Wire - S2- Episodes 8 &9 . Duck an Cover

[shadowkat]

Got my DVDs finally, apparently downstairs neighbor lifted one by mistake on Tuesday night and returned it to me by Wed morning.

The Wire really does an excellent job of critiquing infrastructure and how people enable one another to lose themselves in dope.

Episodes 8 and 9, Duck and Cover and Stray Rounds...or Character is where it's at.



* Ziggy does elicit a few laughs with his pet duck. He buys a duck, puts a diamond bracelet around its neck as a collar, and takes it to the local hangout bar - and has it drink Jameson Whiskey to the laughter and applause of his co-workers, who previously had been treating Ziggy as a joke. A little bit of Ziggy admittedly goes a long way. What's interesting is you know the duck is going to die from alcohol poisoning eventually. The Longshoremen basically kill him, not intentionally, and when it happens they shift the blame onto Ziggy. "That Duck couldn't hold its liquor" or "Why would anyone (meaning Ziggy) feed a Duck Whiskey?" Apparently they weren't around? They didn't participate?
Or enable it? It's an apt metaphor for alcoholism and drug abuse - which we see throughout..in Jimmy McNulty who drowns himself in booze in the beginning of the episode, and almost kills himself in the process. And when he runs out of booze - he retreats to sex, losing himself in that. Or Brodie - doing coke on the sly. Or the Longshoremen gettting blissfully drunk.

* Go Lester and Bunk! The buddy cop team to end all buddy cop teams! They go to Daniels and basically beg him to put McNulty on their team. Daniels states that he tried, but Rawls hates him. Try again they plea. Yes, McNulty is a fuck-up, but he's eating himself alive without a case to solve, and fuck-up or not, he's good police, real police - and no one can track down and solve a case like he can.

*Daniels decides to play that ace in the hole with Rawls. "You told me, you'd give me whatever I wanted, no bullshit, no arguments." Rawls - "When I said that I meant, give you a kiss, maybe let you play with my tits - I did not mean McNulty." Daniels - "Do you want those 14 Jane Doe's cleared or not?" Rawls - "Fine, but you better clear them." Poor Rawls.

*So McNulty comes aboard...and I love how subtly they play it. Daniels calls him, we don't hear Daniels end of it, just see McNulty's expression. Then Daniels' hanging up the phone with a smile.
Next scene McNulty comes in on the crew discussing a wire tap - they need to get a guy in the brothel to tickle the Wire. Herc volunteers, as does Carver - but Daniels wants a more subtle approach. Both Bunk and Kima are out due to domestic issues. In walks McNulty and they all look at him. Kima glances at Daniels - "Who better to trap a whore than a whore?" (Hee. She's so right, McNulty is such a whore.) McNulty - "What the fuck did I do?"

There's some rather cool character bits. McNulty takes Beadie home...and decides not to have an affair with her after he sees all her kids things and her life...she doesn't deserve his shit and he knows it. (The fact that he almost makes a play for Beadie and decides at the last moment not to, makes me like him even more. ) Also Beadie's quiet resolve and determination regarding the Wire - makes me hope she sticks around past this season. Wonderful actress. There's a quiet pain in her eyes and disappointment, which I can identify with.

Stringer is still trying to play CEO to a bunch of uneducated street toughs and it is not going at all well. Brodie takes it upon himself to go after the local corner street gang - which results in a gun-fight with a stray bullet killing a nine year old kid. They set that one up well too - although it was almost too predictable - realistic but predictable. Realistic in that this thing happens all the time in NY - a month doesn't pass without some kid or innocent person being killed by a stray bullet from a gang fight or drug fight - not everywhere - just certain neighborhoods. East NY and
Crown Heights - are places you might want to stay away from. Brodie is told by Stringer to get rid of the gun - this results in a rather funny series of events. Brodie puts the guns in a backpack which he throws off a bridge - only to have them land on a passing barge. But he lucks out - because Moe (Cole) and Curly (whatshisname) - the two dumbest cops in homicide and the only one's Rawls seems to like and doesn't ship off to The Wire or to the marine yard - interrogate Brodie. Seriously, Rawls, you got to get over yourself long enough to realize that in order to clear cases you need smart cops on board not brown-nosers. Anyhow - this results in a funny scene - where Cole tells Brodie they have a gun with his prints on it. Three guns sit in front of Brodie and the cops in plastic bags. Really, says Brodie, which one? Cole clearly isn't sure and randomly picks the wrong one. Brodie calls for a lawyer.

