SPOILER: Marlo Episode 1

Also on Marlo, Prop Joe pretty much offered to 'show Marlo the ropes' last season and the difficulty Major Crimes now has tracking Marlo suggests that he's taken some of the advice to heart. All evidence suggests that Marlo has become a much more sophisticated criminal. And while he won't accept being 'little brother' to anyone and probably wouldn't even accept a 'first amongst equals' position, he does seem smart enough to adopt good suggestions when they're given. And to learn fairly quickly.

And this on demand shit pisses me off. Way to fuck over everyone else HBO. Cocksuckers.

Edit: fuck it, I'm downloading. If everyone and their dog has already seen Episode 2, I might as well too. I've paid HBO's fees for years, they owe me this much.

A shout out to my friendly PMer's and damn what an awesome episode. Agree with the general sentiment, Marlo MUST die. And to add one of my own general sentiments, the newspaper shit must get interesting quick or step aside. Missing just about all the subtlety and nuance of the earlier storylines, not to mention boring me to tears comparatively. Right now that storyline has been entirely irrelevant to everything else that's happening in the show. Previews suggest that'll change, but at the moment the show really loses nothing if you cut it all.

Carver's coming of age has been impressive. Really if you take all the characters from season 1, I think he's clearly the one who has changed and matured the most. While not as prominent as other characters, I think his arc is probably the most compelling and interesting in the show...maybe along with Bodie's. And I think those two might have become my favorite characters. (And I hated Bodie for about the first 2-3 seasons) I love how he tried to play Daniels with the piece of shit cop, than when he was spurned he paused, reflected, maybe remembered Randy, and than did what was right.

The scenes in Levy's office were priceless. The initial awkwardness of those 'two different worlds' meeting on the same playing field, than interacting like any other people. Laughed my ass off at the Burrell shit.

And the Council President has finally become a full fledged, real character. And a pretty damned savvy one as well. Interesting.

As for the Greek's, some were asking why they didn't simply go to Joe. They like Joe. Trust Joe. But when it comes down to it, I don't think they particularly care who the king of Baltimore is. So long as he's reliable, competent, and trustworthy. Clearly they had the second meeting so that 'The Greek' could size Marlo up. See if he was somebody they could work with. And what they saw, amongst other things, was that Marlo was young, ambitious, and would make the move on Joe with or without their blessing. And that he'd made great efforts to be a bit more than your random street thug.

So they stood back and let it happen. Maybe they understand the street situation and that Marlo has most of the muscle. Maybe they didn't understand any of it beyond the fact that Marlo was young and hungry. Fact is, if Marlo wins, they still sell their drugs. Marlo loses, they still sell their drugs. They intervene on Joe's behalf and Marlo wins, they create an enemy. These guys are the supply. Big as 'the bank'. They don't deal with that penny ante bullshit. Letting things play out leaves a receptive open market.

My problem with the newspaper storyline is that all the characters feel one dimensional and stereotypical, and that's one thing the Wire has never really done before. I mean Lying Reporter Guy makes shit up, The Editor might as well have a halo around his head, and the bosses are incompetant buffoons. They just don't feel like characters especially when you compare them to others on the show. Now some of that is because the older characters have had multiple seasons to develop, but I mean we're coming up on the end pretty quick here and the newspaper characters don't seem like they're going anywhere.

QUOTE (CelticBrennus @ Jan 23 2008, 06.46)

Its not really any different then the story of the schools or the ports though. All Season Two did was say that the unions are dying over and over. All Season 4 did was say the schools are totally messed up over and over. Its the interaction and behavior of the characters in those broken systems thats fun to watch.

Zadok I think really gets to the crux of the problem. There's really not a hint of ambiguity with any of the characters yet. Who was so villainous as to require devil horns on the docks? Sobotka? Ziggy? Each of them was a complex, at times sympathetic but flawed character that sometimes did bad things for good reasons...or bad things for bad ones.

