Recap / The Wire S 02 E 01 Ebb Tide

Season 2, Episode 1

Ebb Tide

"Ain't never gonna be what it was."

— Little Big Roy

Officer Jimmy McNulty is on harbor patrol duty, the one assignment he said he didn't want. They find the body of a woman, perhaps a suicide victim, floating in the harbor. The autopsy however confirms that she was dead before she went into the water. He learns that the homicide squad has arranged for the case to be transferred to another jurisdiction but Jimmy takes care of that. Frank Sobotka is in charge of the Baltimore docks and he decides who gets what. He's paid for a new stained glass for his church - much to the chagrin of police Major Valchek who also wanted to contribute a window. He also has a deal, no doubt one of many, with someone known as The Greek about certain shipping containers. A Port police officer finds one of the Greek's containers full of dead women. Avon Barksdale is still running his drug empire from prison and he sends Stringer Bell to New York to collect a debt.

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This episode contains examples of:

• Actually Pretty Funny: Rawls does laugh (though mirthlessly) when McNulty pins the murder of "Jane Doe" for Homicide to solve.
• All Lesbians Want Kids: Cheryl. Subverted with Kima, who clearly isn't as enthusiastic.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment:
  Bunk: Ain't the same up there [in Homicide] without your ass.
  McNulty: Oh, no?
  Bunk: Better, actually.
• Can't Hold His Liquor: As usual, Bunk; Cole mentions hearing him throw up when he was in the men's room.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Kima's typographical issues:
    Kima: Fuck me, I still cannot type.
  • Landsman tells "sailor boy" McNulty that he owns him $10 for landing on the boat, as predicted, and they have a small conversation about how Landsman probably ratted on Jimmy to Rawls.
• Establishing Character Moment:
  • Frank Sobotka's first scene has him single-mindedly pushing too hard for dredging the canal, a project that will employ far more workers, rather than the less ambitious but more realistic refurbishment of the grain pier.
  • Ziggy, Frank's son, is first seen rudely jerking a customer around while trying to locate the man's shipping container that he lost. His reaction to being fired by Frank over this is 'meh'; another worker mentions that being the boss's son the firing won't be permanent.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Jimmy is very aware that his current maritime predicament happened thanks to Landsman telling Rawls where he didn't want to go.
• Foreshadowing: Obviously, the dead girls in the container, but just about everything else here - including Valchek wondering where Frank gets his money, Frank's business relationship with "The Greek", Ziggy being a knucklehead, Nick looking for more work, and Stringer trying to keep Avon's business going with weak product - becomes important over the rest of the season.
• Henpecked Husband: Herc thinks Kima is a lesbian version of this:
  Herc: I gotta say, Kima, if you were a guy - and, actually, in some ways you're better than most of the guys I know - if you were a guy, your friends would buy you a beer and let you know.
  Kima: Let me know what?
  Herc: You're fucking whipped.
• Oh, No... Not Again!: Everyone's reaction to Ziggy pulling down his pants.
  Delores: Goddamit, Ziggy, you're not taking your dick out here again!
• Promoted to Opening Titles: Clarke Peters.
• Real Song Theme Tune: The version of "Way Down In The Hole" for this season is the original version by Tom Waits.
• Reassigned to Antarctica: Daniels and McNulty.
• Rule of Symbolism: Word of God confirms the opening scene of each season is intended to symbolize the themes of that season, and this one emphasizes the gap between the rich and the poor.
• Secret Test of Character: What Bodie's trip to Philadelphia turned out to be.
• Shout-Out:
  • The station Bodie and Shamrock end up listening to when they get closer to Philadelphia is A Prairie Home Companion.
  • Ziggy tries to explain he calls Sergei "Boris" because of Boris Badenov; neither Sergei nor Vondas get it.
• Spell My Name with a "The" / Third-Person Person: "The Bunk can't swim."
• When I Was Your Age...: The older stevedores during the scene at the Clement Street bar. Parodied by Ziggy:
  Ziggy: When I was your age, boys, I unloaded 10 ships in a goddamn day. You know, I'd do it with one arm after a 300-pound bag of Polish dildos fell on me.

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