Wire: The Return
Episode 44 aired last night after the tragic skip week. The show continues to be utterly uncompromising in its refusal to advance the pace of the crime narrative. Herc and Carver are circling in the vicinity of Randy's knowledge of where Marlo stashes his bodies, but can't think to ask the right question. Freamon was convinced to drop his inquiry into the case of the missing bodies just before Randy showed up on the cops' radar, so nobody's pushing it. It appeared, briefly, that Omar's arrest would drag McNulty back toward the center of action, but instead they gave us another entirely McNulty-free episode. Instead, the focus stays on season four's main plotlines -- the kids and city hall.
Prezbo's nice gambit sort of seems like him groping his way toward managing his class effectively, but on another level reads to me as overindulgence. Leveraging the kids' interest in dice to teach them something about probability and, perhaps, how to multiply fractions (that, IIRC, is what he was trying to teach in Ep 43) makes sense, but it wasn't made clear if the kids actually were learning any math there as opposed to just sitting around throwing dice.
The special program, meanwhile, seems like an interesting sort of failure. You've got a small number of kids, and several smart adults who know what's going on. As seen in the refusal to kick Namond out or suspend him, they know the score and they refuse to be played. But what can they really accomplish? Is it possible to teach people who honestly don't want to be taught? What schoolteacher can possibly reach an eighth grader facing intense pressure from his mom and dad to become a harder-working, more succesful drug dealer?
Cutty is much more effective, but he has the significant advantage of not being in nearly as direct competition with the corners for his kids' loyalties. After all, the skills and training he's imparting are not without their value on the street -- as seen in Cutty's ability to get that other dude to leave Namond alone. Meanwhile, if the special program in school can't seem to work, the larger question about Cutty's program is what makes him think it will "work" even if it does work? After all, Cutty himself was well-trained in boxing as was Avon Barksdale and that didn't keep either of them out of game.
Carcetti, meanwhile, as best one can tell has given up on the schools. Education is an obvious point for an opposition candidate to raise, but he never brings it up during the campaign. Now that the transition's under way, it still doesn't get mentioned at all in his universe. To him, urban renewal begins with more effective crime control policies. He's looking at Daniels for commissioner, but I think him getting the job would be contrary to the spirit of the show, which will doubtless find some way to thwart this gambit. Meanwhile, my feeling is that it would be genuinely odd for a city's police commissioner to be dating the city's top violent crimes prosecutor, but that particular topic hasn't gotten aired yet.
Comments
Excellent summation. I found myself yelling at Herc over his inability to connect Randy with the Bunk. And, although I predicted that Daniels would get the job ... I agree with you that it wouldnt quite fit with the tenor of the show to have competence rewarded.
I thought this was one of the best episodes of the season so far, and Matt's plot summary captures it very well. The non-advancement of the case might be seen as a bug in any other cop show, but here it's a feature. This episode really plumbed the arbitrariness of the cop/criminal universe, what with that one cop sandbagging Carver's call to Bunk, and then Kima figuring out that the whole dead-witness thing was a red herring. The episode also featured a couple of the most tense scenes I can recall, really up there with Kima getting ambushed in episode 1. Showing that those two coked-up thugs had a gun, before they confronted Namond, and then leaving our collective backs open as Namond and Cutty went back into the gym -- I thought it was time to say goodbye to Cutty. And then Kima going into that house -- ack.
I'm really curious as to what will happen with Namond -- he seems to be caught between two worlds, as he doesn't really have the heart for "the game," but he also has no interest in schooling.
I'm really curious as to what will happen with Namond -- he seems to be caught between two worlds, as he doesn't really have the heart for "the game," but he also has no interest in schooling.
It's less to me, a question of him lacking the heart for the game than lacking the head. I assume he's going to wind up getting killed. He's out there on some very dangerous streets with a crew of tiny, tiny children a bad attitude and no real idea what he's doing.
Matt, you do know that the whole 4th season has been leaked and posted online at various bit torrent sites? Its hard for me to believe that you haven't broken down and watched the rest yet. I'll be nice and not post any spoilers. For those wanting the episodes google eztv @ efnet and you will find them.
It's less to me, a question of him lacking the heart for the game than lacking the head.
It's both. Remember his cowardice in the urine-balloon incident? He's dealing because it's not as scary as his mother's wrath, but he really doesn't have the 'heart' for the game. Note that after the beating outside Cutty's gym, he backed down and took a lesser corner.
I agree that he's going to get killed, though.
It's not clear to me whether or not Colvin thinks the corner kids can be brought back from the brink. I think his main gool is to make sure the stoop kids have fewer disruptions in class. Of course, the special curriculum could only remove 1/4th of the corner kids, so it's not clear how effective that could be.
