I'm not going to repeat the other excellent reviews of this episode, but I want to call out the wonderfully understated character moment at the end with Lieutenant Daniels. The entire episode I was questioning why he was reversing course on his reputation as an ambitious "organization man" by fighting to hold off the murder warrants Rawls was pushing for. Even after explicitly telling McNulty that he wouldn't do it.
I interpreted the last scene as answering that question. The shot lingers with Daniels alone in his office staring at the crime scene photo of Brandon Wright. The brutality of the Brandon's murder must have rattled Daniels into fighting for the "right thing" at the cost of advancing his own career. In a manner typical of this show, this isn't communicated by some corny speech, about standing up and fighting for what's right, but just by showing him sitting in the dark, staring at a photo. If you blink, you might have missed it, but it speaks volumes to the depths of this show. 10/10 episode.
I interpreted the last scene as answering that question. The shot lingers with Daniels alone in his office staring at the crime scene photo of Brandon Wright. The brutality of the Brandon's murder must have rattled Daniels into fighting for the "right thing" at the cost of advancing his own career. In a manner typical of this show, this isn't communicated by some corny speech, about standing up and fighting for what's right, but just by showing him sitting in the dark, staring at a photo. If you blink, you might have missed it, but it speaks volumes to the depths of this show. 10/10 episode.