The Dickensian Aspect

"**The Dickensian Aspect**"
"The Dickensian Aspect"
The Wire episode
Episode no.	Season 5; Episode 6
Directed by	Seith Mann
Story by	David Simon; Ed Burns
Teleplay by	Ed Burns
Original air date	February 10, 2008
Running time	58 minutes
Episode chronology
← Previous; "React Quotes"	Next →; "Took"
	List of episodes

"The Dickensian Aspect" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the HBO series The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns (from a story by David Simon and Ed Burns) and was directed by Seith Mann.^[1] It aired on February 10, 2008.^[2]

Plot

If you have a problem with this, I understand completely.
— Freamon, in The Dickensian Aspect

As

seafood poisoning

. When Templeton claims the complaint was false, Gus takes his word at face value, but remains suspicious.

Wilson and Steinhorf suggest that running on defending the homeless may be Carcetti's key to getting elected governor. Daniels hands the stolen indictments to Pearlman and Bond

, who realize there is a leak in the courthouse. Bond also makes clear that he will be handling the Clay Davis trial alone (with the implication being that he wants to ensure that the spotlight shines solely on himself), and that he wants to remove some witnesses from the trial list.

Judge Daniel Phelan declines McNulty and Pearlman's request for a wiretap on the Sun's phones. Freamon reveals his illegal wiretap of Marlo to Sydnor, who agrees to help. He determines that Marlo is sending photos, but a new wiretap authorization is needed to see what is being sent. McNulty finds that, with police now arriving on the scene immediately whenever a homeless person turns up dead, he is unable to stage more serial murders. He comes across a mentally ill homeless man named Larry and, with Freamon's help, photographs him with the "killer"'s trademark ribbon, after which Larry will never be seen again; the killer, according to the cover story, will now only send photos of his victims to the press, and their bodies will not be found. McNulty gives Larry $100 and drives him down to a homeless shelter in Richmond, Virginia, giving him a stolen ID card. As he leaves, he feels a pang of guilt over what he has done to Larry.

Production

Uncredited appearances

Mike D. Anderson as Ghost
Megan Anderson as Jen Carcetti
Donald Neal as Jay Spry
Ed Norris as Ed Norris

In popular culture

Emcee Noesis from Philadelphia Slick references the episode in his song "Meet the Press".^[3]

References

^ "Season 5 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
^ "HBO Schedule: THE WIRE 56: THE DICKENSIAN ASPECT". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2008.
^ Noesis. "Meet The Press". 2012. The Way Things Work. Philadelphia Slick, 2012, CD.

External links

"The Dickensian Aspect" at HBO.com
"The Dickensian Aspect" at
IMDb

[Season_5_crew-1] "Season 5 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.

[hbo56-2] "HBO Schedule: THE WIRE 56: THE DICKENSIAN ASPECT". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2008.

[3] Noesis. "Meet The Press". 2012. The Way Things Work. Philadelphia Slick, 2012, CD.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e The Wire episodes
Season 1	"The Target" "The Detail" "The Buys" "Old Cases" "The Pager" "The Wire" "One Arrest" "Lessons" "Game Day" "The Cost" "The Hunt" "Cleaning Up" "Sentencing"
Season 2	"Ebb Tide" "Collateral Damage" "Hot Shots" "Hard Cases" "Undertow" "All Prologue" "Backwash" "Duck and Cover" "Stray Rounds" "Storm Warnings" "Bad Dreams" "Port in a Storm"
Season 3	"Time After Time" "All Due Respect" "Dead Soldiers" "Hamsterdam" "Straight and True" "Homecoming" "Back Burners" "Moral Midgetry" "Slapstick" "Reformation" "Middle Ground" "Mission Accomplished"
Season 4	"Boys of Summer" "Soft Eyes" "Home Rooms" "Refugees" "Alliances" "Margin of Error" "Unto Others" "Corner Boys" "Know Your Place" "Misgivings" "A New Day" "That's Got His Own" "Final Grades"
Season 5	"More with Less" "Unconfirmed Reports" "Not for Attribution" "Transitions" "React Quotes" "The Dickensian Aspect" "Took" "Clarifications" "Late Editions" "-30-"