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Stray Rounds (The Wire episode)
Encyclopedia
"Stray Rounds" is the ninth episode of the second season of the HBO original series, The Wire
. The episode was written by David Simon
from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns
and was directed by Tim Van Patten
. It originally aired on July 27, 2003.
and Andre Royo
do not appear in this episode.
assigns Thomas "Herc" Hauk and Ellis Carver
to watch the warehouse while Lester Freamon
, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, Bunk Moreland
and Beadie Russell
man their remaining wiretaps.
Jimmy McNulty
continues to try to infiltrate the Greek's brothel and has more success when taking Freamon's advice to pose as a British john. He uses a badly faked English accent and the cover name James Cromwell (the surname coming from Oliver Cromwell
, a character West was to play later in The Devil's Whore
) to book a visit. McNulty visits his pal from the FBI, Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh and apologizes for his actions last time they met. Fitz agrees to help him look up George "Double G" Glekas. Fitz finds that Glekas’ file has been sealed by an agent Koutris. Koutris tells Fitz there is little to the file they are holding. Once the call is finished, Koutris phones Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos
to let him know other agents are looking into Glekas.
At the office, Russell notices a container going missing and asks Carver to watch what happens with it as he is already out on surveillance at the Greek's warehouse. Carver reports the truck’s arrival while Eton Ben-Eleazer orders one of his men to record the license plates of cars near the warehouse in order to check if the police are nearby.
meets with Vondas to discuss their business. Vondas puts Nick in touch with "White" Mike McArdle to supply him with his drugs from now on. Vondas gives Nick a new list of clean containers to disappear.
Vondas discusses the smuggling business with Eton and they agree to move more drugs. Later, The Greek
has dinner with Vondas, Eton, Double G and Ilona (the madam from the brothel). At dinner, they discuss the unreliability of their Colombian business partners. In an act of revenge, The Greek gives the details of a huge Colombian cocaine shipment, disguised as blue paint pellets in a shipping container, to agent Koutris, his man in the FBI, who makes the drug bust.
’ crew face the repercussions of beating another crew of dealers to get them off their turf when they come back with guns. In the ensuing gunfight, a nine-year-old boy is killed by a stray bullet through his bedroom window.
Colonel William Rawls
welcomes Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin and Lieutenant Dennis Mello to the scene of the shooting. Rawls is angry that they are late, with a sarcastic lament. "It used to be when a nine-year-old kid hit the pavement, the district commander would be there within minutes." Colvin explains that Burrell had taken him to DC with other district commanders to attend a seminar. Ed Norris is the lead investigator from homicide. Rawls asks Colvin to have Western and tactical arrest as many dealers as possible while his men work the case.
Bodie reports the gunfight to Stringer Bell
; Stringer is angry that their trade will be disrupted indefinitely by the boy's accidental death. Stringer tells Bodie that their business revolves around more than violence, territory and reputations and that Bodie needs to show some flexibility—and intelligence. Shamrock drives Bodie to dispose of the weapons, Bodie wipes them clean as they travel and throws them over the side of the Hanover Street bridge near the harbor. They don't realize it, but the bag of guns lands on the deck of a passing barge and is later picked up by city police.
Colvin's district conducts a large-scale strike operation against drug dealers and makes numerous arrests. The SWAT Team leader has everyone in the pit arrested on suspicion of murdering the young child. Mello comments that they waited too long to do this and Colvin asks him what it is they think they are doing.
Sergeant Jay Landsman
discusses the case with Ray Cole and Norris. They have had witnesses mention Bodie. Norris and Cole later bring Bodie in, interrogating him. To his surprise, Cole and Norris present him with the bagged weapons he failed to adequately dispose of. Cole tells him they have matched his prints to a weapon. Bodie challenges Cole: "Which one?" When Cole picks the wrong weapon, Bodie knows they're bluffing, and believing he's not in as much trouble as they say he is, Bodie confidently says one word: "Lawyer."
to discuss co-operating over sharing product and territory. Proposition Joe is worried that Avon Barksdale
might not be so keen to share his territory. Stringer suggests that when Avon sees how much money his organization will make from co-operating with Joe's, he'll come around, but he himself sounds far from convinced.
Stringer asks Brianna Barksdale to talk to Avon about the deal he has made with Proposition Joe. He says that with their weak product and lack of muscle, they're out of options. Brianna soon reports back that Avon is still adamantly against co-operating with Proposition Joe. Avon told Brianna to assure Stringer that he's working on getting a new supply and is bringing in muscle from New York, named Brother Mouzone, to help fight off rival dealers.
