(Please don’t openly post spoilers, even from previews for this episode.)
Now that pretty much everything has been setup as far as the subplots that will play out to the end, I think tonight’s episode will be exciting and tension-filled, and, except for the sub-par Episode 2, the rest of the season will be full of good writing, surprising turns of plot and comeuppances like you won’t believe.
McNulty will definitely pay the price for what he’s doing, but may have success in bringing down Marlo. He will be caught framing a murder – the ME staffer directed him to the body “under the overhead camera,” where he was possibly recorded planting evidence. He also told Freamon that, in order to further his plans, “We have to kill again.”? I know he meant evidence-wise, but being the loose cannon he is now, you never know.
Omar back. Because he has always been a careful planner, he won’t go after Marlo right away, but he will get revenge. How? Assassination? Or cooperation with the police, vis-à-vis Butchie’s murder, a non-“game” thing he’s done in the past? No matter what, though, he will get Marlo and possibly Chris and Snoop.
Just how much further will Templeton go to advance his career? He’s already fabricated a thirteen-year-old baseball fan. It was never made clear if Nerese actually supplied the “reaction quote” from last week; I think he made it up. Like I’ve posted before, he’ll continue to fabricate facts and stories to his detriment, but somehow they will but just true enough to effect justice for some of the more nefarious characters.
What does Burrell and Rawls have on Daniels? Why did Twigg forgive Gus, ala the Mencken quote (McNulty’s flirting was the wink at the “ugly” girl)? Will Michael and Dukie get out of the game? Is Davis really done? Will Freamon go down with McNulty?
Holy shit. Marlo IS going to be the King of the United Baltimore. Joe was too trusting, too excited about playing the role of the imparter of fatherly wisdom to an up-and-comer. Gave away all his contacts, all his secrets. That was foolish, very King Lear of him. And Cheese… sharper than a serpent’s tooth. I hope there’s a shotty shell for him too when Omar comes 'round.
McNulty has Freamon helping him now, so he’s more likely not to screw up and wind up in jail behind this fake serial killer thing. Still, I don’t see how long that whole charade can last, or how McNulty and Freamon think it’s going to help them bag Marlo, which is ostensibly the real goal of the whole thing.
Nice to see Beadie, but I feel sorry for her. It’s over, babe. Walk away.
OK, so Burrell decided not to torpedo Daniels… but he handed the document containing all the details of the scandal over to Narisse… no way that’s the end of it. You know it’s going to get leaked to the press, or something. And it’s going to be ugly.
Is Clay Davis really going to weasel out of the indictment? Pearlman did not seem to think so, since she said all he’s gotten so far is a love tap, and it was pretty damning. But Bond is not going to use “the head shot” that Freamon dug up because he doesn’t want the case to go federal. Is that going to be the thing that screws up the case? Freamon’s going to be pissed when he finds out.
I was actually proud of Carver this ep, standing up to Colicchio and charging him in what was likely a racially motivated attack against that teacher. Also, Carver was honest with Herc, and Herc took it well. Maybe those two really have grown up a little.
I have a bad feeling about Michael’s situation. I hope he and Dukie don’t get hurt. I don’t know if I could take it. Maybe they will flip and that’s what will take down Marlo, not Omar?
I can’t believe Joe is dead. I really hope the co-op tries to come after Marlo.
I feel kind of icky that Marlo makes me “like” the Barksdale clan more. Like, Barksdale was also a thug and killed people, and spread the drug problem through Baltimore. But I hate Marlo SO much - makes me long for the “old days.”
Another Sunday I had to explain tears to my husband! “It’s just a TV show”, says he, who cries at Rudy and The Sandlot and pretty much any show with a boy and a dog and a ball.
5-4-Fighting, I think it was pretty obvious that Templeton fabricated Nareese’s quote. We saw him pick up the phone, put it down without calling anyone, and start writing his “reaction quote”. It appears that Burrell thinks that quote came from Daniels, unless I’m reading too much into their talk.
