Open spoilers for this episode and preceding episodes only please and thank you. 
Episode description:
Took: After an unexpected call, Templeton and the newspaper find themselves back in the spotlight; McNulty receives unwanted attention.
I have no clue what “Took” means. Could it be a nickname? Or is it “took” as in “We got took”, i.e., scammed?
We’re having a spell of bad weather here today, and I’m crossing my fingers that we don’t lose power and that the dish stays clear of ice.
I thought took referred to the city got took because they think an old guy got took. Also, Gus at the newspaper is starting to really figure out that he got “took” by Templeton (at least twice, he doesn’t know about the fake call). How about that Senator Davis? Sheeeeeeit.
PS - Looooooooved the Munch cameo.
Munch cameo? Who’s Munch? I need some enlightenment here!
Richard Belzer who currently plays Munch on L&O SVU originated his role on Homicide, which was based on David Simon’s book - Homicide A Year on the Killing Streets (David Simon went on to create The Wire). In the episode when Gus enters the police bar to talk to Mello, Richard Belzer is sitting at the bar telling the bartender it’s uncool to ask a patron to settle their entire tab. He says, I should know I used to have a bar - which is a direct shoutout to Homicide where his character was a co-owner of a bar across from the station
How cool!
I didn’t watch Homicide and don’t watch L&O:SVU. I’ve seen Belzer on Bill Maher’s show.
I wonder if there will be more shout-outs. We also saw the real Fran Boyd from the Corner in the episode where Bubbles got his HIV test.
Glory, you must be one of those lucky On Demand viewers – I can’t get that here. I couldn’t remember Belzer from last week’s episode and thought I was losing it.
I hate that Omar can’t wait until his leg is better to take on Marlo’s people. Out on the street in daylight using a crutch? I liked that Michael was scared of him – I’m taking it as a good sign. Loved Dukie checking the want ads. HVAC? Dental hygienist?
When’s Prez gonna come back and crack the code? Any ideas on what the clocks represent?
The best part of tonight’s episode is in the previews for next week. Templeton’s Marine accusing him of lying!
We saw Marlo taking a picture of what looked like himself last week. Where the hell did all those clocks come from?
Somehow Flava Flav is in on all of this…
I hope I didn’t spoil anyone - Munch was in the “Took” episode up for discussion!! The description said open spoilers for this episode. I do watch it On Demand, but I only saw the episode yesterday.
I don’t know, maybe I’m just looking for reasons to criticize this season, but I didn’t like the Munch cameo. It reminded me of the appearance of Sean Connery as the King at the end of the awful Kevin Costner Robin Hood. The theater I was in erupted in applause when the King appeared. Not because it was the King, but because it was Sean Connery. In other words, the filmmakers got an emotional response not through the drama, but through the casting, taking the audience out of the story and emphasizing the artifice.
Belzer’s appearance, which referred to another drama outside of The Wire, reinforced the unreality of the show, taking us out of the drama, and breaking the illusion of reality (already severely weakened in the fifth season) that had been the hallmark of the show. It’s the kind of cutesy business that lots of primetime dramas have done, but which The Wire had not, until now.
But wait a minute, commasense, you’re saying, what about all the other cameos in The Wire: the ex-mayor, the ex-governor, the ex-police commissioner, the ex-drug dealers, and the real cops? Not the same: they were all much more subtle, they were real people, not Hollywood actors, and pointed to the real world, not to a work of fiction.
Speaking of cameos, Clay Davis’ lawyer was played by a real B’more lawyer of the same name: Billy Murphy. Not a bad performance for a non-actor. But I guess trial lawyers are actors of a kind.
I keep watching, but every episode I’m more and more disappointed in this season. I rewatched last week’s ep before tonight’s and I became more dissatisfied with Omar’s hiding place. Chris’ guys said they checked dumpsters and sewers, and we saw Monk and Snoop checking the neighborhood and hospitals. But no one looked inside Monk’s own building? Sheeeeeeeeeiiiit!
Speaking of which, The Wire has entered the world of Boston Legal, where legal cases begin and end on the same day.
