Wire - S2 - Episode 2 - Collateral Damage
Jun. 28th, 2011 11:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatI think I love you, Jimmy McNulty. I laughed so hard during this episode. Also new favorite character is Beatrice Russell and her team, specifically the Doctor with the afro.
"They chew you up, but then they got to spit you out." - McNulty
In a hilarious sequence - McNulty finds yet another way to screw with Rawls and Landsman - who kicked him onto a freezing boat after 11 years of hard and successful work. (Anyone who has had an asshole boss who cares more about the numbers than lives or people, will be getting pleasure from this bit. Oh, I've met my Rawls and Landsman...and Cole's...yes, I have.)
Loved Bunk's line: "You are not just an asshole, McNulty, you are special kind of asshole."
Or Beatrice's : "This is all about fucking your boss?"
McNulty: "Well, yeah, but you also have 13 murders on your hands and you aren't equipped to solve them, CID is." (TRUE. Those women aren't just numbers, they were people and deserve the same degree of respect that anyone else does. )
Rawls gets rid of the 13 murders...only to have McNulty find a way to have them come right back at him. Seriously? If Rawls was a brighter man he would have sent McNulty somewhere he couldn't find a murder or just kept clearing them in Division, instead of being a vindictive ass. (Karma is a bitch, ain't it Rawls? I find Rawls hilarious, I really like him, particularly when McNulty is screwing with him.)
The criminals aren't that interesting yet. Avon is still trying to run things, meanwhile D is getting addicted to dope. The warf workers are a tad more interesting...but not by much. Also the use of alcohol or abuse of it is underlined again - with McNulty doing 14 shots of Jameson Whiskey at the bequest of Lester and Bunk for unloading 13 homicides onto them, which they end up getting saddled with because Cole isn't equipped to handle it. (Okay, a bright man would kick Cole to the boat and keep McNulty solving the homicide cases and not make it about stupid politics. I really really hate how people keep incompetent people around because they kiss their butts, but kick competent people to the curb (who don't). Rawls is responsible for the dead girls. Don't think for a moment he isn't.
He's part of the problem.) We also have the drunk dock-workers - who drink beer and raw eggs for breakfast. While the blacks in prison do dope. Alcohol and whores on the docks, with dope and whores in the projects. Women abused in both spots.
Feel a bit sorry for Frank Sobotke who is getting screwed at both ends, by two jerks - the Russian mafia (the Greek and his group) and Valcheck - who is obsessed with a silly stained glass window.
The poor guy is just trying to get ahead in the world. Although it's hard to feel too sorry for him.
Beatrice is by far my favorite new character and I love the casting. She looks like a port authority cop (I know I've met them). And reminds me a lot of Lily Taylor (the actress) - she's not, I think Amy something or other?
Rhonda Perlman also pops up again - McNulty's off again, on again lover - I feel for her. Why she puts up with him...actually I do know, he's an adorable asshole. And Dominic West does a brilliant job of playing him.
Also feel for poor Cedric Daniels - whose stuck in the basement and considering jumping out and getting a law firm or security firm job. Not a bad idea. He, like, McNulty, was screwed - so Burrell could become commissioner. Sigh. What I love about the wire - is that people like Burrell, Rawls et al, do get it - in sly and believable ways. Burrell is going to regret agreeing to help Valcheck with his little grudge against Sobotke...because that's going to lead once again in a direction Burrell doesn't want to go. (Rubs hands together and laughs evilly.) I don't know, I think the true villains of this piece are the complacent cops at the top of the power hierarchy who just want power, money,
and clearances and stopped caring about actual people years ago. Although the guys who killed those girls...and the one's who are smuggling them in and treating them as contraband - worth 4 million - are even worse. What a world. Wish I could say...this isn't real, but it is.
At least we have a date now - it appears this is taking place in 2003 or shortly after 9/11. Beatrice says after 9-1-1, which is cop speak for 9/11. People don't like to say 9/11 sometimes...9-1-1 is easier to deal with - particularly cops.
Good episode. Enjoying this season far more than last season so far - moving at a faster clip.
"They chew you up, but then they got to spit you out." - McNulty
In a hilarious sequence - McNulty finds yet another way to screw with Rawls and Landsman - who kicked him onto a freezing boat after 11 years of hard and successful work. (Anyone who has had an asshole boss who cares more about the numbers than lives or people, will be getting pleasure from this bit. Oh, I've met my Rawls and Landsman...and Cole's...yes, I have.)
Loved Bunk's line: "You are not just an asshole, McNulty, you are special kind of asshole."
Or Beatrice's : "This is all about fucking your boss?"
