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Does anyone have those illustrations of the wire characters? If levy is on it and it should say Yvette is making Brisket.
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Dec 6, 2013 11:21
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I think one of the things lost in the criticisms of season 5, was how powerful and interesting bubbles finally reforming himself was. I may be in the minority but I liked season 5, though almost solely based on that characters arc. E: the final montage was great as well
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Dec 6, 2013 16:42
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grundin posted:Then there's how he handled it when IID finally came knocking. It's a very brief moment but when the investigators arrive looking for information on the missing camera they ask for Sydnor and Dozermen as well, as all three had paperwork tying them back to the camera. I doubt he would have had the wits to try and dump the blame on the other guys but he doesn't even try. As soon as IID starts asking about it he immediately takes full responsibility for it and covers for the others. No small amount of selflessness given that it cost him his career. It's reminiscent of Wee Bey confessing to murders he didn't commit at the end of Season 1. He knows he's hosed no matter what happens, might as well stop your friends from getting hosed too.
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Dec 6, 2013 16:47
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I wonder if it's a coincidence that Marlo is an anagram for Omar L. or if it's trying to illustrate what a man with that talent can do if he doesn't have a code.
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Dec 6, 2013 16:57
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Sneaky Fast posted:I think one of the things lost in the criticisms of season 5, was how powerful and interesting bubbles finally reforming himself was. I may be in the minority but I liked season 5, though almost solely based on that characters arc. It definitely has it's moments, Bubbles' arc wound up finally having some real happiness, and the montage is one of my favorites. The ending may have been bittersweet, but I feel like lots of characters wind up in better places, off the top of my head Daniels, Kima, Rhonda, and Carver seem to grow and find a good niche, and I'd expect Freeman does just fine for himself.
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Dec 6, 2013 17:07
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It just annoys me that McNulty basically went through the same arc twice with the only difference being that he can't even be a beat cop after what he pulled in season 5.
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Dec 6, 2013 17:12
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Atlas Hugged posted:It just annoys me that McNulty basically went through the same arc twice with the only difference being that he can't even be a beat cop after what he pulled in season 5. I figured he just went through a relapse, his behavior certainly out him in line with addicts throughout the show, and relapse is a major part of the stages of change.
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Dec 6, 2013 17:17
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Thaddius the Large posted:It definitely has it's moments, Bubbles' arc wound up finally having some real happiness, and the montage is one of my favorites. The ending may have been bittersweet, but I feel like lots of characters wind up in better places, off the top of my head Daniels, Kima, Rhonda, and Carver seem to grow and find a good niche, and I'd expect Freeman does just fine for himself. Yeah, it's nice. It isn't a "everything's terrible" ending, or an outright happy ending, it's just a mixed bag. Some people come out on top, some don't, and there's no real rhyme or reason to it in terms of whether or not they deserve it based on the "goodness" of their actions (see: Carcetti, who profits greatly from his sleaziness). I also like the "life goes on" sense that you get from it, that the characters' stories continue to develop even after the camera turns off. It reminds me of how Simon ended Homicide (the book), with an epilogue saying something like "a year is an arbitrary period of time to block off, so here's what happened to these people after my time with them was over."
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Dec 6, 2013 17:18
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Atlas Hugged posted:It just annoys me that McNulty basically went through the same arc twice with the only difference being that he can't even be a beat cop after what he pulled in season 5. You would really hate The Sopranos. Its weird how often people get frustrated when character development isn't a linear progression though life is often very cyclical for a lot of people. Especially addictions, as Thaddius pointed out. EvilTobaccoExec fucked around with this message at 17:32 on Dec 6, 2013 |
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Dec 6, 2013 17:29
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Atlas Hugged posted:It just annoys me that McNulty basically went through the same arc twice with the only difference being that he can't even be a beat cop after what he pulled in season 5. I thought that they told McNulty and Lester that they could still be cops, but that they'd end up working on only the most meaningless stuff in the world, and they both chose to retire/quit instead. I think McNulty really could've gone back to beat cop, or at least beat cop on a boat, but he didn't want to spend another 15-20 years doing that.
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Dec 6, 2013 18:04
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Meltathon posted:I thought that they told McNulty and Lester that they could still be cops, but that they'd end up working on only the most meaningless stuff in the world, and they both chose to retire/quit instead. I think McNulty really could've gone back to beat cop, or at least beat cop on a boat, but he didn't want to spend another 15-20 years doing that. I think Pearlman told him he would be exiled to something where there would be little to no chance of him ever being involved in cases that went to court. I take that as meaning the boat or possibly worse. Not to mention, Daniels at that point knew McNulty actually liked being a beat cop so he never would have let him get away with it like that. I always wonder,watching the last scene with McNulty's "wake" what the other cops must have thought, whether rumors ever got spread about the real reason he had to quit early. It seems that Landsman knows part of the truth (Rawls tells McNulty he's a "oval office hair away from indictment" in front of him, and then landsman walks away and has this "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that" expression) and I think Carver might have figured it out as well (Kima wouldn't snitch on McNulty just for giving out OT hours to other cases.) Maybe they just think he got fired because the bosses found out about diverting the OT hours to other homicide cases. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 18:47 on Dec 6, 2013 |
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Dec 6, 2013 18:32
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Atlas Hugged posted:Clay Davis was amazing. He was so slimy he shined. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet. I'm not sure this got mentioned in the recap but this reminds me of a theory I like about Marlo's phone number. Is it possible that Levy was sort of encouraging Herc to leak the phone number? I mean, he tells him how having Marlo still on cellphones will get him arrested eventually (and bring the firm lots of business) and puts the number in his Rolodex rather conspicuously. Given that we learn Levy scams his clients all the time on the deals with the developers, I wouldn't have put this past him.
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Dec 6, 2013 18:39
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I guess it would just come down to whether you make more money from a gang by defending them at a trial, and the subsequent appeals (at the end of which you risk losing them as a client), or from serving as their in-house counsel while they're in operation and trying to keep them out of trouble (the latter being wildly unethical but Levy doesn't seem to care about that)
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Dec 6, 2013 18:46
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EvilTobaccoExec posted:You would really hate The Sopranos. I actually was thinking of the addiction angle when I made the post. The thing of it for me is that ultimately I want a good story and those don't always have to be true to life. This isn't Don Draper's continuous spiral, it's a relapse which by definition is the same thing again. It's certainly realistic behavior for an addict and it fits the theme, but it wasn't interesting to watch a second time especially since the outcome wasn't all that different.
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Dec 6, 2013 19:07
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Well they would have both been exiled from doing anything to do with cases, so that rules out pretty much any role in the department. They maybe could have gone to some sort of admin role like the Pensions Bureau (which is what the real life Oscar 'Bunk' Requer did) or of that ilk, but I think they both liked proving themselves the smartest person in the department it would have sat well with them. With McNulty, I think he also burnt any bridge to going into something like Herc did as a criminal investigator with a law firm, or the like.
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Dec 6, 2013 21:08
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Interesting article about the sound editing of The Wire: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat...isrc=burger_bar
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Dec 6, 2013 21:22
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empty baggie posted:Interesting article about the sound editing of The Wire: http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat...isrc=burger_bar That was a pretty interesting article. Some of that I'd noticed, like McNulty and the dogs, but I was never able to make that associative leap between the character and the idea. Kinda cool.
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Dec 6, 2013 22:46
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cletepurcel posted:I'm not sure this got mentioned in the recap but this reminds me of a theory I like about Marlo's phone number. I don't think so, though not because I don't think Levy is slimy enough to pull something like that. Levy's pleasure comes from that same thing that's just been the subject of discussion here - things tend to repeat themselves, people make the same mistakes, there is a clear pattern if you're able to step back enough to see it etc. He already knows the police are aware of Marlo and have been investigating him in the past, and now Marlo has a cellphone, so therefore it's only a matter of time because he gets busted and Levy makes a shitload of money at trial. He isn't (in my opinion) giving Herc a wink and a nod to grab the number, just sharing his pleasure with an associate about the eventual money-pile coming his (and thus indirectly, Herc's) way.
