little ten-second sequence in the opening credits near the end that pretty much sums up the entire season (or even show!): Old Face Andre spins a pack of Newports to Omar, Marlo spins one of the fancy rims in the tire shop, the ghetto merry-go-round spins empty at the playground, a corner kid spins a tire aimlessly on the street, and there's finally a shot of drugs wrapped around a spare tire in a trunk. The players change, but the game stays the same. Change can sometimes with lots of hard work and luck be effected on the individual level, but when it comes to the big picture, Baltimore is basically the world's largest hamster wheel.
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Oct 22, 2013 15:52
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quote:As Slim Charles approaches, Marlo dismisses the idea of doing anything about Randy - it seems he believed Little Kevin's story but just had him killed on general principles I think this was the biggest mistake Marlo made. What happened to little Kevin was what made Bodie turn against him, and what happened to Bodie is what brought McNulty back to Major Crimes, which was the push the investigation needed.
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Oct 23, 2013 08:24
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I don't normally post in the thread, and I know I saw it mentioned somewhere on SA before, but I'd really like someone to dissect Bodie's last scene. I don't have access to the DVDs, but I recall someone mentioning that Bodie moves diagonally like a pawn attacking, while those that do him in move like knights. Is that accurate?
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Oct 23, 2013 08:58
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reavor posted:I think this was the biggest mistake Marlo made. What happened to little Kevin was what made Bodie turn against him, and what happened to Bodie is what brought McNulty back to Major Crimes, which was the push the investigation needed. That seems a bit result oriented.
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Oct 23, 2013 10:30
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I'd say the groundwork for Marlo's eventual defeat is more laid in how he makes the first preparations to take over the Co-Op. True, without McNulty's bullshit there would be no arrest at all, but the thing that actually gets him caught is taking over the Co-Op, allowing Lester to bust the Greek's resupply. Up until that point there was no case against the organization. On the other hand, Chris sealed his fate when he left DNA evidence beating Michael's stepdad to death, and I feel like Michael would have gotten a spot on Marlo's enemies list at some point or another. If his organization had just collapsed naturally like this, though, he would have likely have been able to preserve his legend, which is all he cared about.
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Oct 23, 2013 11:08
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Capntastic posted:I don't normally post in the thread, and I know I saw it mentioned somewhere on SA before, but I'd really like someone to dissect Bodie's last scene. I don't have access to the DVDs, but I recall someone mentioning that Bodie moves diagonally like a pawn attacking, while those that do him in move like knights. Is that accurate? I would say that's fairly accurate, the whole chess metaphor has been a running theme of Bodie's character since the beginning of Season 1. Bodie only shoots diagonally at Chris and Snoop like a pawn would, standing his ground as Jerusalem says: "On the one little square that is his". I'd say Chris and Snoop are more like bishops (the high ranking lieutenants of the chessboard I guess?), moving as much as they want on a diagonal axis. It's only O-Dog, the knight, who moves in the L-Shape which Bodie is blindsided by since Bodie as a pawn can only attack diagonally. It's all a little nebulous but I think it works to a degree and is fitting for the demise of one of the greatest characters the show had. Some would also say that this shot symbolises Bodie and McNulty as pawns on a chessboard (with the statue as a king overlooking? I dunno) which makes sense in a way:  Also here's his final scene in its entirety: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkWPNJAy14
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Oct 23, 2013 11:41
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That arboretum scene is also another crushing reminder of how isolated Bodie's (and others like him) world is. Everyone always talks about how he doesn't get how the Baltimore radio stations are lost when he drives to Philly, but in that scene he's surprised to learn the arboretum is even in Baltimore.
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Oct 23, 2013 12:48
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Lugaloco posted:Some would also say that this shot symbolises Bodie and McNulty as pawns on a chessboard (with the statue as a king overlooking? I dunno) which makes sense in a way: I looked up the statue and it's Lady Baltimore.
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Oct 23, 2013 13:02
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Do you suppose they intentionally had Bodie go out like a ghetto Scarface? The scene also has a lot of parellels to the final scene in that movie, I feel. Bodie knows he's doomed, but makes a last stand anyway, blasting at his enemies, and then someone just walks up behind him and shoots him in the back of the head. It's obviously a bit more realistic than Scarface but still, it's the kind of death Bodie might have wanted.
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Oct 23, 2013 15:59
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cletepurcel posted:I'd say the groundwork for Marlo's eventual defeat is more laid in how he makes the first preparations to take over the Co-Op. True, without McNulty's bullshit there would be no arrest at all, but the thing that actually gets him caught is taking over the Co-Op, allowing Lester to bust the Greek's resupply. Up until that point there was no case against the organization. I would say that Marlo made no mistakes, at least not in the way that Avon or Stringer made mistakes. What Marlo wanted was unsustainable, and he knew that it was.