BTW, for the second time in The Wire, they mentioned the county in which I live. The first time it was S4 street kids saying that there was KKK in Howard County (not true!). Tonight it was where McNulty got the fancy equipment to intercept the pictures.
AuntiePam, I assumed that you had On Demand, since you opened the thread before 9 pm. I stayed out until after 10.
(I have On Demand, but I prefer to wait for Sunday’s 9 pm broadcast.)
Clay Davis was acquitted? I guess Bond didn’t take the head shot. Another villain escapes. Grrr. Maybe he’ll run for mayor next and unseat Carcetti.
commasense, I agree with you about the Munch cameo and the unreality of this season. I feel the same way-- the whole McNulty serial killer story is so out there, it takes away from the gritty, real-life quality of the show and turns it into a fantastical TV show. I don’t like it either.
Rewatching the 10:30 run of “Took,” I caught the reference to the title.
At the very end, when Gus is expressing his doubts about Templeton to the gorgeous redhead (and who is she, and where did she come from?), talking about the fact that Scott lied about the dead crabcake lady’s sister, he says, “I didn’t give a fuck he got took, everybody gets took now and then.”
And of course, virtually everyone in the city is getting took by McNulty, the Mayor, Clay Davis, and everyone else.
I thought the business with Kima, the Ikea furniture, and the kid was a pointless waste of time, and the “Goodnight scammers” ending was more overblown B.S.
I’m hoping the whole (season) will be better than the parts. I can’t help but wonder if a full season of 12 or 13 episodes would have played out differently.
Tonight’s episode was jangly. Everyone seemed at loose ends, unsure, frazzled. It made me jittery too.
Is the fake serial killer more unrealistic than Amsterdam in season 3?
The only thing I don’t like about this season is that I did not learn anything new about the news business like I did with the drug trade, docks, city politics, and the schools.
Otherwise it is still brilliant TV. Especially when they tie different aspects of the city together like they did in the opening of this episode. Where McNulty starts a fake phone call and they show how everyone at the police station and The Sun deals with it.
The Clay Davis trial didn’t take place on one day. The attorneys are in different clothes in different parts of the trial.
Using the “head shot” would have required taking the investigation federal since it’s a federal offense. Bond didn’t want to give up his shot at the limelight, so he just went for the other charges.
Much as I dislike Clay, I think his acquittal was quintessentially The Wire where things just don’t work out nicely the way people want.
I agree that the newspaper sidebar isn’t as informative as those of past seasons, but I’m still learning stuff; most of it is coming from how Gus goes about trying to frame and edit articles. It’s the little things, like how in this episode he remarked that sometimes the most important thing in the article is not in quotes (and this was an article specifically to get the homeless point of view). It seems obvious, but then again, if I were a reporter doing this type of article, I would be hunting for juicy quotes, too, since that seems like it would make the most authentic in-your-face copy. It might slip my mind that there are other ways to construct a compelling narrative when one way seems so inviting.
Anyway, the season as a whole continues to disappoint, as things are continuing along their stereotypical TV-contrivance path. There’s the one day in-and-out trial, and yet ANOTHER in-your-face parallel reaction/theme between the news office and police station, as well as a strange new episode in McNulty’s sitcom (ep. title “The Serial Commissioner”), co-starring Shakima the Hapless Parent.
That said, the series is still quite good (and still probably the best on TV). I like the depiction of Mayor Carcetti. He started out with real ideals, but once he sold his soul by not taking the $53 million (heh, opposite from most fiction), he’s essentially been All-Politico Man, focused on the political maneuverings with very little regard to their actual effects on reality, albeit with intermittent twinges of conscience. Seems like quite a realistic progression to this layman.
For anyone who (like me) is confused about Freamon’s wiretap, there’s an explanation in the comments to this blog article.
I loved the subtle look that Gus had on his face after the meeting with Scotty and McNulty. He doesn’t believe word one of that crap, and now he’s tracking down his B.S. Back to being a reporter instead of editor. “Kid on the West side loving baseball?!”
Best line of the episode, Clay Davis: “Prometheus Bound.” What a great character he is.
