Starring:
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland), Deirdre Lovejoy (Asst. States Attorney Rhonda Pearlman), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), John Doman (Maj. William A. Rawls), Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell), Frankie Faison (Deputy Comm. Ervin H. Burrell), Larry Gilliard Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale), Dominic West (Det. James "Jimmy" McNulty) and Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)

With:
Clayton LeBouef (Wendell "Orlando" Blocker), Peter Gerety (Judge Daniel Phelan), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Domenick Lombardozzi (Off. Thomas R. "Herc" Hauk), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Brian Anthony Wilson (Det. Vernon Holley), Edward T. Norris (Det. Ed Norris), Robert F. Colesberry (Det. Ray Cole), Tray Chaney (Malik "Poot" Carr), Richard DeAngelis (Maj. Ray Foerster), Michael Kostroff (Maurice "Maury" Levy), Tony D. Head (Maj. Bobby Reed), Jim True-Frost (Off. Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski), Hassan Johnson (Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Michael Salconi (Det. Michael Santangelo), Melanie Nicholls-King (Cheryl), Delaney Williams (Sgt. Jay Landsman), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Julian Salazar (Antonio), Micaiah Jones (Wintell "Little Man" Royce), Dick Stilwell (Poilce Comm. Warren Frazier), Katana Lazet Hall (Savino's Mother), Christopher Glenn Wilson (DEA Agent), Susan Rome (Asst. State's Attorney Ilene Nathan), James E. Ash (Uniform Officer), Christopher J. Clanton (Savino) and Curtis Montez (Sterling)

While Greggs’ life hangs in a delicate balance, the officers deal with the shock in different ways. Herc, Carver and Sydnor get back on the case after Freamon puts the incident into perspective. After seeing McNulty close to the breaking point, Rawls instructs McNulty not to have any guilt over Greggs’ shooting because he’s not ultimately responsible. Daniels is ordered by the Deputy Commissioner to raid all the locations to appease the Commissioner’s desire for “dope on the table.”

Read about publicity spins, signposts and feeding the fishes beyond the link…

The Recap:

So, the previous episode in the series ended on possibly the biggest moment we’ve seen so far, even bigger than Omar's attempt on Avon. This is as close to a traditional style cop show The Wire has been in the season, plenty of cars racing about, a helicopter being called in and an undercover cop being shot. But it’s all be dealt with in a really low key manner, the scene was kept confusing and fast so at the time it was hard to process the impact until that final aerial shot from the helicopter. Really I think that this episode is best watched either immediately after ‘The Cost’ or in a block with the final two episodes following straight one after another.

On with the show!

We return to the scene of Kima’s shooting at the start of this episode, the place is a hive of activity and confusion. Landsman is approached by Rawls who wants to know the primaries for this shooting. It’s Cole and Norris, Rawls asks Landsman what he needs and Landsman admits he needs less people around. The place is becoming a complete mess, caused by too many people trying to help in an undirected manner. There’s a good chance evidence could be damaged or lost in this melee. Rawls takes command of the situation, making it clear that anyone without an allotted task is to leave and then gets Landsman to slow everything down to a crawl. Being careful and methodical with a scene like this is the safest way to ensure a proper investigation.

They walk over to the car and look inside, Bunk is retrieving Kima’s gun from its taped position under the seat. It had been wedged at the back of the seat, while it was taped to the front the poor seating resulted in a loss of contact for the tape and the gun ended up sliding out of reach. Landsman brings Rawls up to speed on her support, revealing that everyone lost her and it was the helicopter which finally located her.

Herc arrives at the scene, having been out of action for the sting while Rawls inspects the street signs and notices that they were turned about (as Kima suspected last week). He turns the sign back to the proper direction, roll credits.

In the hospital Daniels is talking to an investigator about the circumstances surrounding the shooting when Burrell walks up behind him and inquires about Kima’s situation. His arm placed on Daniels’s shoulder is simultaneously comforting, controlling and angry. After being told about the seriousness of her condition he pats Daniels on the back and walks away. They return to talking about the particulars when the Commissioner himself arrives, shaking the hand of the investigator and mistakenly assuming that he is Daniels. It’s a clear indicator of the racial state in the department that the Commissioner still automatically assumes a lieutenant would be the white man. The Commissioner recovers from his mistake momentarily before excusing himself.

Landsman and Bunk have found footprints which will need casts made of them while Rawls is talking with a member of the DEA over the money. Rawls tells them where to go as he notices McNulty sat still in contemplation. McNulty is covered in Kima’s blood and in a state of some shock. Rawls shows another side to himself here, willing to comfort a man who he really cannot stand. McNulty blames himself for what has happened, which is consistent with his egotism.