Poor Stringer goes to Prop Joe to orchestrate a deal. A deal even Prop Joe knows won't sit well with Avon. Stringer ain't muscle or a solider, he's not a force to be reckoned with, the way Avon is.
But Prop Joe is right - Stringer has the territory and Prop Joe has the product. Which is the difference between last season and this season - last season the cops went after the dealers/the territory and the money flowing out from it, this season they are closer to the product or where it originates from.

And the corruption..is as insidious here as it was last season and is color blind. We have a San Diego FBI agent who allows The Greek to get away with smuggling in return for providing him with the capture of over 20 million dollars worth of crack cocaine in front of news cameras. Frank Sobotke smuggles stuff for the Greek in exchange for money that he can use to lobby legislators for his union cause - which is admittedly a good cause. But as his brother states - he is doing the wrong things to get what he wants and diggging himself and his family into a hole, and his brother's family for that matter. Frank insists he has no choice. His brother corrects him - of course you do. But I'm glad I don't have to make your choices.

Meanwhile McNulty is discovering it's not as easy to go under-cover in a whore house as he thought.
Lester and Bunk coach him - stating you need an accent or a story - and you've got to be way out of town. So McNulty decides to try an English accent. This part is hilarious - because the accent is horrible. And the fact that both Dominic West (who plays McNulty) and Clark Peters (who plays Lester) hail from England and are doing American accents makes it even funnier. There's nothing more humorous than a Brit playing an American attempting to do a British accent - they are sort of making fun of how American actors attempt British accents. How this show plays with language is brilliant. Few shows do this. I can only think of maybe four that have - Buffy, Farscape, The Wire, and possibly Game of Thrones...

McNulty does however finally get in - which is also quite funny. McNulty I love you, but you are such a whore. When Kima and Bunk pop into the room - they find McNulty nude underneath two whores - who have totally stripped him and fucked him. "You were late," he says sheepishly. The poor guy just can't help himself. [As an aside - I can see why some people may despise this character - it's a character trope that let's face it - you either like or hate. And there's a poor woobie trait to McNulty that I know for a fact rubs quite a few folks the wrong way. I happen to like this trait. The character trope I've come to despise is the arrogant, he-man, oh-so-noble, male provider, holier-than-thou, SOB - who stoically broods, showing no pain, and treats women like they are children. That trope rubs me the wrong way. (And thank god it's no where to be seen in The Wire, amongst the few shows that it doesn't pop up in.) But other people seem to love it to pieces. I think so much of what we like is so personal to us that it is almost impossible to explain to another person or even share sometimes, nor do we quite understand it ourselves, plus highly mood driven, just as what we despise is based on well all of the above. Arguing over it, I've decided is pointless, so I won't any longer. Life being too short and all that.] Later, in another hilarious bit - McNulty is trying to figure out how to write up the report of his undercover at the whorehouse without a)lying and b)putting himself on probation. Rhonda Pearlman couldn't be more annoyed.

