I was wondering how this season would be, focusing on a middle school. I teach middle school, so it would either be love it or hate it.
So far, love it.
High points:
The bit before the credits was tight. A nail gun that runs on gunpowder? A black teenager throwing the middle aged white Home Depot employee a $100 bump? Tight.
The depiction of middle school boys was right, dead on. Piss bombs were a hilarious idea that of course backfired, though those beat-downs looked much worse than they turned out. I loved the kid selling candy for school to the corner boys.
My heart already breaks for Dookie. That’s the kind of kid that I would bust my ass to the bone to reach, because you can tell that he’s different, bright, and could so easily get lost in the shuffle. But they were all sweet, and I hate to think of any of them as the next Marlo Stanfield or Bodie. Poor Randy, inadvertantly sending Lex to his death. I hope this isn’t going to lead him to a downward spiral. Damn.
Snoop is a cold, scary character, and the first girl we’ve seen on the corners working side by side with the guys. I had to check IMDB to make sure, and yes, she’s played by Felicia Pearson. Interesting to see a woman running with the likes of Chris Partlow, being treated as an equal, capping dudes and sprinkling quicklime on them. And creepy as hell.
Sounds like McNulty has settled down with a ladyfriend (unless I misunderstood)…looking forward to seeing if it is anyone we’ve met before in future episodes. Can’t hardly believe he’ll still be happily settled down (and still in a radio car) by the end of the season…but then again…maybe not.
Looking forward to seeing how the kids turn out over the course of the season…they’re the central figures of this season.
He said it was Beady, when he asked Bunk over for dinner. We know her from S2, she was the dock patrol officer. Nice to see he’s making that work, since she seemed like a decent pers, and it looked like his wife was never going to forgive him.
I was wondering that myself… how long before he’s back on the wire? Will Daniels have to order his ass back over there? What’s going to happen to Prez in the classroom? Will he fire warning shots?
I posted to the other thread. And then I saw this one. Oh, well.
BTW, Ruby, I just started watching the episode again, and “Felicia Pearson” is Snoop’s “real” name, not the name of the actress. In the first scene after the title credits we see those names on her card on the unit’s bulletin board. IMDb has it wrong.
So the unit’s new lieutentant is an idiot clockwatcher more concerned about his retirement house than policing. How long will Kima and Lester be able to get away with slipping subpeonas in with purchase orders for his sig before some shit comes down? It would be great to see Lester take down that corrupt fuck Clay Davis!
Rewatched it tonight. The name “Felicia Pearson” is on the credits of the show, so it’s both her real name and the character’s real name. Indendent corroboration. She was also on last season of the show, probably as a background character.
Thanks. I didn’t get around to checking the credits, I just assumed…
Snoop was more than a background character last season: She made a hit on some of Avon’s boys from the back of a motorcycle, and she was the lookout for Chris in the Lake Trout restaurant when Avon was waiting to ambush Marlo in the honey trap. She’s been part of Marlo’s crew practically since Marlo first showed up.
Tommy Carcetti is having real problems handling the stress of the campaign. Is his drinking going to become an issue? That incident with the cop, leaked to the papers, could derail his campaign pretty quick. Not that I think it will happen.
So, ongoing plot lines are:
-The mayoral race
-Herc is a bodyguard for Royce
-Randy and Dookie and their gang of little kids, so far too young to be actually killing
-Freamon and Kima trying to take down Marlo
-Snoop and Chris killing people and hiding them so no body is found
-Carver is a cop who has a quasi-friendly relationship with Bodie, who might get caught in the middle
-Prez as a teacher
-Daniels and Bunk trying to get McNulty back into the thick of things
-McNulty and Beady’s relationship (I hope)
Another parallel is the fact that drug dealer Slim Charles, the mayor, and Tommy C. all ride around with their posses in black SUVs. I didn’t notice the models, but the cars looked nearly identical.
I thought the scene in which Herc overhears the mayor and his chief of staff talking about the quid pro quo of a campaign donation in return for a median cut is probably foreshadowing a future plot point. That, combined with Herc’s question to his fellow officer (Would you take a bullet for the mayor of Baltimore?), suggests that Herc may soon face a moral dilemma.
I loved the interaction between Tommy and (black) assistant campaign manager Norman. Norman schooling him on how to handle black folks, and jokingly suggesting that he wasn’t going to vote for Tommy.
I rewatched it last night and caught a funny line I missed first time through: Lt. Mello, Cedric’s second-in-command is talking about some other officer, and wondering if he’s up to handling a certain duty. Cedric, new to the district, asks, “Which one is he?”
“The goofy-looking red-headed guy. He looks like Opie on Mayberry RFD. But not as fierce.”
BTW, HBO has updated the official Web site (http://www.hbo.com/thewire/) with last night’s episode and cast and crew of Season 4. Up through late last night it had only Season 3 info.
Randy (one of the kids) never knew his father, “reputedly an eastside corner boy who later became a major drug trafficker”. Hmmm… any characters we’re familiar with who are eastside corner boys who later became major drug traffickers?
About Lamond (another kid): “The legacy of his father, imprisoned Barksdale hitter Wee-Bey Brice, is a source of street credibility and conflict for the 14-year-old. As he attempts to emulate his father, Namond is given work as a runner on Bodie’s corner - a job that Bodie has offered out of respect to the imprisoned Bey, though his son, at times arrogant and entitled, takes it as his due. Having taken the weight for more than a dozen Barksdale organization drug killings, Wee-Bey’s steadfast loyalty to Avon has kept his family on the Barksdale payroll even as the Barksdale organization itself is disappearing from the westside corners it once controlled.”
So… (a) he’s Wee-Bey’s kid, and (b) that last snippet about the Barksdale organization is quite interesting.
Excellent premiere. Once again, The Wire fails to disappoint.
I’m interested to see how the marlow storyline will progress. There is a wire on him and the detail seems to think he’s a soft target. I remember the marlow who identified and coldly executed that pretty girl who was sent by Barksdale. I don’t think he’s a soft target.
The young’ns were believable. I liked their reaction when Randy got his idea. I’m looking forward to see how prez deals with his students and the ramifications of that.
And I could go on and on but we all know how awesome the show is. I’m totally psyched for this season!
I’m not sure those two are related. The Barksdale gang was VERY good at being cautious about getting caught by the cops, which is why the cops had to work so hard in S1 and S3 to finally nail them. Marlow’s crew may be more violent and bad-ass, but perhaps less cautious about security. Or at least, that’s what Freamon thinks, being unaware of Chris and Snoop and their MO.
I think they meant that he’s soft in the sense that he’s not as sophisticated in his use of phones as Barksdale’s people were. Marlo’s crew is keeping burners for a month at a time, instead of getting rid of them after a week or two. Also, Marlo’s on the phone himself, which Avon never was; Stringer only spoke to his top lieutenant on a special separate cell.
So Marlo may be a pretty bad guy, but he’s not as much of a challenge from a wiretapping perspective.
No. He’ll be the main bad guy through the season. If I had to guess, I’d say that Lester and Kima will be hampered in their efforts by their new lieutenant, who clearly has other things on his mind than doing real police work.
Also, Marlo’s smart enough to change his tactics when he finds out that the cops are up on his phones.
Finally, I wouldn’t be surprised if Bodie moves over to Marlo’s crew, and maybe teaches him some of what he learned about communications security from working for Stringer.
You know, this wouldn’t surprise me. It seems that he hasn’t been promoted since the beginning of the series years ago. That may be a reason to jump ship now. Especially since he said he felt like a punk now that marlo rules the streets.