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Oct 24, 2013 06:34
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Ainsley McTree posted:Do you suppose they intentionally had Bodie go out like a ghetto Scarface? The scene also has a lot of parellels to the final scene in that movie, I feel. Bodie knows he's doomed, but makes a last stand anyway, blasting at his enemies, and then someone just walks up behind him and shoots him in the back of the head. It's obviously a bit more realistic than Scarface but still, it's the kind of death Bodie might have wanted. It's an interesting parallel, but I think (other than the rather neat chess bit) the main point was to differentiate Bodie from all the previous victims of Chris and Snoop. Throughout the whole season you see victims walking under their own power to their deaths, not quite able to believe that it is actually going to happen. You have characters sitting around asking just HOW the hell Chris is able to make people just walk so accomodatingly to their own death. Even Little Kevin who struggles is seen quickly pacified and just staring with mute despair at Slim after being bundled into the car. Devar has no association with the Stanfield Organization at all and hasn't done anything to antagonize them directly, but when they come for him he ends up walking along with them down that dark alleyway anyway. There's this kind of horrible sense of the inevitable they feel with Chris, like they have no choice but to do as they say... and then you get Bodie spot them, hold his ground, open fire and outright scream out loud,"YOU AIN'T WALKING ME INTO A VACANT LIKE THE OTHERS!" I think it's very telling that Marlo - who mocked Bodie earlier in the season by pretending not to know his name - gives the ultimate sign of respect he would ever give anyone when he tells Michael that he'll be running "Bodie's Corner" now. Marlo told Vinson that he didn't mind how long he wore the crown so long as he wore it - there is nothing more important to him that having his name feared, respected and recognized, and giving Bodie that recognition posthumously was a mark of respect.
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Oct 24, 2013 06:43
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Marlo's use of names is interesting, I agree. Early on, he just sees Joe as an Eastside guy he has no reason to care about, but respects nonetheless, and calls him Joe privately. Now, I could be wrong on this, but I think he starts to call him "the fat man" pretty much exclusively after the big Omar heist, where he figures out he can stab Joe in the back and take over his spot. Regarding the insanely scary ability of Chris and Snoop to walk people to their death: at least a few of their victims were caught off guard, which made it a bit easier to walk them into the vacants. Lex was lured to the playground. Little Kevin was kidnapped in broad daylight, when he had full reason to believe he could walk away. Old Face Andre knew Marlo wanted him dead, but was betrayed by Joe. I'm not sure Devar has been out of jail long enough to truly comprehend who Chris and Snoop are - he knows he's in deep poo poo with them but his demeanour before Chris smashes his face into pulp isn't the utter terror and helplessness we see with the other victims. (At least it doesn't seem that way to me - his conversation seems almost casual.) With Bodie, he had to know there was a chance word could have gotten out about him snitching, or else that people simply overheard him denouncing Marlo (as season 5 shows, Marlo would have had him killed for this alone but apparently he only heard about him snitching), and had his guard up a little. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 08:09 on Oct 24, 2013 |
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Oct 24, 2013 08:05
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Jerusalem posted:- there is nothing more important to him that having his name feared, respected and recognized, and giving Bodie that recognition posthumously was a mark of respect. Gotta agree. Especially when you think about the scene with him in prison next season. I still think that is one of the most shocking/surprising things is his outburst as he is nothing but cold, calm and collected through his entire arc untill he finds out Omar was calling him out by name.
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Oct 24, 2013 11:37
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I'm not familiar with the school system in the US, why was Dukie sent off to high school alone, in the middle of the school year? Also, what happens when a state takes over a school? Wouldn't that improve its financial situation? Are there historical precedences for this?
