S02.E06: All Prologue

[Rinaldo]

Story by David Simon & Ed Burns. Teleplay by David Simon. Directed by Steve Shill.

 

Omar testifies in court.

[Jordan Baker]

Omar testifying in court has to be one of my favorite moments in this series. It was both amusing and SO satisfying (to hear the defense attorney taken down a peg).

 

But, oh my, the death of another favorite character was hard to take. I knew it was coming (especially after the conversation in Stringer's car), but I was heartbroken by D's murder. And coming in the same episode as the amazing discussion of The Great Gatsby . . . argh.

 

This show knows how to get under your skin.

[Rinaldo]

Are we up to this point in the rewatch? I need to set up some more episode threads!

 

I agree with everything you just said, Jordan Baker. Many episodes are classics because of one scene, some for two, but this one has three: Omar's testimony, the Great Gatsby discussion (a momentary awareness that, in another world, D'Angelo could have led and flourished in a whole different kind of life), and then the final sequence.

 

One of the educational things about reading online discussions years after they happened is learning how invested viewers were, during the week after first telecast, in believing "he's not dead! it's just a misdirect! he can't be!" Nope, he's done. That's what this series does.

[Princess Sparkle]

This was the episode where I started to get worried about the characters I liked, because so far in the series, they'd either ended up shot or dead (Wallace, D'Angelo, and Kima).  

 

Omar testifying was one of the most satisfying scenes I've ever seen.  Because up until this point, we'd never seen Levy be anything other than successful, so to see him get taken down a peg was delightful.  

[Jordan Baker]

Are we up to this point in the rewatch? I need to set up some more episode threads!

 

I agree with everything you just said, Jordan Baker. Many episodes are classics because of one scene, some for two, but this one has three: Omar's testimony, the Great Gatsby discussion (a momentary awareness that, in another world, D'Angelo could have led and flourished in a whole different kind of life), and then the final sequence.

 

One of the educational things about reading online discussions years after they happened is learning how invested viewers were, during the week after first telecast, in believing "he's not dead! it's just a misdirect! he can't be!" Nope, he's done. That's what this series does.

 

I didn't know about the rewatch. I'm watching the series for the first time. (I have a bad habit of thinking I'm not going to like a series and then forging ahead and finding that I love it. See Breaking Bad.)

 

When I watched this episode, I hoped that D might have survived, but I didn't really believe it was possible.

[ToxicUnicorn]

Oh, boo.  I was hoping "family" actually meant something to Avon, at least for awhile longer.  I suppose I should have known better, but Dee himself didn't, did he.  I think he believed he could walk away, but instead he met the same fate he tried to change for Wallace.  

 

I liked the scene between Frank and Ziggy, once Ziggy started reminiscing and won Frank over.  You can practically feel how neither of them really had the energy to fight each other anymore and that there was some familiarity and affection buried in their relationship.

 

Nick's descent is slow and steady.  I liked how the other dockworker wanted no part of the heroin deal.  

 

For some reason, I am loving Amy Ryan's performance as Beadie.

[GodsBeloved]

I suppose I should have known better, but Dee himself didn't, did he

 

 

I thought he did know better. He told Donette that all that family stuff was only good until they didn't need you anymore (paraphrase).

[Inquisitionist]

Could someone clarify for me why Stringer had D'Angelo killed?  I seem to recall this was his directive, behind Avon's back.  Or was Avon in on it, too?  D'Angelo didn't seem like a "snitch" risk, he just wanted to do his time and then maybe have a chance at getting on with another life.  His arc was fascinating, and his demise was heart-breaking.

[Rinaldo]

52 minutes ago, Inquisitionist said:

D'Angelo didn't seem like a "snitch" risk, he just wanted to do his time and then maybe have a chance at getting on with another life.  His arc was fascinating, and his demise was heart-breaking.

It's been a while, but my recollection is that Stringer (lacking our omniscient perspective :) ) simply didn't believe that D'Angelo's intentions could be that pure and simple. Someone in his position, knowing what he did, would always be a security risk, perhaps all the more so if he seemed to be "playing innocent." 

[Inquisitionist]

28 minutes ago, Rinaldo said:

It's been a while, but my recollection is that Stringer (lacking our omniscient perspective :) ) simply didn't believe that D'Angelo's intentions could be that pure and simple. Someone in his position, knowing what he did, would always be a security risk, perhaps all the more so if he seemed to be "playing innocent."

That's what I thought, too, Rinaldo, but damn.  D'Angelo basically didn't have a choice about joining the "family business" and then he didn't have a choice about leaving it, except through death.  Stringer was one cold MoFo.

[Rinaldo]

For sure. In my watching of The Wire (some years after it aired), I was spoiled for a few developments, but fortunately not for the contents of this episodes, one of their (or anybody's) greatest. First the book club discussion, in which D'Angelo's speech was walking a tightrope of how insightful and self-aware he could be (make him sound just a bit too "written," and believability flies out the window) but absolutely stayed on the good side. And then the final minutes, when I was moaning "noooo" just like almost anyone watching it. 

[AuntiePam]

8 hours ago, Inquisitionist said:

Could someone clarify for me why Stringer had D'Angelo killed?  I seem to recall this was his directive, behind Avon's back.  Or was Avon in on it, too?  D'Angelo didn't seem like a "snitch" risk, he just wanted to do his time and then maybe have a chance at getting on with another life.  His arc was fascinating, and his demise was heart-breaking.

What Rinaldo said.  I would add that while Avon wasn't in on it, not directly, he gave Stringer reason to think he'd be okay with it.  I need to watch those episodes again, but I remember thinking that it was a "Who will rid me of this meddlesome priest?" kind of thing with Avon.  Neither of them were sure that Dee wouldn't cave at some point, especially when his child's mother stopped going to visit him.