I'm pretty sure Matt had (or still has) access to the 4th season screener DVD (he is Big Media, after all), but somehow managed to resist.
I'm pretty sure Matt had (or still has) access to the 4th season screener DVD (he is Big Media, after all), but somehow managed to resist.
Ogged has it right...I don't watch the episodes On Demand, I haven't watched the screeners, and I don't download the leaked episodes...I'm committed to seeing this through week-by-week with my usual Wire-watching crew. It's all about the social capital. Sebastian Mallaby should give me a medal.
I think the one that's going to get killed is Randy. He's the classic "good kid" who is getting whipped around by the forces playing around him. His death will become the tragic end to the season.
Also, regarding Matt's point about Prezbo's dice gambit (ha, ha...gambit!), it might not be clear as to whether the kids are really learning math, but it certainly a realistic presentation. I was in a similar situation to Prezbo a few years back as a high school teacher and I am continually struck by how spot on they are in portraying the classroom dynamic. It would be so easy to take the "Stand & Deliver" approach and fill the classroom with two-dimensional characters. They really get this part right.
This is purely uninformed speculation, but I think Daniels has a decent shot at getting the comissioner position - it'd put him front and center for whatever crap goes down in Season 5. For instance, given that Season 5's theme is supposed to be about the media, we could have a high profile OJ-esque homicide case and have Daniels as one of our viewpoint characters into the circus.
I think the one that's going to get killed is Randy. He's the classic "good kid" who is getting whipped around by the forces playing around him. His death will become the tragic end to the season.
Well, more than one kid can die. But, no, I see Randy winding up with Bubbles on the fringes of the game rather than dead. On the other hand, now that Carver delivered Randy up to Herc (of all people!) I could imagine a scenario in which Herc charges up to Marlo, says "this kid Randy told us you killed so-and-so" and Marlo has Randy killed.
I wish I hadn't broken down and watched the entire season off of bittorrent. It makes participation in these threads unbearable.
I will say this much however:
You are all wrong.
Daniels as commissioner? People, people. You are not paying attention.
What is the single biggest dangling plot thread from the first season?
One thing for sure, the fourth season is a departure for The Wire. What has been in previous seasons an example of the familiar "police procedural" drama, or as the French call it, a policier, is tweaking its audience's noses by pretty much leaving out the police and the procedure.
There is only one way the show can survive after delivering such an affront to its viewers: with continued excellence. Indeed, the show's writing and production values continue to be of the very highest caliber. But while there is still time for this season to tie its threads together and achieve the dramatic punch of the first three seasons, so far I'm afraid this season isn't quite there.
Wasn't there a way to work the show's most interesting character, McNulty, into the plot on a more-than-one-or-two-lines-per-show basis? (On the other hand, are they playing coy in order to bring McNulty back in a really powerful way later on?) For that matter, is it a good idea to virtually abandon so many successful and interesting characters to present us with a whole batch of new names and faces? Such that we had to spend much of the first two episodes on straight exposition just to give character depth to the kids, yet still are having to deal with teacher/administrator characters in the school scenes who are no more than well-acted caricatures?
And really, I like that technical po-lice stuff--and it's probably a pretty safe bet that I'm not along among Wire viewers. Where did it go?
Another difference, and a big difference, between this season and previous seasons: focus and structure. 20 minutes into the first episode of season one, you knew that the story was going to be about McNulty going after Avon Barksdale. By the end of the first episode of season two, you knew that the season was going to be about the 13 young women in the container. 15 minutes into season three, you knew we were back to Avon and Stringer. Here we are, what, seven episodes into season four, and I still can't tell you what this season is about, at least not in less than a paragraph or so.
At one point, I decided that this season was going to focus more and more on the election, and that would be the hook. But now the election is over, Carcetti only had a few lines during the next expisode, and it's clear he's not going to be Mayor for a while yet. So this season ain't about him.
The first three seasons each featured tight stories, with an identifiable plot advancing at a steady pace. This season skips from hither to yon, and you never know which plot thread is going to be followed next.
This show might still be the best show on TV, even with all these problems. I'm a little worried about the new direction, but then again I wouldn't be shocked if all this gets wrapped into something by season's end that represents a new high for this great series. Because one thing this season clearly represents is a continuation of the third season's bold attempt to actually talk about solutions and not just grovel in the problems, no matter how perfect a fodder for police-type drama the problems might be.
Whatever happens, at this point they've still got me hooked, that's for sure.
