Saying goodbye to a beloved season 1 character…
Episode #19: “All Prologue”
“It don’t matter that some fool say he different…” – D’Angelo
The detail continues to look for the source of the union’s money and begin to monitor container movements. Detective Greggs tracks down a lead on the murdered girls. Stringer, concerned over D’Angelo’s distancing from the organization, goes behind Avon’s back to deal with the problem once and for all. Nick requests help from the Greeks to solve Ziggy’s problems. As Sobotka outlines his plans for the docks, several of his union colleagues express suspicion at the source of his income. Omar emerges from hiding to testify against Bird.
New Characters:
Eton (Lieutenant for The Greek)
Deceased:
D’Angelo Barksdale
Episode #20: “Backwash”
“Don’t worry kid, you’re still on the clock.” – Horseface
Rawls attempts to persuade Daniels to take the Jane Doe homicides but is unsuccessful. Lester Freamon and Russell continue to study the docks’ traffic using their cloned computer, and suspect irregularities in containers handled by “Horseface.” They track a container back to the Greeks’ warehouse. They watch the warehouse and see Sergei Malatov meeting with Proposition Joe. Stringer discusses a business deal with Proposition Joe to revitalize the Barksdale organization, but Avon turns it down flat. D’Angelo’s funeral brings together the Barksdale Organization.
In the opening scene of Season 19, when we see Omar in the courtroom, and in the scenes in the same setting that come later, I came to the realization of why I love Omar so much. I think the reason is that not only does he have rules and a moral code of immorality, but he doesn’t lie about who he is or what he does.
In today’s two episodes, I started to become more disgusted by Stringer. Even though he’s playing the game as he is supposed to, he does it behind people’s back, in contrast with Omar. He is afraid of ruining his name as a straight up drug lord, while Omar isn’t afraid of being hated for what he does and who he is. Stringer knows he probably won’t lose business if people find out he is responsible for D’Angelo’s death. People die all the time in the game, and addicts will always want their drugs. Stringer’s secrecy is more about staying on top as the morally immoral man people see him as. As he seems to start rising more and more to the top of the food chain while Avon is in jail, he is still fearful of Avon’s wrath.
It’s funny how all of a sudden Avon and Wee Bay are two of my favorite characters. Wee Bay is always up front with Avon, who is still the same family oriented man who plays the game and doesn’t try to hide away from his actions except when it comes to the authorities. When a murder is Avon’s doing, people know, they just can’t prove it, while Stringer does everything behind people’s backs.
This episode after the murder of D’Angelo confirms suspicions that his death marks a turning point in the second season. It tells us as viewers that our focus needs to be on the interactions between the detail and the goings on at the docks and with the Greeks. It is further confirmed when throughout the episodes we are made to see the parallels and similar plights that the dockworkers and police encounter. This is done through a couple of scene changes in which both the police and dockworkers are seen in similar situations. I believe the first of these is when both sides encounter the new wave of technology concerning their occupations. For the docks this is the “robots” that essentially spell the end to their jobs and for Herc and Carver it is the new technology that they have to pay for themselves in order to do their jobs effectively. Next is when Nick Sobotka is telling his uncle Frank not to worry about him and all his new money contrasted against a conversation between Herc and Carver about having to foot the bill for the broken bug. These related scenes seem to serve the purpose of endearing or at least shifting focus to what direction the rest of the season is heading.
I really like how the episode “All Prologue” ended the stories and marginalized some of the important characters of season 1. We see that both McNulty and D’Angelo have been severely punished by their respective institutions: D’Angelo taking the biggest hit out of anyone in the Barksdale crew and McNulty being demoted to the boat. This episode sees both men the end to their respective stories. We see that D has completely cut himself away from the crew and his own family. D realizes that he doesnt need to worry about selling out his family for a lighter sentence if he just a model prisoner and did the 20 years and waiting for parole . Though it seemed Stringer was so paranoid that he went behind everyones back and had D killed. The irony is that Stringer did not have to fear anything. As we have discussed in class, D is finally at peace or there is a balance that he has reached. In season 1 I felt as though he wore a mask and portrayed difference faces to people. In the pit he would act tough and would act as though he had seen the ugly side of the game. The scene that reminds me of this is when D lies about killing the girl in her apartment. He goes into detail about the death and act as though he murdered this woman vicious when in fact it was Wee-bay. It’s interesting because when he sees the photos of the dead people, who have been murdered either due to Wee-Bay or another Barksdale crew, he is so horrified by it. It seemed as though it was a constant battle between being hardcore and compassionate.
We see McNulty struggling with boat life and beginning to ponder retirement. The turning point for him is when he is unable to identify the Jane Doe and he confesses that he has become a bit useless. He knows that he cant get off the boat if Rawls is still around, unless Daniels can lure him to the detail. He is just going to do the routine and get his pension which is about the same amount of time D would have spent in jail before parole.
D tries to separate himself from his family and his killed for it and Jimmy wants to get back with his family, if he cant be a cop. He pleads desperately to back with Elena. However, despite their intentions and motivations neither man is trusted and is casted out; D seems willing to take the burden of doing 20 years and Jimmy wants to better husband and father( more functional human being).
