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The Target (The Wire episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Target" is the pilot episode
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 Clark Johnson
. It originally aired on June 2, 2002.
(see picture) and Avon Barksdale
's drug dealing organization as the target of an investigation.
for taking on a homicide case that he could have avoided – it not being his turn in the rotation to take the next case. Bunk took the case because he knew the corpse was found in a house, which statistically gave him a much better chance of solving the case than if the victim had been found outdoors. The conversation is ironic since McNulty has broken the rules in a much more serious fashion by circumventing the chain of command.
He discusses the technique of using surveillance methods within shots (TV monitors, security cameras etc.) to give the sense of always being watched and a need to process the vast amount of information available to the show's detective characters. He also talks about trying to ground the show in realism by using only diegetic music.
Throughout the commentary Simon tries to distinguish The Wire from other television crime dramas. He makes the point that the detectives are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve but through the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminal they are chasing.
At the end of the episode, when the body of Gant is found, there is a brief flashback to the trial, re-identifying the character for the audience. David Simon cites it as one of the few things HBO urged them to do, to make sure audiences recognized the character. Although Simon concedes that 'maybe they were right', he says that they were reluctant to put it in as it broke from the style of the show. The show's storytelling has been entirely linear ever since.
. A real police officer named Jay Landsman
is also a character in the non-fiction book.
Reviewers have noted the pilot's grounding in the non-fiction political climate. The San Francisco Chronicle commented that the show had forecast a reduction of the FBI's attention to the war on drugs because of the competing war on terror. David Simon confirms that the pilot was shot only a few weeks after 9/11, but that the writers correctly predicted what the FBI's response would be.
.
(Jimmy McNulty
), John Doman
(William Rawls
), Idris Elba
(Stringer Bell
), Frankie Faison
(Ervin Burrell
), Larry Gilliard, Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale
), Wood Harris
(Avon Barksdale
), Deirdre Lovejoy
(Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman
), Wendell Pierce
(Bunk Moreland
), Lance Reddick
(Cedric Daniels
), Andre Royo
(Bubbles
), and Sonja Sohn (Kima Greggs
).
The episode introduces many characters who are important over the course of the series, despite only being credited as guest stars. Domenick Lombardozzi
plays Herc. Leo Fitzpatrick
plays homeless, hapless drug addict Johnny Weeks. Hassan Johnson
plays criminal enforcer Wee-Bey Brice
. Michael B. Jordan
plays naive sixteen-year-old drug dealer Wallace
. Melanie Nicholls-King plays Detective Greggs' domestic partner Cheryl. Doug Olear plays FBI Special Agent Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh. Richard DeAngelis plays Major Raymond Foerster. Wendy Grantham
plays stripper Shardene Innes. Michael Kostroff
plays defense lawyer Maurice Levy
. Michael Salconi plays Detective Michael Santangelo.
Reviewers have noted that several actors appearing in the series have previously appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street
and Oz
. In addition to Reddick and Harris, Oz alumni include Seth Gilliam
(Ellis Carver
) and J.D. Williams (Bodie Broadus
). Peter Gerety
(Judge Phelan) and Clayton LeBouef
(Orlando) were both major characters on Homicide, on which Delaney Williams
(Sgt. Jay Landsman
) had also appeared. This episode was the first of several directed by Clark Johnson
, also an alumnus of Homicide. The Corner
star Larry Hull appears as maintenance man and witness William Gant.
Brandon Price and Chris Clanton
appeared as Barksdale crew soldiers Anton "Stinkum" Artis and Savino Bratton in the courtroom scene but had no lines and were not credited. Tray Chaney
appeared as Poot Carr
in the pit, notably being told by Bodie Broadus
to chase down Johnny Weeks, but he has few lines and no credit. This begins a trend of minor roles and appearances remaining uncredited on the show. Producer Robert F. Colesberry
makes an uncredited cameo appearance as homicide detective Ray Cole, whom he plays over the course of the first two seasons.