Trickster, the show has expanded each season. It's like an extended conversation that goes something like, "let's do a show about cops and drug dealers." "OK, but we can't do that show without showing the politics inside the police and the power structure of the dealers." "Yeah, and we have to show where the drugs come from." "OK, and then we have to show how city politics affects what is going on with the cops and the dealers." "Right, and then we should look at how a changing political scene affects the cops, and what happens with kids who have to choose between 'the game' and a crappy school system."
I look forward to seeing where else the show will go.
In terms of the dangling plot thread from season one related to Daniels, that could easily fit into an attempt to make him commissioner in Season 5, with its media theme. The media could focus entirely on that aspect of Daniels and flog that story while ignoring other substantive issues, causing frustration for Carcetti, the police, etc. Such a story line would doubtlessly end with Daniels not becoming commissioner, possibly being forced to resign, and some Burrell like hack getting the job instead.
Trickster: "Here we are, what, seven episodes into season four, and I still can't tell you what this season is about, at least not in less than a paragraph or so."
Its been fairly obvious from the beginning that this show is about "the kids." Or, to put it the way the show's producers have: its about education. Everyone is going to get educated; someplace and somehow, everyone is going to get schooled. Carcetti is getting schooled in the deeper realities of political leadership in Baltimore.
Ah yes, I had forgotten a bit about the dangling Daniels corruption stuff. Now it makes perfect sense that he will be promoted to Commisioner by Carcetti, and Rawls will torpedo him for being passed over. And it will reflect horribly on Carcetti, etc.
All the good feelings from this most recent episode will turn into the stuff of those silver bowls the former spoke so eloquently about eating.
Maybe it's because the show has me so conditioned, but I am constantly on edge for something horrible to happen soon - I thought Cutty might get shot by a coked-out Sherrard after breaking up the beating on Namond. Something will not end well, and it has to happen soon. They just can't give us a happy ending, can they?
I think Daniels gets the job and fails.
This making the futility point.
Just as the schools will fail.
This is a very very pessimistic series.
Last season all the good folks were being stymied by hacks.
This year the good guys get the run of the place - and fail just as much.
Watch.
I see Rawls getting commissioner from Royce, with Daniels as Dep Ops. Then Season 5 is Gay police Commissioner replaced by adulterous corrupt Commissioner and the death of Carcetti's political career.
I've also read a quote from Simon saying that Season 5 is about, essentially, "We now know what all these problems are, why don't they get fixed?" (paraphrased) That fits well with Big Tent Democrat's prediction-- no matter how good-hearted the people are, the institutions rule.
Does anyone know of any site or forum where those of us who have seen all of Season 4 can discuss it freely?
"About the kids" or "about education" is not a plot. This season does not yet have an identifiable plot as each of the other seasons did from very early in the year.
Doesn't mean it's not still possible to be great, but it makes it much harder. As for now, what it means is that the series virtually has to be carried from scene to scene by the technical prowess of the creators, i.e., that each scene has to live and die on its own internal success; there are no deep plot hooks to carry us forward, no overwhelming questions that make us look for answers in every scene.
Now let me turn on myself and say that we do know what the plot is about, and yes, we were told even earlier than in the other seasons.
What was the very first scene in Season Four? It was the memorable meeting of Snoop and the power-drill salesman. Breaking down their conversation to the bare-bones plot level, what were they talking about? How Marlowe hides his victims' bodies. Why did the Major Crimes Unit go dry after rolling up Avon? Because none of Marlowe's bodies were turning up. What were Lester and Bunk trying to find out before they got shamed back into working calls? The location of Marlowe's bodies. What is Randy talking to Herc about? How one of Marlowe's victims turned up missing.
I'm pretty confident that, at least by the last episode or two, we're going to be focusing on the discovery of Marlowe's bodies--although yes, the kids will be involved, education will be involved, somehow. My initial guess is that there won't be enough evidence to lower the boom on Marlowe, but we will be set up for a season five with Carcetti in the Mayor's seat and the MCU backc in action going after Marlowe full bore with the City's full support. And meanwhile, some answers being suggested to inner-city social problems.
So yeah, we can turn up this season's plot hook if we analyze things enough--particularly by asking structural questions, like "what was the first subject of the first scene of the season?"--but it's not what's carrying the episodes. It's just yet another one of many plot strands that get their couple of minutes each week. And what's really carrying the episodes is, again, the excellence of their production and not all that much else.
Don't get me wrong: production values generally trump plot in figuring out what is necessary to make a great piece of entertainment. But it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition, as we saw from watching the first three seasons of The Wire, but not so much so far this year.
