WIRE, THE: ALL PROLOGUE (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic series about both sides of the Baltimore drug scene: the dealers and the law enforcement officers that go after them. This is the sixth episode of the series' second season, which focuses on crimes committed on Baltimore's waterfront.
Little testifies in court about the Gant case. Daniels and the rest of the unit confer on the dockworker’s union and their financial situation, believing that they can trace a flow of mysterious funds back to drug trafficking. Russell suggests that the checkers are allowing an influx of smuggled women and drugs to pass through the docks without being properly recorded; Daniels assigns Greggs and Pryzbylewski to investigate the matter more thoroughly. After the meeting, Hauk formally introduces himself to Russell and asks her out, but she declines.Little identifies Hilton as Gant's killer. Bell and McNulty watch the trial and question the veracity of Little’s testimony. Little identifies Hilton’s gun, and his comments provoke Hilton into an outburst, necessitating that he be physically restrained. Bell leaves the courtroom.
Vondopoulos introduces Nick to his friend Eton Ben-Eleazar, who asks him to produce the requested chemicals. Nick tells them about the incident between Ziggy and Wagstaff, which has stalled his efforts. They offer to kill Wagstaff, but Nick believes that this will only cause further problems as Wagstaff’s friends would seek revenge. Instead, Nick asks Vondopoulos to intimidate Wagstaff into backing off. In court, Levy calls Little’s testimony into question, believing that he made a deal with the police, and denigrating his character; he also points out Little's extensive criminal record. He calls him a “parasite” taking advantage of the drug trade, but Little counters that he and Levy are the same, and that they merely pursue different avenues of utilizing the crime world to their advantage. McNulty pesters Elena while she is speaking to clients at her job. He asks her out on a date, and she reluctantly agrees. Meanwhile, Bell delivers an envelope of money to Leech, an associate from Washington D.C.
Greggs contacts Innes to ask for help in tracking down women being trafficked into the country from Russia. Nick watches as Malatov threatens Wagstaff with an uzi, coercing him into reimbursing Ziggy for the car he destroyed. Cheryl is upset that Greggs has to infiltrate a strip club as part of her job, although Greggs assures her that she has no ulterior motives. Cheryl surprises her lover by insisting that she accompany her to the club. Frank hosts a union meeting to discuss the results of their political lobbying for a new grain pier. Many worry that real estate developers may infringe upon the pier and disrupt business by building condos. Frank claims that their monetary aid came from the “national office,” but a few members realize the true origins of their newfound funding. Russell and Freamon examine computer records about the ship that brought in the cargo container filled with Jane Does. The container was not entered into the system by the checkers. They decide to look back through the records to find other “missing” containers to establish a pattern.
Pryzbylewski and Greggs interview "Nightshift," the stripper friend of Innes, in the back of a club; she notes that the influx of Russian women there is forcing out some of the regular dancers. She says that a woman with an accent, possibly Russian, may have served as their “madam.” Nightshift further states that the women were constantly accompanied by their “handlers” and their operation is mobile. In prison, D’Angelo disposes of his remaining drug stash. Greggs takes Cheryl to see a pile of shipping containers and describes the conditions in which the dead women were transported into the country, which unnerves Cheryl. Hilton attends his pre-sentencing hearing, and Phelan calls it a mere formality; he says it is very likely that Hilton will be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole. Hilton swears revenge on Little as he is being led away. Nathan tells Little that it has been “a rare pleasure” working with him.
D’Angelo attends a prison book meeting for those that read “The Great Gatsby,” and comments that the point of the novel is that “the past is always with us.” He explains that no matter how someone changes, their history is always with them. Malatov takes Nick to see Stewart, and is told about the situation with Ziggy and Wagstaff. Stewart comments on Ziggy’s idiocy, but appreciates Nick’s efforts to look out for his family and pays him accordingly for the torched car. However, he admits that he would have killed Nick and Ziggy if not for their association with Malatov. McNulty views the body of the Jane Doe that he fished from the water and regretfully allows her cadaver to be donated to a lab. Brianna visits D’Angelo and tries to persuade him to go along with Avon’s plan, hoping to reduce his sentence. However, D’Angelo feels responsible for his own actions and believes he should finish his sentence, asking her to tell the rest of the family to leave him alone. Nick gives Ziggy the money from his car, having resolved the issue with Wagstaff. Ziggy immediately acts foolishly with the money, much to Frank and Nick’s annoyance.
