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Any prime examples?
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Jan 18, 2014 01:47
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I'd like to especially thank Jerusalem for taking the bull by the horns here. Having done one of these recaps myself I know it is a serious amount of work and the sheer number of these that Jerusalem did makes it that much more impressive! I'd also like to thank escape artist for getting this rolling in the first place!
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Jan 18, 2014 02:20
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Agreed! Most of the time I can't even read them in a single sitting* so the amount of work that goes into producing them so quickly is really impressive. *reading that back to myself, it sounds like a backhanded compliment but I promise I didn't mean it that way!
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Jan 18, 2014 02:39
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Seconding that, you guys have done a lot of great work. Really appreciate it.Ainsley McTree posted:Breaking Bad comes close with Gus, and yeah, it's pretty drat satisfying when done well. Has anyone done a thread like this for Breaking Bad?
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Jan 18, 2014 17:24
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Sneaky Fast posted:Any prime examples? The one that always stands out to me is,"Look at that little nigga getting his rear end beat!" when Michael suddenly starts pummeling Kenard after he rips off Namond at the end of season 4.
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Jan 18, 2014 20:46
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CC also helps with keeping a track of the "brands" of the drugs being sold. WMD, Pandemic, Troop Surge, Yellowtops, Bird Flu, Brokeback etc.
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Jan 21, 2014 04:13
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Leechboy posted:CC also helps with keeping a track of the "brands" of the drugs being sold. That reminds me of one of my favorite bits - Bodie's crew runs off some guys selling superior drugs (Bin Ladens) and take over their territory and begin selling their inferior "WMDs". Later a junkie asks about the change in name and is assured that it's a different name but just as good. This followed on from the invasion of Iraq by the US and the shift from the US Government invading Afghanistan with the intent of pursuing Osama Bin Laden in the wake of 9/11 as their top priority, to using the empty threat of Saddam Hussein's Weapons of Mass Destruction as an excuse to invade Iraq.
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Jan 21, 2014 04:31
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Sam. posted:Seconding that, you guys have done a lot of great work. Really appreciate it. Jerusalem, please please do another one of these for Breaking Bad.
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Jan 29, 2014 02:39
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I'd need to rewatch Breaking Bad in its entirety 4-5 times before I could do that... which doesn't really seem like too bad a thing, really!  Has anybody experienced any issues with their season 5 discs in terms of playing them in a computer? Part of the reason season 5 has taken me a little longer is that my computer has had real problems reading the discs, while seasons 1-4 were absolutely fine. I've been working off a lower quality rip for a large part of season 5 in order to get screenshots, which is kind of annoying, though I should have the last episode write-up all finished a little later this week. It's a 90 minute episode and I have a LOT to say not just about the episode, but the season and the show in general, so it's going to take a little longer that usual.
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Jan 29, 2014 03:02
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I have the big box set for the whole series and never had a problem with my season 5 discs.
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Jan 29, 2014 04:47
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Season 5, Episode 10: –30–H. L. Mencken posted:...the life of kings. We've reached the end. The end of the series, the end of the MCU, the end of the Stanfield Organization, the end of many lives and many more stories, and the end of the write-ups for this show. So this episode starts with immediate fallout - Daniels has delivered the news to Carcetti of what Kima told him and he and Pearlman confirmed - the serial killer case is a fake, designed as cover so Freamon and McNulty could continue to work the Stanfield case.... a case that Carcetti has now openly and happily taken full credit for on every major media outlet in Baltimore (and The Baltimore Sun too!). Clark Johnson (Gus) directs this episode (he also did the first) and the opening scene is handled very well. The first thing we see is Carcetti, in the immediate aftermath of having everything laid out to him, and for once the man with the golden tongue is at a complete loss for words. Quick cuts on multiple angles capture the sense of shock and disbelief Carcetti is experiencing, he's surrounded in silence by Steintorf, Norman, Bond, Rawls, Daniels and Pearlman. All of them wait for words of guidance or leadership or at least reaction from their Mayor, who simply can't come to terms with the enormity of the lie that has just been revealed to him. He tries to speak, pauses, tries again, pauses, staggered by the sheer scope of what has just been dumped in his lap, the biggest bowl of poo poo of his mayoralty yet, even bigger than the school budget crisis. There was no serial killer. The money went to a different case (cases, in fact) that Carcetti had already shut down. That case is the one that Carcetti just crowed about in the media. That case is also now the result of poisoned evidence, it too will fall apart from a legal sense. Carcetti is at the forefront of all of this, having gleefully made himself the face of the whole thing. There was no serial killer. He will not be Governor. He may not even be Mayor again after this term ends. Hell, he might even be forced to resign NOW. As Carcetti struggles to articulate his thoughts, he becomes enraged to see Norman fighting back laughter. But the old campaigner can't help himself, he's thrilled by the irony of the situation. The police manufactured a phony issue to work up the public so they could get what they want, in just the same way that politicians always do. Everybody is getting paid behind bullshit, and Norman seems to appreciate that for once the boot was on the other foot - the politicians got worked. Meanwhile, Daniels has done his duty by bringing this information immediately to his superiors, and now he makes his thinking clear - Freamon and McNulty are to be suspended, investigated, charged with fraud and perjury and maybe even go to jail. For him, this is the only possible option for them to now take, an idea that frightens the hell out of everybody else in the room... except maybe Pearlman. Carcetti begins to rave about Rawls and Bond falling on their swords when the press comes smashing down the doors for the story, and Steintorf takes this opportunity to speak up, seeing that Carcetti is close to exploding. He calmly informs them all that nothing is to be done until those at the top of the food chain have had a chance to digest everything and take a careful, considered approach to how to deal with everything. Smoothly he explains that this is a matter of public policy, and that rushed action could see innocent bystanders suffer for the presumptuousness of their underlings. What he means of course is that it is time for people to start covering their asses, but Daniels still understands how the chain of command works, and from a cynical point of view his rear end is now covered. Yes it looks bad that this went on without his knowledge, but at least when he DID find out he took the information straight to his superiors. He and Pearlman leave, and Norman - still laughing - wistfully notes that he wishes he was still working for the newspaper so he could write up this story. He doesn't know it yet, but he is the only journalist who will ever know about this gigantic story - it will NEVER be covered, and nobody else will even know it ever existed in the first place. Freamon - blissfully unaware his scheme has been rumbled - goes to the courthouse to visit Gary DiPasquale. After successfully hustling information out of Clay Davis, he learned that somebody in the Courthouse was selling information to lawyers like Levy, and he has figured out it was Gary. Gary is a gambling addict, owing tens of thousands at every Atlantic City casino there is and probably more at other city's casinos too. Hustling Gary too, he tells him that people are willing to name him as the source, treating Gary like a suspect and saying what needs to be said to get him to confess. Fittingly, everything that Freamon says to Gary applies to his own situation as well, but Freamon is too close to that to realize the similarities between them. Gary has a problem, Gary can't hide the truth any longer, everybody knows, it's all coming out, if he just comes clean now his friends will look out for him and make sure he walks away with his freedom even if his job will be gone forever etc. It all applies equally as strongly to Freamon, but Freamon - who once chided McNulty for his lack of perspective - doesn't realize it, he is still in the,"I've gotten away with everything" phase. Gary closes his eyes and sighs, perhaps strangely relieved that it's finally over, agreeing with Lester that he would have been found out years ago if the SFO had been in any way organized, always wondering if one day they were going to get their poo poo together and catch on that something was wrong with his finances... but then, that's Baltimore, he had no reason to ever think that they WOULD get their poo poo together. So now what? Lester reveals the next part of his plan, bringing out a tape recorder, having scammed first Clay and now Gary in pursuit of the man he only recently discovered was the biggest beneficiary of all that drug money he has been so relentlessly pursuing - Maurice Levy.   