And yeah, the schools were messed up but it was filled with people who were either trying to make a difference or who had long since given up doing so. You had the naive and the jaded all trying to work within a flawed system.

Granted they've had much more time to 'shine', but even most of the police 'villains' had their redeeming moments. Rawls in particular. And the most notable 'good guys' have done things to make them thoroughly unlikable at times. Kima growing disinterested with the 'parenting' aspect of her relationship. Who knows how we would have reacted to that if Kima were a man who simply said 'ya know, not sure i'm really interested in a kid anymore now that you're 9 months pregnant'. McNulty was more obsessive asshole than shat on hero by season 3.

But with the papers? It really does seem like we have oblivious baffoons and unethical scumbags on the one hand, and competent veterans (most of whom are being pushed out) and green, but enthusiastic new guys (one girl really) on the other. None of whom are taking that bold little step from black or white to a hint of grey.

Maybe I should give it more of a chance. But I can't really say that I'm the slightest bit vested in the endgame for any of these characters. And sure, their sequences aren't distractingly bad and they're by no means dragging the show down. But the Sun simply hasn't become an integral part of the Wire world yet and I don't think it'd be any better or worse without it at this point.

Fucking A! and a box of chocolates. You knew Omar wasn't walking out of this series. And you knew it wasn't going to be a heroic, epic ending. But shit, little fucking Kenard? (who I agree is probably the next Marlo, if he lives past 12)

I think Relic is pretty spot on. Omar's end really does tie into Beadie's speech to McNulty. Despite the grand and epic story that is your life (in your own mind), noone but those closest will be there in the end. His one man war came to nothing. He was a legend in the streets but doesn't even merit a paragraph in the paper, not much more than a shrug from the cops that worked with him, almost confused with a fat, old white man, and in time, even the streets will forget him as another vigilante badass rises up. To the rest of the world, he was irrelevant, his crusade futile, and he will die forgotten.

In other news, McNulty with the FBI profilers was fucking comedy gold. Think its one of my favorite scenes in the entire series.

The newspaper shit is watchable, but this last episode was the first serious bit of its own (rather than playing a supplemental role to the police stories) conflict and drama. And its coming pretty damned late. This storyline is just beginning to wind up while all the others are winding to conclusion. Makes you question the necessity of featuring it so prominently.

On the whole, these last three episodes (from about the Prop Joe one onwards) were some of the best the Wire produced. And that's saying a WHOLE fucking lot.

So Omar dies a rather ignoble death. McNulty is beginning to realize the full consequences of his actions. Carcetti is horse trading away the future of his city for the Governorship. Randy has molded himself into a mean little thug to survive. Dookie is one of the only relative 'innocents' left on the show and he gets abused for it, who knows how that will end. Bad, cynical end for just about anyone who holds the pretense of being a 'good guy'. And of course, Clay Davis is walking free and clear. (although I'm not quite sure what Lester was up to, should be interesting) And Poot at Foot Locker. Fucking classic.

And yes I am delighted. This is about fairness, justice, and the American way. And that absolutely fucking means that noone else gets to watch the final episode of the greatest show ever before I do. Hurrah HBO. Fuck off HBO for screwing me every other week this season.

Guess the Kima thing is the big topic, so I'll chime in. If she was brought in early, yeah I can see ratting. If she did it almost immediately after hearing about it, I could understand it. But after one of the biggest drug busts in the city's history, after she they took down the kingpin drug dealer she's been trying to personally nail for years. The bending of the rules (going behind backs), the shared obsession with McNulty in season 3. For a time she seemed as vested in bringing down Marlo as McNulty was. They have it now. They're at the finish line. They've reached the promised land. As inexcusable, hurtful (families of the dead), and wasteful (to some extent) as McNulty's serial killer was, it served its purpose...and they just did the best bit of police work (outside of the part of it being illegal and all) that they've done all series. To top it all off, she has absolutely no exposure on it. Even if shit blows up she knows that McNulty isn't gonna say shit about her knowledge. She's personally and professionally safe from this mess.