Freamon arrives at the scene and gets told that Kima’s down in shock trama, he heads over towards Herc, Sydnor and Carver and tells them it’s time to get to work. They’re unwilling, feeling that pushing after the case is not a priority now Kima’s been hurt. Freamon reminds them what they have here; they’ve got a wiretap up on the people who shot Kima, if they’re going to find anything out. That’s the best way it can happen. He puts them in perspective and they move out to their spotting stations. He asks them if anyone has told Kima’s girlfriend Cheryl about the shooting. Carver tells the others that he’ll go do it.

Bunk and Mike are checking down by the railway tracks when Landsman calls them over while Wee-Bey and Little Man make the call “It’s done” before musing about who the girl was. They’ll find out soon enough. Meanwhile Landsman has followed the tracks and found some discarded hoodies plus more footprints which head onto the road and then disappear. Bunk calls up KGA and requests a jackhammer; it’s time to keep a bit of road.

In the hospital Rawls and McNulty have arrived. Daniels lets them both know that Kima is still alive and being operated on right now. Foerester has a machine brought over to play the recording Rawls has brought and they listen to the events leading up to Kima’s shooting. It’s difficult for them all to listen too, but McNulty has the most physical reaction, throwing up into a bin before Rawls takes him aside and sets him straight. Rawls sets McNulty clear on the entire thing, he spells out just how much he dislikes the man before letting him know that Kima’s shooting is not his fault at all. He outlines just how strongly he means this by letting McNulty know that if it was his fault Rawls would nail him for it.

The police toss the city upside down looking for Savino and this activity gets the wire buzzing while Freamon and Prez listen. People are talking about the shooting but this isn’t a clear indication of guilt. The pair look at the pager calls made to Stringer and note one of them happened after the shooting. They look into it.

Wee-Bey arrives at the copy shop and starts talking, Stringer shushes him and starts up the copier to provide some background noise before motioning him to continue. Wee-Bey lays out how it happened, noting that the girl wasn’t an intentional shoot. Stringer lets Wee-Bey know that the girl was a cop; Wee-Bey just doesn’t believe it at first. Which isn’t surprising because shooting a police officer is stepping into a whole new spotlight, the police won’t rest until they have their man. Stringer is also concerned about Little Man, he’s unsure that he’ll handle this right and tells Wee-Bey that Little Man is done and Wee-Bey might have to flee.

Carver arrives outside Kima’s apartment and turns to leave, but the door opens and Cheryl walks out. Carver hesitantly tells her without actually speaking the words, she realises what’s happened quickly.

Freamon is up with a uniform checking out the payphone used to page Stringer, he also notices a can (dropped by Little Man) and has that dusted as well.

In the hospital Carver has arrived and asks Daniels if someone would talk to ‘Kima’s Girl’ Burrell is confused at this and mistakenly assumes that Kima has a daughter. Daniels describes her as ‘a roommate’ and Burrell turns around to talk to the Commissioner who seems reluctant to talk, so Burrell does it himself. Carver comments on this in a derogatory manner.

In the basement McNulty arrives and is greeted with the sight of Kima’s hat, he heads over to clean himself in the washroom and changes clothes before heading over to stare at the Barksdale notice board. Prez watches him and the two exchange glances.

In homicide Landsman, Cole, Norris and Bunk still have no idea where Savino is. While they have some trace evidence that will help tie the suspects to the case they don’t have a clue exactly who performed the shooting. They’ve confirmed that there were two shooters and that’s as far as they’ve got. But then Freamon rolls into the room with a confirmed print hit on Little Man from the soda can. The phone had no useable prints but at least they have one shooter bang to rights when this information is used in combination with the wiretap pager call.

In the Pit Dee, Poot and Bodie are all talking about the shooting. They echo Wee-Bey and Stringer’s conversation here, confirming that contrary to what Hollywood and wannabes would think you don’t go shooting at the police. There’s no profit in it, and all it’s going to do is cause problems for business. They’re interrupted from their orange couch conversation by the arrival of a phone call for Poot, its Wallace who apparently phones Poot twice a day to talk.

Kima’s clothes are being bagged as evidence when her pager goes off. Its Bubs, and moments after he made the call several black and whites arrive. He’s grabbed and hauled off downtown literally moments after paging. This is a prime example of how effective the police force can be if properly funded and motivated. Sadly it’s taken an officer being shot to cause this to happen. You can’t help but wonder what Baltimore would be like if it had a police force that was this effective all the time.

