One of the main themes I noticed in this episode was the idea of using the power given to you by an institution, such as the police department, to carry out a personal vendetta. There were several plot lines in this episode that showed this. Valchek using his command of the police force to inconvenience the Greeks at the docks, all because they took the window he wanted his stained glass to go in. Rawls trying to make it so he isn’t bombarded with the fourteen murder cases and thus tanking his good rating on solving murders. Avon and Stringer trying to provide a comfortable life for their crew who is in prison, so as to remind them of their loyalties to the family. I think it’s all pretty terrible and shows how these institutions are not about justice for all, but what makes the few look and feel good.

 

I thought these two shots from above of all the bodies were a really interesting and striking way to open and close the scene. When Russell finds out that these bodies are just being written off as cargo and not seen as a bunch of homicides is another example of the police force wanting to make their work easier and thus seeing as these people aren’t US citizens and are dead, they really aren’t anything that matter anymore. By juxtaposing such ideas with these sweeping overhead shots of bodies and their belongings, it really impacts the viewer and makes you upset that people could so easily write off these deaths.

 

I thought this shot was interesting as in the previous episode, it was Ziggy who was excluded while Nick was discussing matters at the table. Here we see Nick excluded while his uncle discussing important matters. This really speaks to the chain of command in the family and how Nick is both a leader and a follower. I think it will be interesting to see how that duality affects him as the season goes on.

 

I really liked how McNulty heard about the thirteen other bodies. To have to discover this information from a newspaper they’ve been using as a tablecloth in an empty interview room while they chow down on crabs just shows how messed up the system is and how little care or regard there is for so many things in this institution.

 

 

Once again, red, yellow & blue appeared. While I saw it many times in the episodes, I felt that it was most important to note this instance as it is a new group of people that this season has introduced.

 

The scenes in the prison were really interesting to me. I enjoyed seeing how Avon, Wee-Bey, and D’Angelo were getting by. Wee-Bey’s room, with one side being decorated in pornographic pictures of women and the other having a fish calendar and fake fish tank really speak to Wee-Bey as a person and the contrasting traits and interests he has.

In the screen shot above, you can see that Avon is not suffering here and is definitely making it a priority to keep everyone else comfortable too. This scene with Wee-Bey and he in Avon’s room makes it look more like a hang-out in a college dorm room than a prison.

In the screen shot below, D’Angelo is in his room. He looks a lot different than when he was a free man. He’s let his hair grow out, which almost makes him seem younger. In this shot, he mostly looks like a kid who’s been sent to his room for misbehaving. The maturity, professionalism, and authority he once wielded seems to be something that he has happily discarded. His transformation and continued internal conflict over whether to start doing things for himself or to keep doing things for the family is really interesting to me.

 

This scene here and these Eastern European “gangs” that have begun to appear in this season gives the show a much different vibe. For some reason, this shot made me think of the most recent Batman movies. Everything looks really dark and Valchek looks really costume-y and cartoon-y all dressed up. This meeting looks really eerie and definitely suggests that some dark and violent things are upon us.