My favorite line was from Omar, with Savino: “Ya know what?”
I hear that a lot, but now I’ll probably duck.
Don’t forget the guy who played Hungry Man played a character character named Hungry on The Corner, so, a double shout out.
When did Marlo take a picture of himself?
I agree again that the quality of the writing and storytelling is way down and not on par with past seasons, but I’m also wondering if maybe, because we know it’ll soon be over, we also expect something fantastic as we head towards the end.
The redhead is Rebecca Corbett, the regional affairs editor; she’s been on before, wiki says in Eps. 51, 52 & 53, although I only specifically remember her from E51, mentioning how many inches the paper had on UofM’s desegregation goals shortfall. She’s also named after a former real life regional affairs editor for The Sun.
I’ve been meaning to bring up the Kima “maternal instinct” theme, which started with her rushing the little boy out from the closet while clutching him desparately to her chest; longing to see Elijah after interrogating the little boy from the closet; and continued last night. I get the impression that, for whatever reason (why now, with so many other loose ends to tie up), she will end up with custody of Elijah, either back with her ex or, most likely, the ex dying.
Very mild spoiler for next week regarding shout outs to Homicide
There will be an araber in the next episode.
I don’t think it’s going to go that far (or at least, I hope so). But I do think it is the weakest subplot. I mean, she went forever without even seeing the kid. Now she’s taking care of him? Not realistic.
It also doesn’t seem like she’s doing any serious po-lice work this season. Just doing touchy-feely stuff.
I was surprised to read in the responses to the blog that AuntiePam linked to how many people there thought the “Goodnight Moon” thing was just so brilliant, moving, and wonderful. Whereas I thought it was sentimental, overdone, and completely out of keeping with everything The Wire has ever done.
Does anyone here agree with the people who loved it, and would you care to explain for me? Is it just that I’ve never read that book to a young child? Or are they just a bunch of sentimental sops over there?
BTW, someone over there mentioned that Richard Price, who wrote “Took,” lifted that scene from his own earlier film Clockers. Does that seem like cheating to anyone else? Apparently he’s recycled other little bits of his into The Wire.
Absolutely. It would be bad enough if it was some random bad cop, but IMHO it is out of keeping with McNulty’s character, and especially wrong for Freamon’s.
I really don’t understand why everyone is saying this. I am a journalist (albeit in a one-person operation, not a large newsroom) and my father used to work at the Baltimore Sun, so I think I know a little more than the average person about how newspapers work. And I’m learning a lot and find it fascinating. We’re seeing the structure of the organization, the politics, the ethical issues, the business problems newspapers are facing, some of the character types familiar in a newsroom (I particularly liked the editor who expounded on the subtle connotations of “incensed” and its alternatives), the competition between papers and TV, and on and on. Is all that stuff so obvious and well known to everyone but me?
The thing I really dislike about the newspaper theme is that, unlike virtually every other character in the show, Gus Haynes is perfect. No flaws, no dark side. And his dumb bosses have no positive side: they’re just idiots who don’t know how to really run a newspaper. ISTM that Simon didn’t have enough perspective and impartiality to write as convincingly of the world he knew best as he did of the other worlds in The Wire.
My theory about the clock pictures: The times – 9:02, 8:47, etc. – refer to some pre-established codes that Marlo has set up. E.g., 9:02 = meet at the rims store, etc.
But where the heck are they getting the pictures of the clocks? The picture Sydnor took of Monk made it look as if he was taking a picture of the ground. No clock there.
I have to disagree here and agree with what **Tamerlane **said in the thread on the previous episode:
McNulty and Freamon give a shit. That is their problem. If they knew that one murderer was getting away with something it would eat at them in their sleep. Now Marlo has gotten away with 23 plus murders and they’re just suppose to accept that?
Plus McNulty has been known to go around the department to get his way before. That is what sidelined him at the end of season one.
I guess he could have just grumbled and continued doing case work like Bunk, or he could have also continued to drink himself to death while Marlo runs loose. Though I think it is more fitting for him to go outside the shitty system and do something about Marlo.
Yeah, as I said earlier, the newsroom stuff that I’m learning is subtle, but interesting. I like seeing people constructing different narratives for the same story and debating about which one is better. I like seeing how different people react to the tension between journalistic ideals and the profit motive (both personal, and company).
Well, to be fair, we’ve only seen one side of Gus Haynes. A lot of people are really good at their work, but less than perfect in other aspects of their lives. And before this season, Lester Freamon was essentially a perfect person. He was still believable to me, though.
