Blog 10. Episodes 11 & 12. A New Day & That's Got His Own.

"You play in dirt, you get dirty"—McNulty.
A New Day.  Story by David Simon and Ed Burns.  Teleplay by Ed Burns. 
Directed by Brad Anderson.  First Aired 26 November 2006.

Carcetti faces a dilemma over a complaint from the minister against Herc. Carcetti galvanizes other departments into action with non-specific complaints. Randy faces bullying from his school mates after he is exposed as an informant. Omar tricks Proposition Joe into giving away the timing of his next shipment. Freamon is tempted back to Major Crimes by Daniels and has a revelation regarding the hiding place of the missing bodies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4))

"That's all there is to it?"—Bubbles.
That's Got His Own.  Story by Ed Burns and George Pelecanos.  Teleplay by George Pelecanos.
Directed by Joe Chappelle.  First Aired 3 December 2006.

Prez is rankled by Dukie's social promotion to high school after having become close to him. Omar orchestrates the theft of the Co-Op's shipment. Michael trains as an enforcer in the Stanfield Organization and violently alienates Cutty and Namond. Randy is kept home for his own protection but an arson attack on his home leaves his foster mother horribly burned. Herc is suspended for his loss of the camera. Freamon's discovery of bodies in vacant houses damages the homicide unit's annual clearance rate. Daniels realizes the statistics can be blamed on Royce so Carcetti approves a city wide search. Carcetti faces a massive school budget deficit and is forced to go to the governor for assistance. Bubbles prepares a lethal vial of narcotics for his tormentor but Sherrod takes it unwittingly and dies. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4))

Lester finds a nail and knows there are bodies wherever this type of nail is found.

"I can't go home"

"You gonna help, huh?  You gonna look out for me?"

We're this close to the end of the season, and the loose ends that have flopped in the previous episodes are getting tied together, often to tragic results.

1. Carcetti does indeed want to do good: but there's that $54 million school deficit that no one will be made responsible for...
2. Daniels wants to give Herc a slap on the wrist; the ministers want him fired. For Carcetti this is a shit eating moment: keep Herc, he angers the influential black leaders, fire Herc, and the rank-and-file in the police—the guys on the street—hate him.
3. Lex—who was killed in the first episode of the season for having killed Fruit—is found in one of the row houses. Lester now knows where the bodies are that came with Marlo's taking over "half of West Baltimore"—but Landsman does not want him unearthing bodies which will upset their almost 50% clearance rate. The stat is still king.
4. The special class is being shut down—unless Bunny can convince City Hall that it is worth saving. In the meantime the kids in it are studying for the test which will only send most of them back to the corners. And there are the kids like little Albert who has found his mother dead—and still has come to school.
5. Over in Prez's room, there is real learning going on, and now his class is sounding a little like the special class, as the class wants to talk about intimacy.
6. Prop Joe, bowing to the power of Omar's big honking gun, has agreed to lead Omar to Marlo's package—which Omar, Renaldo, old friend Kimmy, and a couple of Renaldo's friends proceed to steal.
7. Michael is actively being trained in the way of enforcing by Snoop and Chris; and he is a fast learner, as Snoop observes.
8. Namond doesn't have it in him to punish his own soldier, Kenard, for stealing the missing dope. However, Michael does.
9. Randy is now branded by almost everyone as a snitch, afraid to go back to school, and watched over by an unmarked cruiser, and Carver as well. However, there are others watching him as well, who phone in a bogus 911 call and then firebomb Miss Anna's house. 
10. Prez kicks himself for having trusted the police—Herc in particular. He now sides with "his kids" rather than the police and his old friends.  Herc is visited by Internal Affairs, not for his brutal policing, but for the missing camera and fake informant. 
11. Duquan has been promoted to high school; he is not happy with the news.  His family is evicted and he stays with Michael and Bug, who have their own place now. 
12. Bubbles, in trying to kill his tormentor The Fiend, accidentally provides the poisoned dope that kills Sherrod.

Whew.

1. Speaking of Bubbles, here's him finding Sherrod.
2. Here is De'Londa telling Namond to man-up and beat Kenard.
3. Here is Michael beating Kenard.
4. Here is Michael waling on Namond.  
5. Here is Namond breaking down to Carver and Cutty.
6. And finally, Cutty, apologizing to Michael and getting shot. "Go with your own people."

