Grid Effect

Another delayed post, another eventful installment of The Wire. Where to start? Well lets just quickly summarize first: Nemond’s mom (De’Londa) is still an unruly bitch, Nemond desperately needs to find a new career path, Michael has a disturbing dark side, and all signs indicate that Chris’ sociopathic behavior stems from the same abuse that Michael has suffered, Randy is screwed, Carcetti is noble, Senator Davis is slimy, Daniels and McNulty understand the interworkings of police work better than anyone, Poot is semi-educated and Bodie is growing a concsious.

Occasionally I dread these Wire write-ups, mainly because the detail in every episode is so imperative and there is an avalanche of significant events that all tie-in one way or another, that I feel like no matter how much I write, I am not doing every episode justice. I could probably write 10,000 words on “Misgivings” and still not feel content, because every glance, every gesture from every character has some noteworthy nuance that needs to be explained. This is the one series (and I cannot even say this for The Sopranos) that never has a deflated episode. “Misgivings” is just as interesting and entertaining as every installment that preceded it, and this one might be even more so.

For starters, Michael may have just backed himself into a corner with Marlo and Chris. He is now indebted to them for life, and that just might be what he ends up paying. As we saw with the security guard, Lex, Ol’ Face Andre and most recently with Little Kevin, Marlo’s crew is ruthless. And will do everything that is necessary (and much more) to preserve their own self-interests. It is now undebateable whether Michael was sexually abused by Bug’s father. His incapability to explain to Snoop and Chris why he wants him out of the way, and Chris’ oddly sympathetic ear, now only leaves in question as to what extent Chris was abused.

Was it as a child (the most likely scenario given Michael’s age)? Or in prison (a possibility because right before Chris viciously beat Bug’s father, Chris got him to concede that he had raped men in prison, though he denied ever touching Michael and Bug)? It has never been verbally recognized that Chris was abused, Michael neither for that matter. But the evidence is there, however, because Chris and Snoop have never shown any genuine emotion towards killing. Their style has always been quick, cold blooded, one shot to the head in the vacants. Chris couldn’t even contain himself, and pummeled Bug’s Dad with more violent rage than has ever been exhibited on The Wire. It was not only a surprise to the audience, but a surprise to Snoop as well. Which reflects on how out of character the scenario was.

As for Michael’s counterparts, Nemond is now getting arrested for working the corner, and when Carver (who is handily one of the most likable characters on the show) recognizes that he is fearful of baby-booking (a holding cell for minors), he agrees to let him spend the night in the police station, then at Nemonds beckoning, brings in Bunny to watch him while is deplorable mom is in New York and Atlantic City. While at Bunny’s, we see Nemond is almost socialized, with his manners and level-headed discourse, despite how unworldly he is. When Bunny drops him off at home, he sees the true nature of what his program is forced to contend with: the fat, self-entitled, self-absorbed, disgusting pig of a mother, De’Londa Brice(They’re are not enough negative adjectives in the English language to describe how repulsed I am by this woman).

Despite Bunny’s best efforts to reach out to Nemond, De’Londa rebuffs his efforts: “You stay the fuck away from my son”… good luck with all that, Bunny. Its difficult enough to deter these kids from the corner, from their parents and family is an entirely different task.

After Marlo’s insistence, Randy is now widely known around school as a snitch. He has a look of trepidation about him 24/7 now. As it stands, Marlo hasn’t put a hit out on him, which means he believed Little Kevin’s confession. Which makes his murdering Little Kevin all the more despicable.

Speaking of which, Bodie is feeling guilty over Little Kevin’s murder, seeing as how he suggested to Kevin that he contact Marlo to explain why he has been away for so long, as opposed to Marlo contacting him. When Poot is trying to put it in terms Bodie can understand (relating it to taking out Wallace in season one, looking at it from Marlo’s prespective), Bodie looks remorseful for not only suggesting Little Kevin go speak with Marlo, but also for killing Wallace and his entire lifestyle, he all but acknowledges how wasteful it has been. Because he feels so slighted, I think he is fully capable of exacting revenge on Marlo’s crew.

On a brighter note, we had at least seven minutes of McNulty screentime this week. While Burrell and Davis underminded Carcetti’s orders to veer away from ticky-tack arrests, McNulty instructs a young beat officer on the need for quality police work. When they haul in three suspects for felony robbery, they enter a room full of cops arraigning dozens of men on public intoxication arrests. And we see McNulty with that superior, self-satisfied grin that is unavoidable throughout the course of thirteen episodes. He clearly enjoyed it a little too much, here’s hoping that in the next three episodes, he will be doing legitimate police work again.

Also satisfying, though Bubbles is still getting harassed by the abrasive crackhead, he finally took out some revenge on neglectful Herc. Of all the non-drug dealing, murdering characters that needs some brand of hardship, Herc is third only to De’Londa and Senator Davis. After Bubbles’ set-up, I cannot imagine Herc will keep his sargeant stripes much longer. It has been made explicity clear that Carcetti has to be extremely sensitive in terms of race relations, and when a white cop pulls over and harasses a black senator, Carcetti really has no options. Good.

Other notes:

-It really is depressing how Carcetti and Norman are well-intentioned, but the city is so overrun with corrupt officials in seats of inscrutable power that despite being in charge, their intentions are probably unfeasible.

-Bodie and Poot’s continuing discussion about global warming and everyday America was insightful, despite how inarticulate it seems:
Poot: Its not even going to be that cold out this year.
Bodie: How can you say that when we’re already freezing?
Poot: Global warming, yo. Besides, its not even that cold out, we just getting old.
Bodie: True dat.
(Speaks to how short the life expectancy is for someone in the drug game, considering Bodie and Poot are supposed to be in their early 20’s.)
Bodie: But its not like Marlo knew he was snitching, Stringer knew Wallace was.
Poot: Its not like back in the day. People are getting colder.
Bodie: I thought you said it was getting warmer outside?
Poot: The world is going one way, people another.

-The pre-credits scene with officer Williams snapping four of Donut’s fingers reminded us of the old days with Herc and Carver and how corrupt street level cops can be, but even they never did anything quite as heinous, people are getting colder indeed.

This was probably my favorite episode of the season. It ranks up there with “Refugees” and “Alliances”. Either way its ridiculous trying to quantify episodes in The Wire, because every one exceeds expectations. Until next time…