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Dec 7, 2013 00:30
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Jerusalem posted:I don't think Levy is slimy enough to pull something like that. Did you seriously just say that?
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Dec 8, 2013 01:21
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escape artist posted:Did you seriously just say that? Yeah, with a "not because" in front of it.
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Dec 8, 2013 01:39
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Jerusalem posted:I don't think so, though not because I don't think Levy is slimy enough to pull something like that. Levy's pleasure comes from that same thing that's just been the subject of discussion here - things tend to repeat themselves, people make the same mistakes, there is a clear pattern if you're able to step back enough to see it etc. He already knows the police are aware of Marlo and have been investigating him in the past, and now Marlo has a cellphone, so therefore it's only a matter of time because he gets busted and Levy makes a shitload of money at trial. He isn't (in my opinion) giving Herc a wink and a nod to grab the number, just sharing his pleasure with an associate about the eventual money-pile coming his (and thus indirectly, Herc's) way. yeah, that's part of what makes Levy different from the people he represents. Gangsters live in the now, there is no tomorrow. Really, whether or not Herc leaks the number to the cops is a matter of indifference to Levy. It goes today, a month, a year from now? Doesn't matter. He makes a stack of money off of it, and the next day there is some other person looking to wear the crown. Its not even a matter of "Do I make more money selling him out or stringing him along?" because it doesn't matter. Levy is set up in such a way that he wins no matter what. He's just like the Greeks. Other people are either making concessions and trying to get by, or not dealing and getting crushed. But a lucky few get to have their cake and eat it too. Levy doesn't give a drat if the number ever gets leaked. If it doesn't, he makes his pay on the day to day charges. If it does, he makes a bundle on that case and then moves on to the next gang boss. Those people are nothing but pawns.
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Dec 8, 2013 09:04
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Great recaps to those who wrote them. I've been working through the thread and wasn't sure if I would get caught up before the series end. One thing I noticed watching is Landsmann's tie is usually a very inappropriate length. Has anyone read anything on what went into that design decision? 
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Dec 8, 2013 16:51
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Delaney Williams has a huge neck. They could've given him a tie clip to hold the thin end, but he's way funnier with the short tie.
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Dec 8, 2013 17:09
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poo poo, I didn't realize Treme had restarted - I know it's not quite hooked people in the way The Wire did but I still find it a really enjoyable series with fascinating characters... as well as being a source for hearing wonderful music and salivating over delicious looking food!
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Dec 9, 2013 04:36
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Jerusalem posted:poo poo, I didn't realize Treme had restarted - I know it's not quite hooked people in the way The Wire did but I still find it a really enjoyable series with fascinating characters... as well as being a source for hearing wonderful music and salivating over delicious looking food! I love it. It's a real shame there are only 5 episodes (4 more) before it is over.
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Dec 9, 2013 04:55
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I fell behind on watching Treme after season 1 (last thing I remember happening is John Goodman's character committing suicide) and have never bothered to catch up. Still, the final season has got a bit of buzz and I always heard that the later two seasons were better than the first so I guess this might be a good time.
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Dec 9, 2013 04:58
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I saw this in my church bulletin recently and I couldn't help but think that Bubbles had cleaned up, gotten on his feet and started a new life for himself. 
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Dec 9, 2013 06:10
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cletepurcel posted:I fell behind on watching Treme after season 1 (last thing I remember happening is John Goodman's character committing suicide) and have never bothered to catch up. Still, the final season has got a bit of buzz and I always heard that the later two seasons were better than the first so I guess this might be a good time. There are only a few episodes to go, it might pay at this point to just wait for it to finish and have the benefit of being able to watch it all in a relatively short timeframe.
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Dec 9, 2013 09:58
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The big problem with Treme is that it has a really indulgent pace. Any given episode may devote a couple sequences to documenting live music performances instead of focusing on storylines. I can understand why the creators would want to linger on the performances -- a big theme of the show is culture and what we are doing (or sometimes not doing) to preserve it -- but sometimes you just want to know what happens next to a particular character. With that said, seasons two and three are much more entertaining than the first, simply because you know the characters and you feel invested in them and plots become more concrete. Wendell "Bunk" Pierce's character just kind of ambles along in season one but gets something better to do in seasons two and three. It also helps that seasons two and three have a focus on corruption and crime coming back to New Orleans, compared to the vagueness of the first season. I recommend somebody give it a try, as there's a lot of good drama and a lot of exposure of the neglect that befell one of America's biggest cultural centers. It is a shame that the last season's going to be abbreviated, but I suppose it was dumb luck that the series got started at all.
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Dec 9, 2013 14:37
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If anyone was going to do a Treme recap, they would almost have to be from New Orleans because there is so much stuff in every episode that is distinctly of/from that city that a stranger would stand no chance at picking it up. I love that show, but only saw seasons 1 and 2 because I cancelled my HBO. Hoping to pick up the DVD's pretty soon though so I can watch season 3. I'm assuming what is airing now is season 4 right?
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Dec 9, 2013 14:53
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Meltathon posted:If anyone was going to do a Treme recap, they would almost have to be from New Orleans because there is so much stuff in every episode that is distinctly of/from that city that a stranger would stand no chance at picking it up. I love that show, but only saw seasons 1 and 2 because I cancelled my HBO. Hoping to pick up the DVD's pretty soon though so I can watch season 3. I'm assuming what is airing now is season 4 right? Treme explained does a really great job of translating the cultural references for outsiders.
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Dec 9, 2013 15:23
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Found a really great interview with Joe Chappelle who was an executive producer and directed a few episodes on the show's visual aesthetic, which was as deliberate as the writing, and some of the technical aspects of filming. Apparently the majority of the show was done on dollies with no steadicam. Definitely read the whole thing. http://library.creativecow.net/articles/griffin_nick/hbo_the_wire.php quote:Editing is kept very basic and minimal. "We never even fade to black between scenes," stated Chappelle. "We fade up at the beginning of the show and we fade to black at the end. There's no dissolves, just cuts. Very straightforward and simple. That's a stylistic choice. Keep it lean. When we have to indicate the passage of time, say a change from day to night, what David (Simon) likes to do is write the first night scene as a night exterior. If for some reason we can't get this, we have a library of establishing shots of the city, day and night that we can cut to." quote:As discussed earlier, camera technique on The Wire favors an almost continual use of dolly shots and long lenses. The fact that this seems so incompatible with the ‘non-beauty' approach to lighting provides yet another point of contrast. The lighting is harsh and appropriate to the environments it's depicting, yet the camera is smoothly gliding by the characters the majority of the time. And not just on the master shots. Most shots have the camera in motion. 