It’s starting to look like the detectives won’t have a damn thing to do with bringing Marlo down. They don’t seem to know that Butchie is dead. Prop Joe’s death should get their attention, but McNulty will be busy tying red ribbons on fresh bodies. It was encouraging though, that he refrained from fixing the body that had been dead too long. Must be Lester’s good influence.
So it’s a big deal to fudge on a loan application? That was the head shot? Davis not admitting that he borrowed from his mother for the down payment on that property?
How dumb is Davis? Transferring the exact amounts from one account to another, and doing it so quickly?
I thought that, too, but watching that ep for the second time I saw what the ME meant: it’s not a video camera, but a big still camera on a tripod next to the gurnee with the body, for documenting the condition of the corpse before the autopsy.
I agree with AuntiePam. He made it up. I am curious to find out how he’s going to be found out.
I think that the co-op (and any hope of a United Baltimore) died with Joe. I don’t think that Marlo has the vision, temperament, aptitude, or inclination to take charge of it, nor do I expect the rest of the members would be happy to be ruled by the guy who killed Joe. No, I think it all falls apart into separate warring factions again. Unless the rest of the co-op comes together (under Omar!?!) to fight Marlo.
But Joe didn’t give any contacts or secrets away. He introduced Vondas to Marlo only to calm Marlo’s suspicion that he was involved in Omar’s hit on the shipment. Marlo followed Vondas and contacted him through Boris without Joe’s knowledge. Joe’s fault was not being constantly on his guard with Marlo. And trusting Cheese, whom he had just pissed off.
I was a little confused about the scene between Omar and Slim Charles. It’s clear that Slim persuaded Omar that Joe couldn’t have had anything to do with Butchie’s death. But here’s what Slim Charles said:
“Ask yourself, dog. Why would Joe give Butchie up? If Marlo could make him talk, he puts Joe inside your big score. If Joe turned Butchie, I’d tell you. Shit, I’d help you, even. But it just ain’t like that.”
At first I didn’t understand what the second sentence meant, because Joe didn’t know that Omar planned to rip off the whole shipment. But as I was writing out this post and thinking about it, I realized that Butchie (or Joe) could have told Marlo that Omar had come to Joe on the pretense of stealing Marlo’s stash, only to turn it against the whole co-op. Is that the way you see it?
So we finally learn what was in Daniels’ past: he and others in the Eastern (like, oh, I don’t know, Valchek maybe?) were “skimming seized drug money.” (It reminds us of the time that Carver and Herc were tempted and briefly suspected of the same thing, but it was Daniels who called them on that; he wasn’t involved.)
Am I the only one who thought that the guy in the car that Colicchio went after was S.A. Bond? Same beard, almost.
Great scene between Prop Joe and Herc.
And how about the way Clay Davis was holding the documents in the grand jury room as if they were coated with shit? And then how he quickly put on his game face, that shit-eating grin, when he steps outside and sees the cameras?
Did you notice that the homeless guy with the dog was Johnny “Fifty,” the bearded checker from Season 2?
Sadly, I don’t think the sub-par writing has been limited to one episode. Although things are getting better, I’m afraid this season may go down as the least of the five. Generally lacking the subtlety and smoothness of the other four. But still generally far above the average TV crime drama.
You don’t think Marlo is now going to be the guy that the Greek supplies to? And everyone will have to go through him, as they went through Joe?
Will they know who killed Joe? As far as anyone knew, Joe was leaving town to lay low for a while. We’ll see if Marlo publicizes offing Joe, or if he just steps into his place and becomes the sole connect for the good shit. Also, who knows who else Marlo has had killed? Hungry Man, or whatever his name was, was also killed. Maybe the co-op’s leadership is getting killed to make room at the top for Marlo’s people.
Introducing him to Vondas was his first mistake. Teaching him how to launder money and setting up his account in the islands was the second.
