The Wire - Hot Shots: An Unfamiliar Land

The Wire: Hot Shots

Season 2, Episode 3

Written By: David Simon, from a story by Simon and Ed Burns

Directed By: Elodie Keene

            One of the most difficult adjustments that David Simon had to make when writing and producing the second season of The Wire was to let go of almost every one of his original locations. In many great television series, there are locations and sets that become a character themselves—the main deck of the Battlestar Galatica, the Bluth model home, or Counter Terrorist Offices of Jack Bauer. But in this second season, we’ve abandoned almost every location save for the homicide offices. Gone is the low rises and Orlando’s strip club and instead we get the shipping docks and the church. It’s a bold move that changes a lot of the ways we view how location creates character, though the cinematography of Uta Briesweitz (who I still argue is the visual auteur of the show) keeps us in the same leveled realism with a shade of dark gray morality.

            As you might tell, there’s not so much heavy in theme for this episode, entitled “Hot Shots,” or at least the narratives being spun together have little in common with each other. Each is great in its own right, though not as much stands out visually. We've also got the return of Omar, which will be fun to watch. 

The Wire - Collateral Damage: Erasing The Other

The Wire: Collateral Damage

Season Two, Episode Two

Written By: David Simon, from a story by Simon and Ed Burns

Directed By: Ed Bianchi

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to read the coverage of the series so far. Assume spoilers for the episode.

            One of the major themes in the first season of The Wire was that from a top down perspective, the status quo was always much more important to continue than any social change. This often came with how Lieutenant Daniels was told to handle his detail: “Dope on the table.” Minor arrests at best. The detail was never formed to take down the Barksdale operation, just show the appearance that something was being done to fight the war on drugs without really any fight. Appearances are always better to keep.

            In “Collateral Damage,” the plot heavy second episode that sets into motion a number of major through lines for the season, we really get that theme racing back. It begins right from our opening scene, as Officer Russell works with a group of detectives on the 13 Jane Does found in the cargo. When a forensics officer discovers they suffocated to death, everyone assumes it was an accidental, leaving Russell to herself. No murder, no problem.