(S05E09) "Deserve got nuthin' to do with it." - Snoop
One down and one to go. The penultimate episode. Talk about depressing. After next Sunday, there won't be any more new episodes of The Wire. I don't think I've been this bummed out about a show ending since Six Feet Under went off the air and let's be honest -- The Wire is way better than Six Feet Under, or anything else... ever. With the finale so close, this episode set a lot of stuff up as you'd expect. Everything that's been percolating all season started to boil over and now all that's left to find out is who gets burned and who doesn't. Quoting Stringer Bell's last words, "get on with it motherf*ckers!"
Let's get Scott Templeton out of the way first. I love the direction this is heading in. He's still schmoozing with Whiting and Klebanow, making nice because his homeless articles are being folded into The Sun's Pulitzer submissions. I love how idiotic Whiting is. He sounded like such a fool when he made that "big bucks" comment. For those that are interested, check out this article David Simon wrote for the March issue of Esquire. He describes the crap that happened while he wrote for The Sun and the plot here mirrors it exactly, right down to the nonsense of Scott being instructed to write stories covering the change created by previous stories. All in an effort to prove that The Sun has sway in making things happen. "Covering your own coverage" as Simon puts it.
Anyway, while Scott is brown-nosing, Gus is "scratching an itch." First he enlisted the help of Robert, the ex-bureau chief from London, to dig into all of Scott's past articles. Then Gus interviewed a friend of Terry Hanning and had lunch with Nerese Campbell later that day. Everything he heard followed one consistent trend -- Scott's a liar. He makes up quotes; he makes up sources; he makes up just about anything. More than anything else this season, I can't wait for the moment when Gus confronts Scott with all the ammo. It's gonna be a great scene. The horrible thing about it is that he's probably going to get away with it in some regard and I'm just as excited to see how he pulls that off as well.
Moving on to Lester and the detail. Everything came together. With the clock code cracked, all it took was time as they waited for a meeting location down by the ports. It happened, probably sent by Vondas even though we didn't see him. Sydnor, Truck, Otto and everyone else watched the whole thing go down as Cheese and Monk came and went, their Escalades jam packed with heroin. It was at that point that Lester decided it was time to fess up. Couldn't have come at a better moment either, since Lester approached Daniels with his plan right after Steintorf gave Cedric and Rawls the OK to "be creative" with the stats. Warrants signed and everyone got jacked. Cheese. Monk. Chris. All of Vondas' Greek goons. Lester personally watched Marlo get his police bracelets. They got the drugs. They got the cell phones. They even got Marlo's clock. If I can make one tiny complaint, it was a little anti-climactic. That being said, it really couldn't have gone any other way. The real highlight was seeing Michael and Snoop watch it on the evening news, dumbfounded.
What it set up though was great. Marlo isn't stupid. Levy showed him the affidavit. True to his plan, Lester said someone talked. A source had been developed. A total lie of course, but it made Chris and Marlo worry enough that they put out a hit on Michael since they knew he had spent a day with Bunk. They trust him, but at the same time... you never know. The resulting scenes with Michael and Snoop were some of the best of the season in my opinion. She was playing him and he was playing her. It was brilliant. "You look good girl." Pop. How calm was she though? I don't think anyone on this show has even been that cool, knowing they're about to die.
I think the one thing that surprised me is that I sort of thought Snoop was reasonable, but the more I thought about it, this is what I came up with. She had always been Chris' sidekick. Then Michael came along and Marlo and Chris both loved him. He sort of took away some of Snoop's spotlight. Even though Marlo and Chris both felt obligated to put out the hit on him, neither really thought he talked. He was one of them, but not in Snoop's eyes and she even said so. For Snoop, the hit on Michael was more about her standing in Marlo's organization. Chris didn't seem to care that Michael had been talking shit about Marlo and how he didn't step to Omar, mainly because Chris knew Marlo would have done just that if he had known Omar was calling him out. Which Marlo was pissed about naturally. He could have cared less that he was in jail. He just wanted to let all the other corner boys and hoppers out there know that he wasn't afraid. It'll be interesting to see if there's any punishment for Chris since he kept his mouth shut on that.
