SPREAD THE WORD, DARLING. OMAR BACK: Oh, indeed. The thing about The Wire's season two episode "Hot Shots" (Sepinwall, Ariano) is how familiar Baltimore is starting to feel again. The band is getting back together, only there's a lot more people involved this time around -- we see the power and oiliness of St. Sen. Clay Davis, only from another angle; we see Prez carry forward what he learned from season one's Barksdale Organization investigation to enlighten his father-in-law Valchek, only to see Valchek use that information only to continue a vendetta against Burrell; we see McNulty's "I am the most brilliant police in the history of ever, ever" shtick deflated by Bunk and Lester in a scene so satisfying to the audience that one wondered why it didn't end with Bunk asking whether McNulty liked them apples.
And while the police are pursuing their unknown (to them) targets without much in the way of its best tools (outside the medical examiner's office), the Barksdale Organization yet again demonstrates how effective it can be when it wants to be using the lowest-tech of surveillance tools, with one exception: how could Avon be so sure that D'Angelo would take heed of his warning?
[In the meantime, life for blue collar white ethnic males in the early part of the 21st Century is frustrating, and job prospects are fleeting. Cue "Atlantic City" and Roger and Me, and does anyone need a camera?]
One thing about this episode initially rang false: the Donette/Stringer scene. It just felt like too much of a cliche, especially with the "I'm an XL"/"No doubt" flirtation, and out of character for the otherwise austere, business-focused Bell. But then it occurred to me: Stringer's there to get Donette to visit Dee in prison, because that's important to his business interests; if this is what Donette wants (and she clearly does), he's got to do it. Power is power, and Donette has it here.
So bring your tweedy impertinence and Budapest-bought boobies to the comments, and let's talk.
