The Wire “Port In A Storm”

Because of a stained glass window, a man is dead.

And the best that jackass Valchek can do is give a rueful chuckle to the deceased.

As expected, the Greek and his people killed Frank Sobotka.  The sight of his uncle’s corpse spooks Nick, seeing as Nick found Frank’s abandoned truck and was the one who set up the fateful meeting.  And the one man who could get Nick to do the right thing finally steps up in the form of his father.  Heck, Lester is present picking up documents when Nick is brought in.

Too bad no one told Herc and Carver on stake-out that much.

But Nick wises up a bit and tells the Detail everything he knows.  That allows the Detail to pull together a number of threads, meaning the people they caught up will see jail time.  Nick even learns the Greek’s offer to help Ziggy was worthless.  But Nick does do one thing unexpectedly.  The photos the Detail got of the Greek’s number two guy, Vondas, also show the Greek, a man the Detail was barely aware existed.

As it is, the Greek gets away with Vondas.  They leave behind a big drug shipment, a rosary, and the Greek might not actually be Greek.  Even the other guys they caught don’t know.  But there is some good news for the Detail.  With the calls they got off the wire taps, and the capture of Russian muscle Sergei (often called “Boris” to his own dismay for some reason), a trip to Philly for Bunk and Beadie, and the 14 jane does’ killer is identified and those cases are officially cleared.

But hey, the actor who plays Bubbles has his name in the opening credits, but he hasn’t had to do much since he found Omar.  Well, for the season finale, he gets caught stealing drugs from the back of an ambulance, and to stay out of jail he lets McNulty and Greggs know about the whole thing with Brother Mouzone, Stringer, and Proposition Joe, and that sets up a case for next season when the two cops get photos of Stringer and Joe making a deal.  Since Daniels (who seems to be sleeping in a separate room from his wife now) got the Detail as a more permanent group and even managed to squeeze Prez out of trouble from his a-hole father-in-law, that could work out.

Not working out?  Stringer.  He accidentally lets Mouzone know who might have been behind his shooting (that would be Stringer), Omar knows he was tricked, and though Avon decides to let Stringer make the deal Stringer already made with Proposition Joe, Avon clearly isn’t happy about it.  Stringer may not have much longer to live.

And with Frank’s death, the union is told to either elect new leaders or be shut down by the feds.  They decide to defy the feds.  The union shuts down.

And so, over the closing montage, we see how the case came along.

• Nick, with his daughter and girlfriend, are in Witness Protection with an uncertain future.
• The docks are closing, with high rises and condos replacing the docks in many places.
• The union is still closed.
• The Greek got away and Lester is left to take down the pictures.
• Drugs are still being sold throughout the city.
• Avon’s people are watching the cops go through their shrunken territory.

Was there a theme to this season?  Mostly that the city of Baltimore, and perhaps America as a whole, is failing our working men, and there isn’t much legal recourse for unions trying to keep people working enough to earn a respectable living.