Poot picks up the phone and talks to Wallace, the lad is seriously homesick – he’s just not cut out for the country life. He runs out of money and the conversation is cut off.

Bubbles is still oblivious to his situation while he sits in an interview room. He protests that he isn’t being treated right and is warned by Holley that he has three seconds to explain himself. Tempers are understandably worn and thin on this subject and his confusion isn’t doing himself any favours. He’s still unaware of what’s happened to Kima at this point and that’s why he’s digging himself into a hole.

Bunk is outside talking about what’s happened on the phone when he’s disturbed by the sound of Holley beginning to apply a beating to Bubbs. Landsman and Bunk burst in and Bubbs demands to speak with Kima and when he’s told that he can’t he instead asks for McNulty.

Santangelo and Herc are up on the roof and they spot Bodie use the payphone. Freamon and Prez listen out for the call, but Bodie doesn’t dial out. A window is opened further up the building and a bag is dropped out for Bodie. Santangelo is bemused as to what it could be; Herc (for once) is in the know and explains, they’re up on the tower stash.

McNulty is drinking in the basement office, Daniels tells him to stop drinking and McNulty asks him how much of the case he’d give up to get the case back. Daniels tells him all of it, but that’s not the point. Kima is in a bad way and McNulty feels it wasn’t worth it. Prez comes in and tells them there’s a call from homicide for McNulty, Daniels tells him “Do your job.”

Bunk is on the other end of the line and brings McNulty up to speed on what’s happened in the interview room, McNulty confirms that it’s Bubbs and Bunk asks him to come up and quash the situation.

In Orlando’s Avon and Stringer are both rather… non-plussed about the situation. Avon is unhappy about how it went down, Orlando was not supposed to be shot if there was a witness about, they didn’t want any innocents in the line of fire and they certainly didn’t want a police officer being shot. Stringer confirms that Little Man is looking a little loose and ragged about this, but Wee-Bey has been sent to clean that mess up. Savino on the other hand is going to eat the charge in full and keep his story straight. Avon then goes on to note that the presence of the cash should have been enough to set alarm bells ringing, if he’d been in on this it’s quite possible that the whole deal would have been called off and Orlando would have been left to rot without any bargaining chips. Stringer admits that he’s made a mistake here. They head out and burn the trash, Wee-Bey is to deal with Little Man before he flees.

McNulty has arrived in homicide and Holley tells him what’s happened. He heads in to tell Bubbs what happened and the man is understandably upset. While Bunk watches through the interview window Landsmen tells him that there were no good latent fingerprints on the passenger side door. McNulty talks to Bubbs about his situation, but he misreads the situation and hands him some money instead of talking to him. If McNulty was a little more aware of how things had been going with Bubbs (like Kima was) and a little less self centred then he might have realised just how destructive he’s been here. He thinks he’s helping Bubbs but really he isn’t. This is another catalyst moment for McNulty, so many things cascade away from both large and even seemingly small actions on his part. McNulty heads out of the interview room and talks with Bunk before leaving to go direct to the source.

The source in this case is Maurice Levy, McNulty has arrived with Ronnie and the two of them manoeuvre in order to get Savino to hand himself in. While Ronnie wishes to be delicate about this McNulty is in no mood to mess around, he lays out in full just how much disdain he has for laywers in general and Levy in specific before making it clear that he’ll take it personal if Savino does not come in. Levy doesn’t once skip a beat, turning to Ronnie and asking her if the State Attorney’s office will back McNulty’s threats. She says that they will.

Outside Ronnie is less than impressed with McNulty’s handling method back in the office, Levy is important to Ronnie’s career, she can’t go pissing him off as he could potentially sink it before it has a chance. McNulty lets rip into Ronnie as well at this point, expressing his contempt for people who care more about their careers than justice. This is a fundamental concept for McNulty, he might be a gigantic arsehole squatting over anyone who gets in his way, but he does all of this for justice, because he still believes in the law. To the point that he doesn’t even care about his career, he would sacrifice it all to get the criminal behind bars and he has no time or respect for people who make concessions to further their own career. This belief of his is so strong he doesn’t even make a concession where the women he’s sleeping with is concerned and he isn’t afraid to tell her as much. It’s a strong set of morals, but an unwise head. Ronnie just retorts that he’ll use anyone to get what he wants.

In the basement, Prez has just made a discovery about the 07 code that appears on the pagers occasionally. Dee uses it, Stringer uses it occasionally, but there’s nothing else really to place it. Except Prez has managed to link it a use of it to the day that Stinkum was killed and Wee-Bey shot, which means that the 07 pager code is Wee-Bey. This means that they have the outlines of a conspiracy to commit murder which links all three.