Outside City Hall, Daniels isn't anywhere near as calm as he appeared to be when he left the Mayor's office. He's furious that McNulty and Lester aren't already in cuffs, even more furious that he knows Carcetti is currently sitting up there not thinking about how to get the BPD clean, but how to hide the dirt. He cannot abide the idea of the two detectives not being punished or held accountable for their actions, not just from a personal standpoint but also from a professional one - if he lets this slide then everybody who had any hand in it will think they can pull poo poo like this off with impunity. In a rage he suggests maybe he should call the Governor himself, horrifying Pearlman who does her best to bring him back down to earth. What she does next you can look at as sensible and realistic, or as a desperate bid to cover her own rear end ala Marla Daniels. Like Marla, she defuses Daniels' intention to do the "right" thing and drat the consequences by pointing out how it will affect her as well. But like Marla she has every right to do so - this isn't just the careers of McNulty and Freamon or even Daniels himself that he is talking about destroying, it is her career too. She was the ASA for both the Stanfield case and the serial killer case, and when it comes time for the weight to fall on somebody it will be her, not the likes of Bond - the weight NEVER falls on the guys at top, but the people beneath them. The career she has spent a lifetime building, the bullshit and sexism and politicking she had to deal with, will all be for nothing because Daniels wanted to satisfy his immediate need for vengeance. She asks him to please think, for her sake, and with a frown he swallows his pride and does so. Bubbles relaxes, reading the Baltimore Sun as Fletcher walks past traffic attempting to sell the paper on his behalf. It's not like Bubbles to shirk doing hard work, but there is a special reason for this - Fletcher has brought him a copy of the article he has written, and Bubbles is reading it as Fletcher sells for him. Finishing the article, Bubbles is concerned - does he really intend to include all that stuff about Sherrod? He asks Fletcher what the point is, what good it does for anybody to read about him getting high or not getting high, about his problems with his sister or the things he did on the street. Fletcher is concerned, he has grown to genuinely like and appreciate Bubbles and makes it clear he won't print anything he doesn't want him to... but this is the story he WANTS to print, if Bubbles will let him. Bubbles doesn't know though, and leaves Fletcher hanging as he moves back between traffic, putting on his sales patter, back to selling papers. At City Hall, damage control has already begun, and the most dangerous element at the moment is Rupert Bond, who must be keen to grab at any chance he can to expose corruption or somebody else's failings to take people's mind off how he botched the Clay Davis case. Carcetti smoothly notes that it would be for the best to keep it quiet for now since, as Pearlman has already told Daniels, it was HIS shop that failed to pick up on what was happening right under their noses. Steintorf picks right up, explaining that the best thing for all concerned is to say nothing and then quietly deal with the perpetrators through back-channels, avoiding any and all publicity. Bond nods, agreeing that he can see the logic, probably considering the benefits of staying on the right side of the guy who could potentially become Governor of the State. But while he readily agrees, Rawls is surprisingly less willing, noting that the problem for him is that the perpetrators came from HIS shop, can he really just let things slide? Steintorf takes immediate action asking to see him in the corridor, and Norman jokes to a now concerned Bond that he needn't worry, Rawls will soon fall in line. Outside, Steintorf reveals to Rawls that he is a far superior player of politics than the acting Commissioner, having already worked out all the paths that Rawls has considered taking for his own benefit. Rawls thinks he has leverage, that Carcetti needs him and can't risk losing him without also losing his golden boy Daniels, and that means he can hold out and force them to leave him as Commissioner for a full five year term instead of dumping him out the moment Daniels has been in the Deputy Ops role long enough. Steintorf agrees that Rawls does have leverage, but not as much as he thinks, and Rawls shows he is learning how to play the game by not making a counter offer, but instead asking Steintorf to tell HIM what the alternative is. Steintorf, whose mind works the angles faster than anybody else in City Hall and who doesn't allow morality to play any part in his decisions, makes a very quick judgment - if Rawls shuts up and goes along with whatever he's told, then when Carcetti becomes Governor they will take him with them and make him the new Superintendent of the Maryland State Police. He notes that while Rawls is a shade too..... white .....to ever be Commissioner, that won't be an issue at all in the MSP. Rawls quickly agrees, it's a higher position that he could have ever reasonably aspired to and the only necessary qualification is.... doing nothing! The two shake hands and seal the deal, then return to the office where an amused Norman openly mocks Rawls' sudden conversion. Carcetti frowns, he has no idea what deal was just done without consulting him, but he knows whatever it is he will have to swallow it.   Meanwhile, Dukie is discovering the unwelcome truth that you can never go "home" again. He stops by Edward Tilghman Middle School, which used to be the one place he felt any sense of stability in his life. But the doors are locked, and - viewed through the broken lens of a security camera, a nod to the visual flourishes of the early show - he is asked hostilely who he is and what he wants. He's here to see Prez, and reluctantly he's told that he'll have to wait and somebody will come down to see him. Another student steps out the door, shaking the bushes to get out a knife he hid there, and he casts a suspicious look Dukie's way before heading on down the street, apparently having had enough of school for the day. Miss Donnelly arrives soon after and Dukie happily greets her... and she has no idea who he is. It's a sad fact of reality, Donnelly knew him when he was a student because she needed to know him, but after he went she still had hundreds of other students plus new ones to keep an eye on. To Dukie, Donnelly stood out as a figure who loomed large for a great section of his life, but he was just another student spending time in her school for a brief period... one that is over. Finally recognizing him, she tells him it is good to see him but reminds him that he is no longer a student and can not come in. There are all kinds of reasons why not, but the fact he probably hasn't showered and he is not looking very good at all probably doesn't help matters. He explains he just needs to see Mr Prezbo, and she tells him that once he is done teaching she'll let him know at lunch and he can come out to visit him if he wants, but Dukie can't come in, he'll have to wait outside. Dukie has nothing else to do and nowhere else to go, so he agrees, probably feeling like things aren't going the way he hoped they would - this is not a homecoming, he's an intruder here. Freamon also gets an unwelcome reception at the courthouse when he springs the news about Gary on Pearlman. Furious at him but biting her tongue because she knows she can't reveal what SHE knows, she nonetheless finds herself stunned when he reveals that Gary is the leak in the courthouse and he has a tape of a one-party consent call to Maurice Levy that implicates him in illegally purchasing the court documents. But she quickly gets enraged again when he starts enthusiastically talking about using the drug lawyers to track the drug money through the whole system. Lester, normally a very observant man, takes a long time to realize just how hostile Pearlman is acting towards him. Prez (now bearded) is more observant. Emerging from the school doors at lunchtime, he impresses Dukie when he demonstrates an authoritarian manner with a student who has knocked a sandwich out of another's hands and gets him to do as told. But when Dukie tells him he's now "outdoors" and came by hoping for some money for a place he wants to start, and also a little more to enrol in a GED program... Prez's bullshit meter starts going off. Looking at the dirty, bruised and slightly twitchy young man, Prez notes that you're not eligible for a GED if you're still of an age to attend high school. Dukie's face fall but he insists that he is eligible, and his face falls again when Prez offers to give him a lift down to the office, confirm his eligibility and then write him a check. Forcing a smile, Dukie insists that he doesn't have time to do that today (he's just spent the morning sitting outside the school) but if Prez could just give him the money, you know, he'd go down tomorrow and do it. It must break Prez's heart, and so he gives the young man one last chance - he'll give him the money today, but tomorrow he'll go down to the office and see if Dukie has enrolled or not. If he has, then he'll know that Dukie is still his friend, and that they can celebrate together when Dukie gets his certificate. If Dukie has not, then he'll know that their friendship is over forever, and that he will never see Dukie again. Dukie insists happily that of course he'll enroll and they'll remain friends, and a saddened Prez tells him he'll go get his stuff and they'll find a cash machine. Off he goes, Dukie's face falling again as he goes - this is how it starts, and both Prez and Dukie know what is really going on, hitting up friends for money, then strangers, then stealing, then running scams until you get caught or the drugs do you in. All the promise and hope of young Dukie's life dies with this meeting, and Prez knows it, giving him this money is the last act of the naive young policeman and teacher - both he and Dukie are leaving their old lives fully behind with this act.   At Homicide, McNulty and Landsman are arguing as McNulty tries to deal with the machine he set in motion. Marlo is in prison, the lie is utterly pointless now, but he still has to deal with the extra manpower he was so stridently demanding only a week ago. Landsman is furious, especially when Jimmy weakly offers that he no longer needs the wiretap anymore either. McNulty tries to justify everything as the case going cold, and Landsman warns him that if he takes the surveillance teams away then he won't be bringing them back. He leaves and Bunk comments wryly that it's like a war - easy to get in, hard to get out (it's 2014 as I write this and America is still in Afghanistan). More bad news comes Jimmy's way when Lester shows up and asks to see him in the interrogation room, explaining that Pearlman let the cat out of the bag - she and Daniels know EVERYTHING about the fake serial killer case and the Stanfield involvement in it. McNulty is horrified, all his bullshit exposed.... but then... why aren't they fired? Or arrested? Lester doesn't know, but he's been told in no uncertain terms that the serial killer case is ending NOW - there will be no more "killings", no more media etc. The two leave to head to the bar and discuss further just what the hell is going on/what their options might be, passing Bunk who picks up immediately that something is wrong. Prez drops off Dukie, watching as he heads down an alleyway straight to the arabber. He looks back at Prez looking sadly at him before driving away, and tells the arabber he got $200. The arabber is delighted, saying the teacher must have loved his black rear end, then tells him to get a move on, they have to go pick up some testers over at Poplar Grove. Dukie gets up on the carriage and they ride away into his new life - confirmation if we needed it that he's now using drugs too, and is soon to become "just" another junkie. Not Dukie the sweet if troubled young boy, or Dukie the intelligent and loyal friend - just Dukie the dope fiend. McNulty waits for the elevator, but when the doors open he finds a very unpleasant surprise waiting for him - Daniels. Getting in, they share an awkward silence as they move down the floors, Daniels fuming while McNulty stands in nervous anticipation of having his head torn off. The doors open and Daniels leaves, turning to stare back at McNulty, telling him with a quiet menace,"To be continued."  