We already knew that-- he was investigated for “excessive income charges” while in the Eastern District DEU. And he berated Carver for the same behavior.
So far the thing that seems most implausible this season is McNulty’s serial killer thing. Two comments on that:
(1) “The bigger the lie, the more they believe”
(2) Unlike most such schemes, this scheme is not going to result in personal glory or the framing of an innocent person. It just needs to go on long enough to get some extra money in homicide for a while, which will hopefully trickle over into Marlo, and then the serial killer can just vanish. It’s a bit nuts, but I think it’s more plausible than it initially seems, just because it’s both so unexpected and so NOT obviously benefitting someone.
This was a great episode (although I watched it on demand a week ago). Man, seeing Joe’s house, learning about his family, getting a bit of a hint of what he’s really all about, and then Marlo comes in and it’s all over and Joe can’t buy his way out of it…
I think Joe did know that Omar was going after the whole shipment. Why wouldn’t he take it all, once Joe told him where it was?
I asked about Omar going after Prop Joe over at TWOP, and was reminded that Prop Joe had reason to be pissed at Omar – the co-op was forced to buy back the shipment – they lost money twice. It put Joe in a really bad spot with Marlo and the co-op.
Slim Charles is right. Joe isn’t going to sic anyone on Butchie, because Butchie knows Joe had a big part in the drug heist. Omar didn’t take time to think it through.
I watched twice last night, and Marlo’s scene at the end was just as chilling the second time. That was very powerful.
Agree about the first (although we might have expected Vondas not to be so easy to tail), but IMHO the second wasn’t such a big deal. Marlo might have figured that out himself or gotten the idea from someone else. I don’t see it as a major strategic error.
When did we hear about “excessive income charges”? I remember Fitzhugh telling McNulty that Daniels had a lot more money than a police lieutenant should have, and I alluded to the incident with Carver and Herc. But I don’t remember that particular phrase, or that we knew that his extra money came from skimming seized drug money.
Ruby: I agree with Trunk. Marlo has never been a big fan of the co-op concept. I expect him to monopolize the Greek’s shipments and try to kill or scare off the rest of the co-op members, maybe absorbing some of them into his organization. However, I doubt that he’ll succeed. Furthermore, I expect this will anger the Greek, because it will reduce his profits. [Greek accent]I do not think it is wise to anger the Greek.[/GA]
Although the major plot conflict this season is between Marlo and Omar, I don’t think that either will kill the other. It’s too obvious. In The Wire, I expect the unexpected. The Greek may kill Marlo, or maybe Michael will. (Of course, having said that, I probably eliminate those possibilities as being too obvious.) I think the conclusion with the greatest emotion impact would be for Omar to be killed, and Marlo to remain alive as the head of all drug dealing in B’more. Grim, unpleasant, unsatisfying. Very Wire-like.
But who else is going to die? Anyone on the law side? McNulty, in a drunken stupor, gets hit by a train?
And will Rawls be outed?
No, the deal Omar made with Joe was to steal Marlo’s share. Joe didn’t tell Omar about the big shipment; he only promised to inform Omar of where and when Cheese would meet with Marlo. As Omar leaves Joe’s store after that first meeting, he hangs out around the corner, waiting for Cheese to leave, and says, Now I’ll show Joe some devious shit (or words to that effect). Meaning, he sold Joe on one plan, but is going to pull a switch. Omar follows Cheese for some time (in his lover’s cab, remember?), knowing that Cheese will have to receive the full co-op shipment before he can hand off anything to Marlo.
But Joe didn’t know or expect Omar was going to take the whole package. That’s why he was in such deep shit with the rest of the co-op, because it looked like he did, when in fact he had only planned to sell out one member. And of course, buying back his own stuff from Omar (at 20%) actually saved the co-op the cost of replacing it at 100%. (Although Joe told the rest of the co-op he had to pay 30%!)
But I’m still confused about the heist. It looked like Omar and his crew were at the site early. They even had time to climb to the roof. If Omar didn’t already know where the stuff was being delivered, how did they all get there in time? Help me out here.