So what I'd like you to write about:

1. Something we have not talked about at all, and I'd like to before we finish our discussion of the season, is Bubbles. He has been a regular on the show since its beginning, first as a snitch for a Kima, then an out-and-out junkie who does whatever he has to—steal in particular—to get his high. He still gets high, true, but there's more to him now, I think. How would you characterize Bubbles? A word or phrase, and why? And—what do you see his role is on the show? Why spend so much time on a character whose story line doesn't advance any of the major plot lines—a person, in the reality of the store, whose life is barely above the level of those three junkies we saw buying from Bodie way back? Why might Simon have put him in such a central role in this season? Write several sentences.

2. Donnelly tells Prez that he cannot be a parent to Duquan. There will be many more Duquans for him to work with in the coming years. That is a very un-Paideia thing to say, don't you think? Why would she tell him this? Is this good advice?

3.  Today we were talking about the scene where Namond bullies Duquan (something Namond has been doing since the first episode), then Michael steps in and begins beating Namond: if anything, we are seeing this tight group of friends come apart.  But the question we never answered in class was "why"?  Hannah said this didn't make sense.  Layton, Jack, and Hunter all commented that Namond's tears somehow seem disconnected from Michael's blows.  And Duquan seems more annoyed than hurt by Namond's words—Duquan seems so used to the indignities he's had to suffer, even when he's lost another home due to his parents eviction.  My question:  look specifically at the above clips 2, 3, 4, and 5.  Why is Namond bullying his friend?  Why does Michael react so violently?  What is Namond crying about?

4. Finally: tomorrow we finish the season. What to you is the best case scenario for each of the boys—what would be the realistic best case scenario ending for Duquan, Randy, Michael, and Namond?

Just for fun: Dominic West and not McNulty.

And Aidan Gillen, not Carcetti.

See you tomorrow.

Blog 9. Episode 10. Misgivings. "We Can't Lie."

"The world is goin' one way, people another"—Poot.

Misgivings.  Story by Ed Burns and Eric Overmyer.  Teleplay by Eric Overmyer.
Directed by Ernest Dickerson.
First aired 19 November 2006.

Burrell's new mandate for quality of life arrests is met with civil disobedience and political maneuvering. Chris takes care of Michael's problem. Marlo has a member of Bodie's crew killed after he is interviewed by Herc and orders word spread about Randy for the same reason. Carver arrests Namond and he reaches out to Colvin for help. After another beating, Bubbles gets revenge for Herc's continual betrayals by setting him up to arrest a minister. The teachers are pressured to teach test material despite their recent successes. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4))

•This is the opening of the episode where Officer Walker breaks Donut's fingers.
•This is Namond being "respectful" to Bunny.
•This is Namond doing his best "Eddie Haskell" at Bunny's house.  (Eddie Haskell is a character from the late 50's-early 60's family friendly series Leave It To Beaver, known for his insincere and unctuous treatment of adults).

 •This is Shondra and Zanobia trying to navigate how to behave going for their DSS card.  This is what a DSS card is. 
•This is Bunny defending the experimental program to an official from the school system. 
•This is Bodie finding out from Slim Charles that Little Kevin has been murdered.
•This is McNulty doing real police work—and showing a younger cop how it's done.
•This is Carver cutting Namond a break.
•This is De'Londa being a bad mother.
•This is Herc being a bad cop.
•And this is Chris beating Michael's stepfather Devar Manigault to death.

The relative hopefulness of the season's beginnings are now quickly fading away. Burrell is challenging new mayor Carcetti to fire him; the gains in both Prez's and Bunny's class (now he is a teacher too) are curtailed by the needs to teach the test; Randy is now identified as a snitch; Herc betrays Bubbles again; Bodie is pushed to the near breaking point by the murder of Little Kevin; and Michael shows a side to him that we haven't seen before and it is disturbing.  The boys throwing piss balloons and Randy selling candy to sixth graders seems like it's from another show.

1. Running throughout the episode is examples of how power is wielded, sometimes for a just cause and sometimes just to prove who has the power.  Walker shows Donut who is in charge; Burrell shows Carcetti who is in charge; the kids in Bunny's class are unable to back down when they feel challenged;  Bunny gets revenge on Herc; Herc has to be brutal toward an elderly preacher, as do the cops rousting innocent citizens; and what might Michael's smile be at the end but to show his mother who is now the man of the house?  At the same time...

