Random Thoughts About This Episode

• Nick is definitely the new D’Angelo. He even has a baby mama and kid to worry about.
• The scene with the terrier and the rat as well as how the terrier was in the bar felt slightly out of place to me. I assume it’s a metaphor for something, but I’m not exactly sure what.
• “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To” playing in the background of the scene where the dock worker is complaining to Frank that he’s not getting enough shifts and therefore not earning enough money. I found that really funny and obviously a stab at the dock worker’s bitching.
• “Bad package, yo, hot shots.” The ending of the episode was unexpectedly intense. I ended up googling the meaning behind hot shots, as I didn’t know what it meant in the context of what was happening. Urban Dictionary defines it as “A lethal dose of heroin, either too high a dose or mixed with some other harmful agent. When it is given to its unaware victim the result is an overdose or death.”

Children in The Wire

Much like when Wallace helps the kid with his math homework or McNulty has his kids play the spy game, we see how kids are affected by the actions of those responsible for them. It really makes the cycle seem unbreakable when the people who should be working to help the kid have a good life are the ones messing up the kid’s life.

 

“It’s the Cadillac of cameras.”–Nick

Sometimes I forget how long ago this show took place. So much of this would be different if modern technology was involved.

Bars

There seems to be a running theme of the money or the illegal business using a bar as a front. The woman who’s the bartender doesn’t seem as silly as Orlando though.

 

Rectangle Face Shots

I noticed that this shot appeared several times in this episode.

Female Characters Working with Omar

I’m very intrigued by these women whom Omar busts and then gets to be in cahoots with him it seems. They seem like some of the more fleshed out characters that we see in this series.

Ziggy & Nick Dressing Similarly

Ziggy basically looks like the more effeminate version of Nick. The long hair and slender jacket really contract Nick’s slick & short haircut and puffier jacket.

Blue, Red, & Yellow

Pastels of Season 2 vs. Darker lighting from Season 1

This season seems to be full of bright colors as well as some pastels. The pastels really seem to fit the winter season. This contrasts with the warmer tones that dominated last season, which presumably occurred in the summer/ fall. In this episode, we returned to the warmer tones when Omar is present.

Omar’s New Beau

“Spread the word, darlin’, Omar back.”–Omar

 

 

Omar’s got a new guy, which seems to play well into Omar’s inability to not do what Omar does best. Just because he’s elsewhere doesn’t mean that he’s not going to be up to his old tricks.

D’Angelo vs. Stringer

 

I thought this was a brilliant pan. Stringer making out with D’Angelo’s baby mama, D’Angelo’s shirt being push aside, which earlier Stringer said wasn’t his size. Finally, the pictures of the baby mama, the child, and D’Angelo.

D’Angelo in Prison

D’Angelo seems older in this episode than in the previous one where he looked like a dejected high schooler. Here he looks a little collegiate, but definitely nowhere near how he looked in the pit. The red wall behind him also seems very angry or violent.