Disturbed, Stringer takes this news to Proposition Joe who is even more concerned. Stringer assures Joe that their deal is still on and that they have time before Brother Mouzone arrives to get their plan into action, insisting Proposition Joe they work together to deal with Brother Mouzone. Joe refuses to send any of his people up against Brother Mouzone, realizing his reputation as a feared hitman.
At the end of the episode, a calm, well-dressed man in a suit and bow-tie arrives at the projects, nodding amiably at the police swarming around the area. The man surveying the scene is the fearsome Brother Mouzone. Two weeks early.
drinks with Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto and expresses a desire to get out of the drug business, despite having been involved for over a year. Nick arrives later and Ziggy, very drunk and distraught, tries to start a fight with him. Nick refuses to rise to Ziggy, then finds out in the bar why Ziggy was so upset. Ziggy had accidentally killed his pet duck—he gave the duck hard liquor, and it died of alcohol poisoning in the bar.
Ziggy meets with Glekas and offers him stolen cars from the docks to sell abroad. Glekas is initially reluctant but agrees to give Ziggy a chance. Ziggy plans to create a track across the grass and a hole in the fence to take the cars through; Johnny Fifty questions why they need to when they could take the cars out of the front.
makes his final appearance as Detective Ray Cole in this episode. Colesberry died in 2004 following complications from cardiac surgery.
Jimmy McNulty
struggles with an English accent and vernacular in this episode. Dominic West
is British. Also McNulty's undercover name was Mr. Cromwell, and West later played Oliver Cromwell in the Channel Four drama The Devil's Whore
.
Detective Freamon's use of the ICAO spelling alphabet is correct, save for the letter P for which he should have used Papa instead of Paul.
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
. The episode was written by David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns
Ed Burns
Ed Burns is a producer, screenwriter, and novelist. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. They have collaborated on The Corner and The Wire . Burns is a former Baltimore police detective for the Homicide and Narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher...
and was directed by Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten
Tim Van Patten is an American television director, actor, screenwriter, and producer. As a director, Van Patten has directed episodes of The Sopranos, The Wire, Deadwood, Boardwalk Empire, Rome, The Pacific, Game of Thrones, Ed, and Sex and the City. Van Patten is perhaps best known for portraying...
. It originally aired on July 27, 2003.
Title reference
The title refers to the stray bullets from the gunfight one of which killed a nearby child, as well as the 'rounds' of alcohol which poisoned Ziggy's duck.Epigraph
The Greek makes this statement referring to telecommunication. It also refers to the fact that many of the show's characters are inadvertently connected to each other, even while being unaware of it.Starring cast
Although credited, Wood HarrisWood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO television drama The Wire, and as high-school football player Julius Campbell in the 2000 motion picture Remember the Titans.-Life and career:Harris was born in...
and Andre Royo
Andre Royo
Andre Royo is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire , and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.-Career:...
do not appear in this episode.
Guest stars
- Seth GilliamSeth GilliamSeth Gilliam is an American actor. He is known for his HBO television roles, first as corrections officer-turned-prisoner Clayton Hughes on Oz, and later as Baltimore police detective promoted to sergeant Ellis Carver on The Wire. On both of these series, he co-starred with Lance Reddick and J.D....
as Detective Ellis CarverEllis CarverEllis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit... - Domenick LombardozziDomenick LombardozziDomenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi is an American actor best known for his role as Thomas "Herc" Hauk on The Wire. Lombardozzi was inspired to act by the film State of Grace.-Filmography:...
as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk - Jim True-FrostJim True-FrostJim True-Frost, born Jim True, is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program The Wire.-Biography:...
as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski - Robert WisdomRobert WisdomRobert Wisdom is an American actor. He is a graduate of Columbia University.-Biography:Wisdom was born in Washington, D.C. to Jamaican parents. He appeared in four of the five seasons of HBO program The Wire as Howard "Bunny" Colvin...
as Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin - James RansoneJames RansoneJames Ransone is an American actor and former musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of HBO's The Wire, and Corporal Josh Ray Person in the Iraq War-based mini-series Generation Kill...
as Ziggy SobotkaZiggy SobotkaChester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's often reckless and juvenile behavior gained him little respect among other members of the union and... - Pablo SchreiberPablo SchreiberPablo Tell Schreiber is an American actor known for his dramatic stage work and for his portrayal of the Polish-American character Nick Sobotka on HBO's Baltimore drug-related crime drama The Wire. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Awake and Sing! on Broadway...
