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Hmmm, for some reason I always took the last scene as Omar returning to Baltimore... Anyway, awesome writeup as always.
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Apr 5, 2013 13:02
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DarkCrawler posted:Hmmm, for some reason I always took the last scene as Omar returning to Baltimore... I thought that at first too, but the building they're standing in front of says South Bronx Metal and the Empire State Building is in the background of the final crane shot. Plus there's the license plate on the car, the dealer wearing a Yankees road jersey, and Omar in a Brooklyn hoodie to drive the location home further.
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Apr 5, 2013 13:58
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It's kind of funny to think of what would have been if the plug had been pulled after the first season. It's so self-contained that by itself it tells a great story. The resolution is very satisfying in story terms, even if it doesn't give anything resembling a clean win for the 'heroes' or suchlike. It plays out perfectly as a slice-of-life story, just a year of the world turning in West Baltimore. The interesting thing that sticks out here is the FBI wanting to go after Davis, which was precisely the principle that McNulty applied to going after Avon and Stringer- they want the bigger fish and not the street guys. To the FBI, Avon and Stringer are the street guys, and just like the shooters such as Weebay are interchangeable and replaceable in McNulty's eyes, the FBI realizes that Davis is a higher piece on the board. However, the grand irony is that for all the damage Davis does in his career, he probably ultimately does less harm to Baltimore than the string of mayors like Royce, Carcetti, and Campbell.
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Apr 5, 2013 18:03
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Does anyone on the Barksdale side ever realize or acknowledge that D's snitching is the reason Bay got caught? Also the cops used information from the proffer to find Wee-Bay, could Levy have used that against them if he knew? Or is it irrelevant since the info was used to apprehend him, not as part of the case?
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Apr 5, 2013 19:10
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Hammy posted:Does anyone on the Barksdale side ever realize or acknowledge that D's snitching is the reason Bay got caught? Also the cops used information from the proffer to find Wee-Bay, could Levy have used that against them if he knew? Or is it irrelevant since the info was used to apprehend him, not as part of the case? D's tip only gave them location, just like any sort of tip would do. They already had a case against Weebay and didn't have to use any actual testimony from D against him. If they'd gone to trial they couldn't have used D's story of the murder of Avon's ex, but Weebay gave himself up on all that so it was irrelevant.
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Apr 5, 2013 20:24
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Jerusalem posted:
That would be Poot. 
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Apr 5, 2013 21:03
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So Wee-Bey has a different lawyer basically as a way to separate the Barksdale organization from the murders right? Also yeah it didn't hit me until a few rewatches just how idiotic McNulty is being in the FBI meeting. The series likes to hammer home that the FBI has overcommitted to big targets as well as terrorism while completely ignoring more localized crime, but in the larger context its hard to see how they're not in the right here. As we see in season 4, even after Avon and Stringer are out of the picture nothing changes and the political situation just gets worse and worse, with grifters like Davis continually getting rewarded. Granted I'm pretty biased against McNulty but the Feds do have a point even if its for the wrong reasons. On the other hand, season 5 shows that Davis could have been had without a top druglord snitching, and its only Carcetti rejecting the Feds on entirely partisan grounds, as well as Bond angling for Carcetti's job, that destroys both the Marlo and Clay prosecutions. Actually come to think of it, that's an ironic reversal from season 1 there - in season 1, McNulty goes behind command's back to try and get the FBI on board, and Burrell is obviously opposed on principle. In season 5, I doubt Burrell would have minded salvaging the Marlo case, since there was potential bad PR in abandoning it, but its the high command (Carcetti) that sabotages it beforehand. Hell, they were offering explicitly to take over the case but Carcetti tells them to go gently caress themselves because he fears the Republicans can use it against him politically in the governor election. While Fitzhugh is amused that McNulty is doing it without the bosses knowledge, in season 5 he's baffled as to why the case is rejected, and only gets that someone high up must have pissed off the Feds. grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 21:22
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cletepurcel posted:So Wee-Bey has a different lawyer basically as a way to separate the Barksdale organization from the murders right? I never even thought of that, but yes, it makes perfect sense. Jerus are we switching off? Because I'll have Season 2 Ep 1 up in a 2 days, maximum. I'm looking very forward to getting into Season 2. And 3. And 4. But 2 is the one that, frankly, I've analyzed the least, so it will be fun to go through it with a fine-toothed comb for the write-ups. edit: This seems vaguely relevant: http://news.yahoo.com/kfc-offer-easy-eat-boneless-141830680.html Motherfucker got the bone all the way out the drat (deep fried) chicken! escape artist fucked around with this message at 22:06 on Apr 5, 2013 |
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Apr 5, 2013 21:40
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I loving LOVE season 2 so I'm keen to get into it, but this last episode was an exhausting write-up so if you're gonna have it up in a couple of days, please go ahead, it'll be nice to hit the ground running and I can jump in on episode 2. Thanks for catching that I put Bodie in the Pit as well as the Towers  It's interesting to see just how hollowed out the Barksdales were by the Detail even though they didn't get to put together the case they REALLY wanted to. Bodie was second-banana in the Pit, which is about as low as it goes territory wise, and now he's got the coveted Towers position basically by default since everybody above him is either dead or in prison. Poot was on the same level as Wallace and now he's running the Low Rises. Season 2 and 3 goes a bit more into how the loss of their reliable enforcers/Muscle costs the Barksdale Organization, and how Stringer tries to change up "the game" to compensate.
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Apr 5, 2013 23:18
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escape artist posted:I beat you Wallace was doomed from the moment he said "he aint no president." Too cute to live 
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Apr 5, 2013 23:37
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Cinematography question (if that's the right term): I'm glad you brought up this shot in your writeup--  because I've always wondered about that. The camera angles in that scene--almost fish-eyed--always struck me as very strange for a season which, minus a few odd scenes,* took pains to use shots which added to the verisimilitude of the show. That scene in the parking garage, when Levi and Avon and Stringer are close together, always felt off to me, but I was never able to figure out a reason why. Any ideas why they used the angle they did? *Avon slow-motion bro-walking through The Pit
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Apr 6, 2013 00:00
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It's a little more formalist than the show normally goes for, but the slightly fish-eyed closeup shots of Stringer, Avon, and Levy work to highlight their equal importance in managing the Barksdale operation. Note that each of them are shot from right at about chest level, even Levy, and then contrasted with the group shots which highlight the discrepancies in height and posture among the three.
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Apr 6, 2013 02:08
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watt par posted:It's a little more formalist than the show normally goes for, but the slightly fish-eyed closeup shots of Stringer, Avon, and Levy work to highlight their equal importance in managing the Barksdale operation. Note that each of them are shot from right at about chest level, even Levy, and then contrasted with the group shots which highlight the discrepancies in height and posture among the three. I always love hearing about these little nitty gritty filming details that go into making scenes and conveying the story with the positioning of the visuals.
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Apr 6, 2013 03:37
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Technically it's just a really shallow depth of field they're using in the closeup shots. A lot of HBO shows in the 90s and early 2000s did it.
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Apr 6, 2013 07:31
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This article here made me think that Don King must have been a really primary inspiration for Clay Davis: http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9123674/don-king-faces-end-career
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Apr 6, 2013 14:12
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I'm still catching up with the thread and want to bring this up before you start covering season 2. The first time I watched The Wire Polk and Mahone kind of just passed me by but this time around I'm loving the few spotlights they get and just how completely useless they are. I just don't understand how cops like that could exist. What do they even do? How do they get away with taking a department salary for years, apparently, and doing absolutely nothing for anybody? Are there people like that who can just get away with getting drunk all day on the taxpayers dime?
