Posted by SH
Lester, bless his heart, figured out Marlo’s cellphone code in time to catch Partlow heading to a warehouse out in the middle of nowhere for a fresh supply of product. Cue the blaring sirens, cue the SWAT teams, there’s your dope on the table. Just as the city poobahs are reeling over the phantom serial killer, they get a $16 million drug bust to make things feel a lot better. Lester forgoes the big public press conference, finding his joy instead through a silent encounter with Marlo, on his knees in handcuffs, furtively flashing him the clock that led to his capture. We get a rare glimpse of Lester in celebration, three sheets to the wind while McNulty looks on distractedly, and saying that Shardine better be ready for some lovin’. Go Lester!
This being “The Wire,” though, we know not to get too comfy with the idea that the good guys have won. There’s still that issue of how they set up the wiretap — oh, and then there’s the matter of the fake serial killer that helped start the investigation. Things were made infinitely more complex when Greggs decided she couldn’t let McNulty’s lie go, and went to Daniels, who with Pearlman, confirmed that the investigation was bogus. Will they use the information to take McNulty down, or become his accomplices in order to make sure all the good policework that came out of it isn’t put in danger? And if they don’t bust McNulty — who’s still too guilt-ridden to enjoy the Marlo bust — how will Greggs take it?
In his cell, Marlo was more concerned with his reputation than his upcoming criminal case. When he heard about Omar having called him out on the streets, he blew up at his posse, proving that loud or quiet, Marlo is a scary, scary man. He also decided that Michael had to die, because it stood to reason that the boy was a snitch. He sends Snoop to do the deed, who schemes to lead Michael on a fake hit before doing him in. But Michael knows something is up, and he gets the drop on Snoop while they’re parked in an alley. Resigned to death, Snoop actually shows some humanity, respecting Michael’s intelligence, then before he pulls the trigger, asking him how her hair looks.
Michael packs up Dukie and Bug and heads out to an aunt’s house in a much better neighborhood. He says goodbye to a tearful Bug, probably forever, then drops Dukie off at some godawful place where something godawful is going on. Where Michael goes now is tough to figure, and frightening to think about. Will the pull of the streets be too much?
At the paper, Gus is closing in on Templeton’s web of lies, confirming some fallacies with a vet at Walter Reed, and bringing in another Sun reporter to track Templeton’s history. Gus also all but confirms Templeton lied about the anonymous quote that had Daniels stabbing Burrell in the back when the supposed source has no idea where that information came from. Meanwhile, the suits and Templeton are considering how best to position their homeless series for Pulitzer consideration, and that dreaded “Dickensian aspect” phrase rears its head again. This is the one area where the show seems to be a bit lazy. The editors are a bit too mustache-twirly to meet “Wire” standards, but, given that, it’ll be interesting to see their reactions when the house of cards comes falling.
Fletcher is doing some real journalism, tagging along with Bubbles to his sister’s basement, and his recovery meeting, where Bubs celebrates an important anniversary of sobriety. After some dark treading in the early part of the season, Bubs appears to have made peace with himself, saying that holding on to grief (and guilt) is OK, as long as you make room for other stuff. Not sure if we’ll see Bubs in the finale, but if not, this is a pretty good place to leave him.
Well, it’s down to just one episode, one more hour to try and tie up the loose ends of the serial killer, and untie a bunch of others that will have us contemplating the fate of the characters for years on end. My personal prediction: McNulty’s scheme will be covered somehow, and Templeton will end up taking the bulk of the fall. But if McNulty does go down, I don’t see Lester going down with him. This time, the lovable drunk will fall on the grenade all on his own. Michael will assume his own criminal empire, either taking out a newly freed Marlo, or simply filling in the vacuum he left behind. And we’ll end with a cop sitting in a car, binoculars trained on Michael, reporting his activities over the phone to an unseen force commander. Whatever happens in the finale, maybe the best news of all is it’s going to involve Prez!