At the Sun, Gus discusses with Corbett their own paper's self-serving coverage praising themselves for their coverage of the serial killer story. Gus acknowledges that the Governor has re-instituted funding he'd previously cut for the homeless, but agrees that this was due to Carcetti smashing him on the issue in ALL media - they themselves are just an afterthought. Fletcher comes to see him, asking if he has read his story on Bubbles, and Gus leaves him hanging for a second before telling him that he did and it was beautiful. He was impressed with the way Fletcher made him feel like he knew Bubbles and his world, and if they can get some good "art" to go with it they'll run the story. But Fletcher surprises him by saying he wants to get Bubbles' go-ahead before they put it in print, since he talks about Sherrod which is something Bubbles only told him because they were "chatting". He tells Gus he wants to feel "clean" about this story, and Gus smiles and jokes to Corbett that he remembers what feeling "clean" felt like. Lester and McNulty discuss their fates at Kavanagh's, where they prove they have learned nothing from all this. Their initial fears are waning after the shock of realizing they'd been found out, and now they're thinking about the ways they might be able to get away with this. In this respect they're much like the criminals they so often arrest, they don't care that they broke the law, thinking that maybe all that will happen if that Lester ends up back in the pawnshop unit and McNulty has to ride the boat. They've figured out that Carcetti has been too front and center on the serial killer case not to be damaged by revealing the truth, especially as he's running for Governor. But Lester warns that six months down the line they might open a Grand Jury Investigation and they could both end up back in jail. A sullen McNulty complains that it will have been worth it even if that does happen, because at least Marlo will be in jail. But Lester points out that this may not necessarily be the case, what if they don't pursue that case because of its links to the serial killer story? McNulty seems genuinely surprised, apparently he never once considered that his utterly illegal operation might not hold up in court. But Freamon, growing more confident now, notes that as this could destroy the careers of Daniels, Pearlman, Rawls AND Carcetti there is a good chance they will stay quiet... and knowing this, McNulty and Freamon might actually have as much on them as they have on McNulty and Freamon. Maybe they can get away with this scot-free after all? Gus is doing what he does best at the Baltimore Sun, amusing himself with his own jokes as he complains about the flowery language in a piece he is editing. Robert Ruby arrives with a folder, it's his report on Scott's pieces for the Sun and he has discovered and confirmed that they are all full of exaggerations and "too perfect" quotes. He has even called back some of those quoted and asked for confirmation that they said what was credited to them, one of whom told him he wished he'd ever been smart enough to say things like that. Warning Gus to keep his name out of it, Ruby leaves, and Gus tucks the report away in his drawer, much as Burrell once did with the file on Daniels. Levy meets with Marlo where they discuss parole, or rather the lack of it. Marlo is being denied parole because of his violent history, and Chris is in a similar position. Cheese can get out on surety bond of 300k, which he is covering by selling his Uncle's house (Joe's place, not his mother's) and having a tame bondsman front the rest, but Monk has no such luck since he was caught with so many drugs in his car. What is bothering Levy though is that the information he is getting from Marlo isn't synching up the information he got from the police, he can sense something isn't quite right. Only a handful of people knew about the resupply, and the only one who isn't under arrest right now is the actual supplier. Even so, maybe an informant on a re-up could have lead to police surveillance finding the resupply location, but then Marlo and Chris were never found with drugs, and they got seizure warrants on the cellphones very fast, and according to the charges that Marlo then faced, they cracked the clock code almost immediately. Marlo picks up on Levy's suspicion immediately - there must have been a wiretap. That's what Herc is telling Levy anyway, but he can't find out WHO was responsible for that, and this is concerning him. Marlo returns to lock-up where he informs a delighted Cheese he is getting out but that he (Marlo) and the others aren't. Cheese laughs at a disgruntled Monk but Marlo has work for him, he wants him to get together as much muscle as he can to find Michael. Chris notes that Michael killed Snoop because he figured out they were after him, and Marlo snaps sharply that the reason Michael killed Snoop was because he was the informant on the re-up. Chris frowns but doesn't question his leader, but it is interesting to consider that Marlo just came from a meeting where Levy made it clear he thought there wasn't an informant but rather a wiretap. So why continue to push the line that Michael is the snitch? I think it's because both as leader he doesn't want to be questioned even when he knows he is wrong, and also leftover hostility towards Chris for holding back on Omar calling Marlo out.   Templeton pulls up under a bridge where the homeless are sheltering, having just finished an interview that went late. But as he passes a small wall he steps past a homeless man passed out drunk on the ground. He almost moves on without a second glance before the potential of this isolated figure hits him, and he heads back to see just how out of it this guy is. He tries to wake him, calling and touching him, but the man can barely move. At Beadie's, McNulty is playing a boardgame with the kids, making terrible dad jokes that have them in riots of laughter. Beadie is doing some paperwork from a table and glaring at him, but finds herself unable to stifle a smile at his antics. That all ends when the phone rings though, and to his disgust and disbelief he learns from Jay of an incident possibly related to his serial killer. Complaining that it must be bullshit, he eventually agrees to go (really, how could he not?) and it turns out he has told Beadie that the bosses know, because she wants to know why he is still continuing this charade. He explains that only some know and those want him to continue to bullshit until they can bring an end to the case. She glares as he tells the disappointed kids he'll finish this tomorrow and heads out the door. Bubbles eats crab with Walon who is reading Fletcher's article, impressed that he managed to pick up on the heart of who Bubbles is and giving him credit without letting him get away with the bad poo poo he has done. To Walon's surprise, Bubbles explains that his complaint isn't about the bad stuff being in there, but the good things. He complains that people wake up every day and go to their jobs and do good things without getting high, and nobody writes about them. So why should he be lauded for just doing what he is SUPPOSED to be doing? Walon hands him another piece of paper and tells him to read it, a quote by Kafka about holding yourself back from the suffering of the world being a suffering you could have avoided. Walon has never read any of Kafka's writing, but he was handed that quote by another addict called Flubber the day he started leading Narcotics Anonymous meetings, and he has held on to it ever since. Bubbles takes his article back, and tells Walon that he wasn't supposed to show it to anyone before it was published... if he allows it to be published. Will he? He still doesn't know yet, but Walon encourages him to do so. McNulty meets with Scott Templeton, and listens unimpressed as he is given a completely bullshit story about Scott saving the intoxicated homeless man he found on the street from being abducted in a van. Happily Scott wasn't so far gone as to actually murder somebody himself, but he didn't see any problem with faking an abduction to give his story some more juice. McNulty brusquely takes Scott's utterly useless details (not too tall or short or big or small and wearing non-descript clothes and maybe white etc) and notes how surprising it is that it was him of all people who spotted the attempted abduction. Scott excuses himself to get his story to the Sun, and McNulty attempts to interview the alleged victim. He asks if somebody tried to kidnap him and the man replies,"Okay", then explains that the one who tried to hurt him was "his father". It's played on the surface for comedy but as McNulty heads away to talk to another homeless man who claims to be a witness, it's worth noting that this poor drunk bastard got to where he is due to violent abuse during his youth - he's not just a prop like Scott tried to make him (and like McNulty has made other homeless people), he's an actual person. The other homeless man turns out to be an undercover officer, who lets McNulty know that "Petey" was passed out on the ground for 45 minutes before Scott showed up and called in the police - there was absolutely no abduction. A patrolman asks McNulty if they'll charge him with making a false statement but McNulty declines, claiming you can't lock up EVERY liar... but also because he knows the last thing the Bosses will want is this kind of lie being exposed when they're trying to hide McNulty and Freamon's own. He calls Landsman, tells him it was horseshit, and goes back home. Bubbles returns to his basement room with the crabs that Walon gave him, heading up the stairs and knocking on the door. His sister answers and he offers her the crabs, but she already made dinner, so he suggests she put them in the fridge for lunch tomorrow, because he can't eat them all. She hesitates, reluctant to take anything from him, then finally does. He heads down the stairs and she closes the door, and bolts it shut again. Bubbles may have gone to great pains to redeem himself, but her fears and distrust remain utterly justified. At The Sun, Gus is in a boardroom office arguing angrily with Scott and Klebanow over the desire to push Scott's foiled abduction story on the front page. Scott insists he knows what he saw, but Gus has been on the phone to police who on-the-record and off have told him that they are completely discounting any abduction story. There will be no investigation, they have all but flat out stated that Scott is a liar. Maddeningly, Klebanow backs Scott, saying that they need to do their job because they can't guarantee that the police are doing theirs. Infuriated, Gus reminds him that their job is to report the news, not manufacture it, which sends Scott into the rage of somebody who knows they are guilty. He storms out to his desk, where he stands anxiously as he considers that now Gus and Klebanow are talking and he has no idea what they are saying. In the boardroom, Gus is irate, calling the story poo poo and demanding they not print it. Klebanow asks if he is accusing Scott of making the story up and, after a moment's hesitation, Gus brings up a list of names of other journalists who have been caught in lies in the past, and reminds him how it always starts with something small like an adjusted quote and then ends up becoming 1st person accounts of huge stories as they happened. Klebanow, not impressed by these accusations, tells Gus that there is obviously a personal element between himself and Scott and that he needs some perspective. Klebanow will run the story through the State desk and Gus can go home and come back tomorrow with hopefully a better attitude. Gus prepares to storm out, but before he does, he can't resist offering a little burn - maybe they win a Pulitzer for this, but maybe they'll have to give it back too. He heads out of the office, but as he goes Scott can't resist throwing an angry accusation back at him, screaming that every word that Petey told him when he "rescued" him is in his notes. Gus keeps on going without a reply and Scott hurls his notes onto his desk and storms out as well, leaving his precious notepad for Alma to pick up. McNulty returns home, sober and not in a rage, and Beadie notes he is home earlier than she thought. "Yeah," he replies with a smile,"Home." He heads on into the bedroom, leaving her on the couch torn between happiness that he seems to have come back to the McNulty she knew and fell in