, a Baltimore homicide detective, observes the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale
, a young drug dealer charged with murder. The first witness, William Gant, identifies Barksdale, but the corroborating witness, a security guard named Nakeesha Lyles, changes her story and refuses to identify Barksdale. The jury returns a "not guilty" verdict. Judge Phelan calls McNulty into his chambers, where McNulty reveals that he has noticed that D'Angelo's uncle Avon Barksdale
and Stringer Bell
have been tied to many murders and tells Phelan that he believes they are major players in West Baltimore's drug trade; McNulty makes the point that nobody is investigating their organization and Phelan calls Deputy Commissioner Burrell
. Major Rawls
is incensed, and forces McNulty to write the report which Burrell requests about the Barksdale murders. Sergeant Landsman
(McNulty's supervisor in Homicide) arrives in the morning warning McNulty that his behavior could end up in reassignment. McNulty reveals that his nightmare posting would be working "the boat" – the Baltimore Police Department's harbor patrol unit.
Narcotics lieutenant Cedric Daniels
is charged by Deputy Commissioner Burrell with organizing a detail to investigate the Barksdale operation. Burrell wants to keep the investigation quick and simple, appeasing Judge Phelan without becoming drawn onto a protracted and complex case. Daniels brings Narcotics detectives "Kima" Greggs
, Herc Hauk, and Ellis Carver
with him. Rawls sends McNulty to join them, in addition to Homicide Detective Santangelo, one of his unit's more inept detectives. McNulty objects to Daniels's plan of action – "buy busts" – and suggests a wiretap is the way to get a conviction. Daniels follows the orders he has been given, and insists that a fast and simple investigation is the way to go, also suggesting that the detail looks at old murders to try to find a connection to Barksdale.
McNulty visits another contact to look for help with investigating the Barksdales – FBI Special Agent Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh. Fitz shows McNulty the FBI's far superior surveillance equipment but reveals that the Bureau's drug investigations are coming to an end because resources are being diverted to the War on Terror
. McNulty goes drinking with his homicide partner Bunk Moreland
and complains about his ex-wife, who makes it difficult for him to see his two sons. Greggs returns home to her partner Cheryl.
drives D'Angelo to Orlando's strip club, a front for the Barksdale Organization
. When D'Angelo discusses the trial in Wee-Bey's car, Wee-Bey pulls over and curtly reminds him of the rules: business is not to be discussed in the car, on the phone, or anywhere they are unsure of being recorded. At the club, Avon chides D'Angelo for committing an unnecessary and public murder, costing the organization time, effort, and money. D'Angelo also meets a stripper named Shardene Innes working in the club.
When D'Angelo arrives at the high-rise towers the next day, Stringer tells him he's been demoted to heading a crew in the low-rise projects, including Bodie Broadus
, Poot Carr
, and young Wallace
. A junkie named Bubbles
and his protege Johnny buy drugs with counterfeit money, but when they try to repeat the scam, Bodie leads the crew in beating Johnny. Bubbles is also a confidential informant (CI)
for Greggs, and agrees to give her information on the Barksdale organization as revenge for the beating.
At the start of his second day working "the pit", D'Angelo is upset to see the body of William Gant – the witness in his murder trial – lying in the street.
and novelistic structure. The review compared the series to Richard Price's novel Clockers and wondered if the pace could be sustained for an entire season. The review picked out the characters of Jimmy McNulty
and Avon Barksdale
as particularly significant. An Entertainment Weekly reviewer praised Clark Johnson's direction of the episode and credited him with drawing subtle performances out of actors Peter Gerety and Lance Reddick. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle characterized the show as another success for the HBO network and a well-produced and complex subversion of the cops and robbers genre. He credited David Simon's reporter's eye for detail for the series' verisimilitude. He also noted the series themes of institutional dysfunction, the ineffectiveness of the war on drugs and novelistic structure. A separate Chronicle article highlighted the theme of institutional dysfunction through the comparable experience of characters on opposite sides of the law using McNulty and D'Angelo Barksdale as examples. The review also made favourable comparisons between the show and Simon's previous work on Homicide: Life on the Street, attributing the differences to the switch to cable television for The Wire from the NBC network who produced Homicide.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette was more critical of the show. They stated that the producers' expectations that the audience would have the patience for a complex, morally ambiguous, and slowly unfolding story might prove unfounded. They noted the cast members from Homicide and Oz and described The Wire as less accessible than either of these shows and also compared the pacing to Farscape
. They praised the performances of some of the cast and said that the show had moments that drew the viewer in but ultimately required too much of its audience. The New York Times also felt that the show "went out of its way to be choppy and confusing" and eschewed conventions of signposting the introduction of characters and obvious exposition but commented that while some viewers may be alienated others would find this refreshing. They noted the theme of institutional dysfunction and the use of parallel storylines for characters in different organizations to highlight this, citing the pariah status of Jimmy McNulty and D'Angelo Barksdale. The review also criticised the show's attempts at realistic dialogue, saying that it often seemed self-conscious, and the examination of the detectives' personal lives, saying that it had been done before. The review stated that the show's success would hinge not on its apparent high quality but on the tolerance of the viewer for the complexity of the continuing narrative, which they characterized as considerably more downbeat than high-octane shows like 24
.
