Another decent episode. I feel like right now there's a division between the political side to things and the street level right now. Previous seasons explored corruption but it never really focused for that long beyond Erv when he was Deputy Commissioner. This season is really going up to the highest levels in terms of its exploration of corruption and that makes sense, but as of right now it is not gripping at all. It may be realistic but I don't have all that much reason to care because I haven't really been given reason to. As for the division between corruption and the street, it's meant that the season really isn't flowing at all. I know episodes are about an hour each, but the amount of individual scenes in just one episode is crazy. I don't think I've ever watched a show that so readily cuts back and forth between separate plot threads, and much of the time, the cuts feel abrupt and unnatural. Some scenes feel like they need to go on for longer, sometimes the scene it cuts to is a completely different plot thread with no kind of relevance to the previous one. This was evident in the previous two seasons but certainly not as much as it is now. I also feel like the stakes really aren't high at all right now, there's no feeling of any kind of threat. That being said, there were still good moments in this episode and a lot of the show's best qualities are still present. Omar got very carried away, McNulty is connecting the dots on Dee and tensions between rival crews are continuing to rise. This season definitely has potential but it's just got off to a very slow start
Mid 7
Mid 7