love with... and fury at the risk he has created to the life of her and her family. Kima joins Bunk at a murder scene in the morning, where to her disgust (and Bunk's) a patrolman informs her that the serial killer has struck again. She thinks he is joking, but there is a ribbon tied around the homeless man's wrist, and she whispers to Bunk asking if this is his doing. Bunk whispers back,"Copycat" and tells her to put in a call to McNulty, he'll need to deal with this. At the courthouse, Levy waits for Pearlman in the corridor and with that slimy smugness does what all defense attorneys have to do - pretend that the prosecution's case is a laughable house of cards really to fall apart. He also throws in his suspicions re: the illegal wiretap, though he makes statements as if they were fact, practically oozing as he cheerfully notes that they must have used an illegal wiretap and he'll tear them apart in court if they don't come to an out-of-court settlement. Rhonda smiles and laughs and jokes and acts as if it is all part of the usual back-and-forth, even hitting the smiling Levy with a little sting of her own when she questions his "source" on the the title-3 documents. They head their separate ways, but as they go Pearlman lets out a little wince, Levy is far too close for comfort. Gus meets with Luxenberg to discuss Ruby's report on Scott's stories, but Luxenberg doesn't think it is enough to discredit Scott, and warns that if it doesn't work then Klebanow and Whiting will destroy Gus. Alma interrupts to let them know there has been another homeless murder, and Luxenberg (rather oddly) tells Gus to be careful, he can't protect him. McNulty examines the body as Kima and Bunk quietly berate him, convinced this is his doing again but reminding him that he got the ribbon color wrong and also that he doesn't need a body since Marlo is under arrest. McNulty reveals that to them that the Bosses know, shocking Bunk (Kima knows of course) who doesn't understand why McNulty isn't in jail yet. He's disgusted when McNulty suggests the lie is big enough they're willing to live with it, and hisses at him that he warned this would happen - he played with fire and now they're ALL getting burned. Carcetti watches the live footage on the television unfold, at a loss as to how this could have happened. In a rage he tosses his remote control at the television, shattering one corner, and asks Norman if somebody didn't get the message.   McNulty, Bunk and Kima return to Homicide where the other detectives look on in trepidation, knowing that something is up. The Deputy of Operations AND the Commissioner of Police are there, and Daniels quietly takes McNulty into the interrogation room where Rawls, in typical fashion, couches his first question in the form of an (angry) joke - you're not killing them yourself, McNulty? At least assure me of that. McNulty can't help but smirk, and Rawls asks about the one who was "disappeared", relieved that at least that one is okay... the last McNulty heard, anyway. Jimmy explains this one is the work of a copycat, revolting Daniels (after all, McNulty gave him something to copy), and Rawls asks for an explanation of how Jimmy made the murders look like murders, how he fooled the medical examiners. Jimmy gives it all up, like Lester apparently unaware that he is effectively now just another criminal being interrogated. He tries to apply a justification but Rawls shouts over it, and wants no part of McNulty's insistence that it wasn't about money or overtime. This is long past the ordinary Boss/worker antagonism that defined their relationship in the early seasons, though this is the last echo of it. Rawls gets in McNulty's face and tells him in no uncertain terms that the only thing keeping him alive is the Mayor not being able to live with the embarrassment.... so that means he's still on this "case". Daniels tells him harshly to work it, and Rawls mocks him, telling him if he's half the detective he always claimed to be, he'll solve this copycat murder and put it the serial killer case to bed quickly... and the longer it takes, the harsher his eventual and inevitable punishment will be. Rawls and Daniels leave, and McNulty at least has the self-awareness to look chastened.   Pearlman meets with Bond and Steintorf to discuss the dangers of Levy's suspicions, including the very real danger of being forced to reveal their "source of information", which will in turn reveal the wiretap, which will reveal the paperwork and Marlo's number, and then they're all dead. Pearlman says their only option is to barter with Levy, and Bond tells him that they do have some leverage, though Pearlman is smart enough not to tell Steintorf exactly what - what he doesn't know can't get him in trouble later on. He pointedly shakes both Bond and Pearlman's hands, telling them that if they can make this problem go away, the Mayor (and possible future Governor) will NOT forget them. Pearlman is interested in not destroying her career, of course, and Bond needs SOMETHING to salvage him after the Clay Davis mess, so they're more than willing to do what it takes. Kima and Bunk bring bags of evidence up to Homicide, telling Jimmy to get off his rear end and help them - it's what was collected from the homeless man's murder scene. Landsman grumpily takes a call in the background from the Baltimore Sun questioning him about the mysterious grey van that Scott insists was real, while Jimmy - now actually paying attention now that his own rear end is on the line - spots something potentially relevant. Business cards were found at the scene, which reminds him of the potential serial killer murder he dismissed not too long ago. He goes to Christeson and asks about the business cards found on his victim, and Christeson tells him they all had alibis. McNulty wants to see though, and McNulty compares them with the ones he found on his murder, and then tells a startled Bunk that he thinks he's solved the case. "Motherfucker you ain't that good!" says Bunk, but McNulty is already heading out the door. At The Sun, Gus is preoccupied at his desk, considering the situation with Scott when Alma approaches quietly and lets him know something she discovered for herself. Scott's precious notebook full of quotes and notes... is empty, he couldn't even cover his rear end with fake shorthand (remember how he was so careful to fake half the conversation with notes on his first call from the "killer"?) He thanks her and takes the file from his desk, and heads straight in to see Whiting and Klebanow, ready to go to war with them over Scott once again. The other editors and reporters watch through the glass, but Alma is torn away when Jay notices on the mounted television a massive police hunt being covered for a suspect in the serial killer case. Once again, the newspaper is being insular and navel-gazing and missing out on the big stories actually happening within the city. At Levy's office, he smugly welcomes Pearlman into his office thinking he's going to barter a sweetheart deal for his client.... and for only the second time in the series we see his mask of utter smarmy confidence slip. The first time was when Omar hit him with well-timed verbal blows in court back in season 2, and now we see it again when Pearlman puts down a tape recorder and, without comment, plays a conversation between himself and Gary in which Levy beyond any shadow of a doubt commits a MAJOR crime.  
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 04:50 on Sep 16, 2020 |
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Feb 1, 2014 16:18
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But here is what is remarkable - Levy's recovery. Unquestionably exposed by his own voice on record, his mind whirls and immediately finds a backdoor out... and then tries to turn it to his advantage. He and Pearlman engage in a tennis match of barter, as he points out she is guilty of blackmail and obstruction of justice and she counters that at most she'll get 8 years while at least he'll get 10. She offers to keep this out of court, a deal where Partlow takes the hit for all the vacants murders and gets life without parole (she acknowledges that Snoop was the other shooter and is now beyond their reach), Monk and Cheese plead guilty with posession with intent to distribute, and Marlo takes 10 years on conspiracy. But Levy spots that the eagerness to make an out-of-court settlement goes to show just how dirty the file is and that an illegal wiretap would be certain to be found on Discovery. So he makes a counter offer - Partlow goes to court and risks a jury on the ONE case they've already arrested him for. Cheese, Monk and Marlo all walk free. Pearlman cites cases where lying police officers didn't prevent a guilty verdict, but Levy notes that she isn't likely to take that risk. She counters that the political situation that is allowing for this barter is temporary - come November Carcetti will either be the Governor and beyond all this, or an incumbent Mayor who can take a hit or two, and then all bets are off and lying cops aren't going to stop them going at them with everything they've got. So her final offer is Partlow eats all the vacants murders, Cheese and Monk plead to the drugs.... and Marlo walks free, but the case isn't dismissed, it's just put on stet. So Marlo walks free but he also retires, leaving the drugs game forever, because even a whiff of him back on the street and the case will be there waiting for him, and he'll be looking at masive jail time for masterminding a criminal conspiracy... if cops have to go to jail as well, then so be it. She gets up and leaves, warning Levy that either his client walks away free now, or both Marlo and Levy never walk away at all. She leaves, and Levy is left to consider his options, knowing just how lucky his situation is - by all rights he should be in cuffs now, his legal career destroyed and his law firm probably soon to follow. Instead, he's in a position to escape scott-free.... so long as he doesn't push his luck too far. The "manhunt" is far less dramatic than the television news made it sound. McNulty wanders amongst the small homeless "city" looking for one particular man, finding him tucked away inside a box sleeping - the homeless man who collects business cards. He stands him up and hands him off to an officer, and Bunk watches as McNulty examines the interior of the box and finds the small container of business cards.... and a piece of ribbon. They take him to Homicide and put him in the interrogation room, Bunk watching as the homeless man struggles to sit still and asks McNulty for a business card. As before he is disgusted by what McNulty gives him, and when McNulty reminds him they met before he snaps that McNulty is a liar, before casting a look at Bunk and cringing slightly as he calls him a "black liar." Bunk frowns and asks him why he killed his "friend", and this seems to get through to the homeless man somewhat, as he looks down and mutters that the man drinks, he always drinks. McNulty asks why he used a ribbon which makes the man smile, and Bunk pushes him further, did he see it on television? The man, frustrated, complains that he always knows what he going to do before he does it, he ALWAYS knows. McNulty asks if he did ALL the murders and he enthusiastically agrees before declaring he has killed millions - clearly this is a man with severe mental issues. Who knows why he used the ribbon? Did all that attention sink through into his subconscious? It's probably a bit much to blame the murder of his friend on McNulty's serial killer story, but I don't think there is much doubt that he wouldn't have applied the ribbon if McNulty hadn't kicked off such a big story around it - in that regard at least, McNulty is complicit in the