as Nick SobotkaNick SobotkaNickolas Andrew "Nick" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Pablo Schreiber. the character of Nick is cousin to, Ziggy Sobotka, the wayward and rebellious son to his uncle Frank Sobotka... - Tom MardirosianTom MardirosianTom Mardirosian is an American actor. He is known for playing Agamemnon Busmalis in the HBO show Oz and Agent Kristos Koutris in the HBO show "The Wire"....
as Agent Koutris - Michael Potts as Brother Mouzone
- Bill RaymondBill RaymondBill Raymond is an actor who has appeared in film, television and theatre since the 1960s.-Life and career:He featured in the second and fifth seasons of the HBO drama The Wire as "The Greek", the mysterious head of an international criminal organization. Other TV appearances include Miami Vice,...
as The GreekThe Greek (The Wire)The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking.... - Lev GorensLev GornLev Gorn is an American stage, film and television actor. Sometimes he is credited as Lev Gorens.-Off-Broadway:**...
as Eton Ben-Eleazer - Michael HyattMichael HyattMichael Hyatt is a British-born film and television actress. Before Hyatt's work in film and television, she enjoyed memorable performances on stages throughout the country, particularly in Ragtime on Broadway.-Early life:...
as Brianna Barksdale - J.D. Williams as Preston "Boadie" BroadusBodie BroadusPreston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
- Tray ChaneyTray ChaneyTray Chaney is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as Poot Carr.Chaney began his entertainment career as a dancer at the age of four winning competitions at the Apollo Theater. He appeared in the 2003 music video "My Baby" by rap artist Bow Wow. He later appeared in The Wire...
as Malik "Poot" CarrPoot CarrMalik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him... - Robert F. ChewRobert F. ChewRobert F. Chew is an American actor from Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in the HBO television drama series The Wire as manipulative drug kingpin Proposition Joe on all five seasons of the show...
as Proposition JoeProposition JoeJoseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug kingpin who preferred a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible... - Luray Cooper as Nat Coxson
- Kelvin Davis as La La
- Chris AshworthChris AshworthChristopher Michael Ashworth , better known as simply Chris Ashworth, is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sergei Malatov on The Wire...
as Sergei "Serge" Malatov - Al Brown as Major Stan ValchekStanislaus ValchekStanislaus "Stan" Valchek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Al Brown.-Biography:Valchek is the Polish-American commander of the Southeastern district, home to many of the remaining white ethnic neighborhoods in Baltimore...
- Doug Olear as Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh
- Charley ScaliesCharley ScaliesCharlie Scalies is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa, one of the stevedores and union members on the second season of HBO's The Wire. He has also appeared in TV shows Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, and The Sopranos.- External links :...
as Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa - Delaney WilliamsDelaney WilliamsDelaney Williams is an American actor from Washington, D.C. He appears on the HBO drama The Wire as a recurring guest star playing homicide sergeant Jay Landsman. He also had a small role on HBO's mini-series The Corner which brought him to the attention of the producers, who worked on The prior to...
as Sergeant Jay LandsmanJay Landsman (The Wire)Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work... - Ted Feldman as George "Double G" Glekas
- Bus Howard as Vernon "Ott" Mottley
- Ed NorrisEd NorrisEdward T. Norris is an American radio host and former law enforcement officer in Maryland. His talk show, the Ed Norris Show, airs on WJZ-FM in Baltimore, Maryland. Norris, a 20-year veteran of the New York Police Department, served as police commissioner for Baltimore from 2000 to late 2002...
as Ed Norris - Gloria Phillips as bereaved mother
Uncredited appearances
- Jay LandsmanJay LandsmanThe book was later developed into the television series Homicide: Life on the Street. He was the inspiration for the fictional character John Munch on that show and a character named Jay Landsman on the television series The Wire, created by Simon. Landsman portrayed himself in a brief appearance...
as Lieutenant Dennis Mello - Brook Yeaton as "White" Mike McArdle
- De'Rodd Hearns as Puddin
- Richard BurtonRichard Burton (Baltimore)Richard Burton is a Baltimore, Maryland, city council employee and runs the "Believe" campaign. He was a rapper before becoming involved in Martin O'Malley's first Mayoral campaign after meeting him in 1998....
as Shamrock - Jeffrey Pratt Gordon as Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto
- Derren M. Fuentes as Lieutenant Torret
- Gil Deeble as Hucklebuck
- Gordana Rasovich as Ilona Petrovich
- Daniel Ferro as Police Officer
- Luke Montgomery III as young boy
- Randall Boffman as Bill Anderson - administrator for the port of Baltimore
Sobotka detail
Members of the detail are dismayed at the lack of activity from their subjects and realize that they must have changed their operating procedures. The team decides they need to track a new phone number for the target they just identified before the smuggling ring changed up. Lieutenant Cedric DanielsCedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
assigns Thomas "Herc" Hauk and Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit...
to watch the warehouse while Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit...
, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, Bunk Moreland
Bunk Moreland
William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer and nicknamed "the Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who...
and Beadie Russell
Beadie Russell
Beatrice "Beadie" Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Amy Ryan. She was featured prominently in the second season, after she discovered thirteen corpses in a container on the Baltimore docks....
man their remaining wiretaps.
Jimmy McNulty
Jimmy McNulty
Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish American detective in the Baltimore Police Department...
continues to try to infiltrate the Greek's brothel and has more success when taking Freamon's advice to pose as a British john. He uses a badly faked English accent and the cover name James Cromwell (the surname coming from Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, a character West was to play later in The Devil's Whore
The Devil's Whore
The Devil's Whore is a four-part television series set during the English Civil War, produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4 in 2008. It centres on the adventures of the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and the historical Leveller soldier Edward Sexby...
) to book a visit. McNulty visits his pal from the FBI, Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh and apologizes for his actions last time they met. Fitz agrees to help him look up George "Double G" Glekas. Fitz finds that Glekas’ file has been sealed by an agent Koutris. Koutris tells Fitz there is little to the file they are holding. Once the call is finished, Koutris phones Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos
Spiros Vondas
Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Paul Ben-Victor.-Biography:...
to let him know other agents are looking into Glekas.
At the office, Russell notices a container going missing and asks Carver to watch what happens with it as he is already out on surveillance at the Greek's warehouse. Carver reports the truck’s arrival while Eton Ben-Eleazer orders one of his men to record the license plates of cars near the warehouse in order to check if the police are nearby.
The Greeks
Nick SobotkaNick Sobotka
Nickolas Andrew "Nick" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Pablo Schreiber. the character of Nick is cousin to, Ziggy Sobotka, the wayward and rebellious son to his uncle Frank Sobotka...
meets with Vondas to discuss their business. Vondas puts Nick in touch with "White" Mike McArdle to supply him with his drugs from now on. Vondas gives Nick a new list of clean containers to disappear.
Vondas discusses the smuggling business with Eton and they agree to move more drugs. Later, The Greek
The Greek (The Wire)
The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Bill Raymond. The Greek is the head of an international criminal organization involved in narcotics and human trafficking....
has dinner with Vondas, Eton, Double G and Ilona (the madam from the brothel). At dinner, they discuss the unreliability of their Colombian business partners. In an act of revenge, The Greek gives the details of a huge Colombian cocaine shipment, disguised as blue paint pellets in a shipping container, to agent Koutris, his man in the FBI, who makes the drug bust.
Western shooting
Bodie BroadusBodie Broadus
Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
’ crew face the repercussions of beating another crew of dealers to get them off their turf when they come back with guns. In the ensuing gunfight, a nine-year-old boy is killed by a stray bullet through his bedroom window.
Colonel William Rawls
William Rawls
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...
welcomes Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin and Lieutenant Dennis Mello to the scene of the shooting. Rawls is angry that they are late, with a sarcastic lament. "It used to be when a nine-year-old kid hit the pavement, the district commander would be there within minutes." Colvin explains that Burrell had taken him to DC with other district commanders to attend a seminar. Ed Norris is the lead investigator from homicide. Rawls asks Colvin to have Western and tactical arrest as many dealers as possible while his men work the case.
Bodie reports the gunfight to Stringer Bell
Stringer Bell
Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment...
; Stringer is angry that their trade will be disrupted indefinitely by the boy's accidental death. Stringer tells Bodie that their business revolves around more than violence, territory and reputations and that Bodie needs to show some flexibility—and intelligence. Shamrock drives Bodie to dispose of the weapons, Bodie wipes them clean as they travel and throws them over the side of the Hanover Street bridge near the harbor. They don't realize it, but the bag of guns lands on the deck of a passing barge and is later picked up by city police.
