Hopefully, you know the drill by now: if you have On Demand and watch the episodes early, this is a place to talk about episode 2, "Unconfirmed Reports." Do not talk about it in last night's episode 1 post, and do not talk about later episodes if you've obtained them through extra-legal means.
Monday, January 07, 2008
The Wire week 2 thread for the On Demand'ers
Hopefully, you know the drill by now: if you have On Demand and watch the episodes early, this is a place to talk about episode 2, "Unconfirmed Reports." Do not talk about it in last night's episode 1 post, and do not talk about later episodes if you've obtained them through extra-legal means.
The first of many thoughts:
ReplyDeleteI was super-excited to see Avon again. Strange as it is, I had missed his character. To me, he was always the real leader of the Barksdales, not Stringer.
Watching his first real scene with Marlo, I realized just how different the two are. Avon with his trademark swagger and chrasima, and Marlo with the chilling economy of words and action. Yet they are bound together by their belief in the rules of the game. Because of those rules, Avon's willing to help out Marlo because they're both Westside players.
I realized right then that despite the lengthy sentance, Avon would never be a Cutty. He clearly misses the game. Avon is too comfortable within the rules of the game, and he knows who he is and remains true to that. In that way, I saw him in a similar light as Omar or Bunk - men who are comfortable in their own skin, and thus thrive (or, at least, manage to not sink).
It's wierd that this observation about Avon comes now, much after he left the picture, in a show that was packed with a ton of other great moments. But I think there was a power in him having a scene with Marlo that was worth noting. And it adds to the sense that this is the last season.
aaaanyway, few other quick points:
Wonderful: Lester staking out Marlo's crew on his own.
Horrifying: Chris Partlow's hit on the household of the player that was spreading rumors about Marlo.
Disbelief: Bunk's gradual realization and complete contempt of McNulty's actions in the final scene were 100% in sync with mine.
I was confused by Marlo's chat with Sergei. What was the incentive to "Boris" to give the Greeks a message on his behalf if Marlo's money wouldn't sway him?
ReplyDeleteI had heard that the pivotal point of the season would be a little harder to go along with. I'm not sure I see it as plausible, but I can live with it. Is McNulty now going to be the primary on every homicide investigation and dress it up the same way in order to sustain the lie?
Great to see Mayor Barksdale back again. The continuity of the visiting rooms at Jessup is a little off-kilter, no? See: Avon and Stringer talking on phones in Season 2, Wee-Bey in Season 4, and now. All three prisons are supposedly Jessup, aka "the Cut," aka the origin of Cutty's nickname.
I'll have to go back through the DVDs, but the young lady speaking at the NA meeting looked familiar. Is it possible she's the hooker who chatted briefly in Old Face Andre's shop last season, or the girl who was buying the 8-ball in Season 3 (the one who didn't mean to be rude, but didn't want to carry on a conversation with the dealer).
Looking forward to a re-watch after work tonight.
That final scene was probably the single most chilling thing I have witnessed on television in a long, long while. The dawning realization of what McNulty is setting up, and the instant recognition that nothing good can come of it... the man's gone to his darkest depth yet.
ReplyDelete--AH
"I was confused by Marlo's chat with Sergei. What was the incentive to "Boris" to give the Greeks a message on his behalf if Marlo's money wouldn't sway him?"
ReplyDeleteMarlo's money may not sway Sergei, but if the Greeks later found out that Sergei had denied them at least the opportunity consider taking Marlo's money themselves, it might fall back on him. Marlo just made that clear.
--AH
Marlo's money may not sway Sergei, but if the Greeks later found out that Sergei had denied them at least the opportunity consider taking Marlo's money themselves, it might fall back on him. Marlo just made that clear.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
I have a couple of problems with the Sergei storyline as well:
ReplyDelete1. Didn't Sergei flip on the Greeks to avoid the death penalty? Remember how he told the cops where they could find Vondas and the Greek in that hotel at the end of Season 2.
2. How would Avon know who the Greeks were? I thought they only ever dealt with Prop Joe....
Any thoughts on these?