Daniels is talking with Burell, Foerster and Rawls about the shooting, he passes on that the Commissioner wants everything related to the case busted and raided. It’s time, as he says, to get some dope on the table. In part this is a move to make the Barksdales hurt for what they’ve done, to cost them a lot of money and in part it’s a publicity move, designed to make the Balitmore PD look like they’re pro-active and not helpless. But it’s going to cause the wiretap operation to collapse before it’s had a chance to fully blossom.

Savino has arrived with Levy in order to meet with the police, they’ve managed to alter the facts sufficiently to lessen the charge that will be levelled at Savino. Claiming that Savino did not get the money and was planning to sell baking soda to Orlando, the State Attorney offers no charge plus witness protection if he hands over the shooters and testifies. But Levy reiterates that Savino is not going to cooperate and that the best they can do is charge him with a 286B (Distribution of sham CDS) which carries a three year maximum and a $5,000 fine. Because Savino left the money (and the tape confirms this) he’s clear on anything heavier. Savino makes it clear that he’ll eat the charge. Needless to say McNulty, Bunk and Landsman are not happy about this, but McNulty acknowledges Levy’s skill in legal manoeuvring.

Back near the tower Herc watches Poot pick up another re-up while in the Pit Dee and Bodie talk about Orlando’s demise. They’re noticing that a lot of people are getting stung or going missing lately. Bodie comments that people are going to get dropped when a messenger arrives, telling them that Stringer wants to talk with Dee. Bodie comments that Dee’s either ‘moving up in the world’ or getting taken out with the trash. Dee departs and Poot arrives, noting that Little Man has gone missing.

In the basement Daniels brings everyone back up to speed on Kima’s status, she’s in a bad way. Prez wants to know why the homicide department is being so slow and Daniels lets them know that every door is going to get knocked down except for the main stash house. This detail is going to be held back by Daniels as he feels he has more to gain by sitting on it for a while. This is quite a change from the Daniels we met originally; he’s become less concerned about his career and more concerned about getting the job done. Freamon fills them in with a few places that will do for hits and passes over to Herc who tells them about the tower re-up stash. Everything will be hit at eleven am and everyone needs to get cracking.

In the club Dee meets with Stringer who tells him he’s going with Wee-Bey. He throws the keys to Bey and tells him to keep it clean with no mistakes. Dee asks where he’s going and is told to just leave.

In the basement everyone is busy typing up ready for the following day when Burrell arrives to talk with Daniels. The conversation is mostly muffled by the glass until Burrell raises his voice. When McNulty and Freamon go in to talk to Daniels it’s clear that they now realise there’s a leak in the department, he’s known about every major thing they’ve done (except one, but do you know which it is? If you do you’ll realise who the leak is). McNulty leaves and Daniels muses with Freamon about the presence of the rat as a replacement for Daniels’s pipeline to him.

McNulty has headed over to talk with Phelan, McNulty asks for Phelan to help get Burrell to back off over the main stash house. Phelan isn’t willing to do this for him, he’s just got back on the election ticket and he claims it was just a series of half-assed politics attempting to screw with him. Needless to say McNulty doesn’t believe him but it doesn’t matter either way as Phelan no longer has his back.

Dee is driving with Wee-Bey, Bey is talking about the situation as he gets Dee to drive into an alley. Dee hesitates and stops the car at the entrance to the alleyway. Wee-Bey tells him to head down then get out of the car and come along. Dee by this time is seriously unnerved; he’s sweating and clearly hesitant about doing anything. Bodie’s off-hand comments about his potential future combined with Wee-Bey’s words have got him worked up and he breaks down in the middle of a darkened room, convinced that Wee-Bey has been ordered to disappear him like Little Man.

But then the lights come on and Wee-Bey reveals that he needs Dee to feed his fish, it turns out that Wee-Bey’s hobby is tropical fish and in a very light-hearted and frankly funny scene he explains that he’s going to be heading out of state for a while and Dee is going to look after his fish. Dee is left standing surrounded by the tanks, simultaneously embarrassed and relieved.

In Kima’s apartment, Cheryl is sitting on the sofa and as she touches the marker pen stain from Kima (remember that?) She begins to cry.

In the basement Bubbs brings them all back up to speed with the changes that have happened on the street. It’s now clear to them that Wee-Bey and Little Man are the shooters. He thanks Bubbs for the help but he doesn’t have the time to listen to Bubbs the way Kima would. He cuts him short and leaves, telling him that Prez will give him a ride. Bubbs is left alone staring at the twenty.

