'The Wire': It's Getting Late in the Games
I get choked up over some scenes (Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles). I fret over what will come next. And I wonder: How can the final episode be any good when there are so many loose ends to tie up?
I fear the finale will feel like a full-out sprint to the finish line. Or will Simon opt for the "Sopranos"-esque approach, ending things midthought?
As a viewer, I want answers: Will Bubbles stay straight? Will Michael and Dukie stay alive long enough to find a way off the Corner? Will Scott be found out and forced into PR? Will McNulty be found out and forced to work security at Wal-Mart?
But as a critic, I can appreciate the aesthetics behind leaving things open-ended--mimicking real-life, which is what "The Wire" has always done so well. It rarely gets those real-life notes wrong, though there have been a few "pitchy" problems this season, a few sour notes blaring here and there, most notably in the form of McNulty's machinations and the dated feel of the Sun newsroom.
This week, though, there aren't too many false notes. I don't buy the former London correspondent going to the morgue (research library) and asking the research dude for all Scott's articles--after Gus asked him to be "discreet." What? The correspondent's never heard of Nexis?
But I'm quibbling. This week provides moments of pure power. Bubbles breaks my heart. Intellectually, I understand why his sister gives him such a hard time: Trust a junkie at your own peril. But can't she let him use the bathroom instead of the sink? And the look on his face as he celebrates his first anniversary of sobriety: Pride, and anxiousness, one eye trained at the door, hoping his sister will show up. Any other show, the sister would have made a melodramatic entrance at the last minute.(Big props to Andre Royo, the actor's actor.)
Marlo goes down in Lester's Big Bust, taking Chris with him. Now he's sitting in prison, stewing, wondering who ratted him out. (Um, nobody.) Then he finds out that the dearly departed Omar called him out in the street and NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL HIM THAT HE WAS BEING DISSED. This does not sit well with Marlo, who, for perhaps the first time ever, gives full throat to his emotion. As in rage: "Omar said *what*?... He called me a *punk*? My. Name. Is. My. Name." If I were Chris, I'd be requesting a separate cell right about now.
Scott is going down; it's just a matter of time before Gus finishes building his case against him. Except I'm not so sure that the Sun's top editors will listen to what Gus has to say. Visions of Pulitzers are dancing in their heads.
Clay, trying to save his behind from another inconvenient prosecution, tells Lester to "follow the lawyers." They're the truly shady ones, he says. "Me? [His favorite expletive] ... I'm just a small-potatoes working politician ... trying to make his way from this world into the next."
Carcetti's so focused on snaring a permanent spot at the big house in Annapolis that he's lost his moral bearings, staging a news conference after the Big Bust to declare: "I have seen what drugs have done to Baltimore. ... We. Have. Had. Enough." Oh, and by the way, "We did not give up on that investigation" of the 23 entombed bodies. Yeah, right, tell that to McNulty.
McNulty, by the way, is becoming increasingly distressed by the burden of his lies. He's getting pressured to solve a serial killing spree that is a figment of his imagination. Now, Kima's ratted him out to Cedric. What will Cedric do? I'm betting he covers the whole thing up.
Meanwhile, Snoop figures that Michael was behind Marlo's arrest, and arranges to take Michael for a little ride. But quick-thinking Michael gets Snoop "got" before she can get him. "How do my hair look, man?" she asks him, peering in her side view mirror and passing a hand over her cornrows. "You look good, girl," he tells her. Tenderly.
It's just business. They both know this.
But eliminating Snoop means that Michael's on the run. He leaves his baby brother with his aunt in the suburbs, handing him a box full of cash. Abandons Dukie ("You know I'm too hot now") to what looks like a shooting gallery.
"Why you wanna mess with their kind?" he asks Dukie.
Dukie's answer: "They give me work."
He's got nowhere else to go.
Never mind the bravado. These are traumatized children pretending to be men, veterans of a never-ending war. And long after "The Wire" wraps next week, their real-life counterparts will still be engaged in battle.
--TERESA WILTZ
By Teresa Wiltz |
March 3, 2008; 8:23 AM ET
The Wire
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Posted by: Phife | March 3, 2008 10:04 AM
If anything like McNulty and Freamon's hoax were to happen in "real life," the department would have no choice but to cover it up. McNulty and Freamon would be retired on some kind of disability and the perpetrators would be offered some kind of sweetheart plea deal. (Remember, the DNA hit on Chris Partloe came in under McNulty's serial killer case number, which Bunk at last reluctantly used. So the murder case is now tainted too and Chris could walk on it or plead to assault.) The Sun would be confronted with a stone wall of silence from the police department, City Hall and the State's Attorney's Office. The real question now is whether the Sun will deal appropriately with the scurrilous Templeton, or exalt him and fire old pro Gus. Dave Simon hates the paper so much I suspect he'll find a way for the latter scenario to play out.
Posted by: rexgo | March 3, 2008 10:18 AM
I think the season will end just as every season ends: with little resolution beyond death and that's really what I think David Simon tries to show us with this show: it's just one giant repeating cycle, ending only in our deaths.