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Apr 6, 2013 19:04
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It can and does happen, especially in a line of work that gives the workers some degree of autonomy in being able to be away from their workplace PLUS a culture of people covering for their "brothers". That said, Polk and Mahon are both clearly considered useless by everybody including their bosses which is why they get saddled on Daniels they first chance their Lieutenant gets. So it's not like they're fooling anybody, it's just that they've been around long enough and can rely on the complicity of others enough that they're just tolerated as something that has to be put up with until they can put in for their pensions. At the start of season 2, McNulty is actually well on his way to becoming them in fact - resigned to being on the boat but satisfied with the revenge he's gotten on Rawls, he claims he's just going to show up to put in the hours till he qualifies for his pension. He doesn't have the satisfaction he has from his foot post in season 4, so he's basically going to spend at least another decade drinking on the job, showing up to fill in his time-sheet, forgotten by the top brass until he can get out. It's easy to see somebody who really doesn't care for the work slowly becoming useless wrecks ala Polk and Mahon. Hell, if Freamon was less of a driven person/hadn't found the miniature furniture outlet for his creativity I could see him becoming "that useless old drunk who works down in the pawnshop unit" - similar to the guy in Evidence Control in season 2 who clearly doesn't give a gently caress about his work and only shows an interest in whether or not he's getting overtime. There might also be something to be said about the possible negative influences of the job being unionized, though I personally think unions are a pretty great thing. There ARE workers who are more than happy to take advantage of the fact that employers are wary of ruffling union feathers.
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Apr 6, 2013 19:20
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I have a question since i havent seen season 1 in a while (still been reading the thread though; reading the write-ups is almost like watching an episode): does Bubbles show any withdrawal symptoms when he quits? I remember that bothering me throughtout the show... they never really show addicts being sick (except a few scenes with jonny weeks iirc) which is what makes heroin such an addictive and devastating drug. A user like him would have been leaking out of every hole in his body except his ears if he just up and quit one day. I think a majority of people are ignorant of the extent that heroin withdrawal ravages the user's health, and since this show did such an amazing job exploring the many nuances of the drug trade I always found it odd that they seem to ignore the fact that dopefiends get really sick without heroin. I feel it is especially important because it is what creates the desperation in users which leads to crime such as shoplifting, burglary and robbery as well as prostitution. They covered it better in The Corner, but that show had more junkies as characters whereas Bubbles is essentially the only one they focus on in The Wire. Anyway, I just rewatched season 2 about a month ago and would definitely be down to do a write-up of one of the episodes if either of you guys get too busy in the coming weeks. I've seen the whole series about 4-5 times and I seem to like season 2 more with each viewing. I met the actor who plays Ziggy in NYC a couple times and it made me appreciate the character a lot more... it's funny because his brother acts kind of like Ziggy in real life but he himself is totally reserved and laid back.
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Apr 6, 2013 20:12
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Well, he does vomit in Season 4 on Landsman when he goes through withdrawal for good. But do we really want to have a scene of Bubbles just making GBS threads and puking? There is one scene in Season 1 where he's detoxing slightly, and they adjust the camera lens, and he pulls on his facial hair and you can really tell how agitated he is, and his mannerisms are much quicker. When I went to rehab, I roomed with heroin addicts and until they got their first dose of meds, this is exactly how they acted. The terrible withdrawal doesn't kick in until a couple days after. The first day is just really unpleasant and all of your senses are in overdrive.
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Apr 6, 2013 21:08
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cheese and crackers posted:
Jerus is always on point, he picks up the ball every time I drop it. So it probably won't be necessary, but I'll give you one of my episodes (a boring one, probably ) and we can have a guest write-up, sure. It'd be fun.
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Apr 6, 2013 21:20
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watt par posted:Technically it's just a really shallow depth of field they're using in the closeup shots. A lot of HBO shows in the 90s and early 2000s did it. Yeah I'm sure it's basic. It's just that I'm so wholly ignorant of the field that the basic elements of the craft are often fascinating. As for Bubbles and detox, it's probably because doing a scene or three where he's puking and making GBS threads everywhere didn't fit in what was a very tight series. It's the same as how we didn't see Kima doing rehab or the various suffering that's associated with the very serious business of taking a couple of bullets.
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Apr 7, 2013 00:15
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escape artist posted:But do we really want to have a scene of Bubbles just making GBS threads and puking? There is one scene in Season 1 where he's detoxing slightly, and they adjust the camera lens, and he pulls on his facial hair and you can really tell how agitated he is, and his mannerisms are much quicker. When I went to rehab, I roomed with heroin addicts and until they got their first dose of meds, this is exactly how they acted. The terrible withdrawal doesn't kick in until a couple days after. The first day is just really unpleasant and all of your senses are in overdrive. He's like at least a couple days in at this point though right? If he is shooting dope and has been for the last 20 years(we never find out when he started but you can tell it was real young) he is in for a very messy world of hurt. I never got that deep thankfully but i knew people that did and i know you did too. I remember being a little miffed at his first season detox as well. I was just quitting pills(OC) when i watched it and couldn't eat or keep fluids in my body or do anything but sweat in to my sheets and pray for sweet release. Edit: I kind of think we do need those scenes. Not him making GBS threads in to the sink while he vomits in a bucket, but more than him pulling out some mustache hairs and acting agitated. Fragmented fucked around with this message at 01:42 on Apr 7, 2013 |
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Apr 7, 2013 01:38
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Oh god and he uses more than just heroin. Imagine coming down off of heroin, coke, meth or who knows what(probably just mostly those three) I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
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Apr 7, 2013 01:46
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Fragmented posted:He's like at least a couple days in at this point though right? If he is shooting dope and has been for the last 20 years(we never find out when he started but you can tell it was real young) he is in for a very messy world of hurt. I never got that deep thankfully but i knew people that did and i know you did too. Yeah this is how i felt.... I remember when i first watched the show i was still pretty young and didnt know anyone with an opiate addiction. To me, the show made it seem like going off of heroin was simply a mental choice. I went to university in Boston and ended up having dozens of friends and acquaintances go through an addiction to 80s, dope or both and the withdrawals were hellish. The kids who did dope would be sick just hours after dosing, and in less than a day they would be pouring sweat and leaking an ungodly amount of tears and snot, yawning to the point their lips split open, puking, making GBS threads, unable to eat or sit still or even think straight. Then there is depression, suicidal ideation, restless leg syndrome, etc... they were pretty much unable to function until they got high again. I agree that a shot of Bubbles on the toilet is unnecessary, but I felt like they could've done more to portray just how awful junkies have it and demonstrate that once you're hooked deep enough you're essentially hosed. And when he pukes on Landsman I took that as nerves due to the fact he killed Sherrod rather than a symptom of withdrawal, but maybe you're right. Guess I'll have to rewatch 4 and 5 too.
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Apr 7, 2013 02:18
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cheese and crackers posted:Yeah this is how i felt.... I remember when i first watched the show i was still pretty young and didnt know anyone with an opiate addiction. To me, the show made it seem like going off of heroin was simply a mental choice. I went to university in Boston and ended up having dozens of friends and acquaintances go through an addiction to 80s, dope or both and the withdrawals were hellish. I don't know about this. To me, the main point of the Bubbs plotline is that the only reliable way one recovers from addiction is when they truly hit rock bottom - which always strikes me as as dark a message as any other on the show. I suppose you could say that's a "mental choice" but when you consider the hell Bubbles goes through throughout season 4 (not just the death of Sherrod but everything leading up to it) it still feels real in that sense. Granted, I have never done drugs but my point is, they don't show the physical withdrawal because they have a larger point to make about addiction that doesn't require it. Also when he pukes on Landsman, Jay specifically asks him how long he's gone without "his medicine", for what it's worth.
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Apr 7, 2013 03:22
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Hearing the words "It's America. You gotta let em play" immediately followed by WHEN YOU WALK THROUGH THE GARDEN is like the summoning ritual for the god of narrative. It sends a chill up my spine. Also I was getting spoiled on regular updates cheese and crackers posted:The kids who did dope would be sick just hours after dosing, and in less than a day they would be pouring sweat and leaking an ungodly amount of tears and snot, yawning to the point their lips split open, puking, making GBS threads, unable to eat or sit still or even think straight. Then there is depression, suicidal ideation, restless leg syndrome, etc... they were pretty much unable to function until they got high again. I agree that a shot of Bubbles on the toilet is unnecessary, The Wire definitely leaves some of these elements out but that might be because they were exhaustively explored in The Corner, which you should watch. the black husserl fucked around with this message at 04:12 on Apr 9, 2013 |
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Apr 9, 2013 04:06
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escape artist posted:Because I'll have Season 2 Ep 1 up in a 2 days, maximum. Looking forward to reading this, happy to jump in if you've been delayed from doing it.
