The Wire 4.2 Thread

[PayTheSnucka]

Here is my review (that I do for another Wire BB):

Subpoenas went out for the money trail that began in Season 1 with Clay Davis and further devloped last season with Stringer and his development projects. Lester carefully planned to have these sent out 3 weeks before the primary so that the mayor's office won't have the option to squash the investigation. One thing I'd like to point out here is the worst performance of (in my opinion) The Wire's worst character - Rhonda Perlman. Maybe it is me, but she is not believable as Daniels' main squeeze - I thought she was far more convincing as McNulty's self-hating sperm dumpster. Both of her scenes were terrible - the one where she is supposed to be disgusted with Lester about the subpoenas, and the one where she is venting to Daniels. I hope she gets better because everybody else on the show seems to hit a home run with their acting.

Cutty is back and training kids. He is a hit with the ladies - they seem to be really turned on by freedom. Either way, Cutty has his priorities straight and has his eyes keenly on Michael Lee. Cutty and his assistant see great potential with Michael but when Cutty offers to train him, he declines.

Elsewhere, Marlo is spreading cash around the city to build up his name. Interestingly, he comes across a boy who doesn't accept his cash - Michael Lee. After Marlo confronts him, Chris lets him know it is ok to let the boy be on his way. 2 major things are happening in this scene.

1. Marlo sees something special in Michael and he will likely take an interest in him in the future - probably at the time where he decides to box with Cutty.

2. Chris is not only Marlo's enforcer, but he seems to be his jury. Last season, I think it was Bubbles or Johnny who ran their shopping cart into Marlo's car and Marlo asked Chris whether he should let it go or not. While Chris seems level headed for a cold blooded sociopath, I wonder how depedent Marlo is on him.

Naymond visits daddy WeeBay in prison. Wee Bay asks about his fish and then gives him the old fatherly advice to piss on his face. Then when Nay excitedly tells pop that school is starting, Bay quickly asks how Bodie is treating him. It occured to me that Wee Bay probably doesn't fully know the extent of Marlo's rise and Bodie's marginalization. Bay's mom then tells daddy how Nay is slacking on Bodie's post. The scene of the night was when Nay comes home and his mom is on the phone - he pulls out one of her cigarettes (Newports, no less!) and lights up and gives her this coy look while she doesn't even break stride in her conversation.

Carcetti is throwing in the towel - he has accepted that he can't win the race and is resigned to going through the motions. He tries to get the support of the FoP, but they say that are too scared to back Tommy and lose. Tommy then calls them out on manning the mayor's phone banks. Major Valcheck tries to make a play - saying that they can get in on the ground floor of something real good if they back Carcetti, but no dice. This wouldn't be the last time Valcheck helps Tommy out though. Over at homicide, the phone rings - it is Norris' turn to pick it up and Norris,Bunk and the meathead who beat up Bubbles in S1 are deciding whether the call will be for an easy killing or a whodunit murder. Norris takes the call and eventually finds out that it is a state witness in a drug case. Fat Jay Landsman, while seemingly reading the same issue of Club magazine that the Sobotka & Co. were reading at the docks, told Norris to not disclose the witness angle in his report. Fat Jay then got on the phone to Valcheck who quickly went over to Carcetti before his debate. Carcetti used the murder to exploit the fact that in S3, he asked Royce to beef up witness protection and nothing came of it. He dropped a huge bomb at the debate and now looks like he may have a fighting chance in the election, but as Tommy said "I will kick his a$$ in the debate, but the next morning, I will still wake up white in a city that aint."

Finally, when Sherrod (assistant manager at Bubbles' Depo) can't get the price right Bubbles gave him the ultimate quiz: What is 12*5 + 6*7. Since neither of them knew it, Bubbles told Sherrod that he had to go back to school. That night, when Bubbles was fixing thinking Sherrod was asleep, he agreed. They showed up at the school the next day where he and Prez exchanged WTF glances at each other. 1 key theme I saw from this is that Bubbles is starting to look a lot like Randy Wagstaff's future self. It is certainly a possible path. Also, am I crazy or was Sherrod in Stringer's crew last season?

[Dids]

A tip: Reviews that are really summaries of shows everybody watched are really bad imo.

[Cbroods]

eh? Hmm, didn't really think of that, I mean how could you tell the kid has talent by him standing there barely slapping at a punching bag, eh I don't know. Not really a boxing expert, so whatever.

Good episode though.