—So: Noah, Jack, and Leo: why do you think Carver is so...what to Namond?  To what end or purpose?
—So: Julian, Daniel, Phillip, and Eli:  why do you think Bunny takes Namond home?  To what end or purpose?
Gentleman: try to not repeat each other; build on what the previous posters say.

1.  For the girls:  we talked a lot about Chris beating Devar, Michael's stepfather, to death this morning.  Several of you have said that you understand it.  So what do you understand about it—or don't understand about it?  And can one really approve of this?  Does the writer even want us to approve of it?  Build off what others before you write.

2.  Everyone.  From what you see in today's episode, is the experimental class really working?  The experimenters admit that out of the ten kids in the class, only three show any real signs of being able to go back to regular classes.  Is that success enough?  Why or why not?

See you tomorrow.

Blog 8. Episode 9. "Know Your Place." Due Monday by 4PM.

"Might as well dump 'em, get another"—Proposition Joe.
Know Your Place.  Story by Ed Burns and Kia Corthron.  Teleplay by Kia Corthron.
Directed by Alex Zakrzewski.
First aired 12 November 2006.

Bubbles identifies a witness for Herc but Herc fails to return the favor by protecting him from his tormentor. Colvin offers an incentive to his class. Old Face Andre turns to Proposition Joe for protection after his ineptitude in the framing of Omar. Joe ingratiates himself with Marlo by handing Andre over to Chris and Snoop. Marlo finally joins the Co-Op and his enforcers begin to take on the New York drug dealers. Carver warns Namond about his drug dealing. Carcetti restricts commissioner Ervin Burrell's authority and insists on a promotion for Daniels. Michael takes his problem with his step father to Marlo. Omar plans revenge on Marlo and Proposition Joe. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4))

Darnell, Zenobia, and Namond at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse.

"How do you get them to believe in themselves when they can't admit their feelings about who they and what they're doing in the world?"
—Bunny Colvin

The worm is beginning to turn, as the old saying goes.
Just to make sure we all get this, in the last episode, there are several crucial moments.
1. Herc has revealed to Little Kevin that Randy talked about what happened the night Lex is killed.
2. Burrell is challenging Carcetti to fire him by doing the exact thing Carcetti opposes: hassling "citizens" on juked up charges. As Daniels tells the Mayor-to-be, half the police dept. is for this, and half is against. Will Carcetti risk alienating the ministers and provoking city council president Nerese Campbell by actually firing Burrell?
3. Bubbles is beaten terribly by The Fiend when Herc doesn't show up the way he was supposed to.
4. Prez is reliving his time on the police where "juking the stats...made majors colonels." Look below at this moment. As Grace Sampson (Cutty's ex lover) says, "Wherever you go, there you are."

5. And finally, Michael takes the problem of his father not to the school social worker, nor Prez nor Cutty, as Dukie suggests, but to Marlo.

There are a few absolutely crucial scenes in this season.  One is Michael going to Marlo.  The other is this one, the reward for Namond, Zenobia, and Darnell building the Eiffel Tower. It begins, as Bunny says, with the kids as "masters of the universe," and ends with them humilated. Take a look.

My questions for this scene:

1. What do you think was Bunny's purpose in taking them here? Clearly, humiliation was not the reason—he clearly thinks it's a good idea as they're parking the car, all of them excited. So what do you think his reason was?
2. It goes terribly wrong. Why?
3. How did you feel for Namond, Zenobia, and Darnell as you watched this?
4. Was Bunny, in your opinion, wrong in taking the kids here? Why or why not?

And finally:
5. What haven't we talked about that you would like to talk about? 


Last: the opening to season five.

See you Tuesday.

Blog 7. Episode 8. Corner Boys.

"We got our thing, but it's just part of the big thing"—Zenobia.

Corner Boys.  Story by Ed Burns and Richard Price.  Teleplay by Richard Price.
Directed by Agnieszka Holland.
First aired 5 November 2006.

Colvin uses corner logic in class and is greeted with enthusiasm, particularly from Namond. Michael is devastated when his stepfather returns to live with him. Bunk exposes the frame on Omar but antagonizes his colleagues by meddling in the case. Herc stops Chris and Snoop and fails to realize the significance of the tools he finds in their car - they use them to conceal the corpses of their victims. Carcetti makes the rounds and discusses his plans as Mayor and his intentions for the future. He considers employing a new police commissioner and Cedric Daniels sees his stock rising. 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4))

Bunk and Omar.

Corner Boys.

Take a look at this clip of the beginning of the episode we just watched.