Outside the police force meets up ready to perform the raids. They hit everywhere they know of at the same time. Knocking over everywhere including the main stash house, Herc and Carver find a huge amount of money while doing so and pocket a little for themselves. Clearly they were inspired by their previous close call.

The police get their big haul and dope on the table and the Commissioner is pleased with this photo/publicity opportunity. The detail watches his speech on a small black and white TV in the basement with less enthusiasm than most. The wiretap is pretty much down, Prez hears a conversation between Wallace and Poot. Wallace is coming back, Prez marks it as non-pertinent.

In the hospital we see Kima unconscious and attached to monitoring equipment…

The Catchphrases:
What the f**k did I do? x 5

The Review:

Has McNulty's catchphrase ever sounded so different and down before? The man is so egotistical that he immediately blames himself for Kima's shooting. But even more than that, the show reveals an extra layer to one of it's characters in the process. Now if the star thread and 'hero' of the series could be thought to be the Detail's wiretap work on the Barksdales then Rawls would be the traditional villain as he's sought to quash it at nearly every turn. Of course, that's not really the case where The Wire is concerned, Rawls isn't a one dimensional villain, he's just a product of the insitution he works for. He might hate McNulty, but it we get to see why he's held his position in this episode. He's not just a company line puller, he does know how to lead his men, the moment where he lays it all out for McNulty and explains that he hates him so much that if anyone could blame McNulty for what happened it would be Rawls. Then goes on to say that he can't because it really isn't McNulty's fault, well it's a great moment that really adds texture to Rawls.

There are also some really great moments for other characters, I very much enjoy Lester Freamon on screen any time, but at the opening of this episode where he talks to Carver, Herc and Prez - explaining just exactly how they can help productively and putting them all in perspective - is great. He's consistently just awesome throughout this season but in this one he really gets to shine, not only then but later when his deductive work pays off and he hands over evidence that points to Little Man.

Speaking of Little Man, he's gone. But did you notice just how cleverly he was offed? There was no big scene between Wee-Bey and him where we saw him shot. He was just passed aside and talked about 'not being around' and 'done'. It really made the moment where Wee-Bey takes D'Angelo to his house a lot bigger. The first time I watched it I was left wondering if Dee was going to get it as well, but then the moment when the lights come on and we learn an amusing little fact about Bey. His collecting and looking after of tropical fish is a great touch for a man who's essentially a mid to high level enforcer. It's also a pretty bad pun, Dee thought he was going to get killed but instead he ended up feeding the fishes. I don't have to explain that one do I.

There's only two episodes left in this season, but already the wiretap has begun to disintergrate due to pressure from the high ups in the department keen to just get something good into the paper to balance out the news of Kima's shooting. The desire to look effective in the short term has begun to sink all the hard work that has been put in. The institution beateth the man.

Have you figured out who the rat in the Detail is yet?

Direct Link

Starring:
Wendell Pierce (Det. William "Bunk" Moreland), Deirdre Lovejoy (Asst. States Attorney Rhonda Pearlman), Wood Harris (Avon Barksdale), John Doman (Maj. William A. Rawls), Lance Reddick (Lt. Cedric Daniels), Andre Royo (Bubbles), Idris Elba (Russell "Stringer" Bell), Frankie Faison (Deputy Comm. Ervin H. Burrell), Larry Gilliard Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale), Dominic West (Det. James "Jimmy" McNulty) and Sonja Sohn (Det. Shakima "Kima" Greggs)

With:
Wendy Grantham (Shardene Innes), Tray Chaney (Malik "Poot" Carr), Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar Little), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Hassan Johnson (Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice), J.D. Williams (Preston "Bodie" Broadus), Leo Fitzpatrick (Johnny), Jim True-Frost (Off. Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski), Clarke Peters (Det. Lester Freamon), Domenick Lombardozzi (Off. Thomas R. "Herc" Hauk), Seth Gilliam (Det. Ellis Carver), Michael B. Jordan (Wallace), Clayton LeBouef (Wendell "Orlando" Blocker), Robert F. Chew (Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart), Michael Salconi (Det. Michael Santangelo), Steve Earle (Walon), Jefferson Breland (Basketball Coach), Micaiah Jones (Wintell "Little Man" Royce), Perry Blackmon (Perry), Maurice Blanding (Basketball Player) and Christopher J. Clanton (Savino)


Freamon gets Sydnor and Prez started on Barksdale’s money trail. They discover the usual ties to dummy companies, but they also find large sums of political contributions. Herc and Carver bust Wee-Bey holding $22,000, but only $15,000 is reported. Lieutenant Daniels discovers the discrepancy and orders them to find the money before morning roll call. Omar’s mission takes him to Proposition Joe where he promptly offers another recently stolen Barksdale stash to Joe in exchange for Barksdale’s pager number.