First of all, I loved that the show used Gatsby! It was completely unexpected and surprisingly fit thematically with the message the show was trying to impart. Relating the relationship the past has on future relationships and encounters on the street in the drug world to an American classic set in the 20’s was really exciting. I liked the parallel between the scene in Gatsby’s unused library with the man with owl shaped spectacles (look at all the real books) and D’s condemnation of the lying and fronting Avon, Stringer and others must maintain to run a successful business. The book allows D to vent about how “shit does catch up with you” and although you may say you are someone new that past defines you in the present. It was frustrating for me to watch D get killed off in effect by Stringer, and I hope that Stringers evil deed catches up with him eventually and the tides wash up dirt that causes him to face the consequences of his actions.
A note on the progress down on the docks. In these episodes Lester’s genius shines through yet again. The moment when he tells Bunk and Beatty that it is not just important to watch the target but to watch everything to get a sense of when things go wrong, it was not only a smart investigative tool but also a note for the viewers on how to watch the show. Small, insignificant details come back to haunt us and if you only watch the crime in action scenes and neglect moments with family or during down time (Herc with the tennis ball) you miss a sense of the bigger picture. One instance of this in All Prologue was the scene between Brianna and D where they look back on his childhood and his mothers decision to toughen him up rather than protect him. In retrospect, although she did not know of Stringers plan, she intuitively knows to say goodbye to her son pressing her hand against the thick sheet of glass between them and sobbing. Although this is my first time watching the wire, it is these details I imagine that make for interesting second, third and fourth viewings.
Throughout the second season Stringer has become an increasingly more interesting character to me. Although I was saddened when D’Angelo was killed I still did not have a hatred for Stringer. For the majority of the time (minus Stringer’s affair with D’Angelo’s baby’s mother) Stringer plays the game in a since how its supposed to be played. His only motivation is making money from the drugs. Although this makes his character seem cold and emotionless he ultimately makes decisions that are in the best interest of the “business”. This may change as his affair develops. However I think this is a very interesting aspect of his character. Unlike Avon he feels no tie to family and he see the murders as a part of the business. I think that unlike many of the other character it is clear that Stringer has chosen a side he has chosen the drug game. I also see a mentor relationship growing between Bodie and Stringer. This relationship is similar to the relationship between D’Angelo and Wallace except on the other end of the spectrum in terms of there interaction and relationship with the drug game.
The murder of D was a bit of a shock to me. I saw the guy watching him and I remember thinking, “Well that looks like someone who might be out to get him, but that won’t happen because there is no reason to kill D.” I saw him as harmless. Apparently Stringer did not.
So my question is, what exaclty were Stringer’s motives for this one? We have talked about this a bit, but it is really just the fact that he is sick of dealing with D? Is he worried that D will snitch? How much of it is the fact that D insists that Avon was responsible for the hot shots? I’m a little confused because it seemed like in jail D was completely harmless. Perhaps it was his growing resentment towards Avon and Stringer that had Stringer paranoid?
I didn’t see D’s death coming either and based on how we saw him acting during the his last few episodes, there didn’t seem to be any good reason to kill him.
But I also see where Stringer was coming from. He had reason to be fearful– he saw with his own eyes how close D was to outing their whole organization at the end of episode 1. Any strange behavior from D– even if he wasn’t actually going to inform– was major cause for alarm for Stringer. We were inside the jail with D and were able to see that D was just coming to peace and leaving his past behind. But Stringer wasn’t there seeing what we were seeing, and didn’t want to take the risk that D might snitch.
I find the title “All Prologue” to be the most interesting part of this episode. While things feel “conclusive” on Season 1, it would be difficult to say that this was the prologue ot set up to Season 2 (especially where we are already in to the plot lines of Season 2). Is this supposed to mean that everything up to this point has been the set up for the over-arching arc of the story? Now the main stage has been set (after a season and a half) for the rest of the show? I’d welcome some clarification if I’m off my rocker… haha.
I think that Stringer is going to get his eventually. Right now he’s definitely the card dealer, but I think that Avon is smart enough to figure out that String has been dealing from the bottom of the deck. Stringer is just getting too cocky, and has his self-interests and own ideas above Avon’s (or he thinks he knows what is best). This might get him into trouble.
As for D, I was surprised to hear that so many people disliked him. I was disappointed with his wavering morals, but I thought it was admirable that he seemed to be constantly striving to do the right thing—he just didn’t know what the right thing was. What do you do if you love your family, but they are murderers and crime-lords? D’s struggle to make the right decision seemed to come to such a beautiful close when he decided that he needed to walk his own path. Because this is something I think most people can all identify with, it makes him a complex and important character; and I think a likable one.
Not only is Omar brilliant, but at this point, I think we can confidently call him the smartest person in “the game.” That he is able to turn a jury against Bird while putting forth an honest depiction of himself (when asked what he does for a living, his answer is simple: “rip and run”) is noteworthy. What’s more, he knows how to push Bird’s buttons to the point that he must be removed from the court. Even when he is out of his element, he manages to maintain his character and to stick to his own morals.
This scene further highlights Omar’s skills in two ways. First, Stringer introduces the possibility of Omar having invented the entire murder story. His placing Bird at the scene of the crime propels much of the action of the series so far, and to think that it might all be a lie is powerful. McNulty, despite his asking Omar, doesn’t really want to know whether or not he made up the entire story around Bird. In reality, the audience doesn’t want to know either.
Second, until this episode, I actually considered Levy to be the smartest player of “the game,” even though I can’t stand him. I arrived at this conclusion, however, becuase he continued to reap the financial rewards of his work, all while working on behalf of the Barksdale Organization to great success. That said, Omar renders Levy speechless in the courtroom, and this scene shifts the balance of power away from Levy, although I have a feeling he will eventually emerge having not lost much.