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Dec 9, 2013 18:47
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My school's web page posted an article by David Simon: http://usdemocrazy.net/harsh-words-from-creator-of-the-wire/ Actual article: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/08/david-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire David Simon posted:
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Dec 11, 2013 17:26
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For a man who claims to have read Marx and seems generally intelligent and in touch with the problems caused by rampant capitalism, it is astonishing to me that he still comes to this bullshit "the truth is in the middle we need a little bit of both" conclusion. Not to even mention that having strong unions is not socialism or Marxism. From reading that, he strikes me as the person, and there are so many of these in the US, that believes the best system is "socialism, like Sweden!", completely oblivious to the fact that Sweden is not and has never even for a second been socialist in any way, shape or form. Social democracy continues to be the leftmost point that appears imaginable in American discourse, all the while oblivious to the very real and inevitable problems that social democracy is currently facing in Europe. For those who don't know, social democracy is dying and currently on its last legs, with no chance nor hope of revival. And good riddance too, for the only way it even worked for the short time that it did, it did so entirely through the suffering of those in the third world, whose ruthless exploitation the social democracies' prosperity was extracted from. Simon is absolutely right that Marx was a much better diagnostician than a clinician. Marx himself would agree, as he specifically set out to analyze and criticize and found the notion of coming up with a theoretical alternative, separated from contemporary material conditions, folly. Yet similarly, how ridiculous is it to put your hopes on a return to strong unions in 2013? By what mechanism would such a thing possibly work, and haven't we seen exactly what this path eventually will lead to? The capitalist class, by definition those with power and influence in our society, do not strive for a constant ongoing struggle with organized labour, occasionally being defeated and occasionally being victorious. No, they seek the total and complete domination over labour and the destruction of its power structures and they do not stop until they have achieved this goal. It is not "America's greed", nor indeed France's or Spain's or Australia's that is the problem. It is not a problem caused by society as a body, society as a cohesive whole. It is the warfare waged by one part of society on the others for its own benefit. It is the cancer rerouting more and more nutrition to itself, depriving neighboring cells and with the sole intention of growing for the sake of growing, the health of the wider whole be damned. You do not negotiate with cancer. You do not make a compact with it. You cut it out. Orange Devil fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Dec 11, 2013 |
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Dec 11, 2013 17:49
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Agreed, David Simon seems to understand the basics of what Marx set out but doesn't really understand it. David Simons has always been good at humanising the flaws in the system, but I've always felt he's fallen down when it comes to an answer (which I think he's admitted). I find it a shame because I really think a marxist perspective would give him some good ideas. Instead he seems limited to "let's move everything back to the golden age of Capitalism" taking no account of how this will realistically be reached or if it were reached again why the disproportionate power of the Capitalist classes wouldn't inevitably result in it following exactly the same pattern it did the first time.
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Dec 14, 2013 23:30
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David Simon, idiot posted:Labour doesn't get to win all its arguments, capital doesn't get to. But it's in the tension, it's in the actual fight between the two, that capitalism actually becomes functional, that it becomes something that every stratum in society has a stake in, that they all share. How can anyone who has read word one of Capital think this is true? 
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Dec 15, 2013 00:38
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Season 5, Episode 6: The Dickensian AspectFreamon posted:If you have a problem with this, I understand completely. The police finish up the initial investigation of the homicide of Donnie and move on, but Marlo's crew continue an active and increasingly desperate investigation of their own. Chris and another soldier are going about the interiors of nearby vacants, armed and ready to blow Omar away if they can find him. Monk has dressed up nice and is pretending to be a police officer investigating an attempted rape, asking around the neighborhood for any sign of unusual things. Snoop has gone to every hospital in Baltimore giving Omar's name, a description of his appearance, and the information that he'd have at least badly hurt leg. But it's all in vain, none of them find any sign of Omar, with one soldier even remarking that they searched the sewers and still found nothing. Chris, usually so preternaturally calm, is looking more and more concerned, and is further upset when he gets the message from Marlo to meet him. They meet outside Monk's condo building, where Chris indicates the balcony that Omar jumped from and Marlo, for once, looks genuinely shocked. It doesn't seem possible, he remarks, which Chris agrees with, and comments that is some Spider-Man poo poo. But while Marlo seems only mildly put out that they missed their shot and now have to deal with Omar coming after them, Chris is looking more and more agitated. Marlo takes a more realistic (and fatalistic) approach that Omar is just a man and that any man can die, so accepts that while Omar will now be coming after them and making their life more difficult, they can still get him. Chris, however, knows that Omar is a dangerous and unpredictable opponent - they were depending strongly on directing Omar to where they wanted him so they could negate his unpredictability and put an end to him. They almost pulled it off, too, but Omar escaped, and now Chris knows they won't be able to lure him in again - they're all going to have to be on constant, exhausting guard and looking behind themselves. For Marlo, that's all part of "the game", but Chris would prefer to prevent that part of "the game" from being an issue. Carcetti cuts a ribbon with novelty oversized scissors to mark the building of those portside condos that Andy Krawcyzk has been so desperate to get up for quite some time now. Standing behind the press watching are a collection of less than impressed dockworkers, including Nick Sobotka. The man who gave up a new life for him and his family away from Baltimore so he could be true to his roots has just watched the final death of Frank Sobotka's dream, and he isn't happy about it. As Carcetti talks happily about "New Westport" being his contribution in a long line of Mayor-backed waterfront developments (part of his checklist for keeping his political party happy at the national level), Nick and the others heckle him and Krawcyzk angrily, furious that what was once a place of work will now be the domain of the wealthy, with all the money going to the likes of Krawcyzk and some yuppie assholes from Washington. Police escort the angry and impotent men away, and Carcetti asks Krawcyzk who the hell that was. Krawcryzk's answer is depressingly accurate - they're nobody.   Omar sits in a utility clost where he is struggling through his pain to bind up his leg as best he can. Adrenaline may have kept him alive despite all reason after his "Spider-Man poo poo", but unlike the real life Donnie Andrews, he didn't come out of the long fall unscathed. His leg is badly damaged, perhaps broken, and after binding it up and trying his best not to pass out from the pain, he struggles to his feet with the aid of a broom. Using it as a crutch, he painfully hobbles out of his hiding location - where was he that Chris and all his soldiers couldn't find him? He was in Monk's building itself, the same one he jumped from. Hiding in the one place they wouldn't think to look, Omar has lived to fight another day... but he can barely walk, how can he possibly defeat the Stanfield Organization? At Homicide, McNulty's story is front page news and he couldn't be happier, while Bunk couldn't be more disgusted. McNulty, still painfully obtuse about Bunk's disgust, happily tells him that he wasn't the one who called the reporter, that guy just made the whole thing up himself - McNulty seems to have figured out Scott's bullshit, probably picking up he was lying and not just mistaking a crank call after Scott's reaction to McNulty's own lie about a call to the police. Now the top brass are meeting to discuss the story that is not going away, and McNulty is against convinced that now the money is going to flow - he still doesn't seem to have grasped that the painfully little money he was already given was like getting blood from a stone. Bunk, meanwhile, is proudly and defiantly doing REAL police work, the kind that McNulty used to talk up so proudly in the past. He has the files on all the vacants murders, and plans to go back to square one and investigate each one again, see if he can't find something that was previously missed. McNulty smugly tells him to come to him for money if he needs it, he's sure he'll have more than he needs soon enough, and heads away. Bunk pauses for a moment and does consider it, after all he's been waiting months now to get the labwork back on these murders, then shakes his head angrily and goes back to his Sisyphean task. At the Baltimore Sun, Scott is also reading the front page story, and Alma comments that it must be strange for him to be the center of the story. He agrees it is, and manages to say it again without being struck by lightning when Klebanow and Whiting show up full of praise for his part in getting them a story that has got the public riveted. But he's unsettled by their question of,"What