The Detail (9 Jun. 2002)

The witness who testified against D'Angelo winds up being a murder case for Detective "Bunk" Moreland. However, McNulty informs Bunk that, since the victim testified against D'Angelo, Avon ... See full summary »

Director:

Clark Johnson

Writers:

David Simon (creator), David Simon (teleplay),

Stars:

Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Dominic West	...	Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty
John Doman	...	Maj. William A. Rawls
Idris Elba	...	Russell 'Stringer' Bell
Frankie Faison	...	Dep. Comm. for Operations Ervin H. Burrell (as Frankie R. Faison)
Lawrence Gilliard Jr.	...	D'Angelo Barksdale (as Larry Gilliard Jr.)
Wood Harris	...	Avon Barksdale
Deirdre Lovejoy	...	Asst. State's Atty. Rhonda Pearlman
Wendell Pierce	...	Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland
Lance Reddick	...	Lt. Cedric Daniels
Andre Royo	...	Reginald 'Bubbles' Cousins
Sonja Sohn	...	Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs
Peter Gerety	...	Judge Daniel Phelan
Seth Gilliam	...	Det. Ellis Carver
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	Det. Thomas 'Herc' Hauk
Clarke Peters	...	Det. Lester Freamon

Storyline

The witness who testified against D'Angelo winds up being a murder case for Detective "Bunk" Moreland. However, McNulty informs Bunk that, since the victim testified against D'Angelo, Avon Barksdale probably ordered this murder. McNulty and Bunk pick up D'Angelo for questioning and convince him to write an "apology" to the victim's family. Just as he's about to start, D'Angelo's attorney arrives and makes him leave.

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Plot Keywords:

wiretapping | hairy chest | bare chested male

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Details

Release Date:

9 June 2002 (USA)

Company Credits

Did You Know?

Trivia

Detctives Polk and Mahone: "Póg ma thóin!", pronounced "pogue mahone", is Irish for "Kiss my ass!"

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Goofs

Kima uses a "cannon" - an extremely long telephoto lens - to photograph suspects from a rooftop. She would not be able to take a clear shot while holding the camera in her hands: with such a long lens, there would be too much camera shake. She would need to use a sturdy tripod or rest the lens on the edge of the wall.

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Quotes

D'Angelo Barksdale: Now you think Ronald McDonald gonna go down to the basement and say, "Hey Mr. Nugget - you the bomb. We sellin' chicken faster than you can tear the bone out. So I'm gonna write my clowney ass name on this fat-ass check for you." Shit. Man, the nigga who invented them things? Still working in the basement for regular wage, thinking of some shit to make the fries taste better or some shit like that. Believe.

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Connections

References Hawaii Five-O (1968)

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Soundtracks

"Good Times"
Written by Bernard Edwards & Nile Rodgers
Performed by Chic

User Reviews

"You cannot lose if you don't play"

The Wire's staggering attention to detail is even more obvious here than it was in the pilot episode: the series is merely two hours old, and the narrative hasn't really moved forward yet. What matters here is the little things that lead to the storyline's progression.

Picking up exactly where The Target ended, we get another glimpse of the man who was killed for testifying against D'Angelo Barksdale. The case is given to Jimmy McNulty's Homicide partner Bunk, but McNulty suggests the newly appointed detail led by Lieutenant Daniels help him out, since it's most likely Avon Barksdale who sanctioned the hit. Because of this, D'Angelo is arrested and forced into believing it's his fault, so that the cops can study his reaction (needless to say the kid's lawyer puts a stop to all that in no time). Meanwhile, Daniels questions his role in the operation, to which his wife responds: "You cannot lose if you don't play", and Kima (Sonja Sohn), Herc (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Carver (Seth Gilliam) start taking pictures of drug buyers in the street in order to build the foundations of their case.

The slow pace is essential in adding layers of meaning to the story and getting to know the characters a little better, hence the scenes where the cops assigned to the detail complain about office space and indirectly blame McNulty for putting them in that situation (he reacts with his trademark line: "What the f*ck did I do?") or the moment when D'Angelo and his friends have a Seinfeldian discussion about Chicken McNuggets: these people aren't types, they're fully formed human beings, and therefore we must be given the opportunity to see every aspect of their personalities. As such, it will be much more rewarding when the pay-off comes (assuming it does).