The Wire (The Wire episode)
"The Wire" | |
---|---|
The Wire episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
Directed by | Ed Bianchi |
Story by | David Simon Ed Burns |
Teleplay by | David Simon |
Original air date | July 7, 2002 |
Running time | 59 minutes |
"The Wire" is the sixth episode of the first season of the HBO original series The Wire, the titular episode of the series. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon and Ed Burns and was directed by Ed Bianchi. It originally aired on July 7, 2002.
Plot summary
The street
Wallace expresses his anguish at seeing Brandon's body. D'Angelo unsympathetically reminds Wallace that he knew what would happen to Brandon, and reminds him that killing is part of "the game" of drug dealing in
Avon, Stringer, and Stinkum visit the pit and deliver reward money to D'Angelo and Wallace for their part in finding Brandon; Avon also tells D'Angelo that Wee-Bey and Bird killed him. D'Angelo assures Stringer that there are no snitches in his crew. Avon tells D'Angelo that if he keeps working well, he will receive "points on the package" soon. D'Angelo, still withholding payment from the pit crew, finds his lookout, a girl named Cassandra, with groceries. She reveals she has been conspiring with Sterling to steal small amounts of drugs and sell them on the side. In order to protect them from punishment, he reassigns them elsewhere and tells nobody except Wallace.
With
The police
McNulty meets with Rawls and Landsman. Rawls tells McNulty he expects the Barksdale investigation to wrap up in a week's time, which McNulty has no intention of doing. Pressured by Rawls, Landsman orders Bunk to charge the Barksdales in the old murder cases. McNulty, Greggs and Freamon expect issuing charges will prompt Avon to change his operation and negate all their work. Daniels fails to dissuade Rawls, but convinces Burrell to overrule him. Rawls responds by asking Santangelo to keep him informed of anything that McNulty does that might be used against him.
In the detail office, Freamon notes the high level of pager activity the previous night. The new wiretaps on the payphones legally require officers to monitor them; Herc is dismayed that this will mean long hours of surveillance work. Freamon is angry at his co-workers' laziness and asks what they expected when they joined the detail. After Stinkum chastises Bodie for using his name on the phone, Freamon explains to Prez that the call should be marked "pertinent" because it is evidence of conspiracy, even without providing hard evidence of drugs. Prez shows an aptitude and an interest in meticulously tracking the wiretaps, even asking an impressed Daniels if they can get additional filing cabinets. Daniels berates Polk for stumbling in drunk and orders him to either get to work or check into medical for alcohol abuse. Polk chooses the latter.
McNulty meets with Vernon Holley and Ed Norris, the detectives working Brandon's murder, and discusses the potential link to the Barksdales. McNulty gets a call from Omar while minding his sons - he is forced to bring them along to the morgue with Omar. On seeing his lover's body, Omar screams, which the boys hear. Omar visits the detail, which has been able to tie Brandon's murder to the pager activity. McNulty is angry that they were unable to use the information, complaining that they are continually one step behind. Freamon and McNulty interview the arcade owner and Freamon matches the nearby payphone to the one used the night before. Omar offers to be a witness in the Gant case. The episode ends with the police photographs of Brandon's mutilated corpse on Daniels' desk.[1][2][3]
Production
Title reference
The title repeats the show's own title, indicating that the series has truly begun, and refers to the wiretap devices used to monitor phone calls made by the Barksdale organization.
Epigraph
... and all the pieces matter.
โ Freamon
Freamon uses this phrase to describe the importance of the individual calls recorded by their wiretap device to Prez. Simon has also described it as referring to the need for the viewer to concentrate on all aspects of the show to follow the plot.[4] Additionally, this can be connected to the continuing theme of the chess board used throughout the show, signifying that even the most insignificant people can change everything. The phrase was later used as the title of the program's official soundtrack, And All the Pieces Matter.
Credits
Starring cast
Although credited, Deirdre Lovejoy does not appear in this episode.
Guest stars
- Seth Gilliam as Detective Ellis Carver
- Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk
- Clarke Peters as Detective Lester Freamon
- Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski
- Johnny
- J. D. Williams as Preston "Bodie" Broadus
- Michael B. Jordan as Wallace
- Corey Parker Robinson as Detective Leander Sydnor
- Michael K. Williams as Omar Little
- Nat Benchley as Detective Augustus Polk
- Richard De Angelis as Major Raymond Foerster
- Michael Salconi as Detective Michael Santangelo
- Delaney Williams as Sergeant Jay Landsman
- Michael Kevin Darnall as Brandon
- Wendy Grantham as Shardene Innes
- Michael Kostroff as Maurice Levy
- Caroline G Pleasant as Bodie's Grandmother
- Antonio Cordova as Michael McNulty
- Ed Norris as Detective Ed Norris
- Eric Ryan as Sean McNulty
- Brian Anthony Wilson as Detective Vernon Holley
- Malik "Poot" Carr
- Gil Deeble as Hucklebuck
- Erik Todd Dellums as Dr. Randall Frazier
- Brandon Price as Anton "Stinkum" Artis
Music
This episode is one of the few in which the soundtrack features non-diegetic music. In a slow motion sequence (also a rarity) featuring Avon, Stringer and Stinkum in the low-rises, a piece called "Wax Box Music" by Florian Mosleh is played.[5] Usually only season finales feature music not emanating from an on-screen source.
The selection playing during the final scene, where Daniels advises McNulty that he has managed to buy them some time, is 'Fleurette Africaine' performed by Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach, which appears on their album Money Jungle recorded in 1962.
First appearances
This episode marks the first appearance of homicide Detectives
Also seen for the first time is Sean McNulty, the oldest son of Jimmy and Elena McNulty.
References
- ^ "Episode guide - episode 06 The Wire". HBO. 2004. Retrieved July 26, 2006.
- The Wire. Season 1. Episode 6. HBO.
- ^ Alvarez, Rafael (2004). The Wire: Truth Be Told. New York: Pocket Books.
- ^ David Simon (2005). The Wire "The Target" commentary track (DVD). HBO.
- ^ "About". 2015. Retrieved January 13, 2015.
External links
- "The Wire" at HBO.com
- "The Wire" at IMDb