"Maybe the state should [take over the school]."

"You don't teach math, you teach the test. North Avenue's all about the Leave No Child Behind being spoon food."
"And what do they learn?"

"The first year isn't about the kids. It's about your surviving."

So we're really now into school. I have a couple questions about what we saw today in the classrooms.

1. What is making Prez's job so difficult? Is it the kids? Is it the administration? Is it the educational "philosophy" he's operating under? A combination of the three?

Now look at the experimental classroom run by Miss Duquette ad observed by Bunny Colvin and David Parenti. 

2. Agree or disagree with this statement: this class is working better than Prez's class. If you agree, why? If you disagree, why not?

 Now look at the classroom with the corner kids.

Namond says, "We do the same things as you all. Except when we do it, it's like, oh my God, these kids are animals. Like it's it's the end of the world coming. It's bullshit...[It's] hypocritical." To which Zenobia says. "Yeah, we got our thing, but it's just part of the big thing."

3. So what are Namond and Zenobia pointing out to the adults here? What does Zenobia mean by what they're doing is "just part of the big thing?" Is she right? Is Namond right? What is a possible point the show is making through this moment?

Don't just answer these three questions quickly, especially the third one. Write a couple hundred words on the third one in particular.  And you still follow the rules of English mechanics and grammar here, and not the kind of writing you do when you're texting your friends.

Finally: "...and now all we got is bodies and predatory motherfuckers like you, and out where that girl fell I saw kids acting like Omar, calling you by name and glorifying your ass.  It makes me sick, motherfucker, how far we fell."

It turns out Bunk and Omar went to the same high school and that Bunk wanted to be hard and tough, one of the hard boys.  But the hard boys protected him by rejecting him.  And we know now, if we didn't already, that Bunk despises Omar.  But he will still help him when Omar is falsely accused of murder.  A man's gotta have a code.

See you tomorrow. 

Blog 6. Episode 6. Margin of Error.

"Don't try this shit at home"—Norman Wilson.
Margin of Error.  Story by David Burns and Eric Overmyer.  Teleplay by Eric Overmeyer.
Directed by Dan Attias.
First aired 15 October 2006.

Namond is pushed into drug dealing by his mother when they are cut off by the remnants of the Barksdale Organization (who had been supporting them). Randy reveals his involvement in the murder to his teachers and is placed under Sergeant Ellis Carver's care. Marlo proves elusive despite Herc's camera. Colvin's new special class separates the worst behaved students (known as "Corner Kids") from their peers. Carcetti wins the election despite a last minute smear campaign. Omar is arrested for the murder Marlo organized.

Carcetti, Senator Clay Davis, and Norman Wilson.

 Omar arrested.

 
De'Londa being a helicopter mother for Namond.

This is a transitional episode in the season: the crucial conflicts are now established.
1. Carcetti wins! What will he do?
2. The school agrees to the special class with 10 students, including Namond and Zenobia whom we have seen acting out in Prez's class. What will this class do for them?
3. Randy has given up knowing about a murder—Lex's to be precise. Already he and Miss Anna are worried about the consequences of this. What will this do to Randy?
4. De'Londa and Namond have had their money supply severed by Brianna Barksdale (which effectively ends the whole Barksdale plot line of the first three seasons: the Barksdale organization is truly no more, though its soldiers, like Wee-Bay and Bodie, still hang on). De'Londa expects her son to step up and become the "man" of the house. How will Namond respond to real responsibility—how will he respond to really being a guy on the corner?
5. And Omar has been set-up by Marlo for the killing of the delivery woman in Old Face Andre's store. Will Omar survive the lock-up which holds a seemingly endless number of men he has victimized?
The season now shifts into high gear: the characters have been established, the themes set: now let the plot take over. So as we move into the second half of the season, a few questions--maybe five even.

1. Namond proved to be our class's least favorite of the boys—I'm not critiquing this, just acknowledging it. But think about what we saw in this episode: how his mother forces him onto the corner; how, like a boy much younger than he is (I'd argue), he asks Michael to share the corner with him; and think about that final image of him in this episode, the drugs spread on his bed while he grimly plays his video game. So make a case for Namond here: what about him must we sympathize with?

2. The episode kept cutting back and forth from the Carcetti story to the Omar story, implicitly making a connection between the two (it's that wire metaphor again). What do you see as the connection between them—why does the episode make a line between the two?

