Soft Eyes

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"Soft Eyes"
The Wire episode
Episode no.Season 4
Episode 2
Directed byChristine Moore
Story byEd Burns
David Mills
Teleplay byDavid Mills
Original air dateSeptember 17, 2006 (2006-09-17)
Running time58 minutes
Episode chronology
โ† Previous
"Boys of Summer" 		Next โ†’
"Home Rooms"
List of episodes

"Soft Eyes" is the second episode of the fourth season of the HBO original series The Wire. Written by David Mills from a story by Ed Burns & David Mills, and directed by Christine Moore, it originally aired on September 17, 2006.

Plot

At

Parker to see if he has friends high up in the department
.

In prison,

Eddie Walker
, who confiscates his money for school. Carver warns the boys against stealing more cars. Namond returns home to find that his mother has laid out new clothes for him despite her threats.

Bunk pressures Lex's mother to give up her son's whereabouts, believing that Lex has fled from the police. Back at Homicide,

State Senator Clay Davis, which are delivered by Greggs and Sydnor respectively. Davis and Krawczyk threaten to withhold financial support from Royce, who in turn puts pressure on Commissioner Ervin Burrell. Burrell and Deputy Commissioner William Rawls
realize that Freamon is the cause of the problem, with Rawls resolving to find a way to remove Freamon from the MCU. Freamon and Greggs catch Marlo's voice on the wire and, knowing that his crew has not been linked to any violence, wonder why they hear what sounds like target practice in the background.

At his gym,

Crystal Judkins
, to deliver secondhand school supplies to Dukie. Bubbles and Sherrod come to the school to discuss possible enrollment for Sherrod; Bubbles has a moment of recognition as he passes Prez.

Despite being distracted, Carcetti is able to come up with effective answers as part of his debate preparation. He gets a visit from Valchek and is told about the death of the witness, giving him useful ammunition against Royce. During the televised debate, both Carcetti's campaign team and the Homicide unit watch as Carcetti rebuts Royce's assertion that Baltimore's crime rate has fallen by bringing up the murdered witness. Royce's response is labored, defensive, awkward, and evasive; Carcetti's team is pleased while Royce's people seem worried. Burrell and Rawls become nervous about their failure to inform the mayor about the murder.[1][2]

Production

Simon has commented that the influx of child actors initially caused some problems on set and said that crew members' feelings mirrored the turmoil of Prez in the episode because of the young actors' behavior.[3] However, by the end of filming they became a good crew of young actors.[3]

Title reference

The title is a mysterious piece of advice that a colleague gives Prez about teaching ("You need soft eyes"). In the later episode "

Refugees" that expression is used again and explained by Bunk Moreland
. In terms of the title, the meaning of soft eyes means the ability to look deeper than what you first see.

Epigraph

I still wake up white in a city that ain't.

โ€” Carcetti, in Soft Eyes

Carcetti makes this statement when worrying about his chances in the upcoming election being hamstrung by his race. In 2000, Baltimore's population was 31% white.[4]

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited, Michael K. Williams, Robert Wisdom and Dominic West do not appear in this episode. This is the first episode of the series not to feature West.

Guest stars

  1. Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as Senator Clayton "Clay" Davis
  2. Duquan "Dukie" Weems
  3. Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff
  4. Julito McCullum as Namond Brice
  5. Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee
  6. Gbenga Akinnagbe as Chris Partlow
  7. Hassan Johnson as Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice
  8. Ed Norris as Detective Ed Norris
  9. Delaney Williams as Sergeant Jay Landsman
  10. Brian Anthony Wilson as Detective Vernon Holley
  11. Megan Anderson as Jen Carcetti
  12. Assistant Principal Marcia Donnelly
  13. Joilet F. Harris as Officer Caroline Massey
  14. Mrs. Grace Sampson
  15. Justin Burley as Justin
  16. Donut
  17. Edward Green as Spider
  18. Sherrod
  19. Brandy Burre as Theresa D'Agostino
  20. Sheila Gaskins as Mrs. Anderson
  21. Johnett Kent as Sharon Jones
  22. Nikki Lusk as Unknown
  23. Stacie Williams as Gail
  24. Stanislaus Valchek
  25. Christopher Mann as Councilman Anthony Gray
  26. Cleo Reginald Pizana as Chief of Staff Coleman Parker
  27. Marc Steiner as himself (Debate Moderator)
  28. Frederick Strother as State Delegate Odell Watkins
  29. Tamieka Chavis as Royce's Assistant
  30. Crystal Judkins
  31. Sandi McCree as De'Londa Brice
  32. Kwame Patterson as Monk Metcalf
  33. Snoop
  34. Jonnie Louis Brown as Officer Eddie Walker
  35. Eugene Little as Landscaping Crew Chief
  36. Alfonso Christian Lover as Old Face Andre
  37. Jason Parker as Officer Reggie Leddett
  38. Michael Willis as Andy Krawczyk

Uncredited appearances

First appearances

  • De'Londa Brice: Namond's materialistic and greedy mother who raises him with money from what remains of the Barksdale organization. A former club girl whom Wee-Bey impregnated, she is only being given the money she is due to Wee-Bey, who is serving prison time on the Barksdales' behalf.
  • Crystal Judkins
    : Hard-working and responsible eighth grade student.

Writing

This is the first episode of the series in which series creator David Simon is not credited with the teleplay or story, as he collaborated on the stories for all the previous episodes and is credited with the "story by" credit. There are only nine episodes (out of 60) in the entire series in which he does not receive a writing credit, all of which are in the fourth season. Ed Burns receives story credit on all Season Four episodes, as the writing drew extensively on his experience as a teacher.

References

  1. ^ "Episode guide - episode 39 Soft Eyes". HBO. 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-09.
  2. The Wire
    . Season 4. Episode 02. HBO.
  3. ^ a b Margaret Talbot (2007). "Stealing Life". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  4. U.S. Census, 2000
    ). Retrieved 12/05/14.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Soft_Eyes&oldid=1219727178"