The opening scene at the Snot Boogie crime scene has been praised as being a "perfectly crafted set-up" for the series' themes of institutional dysfunction, devaluing human life and as epitomizing the bleak humor of the show.
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
of the HBO original series, The Wire
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 Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson , sometimes credited as Clark 'Slappy' Jackson, Clarque Johnson, and J. Clark Johnson, is an American actor and director who has worked in both television and film.-Early years:...
. It originally aired on June 2, 2002.
Title reference
The title refers to Detective Jimmy McNulty setting his sights on Stringer BellStringer 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...
(see picture) and 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...
's drug dealing organization as the target of an investigation.
Epigraph
This line is taken from a conversation in which McNulty criticizes his colleague Bunk MorelandBunk 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...
for taking on a homicide case that he could have avoided – it not being his turn in the rotation to take the next case. Bunk took the case because he knew the corpse was found in a house, which statistically gave him a much better chance of solving the case than if the victim had been found outdoors. The conversation is ironic since McNulty has broken the rules in a much more serious fashion by circumventing the chain of command.
Commentary
The episode featured a commentary track recorded by creator and writer/producer David Simon as a special feature on the DVD release. Simon discusses the season's novelistic structure and the theme of the corrupting influence of the institutions that the characters have committed to. He mentions many real life inspirations for events and characters on the show.He discusses the technique of using surveillance methods within shots (TV monitors, security cameras etc.) to give the sense of always being watched and a need to process the vast amount of information available to the show's detective characters. He also talks about trying to ground the show in realism by using only diegetic music.
Throughout the commentary Simon tries to distinguish The Wire from other television crime dramas. He makes the point that the detectives are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve but through the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminal they are chasing.
At the end of the episode, when the body of Gant is found, there is a brief flashback to the trial, re-identifying the character for the audience. David Simon cites it as one of the few things HBO urged them to do, to make sure audiences recognized the character. Although Simon concedes that 'maybe they were right', he says that they were reluctant to put it in as it broke from the style of the show. The show's storytelling has been entirely linear ever since.
Non-fiction elements
Both the Snot Boogie murder story and Bunk's tale of shooting a mouse in his kitchen are true stories from Simon's time researching Homicide: A Year on the Killing StreetsHomicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is a 1991 book written by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon describing a year spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department homicide squad...
. A real police officer named Jay Landsman
Jay Landsman
The 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...
is also a character in the non-fiction book.
Reviewers have noted the pilot's grounding in the non-fiction political climate. The San Francisco Chronicle commented that the show had forecast a reduction of the FBI's attention to the war on drugs because of the competing war on terror. David Simon confirms that the pilot was shot only a few weeks after 9/11, but that the writers correctly predicted what the FBI's response would be.
Locations
The opening scene (the Snot Boogie crime scene) was filmed at the corner of Fulton and Lexington in West Baltimore. The scenes at Orlando's gentleman's club (beginning in this episode, and continuing throughout the season) were actually filmed at the Ritz in Fells PointFells Point, Baltimore, Maryland
-External links:*********...
.
Starring cast
The credited starring cast consists of Dominic WestDominic 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:...
(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...
), John Doman
John Doman
John Doman is an American actor best known for playing Deputy Police Commissioner William Rawls on HBO series The Wire from 2002 to 2008 and Colonel Edward Galson on Oz in 2001....
(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:...
), Idris Elba
Idris Elba
Idrissa Akuna "Idris" Elba is a British television, theatre, and film actor. He has starred in both British and American productions. Elba grew up in Canning Town, East London. One of his first acting roles was in the soap opera Family Affairs. He has worked in a variety of TV roles including ...