And yet she's willing to shit it all away...and for what? Conscience? How will letting a real serial killer and drug kingpin back on the streets along with the near entirety of his drug empire help ease her moral qualms? Because its the rules? Maybe earlier on in the process sure, but its gone too far with too many tangible results to let a little thing like the rulebook decide the course of action. And screw betraying her friends. McNulty deserves no sympathy. Neither does Lester. This is about the bigger picture. Her actions, if they run the full course, will single handedly put a drug kingpin back on the street, free murderers and dealers, absolutely demolish the police department in the eyes of the public, paralyzing their ability to do real police work for the near future, (even more so than it already is) see more heads roll than you can count, and that's not even counting the fall of the Mayor and potentially the newspaper. (not that she should really give a shit about those)

Quite simply the lie is too big at this point, the consequences too severe, especially when it has achieved an obvious, tangible good. A good that she'd been personally working towards for quite a while (downfall of Marlo) and had been repeatedly frustrated in that attempt by the same broken system. I think its the wrong decision in this scenario, I do not understand it from her perspective since it hurts everyone and helps noone, and I think her character deserves a boatload of criticism for it.

On the interview, good stuff as always. But I think he avoids some questions and creates some strawmen in the process. The question on the believability of the serial killer storyline he dodged. We actually had real past examples of pseudo-decriminalization of drugs in the past to fall back on and even with that the believability of Hamsterdam has been criticized before. He then goes on to credibly explain away specific points of the story (lying reporters, fine. Post-mortem confusion, sure.) without actually tackling the main thrust of the question. Is it stretching our willing suspension of disbelief a bit too far that a cop would risk his career and a prison term to fake murders in some convoluted plot to get more resources for 'real police work'? And even if you can explain away an obsessive nutjob like McNulty, that anyone else would go in on it with him? Its a fair question and he avoided answering it. Where's Tim Russert when you need him.

And on the portrayal of the Baltimore Sun reporters...I think his answer is bullshit. Nearly every character, good and bad, in the Wire has nuance. Something that, if it doesn't humanize them a bit, at the very least makes them appear as an actual person. Weebay's a remorseless multiple murderer but loves his tropical fish and does right by his son in the end. Rawls has his notable moment empathy after Kima got shot in season one. Even Burrell got better treatment. But the Press? Gus doesn't have a character flaw to speak of. The higher ups are witless, gullible, stupid...and that's when they're not polishing their knobs/Pulitzers. And if the lying reporter was gonna feature so prominently into the storyline, perhaps a bit more depth or look into his personal life rather than always the lying, cheating schemer. The interviewer raises a fair point, compared to most Wire characters these guys are caricatures. But of course, as with most personal criticism, Simon gets downright indignant and refuses to acknowledge a failing or even seriously consider whether one may exist.

QUOTE (The Iceman of the North @ Feb 29 2008, 06.32)

Might be that the lie just become too big for her at that point, and she trusted Daniels to deal with it in a better way than she could?

I'd buy that if there actually was anything to deal with, but there isn't. The lie isn't hers. She had no part in it. And there's a 0.0% chance of her knowledge of the lie actually coming back on her. Besides, she didn't seem nervous or frightened, she was disgusted and pissed off. This wasn't about covering her ass. And its not about doing what's right, cause the right thing to do in that specific scenario would have been to keep quiet.

I agree with alot of what's been said on Carcetti. Genuine good intentions and high ideals almost always sacrificed at the altar of personal ambition. He's a frustrating character in alot of ways. Even when you know he's full of shit, he gives such a damned good, rousing speech that makes you want to feel a bit inspired. (Press conference on the forgotten homeless. Speech after the Marlo bust) And too many times he's had the 'right thing' sitting right there in front of him and just chose to go another way. I thought the 4-5 episode election sequence was one of the stronger storylines the show has seen, which is saying alot, largely due to the very compelling Carcetti character. Pisses me off a bit that he continues to disappoint.