About the bosses, we only see the times when they screw up (basically anything relating to Templeton). But they are really just guilty of wanting The Sun to succeed, and will push what they see as winning stories. In the past, they might have been more careful with fact-checking, but with all the cutbacks, they’re getting desperate. They need some dynamite stories, or else they probably fear a slow but steady decline. Not a great excuse, but understandable, and human.
Makes me think of Joe’s parting words to Butchie: “Woe to them that call evil good and good evil.” I think Freamon and McNulty think they’re doing good, but really, it’s screwing everything up, with ripple effects through the mayor’s office. Wasn’t there the implication that this serial killer could hurt Carcetti’s gubernatorial chances? What they’re doing is wrong for so many reasons, and though the road to hell is paved with good intentions, it’s still the road to hell.
If this whole faux serial killer thing pans out into Marlo’s arrest, I wonder how they will make it stick, since all their evidence is inadmissable as it is. How will they explain who was working the case and why? How they got the pictures? etc. So much more lying will have to go on to make the case work. I wonder if Clay Davis getting off scott free is foreshadowing Marlo also getting off.
I think our heroes (McNulty and Omar, specifically) are self-destructing in their all-consuming urge to right a wrong at any cost. It’s painful to watch. I hope it’s not all for naught.
How many episodes are left in this season?
There are three episodes left. There are just 10 this season, which has compressed some of the storytelling and is probably why Clay Davis’s trial was so short.
I think the plan is to get information that will let them know something like “a big buy is taking place at X place and time”. Then they go there, catch everyone red handed, and claim they found the location via good old Fuzzy Dunlop. Which, as far as I know, would basically work. Anyone want to clarify?
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I don’t think it’s stealing if it fits into The Wire and it’s his own material. But that’s just my opinion as a wanna-be tele- and screenplay writer.
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I’m not so sure about that, Gus has sinned. I’ve mentioned before that Twigg (scene in the bar) quoted H.L. Mencken to Haynes, something to the effect of “I forgive a sinner and wink at an ugly girl.” Remember, at the end of the scene, he said, “I forgive you, Gus.” That scene stuck with me and I don’t think it was there accidentally – Gus is capable of sin – in the past or, possibly, in the future.
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My guess was that the pictures were stored in the camera and Vondas was teaching Marlo how to access them and what they mean. I haven’t been able to figure out the meaning myself. Does anybody know if the pile of pictures on the table near the end were transmitted separately or all part of one transmission?
I also got the impression that, while all of this subterfuge will somehow end up with arrests for the vacant murders, it will mess up Carcetti’s bid for governor. At least McNulty isn’t drinking (as heavily) anymore. This interference seems ironic, since now Carcetti has become a pro at fundraising when, initially, he was reluctant to do it in his campaign for mayor and was bad at it.
I’m pretty sure they were separate transmissions, b/c after watching it a second time I noticed that they weren’t all the same clock face. The hands were different in different pictures.
It’s confusing about this bit though. Unless I missed it, they were never clear whether the transmissions were being sent or received by Marlon, or both. They only mentioned that they probably weren’t texting and, when they were surveilled, the phone was pointing at the ground or they stayed in one place for about an hour and a half (this epi). They also mentioned that the transmissions were 30 to 40 seconds each.
Since they talked about (and we heard) some of Marlo’s conversations, I had assumed that all of the communications were initiated by Marlo; hence, my theory that the pictures were stored on his phone with the meanings known to him.
Even if they were stored on Marlo’s cellphone, several different pictures could have been transmited by Marlo during one phone connection. Or, the same multi-picture message could have come in from Vondas.
I guess what I’m getting at is a 30 to 40 second transmission, in either direction, could contain several pictures that spell out code words, etc. Or they could only be incoming to Marlo’s phone. I hope this makes sense.
Monstro, I hope nothing happens to Elijah’s mom either, but it’s the only way I can make sent of them playing up Kima’s maternal relationship with him (although I liked how she connected by building a house for the action figure).
Okay, I’ll give it a shot. In the book, a young rabbit lists everything he can see in his little world, and then saying “goodnight” to everything before falling asleep himself. Everything gets a “goodnight,” even if it has no way of acknowledging the goodnight (e.g., socks, the moon, air). I’ve always seen it as an expression of an acceptance, even a love, for the world – and everything in it – good, bad, or indifferent.
So, in The Wire, the world is much different, but the sentiment is the same. Kima and Elijah looking out from the window, at their vantage point above the city (like the moon) surveying the world that they know, the world that they’re a part of. Instead of mittens and mice, there are scammers and police. And there’s good and bad, but all that can wait until the morning. Right now it’s just an affirmation that they’re there, they see it all, and, in spite of everything, they’re happy just to be there. In that moment.
I’m also open to the possibility that I’m a sentimental sop. 
The Wire Meets the Simpsons – from the media thread at TWOP.