Middle Ground (12 Dec. 2004)

The wire begins to yield information about the Barksdale organization. Stringer and Avon reminisce on how far they have come. McNulty finds the way to a key piece of the puzzle in an ... See full summary »

Director:

Joe Chappelle

Writers:

David Simon (creator), George Pelecanos (teleplay),

Stars:

Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Dominic West	...	Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty
John Doman	...	Dep. Comm. for Operations William A. Rawls
Idris Elba	...	Russell 'Stringer' Bell
Frankie Faison	...	Acting Commissioner Ervin H. Burrell
Aidan Gillen	...	Councilman Thomas 'Tommy' Carcetti
Wood Harris	...	Avon Barksdale
Deirdre Lovejoy	...	Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman
Clarke Peters	...	Det. Lester Freamon
Wendell Pierce	...	Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland (credit only)
Lance Reddick	...	Lt. Cedric Daniels
Andre Royo	...	Reginald 'Bubbles' Cousins
Sonja Sohn	...	Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs
Jim True-Frost	...	Det. Roland 'Prez' Pryzbylewski (credit only)
Robert Wisdom	...	Maj. Howard 'Bunny' Colvin
Seth Gilliam	...	Sgt. Ellis Carver (credit only)

Storyline

The wire begins to yield information about the Barksdale organization. Stringer and Avon reminisce on how far they have come. McNulty finds the way to a key piece of the puzzle in an unlikely place. Awaiting his fate, Colvin works behind the scenes to shape the outcome of Amsterdam, while protecting his men from possible repercussions. Bubbles considers a new partner.

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Plot Keywords:

wiretapping

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 December 2004 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Blown Deadline Productions, Home Box Office (HBO)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

57 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

Former real-life Baltimore Mayor Kurt L. Schmoke appears in a meeting with fictional Baltimore Mayor Royce.

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Quotes

[Omar and Brother Mouzone have Stringer cornered, their guns turned on him]
Stringer Bell: I ain't strapped. I ain't involved, yo. I ain't involved in none of that gangster bullshit.
[both gunmen are silent, Stringer is breathing hard from running]
Stringer Bell: What y'all niggers want, man? Huh? Money?
[however, he just gets more silence]
Stringer Bell: IS THAT IT? Cause if it is, I can be a better friend to y'all alive.
Omar: You still don't get it, do you? This ain't about your money, bro. Your boy gave you up. That's right. And we ain't had ...
[...]

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Connections

References The Flintstones (1960)

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Soundtracks

"Locked Up"
by Akon

User Reviews

The end of a great character...

The last 4 or so episodes of The Wire have had me on the edge of my seat, and we finally come to the end of one of the show's best characters and actors in this episode.

I do not want to casually reveal who that character is, but I will say this... It doesn't surprise me that this was one of two episodes that was ever nominated for a writing Emmy. I am not surprised, and here is why- this episode features more 'regular' excitement. It has more casual excitement of what makes a TV episode. I am not trying to say that is bad, but that is most likely the reason that the Emmys finally caught attention. It probably is one of the show's finest, but it's as if the Emmys were waiting for something 'explosive' to happen, and it finally did. That doesn't talk bad about The Wire at all, it just reflects the shallowness of how the Emmy members perceive The Wire.