As far as “The Wire” goes, this week’s episode was pretty uneventful. McNulty returned to work on some robbery case that was never really made clear, Prez continued to bitch and whine about the impending state tests, and Omar followed Marlo around some more. There were a few storylines that got a little more play time, however.
Senator Davis showed up again to play the part of the governmental weasel, advising both Burrell and Carcetti about how to handle the other. I’m not really sure which side he’s on, but that seems to be the point. He’s got himself covered so that he profits no matter which way the boat tips, and that’s why he’s the character I’d most like to see get screwed by the end of the series. It nearly happened last season with Lestor’s subpoenas, and I can’t imagine he won’t run into some more trouble in the near future.
Back on the streets, Herc goes to Bubble’s hideout to apologize for not showing up the other day, and for some reason feels that he’ll still receive the help he needs in finding the camera. Bubbs agrees, of course – and is even given a burner to call Herc the minute that leech comes around again – but wouldn’t you know it, when Bubbs does call, Herc is yet again too busy to take the call. As a result, Bubbs decides its best to screw Herc over by giving him false information about a recent Marlo drop. The tip leads Herc on a citywide hunt that concludes with him pulling over a church minister he believes to be delivering the latest package. Operating Western style, Herc treats the guy like a common thug, and will probably be reprimanded for doing so.
Meanwhile, when Namond is picked up by Carver for slinging on the streets, he’s forced to call on his teacher, Colvin, for a favor. Colvin takes him into his own home for the night (supposedly because it’s better than sending him to prison for the night, where he would likely be raped), and believe it or not, Namond is actually a pretty stand-up kid. Of course, it isn’t long after that Colvin discovers the reason behind Namond’s bad behavior: his mother, who verbally berates him for not being man enough to spend the night in jail. It’s good to see that Namond can rely on Colvin as a sort of father figure, and it’ll be interesting to see how that relationship further develops.
Speaking of father figures, Michael is more than ready to get rid of his. He points out his “problem” to Chris and Snoop, who guarantee to take care of it – especially after Chris more or less gets Michael to admit that the dude used to molest him. This seems to strike a note with Chris (maybe he had a rough childhood too, or was just always the bitch in jail?) because when they take Bug’s father down the alley to kill him, Chris goes apeshit on the dude and smashes his face into a pulp. The guy’s face is so physically destroyed that Snoop doesn’t even bother with all the usual steps and they just leave him for dead.
We still don’t know what, exactly, Michael means to Marlo in the grand scheme of things, but it’s curious to note that Chris called him boss earlier in the episode. Is Michael being fast tracked to success, or was that just a manor of speaking? Also, now that Little Kevin’s been killed by Marlo, it looks like Slim Charles and Prop Joe are looking to make a move – they’ve just told Bodie what happened, and he’s not very pleased.