And the ploy works they tickle the Wire. The only problem is Major Valcheck is furious that the target has changed from Frank Sobotke to The Greek. Frank - the cops see as being a low-level player and not that important (they aren't wrong), and possibly just a pawn. The cops are after the major players - Prop Joe, The Greek, Serge. But all Valcheck cares about is his pride and getting Sobotke.
Is it just me - or does anyone else wonder who the real bad guys are here? It's like Ziggy and the Duck - sure Ziggy brought the Duck to the bar, but the barmaid and the regulars enabled Ziggy to give the Duck the Whiskey, they even encouraged Ziggy, made him feel popular. Ziggy wouldn't have done it if they'd not encouraged him, if they had either said no or stopped him in some way. Same deal with Burrel, Valcheck, and even Rawls - they are enabling the crimes around them. They've become so complacent, so burned out, and so bureaucratic. Although of the three Rawls is by far the most sympathetic - he's show again in a psuedo-sympathetic light in Stray Rounds - where he faces the death of a nine year old and the corralling of the perps. Knowing full well that the exercise is meaningless but ultimately necessary. Burrell and Major Valcheck are the true villains here, at times comical, but at others scary in how well they enable the corruption that sprouts around them. The complacency. Carver and Herc are examples of this - coming up with a fake CI in order to make 150,000.
Which more than covers the expense of that bug they lost. The bug that got them Nick. In truth they are working around the system to get reimbursed for the bug they never had permission to obtain.

The Wire is a tough show to watch. It unlike everything else...requires constant rewinding. Or you will miss something. Each line, each scene counts. It's referred to later. Building on itself.
And the social criticism is on target - I've worked within infrastructures of cities and in agencies - more than one type of city, and various agencies, currently working within an agency now - and I interact with other people who do. Co-worker's sister who is a probation officer just got laid off along with 15-20 others, leaving their supervisors behind, to save costs. We need those probation officers. But we don't want to pay for them. Baltimore is a poor city with a high level of corruption, the poorer the city, the higher the level of corruption - just look at New Orleans.
Although Chicago has it's moments. As does New York.

But what I love most about the Wire is the characters. It really just comes down to the fact that I love almost all the characters and find them all interesting. That's why I'll watch a show or read a book - there has to be something about the characters that intrigues me. If I don't like a tv show, film, or book - it's usually, not always, but usually because of the characters and how well I think they are written. But mileage varies...

Have to admit? I'm missing Omar more than I thought I would. He has definitely become my new favorite character, slowly jumping above McNulty, Lester, Beadie, and Kima...go figure.

Comments

Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[sophist.livejournal.com]

I found S2 (and S4, which I've now finished) more than a bit preachy. I even agree with the social/political views expressed, but I really don't like the preaching. It's the reason I downgrade Buffy S6.

Oh, and I absolutely cannot stand Ziggy.

[ponygirl2000.livejournal.com]

The characters of The Wire really became actual people in my mind. I remember there were times when I'd hear something on the news and think, oh that's going to affect ____.

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I absolutely cannot stand Ziggy.

Avoid the tv series Breaking Bad - it's basically the Ziggy Show times two. (although not everyone may agree. Whiny.)

(I had issues with Ziggy as well, although will state his scenes in episode 10 almost make up for it. There's a marvelous scene with Jaye Landsman that made feel for him - for the first time.)

I found S2 (and S4, which I've now finished) more than a bit preachy. I even agree with the social/political views expressed, but I really don't like the preaching. It's the reason I downgrade Buffy S6.

S2 of the Wire does get a little heavy handed on the alcoholism and drug enabling. But it didn't feel that preachy to me.

Odd. Buffy S6 didn't feel that preachy either - outside of maybe the false mislead on Willow's addicted to crack (which felt in retrospect like a failed attempt by the writers to make fun of
similar storylines in other tv series. I could see what they were trying to do and interviews and commentary more or less verified it. But it did not work. Would have been far better off not doing the mislead..)

Buffy S7 on the other hand - was incredibly preachy. Come on, Caleb?
It was basically that episode "Family" stretched out for five episodes. It was also the turning point in Whedon's story-telling.
S6 had elements of it...but S7 went over the top. And don't get me started on the comics and Dollhouse. Whedon fell into the same trap his contemporaries did - Aaron Sorkin, David E. Kelly, and RT Davies...in that he discovered he had a soap box and it was time to preach from it. That said? I admittedly find S7 more enjoyable than S6 - there's really only five episodes in S7 that feel off to me.
S6? I can't watch at least six episodes without cringing. It's funny, as much as I loved Buffy...I always saw the flaws. Poor plotting. A tendency to get preachy. And self-indulgent sentimentality. But it took huge risks and there are a few truly entertaining and brilliant episodes in that mix. Also it provided me with my favorite male fictional character, and a couple of kick-ass heroines which I hadn't seen before. An action horror fantasy show with a kick-ass heroine for women, a rarity. Just wish the writers were a touch better...;-)

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh...will also concede that S6 did get a little preachy on the bad-boyfriend trope, to the point that I found myself rolling my eyes. The whole attempted rape bit was a complete soap opera cliche that I saw coming from a mile away. So maybe you're right...S6 and S7 were a bit on the preachy side. I like them better than S1-3, definitely. More experimental and not as formulaic.

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[sophist.livejournal.com]

It wasn't the alcoholism and drug abuse which bugged me. I saw that as consistent with the show's basic theme. No, it was the union story line which I thought was preachy. It's when shows go outside their basic plot to make a social point that I get uncomfortable. And as I say, politically I'm on their side.

In contrast, Willow's "addiction" line didn't work because it was so out of context with the regular story line. Hence it came across as forced and preachy. For the rest, I agree that S6 has a number of brilliant episodes. I would rate it the best season if I could overlook the drug stuff.

Caleb was a bit heavy handed, but I guess that didn't bother me much and I never did see it as preaching because it was consistent with long-standing themes in the show. I do love S7, so perhaps I'm overlooking the weakness.

I didn't really follow the comics except to pick up the basic story. Didn't do much for me. Dollhouse was ok, but (JMHO) ED couldn't carry the acting demands. There were some good eps, but it was never a great show.

[shapinglight]

Lester and Bunk do make a great team, don't they? Clarke Peters isn't a Brit, though. He lives here and is married to a Brit but he's American from NYC. Idris Elba, who plays Stringer, is British, though.

You can't help just a tiny bit sorry for Stringer. You can see from season 1 that he aspires to 'better' things. It's just his idea of what's better isn't the same as most people's.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

That brothel bust is such a McNulty moment. "I was outnumbered!" And I know what you mean about the character type; he could so easily have become incredibly annoying, but if he's the protagonist of The Wire (which is a big if) he still never (well, not as often as some shows would) gets to get away with things because he's the protagonist. He's (in a lot of ways) a brilliant cop who occasionally causes more problems for his colleagues than he (immediately) solves. He's a drunk and a womanizer who flushes his life down the drain and it's not romanticized. It's not for nothing that "What the fuck did I do?" is the closest thing this show comes to a catchphrase...

[candleanfeather.livejournal.com]

About Ziggy, what's interesting is that he isn't integrated. He is the guy everybody picks on, likes to laugh at, orders to stand aside whenever things are getting serious, tries to deceive. He has to swallow one humiliation after another until it becomes too much.His only moment of social acceptance is when he endorses the role of clown. But has he really chosen it or is it because it's the only one the others will be able to accept him in? Of course his behaviour is weird and annoying and he is partly responsible for the image he is giving of himself, but his co workers and acquaintances don't look for other things about him. "This boy ain't right" and that's it, let's have a laugh at him.

To me there's a parallel to be drawn with Omar's situation. He is rejected, marginalized in a marginalized group. Of course what he does for a living is a big reason to this situation, but it's also about who he is: he is gay in a group sharing a very homophobic culture. His homosexuality is constantly evoked by others, it even incits Avon in season 1 to increase the bounty on Omar's head when he learns about this particularity.

In season 4 there'll be another character realted to this thematic.