Posted by: DJ | March 3, 2008 10:27 AM
The penultimate episode each season has always been the best, certainly better than the season finale. I'm sure that will prove to be the case here as well. This George Pelecanos-penned episode was off the hook. Seeing Snoop comparing Marlo's health care vs. Walmart's was priceless. Seeing Freamon finally prevail on bringing Marlo down (we'll see how long that holds) was also worth the wait. And it looks like Levy will finally have to pay the piper too. Even Clay Davis got to finally do some good (begrudgingly). As for Snoop's exit, you gotta admit, she took the prospect of her demise with much dignity and class, and died like the proverbial man for which she was often mistaken. She will be missed. RIP Snoop, Prop Joe, and Omar.
Posted by: the Wireholic | March 3, 2008 10:52 AM
I FULLY disagree with the comment that this season paled to 1-4. Are you kidding me? That "docks" season was the worst. Also, Snoops acting is great, especially for someone straight from the street, and having NEVER been placed in front of a camera previously.
Posted by: WireMan | March 3, 2008 11:11 AM
Someone did rat Marlo to the cops. Herck, the ex-cop who now works with the drug lawyer, gave Marlo's phone number to his copy buddy.
Posted by: BD | March 3, 2008 12:13 PM
I'm glad I wasn't the only one who nearly cried during the scene of Bubbles celebrating his anniversary of sobriety. And when Michael dropped off this little brother with an aunt. And Dukie going off to the unknown.
How are they going to tie up all of theose loose ends in one episode? Wow, I can't wait for next Sunday . . .
Posted by: ECJwlove | March 3, 2008 01:50 PM
It was great in the way Bunny Colvin just shook his head and got in the car when Carcetti made his lame apology for not following up "Hamsterdam" with some real programs. The way I see it, Cedric has to cover the McNulty lies over. They will hang McNulty out to dry internally. Who wants to take the bet that the last shot is one of Jimmy back on the beat BS-ing with citizens on the street in the West Side?
Posted by: Jim in FL | March 3, 2008 02:22 PM
McNulty = Jekyl and Hyde? Maybe he can't handle the booze as well as he thinks, and is actually behind the homeless murders?
Posted by: McNulty | March 3, 2008 03:16 PM
Does anyone have a clue as to why Kima is no longer mentioned as being Bubbles' sister, too?
Posted by: DCox | March 3, 2008 04:00 PM
As the airdate for the last episode of The Wire approaches, Marc Steiner and the Center for Emerging Media are doing a new series of interviews on The Wire. There's going to be a new one added to their site every day this week. The first interview, with Ed Burns, is already up! The site is www.marcsteinerblog.wordpress.com
To go right to the Ed Burns interview, go here: www.marcsteinerblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/03/3308-the-wire-podcasts-ed-burns
Posted by: Center for Emerging Media | March 3, 2008 04:34 PM
Bubbles was Kima's CI (confidential informant) while she was in Narcotics before being seconded to Major Crimes in Season 1. She continued to use him while they were going after Avon and Stringer. I think he dropped off her radar near the end of Season 3 when all the junkies were lost in H-dam.
Posted by: Jim in FL | March 3, 2008 04:48 PM
Final scene will be McNulty getting back on the boat..Just like he did at the end of season 1.
Posted by: JJ | March 3, 2008 06:11 PM
After watching that episode, I'm debating the merits of slamming my hand in a car door, just so I can cry for a half hour.
Posted by: Sam | March 4, 2008 09:28 AM
I disagree with all those who are predicting that the powers-that-be will sweep McNulty's BS under the rug. I think Marlo and Chris and all the rest are going to be bounced out onto the street because the information leading to their arrests was so clearly tainted. Of course I could have watched the final episode on Comcast On Demand, but I'm not eager to be done with "The Wire," so I'll wait till Sunday like everybody else, raising an enthusiastic toast to the finest show on TV in my lifetime.
Posted by: the Wireholic | March 4, 2008 10:48 AM
Note: According to Comcast On Demand, the series finale will not be made available prior to Sunday for early viewing.
Posted by: channel this | March 4, 2008 11:01 AM
I hope they don't try and "rush to the finish line". It would be nice to see mcnullty go down for his lies and deceit (girlfriends included). Personally I think Mike will take out Chris and Marlo to become the new king pin. Can't wait to see
Posted by: Lucky | March 4, 2008 01:41 PM
Actually, Kima stayed close to Bubbles even when he wasn't a CI. At the end of S4 she visits the rehab hospital with Steve Earle's character, but doesn't go in to see him. Maybe this is not considered contact, but I think that she knew what was going on with him. The profile in the Sun should be a nice part of the finale with Bubbles being the only character who breaks out of the despair and life of a junkie.
Posted by: Lester Burnham | March 5, 2008 08:28 AM
"If I were Chris, I'd be requesting a separate cell right about now."
Chris doesn't have anything to worry about. Marlo had him do all the dirty work. Don't think he would follow Marlo's orders to "get" himself!
Posted by: Just Me | March 6, 2008 06:30 PM
Posted by: e4y5 | March 12, 2008 08:58 AM
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Amazing episode. This season has not really been on par with the rest of the Wire (seasons 1-4), but these last few episodes have gone a long way to make up for the shortcomings.
The story arc of Michael, Duke, Randy, and Namond from Season 4 through the end of the Wire, has given us a dramatic answer to "why are THEY like that?" Why do kids sell drugs? Why don't kids finish school? Why don;t they just follow the rules? Watch the Wire from last season until the end of this season and the answers to those questions seem to be a bit more complex than our leaders on the right and left would have us believe.