The Wire - All Prologue: The Green Lights of Baltimore

The Wire – All Prologue

Season 2, Episode 6

Directed By: Steve Shill

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

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to see the total coverage. Assume spoilers for the episode

            Why does David Simon identify with D’Angelo Barksdale more than any other character? Of all the members The Wire's sprawling cast, it is often D'Angelo who becomes a microphone for Mr. Simon’s themes. Mr. Simon never sold drugs or had a childhood that led him to prison. Sure, he spent a lot of time around drug culture (see: The Corner), but there is something truly unique about why he chooses D’Angelo; the man continues to hold onto the fact that he can escape. McNulty and the cops see that their efforts will have little effort. Stringer and the higher up drug family know they are tied to a certain life and cannot rise above it. And the port men see their livelihoods slowly fading out of existence. But D’Angelo still believes in the possibility of escape.

            But it is an impossibility, nonetheless. The highlight of “All Prologue” is a speech where D’Angelo explains The Great Gatsby to the prison book club. “There are no second acts in America,” someone quotes Fitzgerald, which inspires D’Angelo to explain that as much as we want to escape our past—our crimes, our passions, our family—we are inextricably linked to them. And many characters slowly realize in this episode that they are, in fact, tied to their past.

The Wire - Undertow: Back In the Game

The Wire – Undertow

Season 2, Episode 5

Directed By: Steve Shill

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

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to see the total coverage. Assume spoilers for the episode

            After a long break from The Wire (non-cinema issues: moving apartments, overload of work, some other stuff) I was afraid if I could jump back into the show without it losing its magic. It had been over a month, and while I had not forgotten about lonely fighter McNulty, the cautious and adaptive Stringer Bell, and the moral conundrums of Frank Sobotka, I wondered if the show would start to show fatigue, just from being more of the same. But The Wire always finds new ways to not just put its characters in new places, but make us see these characters differently. Not a complete 180 or anything, but to really understand their true convictions.

            But  “Undertow” is one of the most plot heavy episodes of The Wire. Ed Burns and director Steve Shill have no rush of plot, and nothing revelatory or shocking happens. But small nudges reveal these characters as the police attempt to break into the port culture, a self-contained world where everyone protects themselves. When Freamon, Bunk, and Russell present Grand Jury summons to a number of workers, Frank laughs in their face almost manically. He knows these guys are loyal to the end, as long as he’s loyal to them.

The Wire - The Hunt: Fallout

The Wire: The Hunt

Season One, Episode Eleven

Directed By: Steve Shill

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

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to see the total coverage. Assume spoilers for the episode.

            “The Hunt” begins with a great tracking shot that weaves its way through the chaos of the crime scene from last week’s sting operation gone wrong. It’s a visual touch like this by director Steve Shill that throws us into the mess. Instead of getting a series of organized shots and cuts, we get chaos and dislocation of space. That is, until Major Rawls shuts everyone up and tells everyone who isn’t working the case to get out. At this point, continuity is restored, and business begins.

            Reactions and responses are thus the theme of “The Hunt,” after last week’s episode balanced a number of plot lines to help set up for the season’s impending climax. “The Hunt” is also densely plotted, but there’s a little more to chew on thematically, starting with McNulty. Rawls comes upon McNulty still covered in Gregg’s blood, and it’s a great visual touch that he doesn’t wash it off until half way through the episode. While McNulty feels responsible, Rawls gives him a great speech, “It's not your fault. And the motherfucker telling you this, he fucking hates your guts… Shit went bad, she took two for the company. That's the only lesson here.”