Wednesday, January 9, 2013

CHRIST, YOU'D THINK I'M PUTTING RAY LEWIS OUT TO PASTURE:  "Son," said Proposition Joe Stewart to Marlo Stanfield, "you need to focus a bit more on what can be gained by working with people."

This week's episode of The Wire, "Transitions" (Sepinwall, AVClub), is one of those hours where everything's running in parallel -- Carcetti and Marlo planning their coups, lining up all the necessary players so that Burrell and Joe can be moved off stage with a minimum of disruption. For Carcetti, it's about buying support and assuaging Nerese Campbell; for Marlo, it's about using the connections Joe provided him in a father-son, mentor-mentee way to render Joe unnecessary, because Marlo wasn't made to play the son and there's no civilizing some people.

The McNulty stuff and the Sun stuff, meh.  But at least there was less of it.

Returning this week: Michael's mom, the Greek, Johnny 50, Marlo's taunting Herc about the surveillance camera, the funeral florist.

7 comments:

  1. Marlo scares the shit out of me. Even when Avon and Stringer were at the top of the game, they were never this menacing.

    I absolutely love the Carver storyline. From deciding to write up the goon officer to telling Herc what he did by not delivering Randy to Bunk.

    Also, did I mishear, or did the guys on the radio call Lester's old partner "Bunk" at one point?

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    1. I am currently reading Simon's Homicide book, nd they all seem to call each other "bunk" in there routinely.

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  2. Saray3:01 PM

    Agreed re: Marlo. I don't think Avon or Stringer would have ever done Prop Joe like that.

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  3. Watts3:15 PM

    Heck no. They would've eased him out. Maybe to their own detriment, but still.

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  4. Jordan6:42 PM

    There's this ongoing theme in The Wire of things repeating themselves in cycles. The face may change, but nothing else ever does. So it's important to note when that is not the case. While to the Greek it's all business, Marlo isn't the next Avon or Stringer or Prop Joe. He's something the game in Baltimore hasn't really seen before. And that's scary.


    And Carver's growth into Good Police is one of my favorite parts as well.

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  5. Watts7:15 PM

    If Marlo thinks you aren't doing your job well, or if he thinks he could do your job better, you're a goner. Let's hope he doesn't think he can outGreek the Greek.

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  6. Avon would have felt like it was against the rules of the game. Stringer would have felt like it was unnecessary, and contrary to his goal of becoming a real businessman.

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