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S02.E07: Backwash


Rinaldo

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I have a question about this episode (or, maybe, the one that preceded it). Did D'Angelo's mother know what was going to happen to him? DH thought she did, but I didn't think so. Granted, she was hardly Mother of the Year, and she did persuade D to take the fall. Still, she seemed truly heartbroken in this episode.

 

For that matter, did Avon know what was going to happen? Or was this Stringer making one of his executive decisions?

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When Stringer confers with the man who arranged the deed (the scene where they are talking in the truck), the man asks him if Avon knows, and guesses, "You're on your own, right?"  Stringer tells him it's none of his business...and that it better not reach Avon's ear.

I didn't see any hint that Brianna knew what was coming, or that she knows it wasn't suicide.

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When Stringer confers with the man who arranged the deed (the scene where they are talking in the truck), the man asks him if Avon knows, and guesses, "You're on your own, right?"  Stringer tells him it's none of his business...and that it better not reach Avon's ear.

I didn't see any hint that Brianna knew what was coming, or that she knows it wasn't suicide.

Thanks, Misstify. I'll admit that I miss some key points here and there because there's always so much going on!

 

Stringer is definitely going rogue. And Idris Elba is so perfect in playing him. I've seen him in only one other role--as the boss in one of the later The Office seasons. I don't recall much about the performance, but here? As Stringer? Man, he's just cold. And brilliant. And so memorable.

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No problem.  For me, this is a rewatch--already seen all five seasons, which means I can catch more dialogue than the first time around when I was busy trying to keep up with what was going on.  But there are definitely still some bits I'd forgotten and it's fun to be surprised now and again.

Idris Elba is so perfect in playing him. I've seen him in only one other role

 

I've seen him in a few episodes of the British detective drama Luther (AFTER seeing The Wire), but that show wasn't my cup of tea.  I wish all the Wire actors could be in awesome new shows. (Boardwalk Empire has actually quite a few of them now--maybe they can find a role for Idris Elba, except it's that show's last season).  

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Misstify you are right. Brianna did not know what was coming for D'Angelo.

 

That scene where she breaks down in her bedroom and that snake Stringer is there "comforting" her ... that was powerful.

 

I think I have an UO. I had major dislike for Stringer and that was before he put the hit on D'Angelo.

 

It is definitely fun rewatching and catching things you missed previously.

Edited by GodsBeloved
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This episode has a great little comedy caper within it: the sequence of events leading up to the creation of CI Fuzzy Dunlop.  I love this.  From the start, it's just such a classic bad idea to put the surveillance mic on Carver's credit card (Herc's being conveniently maxed out) with the intent to return it in 48 hours.  Then, the look on Carver's face when Frog chucks the tennis ball is priceless…the desperate attempt to save the tennis ball…and then it doesn't just get run over by an ordinary vehicle, but an 18-wheeler.

While Carver is still in shock from being out $1250, he realizes that Herc is pronouncing the name "Sobotka" in relation to the drug supplier they just surveilled.  "Yo, Beavis.  That's the name of the guy we're supposed to be working."  Even the comic moments are integral to the whole story.

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It didn't seem like Brianna was sure of what happened, but I thought it was telling that she did not ask questions, either.  The last time she visited Dee in jail - I don't remember the circumstances, exactly - I thought he was rebelling and she realized what could possibly happen to him as a result.  I didn't see her scene with Stringer as breaking down in shock.  I interpreted it as the kind of heartbreak that one might feel at an inevitable death.

 

But, I might be getting it wrong.

 

This episode was spectacular overall, for me.  It was very quiet, which I loved, because every single scene had that quietness to it, except Frank's meeting with Brucie.  Frank Sobotka won me over in this episode.  His outburst had so many layers to it.  I could feel the years of suppressed frustration and anger that he and his were never going to be able to think about doing whatever they wanted (no Princeton for them).  Best of all, he showed that he isn't some meathead who rages blindly at forces he can't really control.  He probably can't control them, and he acknowledges defeat to Brucie for now, and is aware of the consequences of it, but he's still moving pieces around as best he can.  I don't think it's so much that he cares about the docks (although he does) - to me, this episode showed that it is simply in his nature to try to do.  

 

The Frank character has turned into a pretty complicated, smart guy who I have to like.  I like the chance to see the inner and outer life of this fighting spirit, who got stuck in a fight he really didn't get to choose.  And then, to have the story punctuated by New Charles losing his leg and Frank giving away more illicit money.  Despite his good intentions, he's getting sucked in deeper.  Just as we were talking a few episodes ago about imagining the "could have beens" for Ziggy the technology guy, can you imagine what Frank could have been?  Catching a glimpse of a possible parallel life for Frank was the most powerful part of the episode, to me.

 

Aside from Herc and Carver's adventure with the tennis ball, everything else was so wonderfully subdued.  Everyone was going about their lives in their own understated ways, just doing whatever logical little piece they had, and yet all the pieces rearranged.  The cops did their surveillance and ended up connecting the Big Drug Guy with the corrupt dockworkers.  We got to see ordinary glimpses of every important person from the old task force: Lester doing his detective thing, with Bea (who is catching on nicely)l Kima, Prez, and Bunk all working their jobs methodically.  We saw the politics involved, but again, it was quiet and without fanfare.  People who were lower down (Bunk and Lester) started to pull whatever strings they could, and it works its way up the chain until Daniels ends up estranged from his wife by the end of the night (contrasted with Nicky getting lucky down in the basement).  On the other side, the Barksdale crew were also going through ordinary motions of trying to bury one of their own in an appropriate way, so they (Stringer and that big guy) could smoothly move onto the next step.  At the jail, I thought Avon started to suspect that Stringer was playing innocent about Dee's death, but there was nothing he could do.  It's as if he acknowledged that Stringer has the power now.  If Avon didn't know that before, I think he does now.

 

I have a soft spot for McNulty's domestic scenes.  I have no idea where they fit into all of this, but it was nice to see his life going forward as well, as he lives with the consequences of his affair (which reminds me, we got to see that red headed lawyer lady, as well, moving on).

 

It took awhile, but I feel like this episode was back on par with the excellence of Season 1.

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