Season 1, Episode 07
One Arrest
"A man must have a code."
— Bunk
The detail makes an arrest of a kid with the main stash from the Pit, which leads to Avon and Stringer deciding to change things up; Stringer has the crew tear out the pay phones in the low-rises, and tells everyone they'll have to walk a further distance to use them. Bunk and McNulty also find a witness who can corroborate most of Omar's story about Bird shooting Gant, find out from Omar where Bird likes to cop drugs, and they and several members of the detail are able to arrest Bird. Rawls presents Santangelo with an ultimatum; either find some dirt on McNulty, or solve one of his open murders. Jay tries to play a joke on him by having Santangelo consult a gypsy to help solve the case, but in the end, it's Bird's arrest that leads to closing another of Santangelo's open murders. Kima helps Johnny get an early release, and one of the conditions is that he attend Narcotics Anonymous meetings; Johnny's not interested in that, but Bubbles finds out he is.
This episode contains examples of:
- Actually Pretty Funny: After Jay snaps a picture of Bird and explains why (see Police Brutality Gambit below), Bird's response is, "Fuck you, fat man!" Jay chuckles at that and responds, "And I thought we were friends."
- Back Story: Omar recognizes Bunk because they went to high school together (Bunk was a couple of years ahead of him), and Bunk was the first African-American he ever saw playing lacrosse.
- Bring My Brown Pants: Discussed; Bunk remembers how kids on the opposing team would piss in their pants when they saw Bunk running at them in lacrosse matches.
- Call-Back: The kid Carver, Herc and Kima arrest with the stash is the same one Prez beat so badly that he lost an eye, and Prez recognizes him.
- Continuity Nod: Wallace apparently still hasn't gotten over what happened to Brandon.
- Come to Gawk: Omar is listening intently to Bird getting beaten in the interrogation room, and clearly finds it very satisfying.
- Country Matters: When Kima tells Bird his gun is in ballistics, and he'll be on death row if it comes back positive for killing Gant, Bird responds, "Suck my dick, you dyke cunt", and also calls her a "cunt eater". That eventually leads to him getting beaten later (see Police Brutality Gambit below).
- Everyone Has Standards: Cole calls Jay a "sick fuck" for having Santangelo consult a gypsy for help.
- Foreshadowing: Both Clay Davis and his driver Damien "Day-Day" Price, whom Daniels sees when he accompanies Marla at a fundraiser, become important in later seasons, as does Bubbles' tentative decision to get clean. Also, Orlando telling D'Angelo he has a drug connection.
- Phelan tells Rhonda he foresees her becoming a judge in 10 years. In the Montage Out that closes out the series finale, we see she has indeed become a judge.
- Gay Bravado: This famous exchange:McNulty: You know why I respect you so much, Bunk? It's not cause you're good police, cause, you know, fuck that, right?
Bunk: Fuck that, yeah.
McNulty: And it's not cause when I came to Homicide, you taught me all kinds of cool shit about, I don't know, whatever.
Bunk: Whatever.
McNulty: It's cause when it came time for you to fuck me, you were very gentle.
Bunk: Damn right.
McNulty: See, cause you could've hauled me out of the garage and just bend me over the hood of a radio car and...but no, you were very gentle.
Bunk: I knew it was your first time. I wanted to make that shit special.
McNulty: It was, man. It fucking was.- Roman à Clef: This is taken from a conversation in David Simon's Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets.
- Heel–Face Turn: After Santangelo finds out McNulty was the one responsible for solving one of his open murders, he tells McNulty Rawls is out to get him.
- Hello, Attorney!: Judge Phelan sees Rhonda as this; he tells McNulty after she leaves that he'd "love to throw a fuck into her".
- Let's Get Dangerous!: Lester helps subdue Bird by hitting him in the face with a beer bottle.
- Never Hurt an Innocent: Omar has no problem ripping and running, but never puts his gun on anyone who isn't involved in "the game".Bunk: A man must have a code.
Omar: Oh, no doubt. - Oh, Crap!: Day-Day when Daniels says he's a cop.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Rhonda knows something's wrong with McNulty when (a) he shows up sober, not drunk, and (b) he's not there for sex.
- Police Brutality Gambit: When Bird is arrested and brought into the interrogation room, Jay snaps a Polaroid of his injuries, saying it's so that the jury will know that Bird's injuries were not inflicted in custody. Of course, after Bird insults everyone (especially Kima) one too many times, Daniels tears the picture up and then, backed up by Kima and Jay, proceeds to give Bird a three man beatdown.Omar: (in the Homicide office listening to the sounds from the interrogation room) Bird sure know how to bring it out in people, don't he?
- Shout-Out: Lester shows Herc and Carver that the conversation on the wire after the arrest they made has people calling them Batman and Robin. Naturally, they argue about which is which.Herc: Boy wonder, why don't you suck my bat-dick?
- Sophisticated as Hell: Omar's "That's if I happen to be constabulating like y'all."
- Too Dumb to Live: Day-Day the chauffeur just casually starts talking to someone he met maybe a minute beforehand about how he'd like to rob the fancy house they're in, and how he'd do it. Given that the person he tells this to is Lieutenant Daniels, he gets a choice Oh, Crap! face when he realizes what a stupid thing he just did.
- Waxing Lyrical: To demonstrate how closely he listens to the recordings from the pay phones, so he can figure out the Barksdale crew's code, Prez quotes the opening line of The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" ("Gold Coast slave ship bound for cotton fields/Sold in a market down in New Orleans"), and explains he listened to it over and over, sitting right next to the speakers, for several hours until he got it right.Carver: That explains a lot, actually.
