The Wire “Backwash”

This episode opens with Bodie going to a florist for the appropriate flowers to send for D’Angelo’s funeral.  Perhaps surprisingly, the florist figures out what business Bodie is in and has some appropriate arrangements for drug dealer deaths in the back.

The episode also bookends Daniels first refusing to take the Jane Doe homicides, and then accepting it because it may be the only way he can solve his own case is to combine the two.  That pleases Rawls but anger Mrs. Daniels and her ambitious mindset.

Of course, Daniels was told he’d get whatever he wanted from Rawls, no contesting anything.  The scene cuts right to the only one to feature McNulty as he sees his family has somewhat moved on without him.

Actually, the Barksdale issues are somewhat connected to the docks.  Proposition Joe is getting his high-quality drugs from the Greek, and Kima spotting Joe going into the warehouse where a truck of smuggled something goes in.  Since Joe is a known dealer, that means the detail can get a wire.  Yes, despite the fact that Kima and Prez manage to track down a dozen or so illegal immigrant strippers, the law says that prostitution cases don’t merit a wire in any case, but drugs do.  Yes, as Beadie asks, selling a person doesn’t rate as high as selling drugs.  ADA Pearlman doesn’t look any happier about it than Beadie does.

But there are connections being made here.  Herc convinces Carver to buy a very expensive listening device they plan to take back to the story for a complete refund after getting what they need.  But of course these two guys screw it up.  Herc hides it in a tennis ball.  And then the dealer they’re watching, while chatting with Nick, picks it up and tosses it away so it gets hit by a truck.  Sure, they connect Nick to Frank due to the last name, but Carver is still out $1,500.

As for D’s funeral, we learn Avon had nothing to do with the fake suicide.  Avon blames himself, and Wee-Bey pointing out D couldn’t handle it only does so much.  Who hired the killer?  Stringer.  He thought D’Angelo was a loose canon in need of eliminating.  He also gets an offer from Proposition Joe to share the territory, but Avon won’t hear of that.  I can appreciate Stringer’s position.  He was a good number 2, but being the guy in charge, particularly when the best guys in the organization are all in prison, means he has to make hard decisions without Avon finding out from the looks of things.  I mean, he’s still a drug kingpin, but still…

Frank seems to be on the take again, so long as its drugs and not women.  He’s seeing his union dying with the dredging project going nowhere and robots coming in to take jobs.  What’s the man to do?  The police are still looking at him, and others in the union are asking where all the money is coming from.

And this time through, I’m feeling sorry for Ziggy.  I found him more annoying the first time.  This time, he sees Nick is better than him at everything, even selling the drugs.  And he falls for a prank where he thinks he got a paternity summons that Nick figures out is a fake caused by a guy called Maui, the one who used to date Beadie.  Life keeps beating Ziggy down, and he’s too dumb to do anything about it.  It probably isn’t helping that the other guys are urging him to attack Maui, who’s much bigger than Ziggy, because somehow I doubt Ziggy can actually win that fight.

Kind of like how the union can’t win the fight for its own existence either.