» 5-2: "Unconfirmed Reports" 2008.01.13 Options

[TWoP Roxy]

From zap2it.com:

Marlo takes care of some unfinished business and strikes a business deal with Barksdale; Mayor Carcetti's chief of staff searches for good news; frustrated McNulty decides to take matters into his own hands.

[lynch]

For starters, I’d like to point something out from the opening scene. The woman who was speaking at the meeting has been seen on the show before. She was briefly seen in season 3 buying drugs from Bodie in Hamsterdam from the safety of a pretty nice car. She was seen again in season 4, now a hooker, having a brief chat with Old Face Andre at his store. And now in season 5 we see her pouring out her soul at an NA meeting. I didn’t notice this until it was pointed out by someone else, and I was amazed. What other show would give a nameless character such a devastating but ultimately hopeful arc and spread it out over three single scenes in three seasons? In typical Wire fashion, they just put it out there without drawing attention, and leave it up to us to notice the connection.

It looks like Bubbles actually made some positive progress this episode. On one hand, I’m glad to see it, but on the other hand I think that if he’s making progress this early in the season, then there’s no way things will remain well for him. Good things come in very small spread out packages.

I’m slightly confused as to why Sergei would still have a line of communication with the Greeks, since Sergei gave them up at the end of season 2. All I can think is that either they came to some sort of understanding since the end of season 2, or that whoever prosecuted Sergei elected to keep his giving them up off the record. I hope they explain it in the next episode. I was also briefly thrown that Avon knew about the Greeks since Stringer didn’t even know about them, but I guess it’s not much of a stretch to assume that Sergei told him.

Templeton made a fundamental journalistic mistake. You never go to work on a field piece with the story already written in your head. I liked the way that Gus maintained his composure when he was getting overruled by the head editors. He didn’t let Templeton see him sweat. I loved the scene of Gus waking up in a cold sweat out of fear that he got wrong some minor detail that almost nobody will read. That kind of integrity can’t be learned. I’m glad to see that they’re starting to flesh out the Whitting character a bit. While he is still for the most part a douche bag (as if Burrell isn’t), the “localize your attack” technique of journalism that he was espousing during the meeting is a respected technique that many people think has more of a real world impact. It’s clear that Simon disagrees with it, but at least it’s being represented.

And now let’s talk about McNulty. What he’s doing isn’t that much more illegal than Hamsterdam, but I don’t think Colvin dreamed up his plan while in a hungover stupor. Ultimately, I don’t think that it’s out of character. He’s always been a shitstirrer. I’m looking forward to seeing his plan dovetail with the media storyline (I’m guessing) to create a spectacular clusterfuck.

The U.S. Attorney’s shit-eating grin….priceless.

Also, is it my imagination or has Fitz put on quite a bit of weight since we last saw him in 2004? It’s still nice to see him again. City cops taunting feds will never get old. Here’s hoping they find a spot to use Judge Phelan sometime this season. I miss that old coot.

One more thing: Singing Lester, YAY!

[nodisrespect]

Was the dead woman Lex's mother?

[Annwyd]

My most striking thought about what McNulty did was that it seemed almost...un-Wire-like. So many of the characters always seem to be moving through their lives on invisible tracks laid down for them by society and its institutions--and here McNulty has gone right off the rails.

I have to remind myself: the writers must know how this comes off. That's why they saved it for the last season, right? It's going to lead to a kind of culmination. I'm not sure whether to be nervous or excited. That said, in retrospect, it's almost a surprise that McNulty hasn't done something like this already. I suppose he just needed to reach his breaking point.

Still, a lot of this episode was about the unexpected for me. Not just the start of McNulty's lies, but also Avon throwing himself back into the plot and Michael showing signs of a potential redemption arc (although I'm not sure that's where it'll actually go). When I first watched it (On Demand) I wasn't too impressed with the episode itself (more with its potential for setting things up), but the more I think about it, the more interesting it actually was.

And that's a really amazing catch about the woman at the NA meeting, lynch. There's no other show with continuity like this one, is there?

[puppetmittens]

What a great show tonight, my heart always breaks for Bubbles. Bubbles is dancing on the edge of the razor right now with facing his addiction demons. Nice to see such moral dilemmas swirling around so many of the characters. The newspaper reporter who fudges a story, McNulty rearranging a crime scene to make it look like a serial killer, and Michael not killing a little kid despite being ordered to kill anyone that comes through the back door.