murder. In a moment that could be mistaken for insight, the homeless man stares directly at McNulty and calls him a coward, telling him he can tell. McNulty leaves the interrogation room where a bemused Landsman tells him that Templeton is here to view a photo array and see if he recognizes the man with the grey van he claims to have seen. McNulty is disgusted and Landsman agrees that Scott is full of horseshit, but they've been asked to keep him and the paper happy so they will. Fed up with all the bullshit, McNulty takes the photo array in to Scott in Landsman's office, but can't resist pointing out their suspect had no grey van. Scott is confused by McNulty's hostility, and McNulty - unable to resist - closes the door and with savage glee reveals everything to the journalist. Everything. The fake killer, the fake calls and fake photos, his knowledge that Scott was also full of bullshit. He can safely vent to Scott knowing that the reporter can do nothing with it, he's as trapped in his lie as Jimmy is in his own. As Scott stares up at him in horror, Jimmy explains that he knows why he did it but he can't figure out what Scott gets out of it, but he's not part of his "tribe" so who knows... but he does know that they're both jokes. He pulls the photo array from Scott and storms out, leaving the shaken journalist to try and process what he just heard. He's just had the biggest story he will ever get in his career dropped in his lap and he can do nothing with it, ever, or risk exposing his own fraud. It's a poetic justice that I'm sure David Simon wishes could have happened to others in his former field of work who embellished or otherwise made-up stories. Finally Scott staggers up and leaves Homicide in a daze, his entire world turned upside down, unable to even work up the ability to be phony outraged at being called out on the fact he's a lying sack of poo poo like he did with Gus. He can't deny it, he lied and lied and lied and now he can never tell the truth.   Marlo meets with Levy, where Levy opens with the good news first - Marlo is going to walk free and clear. Marlo grins, delighted, and Levy follows up with the bad news - Partlow needs to eat all the vacants murders and will get life without the possibility of parole. Levy sells that as being down to unshakeable DNA evidence on Devar's murder, not pointing out that this really has little to do with the vacants case. Marlo isn't happy but says Chris will take those years, knowing that Marlo will look after his people for him. Next is Cheese and Monk, who might be facing 20 years for their drugs... but the good news is that there will be no assets investigation, Marlo doesn't just walk away free but gets to keep all his money. Marlo is amazed, quickly forgetting about Chris, Monk and Cheese's troubles, but asks WHY he is getting this treatment. Levy casually notes there is some poo poo in their case they don't want coming out, careful to retain a cheerful disposition, not letting on that his own life and career are on the line here. He explains that the rub is that Marlo can't be involved in any more crime or post-election he could be hit hard with major prison time. Marlo understands all too well, though Levy doesn't quite grasp the significance of this, and cheerfully Levy tells him no lawyer could have gotten him a better deal. Marlo is escorted out and Levy rejoins Herc in the corridor, where with great pleasure he tells Herc he is a goldmine, whose information on the illegal wiretap saved Levy from a great deal of trouble (more than Herc could ever know). Even more than that, Marlo walking away scott-free from a major drugs investigation doesn't happen often, and Levy is sure to profit greatly - every major drugs dealer in the city is going to want Levy as their lawyer now. He writes down his address for Herc and tells him to join them for dinner tonight, he's part of the family now. Herc is thrilled, and how appropriate it is to the themes of The Wire that Herc - the gigantic gently caress-up - ends season 5 successful and appreciated, going from strength to strength professionally. That said, note the differing reactions in the two below images:   In the first image, we see Levy and Herc celebrating the fact that Marlo is getting to walk on a huge drug seizure. But in the second is that moment of realization of what Marlo has to give up in order to achieve this unprecedented turn of events. Yes he has millions and millions of dollars and has gotten away with literal murder, but Marlo loses the one thing that mattered almost as much to him as his "name" (already irrevocably tarnished by Omar) - the crown. McNulty and Bunk leave interrogation and inform Rawls and Daniels that they've solved two murders at least... not that it matters, the guy is clearly mentally unwell and will never go to prison, he'll be in an institute for the rest of his life. Rawls wants to know if the suspect will accept responsibility for the other murders too but they have nothing they can link to it and his "confession" is useless. Rawls insist they go back and get the confession anyway, shocking Daniels, but the pragmatic Rawls growls that it makes no difference, he's being to be put in a padded room for the rest of his life anyway. McNulty takes a moral stand on this, outraging Rawls given the bullshit that McNulty has pulled on this case in the first place. McNulty won't be moved though, accepting that he has to take responsibility for the two fresh murders but refusing to add another lie to the pile (well it no longer directly benefits him to do so, right?). Landsman is utterly confused and McNulty walks away, leaving Rawls fuming. Soon after at a press conference, Carcetti struggles to work up enthusiasm as he explains that the serial killer scare is over and their citizens and homeless are now "safe" again. Alma asks if the suspect is being charged with all the murders or only two, and Carcetti awkwardly shifts over to Rawls, who explains that they can currently link him to two murders, but he is suspected in the others and they are waiting on DNA testing. However, given the man is mentally incapacitated, the feeling is that it would be "redundant" to charge him with those murders. Carcetti quickly leaps back in to more enthusiastically talk about how the hard work of Deputy of Operations Daniels lead to this successful conclusion of not only this case, but also the vacants murders that lead the news last year and have also coincidentally been solved today. Taking the opportunity, he explains that he is putting forward Daniels name to the City Council to become the new Commissioner of Police, and leads a round of applause that Rawls happily takes part in. Carcetti then singles out Rawls for his stellar work too, explaining that he will remain on in an advisory position until new duties at City Hall have been found for him, and leads another round of applause for Rawls, keeping up his end of the bargain made with Steintorf. At The Sun (where if you blink you'll miss a cameo by David Simon), Klebanow approaches a tense Scott and tells him he wants him to work with Alma on the arrest story, they want his byline on it. Scott, still in shock over McNulty's revelation, struggles for a good reason and finally settles on that old standby - he's got an upset tummy and has to go home! Next we see various shots of Baltimore City locations throughout the day and night, almost a final farewell tour of the city before reaching the end. Time has passed, how much is unclear, but when we return to the characters, Daniels is packing up his desk in preparation for his move to the Commissioner's office. Steintorf is visiting with him to discuss the crime stats, which aren't showing the double-digit decline that the Mayor has been promising. Daniels cuts him off with a brusque,"They're clean," that leaves Steintorf startled, and he similarly cuts off every attempt Steintorf makes to massage him into compliance. Having finally reached the top of the chain of command, Daniels has decided to finally make his stand - the stats are clean now, and they will remain clean before the election, and they'll stay clean after the election. That's just the way things are going to be from now on - either they fix the department and crime goes down, or they don't, and it stays up. But no more juking the stats. In Homicide, Pearlman sits in an interrogation room with McNulty and Freamon where she lets them know how things are going to be from now on. They won't be arrested because it would cause too much embarrassment and scandal, but they'll never do police work again. Both will be tucked away into some out of the way office and remain for as long as they can bear it or until they get their pensions... but neither will ever come close to any case ever again, she simply won't allow that to happen. To her utter disgust, both detectives chose to complain at HER failures - she let Marlo walk? He gets to keep his money? Levy gets off too? Is that the best she could do? Nearly shaking with rage, she hisses that she did the best she could with the mess they left her, and pointedly tells Freamon that he lost his precious money trail when he decided to color outside the lines. "This is not on me," she tells them firmly, and leaves the two apparently unrepentant detectives in the room. At lock-up, Marlo is visited by members of the New Day Co-Op that he had already effectively disbanded, where he gives them the surprising news - he is "retiring" and is willing to sell them the Connect. How much for? 10 million dollars. They're shocked at the price, but Slim Charles is concerned with something else - WHY is he selling? Even from behind bars he can manage the Connect and bring in a significant percentage for himself. Marlo smiles and puts on a brave face, as always concerned more with perception than reality. He brags the case is already falling apart but he's tired of "this gangsta poo poo" and has decided to be more than a gangsta, now he will be a businessman. They seem amused at the idea and he can't help but admit he's having trouble getting his own head around it. But for now, he is still going to exhibit what displays of power he can, and so 10 million it is, and he even suggests that the price might go up if any one of them is willing to offer more and make it an auction. If they can't get the cash together, they can pool it, but none of them will see the supplier until he has the money though, only after that will he make the introduction.   Steintorf visits with Nerese Campbell to let her know their mutual problem - Daniels. If he won't play ball, there is a good chance that Carcetti won't become Governor, which means Nerese won't be Mayor. Even if Carcetti does win, Nerese is stuck with a Commissioner who won't play ball, and it's too soon after they anointed him as the chosen one to boot him out. To his surprise though, Nerese is completely unfazed, assuring Steintorf that Daniels won't be a problem for her - either he plays ball or he quits of his "own" volition. How? It's time to pull out Chekov's file. At Kavanaugh's, a traditional policeman's wake is held for... Jimmy McNulty? It's a symbolic scene of course, but I do have to wonder if there was anybody who was fooled by the scene and thought that Jimmy really was dead, as if he'd committed suicide or something? It's kind of an odd placement for the scene, especially given the context these things are usually held in. In any case, Landsman gets to give his traditional eulogy, a touching and funny presentation peppered with laughter and good-natured insults from various detectives and patrolmen seen throughout the entire run of the series. In the end, it's almost a eulogy for the series as a whole, even with the focus on McNulty, and Landsman even pretends to be close to breaking down in tears before waxing poetic on what a huge rear end in a top hat McNulty was. Freamon arrives with Shardene in tow, he has also retired, putting in his papers that afternoon after 32 years (and 4 months) - he at least is going out with a pension, something McNulty will not have the benefit of. Everybody tries to convince Freamon to join McNulty laid out on the table, including McNulty himself, and Landsman finishes up with an actual heartfelt remark - if he was to be found murdered on a Baltimore corner, he'd want Jimmy McNulty to catch the case, because when he was at his best, there was nobody better. Bunk cries out that if Landsman was found dead on a corner, Jimmy would be the number one suspect, getting a huge laugh, and then Jimmy gets up from the table and hugs his now former Sergeant, as The Pogues' "Body of an American" plays, we get one final look at the many members of the BPD we've come to know across the five seasons of this show.    