3. Carcetti wins. Were you glad to see him win? Or not? Why or why not?

Answer these questions thoroughly and clearly.  And finally: the season 3 intro.  See everyone tomorrow!

Blog 5. Episode 5. Alliances. Due by 4PM on Sunday.

"If you with us, you with us..."—Chris Partlow.

Alliances.  Story by David Simon and Ed Burns.  Teleplay by Ed Burns.
Directed by David Platt.
First aired 8 October 2006.

Carcetti learns that Greggs has been assigned the witness case and uses the information against Royce. Watkins forms an alliance with Carcetti. Now a sergeant in the major case unit, Herc takes part in a series of ill-advised raids that fail to render any significant arrests. Herc takes a video camera without permission to surveil Stanfield. Marlo tries to enlist Michael but he rejects the offer. Marlo arranges to have Omar framed for murder. Dukie debunks Randy's theory that the Chris and Snoop's victims are undead and shows him the bodies. Prez struggles to control his students' behaviour. Bubbles is beaten by another drug addict and throws Sherrod out for skipping school. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_4)

Take a look at this clip: Prez gently giving Dukie lunch and being informed by Crystal—the student who saw earlier in the season helping Miss Donnelly clean the school before it opens and the girl who brought Duquan school clothes—that Dukie's "people" sell his clothes on the corner.  

1. Why "The Wire"? Yes, "the wire" is the wiretap the Major Crimes Unit used to eavesdrop on Marlo and before him, the Barksdales, but it's now been shut down.  Yet the show is still called The Wire.  Why call it this?  Write 3-4 sentences answering this—and how does what we see in the show support your answer?

2. "I ain't eat no lunch and my stomach is making all these noises...I won't ever disrespect your pencil again." So says Zenobia. This and some other comments from the class, almost all of whom are in detention, gets Prez to let them go early. Given what the class is like, how it cusses as him—Namond in particular—is Prez being a pushover by letting them go? Or is this actually the right thing to do?

3. Speaking of Namond: to Prez, "Fuck you. Gimpy ass, big grill motherfucker." Then later that day: "Came to say sorry. I didn't mean to get all in your face like that...It's just the evil gets in me and before I know it, I go off." And Prez forgives him. Is Namond playing Prez? Is he sincere? And should Prez have forgiven him?

4. "Ain't no special dead. There's just dead." This is Duquan at the very end. He just walks away from the corpse he has shown his friends. He doesn't seem as spooked as the rest of his friends: no talk of zombies from him. Why do you think that is?

5. Speaking of the kids: for each of them—Duquan, Namond, Randy, Michael—give the word that best describes him to you. And why? And which one do you feel most drawn to, or like the most?

Make this as long as what Julian and Marie wrote on the previous blog.  Two sentences per question is not enough and will not get credit.  Punctuation and mechanics count too.  Capitalize names and first words of sentences!  This is a literature class.

Finally...

  See you Monday!

Blog 4. Episode 4. Refugees.

"No one wins.  One side just loses more slowly"—Prez.
Refugees. Story by Ed Burns and Dennis Lehane.  Teleplay by Dennis Lehane.
Directed by Jim McKay.
First aired 1 October 2006.

"You want it to be one way.  But it's the other way."  Marlo.

Take a look at the opening of the episode.  As we said in class today, the only organized structure that seems to be working well is Marlo's Stanfield's drug organzation.  Proposition Joe, the most powerful dealer in East Baltimore and one of the No Day co-op members, offers Marlo an in to the co-op:  "No one fucks with you," he tells Marlo, as one of the perks of cooperation. "No one fucks with me now," Marlo replies.  And he's right.

1.  After looking at the opening above, what do you think Marlo means by "You want it one way.  But it's the other way"?  I honestly am not sure, so help me out. 

2.  How would you characterize Marlo?  What word or phrase best describes him?  And why?

3.  We talked about characters who are granted their humanity, as Emma said, and depth, as Hannah said.  You can be a stone-killer like Chris but be blessed with the virtue of loyalty, something in short supply in West Baltimore (think of the loyalty Police Commissioner Burrell shows his troops; or for that matter, Major Valchek shows his mayor, when he leaks the info about the witness murder to Carcetti).  Virtues—hard work, loyalty, competence, caring, a moral center—make you often toxic in this universe.  So who would you call the most virtuous character we have seen so far in these three-and-a-half episodes?  And why?

See you all tomorrow.  Just for fun: the opening of the first season: