I love Hamsterdam…
Episode 30: “Straight and True”
“I had such fuckin’ hopes for us.” – McNulty
Frustrated in his grass-roots reform efforts, Colvin arms himself with intelligence from the Major Case Unit and approaches the mid-level drug dealers instead. McNulty sees Stringer is now unreachable as a drug target because of his ties to legitimate business. Stringer throws a welcome home party for Avon and launches a citywide Co-Op for drug dealers but fails to recruit immediate West side rival Marlo Stanfield. Detective Greggs follows Stanfield to his meeting with Stringer.
Episode #31: “Homecoming”
“Just a gangster, I suppose.” – Avon Barksdale
Stringer gets an education in construction management and explores the opportunities of Colvin’s new drug tolerant zones. Meanwhile Avon initiates a war over territory with Marlo but is dismayed at the ineptitude of his people when several are killed while attempting a drive-by shooting. Cutty finds that he has lost the ability to kill and leaves the Barksdale Organization with Avon’s blessing. A frustrated Colvin unleashes the troops on the corner boys ignoring his new edict. Carcetti manipulates another councilman into joining the mayoral race in order to divide the votes while concealing his own intention to run. McNulty and Greggs are ready to give up on targeting Stringer when the new violence gives them another reason. However, they must go behind Daniels’ back to have the unit reassigned as he is angry about their disloyalty to date.
New Characters
Snoop
Deceased
Chipper and Country (Barksdale enforcers)
Boo (Marlo’s young drug dealer)
The insight into the way the city government ties into the law enforcement structure is intriguing and disturbing. The way the upper level guys look at the statistics and assume they can completely control them is crazy. Instead of using them as an indication as to how to best manage the police department as a whole, they are thinking about who is up for what election, or whose position is at stake — get the wrong numbers (crime wave or no crime wave), get the axe. Twisted.
That said, I thought it was an interesting set of shots that showed the streets after the drug dealers had been relocated: people were outside, gardening, kids playing… even if the methods were motivated by “unmoral” purposes, they seem to be effective.
I like these two episodes because they make the gangsters look silly, or wrong. They look like scrounging peddlers at a flea market on that street, not soldiers and merchants like they would like to think they are. I’m also impressed with the interaction between Bunk and Omar. What a powerful scene, it’s the first time we’ve perhaps seen Omar in the light that we should see him: as a predator and progenitor of the cycle of crime. Omar is obviously disturbed with himself — I wonder if it will amount to anything.
I also found the interaction between Bunk and Omar to be very powerful. They each represent roads that someone coming up from their various positions in life could have taken. Bunk’s revelation that the children who told him that he did not belong with them as a kid did him a huge favor adds a completely different dimension to all of the young children’s lives that we get to see in every episode. While it would be an overstatement to suggest that Omar was completely moved by this interaction, he certainly appeared to be thinking about many things as Bunk walked away. Seeing what comes of this interaction will be interesting and undoubtedly insightful as the season wears on.
I also feel that it is now time to state that Carver and Hauk are completely inept. While Carver occasionally displays leadership and discretion, he clearly has learned very little from his time with Freamon and other good police. Colvin seems to realize that Carver may not be deserving of stripes, but this observation fits with his overall disgust at the state of the BPD.
I totally agree with you Ben, its extremely disturbing how the government ties into law and how the upper guys manipulate the stats to produce the results they want. It makes me question the entire system. In government and police departments, the numbers and stats we are being fed, could be completely manipulated and manufactured in order to deceive us and serve as a catalysts for a great, and most likely selfish purpose. It’s even more disturbing that it seems as if the police need to do worse police work in order to produce the demanded results. They have to let robbers off with lesser charges and change murders to suicides or self defenses; while Colvin, the only police who actually wants to make a difference, shows the true stats in order to spark a real change gets reprimanded and scolded by Rawls and the Commissioner. It makes me loose all faith and hope in our justice system.
Ben –
I would add to your ideas by noting not only that we have seen Omar in a new light, but that we have also seen Bunk embody an entirely new persona not just in “Homecoming,” but throughout the third season. As the episodes progress, Bunk, in my opinion, is demonstrating a measured rejection of authority. Said differently, he is taking a page from McNulty’s book. He realizes that the job is more important than career aspirations and advancement, and his calculated decision to pursue a double homicide as opposed to tracking down a police-issued firearm suggests his desire to follow his own moral compass.
McNulty’s tendencies have rubbed off on another character as well: Kima. In the first season, her relationship with McNulty was, for the most part, professional. That said, Kima has adopted many of McNulty’s ways in season 3, from hitting the bars and complaining about life at work and at home, to challenging the decisions made by those in authority positions. I find this particularly interesting, especially in considering something that Bunk said in the middle of season one. When McNulty picked up an intoxicated Bunk from a one-night-stand, and brought him to his apartment, Bunk tells Jimmy that he is no good for anyone around him. First it was Bunk, and now it is Kima. Who’s next?
Aside from the content of these episodes, I’ve been intrigued with Stringer and Colvin’s campaigns to restructure the drug trade. Both are attempting to quell the violence and create a semi-legitimate business, obviously for widely different reasons. From the get go, Avon bucks that idea. When he scolds the two soldiers high on coke at the club, he’s reinforcing his stance on the need for street smarts. And while he’s been made irrelevant on the business side, we see that he’s still more savvy than Stringer at keeping his men in line. What will be interesting to see as the season progresses is whether their ideologies break down Stringer’s tenuous peace with the police and fellow dealers.
Meanwhile, we see that Kima is continuing to follow in McNulty’s footsteps, defying Daniels and ignoring her partner.
There’s been a surprising amount of character development this season. They set up the Daniels plot well in second season, and it’s developed nicely this season. And while McNulty was amiable to the relationship between Ronnie and Daniels, there seems to be a tension there that isn’t strictly police-related. Daniels knew when he picked McNulty up from the boat that he was insubordinate.
Either way, a good two episodes.