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Apr 9, 2013 04:13
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My opinion of Ziggy changed completely on my rewatch of season 2 and I can't wait to see what you guys have to say about his character. These write ups have been absolutely fantastic so far, keep it up.
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Apr 10, 2013 16:38
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I seem to be in the minority that "got" Ziggy on the first run through. It really surprised me how many needed a rewatch to get him
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Apr 10, 2013 17:58
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SpookyLizard posted:I seem to be in the minority that "got" Ziggy on the first run through. It really surprised me how many needed a rewatch to get him I think it happened as intended for me. I was annoyed by Ziggy for the whole season, much like everyone in his life. Then when it all comes crashing down it hit me like a ton of bricks that his entire life had lead up to this disaster. For me the saddest scene in the entire series is the conversation between Ziggy and Frank in prison.
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Apr 10, 2013 18:14
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SpookyLizard posted:I seem to be in the minority that "got" Ziggy on the first run through. It really surprised me how many needed a rewatch to get him I think I've said it before in this thread- a lot of people hate Ziggy because they've known that kind of guy, the guy who's fun to be around but is a personal black hole who brings complications and chaos everywhere he goes. He's written to be an over the top pain the rear end and they do a beautiful job of not 'redeeming' him, but making him somebody you can relate to.
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Apr 10, 2013 20:52
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Basebf555 posted:For me the saddest scene in the entire series is the conversation between Ziggy and Frank in prison. In a series overflowing with incredible performances, this scene ranks up there among the most well-acted. You can see the completely hopelessness in Ziggy's face the whole time. His life is over before it really even began. He'll never get out of prison, and prison for him is going to be a living hell because the type of behavior he's exhibited throughout the show just won't fly in the slam. Instead of getting put on top of a shipping crate and laughed at, he'll be beaten and raped for stepping out of line. Frank knows all this, and the actor playing him somehow manages to be enraged, shocked, profoundly sad, and yet still proud of his son all at the same time. He sees his own weaknesses in his son, and it's such a painful but revelatory moment for him.
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Apr 10, 2013 21:01
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There was a great comment in Sepinwall's s2 blogs that I think really captures the tragedy of Ziggy. It was something to the effect of this: It's true that he's utterly obnoxious and annoying, but if Ziggy had been born into a white collar family he would have just been a typical frat boy. Here, his personality combined with economics dooms him.
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Apr 10, 2013 21:16
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Season 2 of The Wire faced a few problems, not least of which was the fact that the first season hadn't rated very highly. This is back in the days when HBO wasn't so eager to give shows a chance to find their audience - Carnivale, Rome and Deadwood are just three series that died before their time (though Deadwood is a slightly different matter). On top of that, those who did watch the show were eager to find out what happened next with the Barksdale Organization. Would Avon still run things from jail? Was Stringer Bell going to rise up as the new King of the West Side? What about Prop Joe? Would Bodie and Poot continue to step up? What would happen now that all of the top Barksdale enforcers were dead or in jail? How would D'Angelo deal with being in jail? And on the police side, would Daniels be able to rebuild his career? How was the Detail going to get back up... hell, would it get get back up? Was McNulty trapped in the Marine Unit? Was Greggs going to stick with a desk job? How would Carver deal with being a Sergeant? But while Simon and Burns were keen to answer these questions, they had a different focus in mind. The Wire wasn't meant to be a show simply about cops trying to catch drug dealers (you could get that on NBC, CBS and ABC if you were so inclined), it was an examination of institutions and the individuals trapped inside of them, it was a broad look at a fascinating city full of many cultures and classes. So in season 2, they wanted to shift the focus away from the inner city open drug markets and the Barksdale Organization (though those would still be there) and look at the ports of Baltimore, a once thriving industry that had employed thousands and acted as one of the economic struts of the city... but whose time had now passed. How would those who grew up the latest in a long line of generations deal with the horrifying realization that there was nothing there for them anymore, and nowhere for them to go. How do people who have only ever known one way of life cope when the city that relied on them for so long no longer needs them and doesn't care what happens to them? The problem with this? Well apart from the previously mentioned viewers who just wanted more Barksdale action and nothing else, there was a racial issue to deal with too. The Wire was (and sadly remains) an oddity in that it was a television program that employed a large number of black actors and gave them meaty, interesting roles to play. A line I once read (I believe it was Wendell Pierce) claimed that the actors on the show delivered the performances of their lives because they knew they were dealing with a unique opportunity - a chance to be in something important, to be fully developed characters. So after giving their all for the show, to see the second season suddenly shift focus to a new and largely white cast must have been a bit of a blow. Had they just been fodder to build up some street credit and then let white people reap the benefits? Simon and Burns stuck to their guns and delivered what I believe to be the second best season of a television show ever made... and until season 4 of The Wire came along, it was the BEST season of a television show ever made. While season 2 may feel like an aberration, it helped build on from season 1's foundation and open up the world of The Wire. If anything else, season 2 goes a long way to showing us that economic devastation doesn't differentiate between black or white.
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Apr 11, 2013 12:21
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Season 2, Episode 1: Ebb TideLittle Big Roy posted:Ain't never gonna be what it was. Jimmy McNulty is complaining, are you shocked? Dressed in layers and hugging himself for warmth, Jimmy is in the cockpit with his partner in the Marine Unit - Claude Diggins - complaining about the cold. Claude informs him that in a couple of months it will be spring and he'll soon realize that the Bosses did him a favor by putting him on the boat. McNulty is amused, and looks around the harbor as they chug along, everywhere is the sign of former greatness gone to decay - disused buildings, a canal that needs dredging. Diggins gets the call to investigate a stalled boat, and as they sail along McNulty points out Bethlehem Steel, saying his father used to work there. Diggins' Uncle did too, but both were let go in the 1970s - in Baltimore, the steel industry and the docks used to provide bedrock employment opportunities but both are well past their glory days - now when residents point the place out they don't say,"My Dad/Uncle works there," they say,"My Dad/Uncle used to work there till the layoffs". By contrast, the boat that they've been called to assist is living up the high life - it's a party boat registered to Washington D.C, playfully named CAPITOL GAINS and full of wealthy/powerful people dancing, laughing and generally having a good time, eating and drinking nothing but the best. The rich partiers are unaware of the problems going on at the helm of the ship nor do they really care (do I need to point out the parallel to Baltimore/the country as a whole?), surprised to see the police boat pulling up alongside. The host approaches McNulty (who has freely admitted to the Capitol Gains' captain that he has no idea how boats work) and asks if they have to be towed into dock straight away, everybody is having such a good time. Informed they're in the shipping channel and have to be moved, the host gives McNulty the nod and once together in private offers him cash to just tow them to somewhere out of the way but still on the water and let them finish their party. McNulty takes the cash, and as night falls he sits gloomily with Diggins in their little Marine Unit boat, listening to the sounds of rich people partying in what might as well be another world. The original Tom Waits version of the opening theme joins a slightly edited opening sequence that shows us the docks, prostitutes, the harbor and shipping crates amongst familiar images of drugs, junkies, drug-money and, of course, Bodie and D'Angelo throwing rocks at the surveillance camera in season one. But we're already moving somewhere new as the episode begins in the Southeastern District, where Prez is making a useless bid for a chance at doing real police work to his father-in-law, Major Stan Valchek. Valchek is the Commander of the Southeastern, a predominantly white district, and was seen only once in season one where he thanked Daniels for backing Prez after the drunken late-night tower visit went so wrong. Prez tries to