WIRE, THE: SENTENCING {SEASON ONE FINALE} (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic series about both sides of the Baltimore drug scene: the dealers and the law enforcement officers that go after them. This is the thirteenth and final episode in the series' first season, which focuses on the drug-running business operating out of the low-income tenements.
Greggs awakens in her hospital bed and tries to help Moreland and Cole to identify the men who shot her. Royce and Brice are the prime suspects due to DNA evidence; Greggs confirms that Royce was one of her assailants but can't be sure about Brice, much to the detectives' disappointment. Daniels oversees the arrest of the Barksdale dealers but is concerned that they don't have new leads. McNulty receives word that D’Angelo is being represented by a public defender in New Jersey. Avon and Bell meet with Levy, who warns them that the police have placed listening devices in their club. They discuss plans to bail the dealers out of jail to avoid earning their enmity. McNulty prepares for his trip to New Jersey and puts off seeing Greggs until his return. Avon and Bell go to Avon's funeral home and meet Brianna, then make plans to turn it into the new center of their operation. Avon hopes to get D’Angelo out of jail, and Brianna stresses that Avon "owes him". McNulty and Pearlman speak with D’Angelo and his new lawyer in New Jersey, hoping to arrange a deal. D’Angelo has already cooperated in testifying as to his involvement in Avon’s drug ring, but McNulty and Pearlman show him photographs of the recent murder victims and get him to confess that Bell orchestrated Wallace and Brandon Wright’s murders. He claims not the know the identity of Wallace's killer, and reveals that Brice is hiding in Philadelphia. He also claims that Brice killed Deirdre Kresson and that he was nearby when it happened. D’Angelo expresses frustration at the misery his life has brought him and says he wants to “start over” elsewhere, promising to help the police bring down his uncle’s organization if they accommodate his request.
Much of the force is excited about the case's far-reaching implications, particularly Daniels and Pearlman. McNulty and Pearlman celebrate with a sexual encounter in the garage at police headquarters. Freamon visits his old buddy Roy Brown looking for phone records in Philadelphia in an effort to find Brice. Bell gets a new drug shipment and re-starts the Barksdale operation full-force. McNulty and Daniels bring the Barksdale case to federal agents, although new protocols make it unfeasible for the feds to pursue the case without a link to terrorism or corruption. McNulty visits Greggs and fills her in on the case's development. He admits that he delayed visiting her because he felt guilty about her getting shot. He agrees to speak to Bubbles on her behalf and give him money to get clean. However, Bubbles uses the money to purchase drugs and asks McNulty not to tell Greggs. Freamon, McNulty, Daniels, and Pearlman manage to connect the Barksdale gang with Davis' urban redevelopment campaign in an attempt to get the feds’ cooperation in the case. However, they learn that the feds intend to use Avon and Bell to get to the senator, and are largely uninterested in the drug trade and murder charges. Accordingly, the detectives decide not to go with the feds.
D’Angelo is visited by Brianna in jail, and they argue about his decision to try to “get out of the game.” She stresses that his attempts to save himself are harmful to the rest of the family and that without them he cannot start his life anew. Daniels confronts Carver about his serving as Burrell's mole in the unit. Carver admits to the collusion, and Daniels warns him that officers under Carver's command will look up to him and that their conduct will mirror his own. The department travels to Philadelphia and arrests Brice. Rawls brings McNulty into his office to both congratulate him for his work on the case and criticize him for the deceptive way in which the officers have pursued it. Pearlman negotiates with Levy about those in the Barksdale group, including Brice. He is willing to take sole responsibility for the murders, including that of Royce and Gant, thus invalidating blames for other gang members like Marquis "Bird" Hilton. Levy points out that Bell is technically not implicated in any of the group's dealings, frustrating the unit's hopes for getting him off the street. Avon’s trial begins, at which he gets a relatively light sentence on a drugs charge. Other Barksdale members receive their own sentences, ending with D'Angelo getting 20 years. Little emerges in the Bronx, holding up another dealer. The fates of those in the unit are then shown, including McNulty's new assignment to the much-dreaded marine unit.
This selection from the Alan Gerry Cable Collection has been made available by the Gerry Foundation, Inc.
Details
- NETWORK: HBO
- DATE: September 8, 2002 10:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 1:05:30
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:78842
- GENRE: Drama, police/private detective
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; TV - Drama, police/private detective; LGBT Collection - Drama
- SERIES RUN: HBO - TV series, 2002-2008
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- David Simon … Executive Producer, Created by, Writer
- Robert F. Colesberry … Executive Producer
- Nina Kostroff Noble … Producer
- Karen L. Thorson … Co-Producer
- Tim Van Patten … Director
- Ed Burns … Writer
- Dominic West … Cast, Jimmy McNulty
- John Doman … Cast, William Rawls
- Idris Elba … Cast, Russell "Stringer" Bell
- Frankie R. Faison … Cast, Ervin Burrell
- Larry Gilliard Jr. … Cast, D'Angelo Barksdale
- Wood Harris … Cast, Avon Barksdale
- Deirdre Lovejoy … Cast, Rhonda "Ronnie" Pearlman
- Wendell Pierce … Cast, William "Bunk" Moreland
- Lance Reddick … Cast, Cedric Daniels
- Andre Royo … Cast, Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins
- Sonja Sohn … Cast, Shakima Greggs
- Peter Gerety … Cast, Daniel Phelan
- Seth Gilliam … Cast, Ellis Carver
- Domenick Lombardozzi … Cast, Thomas "Herc" Hauk
- Leo Fitzpatrick … Cast, Johnny Weeks
- J.D. Williams … Cast, Preston "Bodie" Broadus
- Clarke Peters … Cast, Lester Freamon
- Jim True-Frost … Cast, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski
- Hassan Johnson … Cast, Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice
- Michael K. Williams … Cast, Omar Little
- Tray Chaney … Cast, Malik "Poot" Carr
- Wendy Grantham … Cast, Shardene Innes
- Michael B. Jordan … Cast, Wallace
- Delaney Williams … Cast, Jay Landsman
- Maria Broom … Cast, Marla Daniels
- Michael Kostroff … Cast, Maurice Levy
- Melanie Nicholls-King … Cast, Cheryl
- Michael Salconi … Cast, Michael Santangelo
- Jarvis George … Cast, Ronald "Ronnie Moe" Watkins
- Michael Hyatt … Cast, Brianna Barksdale
- Curtis Montez … Cast, Sterling
- Edward Norris … Cast, Ed Norris
- Benay Berger … Cast, Amanda Reese
- Doug Olear … Cast, Terrance Fitzhugh
- Susan Rome … Cast, Ilene Nathan
- Stephen F. Schmidt … Cast, Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice's Attorney