54

The Wire #54 was on last night. It was an interesting episode, but was really setting up the story threads rather than resolving much. Most of this one was about the resignation of Burrell. He gets bribed by City Council President Campbell to not trash Daniels on the way out and agrees to shut up in exchange for a cushy job.

Also on the political front, we see Clay Davis getting hammered in front of a grand jury. He takes the 5th and looks extremely guilty. Someone tipped the press off and TV reporters are awaiting him when he comes out. Much to the chagrin of The Sun staff, they have nobody there (they are really missing the experienced reporters that are being bought out to save staffing costs). Clay is toast (or pottery).

The fabricated serial killer story is going a little haywire now with Lester fashioning some fake teeth to put a bite mark on the "victims". I still can't figure out how they are going to play that one. They are on the lookout for bodies that will fit in with the pattern and have enlisted the help of an old friend of Lester's to bring them to them before calling anyone else. The Sun story didn't move too much this week but it looks like they will loop it into the serial killer story next week.

The scene with McNulty and Beadie offers a bit of closure on that relationship - he's back to his old self and she isn't going to put up with it any more. He's a scumbag and that's just the way I like him.

Omar is back and he is pissed. He is looking for information on who betrayed Butchie and smacks Slim Charles around to see if Prop Joe had anything to do with it. He is working with some of Butchie's crew and we will see some fireworks soon.

The violence perpetrated by Marlo's crew is absolutely off the charts. They off Prop Joe after Marlo establishes a connect with the Greeks. Another drug dealer gets whacked because he spoke up against Cheese at a co-op meeting. By now it is pretty obvious that Cheese is going to die soon, but it is up in the air whether he will be killed by Marlo or Omar.

I also saw (in the Sun, of all places) that the number of viewers for The Wire has fallen off from last season. It's too bad, because it really is compelling. I don't watch any other shows (just some sports here and there). I'll miss it when it is gone.