'The Wire': Supersizing the Lies
So right about now, the full significance of Bunk opening the season with his proclamation, "The bigger the lie, the more they believe" is starting to become apparent. Lies beget more lies beget . . . some serious complications.
The bigger the lie, the more the Mayor believes there's some serial killer run amok, so he throws a little overtime at the cop-shop. Which means Kima gets pulled off a triple-homicide to solve a case stoked by McNulty's imagination. Not quite what McNulty intended in his crazed quest to take down Marlo.
(HBO)
The bigger the lie, the more that editors at the Sun believe Scott's too-good-to-be-true-scoops. Scott's ambition knows no bounds, so he keeps upping the ante. Need some react from the homeless community? No problem, he'll manufacture a terrified homeless family, complete with idyllic blond kids. Are his editors -- save for Gus, of course -- really that clueless?
The bigger the lie, the more Scott and McNulty become intertwined in a complex dance of one-upmanship. McNulty "leaks" tantalizing info about the killer to the Sun's Alma and Scott. Scott, looking gleeful, runs with it. Declares that the killer called him, on his cellphone. So McNulty, in a visit to the Sun newsroom, declares that the killer called him, too. The look exchanged between the two of them: Priceless. And chilling. Worth the price of admission, which this week meant rewinding and rewinding the DVR just so I could catch increasingly garbled and cryptic dialogue. What the hell was Marlo saying to Spiros? (And what's up with the mystical cellphone?)
There aren't too many folks on "The Wire" who aren't truth-challenged to one degree or another. Bunk lies to McNulty's spousal unit -- to make her feel better. Clay gets indicted and promptly pulls the race card, going on radio and inflaming the masses. The result: Big march on the courthouse to protest his indictment. They're mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. Why let a little thing like truth get in the way of a good story?
Me, I'm rooting for the ones who're trying to fly straight. I'm hoping Dukie realizes he's not cut out for the gangsta life. And Bubbles, poor Bubbles. He's so weighed down with guilt, he can't even be happy when he tests negative for HIV. And I've got a special fondness for Omar, even when he's on the hunt, stalking Marlo and Chris and listening to Oldies in his car.
-- TERESA WILTZ
By Teresa Wiltz |
February 4, 2008; 9:07 AM ET
The Wire
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Posted by: Lester Burnham | February 4, 2008 01:16 PM
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A couple of thoughts...
1) I am having a tough time believing that Omar suddenly learned to fly, but I look forward to seeing how this is resolved in episode 56 and beyond.
2) Pleasantly surprised to see that Chris has a fairly normal home life in a better section of B'more.
3) Please, please, please bring back Prez so that he can help Dukie. It was really sad to see Cutty admit that he had no idea how to get off the streets, but people realize that Dukie is smart and can make a better life for himself. Why does only Namond get to escape?
4) How can the Sun staff and the police not know who Prop Joe and Hungry Man are and their connection to the drug scene? I can understand not knowing about the co-op with out a CI, but this is ridiculous.