explain to Valchek how fascinating and worthwhile he found working on the Barksdale Detail to be, how it gave him a passion for the job he didn't think he had. He admits for the first time that he deliberately shot up his police-car hoping to get kicked off the force, but now he wants a chance to work in Narcotics or, failing that, to move into the heavy paperwork of Assets Forfeiture. Valchek isn't really paying attention though, he can't take his eyes off the mock-up of a stained glass window he has had commissioned, representing the police force. Large pieces of the actual window arrive in crates, and Valchek eagerly rushes to unpack them, showing off the dove to Prez, who doesn't care, he wants to know if Valchek can help him achieve his dream. Valchek's reply is to lay out what HE thinks is the police career that Prez should be pursuing - he's going to take the Sergeant's Exam, he's going to make Sergeant because of Valchek's political connections, he's going to get assigned a quiet daytime shift in the Southeastern so he and Valchek's daughter can have a stable family life, and he's going to take the Lieutenant's exam after that. Prez tries to explain that he doesn't care about making rank, which is the first thing that truly gets Valchek's attention - he cannot comprehend this as a notion. Gently but condescendingly, he explains that Prez's work on "the drug thing" helped take the stink off of him and that if he'll just shut up and listen, he might actually have a career in the BPD. He smiles winningly, because as far as he is concerned this is the nicest thing he could ever say and the best thing that anybody could ever expect to hear.   We return to the familiar with our first look at Bodie in season 2, but even here he's been forced out of his comfort zone to experience something new. Along with a driver named Shamrock, they're driving in a van out to Philadelphia. Bodie complains that the radio isn't working, and Shamrock explains it is because they're getting out of the range of Baltimore radio stations. Bodie reveals some of his naivete, asking in innocent bewilderment if the radio stations in Philly are different to Baltimore. Shamrock can't believe he didn't know that, but with some pride Bodie explains he's never been outside of Baltimore except for a brief time in the boy's village, where radio was the last thing on his mind. Shamrock surfs through the stations and they find themselves listening to Garrison Keillor on A Prairie Home Companion, utterly bewildered at what the hell they're hearing  They take the exit into Philly, followed unseen by two unfamiliar older characters in another car. Shamrock pulls up at a parking garage and Bodie rushes in to find the car he's been tasked with picking up. Hopping in, he notes down the mileage on a pad of paper and heads out, followed by Shamrock who is followed in turn by the mysterious duo.Back in Baltimore, a very dapper looking Bunk comes to visit McNulty at the dock, joking that he's finally found "the little man in the boat". McNulty is delighted to see him and invites him into the boat, but Bunk doesn't swim and isn't much for floating either, and prefers to stay on solid ground. He explains that he's come down because Bird's trial is coming up soon and it's time to get all their ducks in the row - he needs to collect the evidence from storage and wrangle up the witnesses to go through preliminaries - the old lady is no problem but he needs to get in touch with Omar, and McNulty is the only one who has ever been able to get in touch with him. McNulty acts disinterested, clearly uncomfortable since he knows he has no idea how to find Omar, who he last saw boarding a bus to New York, and jokes that he isn't to starboard. Bunk corrects him, that's port, and then offers to buy him lunch. McNulty is happy to go along, but irritated when he learns Sergeant Landsman wants $10 for successfully betting McNulty would end up on the boat, claiming that it is probably Landsman who told Rawls where he didn't want to end up. Bunk teases him, saying homicide isn't the same without him... it's better! On the docks, we get out first look at Frank Sobotka, Secretary Treasurer of the Stevedores' Union. Overweight, balding and unshaven, Frank looks at home in a threadbare couch arguing with Nat Coxson, the President of another union. Nat wants Frank to concentrate his political efforts on getting the grain pier repaired, while Frank's focus is on the rather daunting goal of having the canal dredged. While the latter would undoubtedly vastly increase the number of ships that could be serviced in Baltimore, the prohibitive cost of getting it done is likely to scare away any politician/businessperson with the stroke to get it done. The grain pier, on the other hand, would only provide a slight increase in work but is a far more attainable goal, and Nat is angry that Sobotka is potentially going to cost them getting ANYTHING achieved - and run the risk that some entrepreneur swoops in and turns the grain pier into high-priced condominiums. Frank is more relaxed, not even rising to the bait when Coxson tells him he'll be left with nothing but his shrivelled dick in his hands. Nat doesn't want to listen to his response though, informing him that he's recommending to the District Council that they push to get the Grain Pier repaired, and storms out. Frank's associates - Horseface and Ott, white and black respectively - are amused at Coxson's fury, and especially at the fact that Frank simply sat there - shrivelled dick and all - taking it. Frank gets fired up, declaring that he wakes up each morning with an angry blue-veined diamond cutter, and that he WAS going to inform Nat about this before he left. Getting up, he puts on his safety vest and declares once more than his dick is blue steel.... three and a half inches of hard blue steel!  Outside, Frank watches shipping crates being unloaded, enjoying the sight of the only thing he has even known, and lights up a cigarette. He's joined by a young man, his nephew Nick Sobotka, and is delighted to hear he has found work as a lasher today, telling him he's making the family proud. Things aren't the way they were though, this is the first day of work that Nick has managed to get in two weeks - there is less work to be found on the docks nowadays, and the unions use a seniority system that means that the younger workers are always the last to get work - it takes a busy day for everybody get a job, and there are getting to be less and less busy days. Nick cracks a joke about Ott owing him $20 for lottery tickets and prepares to leave, but a grinning Frank calls him back after making sure nobody is around, all business now. Nick needs to see "the Greek" tomorrow to get a number, something is coming into the docks. Nick nods and heads away, and Frank gets some bad news, somebody called Ziggy is causing problems. Driven out on a little cart to see him, Frank finds a skinny young man snapping angrily at a pissed off driver as he tries to locate a crate for him. Frank intervenes to ask the driver what is going on, he's been at the docks since 8 in the morning and Ziggy has lost the "can" his cargo is in. Ziggy insists it isn't lost... he just cast find it, and stabs away at his scanner trying to figure out why it isn't where the manifest says it is. It's either in Bay 7 (which is empty) and if not it's in 8 or ..... it's definitely.... somewheres in the stacks! Frank can't believe it, and calms down the irate driver by telling him he'll call his shipping agent and square things with him till they can find it for him. He then turns to Ziggy and lays down a harsh punishment for his incompetence - he's fired, he can finish out the day but he's never coming back. Frank storms off and the pleased driver says goodbye to Ziggy, who with surprising calm just offers a sardonic grin before walking away. The driver can't believe it, he was fired and acts like he doesn't care? La La - the worker who drove Frank down in the cart - informs him that Ziggy isn't really fired. Why not? Because this happens all the time, Ziggy is Ziggy Sobotka, Frank's son.   I think it's fairly obvious which one Frank wishes was his son. In the Evidence Control basement, Bunk brings in a request for the evidence gathered on the Gant case and the first question he is asked is... how fast you need this, obviously not keen to actually leave his counter and do some work. The case needs to start prepping this week so Officer Burns heads off, and Bunk waits, surprised when he hears Lieutenant Daniels calling out for Burns before noticing him. The man who was predicted to become the next Major in control of a district in the BPD is now being wasted in Evidence Control, a modern day Lester Freamon who thumbed his nose at the Bosses and got tucked away out of sight for the most horrible revenge possible - irrelevancy. They shake hands and Bunk says he'd heard he was down here but is still surprised to see him, commenting that these motherfuckers don't play. Daniels bites his tongue, obviously not wanting to speak badly of higher ranks no matter how he might feel, and asks what Bunk is doing down there. Bunk explains and Daniels tells him to give Bird his love, and they share a chuckle. That doesn't last though, Burns returns and in a blase manner tells them,"No evidence," as if that is an end to the matter. What the hell does that mean? Burns, seeming confused that Bunk hasn't just gone away, explains that the submission sheet says the evidence is in Row BB Section 14 Shelf 3, 4 right rear - but Row BB only has 12 sections. So... no evidence. Bodie - still listening to Garrison Keillor - finds himself at a detour that goes against his carefully laid out route. Distressed, he takes the detour, still being followed by Shamrock and the unseen third car. Arriving at his destination, Bodie pulls into a garage and the third car puts through a call to let somebody know that he has arrived. Frank has left the docks and gone to his Church, genuflecting before taking a seat and placing a surprisingly large wad of cash into an envelope. The priest approaches and invites him out to the nave to see his window - a rather beautiful stained glass made in Esslingen, Germany representing stevedores unloading crates from a ship at dock. They admire it, and Frank says it was something he was happy to do for the Church.. but now he needs to ask for a favor in return - he needs face time with Senator Barbara Mikulski. She attends the early morning Sunday service that is given in Polish, and the priest - Father Lewandowski - tells him that he's happy to arrange it, and Frank didn't need to donate a window to do it. More to the point, he's donated more than enough to warrant having the window put up in the first place. This raises the interesting question that the priest doesn't ask - there's less and less work at the docks, Father Lewandowski says that tough guys are coming to him with dreadful confessions which he knows are a sign of the tough times, so where is Frank getting all this money?  