It was sad the way it forced Michael to leave Bug and Dukie though. Bug, at least he's got an aunt to live with. And a box of money. Dukie pretty much got thrown out on the street with squat, while Michael claimed to recall nothing of summers past in an effort to alienate Dukie. To keep him away. Fortunately it looks like Prez finally makes an appearance in the finale, so hopefully Dukie's story ends well. One note on the four boys though. Namond finally made an appearance in this episode (as part of the debate team), much like Randy did a few weeks ago (when Bunk came with questions). At the beginning of the season, I had wondered if we'd see them at all since season four pretty much wrapped it all up for those two. Namond with the best possible outcome and Randy the worst. Only Michael and Dukie really had stories left to tell as we've seen. That being said, neither Randy's appearance nor Namond's really furthered the plot all that much. If you think about, both their scenes could have been cut and it wouldn't have really changed anything. Then again, that could have been the point -- to show how inconsequential they've become in the grand scheme of things. Just a thought.
McNulty. Why the hell isn't he happy? He got want he wanted. Marlo fell! It looks like the guilt from making good cops work on a bum (no pun intended) case finally got to him. Then again, he is a ginormous narcissist and probably hates the fact that Marlo is in jail and his plan doesn't allow him any of the credit. I'm surprised that even Lester seems to think that the whole mess will just wrap itself up though. He's the smart one! But he was right. Jimmy should have never told Kima. That one scene with her and Carver was great too. She told him to get ready for an IAD probe and then asked about turning in another cop. After she spilled it all to Cedric, it led right to that scene with him and Rhonda in the evidence locker watching Marlo's phone ring. Everything is just so well done. The best part about it is that you knew exactly what was going to happen and my jaw was still on the floor.
More ramblings...
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Bubbles. I'm not sure about him. Fletcher is certainly bringing out the good in ol' Reginald but that speech Bubs gave about resisting the temptation a while back has me worried. Felt a little like foreshadowing to me. I don't really expect this show to have the happiest of endings and Bubbles falling off the wagon after all this time clean certainly wouldn't surprise me.
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Dukie had better not have decided to shoot-up with the junk man and all his buddies. That would really be disappointing because he's smarter than that.
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"I hope Chardene is up when I get home, because Lester Freamon is in the mood for love!" Fantastic line! For those that don't remember, Chardene is the stripper who briefly dated D'Angelo in season one and then became one of Lester's informants. I feel like we knew they were dating though but I can't remember what episode or scene. Anyone?
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I know this is nothing new, but I just noticed it. The homcide unit no longer has typewriters. They've got Panasonic Tough Book laptops now.
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Landsman called Jimmy a "genital wart." Priceless.
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Anyone else notice Augie Polk working the evidence control locker when Cedric and Rhonda came in? I didn't recognize him at first since he shaved his moustache. If you remember, when the detail was first formed in season one, Polk and Mahone were the dead weight on the team. Drunks. Mahone got the crap kicked out of him by Bodie and went on permanent medical leave. Polk considered throwing himself down the stairs to achieve the same goal, but never went through with it. What other show on TV would bring back such a miniscule character for two or three lines? This is why I'll miss The Wire.
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During the press conference after the Marlo bust, I couldn't help but think of Burrell with all those drugs: "Dope on the table." And how great was Zorzi? Listening to Tommy's speech, he knew what words were coming next as if he'd seen the same dog and pony show a dozen times. "Don't forget the community..." Great stuff.
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I wish we had gotten a little more from Bunny and that he wasn't tied to Namond's near pointless scene. Although it was great to see him snub Carcetti's handshake. Bunny made a good point too. If Hamsterdam wasn't acceptable, what can be done then?
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Herc is a sleaze! Using Carver for info and then helping to cover Snoop on the gun charge that he originally jacked her for! I can't wait for Ellis to find out that it's Levy who Herc is working under. I will say that his speculations worry me. He's right about Lester and the illegal tap, but how can Levy prove that? Even if he does, Lester still has the dirt on Levy from Clay. I've gone over everyone and can't figure out who his courthouse mole is. It has to be someone we haven't met before. (Sidebar: Lester was like the Omar of the BPD in that scene with Clay. Documents, his shotgun and knowledge, his payout.)
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Showtime shout-out on HBO! Dukie was watching Dexter! Perhaps a bit of an inside joke with the writers? Passing the torch? I'd argue that Dexter probably is the best show on in The Wire's absence.
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I loved Jimmy's "evacuated" comment. Nice toss back to Spry from the season premiere. Ironically, I think Jimmy got the word usage right... didn't he?
