Greggs and Carver make an arrest that leads to trouble and Stringer's business ambitions come into focus.
This is an excellent episode with lots of memorable plot and character moments.
We get our first real glimpse of what lies ahead for Stringer and Avon in a couple of great scenes that develop Stringer's character superbly. His depiction as an intelligent and industrious person applying those qualities within the drug trade is great example of the influence of external factors on people. Along the same theme there is a great exchange between Wallace and a young boy as they discuss a math problem.
This episode continues to highlight the systemic problems within command structures with its scenes involving an arrest made by Carver and Greggs and the subsequent fallout involving characters like Daniels, Burrell, McNulty and Phelan. These scenes are brilliantly written and I find them so familiar to my own experiences with senior management, that I actually empathise with the frustrations of these fictional characters.
There is increasing focus on Omar and his scenes, albeit violent, are cleverly made in how they make you sympathise and admire the character for taking a stand and living by his own 'code'. Michael K Williams is on top for as always.
I love the humour associated with various scenes, particularly one character who finds himself in a ridiculously drunken state. It is also underpinned by some quite serious themes and feels very authentic. Also great, as ever, is the banter between Herc and Carver.
All performances are superb, but the standouts for me are Wendell Pierce, Dominic West, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, and Lance Reddick.
As in all episodes of 'The Wire' there are numerous examples of great visual storytelling. One example of Omar hiding in the shadows, watching his enemies whilst smoking a cigarette always sticks in my head as brilliant filmmaking.