The story for Stringer and Avon is really picking up.

Ah Beadie! She still has a great scene to come where the actress shines.

"Frank insists he has no choice. His brother corrects him - of course you do. But I'm glad I don't have to make your choices. " How true and how heart breaking. What do you do when you know, you and your colleagues, are slowly being discarded, when you know your children don't have a chance for a better future? You have to be the most virtuous of men to not succomb to the temptation. Frank's brother is a virtuous man but he is also a broken man, a man without hope. The picture of Nick's family is not a happy one.

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

No, it was the union story line which I thought was preachy. It's when shows go outside their basic plot to make a social point that I get uncomfortable. And as I say, politically I'm on their side.

Not a fan of the "very special episode" trope, eh?
I don't blame you, neither am I. Used to annoy to no end when situation comedies did it.

And You have answered a question that was bugging me - why so many people did not like S2 - it may well be that the union storyline did not work for them? (shrugs) While I agree that aspects of the union storyline felt heavy-handed at times, I felt that way about aspects of the projects storyline in S1 too actually...I don't think the union storyline lies outside the bounds of the central themes or plot.

Because the union storyline is in keeping with a very strong theme that I see emerging in the series - which is the results of an infrastructure that makes it impossible for someone with no education or the ability to obtain an education to succeed. S1 really just shows it with Black Baltimore, S2 extends it with a depiction of White Baltimore. It also is in keeping with the plot thread about "following the money" not the drugs - that this is where the action is.

In S1 - Avon pays off a State Senator, it provides Avon the ability to get off easy in some respects.
But since his group shot a cop? Not completely.

In S2 - we see that Frank Sobotke's union funds going to his church to obtain support and his legislature attracts Valcheck's attention. Which results in The Wire.

In S1 - the drugs/homicides led to the Wire and then to the money.

In S2 - the homicides/money led to the Wire and the drugs.

There's a nice parallel structure emerging here.
And the parallels being drawn between Nick and D'Angelo, Ziggy and Omar are interesting. Both D'Angelo and Omar are depicted as intelligent, educated but being black and from the projects, and
not having the money to seek a formal education - they are stuck in this world. Nick and Ziggy are uneducated, white, but equally stuck as stevedores,
smuggling drugs - they either don't have the ability to get educated or their world doesn't encourage it.

Another paralell can be drawn between Serge and Brother Mozone. Brother Mozone states the most dangerous thing is a black man with a library card.
Serge who is white - to my knowledge has a rudimentary education and rarely reads. Both are hit men.

The Wire is showing that it's not just about race, it's about class and class divisions, and how the outlying infrastructure creates those divisions and continues to reinforce them. The FBI - with their internal corruption. Lou Rawls. Burrell. Valcheck.
The legislature who won't support union causes unless they are paid or persuaded with funds to do so. The Senator who won't help the projects unless he is paid. Burrell who is busy gathering financial support. And of course..the church who goes with whomever gives them the most money.

I'm not sure it's necessarily preachy about it...because it spends more time showing than telling. Yes, it can be a little heavy handed at times, but no more so than anything else I've watched. ;-)

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You can't help just a tiny bit sorry for Stringer. You can see from season 1 that he aspires to 'better' things. It's just his idea of what's better isn't the same as most people's.

The poor guy just can't win. He's another example of how a good education doesn't necessarily enable you to get out of your situation particularly when everyone around you has no idea what you are talking about. Very bright guy but surrounded by people who think with their fists.