Read about money trails, East/West basketball matches and creative fishing beyond the link...

The Recap:

Avon and Stringer are at a local basketball court watching a prospective player perform. The young lad is talented and quite a few places have shown an interest, Avon indicates his own interest in the boy’s talents and then enquires about Omar. Stringer informs him that they can’t find Omar right now and even worse Omar’s been making friends by ripping off stashes and handing the product out for free. So no matter what they do someone will give Omar a heads up first. Stringer again suggests the truce and eventual hit he proposed last episode but Avon disagrees, he’s concerned about his reputation out on the streets. If they leave Omar out there for too long other people will start to get ideas and start attacking the Barksdales as well. They’re interrupted from talking further when the basketball player and his coach walk in, Avon is paying him ten thousand for the lad’s services and the coach manages to get five for the team. After the player leaves the coach gets himself a piece of the action with another five for himself for making it happen. Cue credits…

In the Pit Dee and Wallace are talking about what happened to Brandon. Dee tries to explain that what happened to Brandon isn’t on him, it’s not on either of them, it was going to happen regardless. But Wallace is tired of the life and the guilt, he wants out and is planning to return to school, all the way back to the ninth grade despite his age (sixteen). The conversation progresses on briefly to Stinkum’s demise at Omar’s hands before Dee hands Wallace some money to help him out.

In the basement Prez is working the phones with McNulty when Kima calls to let them know there’s a pertinent call coming in. It turns out that Wee-Bey is coming into the towers to make a pick up and this means game time for the Detail.

In the Pit Dee meets with Bodie and Poot, they want to know about Wallace and Dee tells them everything is good. They’re to leave the boy alone now. Dee’s pager goes off after complaining about the distance he has to walk to use a phone he heads off. It turns out the call is from Herc and Carver who have pranked him for the purpose of taking some photographs. In the basement Freamon dumps some files on Prez and Sydnor, it’s time for those two to follow the money. On the rooftops near the Pit Kima chats with Carver, she informs Herc and him that they might be making a pick up soon.

Bubbles is with Johnny and they see both Walon (played by musician Steve Earle) from the rehab meetings and Bodie. Johnny is naturally a littler nervous at this because Bodie was one of the lads who hospitalised him. Bodie throws the vials to give everyone a sample taste and a scramble breaks out. Afterwards Bubbles heads up to talk with Walon and offers him a vial if he wants it. But it turns out that Bubble’s assumption was wrong, the guy isn’t there for the drugs, he’s here to try and get his nephew straight. The pair of them share introductions.

Wee-Bey has arrived to make the pick up and McNulty asks Carver to pick the man up at a fair distance away. The plan is to avoid picking him up to early on in order to try and conceal any indication that there is a wire up on the Barksdales.

In the basement Freamon starts explaining how Sydnor and Prez are to follow up on the flow of drug money. He explains the entire process to both them and the viewer so we’re clear just what is involved and how it goes down. The main thing they’re looking for are names, specifically the name of the lawyer involved in these deals, while the Barksdales may be cautious, they’re likely to use the same lawyer for most things. A lawyer they trust, specifically Maurice Levy. From this they can follow other company filings that Levy has made and identify the other dummy companies. Additionally they are to chase up any land or properties owned by dummy companies. In essence, once they start following this money they have no idea where it’s going to end up. They could be looking at almost anything. Freamon himself is also following up the money, but he’s going to be looking for campaign donations. Suffice to say this following of the money trail has the potential to upset some very important people in the city.

Herc and Carver pull over Wee-Bey and find a bag filled with money. Wee-Bey protests innocence, claiming that he didn’t know the money was there and additionally he asks if they have no charge on him. Herc admits they have no charge, just his money and he’s unlikely to get it back. Wee-Bey just smiles and tells them to have a nice day.

Bubbles has managed to follow some dealers to the location of their day stash, a small amount of drugs kept somewhere secure to peddle on the streets. He’s approached from the rooftops and uses a fishing wire plus hook to snag the drugs and pull them up. Unfortunately for him he’s spotted just as he pulls the bag over the edge of the roof top. But fortune favours him after that when the dealers mistakenly attack someone else for his theft. Back in the apartment Johnny and he celebrate their victory. But their celebrations are caught short when they find out the drugs are just baking soda.

