S02.E09: Stray Rounds

[Rinaldo]

Story by David Simon & Ed Burns. Teleplay by David Simon. Directed by Tim Van Patten.

 

Stringer meets with Proposition Joe. McNulty goes undercover at the brothel as a British customer.

[Rinaldo]

I find I don't have a lot to say about this one. (The cold open is one of their bleakest, though I know it's a thing that has happened; I chose not to watch it again.) This is a remarkably bleak episode, being full of the uselessness of even trying sometimes. That's perhaps epitomized in the meeting with Valchek: they've done this truly amazing police work, uncovered so much, are within sight of closing almost all their open cases -- and he doesn't care at all, because all he wants is Sobotka. As Sepinwall pointed out, right there is the theme of the series, the hardworking police repeatedly having their careful long-term work shattered by someone who needs a specific target or an immediate result for personal or political gain.

 

The episode does introduce a couple of key characters for later stories. Major Colvin (just a bit player at the moment), and Brother Mouzone, who I confess to finding one of their less interesting creations. He does figure in a fabulous scene in a later season, though.

 

And one of the finest comedy sequence they did, McNulty as a British frequenter of brothels. First it gives them the chance to do a spoof on Dominic West's regular attempts at an American accent (unlike some, I think he does just fine in general -- 3 or 4 notable slips in the whole series) by having his character do a miserable attempt at a British one. And then his inability to recall the code word means that he actually completes the deed. And then he has to try to describe that in his report, in a way that will neither perjure nor disgrace him. Also a nice little moment when a cop want to break down the door for their raid, and our guys point out that a knock will do just as well: you can't flush hookers.

Edited November 16, 2014 by Rinaldo

[scowl]

Brother Mouzone seemed like the prototype for Gus Fring in Breaking Bad -- a bespeckled, articulate. diminutive, and apparently educated and cultured man who is a heartless and diabolical criminal. 

[LiveFromKevin]

Brother Mouzone also suffers from the same problem Gus (and many of Breaking Bad's villians) suffers from. Being the most alien-seeming character on a show renowned for creating fully-realized and believable characters. Mouzone was too unflappable, too remote. All the Barksdale dealers (Avon, Stringer, Bodie, D, Wallace, etc) and even Omar were way more interesting because you saw them make mistakes or get emotional. Characters like Mouzone, Gus Fring, and Billy Bob Thorton's character in Fargo are sometimes fun to watch; but they sometimes take away more than they add because they weaken the reality that the show has built on the strength of the other characters.

Edited January 13, 2015 by LiveFromKevin