Next week is going to be messy. Jimmy wants this to just all go away but that can't happen now because Cedric and Rhonda know which means Tommy and Rawls will know. But what if the killings continue despite Jimmy? Someone else could conceivably take on the cause. Lord knows Templeton put enough detail in his articles. How would you break that to the public? The killer was fake... but now he's real?
It seems to me that this is all going to rely on Lester. With everything he's got, from the wiretape to the dirt on Levy, there has to be some way for him to spin this. I don't see how he couldn't have a contingency plan in place should it all go south. He's not that naïve, right? Granted, I think everyone will still be pissed at him (especially Daniels) but if he can figure out a way to save face then maybe his punishment won't be so bad.
In closing, some showdowns I'm looking forward to in the series finale. How about you? Which one are you looking forward to?
Doctor Who panel - Comic-Con Report
NBC's Kings panel - Comic-Con Report
The Dharma Initiative wants you - VIDEO - Comic-Con Report
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-02-2008 @ 11:14PM
David said...
You thought Snoop was reasonable? She was consistently portrayed as a homicidal lunatic.
Bubbles isn't falling off the bandwagon. He's Simon's quiet hero, going all the way back to season 1. He's "the bastion of hope" that maybe, one day, what's bad can go good. I'm pretty sure we just witnessed Bubbles' triumphant finale.
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3-02-2008 @ 11:14PM
SJ said...
Someone brought to my attention before That Lester has been wearing a wedding ring all season...he got married to Chardene. A great little detail isn't it?
Also, I don't know if this counts as a spoiler, but here's what happened to the real Bubbles:
-He died due to HIV and David Simon fought with his editors to get an obit for him in the papers. Obviously this Bubs is HIV-free but I hope he has a happy ending and we don't have to see the reporter having to fight his bosses to put an obit in. I doubt that will happen since the reporter doesn't know that Bubs was an informant (Simon did obviously).
I am going to miss this show...truly the greatest TV show ever.
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3-02-2008 @ 11:16PM
Benjy said...
This episode was great! I really do think that the key to the finale will be Lester's contingency plan. Levy will try to spring Marlo based on the illegality of the wiretap (and will probably succeed). Therefore, Lester has to have some spin to put on Levy for any of this to even swing in the favor of the detail.
Herc is a real scumbag. What the hell is his agenda? He gives Carver the means to take down Marlo with the phone number, but then he gives Levy the inside skinny on a potentially illegal wiretap being the thing that brought down Marlo's crew. My dream ending involves Marlo remembering his conversation with Herc in Levy's office, putting it together that Herc was the leak, and capping Herc.
McNulty: The more I think about this, McNulty will probably get out of the jam by being forced to silently resign from the force because there's no way Carcetti would want the whole scandal to leak while he's vying for the hot seat in Annapolis. Not sure how this will all tie into the Templeton storyline, though. How do you trap Templeton in a lie without also trapping McNulty?
I also get the vibe from the trailer for next week that Prez makes one last attempt to reach out to Dukie, but it ultimately fails. I hope I am wrong about this. For being so smart, Dukie just keeps making the wrong damn decisions. He deserves the same shot that Namond is getting.
I also get the vibe from next week's trailer that Marlo is out of jail and unleashing a can of whoop ass on somebody. Michael, perhaps? Michael looked like a dead man walking this episode. If Michael somehow takes out Marlo in the finale, this primes him to become the new king of the corners. Or maybe they'll take each other out. If they do, then Kenard (the littlest legend killer) can always fill the void!
Seriously, any way it plays, I will miss this show. The best, most realistic show ever aired on television. I get pissed when this show gets passed over every year by the Emmys. It tells a truth so painful, nobody (good or bad) wants to own up to it. Originally, I thought "Homicide" really brought the goods home. Then, "The Corner" ripped open the drug world from the perspective of the addicts and dealers in vivid detail. But "The Wire" really ties it all together. The cops. The drug lords. The addicts. The bystanders. The politicians. The schools. The working class. The media. It really is all connected.
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3-03-2008 @ 7:43AM
Craig said...
FYI The finale isn't for two weeks.
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3-03-2008 @ 7:43AM
SJ said...
Nah. It's airing next Sunday. I would have died if it wasn't airing for another 2 weeks.
3-03-2008 @ 7:43AM
Rodney said...
