"The Wire" The Target (2002)

Director:

Clark Johnson

Writers:

David Simon (creator)
David Simon (teleplay)

TV Series:

"The Wire" (2002)

Original Air Date:

2 June 2002 (Season 1, Episode 1)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Mystery

Plot:

During the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale, a mid-level dealer accused of murder, the prosecution's star witness recants her testimony...

Plot Keywords:

Black Detective | Wiretapping | Witness For The Prosecution | Police Detective | Female Detective

Cast

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)
Larry Gilliard Jr.	...	D'Angelo Barksdale
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	...	Bubbles
Sonja Sohn	...	Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs
Peter Gerety	...	Judge Daniel Phelan
Seth Gilliam	...	Det. Ellis Carver
Domenick Lombardozzi	...	Det. Thomas 'Herc' Hauk
Leo Fitzpatrick	...	Johnny Weeks

Runtime:

62 min

Trivia:

Each season uses a different recording of the opening theme "Way Down In The Hole," against a different opening sequence. This season, the first, the theme is performed by The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: So your boy's name was what?
Kid: Snot.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Called the guy "Snot"?
Kid: Snot Boogie.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: God. Snot Boogie. He like the name?
Kid: What?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Snot Boogie?
[the kid does not answer]
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: This kid, whose mama went to the trouble to christen him Omar Isaiah Betts... You know, he forgets his jacket, his nose starts running and some asshole, instead of giving him a Kleenex, he calls him "Snot". So he's Snot forever. Doesn't seem fair.
Kid: Life just be that way, I guess.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: So, who shot Snot?
Kid: I ain't goin' to no court... Mothafucka didn't have to put no cap in him though.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Definitely not.
Kid: He coulda just whooped his ass like we always whoop his ass.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I agree with you.
Kid: He killed Snot. Snot been doing the same shit since I don't know how long. You don't kill a man over some bullshit. I'm sayin', every Friday night in an alley behind the Cut Rate, we rollin' bones, you know? I mean all them boys, we roll till late.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Alley crap game, right?
Kid: Like every time, Snot, he'd fade a few shooters, play it out till the pot's deep. Snatch and run.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: What, every time?
Kid: Couldn't help hisself.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Let me understand. Every Friday night, you and your boys are shootin? crap, right? And every Friday night, your pal Snot Boogie... he'd wait till there's cash on the ground and he'd grab it and run away? You let him do that?
Kid: We'd catch him and beat his ass but ain't nobody ever go past that.
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: I've gotta ask you: if every time Snot Boogie would grab the money and run away... why'd you even let him in the game?
Kid: What?
Det. James 'Jimmy' McNulty: Well, if every time, Snot Boogie stole the money, why'd you let him play?
Kid: Got to. It's America, man.

Movie Connections:

References The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

Soundtrack:

Pull Up to the Bumper

"It's America, man."

The Wire has the most uncommon thing for an HBO show: a teaser (so far, In Treatment is the only other series of the cable network that has the same thing on a regular basis). And in that teaser, which has absolutely nothing to do with the events of the episode, the series' real intent is exposed: while talking to a kid about a murder victim who was nicknamed Snot Boogie, Homicide detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), the show's hero (asssuming there is one), finds out his guy had a tendency to steal money from certain people every time they had a late-night card game. He feels compelled to ask the kid: "Well, if Snot Boogie stole the money, why'd you let him play?". The answer is the most unpredictable one: "Got to. It's America, man.". As such, The Wire is no ordinary cop show: it's a vivid, bleak portrait of life in the USA.

The real story, which kicks in right after the opening credits ("Way Down In The Hole" is used to express the program's mood), with the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.). He walks after a witness changes her story in court, and McNulty, who wasn't even involved in the case, tells Judge Phelan (Peter Gerety) that D'Angelo is more important than he appears, as he happens to be the nephew of Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris), the primary drug dealer of West Baltimore. Naturally, no one's ever heard of him, but since Avon is allegedly behind most of the drug-related murders in the city, Phelan calls McNulty's direct superiors, William Rawls (John Doman) and Erwin Burrell (Frankie Faison) and demand something be done about this mess. Rawls, who already hates McNulty, has him included in a special task force, which will be coordinated by Narcotics lieutenant Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick). Meanwhile, McNulty's partner "Bunk" Moreland (Wendell Pierce) provides some pseudo-philosophical advice on the colleague's reckless attitude, and D'Angelo gets back on the street, only to find out that Avon and his associate, "Stringer" Bell (Idris Elba) have found it fitting to give him a new assignment.

The first thing that catches the eye about The Wire is its incredible attention to detail: many critics have pointed out how the show does in one season what even 24 would have gotten over with in one episode, and it's true - 57 minutes after the start of the first episode, the task force has barely been set up. The comparison with 24 is also necessary in regard to the ending: whereas each episode of Fox's real-time thriller ends on a cliffhanger, this show's inaugural hour doesn't really end at all. The narrative arc covers the entire season, not single episodes. Alongside the detail, series creator (and episode writer) David Simon, who previously worked on Homicide: Life on the Street deserves praise for his dialogue: more than any other street-based crime drama, The Wire feels and sounds like the real thing, with slang expressions, police jargon and the inevitable swearing being used as a natural part of the environment, not a gratuitous decoration.

The same goes for the cast: anyone with good enough knowledge of crime movies or shows might have recognized Faison from the Hannibal Lecter trilogy or Reddick from the fourth season of HBO's Oz, but the fact that most of the actors were complete unknowns by the time the series first aired is the most vital contribution to the show's realism. One gets the feeling that every thespian involved is completely immersed in the role he or she plays. They're not "characters", so to speak: they're fully formed American people, to the point that it still feels a bit odd to learn that West and Elba are actually 100% British.

The first episode of The Wire doesn't immediately strike as brilliant, must-see TV, like The Sopranos or Six Feet Under did. It's more complex, paced and attention-demanding than anything else on the small screen, and if one commits for the long run, it might even be more satisfying than most serials. And given we're talking about HBO, that's probably the best compliment they'll ever get.