Bah...they need to make a new version of this show. One where Hamsterdam succeeds, Bodie lives, Omar gets revenge, Stringer successfully civilizes the drug trade, and Carcetti's actions actually live up to his rhetoric. Make me feel good DAMNIT!!

QUOTE (Sheizerbrick @ Mar 5 2008, 08.42)

Rewatched Season 3 today, and i noticed Poot was arrested with Barksdale at the end of the season. Assuming he was just charged with a fire arms charge and had no priors, is it feasible for him to be out of jail?

He was released in season 4 and joins Bodie's corner. I don't recall the particulars of the release, though I think they mentioned something of it. No serious priors and a juvenile defendant, a year doesn't seem too out of left field.

QUOTE (Lightsnake @ Mar 5 2008, 12.15)

As good as the Wire is, I think 'best ever' is thrown around way, way too much in regards to it.

Maybe. But could you list a few shows that you think are actually better? At least here alot of people are listing the same shows, some variation of Deadwood, Lost, or The Wire. Its certainly in the top, select few. And I can't think of many other shows that deserve serious attention for the title. As Greguth notes, hourlong dramas really only came into their own recently. And even if we include sitcoms in the mix, as a general statement dramas > sitcoms (imo) by a fairly large margin in most cases.

QUOTE (Mathis @ Mar 9 2008, 22.33)

So let me get this straight, you like it that Omar's life and 'accomplishments' have been reduced to an anecdote?

I've got to go with Lightsnake on this. See Omar's reaction in the prison cell when he heard that Omar had been calling him out. The corner thugs he was approaching in the suit, telling ever exaggerated stories about Omar while having no idea who Marlo was. Hell, at least 4-5 times these last few episodes people were telling Omar stories. Reminded me of the prisoner execution story in Band of Brothers, the legend grows in the retelling. Marlo wore the crown for what? Months? Year, maybe two? He'll fade into anonymity. Forgotten. Barksdale's left more of a lasting impression on that subculture. But Omar, though a nothing to mainstream society, lives on as a street legend.

And that has to grate on Marlo. The money and lifestyle were important, but those weren't the main things for him. Marlo liked wearing the crown. That's what he shot for, achieved, and than was forced to give up without so much as a wimper. Yeah he's getting golden parachuted out of it, but we've already seen that won't sit well with him. In 10, 20 years down the road when a new generation of thugs are telling the stories of the legendary gangsters of the 2000's....Marlo won't be mentioned. Omar will.

And Marlo isn't fit for respectable society yet. Without Levy he'd be a fish ready to be torn apart by sharks. And Levy's gonna use and milk him if he stays with him. Yeah, you'd have to really fuck up to not be able to retire comfortably with $10 million plus whatever other drug assets he had. But he's just gonna be some guy with a bankroll. One of many. He'll never do anything substantial with it. And he's not content with the quiet life.

As for the episode in general, awesome. Yeah, things came full circle a bit TOO conveniently, but I have no problem forgiving that. Kind of disappointed that Daniels didn't try to leverage the politicians. They had more to lose and would have blinked before he did. The wake was great. The montage too. I'll have more thoughts as others share theirs. So long as the thread doesn't get derailed by Commodore's irrelevant red elephant agenda.

Simon's still dodging the question on the plausibility of the serial killer fabrication. I think he knows that people aren't asking about whether the specific details COULD be faked, but whether multiple police officers are gonna risk their careers and prison by pulling a scheme so damned hair-brained. And when the reporter attempts to clarify that point, he blames the viewer...right after he says he's not gonna blame the viewer. Its not that we're bothered by 'unethical behavior' by our heroes, this show is fricken filled with it. Its when the unethical reaches the slightly absurd. Hamsterdam was a stretch, but at least there's semi-example of it in history.