(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...
), Frankie Faison
Frankie Faison
Frankie Russel Faison , often credited as Frankie R. Faison, is an American actor.-Personal life:Faison was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Carmena and Edgar Faison. He studied drama at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he joined Theta Chi Fraternity...
(Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...
), Larry Gilliard, Jr. (D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo "D" Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore...
), Wood Harris
Wood 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...
(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...
), Deirdre Lovejoy
Deirdre Lovejoy
Deirdre Lovejoy is an American actress. She is most notable for her role on the HBO television series The Wire as Rhonda Pearlman. She graduated from the University of Evansville with an undergraduate degree in theatre....
(Assistant State's Attorney Rhonda Pearlman
Rhonda Pearlman
Rhonda Pearlman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Deirdre Lovejoy. Pearlman has been the legal system liaison for all of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' investigations on the show...
), Wendell Pierce
Wendell Pierce
Wendell Pierce is an American actor, best known for his work in HBO dramas, including his portrayal of Detective Bunk Moreland in The Wire and trombonist Antoine Batiste in Treme.-Life and career:...
(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...
), Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick is an American theater, film and TV actor and musician born in Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in The Wire as Cedric Daniels, appeared in Oz as Detective Johnny Basil and appeared in the fourth and fifth seasons of Lost. He now has a prominent role in Fringe...
(Cedric Daniels
Cedric 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...
), 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:...
(Bubbles
Bubbles (The Wire)
Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald"...
), and Sonja Sohn (Kima Greggs
Kima Greggs
Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...
).
Guest stars
- Peter GeretyPeter GeretyPeter Gerety is an American actor.Gerety began acting while a student at Boston University, participating in productions at the Charles Playhouse. In 1965, he joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company, a resident theater company in Providence, Rhode Island where he appeared in over 125...
as Judge Daniel Phelan - 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 - Leo FitzpatrickLeo FitzpatrickLeonardo Aurellio Randy "Leo" Fitzpatrick is an American actor.-Biography:Leo Fitzpatrick was born in West Orange, New Jersey. He was discovered at age 14 by director Larry Clark at Washington Square Park in New York City, skateboarding. Fitzpatrick was trying to perform certain skating tricks,...
as Johnny - J.D. Williams as Preston "Bodie" Broadus
- Hassan JohnsonHassan JohnsonHassan 'Iniko' Johnson is an American actor/producer from Staten Island, NY, born November 19, 1976. His most noted performance was appearing on the HBO program The Wire as Roland Wee-Bey Brice. His first acting role was in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He also had a significant role in the...
as Roland "Wee-Bey" BriceWee-Bey BriceRoland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides.... - Michael B. JordanMichael B. JordanMichael Bakari Jordan is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage drug dealer Wallace on the HBO drama television series The Wire, for his role as Reggie Montgomery in All My Children, as quarterback Vince Howard on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights, and since...
as WallaceWallace (The Wire)Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr... - Clayton LeBouefClayton LeBouefClayton LeBouef is an African American actor, best known for his recurring role as Colonel George Barnfather in Homicide: Life on the Street...
as Wendell "Orlando" Blocker - Melanie Nicholls-King as Cheryl
- Doug Olear as FBI Special Agent Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh
- 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... - Richard DeAngelis as Major Raymond Foerster
- Wendy GranthamWendy GranthamWendy Grantham is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as the sweet-natured stripper Shardene Innes in the HBO crime series The Wire....
as Shardene Innes - Michael KostroffMichael KostroffMichael Kostroff is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as defense attorney Maurice Levy. Kostroff starred in the fifth season of the series and appeared in all four earlier seasons as a guest star.- Biography :...
as Maurice LevyMaurice Levy (The Wire)Maurice "Maury" Levy is a fictional lawyer on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Michael Kostroff. He is a skilled defense attorney and was kept on retainer by the drug-trafficking Barksdale Organization, representing the organization's members at trials and advising Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell... - Michael Salconi as Detective Michael Santangelo
- Ingrid Cornell as Nakeesha Lyles
- Larry Hull as William Gant
- Lucy Newman-Williams as Assistant State's Attorney Taryn Hansen
- Michael Stone Forrest as Detective Frank Barlow
The episode introduces many characters who are important over the course of the series, despite only being credited as guest stars. Domenick Lombardozzi
Domenick Lombardozzi
Domenico "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:...
