Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon | |
---|---|
David Simon | |
Portrayed by | Clarke Peters |
In-universe information | |
Title | Detective |
Occupation | Baltimore Police Detective Major Crimes Unit (seasons 1–5) Homicide (seasons 2, 4) |
Spouse | Shardene Innes |
Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the
Character background and plot relations
Freamon is a veteran of the
Freamon spent thirteen years and four months in the assignment, until he had been completely forgotten by management. A deskbound Freamon took a hobby of making dollhouse furniture, which provides him with a substantial supplemental income and contributes to his eccentric reputation among fellow police. At the end of the series, it was revealed that Freamon had joined the department in the early 1970s, around the same time as
Season 1
Freamon, along with other detectives viewed as useless by the BPD higher-ups, is transferred to the initial Barksdale detail under Lieutenant Cedric Daniels. When Polk and Mahon fail to find a good photo of Avon Barksdale, Freamon takes a cue from an offhand comment from Kima Greggs and tracks down a photo of Avon at a boxing gym. He further impresses his colleagues when he locates D'Angelo Barksdale's pager number at an abandoned stash house. Impressed by Freamon's abilities, Jimmy McNulty inquires about him in a conversation with Bunk Moreland, who tells him Freamon is an ex-homicide detective. Later, Freamon tells McNulty he was sent to the pawn shop unit after angering the then-Deputy Ops. Freamon warns that McNulty will probably suffer a similar fate at the conclusion of the case.
Freamon proves himself adept at building the Barksdale case through the use of a
After Greggs gets shot, Freamon tracks a page made by Wee-Bey Brice, one of the shooters, to a payphone where he finds evidence implicating the other shooter, Little Man. He then uses a contact in the phone company to trace call patterns and pinpoint Wee-Bey's whereabouts, leading to his arrest and conviction. Following the dissolution of the detail, Rawls notes Freamon's competence as a detective and transfers him back into Homicide; he makes room for Freamon by dumping McNulty to the Marine Unit in the fashion that Freamon had predicted.
Season 2
Freamon is now partnered with Bunk, and they are quickly recognized as the best detectives in Homicide. Sergeant
, the officer from the Port Authority who initially found the bodies, as a liaison for the investigation. They determine that the women in the container suffocated after an air pipe was deliberately closed off, and that a fourteenth victim whose body was picked up by McNulty, is tied to the case.Freamon and Bunk travel to the
Freamon is relieved to be assigned, at Daniels' request, to the detail investigating
The investigation closes with several arrests and, in the process, Freamon identifies a dismembered body killed by The Greek's crew as being one of the crewmen who jumped ship. Bunk and Freamon solve the Jane Doe homicides after
Season 3
Freamon stays with Daniels in the now-permanent Major Crimes Unit, building a case against their assigned target, a drug dealer named Kintel Williamson. He acts as a mediator between Daniels and McNulty, reminding the latter that Daniels had gotten him out of the marine unit. When the unit's focus is returned to the Barksdales, Freamon is stumped by the new strategy of using disposable cell phones, finishing their pre-paid minutes before a wiretap can be approved.[3]
He masterminds a scheme wherein he goes undercover as a con artist selling illegally recharged (and wiretapped) disposable phones to Bernard, a Barksdale soldier that Bubbles is acquainted with. Avon gets caught in a safehouse filled with illegal weapons and returned to prison, though an also-implicated Stringer Bell is killed before he can be arrested.[3]
Season 4
Freamon is now the guiding force behind the MCU, now led (at least on paper) by Lieutenant
Freamon wrongly believes that
Out of respect for his shrewd investigative tactics, Rawls transfers Freamon back to Homicide, where Bunk has been investigating the murder of Stanfield drug dealer Fruit and the disappearance of suspect Curtis "Lex" Anderson. They both recognize that Stanfield likely had Lex killed in retribution, but are unable to find the body, which has been sealed up in a vacant row house. Freamon further observes that Stanfield is not tied to any murders since the Barksdale gang war ended, and begins to scour Baltimore for any trace of the bodies he knows must be hidden somewhere.
