The Wire, Transitions, 1/27/07

I agree. (I’m a journalist, too.) So far, the newspaper characters don’t have anywhere near the depth of any of the others. They’re less nuanced and more black and white. Gus is a great guy, competent with few flaws, and Whiting, the editor in chief, is a pretentious ass who knows nothing about journalism but thinks he knows the common people because his wife volunteers in the public schools. He and the managing editor are corporate robots with no redeeming characteristics, and Gus, Twigg, Alma, and a few others are great journalists with no blemishes. And Scott Templeton is The Wire’s Jayson Blair, a symbol of all that’s wrong with 21st century journalism.

The thing is, I’m sure all the characters in the newsroom are based on people Simon knew, and I’ll just bet that he knew an editor whose wife volunteered in the schools. But he’s so pissed off about the way he was treated by the Sun and by what’s happened to newspapers (positions I completely agree with, BTW), that he can’t see any other side of that character. He’s made murderers more sympathetic.

Also, ISTM that the problems of newspapers in the modern world are being presented in a more preachy fashion than those of the docks and the schools in previous seasons.

That said, from what I can gather (I never worked at a newspaper, but my father was an editor at the Baltimore Sun for 34 years), the technical aspects of the inner workings of the news room are spot on.

BTW, a technical explanation for non-journalists: my father explained to me that when they refer to “the dot” and “the double dot,” they’re talking about different editions of that day’s paper. The earliest edition every day is the “bulldog” (although I don’t remember them using that term in the show), followed by the dot, the double dot, and the final. They can make changes between the editions if they get updated information or discover errors.

If anyone has any other questions about the practice of putting out a daily paper, Charlie or I might be able to answer them.

Even though Prop Joe gave away his expertise in regards to money-laundering and setting up offshore accounts, I think his comment “It’s hard work trying to civilize this motherfucker,” will be quite telling in Marlo’s about to survive without Joe and with the Coop and the Greeks. He has the drive and ruthlessness, but not the finesse (“you’re dirty”).

The contrast between the soothing talk right before Joe is killed and the look Marlo’s as Chris pulled the trigger was quite chilling and mainly what made me watch the episode 3 times last night.

Commasense, I’m already an addict.

I always thought the “bulldog” referred to the Sunday paper that came out on Saturday. They just have feature stories in them since there is no “news” to put in them.

Okay. Good point. I just thought that anyone dealing with so much cash would have to figure out ways to launder it, but Joe did put Marlo in touch with the crooked minister, the Antilles bank, and Levy, as well. So why was Joe so naive about Marlo?

I had forgotten that he was in a DEU in the Eastern, and so I didn’t make that connection.

Sorry, I knew that, but was just being friendly-like. You can call me comma if you want. :smiley:

Agreed. But I don’t think he’s sharp enough politically to work well with the other dealers, who have become used to being co-equals. And I expect them to come back hard on Marlo rather than submit to him. It’s going to be bloody.

I don’t think he would hesitate to have Marlo killed if he’s bad for business and if there’s someone else he’d rather deal with. And I think that’s pretty likely.

BobT: I think practices vary among papers, but typically the bulldog is the first edition of any paper, so the Sunday paper delivered on Saturday is a bulldog, but the first edition of the Monday paper that hits the streets at 4 a.m. on Monday could also be a bulldog.

I have not seen the next episode, but my current guess is Prop Joe’s death will be blamed on Omar. The whole co-op will be shaken up with Marlo trying to take over. I was stunned last night when they did Prop Joe. I did not see it coming until they gave Cheese the present.

Prop Joe was a good bad guy…

The actor who played him was pretty awesome IRL, too. His Wikipedia entry is really interesting. He basically taught all the little scrubs on the show how to act. I’ll be looking forward to seeking him out in other projects.

Overconfidence? He was so firmly entrenched as the head man that he got too comfortable? He didn’t realize how fucking vicious and sociopathic Marlo is? Thought he could be a father figure to the boy when the boy is not someone who wants or needs a father, and would kill you for trying? I don’t know.

I don’t want poor Ruby to get confused for me. I’m sure her life is hard enough. :wink:

Can they come back at him? Will they have a connect with the Greek without him? If not, they will probably roll over like everyone else has.

That’s an angle I hadn’t considered-- the Greek takes out Marlo. Hmmm. I’d rather Omar did it, but it’s an interesting possibility.

I thought of the idea that everyone would blame Omar for Joe’s death, but… would Slim Charles speak up about that? I wonder how Marlo’s going to play it. Joe just disappeared… Joe was killed by Omar… I killed Joe, muthafuckas, and I’ll kill you too and take away your connect if you don’t kiss my ring… etc. Lots of possibilities. I don’t think Marlo is the subtle type, though.

I wonder if Naresse will leak the Daniels file to Scott Templeton? What’s the connection going to be that brings this whole season together? McNulty and Gutierrez didn’t really go anywhere. Maybe McNulty will hook up with Templeton, since they both enjoy fabricating evidence so much.

That shot of Slim Charles slumped against the wall makes me think he won’t be speaking up to anybody. It wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the last we’ll see of him. He might just get out.

Can someone explain to me what the $80,000 loan thing was about. I do have a feeling Davis is going to get away with this too, the same was I thought Prop Joe the “good bad guy” would survive. So much for that.

If Michael participates in taking down Marlo, I think he will do something more direct.

