Episode: Transitions
Tagline: "Buyer's market out there." - Templeton
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire would put a scene together that really was simply perfect.
Marlo, the God of West Baltimore, with his avenging angel Chris Partlow cooly, calmly, pulling the plug on Proposition Joe Stewart.
Really, my 100 percent hack skills could never craft a scene of that magnitude. (Hell, I would have ruined it with a mustache joke.)
As I try to wrap my head around the final shot of Marlo's unblinking eye -- "Yeah, the Greeks, they cool with it" -- I must say Prop Joe became my favorite character on the show. He was so unlike the idea of what a drug kingpin should be. Hell, the guy fixed toasters, seemingly for the fun of it. Right to the end, too. His old timey house was simply amazing, point perfect.
And he words to Old Face Andre last season while soldering -- "Better to throw it out, get a new one" -- came back in truly ironic fashion.
Wow.
Admittedly, in a promo for the season there was a brief second where Slim Charles mentions he's not cracked up to be a CEO. At that moment I kind of figured Joe was a goner. It doesn't take the sting away.
How this show hasn't won any major awards? Watch that fucking scene.
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire would put a scene together that really was simply perfect.
Marlo, going with Prop Joe to see an attourney...only to find his ex-pursuer Herc sitting there. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. To top it with Herc and Joe chatting about Burrell's days as a glee club singer in school. Perfect.
What other show has the wherewithall to muster such dimensions with its characters?
Through it's five-year tenure, creator David Simon has spoken about blurring the line between good guys and bad guys. Not so much blurring, but showing they aren't all that different. That one little scene inside a standard law office brought all that out. People are people.
To say that scene put a smile on my face is an understatement.
And to think it pushed a 9-mm confrontation between Omar Little and Slim Charles to the back burner? Well, that says a lot. Just like Daniels' smile while sitting in the Deputy Ops. chair.
After meandering in a lot of procedural stuff for the first 40 odd minutes, the end of this episode wound down with some wonderful two-man scenes. Namely, Carver and Herc sharing a beer outside the Western District, talking about how it's all connected and Beadie confronting McNulty about his meandering ways.
In another fine display of two-man acting, Rawls tries to cheer up the outgoing Burrell, only to get the line about 'eating shit' echoed to Carcetti last season. Naturally this involves paying attention and probably re-watching, which explains the lack off awards. "Ugly Betty" is so much more accessible, right? (Of course, 'Norbit' could net an Oscar, proving the fallacy of artist awards.)
Eagle-eye viewers certainly noticed the florist that Joe went to see for Butchie's arrangement was the same that Bodie and Poot visited for the '221 Towers' wreath for D'Angelo in Season Two.
On second thought, the beginning of the episode did feature the return of 'The Greek' so how can you rationally complain?
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire.
Best lines
* "It's Saturday." -- Kernard
* "Sir?" -- Daniels
* "Don't want any of that phony gansta shit, he was old school." -- Prop Joe
* "You come from the Street...the street doesn't concern us." -- Vondus
* "Who can say what tomorrow will show us." -- The Greek
* "He is not Joe." -- The Greek
* "Over at the US Attorney's office they call it the Headshot." -- Lester
* "Christ, you think I'm putting Ray Lewis out to pasture." -- Carcetti
* "I prefer to write it dry." -- Templeton
* "He's not the spic and span boy they think he is." -- Burrell
* "I ain't paying you to be my mother." -- Michael Lee
* "I'm just gilding your lily son." -- Lester
* "I'm gonna work them. Sweet Jesus I'm gonna work them." -- Omar
* "Then I'm a fucking rat." -- Carver
* "He seems cool about it."/"The coming out tells the tale." -- Sydnor and Lester
* "It's a whole new world out there, man. Buy you some property. Hold onto it until the white people want it and you make a killing." -- Fat Face Rick
* "What I got, I got for carrying their water all these years...they think I'm a hack." -- Burrell
* "Plaques for hacks, the prerogative of any big city mayor." -- Haynes
* "Why don't you stick a broom up my ass and ask me to sweep the place." -- Zorzi
* "We sloppy, we get cuffed." -- Lester
* "Come on now, finish it." -- Slim Charles
* "You'd take the crab out of crab soup." -- Haynes
* "D.O.A., not donut." -- squad car radio
* "Damn Chris, this CIA shit off the hook." -- Cheese
* "You know how that shit go. Give a gift, get a gift." -- Chris
* "Yeah, Levy excels at putting our limp-dick money to work." -- Prop Joe
* "It all matters." -- Carver
* "Jameson and Listerine, it's your scent." -- Beattie
* "Fool enough to wake a sleeping dog." -- Omar
* "Don't ever tell my mother or my priest you saw me do this." -- McNulty
* "See that, that means something...something you young'ems lost." -- Prop Joe
* "I wasn't meant to play the son." -- Marlo
Unanswered questions
* What is Irv Burrell's handicap?