After many hours of searching, Russell and Freamon trace back all of the missing containers to Pakusa. Moreland and McNulty go out drinking together, and McNulty notes that Hilton’s trial represents the last of his old cases. He shows Moreland his photograph of the Jane Doe he found before tearing it up. Frank confronts Ziggy, chiding him for his behavior. However, he also blames himself for not being able to properly provide for Ziggy, and wonders if he should have encouraged him to pursue further education. Ziggy recalls his childhood, filled with memories of his father and his business with the union and the pier. The next day, Russell and Freamon bring their findings to Daniels. They decide to install real-time monitoring onto the docks to figure out how Pakusa is handling the “missing” containers. D’Angelo and Avon pass each other in the prison hallway and Avon calls out to him, but D’Angelo maintains silence, then continues walking.
McNulty goes on his date with Elena; she cannot resist denigrating him despite her best efforts. He claims that he has changed his ways and wants to be given another chance. At Elena's suggestion, they end up in bed. Nick and Ziggy deliver the first chemical shipments to Vondopoulos. Nick is given the option of being paid in heroin, which could be resold at several times the value of the original payment. Nick hedges his bets by asking for half in cash and the other half in drugs. Ziggy offers to resell the heroin, but Nick insists on handling it himself. In the morning, Elena tells McNulty that he should leave, and that she doesn’t want their children to know that he was there. While working in the prison library, D’Angelo is strangled to death by Mugs, an inmate acting on Bell's order to Leech, who then positions his body to make it appear that he committed suicide.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: July 6, 2003 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:07
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:78850
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; TV - Drama, police/private detective; LGBT Collection - Drama
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2002-2008
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Simon … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Robert F. Colesberry … Executive Producer
- Nina Kostroff Noble … Co-Executive Producer
- Karen L. Thorson … Co-Producer
- Steve Shill … Director
- Norman Kinderlein … Researcher
- Ed Burns … Writer
- Rafael Alvarez … Writer
- Joy Lusco Kecken … Writer
- Dominic West … Cast, Jimmy McNulty
- Chris Bauer … Cast, Frank Sobotka
- Paul Ben-Victor … Cast, Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos
- John Doman … Cast, William Rawls
- Idris Elba … Cast, Russell "Stringer" Bell
- Larry Gilliard Jr. … Cast, D'Angelo Barksdale
- Wood Harris … Cast, Avon Barksdale
- Deirdre Lovejoy … Cast, Rhonda "Ronnie" Pearlman
- Clarke Peters … Cast, Lester Freamon
- Wendell Pierce … Cast, William "Bunk" Moreland
- Lance Reddick … Cast, Cedric Daniels
- Andre Royo … Cast, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins
- Amy Ryan … Cast, Beatrice "Beadie" Russell
- Sonja Sohn … Cast, Shakima Greggs
- Seth Gilliam … Cast, Ellis Carver
- Domenick Lombardozzi … Cast, Thomas "Herc" Hauk
- Jim True-Frost … Cast, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski
- James Ransone … Cast, Chester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka
- Pablo Schreiber … Cast, Nick Sobotka
- Melanie Nicholls-King … Cast, Cheryl
- Callie Thorne … Cast, Elena McNulty
- Michael K. Williams … Cast, Omar Little
- Michael Hyatt … Cast, Brianna Barksdale
- Michael Kostroff … Cast, Maurice Levy
- Susan Rome … Cast, Ilene Nathan
- Robert F. Chew … Cast, Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart
- Wendy Grantham … Cast, Shardene Innes
- Lev Gorens … Cast, Eton Ben-Eleazer
- Charley Scalies … Cast, Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa
- Fredro Starr … Cast, Marquis "Bird" Hilton
- Chris Ashworth … Cast, Sergei Malatov
- Luray Cooper … Cast, Nat Coxson
- Erik Todd Dellums … Cast, Randall Frazier
- Jeffrey Fugitt … Cast, Claude Diggins
- Richard Price … Cast, Book Group Leader