@Craig:
This from the HBO schedule on HBO.com:
3/9 9:00 PM THE WIRE 60: -30- TVMA 93 Drama
That's next week, not two weeks.
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3-03-2008 @ 7:44AM
Dave said...
I think Bubbles and Dukie are explicitly coupled. Bubs is getting it together - one year clean, his sister on the verge of trusting him again, etc. I beleive his sharing that story was Simon's way of letting us know he's over the hump.
But as he rises, somebody else must fall.
Remember that we first saw Bubs making money by stealing metal, Dukie's new "job." We know what will happen to Dukie now that he's walked through that gate. That guy shooting up? That was Dukie's future.
That also wraps up (just about) last season's stories. Namond wins. Randy is in the system, but he's lost. Dukie has dropped out of the bottom now, he's lost. And Michael has nothing. He tried the game, but wasn't made for it. It's hard to see anything other than death for him in the finale.
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3-03-2008 @ 10:05AM
Anna said...
I can see why McNulty's depressed. He likes doing real police work, which is what he felt he was doing while setting up the wherewithal for Lester to pursue Marlo. But he wasn't directly involved once it got going - he was in the office signing forms or trying to avoid 'pointless' work on the murdered homeless (cos no one gives a shit about them, no one at all). And now everyone hates him. Since reading about foreshadowing I feel scared for him - Beadie was discussing his funeral - please don't kill him off!
Michael seems to me like a junior Marlo, getting into place to take over the game. We've seen him gradually get harder and harder and now there's no one else in his way. I've liked this - we don't know what made Marlo the way he is, but we've seen how Michael has grown into a killer.
Snoop reasonable - wow, there's a judgement that never occurred to me! But what a fantastic character she's been.
I didn't notice that was Polk in the office - but that was one of the first things I loved about The Wire. Polk and Mahone - pogue mahone meaning kiss my arse - brilliant. Such attention to detail, such respect for the viewer.
I've never been this stirred up about TV. Can't imagine how I'll get through the week...
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3-03-2008 @ 10:05AM
Ari said...
Glad to see you didn't start this review "RIP Snoop. . ."
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3-03-2008 @ 10:06AM
agl7667 said...
Does anyone else see Michael as becoming the new and modified Omar. Michael is a killer, but questions all of the indiscriminate killing. Now that he is going to be hunted by Marlo, and there is no forceful drug king counter to Marlo, Michael is left out there and once Marlo is gone (dead or prison), Michael might be the one to take Omars place.
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3-03-2008 @ 10:06AM
Duggie said...
I think that the Bubbs storyline will be a happy ending, only because every other storyline will end so badly.
Most of the original Detail could end being impicated in McNulty's mess (including unfortunately the Bunk).
Carcetti has turned into Royce.
Marlo will probably get off.
Omar dead.
Prop joe Dead.
etc.
Surely Bubbs surviving isn't too much to ask?
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3-03-2008 @ 10:07AM
John Howard said...
I'm not sure why you'd sound so surprised that Namond or Randy's scenes weren't crtical to the plot, or that they'd bring back anyone as inconsequential as Polk. It's pretty clear this season that they're trying to bring back as many people as possible, Valchek, Nick, Avon, Prez, Randy, Namond, Colvin, Cutty, Poot. They even mentioned Stringer, who they obviously can't bring back. I'm just surprised we haven't seen Wee-Bey or Brother Mouzone.
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3-03-2008 @ 10:57AM
Quito said...
In a sense I'd agree that the Marlo bust seemed anticlimactic. It did seem rushed and kind of like a blip after all the case work that went into him over 2 seasons. At the same time this show's main plot has never been the case. If the show had been all about the case we never would have kept watching after the chain of command screw job from the first season.
This is also the point of McNulty's depression. For McNulty the show has always been about him. He's always been the one f***ing with people to get the job done and when he's not satisfied he puts it on himself to get it all done. He has the meetings with the judge, he has the meetings with the feds, he took it upon himself to study current charts for 3 hours in order to screw over BCPD with the dead floater - and after watching for a few moments, he then makes each and every case he comes across his own personal crusade. I mean look how hard he focused on Barquesdale. And why? Because his crew beat one-too-many murder charges.
