‘The Wire’: What’s a little corpse-strangling between friends?

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OK, we knew McNulty was frustrated, but THAT frustrated? It doesn’t seem like that long ago that the de facto center of ‘The Wire’s’ police department was a carefree patrolman in a happy relationship, and now he’s hung over and choking a dead vagrant. Is it Friday already?

Last night’s ending was probably one of the more unsettling moments in a show that specializes in unsettling moments, but under ‘The Wire’s’ cynical logic, McNulty’s desperate act almost makes sense. You could practically see the warped wheels in his head turning at the bar while Bunk (pictured) and Lester lamented that if the bodies piled up by Marlo’s crew were white, money and resources for an investigation wouldn’t be in question. An interesting point, but does that justify rearranging a crime scene in the hopes of inventing a serial killer? As Lester said to Bunk: ‘Negro, please.’

Seriously, is everyone ready to buy into McNulty taking this turn? He’s always thrived on the fringes of by-the-book behavior, but now he’s in danger of becoming a trimmer version of the guy from ‘The Shield.’ And, given how much the whole stunt horrified Bunk, is he going to let his partner get away with this? Either way, seems there’s no turning back for ‘McNutty’ now, but at least he crossed himself before doing the deed. That’s something.

Though McNulty’s shift toward madness overpowered the whole episode, it’d be a shame not to mention Avon Barksdale’s cameo. Seems the whole idea behind Marlo’s search for that Russian was to arrange a meeting with the Greek, the source of Baltimore’s drug supply. So who shows up when Marlo heads to prison for visiting hours? Avon, naturally. Barksdale’s just smart enough to see where Marlo is headed, and as a sort of prison gatekeeper, he wants a taste. A hundred grand to be exact, which seems like a bargain considering the stakes, but Avon chalks it up to Westside brotherhood. Marlo, ever the professional, hardly bats an eye, and a meeting with the Greek’s people seems imminent. Isn’t it lovely when two people find common ground?

Back at the Sun, fighter for truth and justice Gus Haynes seems to be losing the battle at the Fourth Estate. He’s so dedicated he wakes up at night to double-check his work, but odds are he’ll be lucky to get any sleep with suspicions that a front-page story on opening day at ‘Oriole Park’ may have been cooked. We don’t know this for sure, of course, we only saw the lean-and-hungry reporter Templeton coming up empty while searching for an appropriately ‘Dickensian’ interview subject at the ballpark, but a heartstring-tugging story on a kid in a wheelchair came awfully easily with the day’s deadline. Gus objects, but hey, there’s the soft-headed editor above him to make the call.

So far, life at ‘The Wire’s’ Baltimore Sun seems oddly cut-and-dried, which is surprising given the series’ usual fondness for shades of gray. Hard-nosed editors in the trenches, good; upper management with their eyes on the (Pulitzer) prize, bad. Given the standards the show has set, it’s a bit disappointing, as is seeing a relatively on-the-nose tale of a budding Jayson Blair / Stephen Glass potentially blooming, but we’ll have to wait and see. Any other developments ringing true (or false) for anyone out there?

--Chris Barton