Episodes 39 & 40: “Soft Eyes” and “Home Rooms”

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Episode #39: “Soft Eyes”

“I still wake up white in a city that ain’t.” – Carcetti
Thomas “Herc” Hauk is now working for the Mayor’s security detail. He catches Royce in a compromising position and learns how to spin it into a promotion opportunity. Namond visits his father, Wee-Bey Brice, in prison. Wee-Bey urges Namond to work harder at his job with drug dealer Bodie Broadus but Namond swaps it with Michael as he is in greater financial need. Bunk Moreland investigates a murder but finds his prime suspect missing. Rhonda Pearlman and Lester Freamon argue over delivering subpoenas to political figures. Another murder involving a state’s witness gives Carcetti damaging ammunition in a debate with Royce. Marlo gives money away to the neighborhood children and Michael catches his attention when he refuses the handout. Dennis “Cutty” Wise continues to run the community boxing gym and also notices Michael because of his aptitude for the sport. Bubbles mentors young and homeless Sherrod in his junk selling business.

New Characters:

De’Londa Brice: Namond’s mother
Sherrod: Bubbles’ young intern.
Crystal Judkins
Officer Eddie Walker

Episode #40: “Home Rooms”

“I love the first day, man. Everybody all friendly an’ shit.” – Namond Brice
Royce strikes back against Carcetti with his mayoral powers, however, he alienates State Delegate Watkins over his refusal to fund witness protection. Carcetti impresses Watkins by his reserved behaviour at the funeral of the murdered witness. Bunk visits Jimmy McNulty and Beadie Russell for dinner and finds McNulty sober and enjoying domestic life. Marlo Stanfield visits Bodie’s corner and muscles him into selling the Stanfield package. Marlo is impressed with Michael a second time when he sees him working for Bodie. Proposition Joe and his New Day Co-Op face problems on two fronts; New York drug dealers on the East side and the Stanfield Organization in the West; they agree to attempt to negotiate with Marlo. Omar Little robs a Stanfield stash house. Rawls sends a caustic new lieutenant to gut the major case unit from the inside. Freamon and Kima Greggs leave for the homicide unit. Howard “Bunny” Colvin embarks on a new career as a researcher into violent behaviour. Prez is shocked by a violent incident in his classroom.

New Characters

Old Face Andre
Lieutenant Charlie Marimow
Dr. David Parenti
Albert Stokes
Darnell Tyson
Karim Williams
Renaldo: Omar’s partner

4 thoughts on “Episodes 39 & 40: “Soft Eyes” and “Home Rooms”

  1. Edwin Mitchell

    In the “Soft Eyes” episode you could see many similarities between the players in the drug game and the players in the Baltimore government. For example:
    – Marlow is shown going around the neighborhoods and giving out money to the kids, attempting to essentially “win their vote” much like Mayor Carcetti is going around the neighborhoods and meeting with residents, promising to take care of their concerns.
    -At one point Naymen says to Mike, “Shit I’ll take anybody’s money if they’re giving it away.” Later in the episode Clay Davis says the exact same thing to Mayor Royce.
    I think these examples show that there are many similarities in both the drug game and the government game and there’s almost a double standard of sorts. The government is seen as highly respected and such while they’re just doing many of the same things the “bad” drug dealers are doing.

  2. Tom Ladeau

    As I mentioned in class today, episode 40 puts an abrupt end to the unit that we are all used to with the addition of Lieutenant Charlie Marimow, a.k.a. “the Unit Killer”. He lays down the law in the unit, ruining everything they ahve worked for and employing all of the tactics that we spent three seasons watching the unit do away with. The fact that someone exists within the police with the reputation as “the unit killer” is a statement about the corruptness/backwardness of some of the actions of the department. He exists solely to destroy what police have worked hard to build, and he is employed by the department. His role is a counterintuitive one in that he is doing the oppposite of good police work.This role illuminates the political nature of some of the police force’s actions.

  3. Andrew Ostroff

    It’s really fascinating to me to see how characters have progressed as we now enter the fourth season of The Wire. Frankly, we have seen incredible transformations in characters just from last season. Bubs is teaching a new protégé, Marlo is a threat to the co-op, Carv practices more nuanced police work, Daniels is a major, and McNulty appears to be a family man. These changes seem quite drastic, but I feel that this is a consequence of watching the series over a very short time horizon. If, as an audience, we waited an entire year between seasons 3 and 4, it would be much easier to understand the changes that characters undertake. Season 4 seems, in many ways, to be about new beginnings, and I am curious to learn which characters succeed in their new endeavors, and which characters should have let things be…

  4. Emily McCabe

    The show also engages in the fourth season in an interesting way with the past to highlight the changes that have happened between even just the third and fourth seasons. The scene between Herc and Carver on the way to the meeting with Valchek where the two officers run across the corner kids in an obviously stolen vehicle provides a good example of this. Herc brightens up, ready to chase them down with his old partner and have it be just like old times, whereas Carver stops recognizes the faces he needs to and continues on his way. His new more subtle and effective policing methods and personal growth are even more evident when juxtaposed with Herc who still has a lot of evolving to do.

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