next?", because they want to keep the story rolling and maintain that sales-raising momentum. Scott quickly recovers, saying he was definitely totally 100% really for sure thinking about spending a night with the homeless to experience what life is like for them, though of course it would be a couple of days before he could get them something to print. They're totally onboard with the idea, and Whiting heads off to let Gus know what has already been decided. In the meantime, Klebanow tells Scott that they've been getting calls from television stations wanting to interview Scott, and he thinks that while they'll need to avoid local stations, there is no reason they can't speak with National ones... so long as they're being responsible, of course! They both happily agree to the fiction that this is about anything more than getting the Sun more sales, congratulating themselves on their journalistic integrity. Meanwhile, Gus has gotten the news from Whiting and is somewhat confused, reminding Whiting that Scott was supposed to be working on the big Education story - a story that Whiting himself was gung-ho about. Whiting, who has moved on to a new flavor of the month, waves that off - he wants to explore what "homelessness" means, and feels that Scott's strengths will work wonderfully with this story to get across "The Dickensian Aspect". Gus is appalled by the meaningless buzzword, but either because he knows it is a fait accompli or because he's only really good at passive aggressive snarkiness and not actual confrontation - he capitulates immediately. At the MCU, Freamon takes a big gamble and brings Sydnor up to speed on what is going on. He justifies things first - stressing that he considered the decision to come down off of the Stanfield Organization as illegitimate, and so he has responded in kind. Sydnor is horrified to hear that Freamon has been continuing his investigation, and more than that, he is currently running an illegal wiretap in the old surveillance room. Freamon gets up, opens the door to that room, and tells Sydnor that he understands if he has a problem with this, and advises him to get as far from Freamon as he can if he wants to. He heads into the room, and after a few moments of considering, Sydnor makes an enormously important decision for his own future as a person and as police, and enters the room and closes the door behind him - committing himself fully to Freamon's utterly illegal but seemingly "moral" case. At Homicide, Landsman and Holley join Bunk as he goes through his old casefiles, showing Holley Randy Wagstaff's file and reminding him about how he held off on questioning him out of respect for Prez... but maybe a year later, Randy will be willing to talk? Landsman has more troubling news though, and hands Bunk a folder full of files - copies of sealed indictments that could have only come from the courthouse. Where were they found? In Prop Joe's home, discovered during the investigation into Joe's death. Bunk is surprised to hear that somebody got to Prop Joe, but even more surprised by the indictments, because it means somebody at the courthouse is giving out confidential documents - including one for Charlie Burman (mentioned in season 4 as somebody Joe was considering informing the police were coming!) who disappeared two days before he was due to be arrested and is still on the run. At the MCU, Sydnor - now committed - is amazed to discover that Marlo is back on a cellphone but freshly horrified to learn that all he seems to be doing is using it for common tasks, like making a food order. He begs Freamon to tell him Marlo is using a code, because he sure as hell doesn't want to go to jail for listening in on Marlo Stanfield order his lunch. Freamon agrees that all conversations appear to be simply routine, and Sydnor tells him this means Marlo isn't using the phone for business so shut down this wiretap now and pretend it never happened! Freamon wasn't finished though - every conversation is routine, but there have also been a number of calls picked up on the first ring and lasting for roughly 30 seconds during which NOTHING is said. He believes those are drug-related calls, but he has to figure out what message is being transferred that doesn't involve talking. A knock on the door alarms them, but it's just McNulty, and after a moment of "oh poo poo" between Sydnor and McNulty they establish that they're all on the same side. I think it's important for a moment to think about what a step this is for Sydnor. Just from a superficial standpoint, remember that Freamon and to a lesser extent McNulty are old-hands, they've been around for awhile and their careers are closer to their ends than the beginning. Sydnor, however, is young and obviously talented, a kind of replacement protege for Freamon after Prez was run out of the police. He came into the MCU as the star pick, the very best of a bad lot, a guy who was considered a drat good undercover man and detective with a future. His time in the MCU made him realize how much he didn't know, and the successful but cut short Barksdale investigation made him realize how rewarding and relevant true quality cases could be. Now in season 5, he's part of the massive Clay Davis case, his former direct superior is now the Deputy Ops and clearly on his way to being Commissioner, and he has a good working relationship with an upwardly mobile ASA as well as moving in roughly the same circles as the Current State's Attorney who is making a play for Mayor. In short, Sydnor has EVERYTHING to look forward to, and yet he's willing to put it all at jeopardy to bring in a case he feels strongly about. In that respect he is "real police" in the same vein as Freamon and McNulty, something often easy to overlook as they get the brunt of attention. McNulty asks Freamon what he has picked up off the wire and is upset when Freamon tells him there has been nothing (McNulty's first experience with being a Boss and getting angry at a lack of results). Freamon insists they can figure it out though, he just needs a couple of surveillance teams to keep an eye on Marlo's people and figure out how they're using their phones (remember last episode it was,"We don't need surveillance teams, just a wiretap!" and now it's,"We just need a wiretap AND surveillance teams!"). With a sigh, McNulty says the top brass meeting on the homeless murders should get him some more money/manpower that he can peel off and send Lester's way. He heads out the door, and a confused Sydnor asks Freamon a very pertinent question,"What do the homeless murders have to do with Marlo Stanfield? The answer to that is Mayor Thomas Carcetti. Having had his big meeting, he paces the corridors ahead of a Press Conference on the murders, freaking out about the true victim in all of this - himself. His good news story of New Westport is going to be buried by this serial killer case, as well as unfavorable contrasts made about how he was celebrating wealth and affluence while the poorest of the poor are being murdered. On the plus side for Carcetti, getting fired up like this generally translates into a powerful political performance and he doesn't disappoint. Stepping out in front of the press, he first reminds them that they were far fewer in number to cover a story on economic revitalization but are out in force to cover a negative story. He notes the presence of the national media, then launches into a passionate and fiery speech about the plight of the homeless, the failure of society to look after them, and gives his pledge to make them safe and bring the killer to justice. Like his Hamsterdam speech, it hits all the right notes and sounds fantastic even if it is ultimately meaningless, and when he passes things over to Rawls he walks away looking like a caring, passionate man who also has the answers and by God is going to set things right! As Rawls begins fielding questions, clearly enjoying being "Commissioner Rawls", a surprised if impressed Norman asks Carcetti what got into him. Carcetti is more interested in Daniels though, who is called up to answer questions when the subject turns to the political minefield of whether the police will ask for Federal help. Carcetti is impressed by Daniel's coolness under pressure, as he paints a pretty (if bullshit) picture of a hyper-competent police department with world class investigators, state of the art laboratory equipment and a round the clock commitment to law enforcement. He also stresses the happiness of the BPD to accept assistance from the FBI without in any way indicating that they NEED that assistance, and Carcetti is left in no doubt that he chose the right person to eventually replace Burrell.   Bunk follows up on his earlier idea of finally getting to question Randy Wagstaff, but is disappointed by the result while the viewer is left nothing but depressed. Gone is the bright-eyed, enthusiastic entrepreneur who just wanted to make money and be a financial success. In his place is a hard-faced, unhelpful, closed-off shell. Randy has been forced to suppress his personality and become a mean-spirited, tough-talking hood in order to survive. He won't even sit when Bunk makes the gesture, refuses to speak when Bunk tries to guilt him into speaking or threaten him with possible jailtime if he doesn't speak. That last bit finally gets Randy to talk, but it's with derision and contempt - living in a group home like this has made the idea of prison completely irrelevant, and he sneers and asks if Bunk isn't going to offer to get him out of this home, since that's what police do - they lie to people to get what they want. He storms out, making a point of loudly shouting for the detective to stay away from him or he'll take him out - the only lesson Randy learned from the Lex affair is that he can't allow even the suggestion that he is a snitch to get out there. He heads up the stares with a final hard look Bunk's way, shoving a small boy into the wall as he goes. The young, happy and helpful Randy is gone, burnt out by the group home he dreaded so much, let down by the police who promised to look after him - even Carver, who at one point was supposedly ready to adopt him, doesn't even remember his name. Michael works the Corners, Dukie is struggling to find his place, Namond is out of "the game" entirely... but Randy might as well be dead, because the boy he was is gone forever. Rawls congratulates Daniels on his performance in the Press Conference, and is amused when Daniels reveals he said everything he said because he believes wholeheartedly what Carcetti said about giving every bit of support possible to solving the case. Rawls explains that what Carcetti meant by that was that they could free up an extra man maybe, and push Patrol towards areas where the homeless congregate... but that's it. Daniels is horrified, but Carcetti said!?! Rawls explains again the fact that neither Daniels or McNulty seem to have been able to understand, there is LITERALLY no extra money to be had. Carcetti absolutely wants the case solved, he just doesn't want it to cost any more money that what they already can't afford. Rawls, who has seen this type of thing before and got some warning in advance from Burrell about the way things work, tells Daniels not to be so shocked, this is what it is like when you're running with the big dogs.   