Nothing is black and white on The Wire and I can't think of any show out there that treads the gray areas with such brilliance. I'm in awe of this show and I'm already sad this is the last year.

I do miss my dick sucker Omar though. My heart did go aflutter with the return of Avon Barksdale. Word to Marlo you aren't in the same league as Avon so young-un start watching your back.

This post has been edited by puppetmittens: Jan 13, 2008 @ 10:11 pm.

[RoxieVelma]

Let us all say together: Holy Sheeeiiiiitt!!!

The facts are these: It only took 52 episodes, but McNulty has finally officially lost his fuckin' mind. (Seriously, Jimmy, what the fuck did you do?) and that scene just shot up in my "Top 5 Scenes of TV I Cannot Get Out of My Mind". You beat an episode of Cracker with Robbie Coltrane, you happy now bitch?

[goldil]

I don't like next week's previews. I don't like next week's previews at all.

[pontoon]

Loved the journalism scenes, but I'm concerned that they're putting a story out there that echoes the idea - stemming from Jayson Blair, Janet Cooke, and Stephen Glass - that reporters make up stories. Some crazy number like 70% of Americans believe that reporters regularly make up stories, and it just ain't true! I'm sure Simon is trying to indicate that the cost-cutting, bottom-line loving approach leads to these abominations of journalism, but Christ, made-up stories are hardly the biggest problem that papers are facing.

Loved the cop scenes. Bubbles' cold feet bore the shit out of me.

[Ankai]

Oh dear. What did Rawls say about McNulty being a gaping asshole? I suppose that it is not much more illegal than what Colvin did, but it seems to be quite a bit worse to me for reasons that I cannot really articulate at the moment.

I loved Michael having that crisis of conscience over what it means to have someone say that Marlo performed fellatio.

Was it a deliberate choice to have Jimmy hurt his foot right as the chorus comes in?

"What is this series about in a sentence?" Clever, clever, Simon.

Was O-Dog even alive when Boyz N the Hood came out?

Did Marlo actually come at Avon first?

[AuntiePam]

I didn't catch who wrote this episode, but I thought it sucked. I didn't mind the exposition in 5.1, but I hope it's over and done with, now that new viewers know who everybody is and what their motivations are. Maybe I'll find something to like on second viewing. Christ almighty, what are they doing to our show?

[TarHeelTeacher]

I reaaallly want McNutty to get shot in the head and die. He's never been my favorite because he reminds me of some brat having a tantrum, but I do not like him at all right now. I hope Beadie changes the damn lock. She was always too good for him.

There are no words to describe the sound that came out of my mouth when Wood Harris popped up on my TV. I LOVE him.

[jasira]

I was also briefly thrown that Avon knew about the Greeks since Stringer didn’t even know about them, but I guess it’s not much of a stretch to assume that Sergei told him.

Avon has more connects than Stringer ever did both in and out of prison. It speaks volumes about how powerful Avon used to be that he's still able to run things to a certain extent now. That scene with Marlo & Avon was so funny and made the whole episode. I love Wood Harris.

This post has been edited by jasira: Jan 13, 2008 @ 10:25 pm.

[gacggc]

All the traumatized little kids were something this episode.

The kid at the shelter, the kid who escaped the slaughter, and especially the kid who
was hiding in that closet.

It is a wonder that after this series has been airing for four years, the federal government does not take over Baltimore.

Not that they'd succeed, but they couldn't do worse.

This post has been edited by gacggc: Jan 13, 2008 @ 10:28 pm.

[tttina]

I enjoyed this episode a lot more than last week. The kids were sad, Michael was sad, and the newspaper is getting more interesting to me. I really liked the potential interviewee who said 'fuck baseball!'.

What struck me, and tell me if I'm crazy, was that to me, both dead guys McNulty interacted with, looked like clones of him! I felt like he was looking at his own corpse. That made his craziness even creepier, to me.

[llslls]

gacggc- where do you live? I suspect it's not that different. The Wire is a masterwork of dramatic fiction. However, it is also heartbreakingly realistic. Ask any one of us who lives or works in the forgotten neighborhoods of our cities. I hope that everyone who watches The Wire not only appreciates its artistic merit, but comes away with a better understanding of the real issues we face, and perhaps the desire to start doing something about them.