For my Video Assignment 439, the assignment is to create a video essay describing an episode from The Wire. (5 stars)  I chose Season 4 Episode 3.  This episode is titled “Home Rooms”.  When you think of home room, you think of school.  Home room in school is always how you are identified for pictures, school records, and many times field trips or assemblies are organized by home room.  It is a way to identify you.  In this episode, we see the “home” of many different characters.  The episode opens with Omar and Renaldo in bed.  We see their morning routine and witness that Omar at home, is no different than anyone else.  He loves his cereal for breakfast, especially Honey Nut Cheerios.  When he is out of cereal, he heads out in his pajamas.  We also see the home of Namond and his friends and witness that Dukie is treated like dirt.  He is not even welcomed into Namond’s home.  This could be because he comes from a home life in which he is not valued.  He has no true home room to return to. We see Marlo taking over Bodie’s corner.  This is a change of who Bodie will start to identify with.  Just like home room, he was just switched to a different home room.  We witness the poor home life of a prostitute beat up by a john.  Colvin wants to follow through with his police instincts but he realizes he is no longer police.  He is a security guard.  Not the home that he is used to. We see the Lieutenant of Major crimes planning the rooms in his new home. He will be replaced by Lt. Marimow.  We also see a new side of McNulty.  We see him with Beadie cooking, kids on the sofa, and Bunk coming over for dinner.  This is a good, stable side of McNulty that we have not seen before.  He seems healthy and happy.  We witness the chaos of Prez’s home room.  Like his police work on the street, he has no authority or command and is completely out of control of the situation.  In this class, we see various home lives and they are all merged in together.  Some of the kids come from no home life at all.  We see one slice the face of other girl.  It’s hard to live without a home life that has your back.  Dukie completely understands this and comes to the aid of the slicer, not the harmed girl.  He knows the pain she feels.  Its a slow bleed that is in the heart, not on the face.

I hope you enjoy my scenes…