plays Herc. Leo Fitzpatrick
Leo Fitzpatrick
Leonardo Aurellio Randy "Leo" Fitzpatrick is an American actor.-Biography:Leo Fitzpatrick was born in West Orange, New Jersey. He was discovered at age 14 by director Larry Clark at Washington Square Park in New York City, skateboarding. Fitzpatrick was trying to perform certain skating tricks,...
plays homeless, hapless drug addict Johnny Weeks. Hassan Johnson
Hassan Johnson
Hassan 'Iniko' Johnson is an American actor/producer from Staten Island, NY, born November 19, 1976. His most noted performance was appearing on the HBO program The Wire as Roland Wee-Bey Brice. His first acting role was in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He also had a significant role in the...
plays criminal enforcer Wee-Bey Brice
Wee-Bey Brice
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides....
. Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan
Michael Bakari Jordan is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage drug dealer Wallace on the HBO drama television series The Wire, for his role as Reggie Montgomery in All My Children, as quarterback Vince Howard on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights, and since...
plays naive sixteen-year-old drug dealer Wallace
Wallace (The Wire)
Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr...
. Melanie Nicholls-King plays Detective Greggs' domestic partner Cheryl. Doug Olear plays FBI Special Agent Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh. Richard DeAngelis plays Major Raymond Foerster. Wendy Grantham
Wendy Grantham
Wendy Grantham is an American actress and singer, best known for her role as the sweet-natured stripper Shardene Innes in the HBO crime series The Wire....
plays stripper Shardene Innes. Michael Kostroff
Michael Kostroff
Michael Kostroff is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as defense attorney Maurice Levy. Kostroff starred in the fifth season of the series and appeared in all four earlier seasons as a guest star.- Biography :...
plays defense lawyer Maurice Levy
Maurice Levy (The Wire)
Maurice "Maury" Levy is a fictional lawyer on the HBO drama The Wire, played by Michael Kostroff. He is a skilled defense attorney and was kept on retainer by the drug-trafficking Barksdale Organization, representing the organization's members at trials and advising Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell...
. Michael Salconi plays Detective Michael Santangelo.
Reviewers have noted that several actors appearing in the series have previously appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street
Homicide: Life on the Street is an American police procedural television series chronicling the work of a fictional version of the Baltimore Homicide Unit. It ran for seven seasons on NBC from 1993 to 1999, and was succeeded by a TV movie, which also acted as the de-facto series finale...
and Oz
Oz (TV series)
Oz is an American television drama series created by Tom Fontana, who also wrote or co-wrote all of the series' 56 episodes . It was the first one-hour dramatic television series to be produced by premium cable network HBO. Oz premiered on July 12, 1997 and ran for six seasons...
. In addition to Reddick and Harris, Oz alumni include Seth Gilliam
Seth Gilliam
Seth 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....
(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...
) and J.D. Williams (Bodie Broadus
Bodie 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...
). Peter Gerety
Peter Gerety
Peter Gerety is an American actor.Gerety began acting while a student at Boston University, participating in productions at the Charles Playhouse. In 1965, he joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company, a resident theater company in Providence, Rhode Island where he appeared in over 125...
(Judge Phelan) and Clayton LeBouef
Clayton LeBouef
Clayton LeBouef is an African American actor, best known for his recurring role as Colonel George Barnfather in Homicide: Life on the Street...
(Orlando) were both major characters on Homicide, on which Delaney Williams
Delaney Williams
Delaney 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...
(Sgt. 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...
) had also appeared. This episode was the first of several directed by Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson
Clark Johnson , sometimes credited as Clark 'Slappy' Jackson, Clarque Johnson, and J. Clark Johnson, is an American actor and director who has worked in both television and film.-Early years:...
, also an alumnus of Homicide. The Corner
The Corner
The Corner is a 2000 HBO drama television miniseries based on the nonfiction book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood by David Simon and Ed Burns and adapted for television by Simon and David Mills. It premiered on premium cable network HBO in the United States on April 16,...
star Larry Hull appears as maintenance man and witness William Gant.