Daniels finally gets to read the assets investigation file that has haunted the last few years of his career, sitting in his new office and looking through a file that has just enough smoke in it to destroy his career. Who has brought it to him? Nerese? Steintorf? Carcetti himself? No, it's Marla Daniels, his ex-wife. She was given the file by Nerese, who told her that Daniels should consider his position and "come to his senses". Disgusted, he goes on a rant about the poison that juking the stats is to the Police Department, bringing himself up short as his passion threatens to overwhelm him. Marla, ever pragmatic, doesn't see why he can't fall in line for the next couple of quarters so Carcetti gets what he wants, and he points out that if he does this now, he'll forever be owned by them, and they'll always ask for more, they'll never allow him the chance to put the Department to rights, and all the poo poo he had to swallow to get there will have meant nothing. She tells him if that is the case he should quit and make use of his legal degree. Just say he is leaving for personal, family reasons, because otherwise they'll release the file and he'll be destroyed anyway, and she'll go down as collateral damage. He laughs, noting that the long dreaded file turns out to have nowhere near enough to indict him anyway, and he now knows things about Carcetti that would be considered far worse. Marla leaps on that, why not use it then? Take control of the situation and force them to follow his edicts? But Daniels isn't that type of person, doing so would hurt other people that he cares about (primarily Pearlman). So Marla tells him that leaves him with those same options - refuse to bend and destroy both their careers, or quit, or just bend... bending doesn't mean you've broken. But, he counters, bend enough and you might as well be. Outside Kavanagh's, Freamon sits drunk on a fire hydrant complaining bitterly about Marlo walking free and the money being given up. McNulty, stone sober, can't work up any outrage and just quietly agrees with him. Kima shows up, telling them that she wasn't sure if she should show up or not, because she was the one who told Daniels. They're surprised, and she shrugs and tells them she thought they should know, and she wanted them to know how good it was to work the job with them. She goes to leave but Freamon calls her back, asking her to drink with him, and she happily accepts. McNulty tells her that maybe she was right that it needed doing, and they shake hands. He doesn't join them for drinks though, he's learned his lesson on that the hard way, and with a smile he walks on up the street away from the laughter and camraderie of his former life, watched by Freasmon, stopping as he goes to give change to a homeless man who has been sitting unnoticed in the background the entire time - McNulty's eyes have been opened up that much at least, at least temporarily.   The New Day Co-Op meets to discuss their struggling efforts to get together 10 million dollars. You'd think that would be easier for drug kingpins, but consider that these are guys who have been laundering their money, making it legit, putting it into overseas banks but also stocks and tying it up in property investments. I don't doubt any of them could get their hands on 10 million, but it would also be putting themselves personally at risk with money that could be tied to them. What they need is untraceable cash, money from corner deals gathered up and collected together, and the last big resupply is currently sitting in the evidence room being looked after by old Augustus Polk. Altogether they're short 900k, and to their surprise Cheese (facing drug charges but out on a surety bond) casually offers to cover that. He points out that they sell cocaine and heroin in Baltimore and they should all be able to get their hands on cash, and he doesn't care that he is paying more than his share, because they're ALL going to get paid once they own the Connect. Fat Face Rick sighs that things were much better when they just went through Prop Joe, before they had to put up with Marlo, and Cheese snaps. Pulling a gun on Rick, he complains that people spend too much time on "back in the day" (remember Joe talking about the importance of knowing your past?) when there is NO back in the day, just the here and now. Rick agrees, not wanting to push Cheese when there is a gun in his face, and Cheese lowers his gun but continues to rant. When it was his Uncle he was with his Uncle, and when it was Marlo he was with him. Now it is their turn, and.... Slim Charles shoots him right in the head. Cheese goes down in a heap as the assembled Co-Op members gasp in shock, he just cost them the Connect! Charles calmly tells Shorty Buise that this was for Joe, Cheese's casual revelation of his hefty cash reserves confirming his suspicions as Joe had warned him. Leaving Cheese's dead body twitching on the ground (Method Man looked up online reaction to his death after it aired and discovered everybody was delighted to see him finally get what was coming to him!) the Co-Op parts, some complaining that they've just been cost money, others saying Cheese had it coming. Fat Face Rick shows his disrespect by tossing down his cigar (the detective assigned to the case is going to love that, Rick!) by Cheese's body, and they all go their separate ways for the time being, leaving Cheese alone and unmourned.    McNulty sits with Beadie on their stoop listening to the cicadas, and in a gesture of acceptance, Beadie places her head on McNulty's shoulder. They sit alone in the dark, only the moonlight giving illumination, and enjoy the quiet together. The next day sees Bubbles sitting reading the article on himself in the Baltimore Sun. Finishing, he can't help but smile, and tucks the article away in his pocket, collects the bags of fruit he has purchased from the local market and heads on home. At The Sun, Alma packs up her box, despite her front page stories on the serial killer her support of Gus has made her a casualty, and she is being moved to the Carroll County Bureau to wither and die, or be another victim of buyouts when that bureau inevitably closes down. She meets Gus as she leaves, telling him that they claimed she did an excellent job but this move is about strengthening that bureau. Gus seems eager to believe it, noting that he never mentioned her name or that she gave him Scott's notepad, and is horrified to learn that SHE told them. When she heard Gus was in trouble over his accusations about Scott she went to Whiting and told him about the notepad. She wants to know if Scott made it all up, and Gus tells her he didn't make it ALL up, but a larger part of it. Settling down with a quote by H. L. Mencken in the background (that the epigraph is taken from) he explains why he thinks Scott did it - the "pond" is shrinking, there are only so many positions left, so many chances to make a career. If Scott could get national exposure on a big story, he could move to a bigger pond, be a bigger star, get better job security etc. He reveals for the first time in the entire season a reason beyond award-boners why Klebanow and Whiting have pushed so hard on the serial killer storyline. He suspects they are also planning to desert the ship, if they can win a Pulitzer they can also move on to bigger ponds. Once again casting himself as the heroic everyman, he tells her that he's too "dumb" to have career aspirations like that, he just wants to learn something new every day and write a story about it. As she leaves, he assures her that she'll write her way out of the Bureau quickly enough. But she responds that she probably won't do that before he edits himself out of the Copy Desk he has been reassigned to. He raises his coffee to her as she goes, seeing in her a kindred spirit. Season 5's newspaper storyline was full of potential never quite realized, but there is at least one aspect that Simon got absolutely right, even if it was portrayed a little too subtly amongst the heavy-handedness of the rest of the storyline. Gus was so focused on the inner workings of his own paper, so interested in preaching the glory of being a REAL journalist, that he never noticed the massive stories going on in the city all around him. The death of Omar Little. The toppling of Prop Joe and ascension of Marlo Stanfield. Carcetti gutting the police and taking apart the vacants murders, but giving detectives to his then ally Rupert Bond to hunt a political scalp. Carcetti's complicity in the situation the homeless were facing. The fact the serial killer was COMPLETELY fabricated. The BPD covering up that revelation. The revenge-murder of Cheese Wagstaff by Slim Charles. Daniels being forced out as Police Commissioner etc, etc. All of these things happened right under the nose of the Baltimore Sun, while Gus ran around focusing on the interior workings of the paper. There's a place for that story, of course, but not at the expense of all else - Gus was as much a victim as McNulty of his obsession.   Daniels presents the latest round of promotions, last of which is Carver who is being made Lieutenant. Daniels quietly tells him he is glad he got to do this at least, and Carver reveals it is already on the radio (not in the paper, take note) that Daniels is leaving "for family reasons". He jokes that he must have kids somewhere he didn't know about, and then asks if Carver has heard who is in line to replace him as Acting Commissioner. Carver has, and he can't believe it. Daniels steps up to the podium and tells those assembled that this may be his last official act as Commissioner, but he is proud of all these men. Everybody shakes hands and steps down to join their family and friends, and Herc hugs Carver and laughs that if he makes Major then they are REALLY in trouble. Of all the police to appear in this series, who would have thought that Herc and Carver would come out of it all so well... and that in Carver's case at least it was well deserved. Time moves on, and Bunk joins Kima at another murder scene, where he offers the same complaint he gave to McNulty - she's giving a gently caress when it ain't her turn to give a gently caress. Their squad wasn't up, and now she's caught a whodunnit with no chance of turning from red to black. She tells him to stop squealing like a bitch and be careful not to knock one of the nearby shell casings. Acting offended, he grumbles through his cigar that he saw the casing, the good natured back and forth just another example of the life of the police going on - the game is the game, same as it ever was. In Washington, a now unemployed McNulty arrives at the Richmond Community Shelter to check in on the homeless man he dropped off there weeks ago, apparently it has been plaguing his conscience since he got sober and stopped being so wrapped