Season 5
Freamon reconstitutes the MCU under the command of Asher, which includes McNulty, Greggs, Sydnor and
Freamon heralds the Davis investigation as a career case, but is unable to let go of his work on Stanfield. Freamon continues surveillance of Stanfield in his own time and is pleased to find Stanfield "dropping his guard" now that he is no longer under observation. Freamon and McNulty meet with FBI agent Terrence Fitzhugh, unsuccessfully seeking federal support against Stanfield.[7][8]
McNulty resorts to creating the illusion of a serial killer to draw media attention to the BPD and elicit funding for the Stanfield investigation. Bunk is outraged that McNulty is interfering with crime scenes and falsifying case notes as part of his plan, and enlists Freamon to talk sense into him. However, this backfires when Freamon decides that McNulty hasn't gone far enough and suggests that he should find a way to sensationalize the killer.[9][10]
Sydnor uncovers evidence that Davis lied on a mortgage application, and Freamon realizes it is significant enough to file federal charges. Rupert Bond decides not to file the new charge, as passing the case over to federal prosecutors would cost him the opportunity to raise his political profile. After Davis is acquitted following an incredible performance on the witness stand, Freamon tries to get the U.S. Attorney to prosecute Davis for lying on his mortgage application. While the office declines because Davis' heightened profile, Freamon uses the information to blackmail Davis for information about a leak at the courthouse.
McNulty and Freamon collaborate on raising the profile of their fake serial killer, resulting in Freamon adding a sexual motive and supplying a set of dentures to create bite marks on the "victims". They conduct actual canvassing among the homeless as a cover. Freamon also recruits his old patrol partner Oscar Requer to look out for recently deceased bodies of homeless men. They soon have their next fake victim and McNulty mocks up the crime scene and mutilates the body to imply another murder.[11]
When Freamon gets a hold of Stanfield's cell phone, he sets up an illegal wiretap on the phone but is initially surprised to find no conversations are taking place on it. Freamon learns Stanfield's phone is transmitting pictures of clocks and tries to break the code. When money is provided for investigation into the "serial killer," which McNulty redirects to the Stanfield investigation, more surveillance officers are added and Sydnor works out that the code is relaying location information for face-to-face meetings. In Freamon's resulting bust, most of the Stanfield Organization is arrested and a large quantity of heroin is confiscated.
Freamon is upset when McNulty tells Greggs about the fake serial-killer plan. After Daniels and Pearlman look into the matter and discover the illegal wiretap, and the subsequent damage it will do to the Stanfield case, they inform Mayor Tommy Carcetti. Pearlman tells McNulty and Freamon that they will not face jail but are finished as police officers. Freamon laments the loss of tracking Stanfield's money trail, but takes the retirement, makes peace with Greggs, and is last seen in the end-of-season montage putting together dollhouse furniture in the company of Shardene.
Critical response
Entertainment Weekly named Freamon one of the five most interesting characters in season 4.[12]
References
- ^ "The Wire's Lester Freamon Is Still Following The Money". TV Guide.
- ^ Dan Kois (2004). "Everything you were afraid to ask about "The Wire"". Salon.com. Archived from the original on 2006-11-19. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ a b "Org Chart - The Law". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-22.
- ^ "Character profile - Detective Lester Freamon". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-22.
- The Wire. Season 5. Episode 1. HBO.
- ^ "The Wire episode guide - episode 51 More with Less". HBO. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- The Wire. Season 5. Episode 2. HBO.
- ^ "The Wire episode guide - episode 52 Uncomfirmed Reports". HBO. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-01-17. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- The Wire. Season 5. Episode 3. HBO.
- ^ "The Wire episode guide - episode 53 Not for Attribution". HBO. 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
- The Wire. Season 5. Episode 4. HBO.
- ^ Drumming, Neil (2006-09-15). "High Wire Act". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2014-09-03. Retrieved 2006-09-27.
See also
- Tyreeka Freamon, 15-year-old DeAndre McCullough's real-life on-again/off-again girlfriend portrayed in David Simon and Ed Burns' book and TV adaptation, The Corner