McNulty moves Operation: Lester and Jimmy's Increasingly Terrible Plan into its next phase. He and Pearlman go to see Judge Phelan with a rather extraordinary request, they want to wiretap Scott Templeton's phone without his permission or knowledge, because they don't know if the serial killer will continue to use the same disposable phone and whether he is taking the battery out between calls so it can't be tracked. Phelan is understandably reluctant, despite Pearlman's legal arguments - unless they can definitively prove that the killer is changing phones he won't authorize a wiretap on Scott. McNulty is disgusted, and when they leave Pearlman acidly asks him how many enemies he really needs. They see Daniels coming down the corridor and Rhonda greets him warmly, but he makes it clear he wants privacy before they talk. McNulty heads away, and Daniels hands over what has now been brought to his attention as well - the copies of the sealed indictments that were found in Prop Joe's home. Bunk finds Kima by his desk, where she gives him the good news and the bad news. The good news is that the work she has been doing on her Triple Homicide (instead of working the serial killer case with McNulty) has finally gotten her a suspect. The bad news is... it's Marlo, and that puts these three murders in with the twenty-two that Bunk is already investigating. An informant told her that one of the victims was said to have talked poo poo about Marlo who didn't take it kindly, and the triple murder was the result. Now that their cases are linked, Kima asks Bunk what he is doing and he explains resignedly that he is still waiting on the labwork to come back on them after all this time, and Landsman keeps filing the requests for the results to be expedited away with barely a look. Kima jokes that McNulty would call a press conference on something like this, and Bunk grumpily retorts that he is NOT McNulty. So, asks Kima reasonable, in that case what would The Bunk do? Given that little kick in the butt, he heads straight to the lab where we see a distinct difference between the CSI world of flash labs and surprisingly attractive people and The Wire world of unshaven, harried and overworked looking technicians who complain that they're overworked and understaffed - hell, they've been working without a refrigerator ever since the last one broke down and lost months work of evidence/blood samples. Bunk won't take that for an answer though - he's working the worst mass murder in Baltimore history and he still can't get trace evidence back after more than a year!?! Finally the technician (Ron) admits the horrible truth, something he had been hoping to put off long enough that the requests stopped coming and he could pretend never happened. When one of their former analysts left (fired/retired?) the Department would only cover a temp being hired to replace her - and the one they got made a pretty massive screw up. Ron makes a timid attempt to blame the detectives themselves but backs down when Bunk gives him a  look - the problem is that each report on each of the crime scenes was given its own individual number, but the supplementary report was labeled with only the first number, followed by et al. The temp didn't know what et al meant, so every single sample was labeled with one number... they have no idea what crime scenes the different evidence samples came from. Bunk and Kima are horrified, and Ron sheepishly indicates the temp in question and offers uselessly that other than the one minor mistake of screwing up the evidence in a 22-murder case, she's been pretty good!McNulty arrives at Landsman's office with a request for manpower to watch two locations believed to be commonly used by the serial killer. Landsman takes it and immediately puts it in his drawer along with Bunk's many requests for the labwork on his murders. McNulty reminds Landsman of the Mayor's backing for this case, and it is with some glee that Landsman tells him that he can have Kima... but last time he did that, McNulty sent her back onto her Triple Homicide. McNulty realizes that he fell for Carcetti's nice-sounding but meaningless words yet again - there is no extra help coming, which means he can't give Freamon the support he needs to solve the Marlo case, which means all this craziness has achieved nothing but put his, Freamon and now Sydnor's careers at risk. The New Day Co-Op meets, with Fat Face Rick telling the others as they arrive that he has no doubt that whoever has the Connect is whoever killed Joe. Everybody settles in, Joe's place left empty at the head of the tables, conspicuous by his absence. Marlo sits in his customary place, but when nobody takes the lead (all waiting to see who will take the lead and reveal themselves as Joe's killer) he stands up and to everybody's great surprise declares that he is responsible for Joe's death. But then he qualifies that statement. He went after Omar despite Joe's protests, and Omar - not having the heart to take on Marlo directly - killed Joe instead, so now Marlo is upping the bounty on Omar to 100k for info and 250k for his head. The Co-Op, not really caring about or stupid enough to have anything to do with Omar, ask the important question - what about the Connect? Marlo casually offers that he's got that taken care of, causing some raised eyebrows, then states that as nobody else looks set to replace Joe, he's going to take over control of this meeting. Nobody else dares to contradict him (Marlo must be reveling in this fact) so Marlo moves on, stating that with Hungry Man also dead, he thinks Slim Charles should take that territory. Once again Slim declines, saying he wasn't cut out to be a CEO, and Marlo quickly shifts to Cheese, having probably known that Slim would turn him down and thinking nobody will therefore suspect Cheese as being complicit... as if anybody is fooled for a moment. Cheese does himself no favors by IMMEDIATELY agreeing, and Slim casts him a dirty look, furious that Cheese would so quickly toss aside his Uncle's memory. Marlo then makes his next power move, syaing it would be best for them to have no more meetings till things die down... then just decides to throw aside all subtlety as it doesn't suit him - he doesn't like meetings anyway so that's it, they're just not going to have any more because he says so. If they want to talk, they can come to him or just sit on their problems, and West Side dealers can get their re-ups from Monk while East Side get them from Cheese. He stands to dismiss the meeting and throws in one last aside/demonstration of his power - the price is going up. The other dealers are shocked but not a single one of them has the balls to say a thing, and Marlo walks out utterly confident that he has them cowed and beaten - his grip on the throne is secure. Cheese leaves with him, too stupid not to try and hide his huge beaming smile as he enjoys the Co-Op's capitulation to their new rule, which will cost him severely soon enough.   At The Baltimore Sun, Gus gives Scott Shane the bad news that the education story is being dumped till next year so they can focus on the Homeless. He puts the blame squarely on Whiting, though apparently off-screen he did go to Klebanow and try and argue for the story, but was turned down. Shane sighs and accepts that sometimes people above him make decisions he doesn't agree with but has no power to change. The newsroom gathers to watch as Scott Templeton appears on The Nancy Grace Show - there's something kind of hilarious about the idea of Nancy Grace appearing on a fictional show where she earnestly reports on a story that is getting lots of national attention but is utter bullshit. She likens Scott to Jimmy Breslin (who The Son of Sam wrote letters addressed to), who to his credit does try to play down the idea that he was in any kind of danger before agreeing that any reporter expects they may one day find themselves in trouble. Gus seems bemused and a little disgusted by the whole thing while the rest of the newsroom (including Klebanow) eats it up, and leaves to get back to work on his computer. McNulty meets with Freamon to share a drink and discuss the dead-end on their case (a train siren is heard in the background, a deliberate recurring motif that the sound designer for the show recently commented on, saying it was meant to indicate when progress on a case or for a character was being in some way arrested). McNulty is bitter as always, complaining that Phelan wouldn't give him a wire on Scott's phone. Freamon, confused, asked what he wanted another wire for anyway since they already have the one they need, and Jimmy admits that he knows they didn't need it, but it's the principle of the thing - Phelan SHOULD have given him the wiretap he wanted and that's just the way it is! There'll be no surveillance cars, he can't get anything more than Greggs, which means Freamon and Sydnor will have to do their best without help. They sit quietly for a moment, and then McNulty says what they're both thinking - they need another body, it's time to call Oscar. Fat Face Rick heads for one of his offices (a bail bonds office), foolishly letting his driver and muscle head on without him. As he prepares to enter, Omar rushes up behind him and presses what Rick assumes to be a gun to the back of his neck. Rick tells him hurriedly (though without the panic that the likes of Hungry Man would have shown) that he'll give him whatever he wants, and winces in regret when Omar takes his gun and throws his own away.... and it shatters on the ground and Rick realizes he was just