Remember this window, it's basically responsible for the bulk of the next four seasons. At the garage, Bodie, Shamrock and two mechanics are getting progressively more concerned. They've torn the car to pieces and found absolutely nothing - this trip wasn't just for Bodie to pick up a car, it's supposed to have drugs packed into it and they haven't found anything. Shamrock insists it must be somewhere else but the mechanics say it is ALWAYS in the doors, and when he looks unconvinced they remind him that he's been standing there watching them pull apart the car and he knows they haven't taken anything - the mechanic sounds increasingly frantic as he repeats this point, knowing just how precarious a position he's in. Bodie and Shamrock know it too, it doesn't matter that there aren't any drugs - all that "he" is going to hear is that they don't have his drugs. Shamrock angrily insists they check again and shoves one of the mechanics, and Bodie snaps him back into line. Outside, one of the two watchers notes that they're taking longer than the shoulder and the older man sneaks up to peer in the window, just in time to see Bodie angrily knocking items off of a shelf and demanding to know what is going on. The police are pulling things apart in Evidence Control too, Daniels, Burns and one other person (Bunk?) are going through all of the shelves searching for the Gant evidence. Burns continually insists that this is going to take them all night to go through everything, and Daniels agrees that it will, making it clear they're going to be there all night if necessary. Burns doesn't take the inspiration or absorb the work ethic lesson that Daniels might have been hoping for though, as he instantly moves to what truly concerns him - does this mean they get overtime? I can't help but think of the comparisons made by one of the "young'uns" and Carver in season one, when they independently laid out the difference between the drug business and the schools/the police. Bodie, Shamrock and the mechanics can't find anything so they're in utter terror of what could happen to them. Burns can't find evidence needed for a high profile murder case and his reaction is... to ask if he's going to get paid more money just to do his job.   In a small office in the Forfeiture Unit of Narcotics, Greggs is struggling to type a report (she at least has a computer now) when Herc comes barging in to complain about how awful white people are at being drug dealers. He clearly hasn't changed at all since season one, happily telling her about how easy his job has been made (remember, smart criminals make for smart cops) as his targets are completely without subtlety and don't use codes, openly talking about selling drugs and asking for money for the drugs they carry with them personally. Kima - obviously used to Herc barging in whenever he feels like a chat - grins but continues typing away at her report, until he tells her that they need to apply preferential laws for white drug dealers just to even out the playing field somewhat - affirmative action for white people! Kima asks what he really wants, and he tells her he needs her to do the seizures for him. It's not that simple though, he needs to provide her with titles, deeds and registrations, all she can do is write up the affidavits for the city solicitor, but he has to provide the information - no paperwork, no property. She tells him he needs to step up, she and Carver aren't there to cover for him anymore. He's not pleased at the idea of having to do his own paperwork, but does offer her a tantalizing opportunity anyway - tomorrow they're kicking in doors on a raid and he wants her to join him, he knows she misses the action. She quite clearly does, obviously tempted by his offer before resisting and telling him that she's inside now, she's put that part of her career behind her. Disappointed, Herc tells her that if she was a guy - and in many ways she is better than a guy - her buddies would take her out for a beer and inform her that she was pussy-whipped. He exits her office, leaving behind a surprisingly pleased Kima. Bunk and McNulty have gone to a bar, where Bunk is still needling Jimmy about finding Omar. McNulty's reply? "...who?" Bodie and Shamrock are returning to Baltimore in the van, a troubled Bodie asking Shamrock how "he" was on the phone. All Shamrock was told was that they had to return... all of them. As they drive on, followed by the still unspotted watchers, the two mechanics sit miserably in the back of the van. Reaching Baltimore, they're separated at the funeral parlor, deliberately left to stew in their own juices. Bodie sits near an open casket, a body laid out inside, the mechanics are left together in a corridor loomed over by some "muscle", and Shamrock is in another seating area unable to remain still. All of them know they're in a huge amount of trouble, they have to answer for the missing drugs. In the office, Stringer Bell prepares his tea and watches as the take from the various drug markets are counted. A large enforcer arrives to let Stringer know that so far they're all telling the same story, and Stringer quietly summons another to check on the timing of the drive and the mileage on the car. He sits with Shamrock first, wanting to know about Bodie - was he with him at all times? Did Bodie ever go off on his own? How long was he alone when he went into the garage to pick up the car? Shamrock answers everything truthfully, eager to get clear of any suspicion and not stupid enough to try and blame somebody else - Bodie was alone for maybe 3 minutes, nowhere near enough time to get the drugs out of the car. Satisfied, Stringer goes to see an agitated Bodie next, who can barely stand still as he jumps up in Stringer's presence and eagerly answers all his questions, telling him that he followed all the instructions as he was given. Stringer asks to see his mileage figures and Bodie quickly hands over his scrawled notes, and Stringer compares them with his own figures - there is a discrepancy. Oh poo poo. Bodie is 3/10ths of a mile long, which means he didn't follow directions. Horrified, Bodie protests his innocence but Stringer simply walks away, conversing with the two men who (unknown to Bodie) followed him to Philly. Bodie is left standing unsure of what to do now, still holding Stringer's cup of tea that he casually gave to Bodie to hold. Stringer and the two converse quietly and then Stringer returns, takes his tea back, has a drink and asks Bodie if he took a detour due to roadworks on the boulevard? Did he hurt his foot when he kicked the tire jack? A slow smirk creeps up Stringer's face and you can almost feel the wave of relief wash over Bodie - he was being followed the entire time? For him this is fantastic news, it means that Stringer KNOWS he didn't take the drugs. Stringer just smiles and walks away, leaving behind a relieved Bodie who belatedly thinks to question.... where are the drugs?    That scene is so, so important for a lot of different reasons. First of all, we've established that Stringer's position as the head of the Barksdale Organization is a solid one, he's very much in control and the people beneath him are terrified of the idea of crossing him. More importantly though is the relationship between Stringer and Bodie - remember it was Stringer who first saw the potential in Bodie and put Levy on getting him out of Juvenile Detention, Stringer who carefully manipulated him to get rid of the perceived Wallace problem, Stringer who showed confidence in him by giving him one of only two cellphones for use in the Low Rises, Stringer who put him in control of one of the Tower markets. Bodie will feel like he owes everything to Stringer, and he would have been delighted with the confidence shown in him by being chosen to do the pick-up in Philly. But remember at the end of season one when Brianna scolded Avon on how he handled the pick-up that got D'Angelo arrested? Bodie was effectively the mule today, and in fact Shamrock was probably in the more favored position by getting to drive a car that wasn't supposed to have drugs in it (though both were being followed by two other trusted tails). Bodie doesn't know that though, as far as he's concerned Stringer has shown a lot of confidence in him and he's grateful for it. When things went wrong and he couldn't find the drugs, he'd have been terrified. But Stringer demonstrating that he knew exactly where Bodie was at all times both relieves and impresses him - now as far as Bodie is concerned, Stringer is a genius, a guy who covers all the bases, who has everything under control, who can't be surprised or tricked. He knew about the detour, he knew that Bodie kicked the tire jack, and presumably he knows where the drugs are too. Bodie asked "where it at?" and got no answer, but he won't be surprised by that, why would or should Stringer answer questions from an underling like him? Bodie doesn't know why the drugs weren't there, but Stringer