User Reviews

The very first minutes before the opening shows Wallace and Poot seeing what they didn't do directly but what they should have imagine was going to happen after they did the calls during the last 5 minutes of "The Pager" but certainly is not the same to imagine things that to see them right in front of you. Another message was send by putting the body of Omar's boyfriend Brandon at the sight of everyone.

Here the wire is finally on so a new stage of work begins, the detectives must say on the roofs to see when the targets are using the payphones, and Prez and Lester are the ones doing the office work. This is one of the finest hours and scenes like the one in which we see Levy in action again are really great showing how, in the words of the criminal who hit a police man and who is now free in the street, "the juvenile system in this city is f***** up, it's a big-ass f****** joke". And yes Bodie was the one who hit one of the incompetent detectives and after that Bodie became more or less a personal target of both Herc and Carver. In this episode we have Levy on fire and it continues the stuff with Herc and Carver however this time Bodie didn't walk away but mainly this hour has in Rawls the main f****** enemy, Rawls is the protagonist of the first scene that is one of the most hilarious scenes of Season 1 ("you're reasonable…theoretical and reasonable, sir") and that scene is Rawls begin reasonable with Jay confirming all the time that and McNulty hearing all the bullsh*t. The point is that McNulty brings some cases and Rawls after checking them is like "three murders, same gun, we got this Barksdale kid right at the scene on the one" but Daniels is like "we're up on a wire, we're starting to pull good information, you charge these prematurely and Barksdale will change up on us". Daniels is fine now, Daniels is fighting and when both Daniels and Rawls are with the Deputy is anther great scene, Rawls is like "we go home like good old-fashioned cops and pound some Budweiser" and of course Daniels is like "THIS IS BULLSH*T", Daniels will have the enough points to stop Rawls so now is Rawls totally on trying to f*** McNulty. Omar is also memorable here, certainly difficult scenes and really superb acting from Michael K. Williams.

The dead, mutilated body of Brandon is found in the pit, and young Wallace (future star Michael B. Jordan) is uncomfortable about his role in the torture-murder, especially after seeing the condition of Brandons' body. Major Rawls threatens to derail the drug investigation when, lusting after stats, he insists that the Barksdales be charged with murder. McNulty and the others are angry, preferring to take more time with their investigation and make as strong a case as possible. Omar (the late, great Michael Kenneth Williams) decides to go against his "no snitching" policy after seeing Brandons' body himself. In the end, he just might provide our protagonists with the kind of "smoking gun" that they need.

Particularly effective scenes in this viewers' opinion are those with Wallace, and especially with Omar as the latter character is actually brought down to the room where the unit is headquartered. Despite McNulty pleading his case to Lt. Daniels, the lieutenant stubbornly tries to stress the idea of a "chain of command". Although reluctant at first, he ultimately stands by his team, and subsequently asserts himself in front of Rawls and the deputy commissioner (the great character actor Frankie Faison), telling them that it's too soon to take definitive action.

The writing continues to be impressive and totally authentic on this series. A case in point is how subtly and powerfully Daniels is motivated to do the "right thing", even if up to this point he's always been a very ambitious "company man". And given how badly ****ed up Brandon looks in death, it's a testament to how grim and graphic 'The Wire' is committing to being. It doesn't sugarcoat anything.

Standout performances by Lance Reddick (Daniels), Jordan, and especially Williams, who's proving to be one of the most compelling characters in this series of narratives.

Eight out of 10.

Probably the weakest episode so far, but it's still good. The in-depth look we got at Wallace's character was appreciated, and I feel like one of the lines of the episode, "there's no whole without the parts" or something to that effect, rings true for the show altogether. The characters are what make it, and they really are very well written. They're all very likeable in their own ways. I think this episode was a bit slower and honestly I'm not really bothered about Bubbles and his escapades. A couple of the scenes in the episode also felt kinda rushed and a bit weird. Nonetheless, it was great seeing Daniels fight to delay the prosecution, and now it really is a fight against the clock. Also, I'm very intrigued by the character of Omar, definitely looking forward to seeing more of him

High 7