Avon & Stringer

The tension is building between them. Stringer is dreaming bigger dreams outside the drug dealing and corner owning. He’s a smart businessman and his plan is definitely very smart and safe. Avon, on the other hand, seems unable to dream outside of this world he’s made a name for himself in. It’s a bit sad to see someone think they can really only achieve things within the perimeter of the world they’ve been born into. I think their narratives and opposing visions really show the opposing visions of black youth in poor, inner city areas. Some can dream themselves a life outside of the area and culture they’ve been born into, while other feels that where they are and the life they live is all that they are capable of and that being the best at that should be enough.

Cutty

Cutty’s realization at the end of the episode that he didn’t have the game in him anymore was really awesome and refreshing to see. It also served as a good juxtaposition to both Stringer and Avon’s relationships with the drug scene. Cutty has finally decided that he wants to completely remove himself from it, while Avon wants to remain fully submerged, and Avon wants to have one foot in and the other out. I’m not sure that any of these choices are going to work out for any of this characters.

Red, Yellow, & Blue

Toys on the table.

Blue & red on Bodie’s shirt and the yellow house in the background.

Blue, red, and yellow appears on Colvin’s badge and there’s red & yellow sheets of paper on the bulletin board in the background.

Fruit’s shirt has blue & yellow on it and the bricks are red.

Green & Red

The sign and building in the background are red & green.

Red car & red brick and green overgrowth surrounding the building. I also like how this police office that Daniels’ crew works out of appears to be in the middle of nowhere.

Red painted building and green trees in the background.

Red and green on the building to the left.

Miscellaneous Color Patterns

I love how Avon and Stringer are wearing similar colored shirts to the builders/ consultants that they are meeting with.

Red & purple at Mrs. Daniels’ event.

This crew is wearing all black, which we say the Barksdale crew wear a lot of during the winter in the pit during season 2.

D’Angelo’s girlfriend and D’Angelo’s mother are both wearing pink.

Interesting Shots

Rarely do we see the wilderness in show that takes place in the city. This was refreshing and interesting.

The shots with the rearview mirrors are always so well done. I also appreciate how the “Objects in mirror are closer than they appear” which really speaks to Stringer’s relationship to the drug dealing side of things. Bodie’s reflection in the car is also a nice touch.

I like how this shot it set up. This conversation could have been staged in a more more uninteresting way, but it’s so interesting here.

Avon’s desire to be and remain a gangster is well portrayed in how child-like he looks. The backwards hat, baggy shirt, and the way he was playing with the gun throughout the whole scene just suggests he has no desire to grow up or grow out of this role like Stringer does and is working on doing.

I like the door opening and the grandeur of the chandelier. A lot of these offices are way more fancy than they need to be.

The trash bag that Fruit stumbled over in the background and the inhaler on the sidewalk next to the kid whose blood is pooling out of him is an incredibly heartbreaking shot that reminds the viewer how bad things are on the street.