So now we get to another career case. And he does what he does best, screwing people and doing his lone wolf act to try and get things done. And he succeeds, except this time, like Anna said above, he's not the one making all the secret meetings, he's not the on writing the warrants, he's not making the busts, he's not even on the real wire tap. He gets stuck in the lie and that keeps him out of the real work. And on top of that he facilitated the real work, but gets seen as a total failure because he was given all the resources in the world and the great Jimmy McNulty can't bring down 1 guy who likes to murder the homeless.
As for Snoop - reasonable is an interesting read on her character. Mostly she just scares the poop out of me. I saw her as the most loyal and obedient soldier who could be as cold as necessary to do any job. I got the feeling that the reason Snoop never saw Michael as part of their crew was because Michael thought too much. He had a question about everything and they seemed to always ask him if he was ok to do any task, like they had to make sure. Maybe she never saw him as cut out to be a soldier. Maybe he isn't a soldier. Maybe he's destined for more.
Also I feel like Snoop took her inevitable fate so well because she is that cold calculated soldier. She knew it would happen eventually and accepted it as an inevitability, so I feel like she would never have been surprised when it finally happened.
I have a bad feeling about the Templeton storyline. I really want Gus to be vindicated, but I feel like the bosses are so ok with sensationalizing stories that they are going to do all the wiggling for Scott and Gus will end up walking out.
And I can't tell yet if Herc is a scum bag, or if he's just an idiot. He just likes having inside information and loves to show it off to impress people. He's been trying to impress people forever, trying to put himself in the spotlight to try and get noticed like McNulty, but it never worked. I just can't tell if he's actively trying to dick over Carver and the rest, or if he's just a naive idiot, like he more often tends to be.
I cannot wait to see the finale! It sucked that I couldn't watch it On Demand last night, but it will all be worth it. I'm really going to miss the best show on TV when its gone and eagerly look forward to the eventual DVD box set of the series in some really kick-ass packaging. Maybe they'll come in a brick of heroin like the puffy packaging of Northern Exposure, or in a attache case like West Wing filled with warrants and wire tap orders and case files. Either way that will be a definite must buy.
And a great shoutout to Dexter! As soon as The Wire is over, the wait begins!
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3-03-2008 @ 12:34PM
Solsbury said...
HELLO! Nothing on Kima putting Marlo and his crew back on the street?!
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3-03-2008 @ 12:50PM
khal said...
i think jimmy wasnt happy because he wasnt the hero. at the end of the day, it will look like lester was the one who did all of the work. i read something a while back, where they said that mcnulty was the kind of cop who did great work to get people noticing them, not so much to just do good police work. he isnt in the spotlight, when he techincally should be, and that added to the grief is just killing him.
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3-03-2008 @ 5:36PM
pjd said...
I'm betting the leak is this Gary DiPasquale guy: http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/gary_dipasquale.shtml
I don't remember him playing a big part in any episode, but he has a character bio on the HBO site? To me that says he plays a part in the final episode.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:11AM
phace said...
It's possible that Herc having his prior law enforcement connections is the snitch in the courthouse. He seems to be playing both sides to his benefit. Giving up Marlo's cell phone number will only bring him and Levy business with the case and all. He also relay's information back to Levy that he got from Herc etc.
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3-04-2008 @ 11:11AM
JD said...
Even though the previews for the finale had Marlo free, I seriously doubt the greeks will want to continue working with him. Remember how much they value remaining under the radar. I think that when all of the smoke clears Slim, Prop Joes former lieutenant, will be the man in charge.
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3-06-2008 @ 10:34AM
ben said...
There sure are a lot of happy endings being proposed. In the New Yorker article, Simon hinted at redemption for one character alone, and I think it's going to be Bubbles. Dukie seems like the next Bubbles. Maybe leading Dukie to the right path is his redemption. Other than that possibility, I don't see any happy outcomes. I am betting Marlo walks free because of McNulty and Freamons' indiscretions. Even if Freamon can turn some evidence against Levy, the fact remains that all those wiretaps were illegal. Won't hold up in court. The cat's out of the bag, and even though Carcetti and the department would love to make it go away, can they really cover it up? I don't see a positive ending for Michael (he seems to be expecting his own death), McNulty or Freamon. I see Templeton getting away scott free and Gus left out in the cold.
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3-06-2008 @ 12:43PM
Nikki said...
Poor Michael. He was so resistant to being down with Marlo, but it's like he had no choice if he wanted to protect his little brother!