held up by an empty beer bottle. With a real gun now on him, Rick is as screwed as he thought he was, but surprisingly Omar only wants one thing from him... to take a message to Marlo. Demonstrating that Omar understands Marlo in a way that so few others ever have - including Prop Joe - Omar strikes right at the heart of what Marlo truly cares about. Not money, not things, but his name and the power/prestige he wants associated with it. With contempt, Omar proclaims that Marlo is a bitch who doesn't have the heart to face him in the street. He killed a blind man because that was all he could manage, and while Omar is out on the street being a man, Marlo is hiding away too scared to face him. Rick, reasonable in a way only a man with a gun to the back of his neck can be, assures Omar he will pass on that message, and to his surprise is given freedom to pick up his keys and let himself into the Bail Bonds office. He pauses as he enters, turning to ask if Omar killed Joe and Hungry Man, which just causes Omar to laugh. Rick shrugs, says this is about what he thought, and heads inside where he will probably unclench in relief the moment he doesn't have to keep up a front of indifference. He's not alone in putting up a front either, Omar can barely move without a crutch but he carefully waits for Rick to be gone before moving on, having used the shadows and a relatively stationary position to keep the truth of his debilitated condition from Rick. The word on the street can't be that Omar is half dead, but that Omar is as strong and dangerous as ever and openly challenging the "bitch" Marlo to come out and face him. He isn't going to walk into any more Chris Partlow ambushes, he's going to bring Marlo out after him - and by questioning Marlo's manhood he stands a better than even chance of succeeding in doing just that. With the labwork unusable, Bunk brings up a box from Major Crimes on the Stanfield Organization so he can go at his 22 murders from a different angle. Kima comes over to see what he's up to, and it's a longshot based on what he has to work with - the MCU box has information on every Stanfield member they were aware of. Bunk is going to look at every single one of them and try and find SOME connection to his 22 murders to work back on. Given they work for a drugs organization, he's likely to find a number of miscellaneous crimes, but one of the first things he does find is a promising lead - Michael Lee has no adult arrests, but he does have a juvenile record and a connection to a Homicide file as well - what's that all about? They go to the case, an open murder on one Devar Manigault, found beaten to death in an alley. Kima doesn't think it sounds connected to the Stanfield Organization, as it isn't their style, but Bunk has nothing else to go on so this will have to do for a start. At City Hall, Norman is delightedly talking up how Carcetti had the "spirit" descend on him yesterday in his Press Conference. Carcetti admits his performance was born of frustration, as he began to question just how many shitbowls he'd have to eat before getting to abandon being Mayor less than two years into his first term so he could be Governor instead... sometimes life just isn't fair to rich white males, you know! The thing is, though, people reacted well to his speech, and now they're starting to see the potential benefits of Carcetti really getting behind the cause - especially as the Governor cut funding and froze eligibility over the previous year on particular benefits that forced people out onto the streets. They ignore that Carcetti himself delayed a funding decision re: the homeless at a council meeting earlier in the year, instead focusing on the tried and true political idea of,"Republicans hate the poor". They can paint the Governor as the man who slashed the safety net, and paint Carcetti as the guy who cares and is trying to do something about the problem (make really nice speeches). Carcetti is amused, shaking his head at the notion that maybe homelessness will be the cause that gets him that Governor's seat, after law and order blew up in his face after being forced to deal with education. At the MCU, Freamon is preparing labels for another of the charts on the Clay Davis case when one of the mysterious silent calls come through on the wiretap. Sydnor is out in the field covering surveillance the best he can, but as Freamon waits to see who is making the call he hears somebody enter the building. It's Pearlman, and Freamon turns down his walkie-talkie and heads out of the wire room to see her, joking that while the building is quiet and feels empty nowadays, she'd be surprised at how much can get done when nobody else is around. She has subpoenas for him to serve, but she also wants to sit down and go over a few more facts first. Freamon, desperate to get back to Sydnor, straight up lies to her face and tells her that Sydnor is bringing in a CI and he is concerned about Pearlman being there. Horrified, Pearlman apologizes and quickly leaves, sorry for intruding. She walks away, the woman trying to prosecute one of those big fish that Freamon once insisted were the REAL criminals, and he's just lied to her to get her out of the way so he can get back to what is still effectively a street level dealer, even if he is the king of the street level dealers in Baltimore. Freamon has lost all perspective, as blinded by his obsession to beat Marlo/do the "right" thing in spite of the bosses as McNulty is. Bunk meets with Michael's mother to try and find out more about Devar's death. She's sullen and unhelpful, wanting him gone but not willing to offer anything to make him go away. When he tries to play hardball and threatens to put her in a Woman's correctional institute for a couple of weeks for refusing to help, she angrily tells him that he's talking to the wrong person, it's Michael he should speak with, he's running with the ones who killed Devar. Bunk accuses her of trying to throw him off the scent but she insists, Michael told her Devar wasn't coming back before they heard from the police that Devar was dead. So who are these people he is running with? Chris and Snoop and the others, she offers back bitterly, who else is killing people around here nowadays? Bunk is shocked, he was playing a long shot and he has hit a jackpot - he may have found another crime scene he can link to Marlo's people. Freamon and Sydnor look through their call logs and compare the times to Sydnor's photographs. Using the two, Freamon finally figures out what is going on with the silent calls - Marlo isn't calling to talk, and he isn't sending texts either, considering half the guys in his crew could be illiterate and the way Monk is holding his phone at arm's length - Marlo is sending pictures. Scott heads down to one of the homeless spots to spend a night, wearing an old shirt from his Kansas City Star days. He's obviously out of place, timidly making his way across the tracks (another piece of visual shorthand?) amongst the other homeless, one woman screaming out to somebody (Scott?) demands to know what he is looking at. When Scott made the suggestion it probably sounded great to him to spend a night with the homeless, but the idea and the reality are two very different things. At one point he attempts to approach some men warming themselves by a fire, only to be scared away by a barking dog, much to the amusement of the homeless men. McNulty is drunk (are you shocked?) and angrily taking out his aggression verbally on a statue of General Samuel Smith (former Mayor, Representative and Senator) over the way "they" let you think you're going to finally get to do things right only to tear it all away. Lying even to himself now, he laments to the statue that there is a serial killer out there killing homeless people and yet he still can't get the support he needs to put this monster away. His phone rings, it's Oscar with another body for him, and he quickly cheers up, eager to go fake another murder by the "serial killer" he assured Samuel Smith actually existed, because it's in the papers and therefore real.   A bored Snoop sits in a safe house with an agitated Chris, who is tossing a knife over and over again into the floor. Snoop, not really understanding the implications of Omar's escape, can't figure out why Chris is so fired up and suggests they go buy some toys for his kids, since that always cheers him up. He snaps at her that they can't go see his people while Omar is after them, and when she asks how Omar could possibly know about them, he roars at her,"HOW WE FIND OUT ABOUT THE BLIND MAN!?!" He goes back to slamming the knife into the floorboards, a still confused and bored Snoop left to quizzically ponder just what the big problem is. The big problem is that Omar is out there alive and very, very dangerous. A cash pick-up by one of Marlo's muscle goes horribly wrong when Omar appears from the shadows of an alley with shotgun drawn, blasting the muscle's leg before turning and firing into the back of his car. The others run, while the small runner cowers by a stoop and another dealer drops to the ground in terror for his life. Omar draws a pistol on him and tells him to run, then takes the money from the child and tells him to get gone too. Hobbling but careful to hide just how bad his condition is, Omar throws the money into the car and lights a rag he places in the gas tank. He approaches the wounded muscle and tells him that the buckshot in his leg will save him from Marlo's wrath, though the two he let run won't be as lucky.... but the message he wants the man to take to Marlo is that Omar didn't take the money, this isn't about that, it's about Marlo being a bitch who can't face Omar on the street like a man. The car explodes, a dramatic moment though not quite the Hollywood version of an exploding car, and Omar makes no bones about flinching back from the explosion. Having passed on his message, he hobbles on up the road, leaving the shot muscle to groan and moan on the floor next to the burning car, knowing that he has to tell his superiors that not only was the money destroyed, but that Omar is now directly insulting Marlo's manhood.   