up in pursuing his white whale. Unfortunately, the worker there tells him the man wandered away after only a couple of days and never returned. Concerned, McNulty asks where the homeless around here congregate, and she warns him they're not safe places. He explains he is police, then corrects himself that he used to be, and she offers to get a map. I don't recall if he gave a fake job when he first took the man to the shelter, but he definitely gave her a fake id, and now he's showing her the real one. If she remembers, she doesn't question it - she probably has far more problems to deal with. In Baltimore, Sydnor sits in an office complaining that his Major is shutting down a case on a drugs crew responsible for at least three murders, in spite of Lieutenant Carver pushing for a pen register. Whose office is it? Judge Phelan, of course, who listens to Sydnor asking for him to apply a little pressure just as McNulty did all the way back in season one. He asks if the new Commissioner is aware of any of this and Sydnor, with disgust, tells him that the new Commissioner wouldn't know policework if it kicked down his front door. Before he leaves though, Sydnor - who managed to come away from his heavy involvement in the Stanfield case without suffering Freamon and McNulty's fate - asks Phelan to please keep his name out of it. It's clear that he has been bitten by the same bug to push for the best quality of police work possible, one of those small pockets of detectives willing to go that extra distance and not just work in service to the holy numbers. That night, looking out over the waterfront, Andy Krawczyk and two other developers have managed to get Marlo alone at a party and are attempting to fleece him. Marlo has what Stringer denied himself though, the guidance of Levy (who IS fleecing him, but carefully), who tracks him down and takes him away from the developers. Marlo, uncomfortable in a suit and surrounded by players in a "game" he doesn't know, allows himself to be taken away. Levy explains Krawczyk is an important person to know but somebody to avoid being alone with in case he is bled dry. He wants Marlo to meet Tommy Flanagan, but Marlo says he needs to go do something first, and Levy directs him towards the toilets. Moving through the crowd of business types and politicians feeling uncharacteristically uncertain, he quickly moves into an elevator and departs the party. At Vinson's Rim Shop, he's organizing a money run when the back door is kicked open and a hooded man appears wielding a shotgun. It's not Omar back from the dead, but Michael, who happily answers Vinson's,"Do you know who I am!?!" by saying he's Vinson, who used to be Marlo's bank and now operates for a number of dealers. He opens the sliding door and his partner comes in with a handgun and Michael demands they hand over the money. Vinson growls that Michael is just a kid, so Michael - taught by none other than Chris Partlow - shoots him in the knee and tells him that was "just" a knee. They take the money, Michael thanks them for doing "business" and with a grin he's out the door and on his way. Like Sydnor and Kima have taken on different aspects of McNulty, so Michael has in a way become the new Omar. Marlo walks the empty streets of Baltimore, getting as far from the party and the bright lights as he can. As he walks, he hears two corner dealers having a fun argument over how the legendary figure Omar Little died. One believes he was ambushed by a number of cops, the other believes that Omar died in a blaze of glory wielding an AK-47 against 8-9 guys with 9mms. Their happy nonsense is interupted by Marlo, who storms up to the corner and demands to know if they know who he is. They don't, one angrily asking if he knows who HE is and pulls a gun. Marlo moves like lightning, knocking the gun from the one and punching the other. Both dealers make a run for it, clearing out and leaving Marlo standing on the corner, blood pumping and adrenaline racing. Noticing blood on the sleeve of his VERY expensive suit and eying up the gun in confusion, he spots a switchblade dropped by one of the dealers during the brief scuffle. Delighted to have overpowered two armed men, he stands on the Corner breathing in the air and reveling in his victory... and here we see his ultimate defeat. Marlo won. He won beyond any shadow of a doubt. He walked away clean, free to keep all his ill-gotten money, introduced to a world of high finance that Stringer Bell dreamed of. But he couldn't deal with it, he couldn't cope with stepping as a success into a world he didn't understand or care about. So even though he'd been warned that any return to criminal activities would bring his criminal conspiracy charges off the shelf, he's only been out a few days and he's already back on a corner and fighting for territory that has meaning only to himself. And yes he chased those two guys off the corner, but notice the reaction to,"Do you know who I am?" There was no fear from those guys, no knowledge of who he was... and yet before he arrived all they were talking about were tall tales about the legendary Omar Little. Omar achieves the immortality that Marlo always dreamed of, while Marlo - gone for only a few days - has already been forgotten. The name that rung out has already stopped echoing, while Omar's name continues to get louder and louder. Marlo's name was tarnished at the height of his powers by a crippled and solitary Omar, and now a dead man has achieved everything that the "victorious" Marlo wished he could achieve. If he was anybody else in the world, he would be the ultimate winner now, but he's not. He's Marlo Stanfield, and that will prove to be his downfall.   The next day, McNulty has found the vagrant, and they're now back on the road to Baltimore. As they arrive in the city, McNulty pulls over and steps out, stopping to look out over his city and the uncertain future ahead of him. The final montage plays, with The Blind Boys of Alabama's version of "Way Down in the Hole" playing over it - the same version used in the first season of the show. A happily retired Freamon lives with Shardene, working on his miniatures; Herc buys drinks for police on Levy's expense account; Whiting, Klebanow and Templeton collect a Pulitzer Prize for their serial killer story - maybe they'll have to give it back, maybe they'll get away with it all, we'll never know; The Greek sits uncomfortably at his counter as behind him Spiros talks with Slim Charles and Fat Face Rick, also missing the days when they just dealt with Joe; Carcetti becomes Governor of Maryland (of course) and is probably already wondering if he can run for President before his first term is up; at The Sun, Fletcher has become an editor and is hounding Zorzi to meet deadline, watched with appreciation by Gus who has taken Jay's old role as Copy Editor; Stan loving Valchek of all people is named the new Commissioner of Police by Nerese Campbell; in a deeply depressing scene, Dukie shoots up along with the arabber; in a more pleasing scene Judge Rhonda Pearlman has to recuse herself from her first case because the defense attorney is her partner Cedric Daniels, who is finally making use of that law degree like Marla always wanted; in prison, Chris Partlow stops by the fence to discuss matters with Wee-Bey Brice, which is just all kinds of terrifying; Bill Rawls is named Superintendent of the Maryland State Police by Governor Carcetti, giving him the position of ultimate authority Rawls has always wanted, though Carcetti looks like he'd rather be anywhere else as he shakes Rawls' hand and looks at nothing but the cameras. Kenard is arrested for the murder of Omar, put into the back of a patrol car, a hand on the back of his head completely needless as he is so short he couldn't hit the frame unless he jumped. Youths toss a rock at a security camera in a scene reminescent of Bodie and D'Angelo in season one. Drug deals go on as they always have; people pass the basement where the MCU were set up in the beginning; D'Angelo's old low-rises territory still has a couch set up in the middle; police patrol the docks where Frank Sobotka once reigned supreme; the patrol boats still cross the harbor; Baltimore remains a "museum" of industry; a homeless man digs in the trash as a man in a suit buys a copy of the Sun; and the many, many people of the city itself are seen in a quick edited sequence. McNulty comes back to himself, having had a glimpse of past and future, and tells the vagrant in the car it's time they went home. He hops back into the car and drives away, and for a long time the camera holds on the city of Baltimore as cars go by - Baltimore continues on as it always has, all those people and institutions and crimes and loves and lives went on long before the show and will continue on long after it. So ends The Wire, five seasons of the highest quality, a show unlike any other in our time. A tale of failed institutions, bureaucracy gone mad, failed attempts to force change, more successful attempts to make a change to the lives of individuals and the never-ending "war" on drugs. Corruption, death, betrayal, laughter, hate, self-destruction and depression. This was a show that took chances and did something breathtaking with them. A largely African-American cast, talented child actors, complex characters who didn't fall into fixed ideas of "good guys" and "bad guys", moral nuance and a resistance to the usual stereotypes found so readily in other shows. In the end, things weren't wrapped up in a neat little bow. The bad guys weren't all beaten, in fact the true villains didn't just get away with it all but were rewarded. The good guys didn't triumph at the end, many of them utterly failed or had their lives ruined. But some made the best of a bad situation or found a peace that had eluded them as they threw their lives into their work or tilted at windmills. In the end, there was a lot of death and ruined lives - Randy and Dukie had their childhood destroyed and even Michael is living a pretty bleak life outside of either the system or "the game", only Namond made it out okay from that group. Frank Sobotka died, Ziggy is in jail and Nick is living a bitter life caught up in a near-mythical past. Omar was shot through the head by a messed up kid, Levy got away with everything, Clay Davis not only got away with everything but was lauded as a hero for it, Carcetti became Governor after causing or allowing massive manipulation of public perception and taking little to no proactive action on anything that didn't immediately benefit himself. Marlo is a millionaire free to walk the streets (for now) and Rawls rose up further in the ranks than he had any right to ever expect, and goddamn Stan loving Valchek is the Commissioner. But for every depressing moment, for every triumph taken out at the knees or maddening moment where they came so close to achieving something real... I am happy with all of it. For every dead Frank Sobotka or Dukie shooting up or Wallace killed by his best friends or Bodie dying like a soldier on his corner or Kima getting shot or Daniels being hosed out of presenting clean stats or Bunny Colvin's school program being cut off... I can live with it. For every time I was frustrated by Gus the Super Journalist or McNulty's hypocrisy or the time I had to watch Marlo thrill to Prop Joe's execution, or seeing Levy get away with it all.... I don't mind.... and this is why:  Bubbles got to walk up those stairs, sit down and eat dinner with his loving family. That made many things worth it, even if Bubbles himself might say he shouldn't be celebrated for doing something that ordinary people do every single day. Because that IS a triumph, and if The Wire taught us anything, it is that we should cherish those individual moments. 