* Will Norece nail Daniels, politically speaking?
* Socks?
* WasMaui Johnny 50 (Season 2) the homeless guy with the dog?
* Does a Baltimore grand jurist prefer Coke or Pepsi?
* Does McNulty actually swallow Listerine?
* So...we're never going to learn the details of Daniels corruption?
* Exactly how can one enroll at Ghetto University?
Apologies for a lack of links and such. Just one of those weeks, I suppose. Last night's episode is about all you need to chew on anyways.
Tagline: "Buyer's market out there." - Templeton
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire would put a scene together that really was simply perfect.
Marlo, the God of West Baltimore, with his avenging angel Chris Partlow cooly, calmly, pulling the plug on Proposition Joe Stewart.
Really, my 100 percent hack skills could never craft a scene of that magnitude. (Hell, I would have ruined it with a mustache joke.)
As I try to wrap my head around the final shot of Marlo's unblinking eye -- "Yeah, the Greeks, they cool with it" -- I must say Prop Joe became my favorite character on the show. He was so unlike the idea of what a drug kingpin should be. Hell, the guy fixed toasters, seemingly for the fun of it. Right to the end, too. His old timey house was simply amazing, point perfect.
And he words to Old Face Andre last season while soldering -- "Better to throw it out, get a new one" -- came back in truly ironic fashion.
Wow.
Admittedly, in a promo for the season there was a brief second where Slim Charles mentions he's not cracked up to be a CEO. At that moment I kind of figured Joe was a goner. It doesn't take the sting away.
How this show hasn't won any major awards? Watch that fucking scene.
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire would put a scene together that really was simply perfect.
Marlo, going with Prop Joe to see an attourney...only to find his ex-pursuer Herc sitting there. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. To top it with Herc and Joe chatting about Burrell's days as a glee club singer in school. Perfect.
What other show has the wherewithall to muster such dimensions with its characters?
Through it's five-year tenure, creator David Simon has spoken about blurring the line between good guys and bad guys. Not so much blurring, but showing they aren't all that different. That one little scene inside a standard law office brought all that out. People are people.
To say that scene put a smile on my face is an understatement.
And to think it pushed a 9-mm confrontation between Omar Little and Slim Charles to the back burner? Well, that says a lot. Just like Daniels' smile while sitting in the Deputy Ops. chair.
After meandering in a lot of procedural stuff for the first 40 odd minutes, the end of this episode wound down with some wonderful two-man scenes. Namely, Carver and Herc sharing a beer outside the Western District, talking about how it's all connected and Beadie confronting McNulty about his meandering ways.
In another fine display of two-man acting, Rawls tries to cheer up the outgoing Burrell, only to get the line about 'eating shit' echoed to Carcetti last season. Naturally this involves paying attention and probably re-watching, which explains the lack off awards. "Ugly Betty" is so much more accessible, right? (Of course, 'Norbit' could net an Oscar, proving the fallacy of artist awards.)
Eagle-eye viewers certainly noticed the florist that Joe went to see for Butchie's arrangement was the same that Bodie and Poot visited for the '221 Towers' wreath for D'Angelo in Season Two.
On second thought, the beginning of the episode did feature the return of 'The Greek' so how can you rationally complain?
Only 'The Wire.'
Only the fucking Wire.