knows everything so Stringer MUST know why. Stringer was amused and unconcerned, so therefore it can't be a big deal. Maybe he'll think that there never were any drugs and Stringer just organized the whole thing as a test for Bodie and Shamrock? Whatever the reason, Bodie will have completely confidence in Stringer, and absolute loyalty - this is a guy at the top of "the Game", this is a guy that Bodie will follow into hell. The sad thing is that Stringer is probably also a guy who would quite happily send Bodie to hell if it suited him. At Delores' bar, Ziggy and Nick are drinking at the bar and Ziggy is trying to convince Nick to take him along to meet "The Greek", which Nick is clearly not enthusiastic about. Ziggy insists, saying he needs to meet him so he can try and figure out a way to make a little extra money on the side for both of them. Ziggy is that type, an enthusiastic believer in his own specialness, and when the more realistic Nick tells him that these guys are "real", Ziggy laughs, does that mean he's not? Nick does a neat little double-take in reaction, we already know enough about Ziggy to know that he's about as far from real as it gets. A live band is tuning up while the older longshoremen/stevedores are sharing old work-stories about the good old days, much to the amusement of the younger ones. Nick declares happily that the poo poo is thick in the air tonight, but the needling is all good natured and often oft-repeated, everybody laughs as they exchange taunts, though there is an underlying sadness - they're talking about the old days when work was plentiful. A very large, bald and bearded stevedore named Little Big Roy offers the episode's epigraph, it "ain't never gonna be what it was." This taunting is where Ziggy shines though, he can talk poo poo better than anybody and is quickly the center of attention (just as he likes it), ranting about the old timers unloading 10 ships a day one-armed after losing the other under a 300-pound bag of Polish dildos. What's a Polish dildo? For Ziggy he claims it is a ring of kielbasa, while for the old timers it's just any old breakfast link. Ziggy leads the charge, ordering the younger workers to starboard, and everybody gleefully rushes to the other side of the bar and huddles up, Ziggy warning them that the old-timers have unloaded so much bullshit that it's filled up the other side of the bar. Everybody is laughing, even Nick who is enjoying Ziggy's antics a great deal. He takes it too far, of course, leaping up and - against the warnings of Delores who owns the bar - whips out a HUGE penis for all to see. This is clearly not the first time he's done this, nobody is shocked and everybody laughs, and then the band - the Nighthawks - breaks into song, and Ziggy is instantly on the dancefloor leaping about while everybody at the bar knock back shots. The heavy drinking is interspersed with shots of the harbour at night and then as the sun comes up - seemingly the raucous action has been going all through the night. We've been given a look at the life of those who work on the docks - less work, unions fighting each other over how to save what they've got, and heavy, non-stop drinking through the nights as people wax lyrical about the way things used to be.   In the morning a less than pleasant sight greets the Marine Unit. McNulty is given the cheery task of hooking a dead body floating in the water, not able to bring her into the boat because she would probably fall apart in the process. Diggins tells him to hook her and he'll slowly bring them to shore, and asks how long it looks like she has been in the water - she's fairly fresh according to McNulty, and Diggins says she's probably a jumper from the bridge. At Nick's house, he's woken by angry thumping on the floor of the kitchen above his bedroom. It's a sound of habit, clearly drunken nights are not a rarity for Nick, and the person thumping has long since given up calling down to him or walking down to wake him personally. He switches on the radio so she'll know he's up, pulling on a shirt and staggering up the stairs where he finds Ziggy passed out on the couch and his mother still thumping on the floor. He snaps at her to cut it out and tries to wake Ziggy who is unresponsive, and heads over to the kitchen where his grumpy mother - wearing a house-coat over her nightgown - is not pleased to see him. She tells him the kitchen is closed, complaining that he wasn't responsible enough to get up and head down to the docks where he could have caught a ship and gotten a day's work. He tells her that it's the Atlantic Light and not due in till the afternoon, but she snaps this isn't the point and flicks a dish towel at him as he downs a full beer for his breakfast. There's just an air of quiet despair around the entire scene, the small and narrow house is meticulously clean but the slippers/nightgown/house-coat combination speaks to the chill of house with either poor insulation of a lack of proper/affordable heating. Nick is clearly into his 20s but still lives at home in the basement, works one day out of every two weeks and spends his nights drinking heavily and palling about with his idiot cousin. He gives her a kiss on the head and she grunts and waves him away but seems pleased... till he casually burps while heading down to the bathroom. She complains wearily about having two drunks in the house, and shouts at him to make sure he takes Ziggy with him when he goes, she has to clean in the lounge and she isn't going to do it around him. Apparently he ignores her, dressing up warm and heading out into the alley and his beat up old car... which refuses to start. There's an interesting shot of a huge old building that appears to be abandoned in the background as Nick struggles to start his car, I wish I knew more about what it was, it seems (in conjunction with the failing old American-made car) to represent the death of industry in America, but I could just be reading too much into it.   At the Church, Father Lewandowski has been "pleasantly" surprised by a visit from Major Valchek and an assortment of thin packing crates carried by uniformed police officers. The Priest points out that they never see him at Sunday Mass and yet here he is with an army on a Tuesday morning. Valchek hands over a donation of $2500 dollars, made by him and every Polish police officer and firefighter across three districts and four firehouses. It's a surprisingly paltry contribution coming from so many, you get the impression that this is a cause near and dear to the heart of Stan Valchek alone, and an uneasy Lewandowski asks what it is for. Why, for the nave! Valchek decided to surprise him with a stained glass window memorial for Polish Police and Firefighters, since the nave was going to be renovated and all. He shows the mock-up of the completed window, bragging about the craftsman he found, but Lewandowski has bad news for him, and takes him to the nave to show him the stevedore memorial that is already in place. He tells Valchek they do need a new window for the second floor of the rectory, but Valchek wants that spot and tries to get into a bidding war with the dock boys, telling them he'd be willing to go as high as $4,000. Offerings are confidential, but he just wants to know if they went higher than that, and when Lewandowski doesn't respond he takes it as confirmation. He asks who presented the donation and is surprised to learn it was Frank Sobotka, whom Valchek knows as the head of the local Checkers Union.... and that he knows has barely 100 dues paying members anymore. Lewandowski cheerfully suggests that Valchek go and talk with Frank, and maybe the two of them can sort out a compromise, and Valchek agrees that they'll talk, something else quite clearly in mind. He leaves, passing a uniformed officer who is still carrying up pieces of the window, asking Valchek where they are supposed to put everything, no idea that they've had a wasted trip. Nick has had to give up driving and is walking to the docks, passing a building that is being renovated into luxury homes and apartments called Ship's Landing, available in the "low" $300,000 range - the culture and history of the industry that has been gutted is being co-opted by property developers to make a profit from the already wealthy, just as Coxson warned. Detective Ray Cole is pleased to see McNulty when he arrives to investigate the dead body found in the water, now laid out on a sheet on a harbor lookout. Cole has nothing but red ink under his name this year and Rawls has become "an rear end in a top hat with teeth" as a result, so he's probably pleased at what is likely to be a slam dunk investigation - a suicide from the bridge. McNulty - who is no longer in homicide - is carefully investigating the dead girl's fingers while Cole is more interested in gossiping, asking him to guess who was puking their guts out in the men's room this morning. McNulty already knows, it was Bunk, and he tells Cole that Bunk can't hold his liquor. Avon Barksdale is having a better morning, pleased to see Stringer there for an early morning visit. He's obviously very much up on what is going on, aware that the drugs weren't in the car as planned and asking Stringer if he has heard anything from their drug connection - Roberto. Stringer hasn't heard anything, and Avon tells him that he needs to get to New York immediately and find out what is going on... he is certain that it wasn't anybody on their side? Stringer is adamant on that, everybody's story matched up plus he had two watchers on them at all times. This Avon didn't know (nor should he, in prison he doesn't need to concern himself with the minutiae) and he is pleased to find out it was Tank and Country, the latter only recently out of jail and already straight back into "the Game". Stringer is impressed too, and they laugh happily about how he got straight back into the mix despite still being on parole. Avon tells Stringer that since they're absolutely confident it wasn't them, Stringer can be firm with Roberto - he has their money and they don't have the product. How is Avon himself doing though? He assures Stringer that it's simply a matter of having the right mindset, as far as he is concerned he is only serving two days in prison - the day he got in, and the day he gets out. Nick bumps into Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto, a Checker in the Union who has managed to get work today. Nick asks how it looks for him but apparently he's out of luck, he doesn't have the seniority and there are two few jobs, and they agree that seniority sucks.... if you don't have seniority. Ziggy pulls up in his Camaro (complete with an unpainted panels presumably replaced after an accident/s) "Princess" as Johnny says his goodbyes and heads away, looking remarkably chipper for somebody so slight who must be operating on a couple of hours sleep and a shitload of booze. He asks why Nick didn't wake him up to come with him, and then surprises Nick by revealing that Nick's mother actually made him breakfast - bacon and eggs! Ziggy brings up "The Greek" again, asking to come along and once again Nick warns him off. In that infectious, enthusiastic way that people like him have, Ziggy insists he is being silly, he isn't going to gently caress things up for Nick, he'll just give him a ride and won't embarrass him. Nick clearly knows this is a bad idea, but it's cold, Ziggy has a car, and he did promise soooooo.... he hops in, warning Ziggy he'll kill him if he opens his mouth. Well dressed but incognito, Stringer Bell takes the train to New York. Nick and Ziggy arrive at a dingy little cage/coffee-house in the middle of nowhere, where a short bald man pleasantly greets Nick but looks unsure about Ziggy's presence. Ziggy immediately fucks things up, his overbearing assumptions that everybody loves him causing him to greet the man like an old friend and blurt out immediately that he must be "The Greek". The man - Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos - is surprised at how unsubtle Ziggy is but maintains a pleasant facade, agreeing that he is "a" Greek at least. Nicky joins him at a small table with two others, quietly commenting/apologizing that Ziggy gave him a lift here. Ziggy hears this and is clearly hurt, but can't resist continuing to stick his oar in, spotting that one of the men is "Boris", somebody he has seen around the docks from time to time. "Boris" isn't pleased at the name, his name is Sergei, and he's Ukrainian not Russian. Ziggy insists they're the same thing, about the worst thing he could say, and the humorless Sergei tells him he's wrong. Nick can't resist joining in the teasing and Vondas and the other man - Glekas - seem amused too. All of them but Ziggy know when enough is enough though and they prepare to settle down for business, Vondas politely offering Nick something to eat or drink and Nick politely declining. Ziggy shoves his face in though, asking what kind of pie they make, and Nick has to take a hard line, snapping at Ziggy to shut the gently caress up. Ziggy is crestfallen, while Vondas and Sergei both have the uncomfortable look people get when they find themselves peripherally involved in a private argument between family or close friends.  Ziggy walks miserably away to sit at the counter, the old man who is probably a fixture carefully shifting his cigarettes out of the way in case Ziggy tried to take them. Ziggy looks at a menu, trying to pretend he can't hear the others quietly talking about him, noting that he's Frank's kid and that he's in the union, both clearly excuses for tolerating his presence. Vondas slips Nick a paper with the number of the crate to be moved, and tells him Sergei will be doing the driving. Nick is a little concerned at that, they should be changing things up to prevent people getting suspicious, but Vondas sees it another way - you find somebody you trust, you stick with them - an unspoken message to Nick that they trust him and Frank. All done, Nick gets up and tells Ziggy they're leaving, who tries to regain a sense of control by trying to ask the counterman about the turkey sandwich. Nick hauls him out, Ziggy unable to resist calling out a goodbye to the trio at the table, who shake their heads, Vondas commenting,"Polacks." Outside, Ziggy is furious, complaining without a hint of irony that Nick embarrassed him in there. Nick tells him he embarrassed himself, but Ziggy isn't the kind of person to take on messages like that - it's always somebody else's fault. At the docks, Frank sits with Ott and Horseface in their little converted crate-office reading newspapers, but Frank can't relax knowing that Nick has been to see the Greek. He heads outside, where he is in time to see the Maryland Port Authority Police Officer - Beadie Russell - who is driving her patrol around the docks. She stops and cheerfully asks him to spare her the paperwork by just telling her what he and his crew are going to be stealing today, and he gets a kick out of it, listing off all manner of luxury items. Saying goodbye, she puts her headphones back on and drives away, Horseface complaining to Frank for letting her gently caress with him. Frank doesn't see it that way, telling her he doesn't mind, he likes he - it probably pays that she is fairly attractive. Ziggy pulls up and Nick immediately heads out to give him the number, who passes it on to Horseface who is in on the deal. Frank asks if they said anything, but it was business as usual, the same money to them as always. This is the source of Frank's cash, he is helping "The Greek" smuggle items through the docks. McNulty arrives at Homicide, where Winona - presumably an office assistant - is updating the board containing the current active cases. She's delighted to see Jimmy and asks where he has been, but he just kind of wanders off without replying which is kinda rude, really! Landsman spots him and bursts out laughing, admitting that he did tell Rawls (who is now a Colonel) that Jimmy didn't want to end up on the boat, but he had no idea just how pissed off with him Rawls was. Cole informs McNulty that the dead girl came back a homicide, she was beaten to death before being put into the water, and Jimmy shows off by pointing out the defense wounds he spotted on her fingers, as well as the fact she was missing winter clothing. He heads out - he came to see Bunk who isn't there - and tells them to have fun, but Landsman says they've already had theirs, they dumped the body on Baltimore County. This draws McNulty back, how did they do that? Landsman explains she was pulled out on the East side of the bridge which makes her the County's problem. McNulty can't believe they managed to sell them on that, but that's all down to Rawls who was quick to get rid of another potentially unsolvable murder. Jimmy leaves shaking his head, and Landsman - serious now - tells him that he never learned the lesson of self-preservation. The crate comes off the Atlantic Light, Frank watching nervously from his office door as the truck driver pulls away with the crate left behind, clearing it for Sergei - who is waiting near another truck while talking on the phone. It's clear that Frank is not a natural criminal, no matter what the stereotype of the stevedores might be, and Catholic guilt is probably eating him up inside over what he is doing for cash, which would explain the large donations to the Church. Horse seems more pragmatic, telling Frank the crate is there for them to pick up whenever they want, it's their problem now. In New York, Stringer Bell has met with a smooth Dominican lawyer who has signed him on as a client, making their conversation privileged and freeing them up to talk. Stringer was expecting to meet Roberto, but the lawyer assures him that was never going to happen and shows him Monday's newspaper - Roberto Castillan de Silva has been arrested by the DEA. Everything makes sense to Stringer now, this explains why their deal didn't go through... but still, usually if you take a fall you have to get straight back into "the Game", since nobody is going to be looking at you now - which is essentially what they did in the aftermath of Avon's arrest. The lawyer agrees this is one way of doing things, but another is to sit back and examine WHY you took the fall in the first place, the implication clear - they suspect Avon did a deal.  The lawyer assures him the advance payment for the non-delivered goods is being returned to them, it arrived at the same time as their "problem" did. Stringer doesn't like what is being suggested about Avon, reminding the lawyer they sent all the documents pertaining to the case to Roberto and they show that nobody rolled on anybody else (no need to mention how close D'Angelo came). The lawyer agrees but stresses they have a legitimate concern, considering the scope of Avon's operation he received a surprisingly light sentence, and as long as there is any possibility that he has flipped, they can't do business with him. Stringer holds his temper admirably, one can only imagine how Avon would react in the same situation, but this is a huge blow to the Organization - without Roberto's drugs, their grip on their territory will loosen. How is Roberto's lawyer to know that the reason for Avon's light sentence is a mixture of Levy's shrewd bargaining and the Detail investigating him being sabotaged every step of the way. In Baltimore, Frank is becoming agitated that Sergei is still on the phone and the crate is still sitting waiting to be driven out. Horseface is getting nervous now too, the customs seal is broken and if anyone spots that the crate will be instantly investigated. Frank puts through a call to Nick to tell him what is going on, warning him that the Atlantic Light is nearly completely unloaded now and they need to do something. Nick says he'll see what he can do (call Vondas presumably, they only communicate through a trusted intermediary) but shortly after Sergei hops into his truck and... drives away without the crate. Horrified, Frank makes a half-hearted attempt to chase him, then instructs Horseface to "lose it in the stacks", they can't risk the crate being linked back to them, no matter what is in it. Meanwhile McNulty is getting the best kind of revenge there is - petty revenge! Tucked away in the Marine Unit office, he is painfully reviewing charts, wind currents and tide figures and carefully working out exactly where the body went into the water based on the time of death. Why is he taxing a brain that is great at homicide investigations but doesn't deal well with paperwork and figures? Because it gives him a chance to flip Rawls and Landsman the bird. Kima returns home making a joke of her complaints about doing nothing but paperwork. Cheryl is amused but unsympathetic, hauling Greggs into her lap after telling her she doesn't care so long as it means Kima is home safe and sound every night. Greggs spots the paperwork she has been going through next to a book on Lesbian Parenting - she is attempting to get pregnant, paying $1000 per Doctor's visit till she gets pregnant. Kima says there has to be a better way and Cheryl says if she can find a suitable donor it'll bring the costs down, and shows her a list of potential donors. Kima looks it over and tells her she wouldn't gently caress any of them with Cheryl's pussy, who chases her around the room laughing. Kima SEEMS to be settling down to a cosy domestic life - she's in-office, home each evening, her partner is trying to get pregnant, surely she must be happy, right? The next day, Rawls pops out of his office and with false cheer summons Landsman, informing him that their floater has returned. He shows Landsman the message they've received from Baltimore County, revealing that McNulty in the Marine Unit quite carefully and accurately demonstrated that the body was dumped into the water on the City side. Shaking his head, he admits he has to give McNulty credit, and heads back into his office with a quiet,"Cocksucker," while Landsman returns to his own muttering,"Motherfucker." At the Tower courtyard, Bodie is discussing the count when one of his dealers arrives declaring that their re-up is low and complains that the dealer - Mo-Man - is stashing drugs for himself, and he's going to gently caress him up. Bodie complains that he can't just go with his first instinct to gently caress somebody up, showing he has actually learned something from the way D'Angelo ran things in the Low Rises. He points out that Mo-Man is actually holding as much as he is meant to, and agrees that while this means they're low on supply, there's a reason for that. What is that? He doesn't know, but Stringer obviously wants them low and therefore there's a good reason for it. "Stringer's on top of this poo poo," he declares,"He's on top of everything!" - Bodie is a believer. As Cole and Landsman watch Winona adding the Jane Doe in red on the board, Beadie Russell is continuing her patrol of the stacks of shipping crates when she spots one with a broken customs seal. Stopping, she steps forward to investigate further, opening the crate up and finding it full of boxed personal computers. Climbing inside, she moves through the columns of boxes and finds a small bolted door set into a false wall about halfway into the crate. Unbolting it, she opens the door... and an arm flops out attached to a dead woman. Beadie gasps, but she hasn't seen anything yet. In the Union crate-office, Frank, Horseface and Ott are sharing tasteless jokes (including an ill-timed rape joke) when they hear sirens and Johnny 50 arrives to tell them something big is happening. They head outside as police and a fire engine arrive, while inside the crate Beadie and another officer take another look through the half-door - there's more than one dead body in there, there are over a dozen. As Beadie rushes outside to prevent losing her lunch, Frank arrives at the scene with Horse, Ott and Johnny 50 - La La and Nick are already there and inform them of the grisly find.    "Dead? They're dead?" asks Frank. He's been taking money from The Greek in order to keep the Union going and attempt to revitalize the docks, and he's just realized that he is complicit in the death of a dozen women. If he thought dumping the crate in the stack would make the problem just go away, he couldn't have been more wrong. Things are about to get a lot more complicated down on the docks. Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 12:23 on Apr 11, 2013 |
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Apr 11, 2013 12:21
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Jerusalem posted:There's an interesting shot of a huge old building that appears to be abandoned in the background as Nick struggles to start his car, I wish I knew more about what it was, it seems (in conjunction with the failing old American-made car) to represent the death of industry in America, but I could just be reading too much into it. That's the old Silo Point grain elevator- the grain pier in question in the first stevedore's union scene, which true to Nat Coxson's warning, was turned into condos. Nick Sobotka's house is roughly on Andre St. in the eastern end of Locust Point. Alec Bald Snatch fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 11, 2013 |
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Apr 11, 2013 15:39
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Nice symbolism with Beadie and her headphones. She takes them off when she finds the broken seal, and doesn't put them on again until the final montage, when she's done with all the investigative work. She goes from one small lonely job (taking tolls o the freeway) to another (driving around solo, occasionally BS'ing with the stevedores, but otherwise just putting in the hours and going home), cut off from the horrors of her job (this certainly isn't the first or last time women have been trafficked through the port, not to mention all the other contraband and illegal substances) and literally not listening. She doesn't expect the job to save her, or even to derive much meaning from it. It's not a career. That she finally finishes her degree and gets a job in HR at Dunder-Mifflin is as happy an ending as we can expect, right?
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Apr 11, 2013 16:33
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Spoilers Below posted:That she finally finishes her degree and gets a job in HR at Dunder-Mifflin is as happy an ending as we can expect, right? Getting a job in HR means she had her soul removed, which means she'll never be horrified by anything again. So there is that. I never felt let down by season 2, but I was a very late viewer of the series who'd had heard so much about the 'Greatest TV show of all time' and just went with the flow when the story focus abruptly changed up. Also I was a truckdriver for several years and was interested to see a police story that brushed up against the freight transportation industry. What really gets me about this season is how something so horrific and deeply affecting as the slave trade is demonstrably less interesting to all involved parties than the drug traffic. Later in the season when the Greek tips the FBI to the Columbian coke shipment, there is much ado. Busting a brothel full of slave women? Barely a blip and once it's done everyone moves on and forgets about the entire sordid business. In both cases the police work is futile- the women will be back in the states in no time, and their replacements are already on the way. The big drug bust is just one teaspoon out of the ocean that's flooding in, but still the Feds get to put 'dope on the table.'
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Apr 11, 2013 16:50
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For me, season two of the Wire is one of my favourites. It certainly has the best ending montage, in my opinion. The first time I watched the series, I was totally on board with Frank as a tragic character, and was completely hypnotized whenever he was on screen. However, it wasn't until that final montage, when it cuts between the poor housing in Baltimore, drug-slingers and the empty unmanned machinery that the series really clicked for me. It's the only montage I can recall that makes me tear up (the one at the end of Bamboozled comes close though). Honestly, it has as much as place in the show as any other season.
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Apr 11, 2013 19:37
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watt par posted:That's the old Silo Point grain elevator- the grain pier in question in the first stevedore's union scene, which true to Nat Coxson's warning, was turned into condos. Nick Sobotka's house is roughly on Andre St. in the eastern end of Locust Point. Thanks, yeah that plays in nicely with what I took away from the shot - a symbol of American industrial power now broken down and unused, with the added bonus of Nick's big American-made car (made back in the day when the Auto Industry was king) not being able to start up. Spoilers Below posted:Nice symbolism with Beadie and her headphones. She takes them off when she finds the broken seal, and doesn't put them on again until the final montage, when she's done with all the investigative work. She goes from one small lonely job (taking tolls o the freeway) to another (driving around solo, occasionally BS'ing with the stevedores, but otherwise just putting in the hours and going home), cut off from the horrors of her job (this certainly isn't the first or last time women have been trafficked through the port, not to mention all the other contraband and illegal substances) and literally not listening. She doesn't expect the job to save her, or even to derive much meaning from it. It's not a career. drat, that's a great catch and something I completely missed. That's excellent.
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Apr 11, 2013 23:57
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