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Oct 24, 2013 17:53
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Schools have leeway through social promotion on how long to hold students back and when to send them up to the next grade, though generally they wait until the end of the school year to bump kids up, but between semesters isn't unheard of. They could do it for any number of reasons- part of their funding might have been contingent on maintaining a certain teacher:student ratio or to further juke the stats on the statewide tests by getting rid of underperforming students. I don't remember the show explicitly stating why in Dukie's case other than he was "ready". It could've very well been he was actually performing at what they considered grade level. The state taking over the school mostly just means teacher contracts can be torn up and renegotiated with much worse terms for the teachers, though they'll often replace school boards or other admin, which in some cases actually are a problem. State governments already spend a certain amount of money on schools, and that doesn't drastically change year to year; taking over direct administration doesn't have an effect on that. Besides, impoverished school systems like in Baltimore actually get most of their funding from the federal government. But yeah it happens from time to time and tends not to work all that well because you're essentially replacing one set of people with a particular hustle with another: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/12/education/state-takeovers-of-school-districts-have-had-mixed-results.html http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/04/what-would-happen-if-the-state-took-over-your-school-district/274527/
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Oct 24, 2013 18:23
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waitwhatno posted:I'm not familiar with the school system in the US, why was Dukie sent off to high school alone, in the middle of the school year? I'm pretty sure Dukie being sent to high school in the middle of the year (as well as the statewide test taking place in December) is the result of the show having to fold Carcettix's plot into everything else. Originally, they had planned a miniseries called The Hall which would have focused on the election specifically, but when that didn't happen they had to squeeze it in with everything else. So the timeline is screwed up a little - what should normally be a September-June school year is just September-December. This happens with the City Hall plot as well - in real life, Carcetti would not have been inaugurated until the new year, and I think there probably would have been more time between the primary and the general election. I don't think it makes a difference though because the storyline isn't reliant on the short timeline. It could just be that, since "3 months later" type stuff isn't in the shows style. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Oct 24, 2013 |
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Oct 24, 2013 19:27
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cletepurcel posted:Marlo's use of names is interesting, I agree. Early on, he just sees Joe as an Eastside guy he has no reason to care about, but respects nonetheless, and calls him Joe privately. Now, I could be wrong on this, but I think he starts to call him "the fat man" pretty much exclusively after the big Omar heist, where he figures out he can stab Joe in the back and take over his spot. I also think that they took most of the victims at night which certainly helps, when Stalin ruled the Soviet Union his secret police always took people on nights since they were much more docile and less likely to pit up any resistance.
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Oct 24, 2013 20:05
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cletepurcel posted:Marlo's use of names is interesting, I agree. Speaking of I can't believe it took this long for someone to think of using this as an album/song title: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Name_Is_My_Name
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Oct 24, 2013 20:44
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Just curious, but what are some of the things that people didn't like about the show? It can't ALL be gold, right? Personally, I couldn't stand a single thing about Brother Mouzone. He just seemed so silly and overacted, and he felt like nothing more than a caricature of a Nation of Islam member. Though, I suppose I'm not much of an expert on that particular subject. Aside from him, I was mostly bored senseless of the News plot until the last 2.5 episodes or so. It ended up tying together rather neatly but the journey there, for me, was a bit of a slog. omg chael crash fucked around with this message at 11:07 on Oct 27, 2013 |
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Oct 27, 2013 10:04
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omg chael crash posted:Just curious, but what are some of the things that people didn't like about the show? It can't ALL be gold, right? The pilot episode is slow, Season 5 story liner borders on the ludicrous and boring with the newspaper angle but apart from that it is one of the best things I have ever watched. If your not American some of the politics might not interest you or understand them. But seriously compared to other shows it stands as an all time great for a reason.
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Oct 27, 2013 10:13
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omg chael crash posted:Just curious, but what are some of the things that people didn't like about the show? It can't ALL be gold, right? The newspaper storyline in season 5 (which I'll start doing write-ups for soon) is the one for me. With time and distance I understood what David Simon was going for, showing the "heroic" journalist was actually missing the big/real stories in the city as he disappeared up his own rear end trying to protect the integrity of the paper, but I think it's one of the shallower looks at an institution that the show did, and that Simon was just a little too close to the source material for his own good. The top brass at the paper were just so incredibly shallow and without merit, when even the worst of the worst in the other institutions had been shown to have some skill or talent or ability that was either being misused or buried under ambition. These guys were just dumb idiots who stood around getting totally owned by Gus the Super-Journalist and getting snippy about it. It's a shame, because a look at the declining state of a major metropolitan newspaper and the fall from its heyday could have been really fascinating.
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Oct 27, 2013 11:43
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omg chael crash posted:Just curious, but what are some of the things that people didn't like about the show? It can't ALL be gold, right? Season 5's newspaper arc, like Jerusalem and ally_1986 said, will probably come up a lot. But for a different answer: there are times, especially in season one, where Simon and the writers aren't subtle at all with their proselytization. The one scene I can think of that settles for all is when Herc and Carver are talking at the desk, and Carver says, "You can't call this a war. Wars end." I mean, I'm sure that cops've argued that before, so it isn't specifically unrealistic or anything, but it's one of the times where you see the guy behind the curtain. Most of the show avoids this--it rarely tells the audience what to think or how to feel--but when it misfires, you know it. Oh. And it's me. I'll be the guy who says season one's "gently caress" scene. It's brilliant, and I admire it, but like the chess scene, I don't particularly like it as a part of the series--both scenes feel like they're done by writers who are showing off. Same thing with Slim's "If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie, but we have to fight" line. None of these scenes are bad, exactly (far from it), but like Carver's bumper-sticker wisdom, they're flashy in a show that otherwise isn't.
