As the title would suggest, the second episode on my journey through THE WIRE was mostly about the formation of a task force tasked (no pun intended) with putting a charge on the kingpin of the drug crew that is front and center in the story, Avon Barksdale. That being said, just as the first episode was centered around who I assume is the lead of the series, James McNulty, this episode focuses more on the head of the detail, Lt. Daniels.
But these are not Baltimore's finest that he's been giving. No, these are a band of not-so-merry misfits if I've ever seen one. Besides McNulty and Kima, who were shown in the first episode to be smart and dedicated cops and the yet to be really seen Syndor (hope that's right) who Daniels suckered out of the commander of the auto theft squad, the rest of them seem to be too old, too drunk, too stupid, or a combination of the three.
The worst of the bunch appears to the the terrible trio of Herc, Carver, and the newly introduced "Prez" who worries me the most. From the first real glimpses of him in the episode where he discharges his gun when trying to show how light his pull trigger is. Not only did I take this as him having little self-awareness, it also seems he feels so safe with his current position that he feels the rules don't apply to him (which we find out later is true). It all seems foreshadowing to the eventual incident where he ends up blinding a 14 year old for "pissing him off."
There are three things I found most interesting about the episode. The first of these happens with the conversation between D'Angelo and his two underlings Wallace and Poot about the visionary behind Chicken McNuggets. As Wallace and Poot opine that the person who created them must be one rich motha', D'Angelo explains to the two how big companies (and by extrapolation the police and the drug crews) work, that is the underling's job is only to come up with ideas to make the companies richer. That's their job. They don't make money off it. They're grunts that the larger organizations piggyback off of and grow fat on as a result. D'Angelo continues to be one of the most fascinating characters in the first two episodes and it will be interesting to see where his relationships with the cops and his uncle's organization will go in the future.
Speaking of which, just a brief note on Avon. The scene where he seemingly organized a dinner for his extended family or community or something along those lines was an interesting one. It kind of reminds me of Gus Fring from BREAKING BAD, but I can't tell if he is doing it to keep up appearances and to gain the community's respect, or if he generally cares for his people. I'm going to assume by seeing who he is thus far that he is doing it only for his benefit, but he seems to have a real sense of family. Definitely more than you think to Avon Barksdale.
The second thing I wanted to briefly mention, mainly to keep in mind, is an idea that McNulty brings up. The idea he presents to D'Angelo while in the midst of an interrogation is basically, why can't you guys sell your drugs without killing people? Every other major trade good changes hands without bodies dropping. I feel like this, along with the idea of people doing what you gotta do because it's just what you do, will play a major role in the rest of the season and probably the series as a whole. It's an interesting question, one I've posed to myself many times in the past. What would the world be like if the drug trade had zero violence? Cops arguably already spend too much money on cleaning up minor dealers that don't really do major harm anyway. This money could surely be spent in a ton of other more important areas. Would the world be a better place with continued drug trade but less violence? Will they tackle this idea during the series? Even if they do, I have a feeling that the America of THE WIRE is far too broken and set in its ways to change.
The final thing is a two-fer. For one, I am beginning to think that maybe Daniels isn't as much of a company man as I (and McNulty) first believed. This episode certainly shows him doing things to protect his men (helping Prez come up with an excuse for hitting the 14 year old that makes sense). But it's not exactly like he had a choice, there. With Prez's connection to such a high official as well as the threat of a lawsuit/losing half of his detail (though granted it's part of the lesser half), he was really between a rock and a hard place. That being said, the fact that he seemed to take no joy in doing this (evidenced by his reaction at the end of the episode) as well as the fact that he was the only one to want to check into the possibility of the Gant murder being involved with the D'Angelo case leads me to believe that he might be more open minded than we think. Certainly more than McNulty thinks (who seems to be pretty narcissistic, a drunk, and God knows what else). Apart from that, I wanted to say I loved the way the show introduced us to three members of Avon's muscle (Wee-bey, Stinkum and Little Man) through the red hat technique and Bubble's explanation in the police station. Not only did it feel like an organic part of the narrative, it also showed a different side to Bubbles (one of great charisma and compassion for his friend) other than the drug addled version we've seen so far.
All in all, another interesting episode of a truly mysterious show. I can't help but think it's going to be harder and harder to this these one at a time, simply because I want to know more constantly. We'll see how long I last before tackling more than one episode for post. Until next time, though, here's to whoever created Chicken McNuggets. Be sure to have that new, tastier fry recipe on my plate by Friday.
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