I'll have to go back through the DVDs, but the young lady speaking at the NA meeting looked familiar. Is it possible she's the hooker who chatted briefly in Old Face Andre's shop last season, or the girl who was buying the 8-ball in Season 3 (the one who didn't mean to be rude, but didn't want to carry on a conversation with the dealer).
ReplyDeleteShe is all three -- or, rather, all three are one and the same -- and she is played by one of Richard Price's daughters. (Price himself has a cameo in season two, leading the discussion about The Great Gatsby.)
Remember how Alan said everything's foreshadowed by each season's first scene. In Season 5, Bunk says "The bigger the lie, the more they believe." I don't think McNulty needs to catch every "serial killer" case ... to get the funds flowing back into the department, he just needs to get the serial killer "lie" into the paper. From there, I figure he figures, the lie will show how much the police department is needed, bring in new funds, and allow them to get back to real police work.
ReplyDeleteThough I always thought McNulty was deeply flawed, I never considered him detestable until I saw that scene. But since watching it, and after watching it again, I'm now considering the notion that perhaps this may be McNulty's most heroic act as a police. It's probably too much to explain here, but here it is in a line: By this act -- shortsighted, stupid, and illegal though it may be -- he's potentially sacrificing his own career and standing as a civilian as a way to allow the good police to do the good work they do, solve the row house murders, and bring down Marlo. A lie to achieve a greater good.
I'm intrigued by Bunk's reaction to McNulty. When McNulty states what is essentially the "budget line" lie -- "There's a serial killer in Baltimore. He preys on the weakest among us," Bunk just says "I'm going. I don't want a part of this." He doesn't stop McNulty, doesn't threaten to report him, doesn't take a strong stand at all, nothing ... just reacts in horror, says he wants no part of it, then leaves. By not exposing the lie, he's complicit. Chalk it up to friendship, partnership, being drinking buddies, or whatever, but there it is.
It's easy to see how all of this will align with what's happening at the Sun. The difference between the PD and the Sun, though, is that McNulty is a cowboy who hasn't been encouraged by his PD bosses to perpetuate the lie. Jimmy Olson (or whatever his name is), on the other hand, is being encouraged by his Sun bosses to take the shortcuts, which means his lies will be newspaper-sanctioned. The fascinating part with the Sun dilemma is how Gus will handle it. He already sees the limits to the newspaper's ability to handle real issues in the city, but now he'll be faced with how to deal with a real issue at his own paper. I can't wait to see what the lie is and how Gus handles it.
I made the mistake of trying to look at this while getting ready for work so I definitely need to re-watch tonight.
ReplyDeleteI will say that there seems to be a redeeming quality in Michael that he does see how absurd the criteria for killing is with the Stanfield organization.
It scares me though because it would only take a word from Snoop to drop/kill Michael, even though he seems to be a favorite of Chris P.
--cg
I have a bad feeling the show might have peeled away from the reality dock with this episode. I'm going to trust the producers, because they've earned it, but a lot didn't make sense.
ReplyDeleteI agree with those who said that Sergei's motivation doesn't make sense. Also, he DID cooperate with police after being arrested, and seemed willing to serve up the Greeks as best he could. Isn't he in jail for life? What does he care about buying good favor with the Greeks, as Marlo suggested?
(One other question: Is Avon in for life? They got him on those heavy gun charges while he was on Parole ... would that put him away for good?)
The McNulty thing is a little ridiculous. How in the world does he expect to feign a serial killer investigation? Also, the uniform cop would definitely recognize that that body had been moved around dramatically. Too over the top if you ask me. All McNulty would have had to do to get funds for the investigation is go to the papers about how the Department had suspended the investigation of 22 murders for budget reasons ... sounds like a story to me, no?
This episode seemed a bit...direct in it's nature to the audience didn't it? It lacked the subtlety The Wire is known for. It was obvious that Simon was putting himself in place of Gus and speaking directly to the audience.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't Avon be messing with Marlo, setting in motion a coup to take back West Baltimore? Slim Charles is now Prop Joe's right-hand man, and -- given what Slim's previous alliance with Avon and what he whispers in Prop Joe's ear during the co-op meeting -- I wouldn't be surprised if a plan to take back Marlo's corners is in order...plus, Brianna gets a hunk of change in the deal.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, "the bigger the lie, the more they believe."
Re: JP's comments about continuity, the House of Corrections at Jessup (aka "the Cut") was quietly and unexpectedly (to the public, at least) closed late last winter:
ReplyDeletehttp://tinyurl.com/29tlas
Here's an excerpt:
"The closure required a complicated dance of prisoner transfers. Some House of Correction inmates were sent to other campuses in Jessup, which houses several prisons. Ninety-seven of the facility's most hardened criminals were transferred out of state: 60 to federal facilities and 37 to prisons in Kentucky and Virginia. In exchange, Maryland agreed to house 60 women from out of state.
Several hundred inmates were sent to the North Branch Correctional Institution in Cumberland, the state's new prison, which opened its first wing in the past several months."
Southpaw, you've brought up some great points. I'm troubled by many things so far this season -- Sergei gave up information about the Greeks, so why would he still be in touch with them? The cop that showed Bunk and McNulty the body will (assumedly) notice that it's been moved. And the show is just moving way too fast and the transitions are way too fast because there are only ten episodes.
ReplyDeleteOther complaints: I don't like the Steve Earle version of "Way Down in the Hole," and I've seen other blog comments that also pan it -- it's just the same tune over and over again, no variation to it like the other versions in seasons past.
I don't think The Wire has jumped the shark; it's still much better than anything else out there. And I know in the end it's just a TV show, no matter how good it is. But the creators may have been screwed by HBO because they simply can't tell their story the same way they could when they had 13 episodes. If The Wire is like a great novel, how on earth can it stay great if everything feels rushed?
I should leave a good comment too, I guess -- I think Wood Harris is such a great charismatic actor. When he appeared on screen to meet with Marlo, his eyes, his presence, were just so amazing to watch. Even if the plot is iffy, I'm glad he's back.
ReplyDeleteDid McNulty tell the cop who was waiting for the body to come back? Or did he just send him on his way (since homicide would take over the crime scene anyway)?
ReplyDeleteAlso, with regards to Sergei, I'd have to rewatch the second season episodes, but in reading a recap, it appears that the Greek & Spiros were already leaving town when Sergei gave up their location, so it's possible that they might not be aware that he even said anything.
People, people! Patience! We've only seen one scene of the serial killer plotline! The fact that the on-scene officer saw the corpse before McNulty desecrated it seems pretty obvious. McNulty isn't exactly putting the "b" in subtle here, so I'm guessing this will be addressed. I myself am very intrigued about where this is going, and how this cockamamie plan will screw with the BPD, City Hall, and the media.
ReplyDeleteI haven't watched yet, just wanted to say I caught you on the documentary, nice job, Alan.
ReplyDelete"I don't think McNulty needs to catch every "serial killer" case ... to get the funds flowing back into the department, he just needs to get the serial killer "lie" into the paper"
ReplyDelete- tonyinbatavia
I think JP's point was that people might get suspicious when every "serial killer" case just happens to have had Jimmy as the primary investigator--that is, whenever Jimmy (and ONLY Jimmy) gets assigned to investigate the death of a homeless person, it magically turns out to be some serial killer's evil handiwork. In order to get the serial-killer lie into the papers, Jimmy's going to have to pull this stunt several times. After victim number three or so, any reasonably intelligent person would start to smell something fishy about Jimmy's "lucky streak".
"...it appears that the Greek & Spiros were already leaving town when Sergei gave up their location, so it's possible that they might not be aware that he even said anything."
ReplyDeleteBut Sergei did testify in court that he saw Spiros slit the Turk's throat, and Sergei can visually ID both Spiros and The Greek. Those two facts alone make it unlikely that Sergei would still be on good terms with "the Greeks". In fact, I'm surprised they haven't put a hit on him in prison.
yall' need to quit whining, episode was pure piff.
ReplyDelete"But Sergei did testify in court that he saw Spiros slit the Turk's throat, and Sergei can visually ID both Spiros and The Greek. Those two facts alone make it unlikely that Sergei would still be on good terms with "the Greeks". In fact, I'm surprised they haven't put a hit on him in prison."