I'd beg to differ there, Trickster. Why do you say that Season 3 is "about" Avon and Stringer rather than Hamsterdam? Not everything is connected / tied to one plot thread, especially since (as previously pointed out) the show keeps expanding. This is especially true this year because Simon wanted to tell the story of Carcetti's mayoral campaign in a separate miniseries called "The Hall" but had to rework it into The Wire after HBO didn't sign on.
In regards to McNulty, he doesn't play a major part until the last episode of the season. Supposedly Dominic West was "feeling burnt out by the role" and Simon and co. wanted to emphasize that "the city" is the main character, not McNulty, so they scaled back his part.
AP, you're certainly correct that there were twin major plotlines in season three, not just one. But based on structure and emphasis, it seems pretty clear to me that the chase for Stringer/Avon was the main plot and Hamsterdam was a sub-plot.
Structurally, season three was kind of odd with its twin plots that didn't really hook into each other all that much. Of course, the creators did come around with the requisite elegant little twist tying them together in the end, since it was Stringer's conversations with Colvin, which proceeded from Stringer's admiration for Hamsterdam, that led to Avon and the Barksdale gang getting rolled up, but that wasn't really enough to turn the two separate plots into a single integrated plot.
It worked really well as a separate plot device, though--it was simple, self-contained, very easy to understand, a lot of entertainment value and thought-provoking to boot. I don't equate season three with its two separate and clearly delineated main plots, one pretty clearly marked as being subordinate to the other, to season four where there are several plot strands, none overwhelming any of the others, and some (e.g., the Bubbles sub-plot) even making me ask why are we watching this.
I'm with AP, and I would cite season 2 as evidence against Trickster's "where's the plotline" critique. The relationship between the kids of season 4 and Marlo's dead bodies is pretty close to that of the union members in season 2 and the dead prostitutes. There were some connections between them, but ultimately the plight of the dockworkers was compelling enough to stand on its own as a plotline. And in season 2, the Barksdale plotline was almost dispensable, but for some weak connections to Prop Joe. Someone has called The Wire Dickensian, and I think that's exactly right -- there are always a lot of subplots, and that's how the writers try to mimic life.
I worked in NYC ghetto schools for 36 years and I am amazed at how well the school scenes are written and acted. This is especially true concerning the school's administration. The Black principal is rarely seen, and never in charge, the White assistant runs the place, and her acting is eerily on the mark. This week's episode shows her giving Presbo the keys to the bookroom, her way of saying "thank you for caring." And yes, new books and equipment are hidden in those rooms; I don't know why, but they are.
Forgetting fiction, this is an election year, and if politicians were serious, the schools are the first thing that have to be fixed--and that can't happen until cops retake the ghetto streets. And thus, The Wire gets it so very right. Think about this, why do you have to go to a ghetto to buy drugs? The money is on Park Av, but the dealers ply M.L. King Parkway. Cops work for "the man" and not for society.
Season two is even less comparable to season four than is season three. Yes, we were watching two entirely separate worlds of the police and the dockworkers but the plot device that tied the two worlds together was crystal clear by the end of episode one, or at least by early on in episode two when McNulty starts working the tidal charts. Although the fate of the Major Crimes Unit was still up in the air early in episode 2, it was obvious that at the very least some of the police characters from season one were going to wind up working the container homicides and that investigation was going to bring them across Frank Sobotka's trail sooner or later. We had a clearly central story to focus on and got to enjoy seeing how it would unfold.
Certainly there were plenty of sideplots involving both the personal and business lives of police and dockworkers alike, but still everything was tied to the big plot. Of course there always have to be sideplots going on in what is by now essentially a 40-hour movie.
So, I got a question. What happened to Daniels' (ex-?)wife? Did she win a seat on the Council? Are they divorced yet? Obviously Royce lost the election and his DA lost the election, but what does that mean for Mrs. Daniels? And does her career still affect his? Is she angry at him for dating someone new? A white woman? She knows about his past back in the Eastern.
Trickster,
I understand what you mean about plot in this season to mean that their isn't the same level of building tension from episode to episode related to the resolution of a central storypoint. If so, maybe this is an intentional decision on the part of the writers related to the theme of education, or as Prez put it this week, trick them into thinking they're not learning. Education often feels like a disparate group of experiences that eventually may or may not come together. Perhaps part of the goal this season is to remind us how kids are pulled in so many opposite directions and education is supposed to exert some kind of gravitational force on them. Because the schools are portrayed as a broken institution within a broken city, the meandering of this season could be intentional until some other force takes over the lives of the kids and the tragedy of the season is all the lost opportunities for Michael, Namond, Randy and Dukie.
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