It's sort of like that famous chess scene. Wallace and Brodie are using chess pieces and chess board to play checkers. D'Angelo comes up and says - what are you doing? Chess is a much better game. Stringer is trying to play Chess, while Avon insists on playing checkers.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Those character types can so easily be tweaked too far.
McNulty fascinates me because - it's so easy for them to make him annoying. But you are right...he's never romanticized. While you might, albeit briefly feel sorry for him because his wife won't give him a second chance, you realize she's completely right in not doing so. McNulty doesn't always think it through. He's brilliant at times - in episode 10 of S2, he figures out how to get a cell phone message that they aren't taping based on GPS read-out. But, he can also cause major problems - such as sticking his old homicide unit with 14 Jane Does, but on the other hand - I think the homicide unit should be investigating the deaths of those women. Yet, we are shown that his reasons for sticking his old homicide unit with those deaths are far from altruistic.

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[sophist.livejournal.com]

You make a fair point about infrastructure (and institutions) being a unifying theme. At a sufficient level of generality, it's always possible to unify the themes. I know I'm being somewhat stubborn on this, but I'd prefer it if they toned down the message. I may be being unfair, but that's one of my buttons.

None of which is to deny that there are good moments in both S2 and S4, just that I prefer 3 and 1.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

For some reason the parallel I was drawing between Ziggy and the projects storyline, was with D'Angelo. Maybe because they are the two tragic characters of the arc? (shrugs) But you are correct - a far better parallel is drawn with Omar - another outsider. But Omar, ironically, has a chance where Ziggy never does...he has intelligence. Ziggy is uneducated as opposed to under-educated, and has never been encourage.
Like Omar, Ziggy pulls a gun on a drug dealer and kills him (episode 10 - I'm up to episode 10, just saw it last night). But the reasons are different. And less justified. Ziggy also unlike Omar is not a killer. What he's done destroys him.

I found the character oddly sympathetic and moving in episodes 8-10. As was his relationship with his cousin Nick.

It's odd, but there's relatively little comment or emphasis on Omar's homosexuality in either this season or season 1. It's refered to, but more peripherially. Similar to Kima's homosexuality. I'm guessing it'll become a bigger issue later? Right now, it doesn't appear to be a big deal. The character is largely a peripheral character in this season (which also may explain why many viewers didn't like it as well.).

What do you do when you know, you and your colleagues, are slowly being discarded, when you know your children don't have a chance for a better future? You have to be the most virtuous of men to not succomb to the temptation. Frank's brother is a virtuous man but he is also a broken man, a man without hope. The picture of Nick's family is not a happy one.

There's two lines in episode 10 that struck me.
The first is Brother Monzone who says there is nothing more dangerous than a brother with a library card. And you see reflections of that in both Stringer Bell and Omar who do have some education. Then Nick's repeat of Ziggy's line - "Us boys ain't need no education!" Earlier in Episode 7 - there's a scene between Frank and the Congressman - the Congressman's kid has gone to Princeton (a prestigious US university), and his father a knife sharperner fought hard to get his son a college education, any college. Frank Sobotke and his brother on the other hand...never do. Their kids become stevedores or working blokes like themselves, nothing beyond a highschool education if that. And time was - that was enough. But as we with Nick - it's not. He's trapped. As is Ziggy...who has no options. The father's never fought for their educations, and they suffer as a result.

[Oh.. Off topic...at work, writing a report of sorts, and realized the Windows spell-check was acting oddly, it did not have a word for status and require wasn't listed. Also an odd accent on the e for completion. I checked it on my computer and realized I had the spell-check on "French" (language default setting) not "English". )

Re: Don't worry -- you're about to see more of Omar

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

You actually have helped me understand why people kept telling me that S2 was not a favorite, and most fans preferred 1&3. (Although a lot of people have told me S3&S4 are the best two seasons of television ever - not there yet, all I know about 3 and 4 is that 3 focuses on politics and 4 focuses on the schools (which I can see being potentially preachy, since they already have a very strong theme going about education and Ed Burns - the co-writer was a former public school teacher, plus the addition of Richard Price and Denis Lehane...as writers.).)

There's two writers who came on board in S3 and S4, that are important - Richard Price - he did Clockers and Freedomland, and Denis Lehane - Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone.
Both do at times get a little heavy handed with their social criticism.