He also blames the Press for not grasping the 'deeper themes' he was playing with in the newspaper storyline. Yeah the corporate decline and contraction of the newspaper was touched on Simon, but such nuances were a bit overshadowed by evil scumbag reporter and his stupidly naive, oblivious, award-sucking-off bosses. He'd like to blame the criticism on the newspaper storyline on the journalism industry that cheers hard-hitting criticism...except when its directed at them. Sorry Simon, but Slate, Sun, Times, and Tribues aren't the only ones who found that storyline comparatively simplistic and a tad bit problematic. I've read that just about everywhere by random 'fans' and almost none of us are journalists.

As another poster noted, it could have worked to some extent if it was tied in better to the ongoing action elsewhere. But there was minimal interaction between the Press and the rest of the storylines and the resolution at the Sun had no real consequences on the rest of the storylines.

Yeah the increasing irrelevance of the daily paper was a theme, but it was overshadowed by LYING SCUMBAG REPORTER and his inept, stupid, corporate, enabling bosses. What he's left with as a result is a side story that's not really all that necessary for the other stories to play out. And that doesn't have enough 'meat' to stand alone on its own merits. In the world he's created where nearly every storyline is interconnected in some way, where events in one world have real consequences in others, the newspaper storyline stands largely on its own. And it doesn't stand all that well. The cops, the drug wars, the docks, the schools, hell...even the courts and politicians, there is enough drama there for any of those stories to be the focus, to largely stand on their own. And what happens in one always effects the others. The newspaper storyline stands alone in its comparative irrelevance.

I don't think much would have been lost removing it almost entirely. Or having it play a completely supplemental side role, much like the politicians did this season or the courts have in every season.

Templeton really isn't any more of a lying scumbag than Glass or Blair (or the Bush Administration, as Simon stated in an interview ).

I know what everybody means, though. I never connected with the newspaper storyline. But I never connected with the school thing in the fourth season either.

Still, I don't think the fact that it just didn't do it for me says as much about the worth of any season as it does about my personal preferences. I never found Ziggy to be any more sympathetic than Templeton. Or, for that matter, Carcetti's henchman. There are some pretty unsympathetic characters on The Wire. And there are some pretty unsympathetic characters in real life. It cuts the realism when everything is black and white, but not every character needs to be a shade of gray.

I mean, it's not like GRRM is writing some sympathetic backstory for Gregor Clegane in A Time for Wolves or anything.

I'd disagree on both the school kids, Ziggy, and the others you mentioned. Sure there are some unadulterated scumbags in the Wire just as there are in real life. But the ones that had any significant storyline attached to them at least had some understandable motivations or some personality defect that might make them just a bit sympathetic.

Ziggy desperately wanted to be taken seriously and noone ever would. He was a fuckup and everyone treated him as such. He knew his antics would only reconfirm those notions, but at least they would pay attention to him. And he could pretend that they were laughing with him for the moment instead of laughing at him. He wasn't so much bad as he was pathetic. Nearly everyone knows someone like that and his storyline is tragic.

The schoolkids...don't really know how there's no connection there. One of the most compelling storylines, answering one of the most relevant questions that the show has ever touched on; how do innocent school kids turn into ruthless drug dealers, worthless junkies, and hardened killers?

And I have no problem with Templeton simply being a scumbag who lied due to incompetence and to further his own personal ambitions. I don't need a sick kid at home or the pressures of an imminent layoff to buy his motivations. Some people do it simply because they're selfish pricks. Alot of people try to take shortcuts to success. But there was literally nothing else to the character. And he was too prominent to the storyline to have nothing else on him.

And as I said, the story doesn't heavily effect the others and its just not interesting enough on its own. Crusading editor against lying reporter and stupid bosses. Color me unimpressed.

QUOTE (Dirk Llama @ Mar 10 2008, 16.00)

Valchek has had a pretty significant role, he was a douche throughout.