McNulty arrives at the dead homeless man's scene, but finds the place already packed with police - his serial killer story has been a little too successful, not a dead homeless man brings down the higher ranks AND the press, and McNulty sure as hell can't do anything with this one with this much attention on it. The next morning, Scott has passed a futile night having failed to connect with anybody and get a "real" sense of homelessness. A man from a bakery arrives with some day old food, placing the tray on the floor and heading away with a,"God bless." Scott has noticed a troubled looking man hanging around with the others, and after he grabs some of the food and heads away, Scott follows after him, demonstrating that he does have SOME journalistic sense. McNulty visits with Freamon who explains what they discovered about Marlo's method of communication, which raises new concerns. How do they fit a request for equipment that can pick up photographs from a cellphone into his made-up serial killer's MO? Without being able to take that extra step into self-awareness, McNulty grumpily goes through Freamon's growing list of excuses for what they need to break the Marlo case before declaring that he now understands why Daniels cringed whenever Freamon spoke - he's a supervisor's nightmare! Freamon doesn't call him on it, and admits that even if they do get the photo intercepts, he'll still have to break whatever code they're using.... and even when they break the code, they'll need extra men to cover stashes and re-ups and meetings, because Sydnor is already being run ragged just trying to keep up with who is getting what phonecalls. McNulty finally admits that he can't get any more though, because he's taken things as far as he can and now the case is big enough that multiple officers are showing up to homeless DOAs - they can't "make" another murder. Scott talks with the homeless man, having bought him a drink to go with the stale donuts, making a connection, learning the man's history, building trust - the things that a journalist needs to do to build up a story. The man (Terry) is a former marine, suffering from PTSD despite the senior command's insistence that marines don't get PTSD. Scott asks for him to tell him what happened on his second tour of duty in Iraq, and after a brief hesitation Terry starts to let it all out. Scott takes it all down in his notes, asking questions when appropriate, being silent when necessary, getting a drat good story out of the man, an example of one of America's fighting men who has been abandoned by the country he served. If Scott had just been able to resist his desire to dress things up, he could have produced a perfectly good, possibly even great story.... but by this point, his desire to make every story gold was stronger than any sense of journalistic integrity - he's become as committed to his lies as McNulty has to his own. The man himself sits in his car in traffic, brooding over the colossal mess that unexpectedly occurred when he faked a serial killer story. As he sits, he spots an incredibly physically and mentally agitated homeless man staggering up between the lines of traffic. The man can't walk a straight line or stand in place, suffering from who knows what, struggling to count the change he has collected in his cup.... and McNulty becomes fascinated, seeing a potential answer to he and Lester's problems. At The Baltimore Sun, Fletcher tells Gus with some concern that he was doing a story at a community meeting when he was cornered by a woman who wanted to tear the paper a new one over a story that Scott wrote. Scott had written a story about a woman who died of an allergic reaction to seafood, with the human interest angle being that a fund had been set up for the children, but the children have received no money, and it seems the fund was set up by the sister of the dead woman is known fraudster, and the money that was raised may have all been spent at Atlantic City. Fletcher doesn't want to sound like he's tattling on Scott, but he figured he had to at least make Gus aware of the accusation. Gus goes to Scott, who is working on Terry's story, and lets him know in a very diplomatic and unaccusing way what claims have been made. He admits that the complainant could be a busybody but says that just to be on the safe side he'd like Scott to call the family and see if they got any of the money, because otherwise they have to face up to the fact that The Sun may have been conned. It's handled in a very professional way, and Gus is careful not be accusing, he refers to "we" and the paper and not Scott in particular, which is only fair since even if Scott was conned, his editors should have picked up on that. But despite that, as well as assuring Scott not to follow up until after his current story is filed, after Gus walks away Scott is left grimacing, obviously offended at having his journalistic integrity called into question. McNulty explains the latest mad twist in their lunatic plan to Freamon at the MCU. The homeless man McNulty saw on the street is now sitting in a chair off to the side, and McNulty is showing Freamon a cellphone picture of the man. His plan is to send it to Scott along with a phonecall angrily ranting that Scott's stories are painting him in a negative light, and so from now on people aren't going to find the bodies of those he takes. Meanwhile, McNulty will drive the man out of Baltimore and put him in a shelter, providing him with an ID card taken from one of the other homeless murders and scratching the name of his medication - a powerful anti-psychotic that means that the man will never be able to identify McNulty and Freamon... and even if he could, who would believe him? McNulty has moved from casually using the corpses of people who had lives/loves/thoughts and feelings as part of his scheme to using an actual living person, treating him like a prop as opposed to a person in his own right. Freamon is disgusted, calling it kidnapping (McNulty insists it is fine, he offered the man $100 to accompany him and he did), but when McNulty assures him that this will drive the city into an uproar and finally get them the money (that doesn't exist) that they need, and then Marlo will fall. Freamon, as obsessed now as McNulty, agrees, though he at least understands that what they're doing is massively, massively immoral on top of being illegal.   Bunk returns to Ron in the lab and slams down the case with the evidence collected from Devar's murder, demanding that he compare the DNA collected from the scene with the known suspects from the vacants murders. Ron, more than a little cowed, agrees to do it... as soon as he finishes up the trace evidence tests on all the crime scenes from McNulty's serial killer, that case is taking precedence over all others. Bunk is left in utter shock, now McNulty's bullshit is getting in the way of him potentially solving TWENTY-SIX murders, but he can't say anything without destroying the career of one of his best friends and potentially putting him in prison. In resigned disgust, he takes his case file away. Oblivious as always to the consequences of his bullshit, McNulty drives the homeless man out of Baltimore, attempting to have a conversation with the near comatose man - Larry. He insists that Larry will like where he is being taken, a nice warm place that will look after him. Heartbreakingly, Larry appears to be crying, and even McNulty can't help but feel like a piece of poo poo as he drives on through to Washington, taking this deeply troubled man away from his home. Pearlman is troubled too, because her boss is making a confident but potentially dangerous decision - he has decided that HE wants to personally try Clay Davis. It's not enough that he is taking credit for the prosecution, he wants to be the guy that actually successfully tries the Senator and puts him away, securing his political future for good. A bad sign is that the first thing he wants to do is pare down the witness list to make the case more streamlined. Pearlman punctures his happy balloon though when she gives him the casefile that Daniels gave her - the sealed indictments found in Prop Joe's house - they have a leak in the court. In Washington, McNulty brings Larry to the Richmond Community Shelter, giving the lady at the front desk a bullshit story about finding him lost and confused outside of his work and how he decided to be a good Samaritan and bring him here. The lady asks "Donald" where he is from and McNulty encourages him to say, and he manages to mutter,"...Baldymore...?", and McNulty puts on a confused face and tells her that "Donald" told him he was from Cleveland. Kindly, she kneels down and asks him for identification, and with great difficult he manages to find his id card, staring at it confused since it isn't actually is. She takes it and sees Donald Pettiford's name on it, and it is a Cleveland ID, so she takes McNulty's word for it and asks Donald to come with her to get something to eat. At The Sun, Gus, Klebanow and Luxenberg read through Scott's latest story with utter delight, all of them for once on the same page - it's an excellent story. The others leave and Gus calls Scott over to enthusiastically laud him not just for telling a good story, but resisting his inclination to overwrite it. Scott basks in the compliments, which for once have been well-earned, but as he leaves Gus asks him if he followed up on the allegations of fraud. Scott, unwilling to ever accept/admit that he made a mistake or didn't do his due diligence, makes up a bullshit story about how the sister is rock-solid but another woman in the area uses her name whenever she is arrested for kiting checks. Gus accepts it at face value, but the sad thing is that if Scott had checked up and found out he was conned, he could have admitted it to Gus who would have probably chalked it up to a learning experience for Scott.... especially in light of the excellent story he just wrote. But Scott just couldn't allow himself that exposure. As Gus walks away, he does frown slightly, it seems he doesn't quite accept Scott's side of things. In Washington, McNulty watches with guilt as "Donald" struggles to eat a sandwich and drops it on the floor, claws it back up and goes back to tearing away the crusts. McNulty asks the shelter worker if he can do anything more and has to face another wave of guilt when she thanks him for everything he already did. He thanks her and leaves, but as he moves to his car, he has to face up to what he has done in the name of his own pigheaded stubbonness. Like Scott, there is some small part of him that knows what he is doing is wrong, but just can't stop himself from pushing on regardless, each their own worst enemy.  