ReplyDeleteI recall him giving up the hotel information, but I don't remember him doing that. What episode was it again?
"yall' need to quit whining, episode was pure piff."
ReplyDeleteBut it's BECAUSE we love the show so much that we analyze it to death, flaws and all.
"I recall him giving up the hotel information, but I don't remember him doing that. What episode was it again?"
Last episode of S2. In order to avoid the death penalty, Sergei told Bunk and Lester, on the record, how it was Spiros who cut the Turk's throat. His testimony would be a matter of public record--and as we saw last week, the court records are open to everybody. No way "the Greeks" don't know how Sergei avoided the death penalty.
I doubt the serial killer plot will end up being as sensationalistic as some might suspect. As we know, the media will be a major focus of this season and I'm thinking that the serial killer plot will be a major part of that. McNulty won't have to fool EVERYBODY, he really won't have to fool ANYBODY if he can get his (false) story in the paper and get enough people to believe it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the "nitpicking" concerning the Sergei plot, to me that's not a "nitpick". Think of how often throwaway lines or characters become crucial plot elements several episodes, or even seasons, later. This is a show that prides itself on details so it's only natural that we pay attention to them and notice them. Regarding this case specifically, I think it's a pretty big dramatic license to have a criminal smuggling organization continuing to do business with a guy who ratted it out for several murders. -DN
Avon is definitely up to something. I don't care if Marlo is a "west side connection", Avon is and always has been about the game and his crew. No way they form an alliance.
ReplyDeleteI'm looking forward to Omar getting involved again. I see a great three-way battle between Prop Joe - Omar - Marlo. Did anyone watch the scenes for next week? I never knew the On Demand version showed them, but it does at the very end of the credits. Some interesting stuff.
McNulty sure has some crazy ways of getting what he wants. And this is by far his craziest. I look forward to this plot, and hope it doesn't turn out to be too overwhelming and harm this season, ala the murder plot in Friday Night Lights, season 2.
And I think we are all diving into this Sergei plot a little too deep right now. Let's wait and see how this pans out before we start assuming that The Wire is ignoring blantant details for the first time in 4+ seasons.
Regarding Sergei, I don't think he's ever testified against Vondas or The Greek. The cops were never able to arrest them, so they have no reason to put Sergei in front of a grand jury until they manage to catch Vondas and The Greek and seek an indictment.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Vondas found a way of reaching out to Sergei in prison when he returned to Baltimore and convinced him to change his story incase they ever get caught. Maybe Sergei is still on bad terms with them but still knows of some emergency way contacting them that never changes and hopes bringing extra money to Vondas might convince them not to kill him down the line. Or maybe it's something else entirely. The bottom line is we don't know yet, but I expect it to be made more clear later.
Adding to the chorus about how great it was to see Avon again. Yeah, he's definitely got something up his sleeve, if only to bleed Marlo for cash. And Avon's not in prison for life, he just has to serve the remainder of his 7-year sentence, right?
ReplyDeleteAh, McNulty -- another in a Wire series of the flawed guy who "gives a fuck when it isn't his turn" and does stupid things. But perhaps two or three killings will be enough to get serial killer status and the resulting attention.
Loved the bar conversation about race and murder attention. Anyone else think the "if they were white, or tourists" was a callback to the Homicide episode "Bop Gun"?
"McNulty won't have to fool EVERYBODY, he really won't have to fool ANYBODY if he can get his (false) story in the paper and get enough people to believe it."
ReplyDeleteSure, the story will get played and the poe-leece will get their budget back (maybe). But Jimmy can't possibly get away with his scheme: not only will he be kicked off the force, he'll also be facing criminal charges. He's also risking his friend Bunk's career, too. This time Jimmy's gone off the deep end.
And let's not even consider how the backlash will affect the police dept. once this all becomes known. But yeah, I guess we should wait and see how Simon & Co. develop this storyline. If they can make all this completely plausible, we shall truly know that gods walk the earth.
"Maybe Sergei is still on bad terms with them but still knows of some emergency way contacting them..."
When has being on bad terms with "the Greeks" resulted in anything other than a cut throat? As I said, they can't possibly be in any doubt about how he avoided the death penalty for aggravated murder.
Re: the Sergei thing, how would The Greek necessarily know what Sergei did or didn't tell the cops? Until he or Vondas were arrested and charged, there wouldn't (based on my admittedly narrow understanding of the criminal investigative process) be anything on paper about what Sergei had said. Even if the two of them know that the cops have warrants out for them, they could always blame that on Nick, I suppose.
ReplyDeleteSergei's sentencing report would be a matter of public record, and in that sentencing report it would say that, in exchange for his cooperation, Sergei received natural life instead of the death penalty on a conviction of aggravated murder. But even if that tidbit somehow wasn't in the record, they'd still have their suspicions--and suspicions would probably be enough for "the Greeks".
ReplyDeleteMaybe, maybe not. They had skipped town, they have many identities -- The Greek isn't even Greek -- and also have connections higher up in law enforcement (their FBI pal) in the unlikely event that police might get close to them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I interviewed Simon and Burns before season four, I expressed surprise that Vondas would set foot within the Baltimore city limits since the cops likely had paper on him. Burns laughed and said to people like Vondas and The Greek, paper wouldn't mean anything; they're too powerful and slippery for there to be a realistic chance of getting arrested, let alone jailed.
They killed Sobotka because Frank was an immediate threat. They knew he was cooperating, they knew how he was cooperating, and they were also hoping to stay in town at that point. Once they decided to relocate, the likes of Sergei and Nick became much less problematic to them. And unlike Marlo, they only kill for pragmatic reasons.
I suppose if they felt insulated enough, they wouldn't bother putting a hit on Sergei...but they probably wouldn't keep in touch and continue to do business with him. Would you?
ReplyDeleteBut who am I to second-guess David Simon and Ed Burns? I'll shut up about this for the while and see how this storyline plays out.
I don't think I ever had got as frustrated with a TV carachter than when McNulty put his plan in action. I actually start to scream at the TV "Fool, have you never watch your TV show? There's no way this end well".
ReplyDeleteI doubt McNulty expects to get way with it. At best he might hope that if his plan is a success his superiors might be so happy that they will choose to look the other way, but he knows that sooner or later he will be caught and that the most likely scenario is that he will be the fall guy. In many ways, McNulty is in a similar position that Bunny were in season 3.
I agree with Donny - Avon is up to something. In fact, when I saw him pop up in the preview, it looked like some kind of Christmas special guest appearance. How can we buy it? Avon smiling and throwing signs at Marlo? Never! Maybe Avon and Sergei are simply scamming Marlo. They're serving him up to someone...
ReplyDelete"Maybe Avon and Sergei are simply scamming Marlo. They're serving him up to someone..."
ReplyDeleteThat's what I was thinking. My guess is Prop Joe. After all, Sergei seemed pretty close to Prop Joe (I don't recall him giving up Joe to the cops) and Avon had no beef with Joe either.
In no way do we know if The Greeks have any knowledge that Sergei gave any information to the cops. Maybe we'll find out more about this in future episodes.
ReplyDeleteAlso, before Sergei agreed to talk to the Greeks on behalf of Marlo he looked to Avon for approval. I see this as more of prison survival then anything else. Avon is one of if not the biggest fish in Jessup. Sergei would want to keep Avon happy, or Jessup could possibly become more like a Ukrainian prison then before. As far as Avon and Sergei establishing a prison relationship I simply chalk that up to powerful people in prison will graviate to one another, or more then likely Avon sought out Sergei once hearing stories about who he was.
But, if Sergei is going to contact the Greeks for Marlo then I guess we might see how this conversation plays out, or at least some kind of reference to it. Or as others have mentioned, perhaps Sergei's relationship with The Greeks really is strained, or non-existant, and the both of them are merely playing Marlo.
As for McNulty, I think they can easily work around what the uniform's recollections of the crime scene may or MAY NOT be prior to Bunk and McNulty's arrival. The uniform looked pretty inexperienced to me and McNulty obviously knows his shit very well. McNulty also knows that their is no way for forensics to determine if the strangleation bruises occured after death. He learned this much from the state homicide detective he met at the medical examiner's office and ate breakfast with.
Lastly, as I believe Tonyinbatvia was alluding to, with the media being on the forefront this year, it seems pretty certain that McNulty will team up with reporter Scott and McNulty will tell the perfect lie and this story will take on a life of it's own, dominate the headlines and achieve the purpose McNulty was looking for. At the same time we will see the way that the media focuses on this serial killer story and forget to cover all other matters of any importance.
McNulty echoes both the reporter story and Bubs at NA. Truth telling includes outing McNulty as addict, alcohol sure, but the job is his DOC. All the things you said you'd never do, but here he is creating murders, desecrating corpses for the high, finishing the case. He's going to go down for this, and despite how much I sometimes love the rascally bastard, he is going to hit rock bottom like Bubbs. Don't try to pretend this is any more noble than the reporter inventing a story whole-cloth, if anything it is much worse.
ReplyDeleteThe Sergei thing doesn't seem like much of a mistake at all. The Greek is a pragmatic man, killing Sergei because he didn't want to die with no harm done isn't worth anything. As Sergei might make him some money I guess he
"In no way do we know if The Greeks have any knowledge that Sergei gave any information to the cops."
ReplyDeleteC'mon. These are the guys who are so savvy and well-connected they've even got a mole in the FBI. Of course they'd know that Sergei fingered them for the kidnapping, torture, and murder of the Turkish sailor...and probably several other victims as well. They might not want to bother putting a hit on Sergei, but they'd be fools to trust him ever again.
"Also, before Sergei agreed to talk to the Greeks on behalf of Marlo he looked to Avon for approval. I see this as more of prison survival then anything else."
I agree and think this is the most plausible scenario. Avon's gonna setup Marlo for Prop Joe; Sergei's just keeping Avon happy (and protecting his buddy Joe).
The really difficult thing for me is that there are only eight episodes left. Best TV drama ever.
ReplyDeleteThat reminds me: Alan, do you know if David Simon was forced to do an abbreviated season, or did he originally intend for the final season to be a mere ten episodes?
ReplyDelete"Maybe Avon and Sergei are simply scamming Marlo."
ReplyDeleteThe bigger the lie . . .
ldp,
ReplyDeletejust incase Alan doesn't get back to this...
I believe I read somewhere (sorry, I know how vauge that sounds) that 10 episodes was a comprimise. Simon wanted to do 12 or 13, as usual, and HBO, for whatever reason, wanted 8.
I don't get it either.
The Jayson Blair stuff was a little heavy handed and seemed a little too "ripped from the headlines." Did Dick Wolf write this episode?
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Blair was from the suburbs of Baltimore.
Thanks, anon. It's a shame HBO didn't let Simon finish it the way he wanted to. Why on earth NOT let him end the series on a high note, with exactly as many episodes as he thinks it will need?
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure how Alan feels about posting links on here, but I just went to TVTattle.com and they have a great link to thewire.wikia.com that displays a pretty good run down of the Baltimore Sun "jargon" in Season 5.
ReplyDeleteI only mention this because I remember, either in this post or a previous post regarding The Wire, someone asked about the lingo.
the only thing against the idea of Avon playing a game on Marlo is the money he made Marlo pay out to Brianna.
ReplyDeleteIf Marlo realized it was a scam then Brianna would be good as dead. I don't know if Avon would do that, unless he told Brianna to get the hell out of Baltimore after getting paid.
And Marlo's exactly the kind of guy to kill the near & dear of anyone who crosses him. I fear for Butchie: I think his murder will be the bait that brings Omar back.
ReplyDeleteI just saw the upcoming scenes for next week's episode showing Marlo presenting Vondas with a briefcase full of money, so I guess someone did set up a meeting. Are the "Greeks" really still on good terms with Sergei after what he told the cops? Color me skeptical.
