I can’t decide how I feel about McNulty’s plan – it’s still playing out. Oh, it was stupid and shortsighted and wrong, but I’ll give him some credit for good intentions. But if he comes out unscathed, I’ll be miffed.
How will they parlay that into indicting Snoop or taking down Marlo, though? Maybe if Chris is out of the picture on a murder rap, without that muscle, Marlo will be vulnerable and Omar or Fat Face Ricky or someone will be able to get him? I don’t see the police being able to get Chris on anything more than Devar, nor getting Marlo even if they do get Chris on that one murder. It’s a dead end, since it was a crime of passion outside the pattern and not a murder for business.
As for McNulty, this mess is still unfolding. We saw that he screwed around with that homeless man’s life, which wasn’t OK at all. He’s taking a lot of resources for this non-existent project, which he can’t possibly dole out to other cases forever without being noticed. We’ve already seen how he’s screwed over Bunk’s investigation of Devar with his nonsense. McNulty’s going to have to escalate or change up with his killer since he can’t fake anymore murders with this much scrutiny on every dead homeless guy who turns up now. He’s got Templeton also making stuff up, and Templeton is on Gus’ radar now as someone who is a liar. In the end, I don’t see how he’s going to avoid going to jail on this, and the ripple effect could go up to screw over Daniels, maybe even Carcetti.
Though, I have to say, the theme of this season does seem to be “lying assholes who get away with murder (sometimes literally)”: McNulty, Marlo, Clay Davis, Templeton. Will they get their comeuppance? C’mon, folks, this is The Wire. I expect to be thoroughly heartbroken by the end.
I wasn’t necessarily trying to suggest any progress regarding Devar/Chris will necessarily be a direct help in taking down Marlo (though it could). Even if Chris (and Snoop) get scooped up for that, I don’t think it’ll touch Marlo. The connections Bunk is making could lead to solving the vacants though and maybe ensnare Marlo in the progress.
What I most strongly believe will probably happen to Marlo is that it will come from the street side – Omar; Michael, perhaps; or an angry coop. But we could experience the heartbreak of the rat bastards being the last fools standing – Stanfield, Davis.
I’m kind of seeing this season play out as people getting what they deserve in indirect ways. For instance, right now I believe, unless Scott and Jimmy change, their shenanigans will bring them to harm, but haphazardly help in other situations.
It’s getting hard for me to wait the whole week too.
If Omar accomplishes his mission with that injury, it just goes to show his grit and determination. Go Omar! I loved how the neighborhood immediately knew Omar was back when he went after the money man. They teased with us with Marlo’s “confession” re inciting Omar, not for Prop Joe and Hungry Man’s deaths. I think all of the Coop will eventually catch on it was him, even if they don’t stop him.
I could be wrong again but I thought McNulty came up with the photo idea after Freamon conjectured that’s what was being transmitted, so that any funds made available will go toward resources in that area (a P.C., equipment to decode the pictures). I wonder if they’re simply camera phone pictures being sent to let Vondas know who is picking up the brick and when. Prez returning to help unscramble the pictures would be good.
It was good to see the new, stronger Randy but sad to see he’s lost a bit of his soul. Nice act to repudiate his “snitch” reputation that got him a beatdown when he first came to the home. Did anyone notice Randy’s plaint to Bunk (“You gone gimme time, huh?”) was similar to when Carver was walking away in the hospital (“You gon’ look out for me, Sgt. Carver?”) It would be a bit of a wasted scene if he doesn’t stick around a little longer.
Beadie (Amy Ryan) is on Letterman tonight. She was extremely nervous, but extremely endearing, on Craig Ferguson last week.
I’m guessing she won’t have anything to say about The Wire. The DVD of Gone, Baby, Gone (for which she’s been nominated for best supporting actress), is out.
I’m struggling with the rationale for this. McNulty and Freamon know that whatever they pick up won’t be admissible, so why not just go ahead and do it? They already have resources assigned to the wiretap – why can’t they surreptitiously bring in a PC to decode the pictures? Is it a matter of cost, or are they worried about people walking in and seeing what they’re doing? If it’s either of those, I would think that those obstacles could be overcome more simply than through the kidnapping and displacement of homeless men.
Do they need equipment to decode the pictures? Seems like they need a cryptologist, someone who can look at them in context and figure out what they mean. Someone like… Prez.
5-4-Fighting, I think you’re right, that Freamon figured out they were taking pictures, and then McNulty came up with the way they’re going to intercept them. I wonder what they’ll do to clean up all this inadmissable evidence when it comes time to use it. Or maybe that’s been explained and I missed it?