McNulty: "Well, yeah, but you also have 13 murders on your hands and you aren't equipped to solve them, CID is." (TRUE. Those women aren't just numbers, they were people and deserve the same degree of respect that anyone else does. )
Rawls gets rid of the 13 murders...only to have McNulty find a way to have them come right back at him. Seriously? If Rawls was a brighter man he would have sent McNulty somewhere he couldn't find a murder or just kept clearing them in Division, instead of being a vindictive ass. (Karma is a bitch, ain't it Rawls? I find Rawls hilarious, I really like him, particularly when McNulty is screwing with him.)
The criminals aren't that interesting yet. Avon is still trying to run things, meanwhile D is getting addicted to dope. The warf workers are a tad more interesting...but not by much. Also the use of alcohol or abuse of it is underlined again - with McNulty doing 14 shots of Jameson Whiskey at the bequest of Lester and Bunk for unloading 13 homicides onto them, which they end up getting saddled with because Cole isn't equipped to handle it. (Okay, a bright man would kick Cole to the boat and keep McNulty solving the homicide cases and not make it about stupid politics. I really really hate how people keep incompetent people around because they kiss their butts, but kick competent people to the curb (who don't). Rawls is responsible for the dead girls. Don't think for a moment he isn't.
He's part of the problem.) We also have the drunk dock-workers - who drink beer and raw eggs for breakfast. While the blacks in prison do dope. Alcohol and whores on the docks, with dope and whores in the projects. Women abused in both spots.
Feel a bit sorry for Frank Sobotke who is getting screwed at both ends, by two jerks - the Russian mafia (the Greek and his group) and Valcheck - who is obsessed with a silly stained glass window.
The poor guy is just trying to get ahead in the world. Although it's hard to feel too sorry for him.
Beatrice is by far my favorite new character and I love the casting. She looks like a port authority cop (I know I've met them). And reminds me a lot of Lily Taylor (the actress) - she's not, I think Amy something or other?
Rhonda Perlman also pops up again - McNulty's off again, on again lover - I feel for her. Why she puts up with him...actually I do know, he's an adorable asshole. And Dominic West does a brilliant job of playing him.
Also feel for poor Cedric Daniels - whose stuck in the basement and considering jumping out and getting a law firm or security firm job. Not a bad idea. He, like, McNulty, was screwed - so Burrell could become commissioner. Sigh. What I love about the wire - is that people like Burrell, Rawls et al, do get it - in sly and believable ways. Burrell is going to regret agreeing to help Valcheck with his little grudge against Sobotke...because that's going to lead once again in a direction Burrell doesn't want to go. (Rubs hands together and laughs evilly.) I don't know, I think the true villains of this piece are the complacent cops at the top of the power hierarchy who just want power, money,
and clearances and stopped caring about actual people years ago. Although the guys who killed those girls...and the one's who are smuggling them in and treating them as contraband - worth 4 million - are even worse. What a world. Wish I could say...this isn't real, but it is.
At least we have a date now - it appears this is taking place in 2003 or shortly after 9/11. Beatrice says after 9-1-1, which is cop speak for 9/11. People don't like to say 9/11 sometimes...9-1-1 is easier to deal with - particularly cops.
Good episode. Enjoying this season far more than last season so far - moving at a faster clip.
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no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 08:51 am (UTC)Don't worry about Rhonda...
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 09:47 pm (UTC)But so far she barely has much of a role. And I miss Greggs.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 10:18 am (UTC)Believe it or not, I have a bit of a soft spot for Burrell, Rawls and the others. Maybe I just got used to them?
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 09:51 pm (UTC)They are actually hilarious in the second season. I was laughing so hard during episode 2, I was coughing.
Can't say I'm overly sympathetic - but that's just because I've reported or had to deal with one too many of these types of characters in my working life. ;-)
I take it, Rhonda's role takes off in S3? She's barely in S1 and S2, at least so far. McNulty continues to be the lead or main focus character...which is okay, since I like him. It would be a bad thing, if I didn't.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-30 01:12 pm (UTC)I wouldn't say she gets a lot more screentime, but she's always an important part of the team and overall she has a great arc.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 01:17 pm (UTC)Beatrice and Rhonda are my favourite female characters. But other interesting ones will appear.
Burrell is one of the characters I really despise, though I can from time to time muster some sympathy for him.
As for the stevedores their portrayal builds along the whole season, one small scene after another. And Frank Sobotka, he'll stay with me. The actor is just great. I wish I could tell you more but I don't want to spoil you.
"".As for the complacent cops, Rawls is important, because he puts them into perspective. But yes some of them are really despicable, as are some of the criminals.
I also rec you this blog which contains great analysis of the shooting work on the Wire. But wait till you have finished to see the five seasons before you check it for fear of being spoiled. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?p=15417579
no subject
Date: 2011-06-29 09:54 pm (UTC)I'm still partial to Shakima Greggs...but neither Beatrice nor Rhonda have done much yet outside of interact with McNulty.
Thanks for the link. Oddly S2 DVDs only have two episodes each on the first couple of DVDs, highly annoying.