I'm going to lose it if Bubbles falls back into drugs. I'm really going to break down. Andre Royo has been so good over the five seasons. Every scene with him in ep2 was heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteI know everyone is pissed at McNulty, but can we ignore that for a second and remember that the show's true hero is Lester. I loved seeing Lester back out on (unpaid) stakeout by himself. He is just good po-lice.
Another great scene: Clay Davis in full panic mode. I know it's The Wire, so we probably won't get what we want, but, damn, I hope he goes down hard.
anon above.
ReplyDeletewe'll have to wait and see. the next episode preview is often a bit misleading. I mean, obviously Marlo is handing a brief case of cash to Vondas, but we don't know as of yet how exactly he gets there.
I also remember a small snippet from the S5 preview where we see Marlo - showing 100x more emotion then we have ever seen him show before - yelling out something to the effect of "they will know my name!!!" We don't see who's he is talking to, could be Partlow, don't know.
One possible reading of this scene is that his attempt to reach the Greeks through Sergei is fruitless, Marlo gets pissed and tries to make some other kind of arrangement.
All just speculation. who knows. but it is fun to speculate.
assuming what Sergei said to the police is indeed on his record, then surely the Greeks know about it.
Tim M. - I feel the same way about Bubs. However, this being a Greek tragedy and all, poor Bubbles may be fated for the track that we fear.
Yeah, the "hundred large" was just the fee Marlo had to pay to get access to Sergei. There was no guarantee that Sergei would (or could) arrange a meeting between him and the "Greeks". We shall see. I'm hoping the show continues to respect our intelligence.
ReplyDeleteAnd yeah, it's fun to speculate.
I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that Bubbles will pull through and stay clean. I think Simon & Co. will allow just one person a bit of redemption and if anyone's earned it, it's Bubs.
Great episode! That last scene rendered me speechless. McNulty has gone too far this time.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, am I the only one who sees a striking resemblance between Jay Spry, the Sun's "evacuation" specialist, and Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard?
I have to agree with Beneiah. For all the love I have for McNulty, he passed the point of no return this time. Victims have families and families deserve to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones. Even if, in his own mind, McNulty feels he's doing this for the greater good, there are limits. This goes beyond the usual rule bending or breaking that we are used to seeing from my former favorite character on the show. Bunk now holds the honors.
ReplyDeleteI have to say, the newspaper lingo is pretty different at the (fictional) Sun. I've never heard of some of the words they use spoken at my paper. I have no idea what a "double dot" is. That's just my 2 cents on the jargon front.
ReplyDeleteIsn't McNulty creating a serial killer who only kills the homeless? If so, I'm not sure that these homeless victims have families that "deserve to know the truth about the fate of their loved ones." Does a homeless person's family really "love" them if they allow them to remain homeless?
ReplyDeleteLet's not jump off the McNulty ship after one scene . Give show, and McNulty, some time to build on the story.
First of all, I'm so excited those of us who just can't wait until Sundays can talk about the episodes!
ReplyDeleteI was definitely initially concerned that McNulty's choice was a misstep, it seemed just so over the top. But now I think I feel it is plausible and in character.
What I really didn't like was how quickly and conveniently that plot unfolded. He meets a woman we've never met in a morgue, and they have a long drawn out conversation about post mortem bruising. Cut to a few scenes later, McNulty bruising a corpse. Who didn't see that coming? If I didn't see the corpse's penis I would have thought I was watching hacky network tv.
Christy08, When I first saw Michael's reaction to the rationale for killing "Junebug", I felt the same way you did. Then I started wondering just who he's going to (intentionally) get killed by using that bit of information. Also, when Snoop warned him about talking too much himself, I couldn't help feeling that might turn out to be an ironic thing for her to do. In the scene where Marlo is telling her and Chris to kill Junebug, he stared at her twice, and both times, he had to shake his head to get refocused on the orders he was giving them. Could it be that Snoop has been running off at the mouth in the wrong way?
ReplyDeleteRegarding McNulty's desperate scheme- maybe this hasn't been mention because it's too obvious, but the OD'd druggie who looked like a homicide was white, the bar conversation was about the police giving more attention to homicides in which the victim is white, and the OD he made to look like a homicide was white. He's going to fake white homicides to try and get the money flowing again.
