(Note: This is an early review of next week’s episode. If you have HBO On Demand, watch it now. Otherwise, wait until Sunday to avoid spoilers.)
Let’s get right to the good stuff, shall we? After a rigorous election trail that was nearly crushed by incumbent candidate Royce’s last-minute smut campaign, Tommy Carcetti pulled out the upset he needed to become Baltimore’s newest mayor. With this now over, however, it’ll be interesting to see if the newly elected family man really will make the necessary changes to turn the city around. And on that same note, whether Royce’s forfeit will effect some of the characters.
What will become of Herc’s fast track to Major? He’s going to need all the help he can get after his first-rate botch-up with Marlo this week. Confident that Baltimore’s number one gangster had finally slipped up, Herc planned a big bust that would land Marlo with a boatload of cocaine (or “the skinny lady,” as was recorded on the surveillance camera). Instead, Herc literally found him with a skinny lady. D’oh!
And what of Burrell’s temporary posting as Commissioner? I can’t help but think that Carcetti will want to remain loyal to Burrell, but after Rawls’ speech from last week’s episode, it looks like he might just change his mind. Plus, we already know that Rawls does frequent the gay bars (it was only a quick reveal at the end of season three, but I remember it vividly), and what better way to return to that subplot than naming him as the new Commissioner?
The second major development this week was the arrest of Omar, and though it seemed like the shotgun-toting stick-up man had finally met his demise, it was encouraging to discover that the two men sent to his holding cell weren’t there to kill him, but rather protect him. Of course, the question still remains: how will Omar prove his innocence? The answer is actually quite easy: McNulty. The recently reformed beat cop hasn’t had much to do this season, but we all knew that his eventual return was imminent. He knows that Omar has never (and probably will never) kill a citizen in cold blood, and he’ll most likely be the one that helps set him free. As a result, Omar will no doubt go searching for revenge, so prepare to say goodbye to Marlo, Chris and Snoop, because they’re about to get a couple shotgun shells unloaded in their asses.
It also looks like I was wrong on a couple of my predictions last week. Randy (not DuQuan) is going to be the kid who gives up the Marlo murders, but at what cost? Also, Prez did take the information to “someone he trusts,” but it wasn’t Lestor. Nu-uh. How about Major Daniels? Yeah, he’s still on the show too.
Actually, I was perusing some web forums after watching the episode, and I came across a poster claiming to have seen the entire season. Of course, he just had to disclose some seriously major spoilers, and I just had to read everything. Sucks for me (I know), but I will say this: if this dude’s only half-right, we’re all in for one helluva season.
