Unconfirmed Reports

Episode aired Jan 13, 2008
TV-MA
58m

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

Crime Drama Thriller

Although he tells Sydnor the Davis investigation could be a 'career case,' Freamon keeps a wary eye out for Marlo, who takes care of some unfinished business and strikes a business deal with... Read allAlthough he tells Sydnor the Davis investigation could be a 'career case,' Freamon keeps a wary eye out for Marlo, who takes care of some unfinished business and strikes a business deal with Barksdale.Although he tells Sydnor the Davis investigation could be a 'career case,' Freamon keeps a wary eye out for Marlo, who takes care of some unfinished business and strikes a business deal with Barksdale.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

8.1/10

4.2K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
The characters of Kevin Infante and Nancy Porter are from the novel "Every Secret Thing" by Laura Lippman, who is married to series creator David Simon.

Goofs
Tom McCarthy's name is listed twice as one of the actors: first, in the opening credits as one of the main cast members; second, at the end credits with guest stars and supporting actors who are outside of the main cast.

Quotes
Recovering addict: You know how that go, right? Gave myself all these little rules about what I wouldn't do. Like I told myself I'd do a lot of shit to get high, but I swore I wouldn't ever trick. So, after I'm tricking, I thought, "This ain't so bad. I'll do this for a while, except I'll make some more rules for myself, like I'm going to use condoms, and I'm never going to go with more than one guy at the same time". Well, let's just say that there are some things that I told myself I would never do. You know what my disease did to my rules, right? Whatever it is you tell yourself you won't do to get high, you're pretty much making a list of everything you will do as soon as your inner addict tells you to. I mean, that bitch wants to kill me. She does.

Connections
Features Nancy Grace (2005)

Soundtracks
More Than a Feeling
Written by Tom Scholz (uncredited)
Performed by Boston

User reviews7

Featured review

10/10

Whatever you tell yourself you won't do...

Marlo takes advantage of a lack of police presence, whilst McNulty crosses a serious line of misconduct.

This is an excellent episode with memorable character moments.

There are some shocking scenes in this episode that still have an impact when watching many years after my first viewing.

One homicide committed at Marlo's behest is one of the worst incidents portrayed on The Wire and should compound the audience's distain for the character. It follows a somewhat darkly humorous scene of banter between Chris, Snoop and their 'Boyz N The Hood' wannabe fellow killer O-Dog, and reminds you what callous, evil characters they are. This scene also works well for Michael's long term character arc.

McNulty's cadaver related shenanigans depict the character at his lowest ebb and stretches my willingness to suspend disbelief to the limit. I struggle to accept The Bunk not arresting him on the spot, but I guess years of drinking and whoring together could create misplaced loyalty and a reluctance to take action. It is a major plot within series 5, so you have to go with it as you did Hamsterdam. Dominic West and Wendell Pierce are on top form.

Bubbs has some strong scenes that on first viewing put you on edge about how life is going to turn out for the character. Andre Royo is incredibly good at making you root for this character to have a positive ending.

The production values are top drawer as ever. There are some quite macabre crime scene visuals and harrowing scenes of the devastation caused by gang-related violence.

As always on The Wire, the scene selections made by the editors are perfect. I particularly like the cut from the Baltimore Sun reporters discussing social problems like parenting, to street scenes in Baltimore of mothers' behaving quite aggressively towards their children. Additionally, some of the dialogue involving the Sun reporters debating the merit of more complex news articles feels quite self-referential to the comprehensive way The Wire looks at various contributing factors to Baltimore's social decline.

For me this episode is a 9.5/10, but I round upwards.