They followed Cheese to the site. Cheese and his crew were waiting for the Greek’s truck long enough for Omar and his people to arrive unseen and slip around behind the building, and also tell the Mexicans where to go for the ambush after the truck arrived.
No, I got the sense that Omar followed Cheese for quite a while – days or even weeks – to find out where he lived, learn his patterns, etc. He was watching Cheese when he got the call from Joe to go to the drop point for Marlo’s connection, but ignored that and followed Cheese to the meet point for the full shipment. Presumably the meet with Marlo would have been a couple of hours later.
You’re right. I compressed the event in my head, and left out the meet between Cheese and Marlo, when Cheese tells Marlo how they’ll notify him when it’s ready.
It was telling, Cheese’s “Where do I sign up?” – if Marlo didn’t know he could be turned before, he got a clue with that.
I’d forgotten about Omar’s comment too – “The Cheese stands alone” – which I didn’t remember as a line from Farmer in the Dell until someone pointed it out.
You see, it’s the fact that earlier seasons were hard to understand and took some figuring out that made The Wire so special, and that makes Season 5 not quite up to par. So far it’s been a lot more obvious and straightforward than previous seasons.
Although I will say it took me a while to figure out a few things about last night’s ep. For instance, the scene with Omar and Slim Charles I mentioned above. And I didn’t recognize Hungry Man tied up in the garage, and didn’t understand the gift Chris and Snoop were giving Cheese until watching it the second time.
BTW, I don’t think Cheese is going to last very long. Remember when Prop Joe said his sister’s boy wasn’t all that bright?
Being a journalist myself; i can certainly vouch for the truism that the worst people to interview are other journalists, myself included. We all know the tricks of the trade and when interviewed, we’re always second guessing the reporter.
I know Simon wants this season to be about the Death of American Journalism, but I wonder if he’s removed enough to write that story.
Any journalist, myself included, will tell you that to write a good story, you have to distance yourself from the subject. If you get too personal, it’ll turn out to be an OP-Ed (which serve their purposes, but being a columnist is not the same as being a reporter).
It’s too obvious that they’re setting up Ambition Boy (forgot his name) to take the blame for what’s wrong with journalism today. And Omar the anti-hero will eventueally save the day. The foreshadowing is really heavy and while I had high hopes for the final season, so far it seems that the newspaper route is not going to go down too well.
I think it was a HUGE deal. Without the ability to launder money, Marlo couldn’t pay Vondas directly. It was clear that Vondas only takes clean money, and Marlo had no idea how to get it. I think the scene in the bank was depicted in such a way as to indicate Marlo’s ignorance about banking and finance. Stringer Bell he ain’t. I doubt he would have figured it out without Joe’s help. Joe could have forced Marlo to go through him to launder his money (for a fee, of course), and then Marlo would have remained reliant on Joe twofold: for clean money AND the connect to Vondas. Once Joe taught Marlo how to launder, Marlo could cut out the middle man, and Joe’s usefulness ended. Major mistake on Joe’s part, the one that led to his death IMO.
I don’t remember where I heard that phrase, but it stuck in my mind. The fact that Daniels was in the DEU and it was a DEA file about his unexplained income kind of suggests that he was skimming drug money, not to mention how he reacts to Herc and Carver doing the same thing. Point is, I think we had enough info to figure out what the dirt on Daniels is, in a general sense anyway.
It’s Rubystreak. Ruby is a different poster. I never said that I thought Marlo was a “fan” of the co-op. I do think he’s going to try to get the other members of the co-op to be under him and rely on him for the connect like they relied on Joe, which would make him the de facto leader of the co-op, such as it is. There is money to be made, and Marlo does understand that. I think the democratic/parliamentary aspect of it will go out the window, though. That was a coup d’etat we saw last week, and the new boss is a tyrant.
Does the Greek get involved in the politics of the street trade? Would he?