Uncredited appearances
- Chris ClantonChris ClantonChris Clanton is an American actor. He has a recurring role as Savino Bratton in season 1 and 5 of The Wire. He is credited as Christopher J. Clanton in the fifth series. He also had an uncredited role in The Corner as a street kid...
as Savino - 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... - Brandon Price as Anton "Stinkum" Artis
- Robert F. ColesberryRobert F. ColesberryRobert 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...
as Detective Ray Cole - Bobby J. Brown as Officer Bobby Brown
- Kamal Bostic-Smith as Snot Boogie's friend
Brandon Price and Chris Clanton
Chris Clanton
Chris Clanton is an American actor. He has a recurring role as Savino Bratton in season 1 and 5 of The Wire. He is credited as Christopher J. Clanton in the fifth series. He also had an uncredited role in The Corner as a street kid...
appeared as Barksdale crew soldiers Anton "Stinkum" Artis and Savino Bratton in the courtroom scene but had no lines and were not credited. Tray Chaney
Tray Chaney
Tray 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...
appeared as Poot Carr
Poot Carr
Malik "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...
in the pit, notably being told by Bodie Broadus
Bodie 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...
to chase down Johnny Weeks, but he has few lines and no credit. This begins a trend of minor roles and appearances remaining uncredited on the show. Producer Robert F. Colesberry
Robert 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 an uncredited cameo appearance as homicide detective Ray Cole, whom he plays over the course of the first two seasons.
The Police
Jimmy McNultyJimmy 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...
, a Baltimore homicide detective, observes the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo "D" Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore...
, a young drug dealer charged with murder. The first witness, William Gant, identifies Barksdale, but the corroborating witness, a security guard named Nakeesha Lyles, changes her story and refuses to identify Barksdale. The jury returns a "not guilty" verdict. Judge Phelan calls McNulty into his chambers, where McNulty reveals that he has noticed that D'Angelo's uncle 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...
and 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...
have been tied to many murders and tells Phelan that he believes they are major players in West Baltimore's drug trade; McNulty makes the point that nobody is investigating their organization and Phelan calls Deputy Commissioner Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...
. Major 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:...
is incensed, and forces McNulty to write the report which Burrell requests about the Barksdale murders. Sergeant 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...
(McNulty's supervisor in Homicide) arrives in the morning warning McNulty that his behavior could end up in reassignment. McNulty reveals that his nightmare posting would be working "the boat" – the Baltimore Police Department's harbor patrol unit.
Narcotics lieutenant Cedric Daniels
Cedric 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...
is charged by Deputy Commissioner Burrell with organizing a detail to investigate the Barksdale operation. Burrell wants to keep the investigation quick and simple, appeasing Judge Phelan without becoming drawn onto a protracted and complex case. Daniels brings Narcotics detectives "Kima" Greggs
Kima Greggs
Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...
, 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...
with him. Rawls sends McNulty to join them, in addition to Homicide Detective Santangelo, one of his unit's more inept detectives. McNulty objects to Daniels's plan of action – "buy busts" – and suggests a wiretap is the way to get a conviction. Daniels follows the orders he has been given, and insists that a fast and simple investigation is the way to go, also suggesting that the detail looks at old murders to try to find a connection to Barksdale.
McNulty visits another contact to look for help with investigating the Barksdales – FBI Special Agent Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh. Fitz shows McNulty the FBI's far superior surveillance equipment but reveals that the Bureau's drug investigations are coming to an end because resources are being diverted to the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
. McNulty goes drinking with his homicide partner 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 complains about his ex-wife, who makes it difficult for him to see his two sons. Greggs returns home to her partner Cheryl.
The Street
Wee-Bey BriceWee-Bey Brice
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides....
drives D'Angelo to Orlando's strip club, a front for the Barksdale Organization
Barksdale Organization
In the television series The Wire, the fictional Barksdale Organization led by Avon Barksdale began as the most powerful and violent drug crew in Baltimore, Maryland and was the main focus of investigation in seasons one and three...
. When D'Angelo discusses the trial in Wee-Bey's car, Wee-Bey pulls over and curtly reminds him of the rules: business is not to be discussed in the car, on the phone, or anywhere they are unsure of being recorded. At the club, Avon chides D'Angelo for committing an unnecessary and public murder, costing the organization time, effort, and money. D'Angelo also meets a stripper named Shardene Innes working in the club.