I thought, simplistically perhaps, that Templeton was going through those fake movements because he was trying to listen to what Alma was saying, that’s why I didn’t think it was that obvious. Why would Daniels say such a thing about himself, even without attribution? Burrell didn’t think the quote came from Daniels, he just believes that’s what Daniel has been doing. It was creepy how Daniels was groveling trying to get Burrell to believe he was never trying to do him in.

I missed that, but I still think McNulty will get caught.

I’m wondering if the Coop and the Greek will want to get rid of Marlo, set it in motion, but Omar’s work (assassination, informing) will take care of the problem for them.

I did think Prop Joe would survive because, like mchapman said, he was a “good bad guy.” Damn, that caught me by surprise.

This fuckin’ show, man. I’m sitting here, thinking to myself, “Damn, why’d they do Joe? He was one of the good ones!”

One of the good ones…

A major – perhaps THE major – drug dealer, responsible for uncountable ruined lives, massive amounts of misery, and just general Bawlmer shittiness…

And I’m broken up that the Game (in fairness, perhaps a newer variant of the Game) finally caught up to him and he got his?

Man, what an outstanding show. Sympathy for a drug kingpin.

Thanks for the Wikipedia link about the actor. That’s also outstanding. And no one on TV will ever say the word “too” the way Prop Joe did. “Tewww” doesn’t quite do it justice.

ETA: Was that Mos Def playing Hungry Man, the guy tied up and given as a present to Cheese? It sort of looked like him, although maybe he was a bit too old, and it’s hard to tell with the shades, but then again, that’s sort of a Mos Def thing in itself…

Best line of the episode:

“Hey - did you ever find that camera?”

Sydnor was tracing an $80,000 withdrawal from Davis’ personal account. He used it to pay back his mother-in-law for a down payment she gave him on a house. The loan application was falsified-- he needed the money to qualify for the house loan, which he didn’t have but got from his MIL, and which he paid back later, proving that he never really had the assets he said he had on his loan application. It’s a violation of the US Code, carrying a 30 year sentence, even though it’s something a lot of people do when buying a house. This is what Freamon said is called “the head shot” down at the State’s Attorney office-- because it’s such a common type of loan fraud but it has such a big penalty, I guess? Not sure.

Bond wouldn’t take the case federal for personal reasons-- he thinks he can parlay this prosecution into a bigger career for himself. I think this means he’s not going to use the head shot, and as we all suspect, somehow Davis is going to get out of the other charges. Bond will not have prosecuted the loan fraud, so… Freamon will be watching from the sidelines going :smack: :mad: :frowning: as Davis gets away. Or something else will happen that I can’t predict.

Wouldn’t this show be a good subject for a Trivia game?

It’s a darn good memory exercise. How many ports did the van travel to? Who’s Prez’s favorite singer? Where were Valchek and Sobotka’s rectory windows made? What did Ziggy sell to the appliance store guy? Who won the basketball game – east side or west side? Name the girl who seduced Marlo. What’s Omar’s favorite food? What the fuck did I do? Name the happy couple who traveled the interstate buying Tracfones.

Here’s a thought: suppose Prop. Joe will end up with a red ribbon on his wrist?

He’s not a (white) homeless with no known address.

Unless the troops put him in one of the vacants.

Thanks, Rubystreak. Are you saying she transferred/give him the money after the date of the loan application (sorry to be so dense on this)?

Honeynut Cheerios forever!

I don’t think it matters when Clay’s mom gave him the money. I think the catch is that he claimed it as an asset rather than a loan. The lender would think he had $80K in savings, which is different than an $80K debt.

So Butchie’s having a funeral. Should we infer that his death wasn’t reported as a murder? Otherwise there’d be detectives asking questions. Will the same thing happen with Joe?

I have, both newspaper and radio (there was a time when radiostations other than BBC had a newsroom), and you’re correct. It’s very true to life.

Generally, I agree with most of this, but I think if you could excise the newspaper portion of the plots, the overall level of writing would shoot up considerably. This season has slacked off a bit. As has been said, I think part of the problem is David Simon is too close to the environment he’s writing about, as well as the downsizing problems he’s trying to expound upon.

At least they weren’t doing the McNulty’s swig-swig-swig thing this week.

Thanks also, AuntiePam, this explanation or the Rubystreak’s (with the afterdate applied) works for me.

Good idea!

Just watched this one. I still really don’t like the heavy-handed parallels between the newspaper and the police department. Do More With Less. Fabricate Evidence To Get What You Want. The Bigger The Lie, The More They’ll Believe. It’s starting to get as preachy as an afternoon special, and is entering that magical land of Movie Coincidences.

And McNulty’s redescent into self-destruction is, as someone has said, way too rushed. And more importantly, it’s an annoying retread that we’ve seen since S1, taking up way too much screen time in this final season.

That said, I’m very glad that certain things that have been a long time coming have actually happened. First of all, Butchie, as Omar’s only targetable “family”, has long been overdue as a revenge victim. I hated to watch it, but it seemed inevitable. Second, Marlo’s making a move on Joe was also inevitable, given his oh-so-winsome personality that we’ve seen since S3. Third, someone in the police department finally NOT covering up for a subordinate’s fuckup; it’ll be interesting to see the blowback from that. Fourth, Herc FINALLY showing some emotional maturity. I like the way it was shown right after he saw Marlo playing nice with his lawyer boss.

This may be the worst of the five seasons, but I still have hope that the show’s ending will live up to the brilliance of the first four years.