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Oct 27, 2013 13:41
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I feel I can easily forgive those Season 1 scenes because they're trying to establish something that's incredibly complicated in only 13 episodes. Without that foundation I can't imagine how lost I'd be (more than I already was) on a first time viewing. To take the chess scene as an example, I was mostly taking Bodie's line of thought that if you make it to the end of the board then you'd win when I first saw it. But D'Angelo makes the unbelievably important point (which permeates throughout the entire show) that even if you do make it to the end there's not much there, and that's if you're not "capped quick" by that point. To put it a little clearer, sometimes those scenes are necessary in order to keep the audience on the right track, even in shows like The Wire where you're thrown in at the deep end with lead boots on. I agree that those scenes can be a little on the nose, but they are very, very well done for what they are.
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Oct 27, 2013 14:06
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Lugaloco posted:I feel I can easily forgive those Season 1 scenes because they're trying to establish something that's incredibly complicated in only 13 episodes. Without that foundation I can't imagine how lost I'd be (more than I already was) on a first time viewing. To take the chess scene as an example, I was mostly taking Bodie's line of thought that if you make it to the end of the board then you'd win when I first saw it. But D'Angelo makes the unbelievably important point (which permeates throughout the entire show) that even if you do make it to the end there's not much there, and that's if you're not "capped quick" by that point. Oh yeah, they're great, no argument there. I mean, the writing in the chess scene is loving fantastic, and McNulty and Bunk solving the shooting the way they did was a great bit of characterization and backstory (not to point out the obvious, but it shows that they're both great at what they do and that they've been working together so long they have the happy kind of telepathy that close coworkers acquire after awhile, and the end result is a scene that moves the plot forward and helps define a relationship using only one word--it's a pretty great piece of writing). But you're exactly right; in a show that's as complex as The Wire, they're a necessary evil, and I think you nailed it by saying they're too on the nose. Another line I was thinking of: Prez watching football and saying that no one wins; one side just loses more slowly. Great metaphor, great character (especially that far along in his arc), but lines like that are the intellectual equivalent of David Caruso putting on his shades and dropping a one-liner. Taken individually, they're great, and in any other show they'd be hallmarks of good writing. But in The Wire they come close to breaking the fourth wall just by their nature--they're show-offy in a series that's otherwise very subtle. Asbury fucked around with this message at 15:07 on Oct 27, 2013 |
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Oct 27, 2013 15:00
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I didn't really like the Chardene subplot. Having the stripper with a heart of gold fall in love with the detective investigating her gangster boyfriend felt a little canned to me. Even though it's not that unrealistic it seemed out of place on this show.
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Oct 27, 2013 18:14
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Hammy posted:I didn't really like the Chardene subplot. Having the stripper with a heart of gold fall in love with the detective investigating her gangster boyfriend felt a little canned to me. Even though it's not that unrealistic it seemed out of place on this show. I'm pretty indifferent to almost every plot involving romantic relationships or character's domestic lives. The exception is McNulty because his delusional idea of getting back together with his wife is important to his character in the first 3 seasons, and its hilarious what a terrible deadbeat dad he is. Didn't really care for Kima's troubles with her partner though (even though I get the purpose). Regarding the earlier point about season 1 being very on-the-nose - the pilot episode is a mission statement for the whole series so ill forgive the "Wars end" thing. That, and I don't think season 1 is that much more didactic than any of the other seasons. Season 5 is the worst in this regard but even in season 4, the best season, every scene with Prez and the teachers isn't exactly subtle either. Come to think of it, season 3 was maybe the least on the nose season in this regard. It's got a subtler message than the other ones, which is why. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Oct 27, 2013 |
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Oct 27, 2013 20:23
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The one thing that was really unrealistic is Prez's class looked like it had at most about 20 desks. No way he'd have a class that small.
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Oct 28, 2013 02:13
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comes along bort posted:The one thing that was really unrealistic is Prez's class looked like it had at most about 20 desks. No way he'd have a class that small. His class has a 50% attendance rate and the school makes up for budgetary shortfalls by not replacing busted desks!
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Oct 28, 2013 04:30
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