I echo the sentiment that I felt talked down to that episode. I have never felt like that, at any point, with The Wire. That's the only reason I complain.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I mirror "anonymous" comments. When they had the whole drawn out scene with McNulty and the two others arguing over bruising, I thought it was an interesting tidbit. To see it become useful and pertinent information by the end of the episode made me feel as though I was watching CSI. I love The Wire, and I'm more then willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but I just hope the rest of this season declines to be as obvious. Especially with all of the over the top messages, ie. "don't believe everything you read"...but so as not to sound too negative, I love this show, and I am still excited to see where it goes and how it ends.
ReplyDeleteI actually think that some things (as many have already mentioned) will seem a bit rushed with only having 10 episodes. I guarantee if this story arc would have taken time to develop, let's say in 2-3 eps. vs. 1, it would have come off differently.
ReplyDeleteThe great thing about the Wire is how little tidbits that occurred a while ago have a chance to materialize into something later... nothing gets tied up in a neat bow like CSI or these other shows, but every now and again something COULD come back...
A few examples of some things I was looking/hoping for:
1.) I was thinking that (prior to the MCU being disbanded) that exchange btwn Snoop and the guy at the Home Depot like store would have come to light during an investigation... Talk about a random purchase being remembered... The ghetto conversation, huge tip, etc.
2.) I was hoping that the badge from that security guard that Chris grabbed from Snoop would be found and some prints lifted
3.) The fact that Randy got the beatdown in the group home at the end of s4, I was thinking that the writers would allow Carver to get him some kind of police protection/program...
I have others... But with 10 eps, I think (in the words of Stringer Bell), they are just "going to get on with it..."
-cg
Acanthus,
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I followed your post. I watched the ep again and I'm not sure who you mean when you said that he stared at her twice and then shook his head to get back to what he was saying... Please clarify if you could.
I did hear Michael saying during the previews for next week that
"...everything is so serious now." I'm just not sure what he was expecting... He knew how serious these cats were when he started messing with them. I guess he just decided that Bug's daddy needed to be "dropped" and he would just endure his time as an indentured servant to the Stanfield org... However he is so young... With no chance to escape.
Ooh, I just remembered another thing that may come up later (based on my last post)...
Michael starts questioning Marlo's moves... Marlo/Snoop bring up the fact that he "stood tall" with Randy, the "snitch". Will this come back on him? Get him killed? I'm scared for him. Great kudos to the writers and Tristan's portrayal for making me feel like Michael's character exists!
Christy08- sorry I wasn't clear about that. Marlo looks at Snoop a couple of times, and gets so distracted he has to snap himself out of it. I may well be totally wrong, but I think he notices how excited she is at the idea of resuming the killing, and wonders if she she lied about Junebug talking trash about him in order to get back to the killing.
ReplyDeleteIn the subsequent scene where she's sitting in the car waiting to excute the hit, Michael asks her why they're killing Junebug, and she tells him she "heard" that Junebug spread the rumor that Marlo...well, indulges in fellatio.
Man I wish I hadn't heard that McNulty would do something that pushed the boundaries - the talk at the bar about white victims after the talk at the morgue just made the ending too obvious. It does seem that the whole thing was a bit more telegraphed than the show does normally. Will be interesting to see where the show goes from here - though I do think this wasn't too out of character for him.
ReplyDeleteWhile we are nitpicking, to verify Jimmy Olson's story, all Gus had to do was find out from the photographers if he indeed he had asked them to come take a picture. Jimmy told Gus that he did but they were too busy shooting the game.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I believe double dot is the second edition. If you look at most newspapers that have more than one edition, there are a series of dots that indicate what edition it is.
Oh, thanks for clarifying, I see what you mean. Yeah, she is pretty dangerous... She and Chris have been soooo ruthless that, in the words of Marlo, "they got to fall". I still hope that Michael will find a way out, him, Bug and Duquan...
ReplyDeleteCan't wait til' ep 3 comes on On Demand tomorrow! It actually gets up there early! It was on there last week at about 7A CST.
--cg