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 05:17 on Sep 16, 2020 |
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Feb 1, 2014 16:22
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Final links for the OP: Episode 10 - –30– - Part One Episode 10 - –30– - Part Two Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 03:20 on Dec 16, 2015 |
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Feb 1, 2014 16:24
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Jerusalem posted:Final links for the OP: Bravo Jerusalem. Great analysis to close out a fantastic series and a great thread that should be goldmined or something. Kudos to you and the rest for investing time into crafting these excellent recaps. For me, the Bubbles/Dukie stories concluding is probably the biggest emotional moment in the series- both a punch to the gut and a triumph. Also, "to be continued" is easily top 3 funniest moments in the series.
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Feb 1, 2014 17:15
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What a fantastic thread. Thank you Jerusalem, escape artist, 3Romeo, and any of the other contributors I missed.
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Feb 1, 2014 19:09
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God, that final scene with Bubbles makes me cry every single time. His entire arc this season was just wonderfully done, and is among the best things this show has done. Thank you, escape artist and Jerusalem, for making this thread.
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Feb 1, 2014 19:54
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Bloody awesome stuff, boys. Any chance of sticking them all up on a website somewhere?
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Feb 2, 2014 20:33
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Gambrinus posted:Bloody awesome stuff, boys. Any chance of sticking them all up on a website somewhere? For real, this needs to be archived somewhere.
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Feb 2, 2014 21:20
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If you do wanna do that, Jerus, I would like to edit them first. Just for basic stuff like grammar, typos, etc. I know how your brain can miss a few things when you're working 3 hours on a write-up. I called Bunk a woman in the first write-up. I appreciate everyone's thanks, but I gotta give the credit to Jerusalem. After a few of these write-ups, at 3 hours a piece, I got burned out. I knew I'd never finish it. Jerusalem picked up the ball and stuck with this for a year and did probably 55 write-ups. Also, did anyone see the SNL sketch from a few months ago-- it was a black talk show, and they had a part making fun of white people and the Wire. They specifically mocked white people who write episode recaps, because "I know what happens; I watched the drat episode," or something to that effect. Funny stuff. So true. The Kerry Washington episode. You know Harvard has a class on The Wire? We should send the professors our research 
escape artist fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Feb 2, 2014 |
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Feb 2, 2014 21:25
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I'm not likely to put anything up (I wouldn't know where to put it or what to do with it!) - this was more about just wanting to be able to order my own thoughts on particular episodes and hopefully highlight a few interpretations of events and generate a little discussion on them and hopefully enable me to see things from other angles. It was a blast to write them up, even if it was pretty exhausting at times. The Wire has very dense episodes, I'm always shocked at just how much they pack into each one, and how they juggle so many characters so well.
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Feb 2, 2014 22:20
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I don't know if any of you have read "The Wire: Re-Up" but for those haven't, The Guardian did a live blog type diary thing when the BBC showed the entire series back in 2009, and the book is a collection of fairly pants write ups and blog comments. You know, collecting the write-ups and associated comments would make a better book. Just saying, like
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Feb 2, 2014 22:28
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Jerusalem posted:I'm not likely to put anything up (I wouldn't know where to put it or what to do with it!) - this was more about just wanting to be able to order my own thoughts on particular episodes and hopefully highlight a few interpretations of events and generate a little discussion on them and hopefully enable me to see things from other angles. It was a blast to write them up, even if it was pretty exhausting at times. The Wire has very dense episodes, I'm always shocked at just how much they pack into each one, and how they juggle so many characters so well. I feel you. That was my primary motivation, too. I started watching this show at 20. Finished it at 21. Wanted to give it a meticulous inspection after 5 years. And it certainly proved fruitful.
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Feb 2, 2014 22:46
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it blows my mind that The Bunk is in Hackers.
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Feb 4, 2014 22:26
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Dead Snoopy posted:it blows my mind that The Bunk is in Hackers. I've posted this at least five times by now, but if you want your mind blown...
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Feb 4, 2014 22:38
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What in gods name happened between chapter 4 and ten?
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Feb 5, 2014 02:50
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Ainsley McTree posted:I've posted this at least five times by now, but if you want your mind blown... That is loving nothing Although I guess it's a hell of a promotion? Frostwerks fucked around with this message at 03:35 on Feb 5, 2014 |
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Feb 5, 2014 03:29
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Frostwerks posted:That is loving nothing Interestingly enough, the show's pitch describes Burrell as "a more congenial Martin Bormann."
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Feb 5, 2014 03:49
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drat shame what they did to that dog... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_Txm9dQuhM
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Feb 5, 2014 03:52
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What actually happened to McNulty at the end of the show, was he sacked, did he walk away, or was he actually still a cop? As I recall, Freeman wasn't sacked, he handed in his papers and retired with a pension so the implication was that he had a choice. He could have stayed on, even if back in the pawn shop or some other department a long way from any real police work. But if Freeman had a choice then why not McNulty?
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Feb 7, 2014 21:05
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bucketybuck posted:What actually happened to McNulty at the end of the show, was he sacked, did he walk away, or was he actually still a cop? McNulty was allowed to quit without pension or work a desk job for the rest of his career. Freamon had enough time in that he could put in retirement papers before any administrative decision was made and still collect his pension. Alec Bald Snatch fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Feb 7, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 21:21
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He walked away. He didn't have enough years to get a pension but he explicitly says in the last scene at the homeless shelter that he is no longer a cop. He could have taken another exile to the boat (or likely something even worse, since they didn't want him anywhere where he could be in a position to influence any investigation - maybe evidence control or a pure desk job) but he decided to quit instead (likely recognizing that staying a cop, in a job he would hate, for the next 20 years would just fuel his bitterness and alcoholism and self destructiveness more). I always wonder what he ended up doing after though. Probably some security job like Bunny had though I imagine he'd not enjoy it too much either. It's hilarious to imagine him and Herc in an oddball private detective agency though. Efb. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 21:27 on Feb 7, 2014 |
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Feb 7, 2014 21:21
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Yeah, Pearlman explicitly tells them that due to the embarrassment of revealing what they did, they're being offered a choice to either quit or to stay in the force but spend the rest of their careers removed entirely from any possible chance to EVER do anything relating to a case. Ever. Because Freamon already had 30+ years on the force he could quit with a fairly good pension, not to mention the fact he'd never really cared about the money - his miniatures more than took care of his financial needs. McNulty didn't have the 20 years he needed to be eligible for a pension, but he knew he couldn't deal with the bitterness and frustration of still being "real police" but not being allowed to do police work, so he quit. I think it's a pretty vital thing that we don't see where he went next. That uncertainty is part of the Baltimore story - how many people are aimless wanderers who can't do what they really want to do but have no idea what to do instead? How many face an uncertain future and no sense that there is anything there to catch them? The industries are dying in Baltimore, the factories are shut down, the docks are struggling, all those traditional working man vocations are drying up and the people involved in them are left to their own devices by a society that no longer cares about them because it got what it needed from them already. On a more positive note, maybe McNulty will spend the rest of his life working a variety of jobs in differing fields and not give a drat, because - like Colvin before him - he's learned that his family and being an integral part of their lives is more important than trying to tilt at windmills or tear his hair out fighting for a cause against a bureaucracy that doesn't care and doesn't take kindly to attempts to shake up the status quo. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 03:22 on Dec 16, 2015 |
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Feb 8, 2014 08:59
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the difference between the high-rollers like the greeks, and stanfield: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI6mdlqnVlY
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Feb 14, 2014 16:10
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Just finished this show for the first time. Read The Corner, watched the miniseries based on that, and then went to The Wire. I loved all of them so drat much. It's depressing as hell, but so compelling that I can't turn away or stop thinking about the street corner life. I've begin rewatching The Wire again already, and I'm glad this thread was made. It looks like I'll get even more out of the show now. This is easily my favorite series I've seen so far on TV.
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Feb 25, 2014 05:43
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Ainsley McTree posted:I've posted this at least five times by now, but if you want your mind blown... If you want something that will really mess with you, try a pretty good show where Bill Rawls is the loving Pope... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t78XN0okDKk
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Feb 25, 2014 06:32
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Spoilers Below posted:If you want something that will really mess with you, try a pretty good show where Bill Rawls is the loving Pope... I was most delighted when I played New Vegas and realized he was voicing Caesar. One day I'm going to replay that game and try to make my Courier look like McNulty. Though it's kind of fun to imagine the "this is for you, McNulty" speech given to some insubordinate cardinal.
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Feb 25, 2014 08:00
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Spoilers Below posted:If you want something that will really mess with you, try a pretty good show where Bill Rawls is the loving Pope... Wait, how many TV series about the Borgias are there now, exactly?
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Feb 25, 2014 08:09
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Ainsley McTree posted:Wait, how many TV series about the Borgias are there now, exactly? Three, by my count.
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Feb 25, 2014 18:36
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Currently rewatching season five and thinking about how for all his bluster, lies and false fury, Carcetti is vastly, infinitely superior to any American politician when it comes to the most vulnerable. Everything he does is for his own personal benefit and yet for all his cynicism he still beats every current sitting US mayor, senator, governor or president, just by pretending to give a gently caress. The Wire isn't bleak enough. The real world has it beat hands down.
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Feb 27, 2014 02:27
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I remember I once read a critique of The Wire in some academic journal, where the argument was basically that it was too pessimistic about change, citing a bunch of actual grassroots organizations working to get poor blacks more voice in society...and one of them was ACORN.
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Feb 27, 2014 02:37
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