Best lines
* "It's Saturday." -- Kernard
* "Sir?" -- Daniels
* "Don't want any of that phony gansta shit, he was old school." -- Prop Joe
* "You come from the Street...the street doesn't concern us." -- Vondus
* "Who can say what tomorrow will show us." -- The Greek
* "He is not Joe." -- The Greek
* "Over at the US Attorney's office they call it the Headshot." -- Lester
* "Christ, you think I'm putting Ray Lewis out to pasture." -- Carcetti
* "I prefer to write it dry." -- Templeton
* "He's not the spic and span boy they think he is." -- Burrell
* "I ain't paying you to be my mother." -- Michael Lee
* "I'm just gilding your lily son." -- Lester
* "I'm gonna work them. Sweet Jesus I'm gonna work them." -- Omar
* "Then I'm a fucking rat." -- Carver
* "He seems cool about it."/"The coming out tells the tale." -- Sydnor and Lester
* "It's a whole new world out there, man. Buy you some property. Hold onto it until the white people want it and you make a killing." -- Fat Face Rick
* "What I got, I got for carrying their water all these years...they think I'm a hack." -- Burrell
* "Plaques for hacks, the prerogative of any big city mayor." -- Haynes
* "Why don't you stick a broom up my ass and ask me to sweep the place." -- Zorzi
* "We sloppy, we get cuffed." -- Lester
* "Come on now, finish it." -- Slim Charles
* "You'd take the crab out of crab soup." -- Haynes
* "D.O.A., not donut." -- squad car radio
* "Damn Chris, this CIA shit off the hook." -- Cheese
* "You know how that shit go. Give a gift, get a gift." -- Chris
* "Yeah, Levy excels at putting our limp-dick money to work." -- Prop Joe
* "It all matters." -- Carver
* "Jameson and Listerine, it's your scent." -- Beattie
* "Fool enough to wake a sleeping dog." -- Omar
* "Don't ever tell my mother or my priest you saw me do this." -- McNulty
* "See that, that means something...something you young'ems lost." -- Prop Joe
* "I wasn't meant to play the son." -- Marlo
Unanswered questions
* What is Irv Burrell's handicap?
* Will Norece nail Daniels, politically speaking?
* Socks?
* Was
* Does a Baltimore grand jurist prefer Coke or Pepsi?
* Does McNulty actually swallow Listerine?
* So...we're never going to learn the details of Daniels corruption?
* Exactly how can one enroll at Ghetto University?
Apologies for a lack of links and such. Just one of those weeks, I suppose. Last night's episode is about all you need to chew on anyways.
Labels: HBO, television, The Wire
Not sure that we need to know the exact details of Daniels case. I think it's been hinted at being very similar to what Herc and Carver did earlier in the show, and led to Daniels having that talk with Carver about things in the past coming out. I really enjoy the Carver storyline as you get to see more with his progression and decisionmaking while he rises up the ranks similar to how Daniels did. I doubt the Daniels thing will go public, but Norece will probably make him eat shit for it privately asking for favors.
I haven't gone back to look at season 2 but my first impressions were the homeless guy was definitely Maui.
The bum was definitely the union guy from Season 2. We know the union was going under after Sobotka died, they were refusing to elect new leadership. We can assume the situation on the dock has gotten continually worse. Not really a stretch to see one of those guys homeless. They were barely making ends meet when they had jobs.
And no way Simon would be sloppy enough to reuse an actor, especially an easily recognizable one. It was the maestro throwing the old school fan a bone. Showing that it's all connected...fucking brilliant.
Marlo's character gets better and better...that whole hypnotist-style speech he gives to Prop Joe before Chris pulls the trigger is mesmerizing. Brilliant stuff.
Only, what, 6 episodes left? Goddamn.
I loved Omar's comment about getting all of Marlo's guys first, saying that it would cause the snake to peek his head out of the hole. You know this will be epic. How much longer must we wait to hear him whistle "Farmer in the Dell" again? Best show ever.
Wasn't Maui...was John 'Johnny Fifty' Spamanto. Didn't remember his name, but it's confirmed on IMDB.
I don't think it was Maui, the yawning offensive coordinator in the Pepsi commercial. I thought it might be Johnny 50 or whatever his name was who drank all those beers on his birthday and help Ziggy steal the cars.
And after Shawn Kemp failed to qualify at Kentucky, he started taking classes at Ghetto U. before switching to Trinity Valley St. and jumping to the NBA. Little known fact...
Great episode and great recap -
Is Herc realizing the errors in his ways? Can one find self-awareness in a Mercedes Benz?
I can't believe you didn't mention the teeth. The muthaf$#@ing TEETH! That was actually a bit scarier than McNulty busting out the pliers to create some defensive wounds. Maybe McNulty was one of the pipe-hitting fools Marcellus Wiley was gonna get to go medieval on Zeke in the basement.
Yeah that was definitely Johnny 50. Maui plays the offensive coordinator in that Cowboys Diet Dr. Pepper "42-left-yaaaawn" commercial.
Just when you think this show can't possibly get better!
And yes, McNulty does swallow the Listerine. Not at all rare amongst the alcoholic crowd. Take it from me. I've dranked Drakkar Noir at some point...
The Baltimore Sun plot keeps getting better each week, too. How hard did you want to be Haynes when that pissant Managing Editor confronts him about his use of profanity? "Collegiate" atmosphere? FUCK OFF!
the other wonderful line from the ep was maurie levy's greeting as prop joe (and I agree - the absolute best character amongst maybe 80 fantastic charcters on the show) enters his office :
'Hello Joseph...looking prosperous'