In the police parking lot Carver tears the bag while removing the money from the boot of the car. Herc stars musing about tips, he’s suggesting that they take a percentage for themselves and turn the rest in for evidence. But Carver points out there’s a wiretap involved, it’s likely the full amount of cash will be disclosed and then they’ll get caught out.

Freamon is in the basement briefing Kima and McNulty on the money trail so far. They’ve followed it to a large amount of empty store fronts and vacants. Daniels walks in and suggests that following the money may be a little premature. He’s concerned about what will happen after Burrel’s reaction to his pick up of Price’s money previously. But Freamon makes it clear that they need to start right now when a jubilant Herc and Carver arrive with “20 or 30 thousand” in cash. Notice they’ve disclosed a decent estimate compared to the amount mentioned in the summary. There’s no attempt to skim here and it’s quite clear they haven’t. McNulty asks about the photographs and muses that they’ll need a wiretap up on that new phone. Daniels is less than pleased because this means another thirty days in a case that’s ruining his career. McNulty doesn’t understand but Freamon attempts to make it clear.

Omar returns back to the place he’s calling home right now, a vacant house where he’s taking every precaution to ensure isn’t compromised while Herc and Carver goof off listening to a little phone sex on the wiretap. Prez reminds them that they should turn off any non-pertinent calls but the duo disagrees as they’re enjoying it too much. McNulty also comes in and reminds them they should switch off after ninety seconds of non-pertinent, but he doesn’t make them turn it off. I believe it is Bodie talking on the other end of the phone at this point, but I’m not certain. Regardless the phone call suddenly turns pertinent again when the callers talk about Wallace’s bugging out over Brandon’s death. Unfortunately it’ll be hard to explain the sex talk before as pertinent; it’s a stretch even to suggest it is code.

In the Pit Omar arrives in his own style, rolling into town like a cowboy in a western with his duster, shotgun and Kevlar. Everyone scatters and he steps outside the stash house, making it clear he’s going to keep coming back until they cave. They drop the stash and after checking it he leaves.

Kima and Freamon meet up with Shardene while Poot sees Wallace out on the street and decides to find out what he’s been buying. On the rooftops Herc and Carver are talking while wondering where everyone is. Carver notices that the streets are empty and decides to roll out.

In the basement Shardene meets with Freamon, she’s quite interested in his doll house miniatures, the small furniture he makes in his free time. She clearly loves them on sight and is saddened that he simply makes and sells them. The moment is interrupted by Kima who tells them they can use Daniels office.

Bubbles is next seen walking through a nice neighbourhood before ringing on the doorbell, the woman who answers tells him “no” and it rapidly becomes clear that her and her daughter are relatives. Bubbles mentions he’s going to try and get clean again and was thinking about asking her for a place to stay. He turns to leave and she offers him a key to the basement, he’s only allowed to crash there, nowhere else.

Herc and Carver continue to travel through the deserted streets of Baltimore before they spot a young lad walking across the street, this leads to a crowded area filled with people watching a basketball match. It’s West vs. East projects, a match for bragging rights.

In the lieutenants office Kima and Freamon hit Shardene hard with the facts and start pushing her. They tell her the truth about Orlando’s and mention Keisha. They figure that they can get her to tumble and use her as an informant inside the club.

In the project basketball match things are going well, but it turns out that Avon isn’t the only person who got a ringer in. Proposition Joe has also done so and the pair of them share some harsh banter. Herc and Carver are enthralled with the match when Bodie and Poot spot them. They talk a little about the match, all roles in the system forgotten for the moment.

In the morgue Freamon and Kima show Shardene Keisha’s body, dumped after she died at Stinkum’s party. Used and then left to rot. They push Shardene a little further and she breaks down.

In the match a careless word from Poot twigs Herc onto the fact that Avon’s here at the match. Unfortunately neither of them have ever seen Avon in person yet but they call in the information to Daniels back in the basement. Daniels decides they should follow Avon as that’s how it’s worked in narcotics before. McNulty doesn’t bother to go with them, he disagrees – feeling that Avon is far too careful to go anywhere near the drugs or money and the only way to catch the man is by voice or not at all.

The match is looking bad for Prop Joe when he steps up to speak with Avon and suggests they move the bet up to a clean six figures. Avon agrees and Joe nods to a player on his bench, its clear Joe has more than one ringer planned. Sydnor and the Lieutenant arrive, Sydnor being someone who can make a positive id of Avon and he does. He lets the others know what Avon’s wearing while Joe’s new ringer makes short work of the West side team.

In the basement a call comes in that gets the Detail up on the stash but there’s no-one to confirm it. So McNulty writes in Sydnor as being on the roof at that time despite Prez’s protests. The match is getting close when the ref makes a call that Avon disagrees with, and he rips into him. The Eastside have won the game.