When D'Angelo arrives at the high-rise towers the next day, Stringer tells him he's been demoted to heading a crew in the low-rise projects, including Bodie Broadus
Bodie 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...
, Poot Carr
Poot Carr
Malik "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...
, and young Wallace
Wallace (The Wire)
Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr...
. A junkie named Bubbles
Bubbles (The Wire)
Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald"...
and his protege Johnny buy drugs with counterfeit money, but when they try to repeat the scam, Bodie leads the crew in beating Johnny. Bubbles is also a confidential informant (CI)
Informant
An informant is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law enforcement world, where they are officially known as confidential or criminal informants , and can often refer pejoratively to the supply of information...
for Greggs, and agrees to give her information on the Barksdale organization as revenge for the beating.
At the start of his second day working "the pit", D'Angelo is upset to see the body of William Gant – the witness in his murder trial – lying in the street.
Deceased
- Snot Boogie, a craps player.
- William Gant, a witness in the D'Angelo Barksdale murder trial, is found murdered in the low-rise projects at the end of the episode.
Critical response
The Guardian Unlimited review noted the pilot episode established the series' themes of institutional dysfunction, the ineffectiveness of the war on drugsWar on Drugs
The War on Drugs is a campaign of prohibition and foreign military aid and military intervention being undertaken by the United States government, with the assistance of participating countries, intended to both define and reduce the illegal drug trade...
and novelistic structure. The review compared the series to Richard Price's novel Clockers and wondered if the pace could be sustained for an entire season. The review picked out the characters of 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...
and 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...
as particularly significant. An Entertainment Weekly reviewer praised Clark Johnson's direction of the episode and credited him with drawing subtle performances out of actors Peter Gerety and Lance Reddick. Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle characterized the show as another success for the HBO network and a well-produced and complex subversion of the cops and robbers genre. He credited David Simon's reporter's eye for detail for the series' verisimilitude. He also noted the series themes of institutional dysfunction, the ineffectiveness of the war on drugs and novelistic structure. A separate Chronicle article highlighted the theme of institutional dysfunction through the comparable experience of characters on opposite sides of the law using McNulty and D'Angelo Barksdale as examples. The review also made favourable comparisons between the show and Simon's previous work on Homicide: Life on the Street, attributing the differences to the switch to cable television for The Wire from the NBC network who produced Homicide.
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette was more critical of the show. They stated that the producers' expectations that the audience would have the patience for a complex, morally ambiguous, and slowly unfolding story might prove unfounded. They noted the cast members from Homicide and Oz and described The Wire as less accessible than either of these shows and also compared the pacing to Farscape
Farscape
Farscape is an Australian-American science fiction television series filmed in Australia and produced originally for the Nine Network. The series was conceived by Rockne S. O'Bannon and produced by Jim Henson Productions and Hallmark Entertainment...
. They praised the performances of some of the cast and said that the show had moments that drew the viewer in but ultimately required too much of its audience. The New York Times also felt that the show "went out of its way to be choppy and confusing" and eschewed conventions of signposting the introduction of characters and obvious exposition but commented that while some viewers may be alienated others would find this refreshing. They noted the theme of institutional dysfunction and the use of parallel storylines for characters in different organizations to highlight this, citing the pariah status of Jimmy McNulty and D'Angelo Barksdale. The review also criticised the show's attempts at realistic dialogue, saying that it often seemed self-conscious, and the examination of the detectives' personal lives, saying that it had been done before. The review stated that the show's success would hinge not on its apparent high quality but on the tolerance of the viewer for the complexity of the continuing narrative, which they characterized as considerably more downbeat than high-octane shows like 24
24 (TV series)
24 is an American television series produced for the Fox Network and syndicated worldwide, starring Kiefer Sutherland as Counter Terrorist Unit agent Jack Bauer. Each 24-episode season covers 24 hours in the life of Bauer, using the real time method of narration...
.
The opening scene at the Snot Boogie crime scene has been praised as being a "perfectly crafted set-up" for the series' themes of institutional dysfunction, devaluing human life and as epitomizing the bleak humor of the show.