Colvin's district conducts a large-scale strike operation against drug dealers and makes numerous arrests. The SWAT Team leader has everyone in the pit arrested on suspicion of murdering the young child. Mello comments that they waited too long to do this and Colvin asks him what it is they think they are doing.
Sergeant Jay Landsman
Jay Landsman (The Wire)
Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work...
discusses the case with Ray Cole and Norris. They have had witnesses mention Bodie. Norris and Cole later bring Bodie in, interrogating him. To his surprise, Cole and Norris present him with the bagged weapons he failed to adequately dispose of. Cole tells him they have matched his prints to a weapon. Bodie challenges Cole: "Which one?" When Cole picks the wrong weapon, Bodie knows they're bluffing, and believing he's not in as much trouble as they say he is, Bodie confidently says one word: "Lawyer."
Barksdale trade
Stringer meets with Proposition JoeProposition Joe
Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug kingpin who preferred a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible...
to discuss co-operating over sharing product and territory. Proposition Joe is worried that Avon Barksdale
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...
might not be so keen to share his territory. Stringer suggests that when Avon sees how much money his organization will make from co-operating with Joe's, he'll come around, but he himself sounds far from convinced.
Stringer asks Brianna Barksdale to talk to Avon about the deal he has made with Proposition Joe. He says that with their weak product and lack of muscle, they're out of options. Brianna soon reports back that Avon is still adamantly against co-operating with Proposition Joe. Avon told Brianna to assure Stringer that he's working on getting a new supply and is bringing in muscle from New York, named Brother Mouzone, to help fight off rival dealers.
Disturbed, Stringer takes this news to Proposition Joe who is even more concerned. Stringer assures Joe that their deal is still on and that they have time before Brother Mouzone arrives to get their plan into action, insisting Proposition Joe they work together to deal with Brother Mouzone. Joe refuses to send any of his people up against Brother Mouzone, realizing his reputation as a feared hitman.
At the end of the episode, a calm, well-dressed man in a suit and bow-tie arrives at the projects, nodding amiably at the police swarming around the area. The man surveying the scene is the fearsome Brother Mouzone. Two weeks early.
Dock business
Ziggy SobotkaZiggy Sobotka
Chester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's often reckless and juvenile behavior gained him little respect among other members of the union and...
drinks with Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto and expresses a desire to get out of the drug business, despite having been involved for over a year. Nick arrives later and Ziggy, very drunk and distraught, tries to start a fight with him. Nick refuses to rise to Ziggy, then finds out in the bar why Ziggy was so upset. Ziggy had accidentally killed his pet duck—he gave the duck hard liquor, and it died of alcohol poisoning in the bar.
Ziggy meets with Glekas and offers him stolen cars from the docks to sell abroad. Glekas is initially reluctant but agrees to give Ziggy a chance. Ziggy plans to create a track across the grass and a hole in the fence to take the cars through; Johnny Fifty questions why they need to when they could take the cars out of the front.
Deceased
- T.T.: A child, shot and killed in Westside projects gunfight.
- Ziggy's duck: Alcohol poisoning.
First appearances
- Howard "Bunny" Colvin: Commander of the Western district, seen at the scene of the child’s shooting.
- Dennis Mello: Shift lieutenant in the Western district and Colvin’s right-hand man.
- Brother Mouzone: New York hitman and drug enforcer who appears in a manner similar to Nation of Islam members.
Miscellaneous
Robert F. ColesberryRobert F. Colesberry
Robert F. "Bob" Colesberry, Jr. was an American film and television producer and first assistant director notable for his work as a producer on the Emmy Award winning miniseries The Corner, the Peabody Award winning television series The Wire for HBO, and the Oscar-nominated movie Mississippi...
makes his final appearance as Detective Ray Cole in this episode. Colesberry died in 2004 following complications from cardiac surgery.
Jimmy McNulty
Jimmy McNulty
Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish American detective in the Baltimore Police Department...
struggles with an English accent and vernacular in this episode. Dominic West
Dominic West
Dominic Gerard Fe West is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.-Film and TV:...
is British. Also McNulty's undercover name was Mr. Cromwell, and West later played Oliver Cromwell in the Channel Four drama The Devil's Whore
The Devil's Whore
The Devil's Whore is a four-part television series set during the English Civil War, produced by Company Pictures for Channel 4 in 2008. It centres on the adventures of the fictional Angelica Fanshawe, and the historical Leveller soldier Edward Sexby...
.
Detective Freamon's use of the ICAO spelling alphabet is correct, save for the letter P for which he should have used Papa instead of Paul.