In the basement Shardene has started talking to Freamon about Keisha, Freamon explains that they need her help to get the Barksdales, the people who killed Keisha and he gifts her one of his miniatures to make her smile and seal the deal.

Daniels and Santangleo (remember him? He sort of drops in and out of the story in these episodes) start following Avon with Sydnor picking him up in addition with Herc and Carver in front. Avon just stops and parks, sitting and waiting before doubling back, he jumps a light and then loses all the tails for a while before driving past Daniels wagging a finger at him. Avon’s made it clear he’s no fool (but we already know that); he knows who they are and what they’re trying to pull.

In the basement McNulty and Freamon are discussing the calls and Shardene. Bubbles is sat in the basement of his sister’s house trying to overcome his cravings and get clean. Daniels admits to McNulty that Avon lost them and McNulty admits that he’s both a smart criminal and he’s proud to be chasing after him. Freamon runs through the situations and mentions that the haul was twenty two thousand. The money is clearly resulting in a massive amount of profit and there’s little sign of it. But Avon is fronting up contributions to various political causes.

In Dee’s Shardene packs up to leave and Dee doesn’t understand why, Shardene asks him if she looks like trash that could be rolled up into a rug and dumped before leaving.

Daniels is in his office when Herc and Carver come in; he has them sit down and plays a recording from the wire. It’s the dealers talking about how much they were hit for, twenty two thousand. But only fifteen thousand was handed in, the takings for two of the towers are missing. Daniels tells them they are to find the money and bring it back in, Herc and Carver are genuinely innocent of this but Carver still throws a quizzical look at Herc.

Omar arrives at Proposition Joes’s place with the stash bag; he places it in front of Joe who checks it. Joe is amazed that Omar is still stealing Avon’s stuff despite the reward on his head and asks what he’s done it for. Omar gifts it to Joe in exchange for a way to contact Avon. Omar’s plan is win-win for Joe and he agrees.

Herc and Carver strip apart their car searching for the money; Carver finds it in the trunk wheel well where it had fallen after the bag ripped.

In Orlando’s Avon is sat with Orlando and Wee-Bey counting money. Wee-Bey heads on out to get a burger while Omar watches. He then pages Avon an emergency page with Wee-Bey’s code. Avon heads out to check but then heads back in. Omar pages him a second time and Avon – after refusing the offer of Orlando’s phone – heads out to a payphone. Avon calls the number and gets a hang up while Omar heads towards him. Wee-Bey suddenly returns with the burger when Omar opens up. He misses and is winged by Wee-Bey.

The payphone receiver hangs, swinging…

The Catchphrases:
What the f*&k did I do? x 4
I’ve got a proposition for you x 2

The Review:

By now you must be pretty familiar with the score, Game Day is a transitional episode which serves a few purposes, first of all it makes the viewer a little more familiar with the way paper trails are followed up by the police, a rare piece of exposition for the show but a nessacery one for most viewers. It also introduces the character of Proposition Joe, another major player in the Baltimore drug trade and one positioned in opposition to the Barksdales.

Daniels is left clearly in an awkward position by the change in empathsis of the investigation, he’s looking for simple and clean police work which will catch Avon ‘doing the deed’ and wrap up the arrest without ruffling too many higher up peacocks. But the people who he’s working with are not that way inclined. McNulty is after Avon with his method, he’s convinced that the wire is the method of choice; Freamon on the other hand is showing his natural instincts by heading after the money trail. This is a pursuit which has two major results, first of all property seizures are always good for a police department. They result in money which helps operating budgets. But as Freamon himself has mentioned, the money goes everywhere and as such there is a very real chance they’re going to follow after someone who’s important and powerful enough to cause some real problems.

It’s very difficult to review this episode because in all honesty it is an episode without any serious major events for the case. Omar’s attempt on Avon’s life at the end of the episode is exciting and a great example of just how far Omar will go when pushed, he’s not a man who’s interested in the underlings as such anymore. He’s going for the head of the organisation now. But his failure means any further attempts on Avon’s life are going to be impossible, the already cautious Avon will be even more careful now. It’s good news for the Detail that Omar failed as well, if Omar had killed Wee-Bey or Avon then they’d be left trying to sniff after Stringer, a man who’s possibly even more cautious than Avon.

There are four episodes left in this season so there’s plenty to come before the first part of our journey is over. But if you’ve made it this far congratulations are in order, all that watching, the learning of characters and deciphering of the Baltimore slang (Po-lice, Five-O!) and following the plot as it goes is going to pay off soon big time.
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