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Dec 15, 2013 13:04
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Jerusalem posted:I think it's important for a moment to think about what a step this is for Sydnor. Just from a superficial standpoint, remember that Freamon and to a lesser extent McNulty are old-hands, they've been around for awhile and their careers are closer to their ends than the beginning. Sydnor, however, is young and obviously talented, a kind of replacement protege for Freamon after Prez was run out of the police. He came into the MCU as the star pick, the very best of a bad lot, a guy who was considered a drat good undercover man and detective with a future. His time in the MCU made him realize how much he didn't know, and the successful but cut short Barksdale investigation made him realize how rewarding and relevant true quality cases could be. Now in season 5, he's part of the massive Clay Davis case, his former direct superior is now the Deputy Ops and clearly on his way to being Commissioner, and he has a good working relationship with an upwardly mobile ASA as well as moving in roughly the same circles as the Current State's Attorney who is making a play for Mayor. In short, Sydnor has EVERYTHING to look forward to, and yet he's willing to put it all at jeopardy to bring in a case he feels strongly about. In that respect he is "real police" in the same vein as Freamon and McNulty, something often easy to overlook as they get the brunt of attention. McNulty asks Freamon what he has picked up off the wire and is upset when Freamon tells him there has been nothing (McNulty's first experience with being a Boss and getting angry at a lack of results). Freamon insists they can figure it out though, he just needs a couple of surveillance teams to keep an eye on Marlo's people and figure out how they're using their phones (remember last episode it was,"We don't need surveillance teams, just a wiretap!" and now it's,"We just need a wiretap AND surveillance teams!"). With a sigh, McNulty says the top brass meeting on the homeless murders should get him some more money/manpower that he can peel off and send Lester's way. He heads out the door, and a confused Sydnor asks Freamon a very pertinent question,"What do the homeless murders have to do with Marlo Stanfield? Fantastic writeup, particularly the above portion. I don't think Sydnor's point of view gets much play throughout the series and I like that you really put the pieces together here.
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Dec 15, 2013 19:27
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Skeesix posted:Fantastic writeup, particularly the above portion. I don't think Sydnor's point of view gets much play throughout the series and I like that you really put the pieces together here. It really is easy to overlook Sydnor, and to be surprised at the end of the season when he appears to be the guy becoming the "new" McNulty - but rewatches really do help you pick up a lot of the stuff that builds towards that reveal. We focus so much on the likes of Freamon and McNulty that guys like Sydnor appear to just be background characters, but they're going through their own character arcs as well. Some other things to maybe consider/discuss coming out of this episode: What does Marlo's handling of the Co-Op meeting say about not only him, but the Co-Op itself? They appear to be paper tigers, none of them seem to have the heart to step up or do something, and Marlo makes the barest token effort to keep up the pretense of a the cooperative part of the Co-Op before just out and out making it clear that he now the boss of all of them. Marlo seems to have no patience whatsoever for playing that part of "the game", he finds it distasteful and a waste of time - and that kind of arrogance is sure to frustrate and anger people into wanting to take him down... something that Marlo would actually seem to encourage. For him, it seems that constantly being tested and coming out on top is the ONLY mark of success - while he thrills to exhibiting his power over others, he seems to enjoy it when people do actually stand up to him, because it means he can maintain his superiority and prove his right to rule by defeating them. We've seen this is effective for him at least in the short term, and while in the long term the Co-Op are the ones who end up running things, I don't think Marlo would change a thing about the way he runs things - this is a guy who simply cannot capitulate or cooperate or go against his nature. He's a shark, he has to constantly keep moving and fighting and killing or he'll die. Leading on from that, how brilliant is Omar's strategy for luring Marlo out? Even if it is born out of desperation and improvisation, Omar seems to understand Marlo in a way that Prop Joe and even Chris Partlow do not. He understands that a man is only as strong as his reputation, something that Avon Barksdale also understood. I never really noticed it before, but the timing is kind of perfect in that the word on the street is that Omar is calling Marlo a bitch, and Marlo's response appears to be raising the bounty on Omar so that somebody else will step up and take him down. Marlo made that call BEFORE Omar began running his mouth about Marlo not being man enough to take him on, but the timing means that people are going to start thinking that Omar is telling the truth, that Marlo really is too scared to face him. It's no wonder that Marlo loses his mind when he finally discovers what Omar was saying, because he knows in that moment he has lost the battle forever. Omar is dead by another's hand, Marlo never put his face on the street while Omar was on it calling him out, and he has to know even as he makes the demand that his people putting out the word that Marlo never knew Omar was calling him out will NEVER be believed. What do you think about Scott's journalism skills? While I've criticized the 1-dimensional nature of Klebanow and Whiting, I do have to appreciate that Scott at least has been shown as actually having talent and an ability to get a good story if he can just resist his desire to puff it up/make it more exciting/put himself in the middle of it. We don't see it right away, but even in the case of this excellent story he got, he couldn't resist making a little tweak to jazz things up a little - but with time and hard work and being able to admit that sometimes he made mistakes (being conned by the sister who took the charity funds for her family) he had the makings of a real journalist, and maybe he could have won that Pulitzer for REAL work after all... but he wanted immediate results. Is the growing, spiraling out of control serial killer story believable? It is perversely entertaining to watch McNulty and Freamon's deluded scheme get more and more complicated and ridiculous, but it also does seem to take a step away from the realism The Wire is know for... or does it? Watching a small lie spiral out of control is all too realistic, and while we all can say that it just makes sense for people to come clean or stop the ever growing list of lies.... I'm sure we all know people (or are guilty ourselves) who just continually dig themselves in deeper until a white lie has become a gigantic monster threatening to swallow them whole. In regards to unexpected consequences, it often goes unremarked, but Marlo's downfall can be traced to Prop Joe in some ways. If Marlo hadn't killed Joe, nobody would have ever found the copies of the sealed indictments and learned there was a leak in the courthouse. If that hadn't happened, Pearlman would have never gotten leverage on Levy. If that hadn't happened, Levy would have been able to almost entirely blunt the case built against Marlo by Freamon. Chris might have walked and Marlo remained free to run his drug empire without the Sword of Damocles dangling over his head - but Marlo couldn't resist killing Joe, and that cost him everything. Is it cynical or realistic to look at the way Carcetti has realized he can spin the serial killer story to his own benefit? Isn't he guilty of exactly the same thing as McNulty and Freamon? Cynically using the homeless as props to get the end result wanted that wasn't possible before due to financial restrictions. McNulty at least has to look one of the homeless guys he is using as a prop in the eyes and face up to the monster he is becoming... before he barrels headlong on anyway because goddammit he's going to prove everybody else is wrong and he is right! Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 01:07 on Dec 16, 2013 |
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Dec 15, 2013 23:22
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Jerusalem posted:Leading on from that, how brilliant is Omar's strategy for luring Omar out? Omar was never in the closet so I don't see how he could ever bring himself out of it.
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Dec 16, 2013 00:27
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