45 came and went, and we are officially halfway through the final run for television's greatest show. The episode furthered the despair of tragic ghetto figures Bubbs and Duquan, neither of whom seem to know how, as Cutty put it, "to get from here to there". Cutty himself is only a recently reformed con, who has somehow found himself and his gym in an distinctly fleshed out space between the street and the world outside of the street. It was sad to see Cutty powerless to help Duquan find a way out, but it's easy to forget that Cutty himself is still battling his demons. All Cutty has is boxing, and for awile he had the corners. Cutty was fortunate enough to find his ambition and luck come together when Avon provided the seed money for his gym -- who will be the seed money for Duquans so obviously needed education? As Michael tells Duquan, "you got other skills; you smart like that". But the public schools are no place for Duquan -- and he knows it. It will take more than the sage advice of Michael and Cutty to free Duquan from his hell.
Bubbles is also finding it hard to leave the street: his days filled with the incredible banality of just being. It's not so much that Bubbs misses being high (or is particularly craving it), it's that the rythym of the junky life (the daily scam, the thrill of the score, the high and come down, the rinse and repeat the next day) had become his routine, his life, his reason to get up in the morning. There were moments in season's past where we saw hope and joy on Bubbles face, even as a serious addict. Bubbles is seeking absolution for his sins in the form of a positive HIV test. When the test comes back negative it's a cruel twist on the more familiar HIV story: the needle user who uses a dirty needle once or twice and comes back positive. But Bubbles has shot up thousands of times, sharing a needle with people he knew had the bug. The non-nonsensical randomness of who lives and who dies is more shame, more baggage. Perversely Bubbles has kicked the habit but can't find a reason to live -- as if one could come without the other.
Of course it's not any fun in the sun for the more powerful characters either, with those at the top (or near it) of their respective institutions feeling more and more heat the further up the ladder they climb. Daniels is finding it tough sledding as the Deputy Ops of an incredibly poor city; Carcetti is already in midseason form for a Gubernatorial run as his city continues to get poorer and more violent (notice the mention of his gubernatorial fund raising in the Sun's budget line meeting); Senator Davis finds himself holding the water for the remnants of the Royce administration, trying to keep his shit together in the face of a complete bottoming out. Davis, as he says, doesn't want to eat the shit for the whole machine that elected him and appointed his cronies. Only after Norrece reminds him that the same machine that got him everything could take it all away does he aquiese. (Isn't it funny that Davis is more afraid of Machine then his is the Law?) As for Daniels, he should have known what he was getting into: what, his time invesitaging the Barksdale crew didn't teach him that politics trumps police work? And Carcetti, the star of last season, has succumbed to the pragmatic deal making (although still on the right side of the law) he has no taste for.
Carcetti has an immediate out though, unlike Daniels and Davis. Like the Greeks he is operating not just in the rusting shipyards and cracked pavement of the fading port town, but as an entity larger than Baltimore itself. The Greeks have international reach, Baltimore is pin on a map that they frequent when they find it convenient. Carcetti, as a young white mayor in a town where they don't elect white mayors has enormous political capital (ironically spades more outside of Baltimore than in it), he has a run at Annapolis coming and has aligned his ducks for a mid-term resignation for a higher prize.
All this and still not even a mention of Marlo and the street crews or Lester/McNutty/Newsroom. First with Marlo and the street: the opening scene humanized Chris and Marlo more then we've ever seen. Marlo is so giddy wearing his newly minted crown he is ready to go on vacation to Atlantic City! The always professional Chris reminds him that there is a war going on and there is no time for that. The scene in the park with Marlo and Chris walking arm-draped-over-shoulder is the clearest indication yet that they share a similar bond that once united Stringer and Avon, a bond about business, but also about colegial respect and admiration, even affection. Marlo even manages to crack a smile when he sees Chris playing with his daughter. We've never really seen what Marlo's crew does when they aren't running corners or cracking heads; this is the first real indication that like our more familiar mobsters these guys have families and picket fences -- supported of course by their blood money -- but family and love nonetheless.
I'm fascinated by the ruthless and yet nuanced Chris. He has played surrogate father to Michael ever since Michael came to him with his previously intractable problem. The concerned (but hard) look he shoots Michael when Michael runs his mouth in ignorance of how the game works is a precious moment. He clearly cares for Michael in a way that goes beyond a naked business interest. Chris, like McNulty, sees his job in the fatalist moral light of the institution he serves. Chris understands that if he wasn't there to bag all those bodies someone else would step up, it's why he always reassures his victims of "no mistakes", and "nice and clean" before his does them. Chris justifies his work by the professionalism he brings. In a perverse way he probably believes that he's doing his victims a favor: they'd be shot anyway -- it's their good fortune to go quickly and painlessly via himself.
McNulty thinks he's doing everyone a favor as well, by faking the murders and getting the police department much needed funds. But his plan, no matter how smartly planned, no matter how expertly pulled off, still spirals in ways he couldn't have expected (only initial overtime for him and Kima, pulling her off her very real triple homicide), his personal life (and those close to him) is in ruin, and the end (to get Marlo) is still very much in doubt. Instituational ladder climbers are often (and rightfully) derided for stepping over people and kicking them down on the way to the top. Ironically, McNulty steps over people and yet doesn't climb up any rungs. He straight screws Bunk and Kima, both good Police working real murders. He abandons Beaty and his kids. (It's safe to say the Chris is at this point a better father than McNulty) His fake murders only gain traction when Scott starts to embelish the rest of the details for him. Scott is McNulty's wet dream, a pliable gold digger easily manipulated into giving him exactly what he wants. It would be easier to understand Scott if he was unfairly manipluated by the system (as McNulty has been many times over the first 4 seasons) and was attempting (like McNulty has many times) to change the rules for the good of himself and his instituation. But Scott is a talentless hack, a middling writer who lies not out of some moral code (as misguided as McNulty is, at least he has a code) but out of pure selfishness. The results though for Scott and McNulty are much the same: Scott is taking away space from real, important stories; McNulty is taking away space from real, important murders.
And finally, a little bit about Omar. As Omar says, "it's never been about the money", instead it's about Lex Talianas as Justice -- and Omar is determined to fight and (if David Simon will let him!) die on that lie. Omar serves only himself; his hubris though may well do him in in this season. He's up against a crew more trained and more prepared then even perhaps himself. Barksdale allowed (perhaps because of Stringer's influence) to let some natural businessman (but not ruthless killers) into his inner circle: Shamrock, Stringer himself, De'Angelo. But Snoop, Chris, and Michael are of a level that has surprised even Omar. I must admit I'm probably at the low point of my interest in the Omar storyline; his larger than life ability to escape a bullet have me seeing him more as a thematic element than flesh and blood. That said, I'll be watching very carefully to see what exactly Simon has in store for Omar, and what it says about his vision for the show.
More informally, this season has already been a hell of ride. There is so much I still didn't touch on (the reverse race baiting of Royce, the radio host and Davis especially) and still much to come. This season hasn't touched me on a personal level like season 4, or on a visceral "holy shit this is great!" level like season 1 and 3. (season 2 I love you too!) But there are only 5 more episodes left, and they are going to more intertwined to the show's story ultimate story arc than anything previous. There are literally thousands of reasons to watch the Wire; I can't wait to see how everything plays out.