Valchek is a thoroughly amusing douche and likable for his excessive, unapologetic scumbaggery. Same as Clay Davis. They were both comedy relief to a significant extent.

As for Hamsterdam, it did receive some criticism on plausibility as I recall. But it had some actual history to fall back on. And I've read Simon answer questions on the serial killer thing a dozen times. About 3 out of 4 answers, he deals only with the realism of the method (that you 'can' fool the medical examiners), which isn't what people are criticizing or asking about and he knows it. When he does delve into the plausibility of multiple cops doing something so absurd in the first place, his answers aren't terribly persuasive.

QUOTE (Mack Kilimaro @ Mar 10 2008, 21.03)

Regardless of your opinion of the final episode or the media storyline in general, you have to agree that this (blog review from the Baltimore Sun on the final episode) is hilarious. Must read down into the comments section for full effect.

[link removed because blog post is no longer available]

I don't think I read a single response that was supportive of that bullshit. Wow, so the show didn't end with an indecisive copout that teased the audience for 10 minutes before clubbing them over the head like some poor-baby seals. God forbid the creators actually show us the direction of these characters that we've come to love instead of stubbornly refusing to make a choice on that direction so that critics can cream all over it for a week or two.

Fucker was savaged by the responses and rightfully so.

I could have sworn that a former Mayor of Baltimore had implemented some level of decriminalization in the city. Not to the scale or extent of Hamsterdam, but something along those lines. I remember it being referenced in season 3 discussions and maybe the DVD extras. But all my googling can find is that Mayor Kurt Schmoke openly advocated for drug decriminalization, implemented needle exchanges and tried to focus more on treatment than prosecution. No true decriminalization.

QUOTE (Triskele @ Mar 11 2008, 10.19)

Can some of you that find the serial killer plot so unreasonable elaborate a little more for me? Do you find it so because you think no one would try to do what McNulty and Freamon did? Or because you don't think they could pull it off as they did? The two common criticism of Season 5 seem to be the SK plot and the whole media arc and I had no problem with the former but I realize many others do. I personally just don't find it that far-fetched.

I don't have much of a problem with the method used. If Simon says you can fool the medical examiner and play around with wiretaps with noone noticing, I'm in no position to contradict him. I'll buy it. I'll also buy dozens of cops getting free OT for a case that had nothing to do with their red ball not saying anything to the higher ups. But to manufacture a serial killer? Its just too absurd. The mundane unethical? Sure. Plant evidence on a dealer here, lie about a source on a killer there. I'm sure that shit happens everyday.

But to actually invent a serial killer...for the purpose of getting resources to fight real cases...thinking that noone would notice when the resources aren't used to catch a serial killer...and that they can shut it down in a few weeks because the guy whose been eluding them for more than a year is gonna suddenly trip up. Its just a bit too convoluted and would have to work too perfectly to even be contemplated. Maybe they can make some safe enough bets knowing how the system works, but they're counting on a ton of chips falling their way. And they're risking their lives, careers, and prison to roll those dice. To call it unethical is an understatement. There's planting evidence than there's moonlighting as fricken Charles Manson. One you can see a cop doing, the other stretches credibility a bit.

So you have the outlandishness of even deciding to play a serial killer, the SLIM chance that the resources and Marlo would all fall your way, while the inherent liabilities in the scheme would be missed, and of course the enormous risk involved. I have trouble seeing one cop doing this. But 3? (Sydnor was fully aware and fully involved)

Hamsterdam the problem was more the method than the concept. (the reverse problem of the serial killer thing). Decriminalize and isolate drugs = lower crime and clean up streets...that follows some pretty understandable logic, isn't going to land a commander in a prison cell, and you can see a guy nearing retirement after watching drug dealers and crime rape his district for 30 years contemplating it. The only inherent problem with it is that someone's gonna notice a drug free zone after a number of weeks. And blue shield loyalty may be important, but one of the dozens of cops involved is gonna talk.

Still I'd rate it as more plausible than the Marlo thing.