Meltdown and Rubystreak, I get the impression that they need different equipment to hear voice transmissions than they do for other types. This makes sense since, this way, any wiretap permits would not be open-ended in terms of what they can access. Police don’t make a whole lot of money (remember Carver’s suggestion for Herc to replace the camera) and P.C. alone without the decoder equipment would be out of their reach.
Freamon and McNulty have already discussed creating a confidential informant to cover any information they get from this and another The Wire fan has suggested they might get in trouble for a phony C.I. like another cop did previously.
I hate to keep harping on this (no I don’t) but I wonder if Chris is going to be the key to bringing down Marlo. HBO showed a glimpse into Chris’s homelife for the first time in E55. As it’s beginning to look like Chris might get caught for Devar’s murder, I wonder if Chris’s love and devotion for his family might be a factor in regards to (i) turning on Marlo if he gets caught or Marlo disrespects or disregards his family, or (ii) Omar finds them (the possibility was mentioned) and uses that to leverage Chris.
:smack: You mean to decode the transmissions, not to decode the code they were using in the pictures. Sorry, I misunderstood what you were referring to.
Yeah, the whole Fuzzy Dunlop debacle that contributed to Herc’s downfall. That’s going to be one hell of a fake CI-- doesn’t seem like that would fly.
I hope so. It doesn’t seem like Chris would ever flip on Marlo or Snoop, but you’re right that, with the right lever, you could move the world. Seeing his family definitely made me wonder.
Is anyone wondering what the implication is of the file of leaked subpoenas and grand jury transcripts being passed around, and the double mention of who “don’t we trust” in City Hall?
Could the woman who leaked these documents, gave out Omar’s family information (from their city agency file), and gave Chris access to the Russian’s file be the same person?
::cue ominous music::
Ooooh, I like that. The leaker isn’t anyone we know – just an underpaid municipal employee picking up some spare cash.
Did we see the woman who gave out Omar’s info? I’m vaguely remembering a heavyset gaudy woman being flattered (and paid) for the info, but maybe that was another show.
No, you’re right. It was Shamrock, who flirted with her.
Didn’t we see the clerk who gave Chris Boris’ file? I don’t think it was the same person. I thought that was a standard, public file inquiry at the Court House (not City Hall), and not a bribed, under-the-counter deal.
You’re right, it wasn’t the same person, now that I think about it.
I was totally just speculating here, of course, but, even with the ability of the public to made standard inquiries of that type, it just always felt strange that Chris had free enough access to that file to steal something from it (the photo).
Well, it looks like that area of speculation was deBunked (get it!) pretty quickly, but the file and the leaker angle are being played up.
Hey, commasense, where’ve you been, haven’t seen you around much this week? I’m also trying to revive the trivia thread.
I don’t think it’s in character for Omar to bring in people that are not in The Game, and I believe that even stretches to innocent family members of Game Playaz. He’s very proud of never having stuck his double-barrel down the face of a citizen, and I don’t think he’s gonna start now. I don’t know why Chris would be so scared about that sort of thing, since Omar’s M.O. seems pretty well known at this point.
But the police are definitely not above digging up some sort of family dirt (if there is any), and leveraging whatever they can against Chris. It’ll take something really heavy for Chris to turn, though. I think it’s possible that by the end of the season, Chris goes down for murder, Snoop goes down for a lesser charge, and Marlo ends up being targeted by Co-Op or Omar in his weakened state. I suspect Marlo may actually just flee to an island or something, since he is the least likely of the crime bosses we’ve seen who would do that. However, he’s the type who can read the writing on the wall, and I’m not sure if he’s the type (esp with all his money in the bank) who’ll go down fighting to the end, with no chance of winning.
About Randy, that just about broke my heart, too. I think he and Dukie were the most deserving of being saved last year. Randy never really did anything bad; he was just an entrepreneur, and in a good school, he’d probably be rewarded for it. Hell, it would probably look good on a college application! Instead, he just ends up in more and more shit, and loses the only good thing in his life, and ends up in a prison-like environment that destroys the sweet kid that came in.
Well, thanks, but *[checks thread] *I’ve posted six times in this thread, at least once a day. Maybe not quite up to my usual level of participation, but you can’t be at the top of your game all the time. Besides, I wanted to give the rest of you a chance to figure things out on your own. 
You’re absolutely right about Omar’s M.O. but I don’t think Marlo’s crew knows or believes that on any real level. Look at Marlo trying to make the Coop believe Omar killed Prop Joe and Hungry Man. Those who really knew what Omar is about didn’t believe him right off the bat (“Didn’t think so.”).
While Omar wouldn’t stick a gun in a Joe Taxpayer’s face, he wouldn’t hold off from making Chris think he would to trap him.
Marlo is a pretty savvy player, but he’s also full of hubris and too brusque with the money- and power-grab. He may be able to see the writing on the wall, but tends to be too bull-headed and cocksure to back down or run when he should.