Recap / The Wire S 02 E 06 All Prologue

Season 2, Episode 6

All Prologue

"It don’t matter that some fool say he different…"

— D'Angelo

With the detail beginning to realize Sobotka's money is not coming from selling drugs, Russell suggests it may be coming from smuggling containers, and the Jane Doe case may be part of the bigger picture. However, Bunk and Freamon are unable to persuade Daniels to fold the Jane Doe investigation into the Sobotka detail. As such, Prez and Greggs start looking into Russian strippers and prostitutes in the area, and Russell and Freamon begin to monitor container movements over the past two years to try to find patterns in missing containers. Elsewhere, Nick requests help from the Greeks in solving Ziggy's problems with Cheese, and Omar testifies in Bird's murder trial. In prison, D'Angelo has a heart to heart with Brianna.

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This episode contains examples of:

• At Least I Admit It: This seems to be the crux of Omar's takedown of Levy: When told that he's a leech, stealing from those who steal the lifeblood of the city, Omar's only response is, "Just like you, man."
  Levy: Excuse me, what?
  Omar: I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. (shrugs) S'all in the game, though, right?
  Levy: (stares at the judge, who just shrugs)
• Bilingual Bonus: Vondas calls Ziggy a malaka, which is Greek for "wanker". Nick recognizes the word, and agrees with the assessment.
• Blasé Boast: Omar Little is a stick up man, that is, an armed robber who targets only drug dealers and other criminals to steal from. There's something special about the following exchange in Season 2, at the start of the trial of a drugland assassin who tortured and murdered Omar's boyfriend Brandon.
  Asst. State's Attorney Ilene Nathan: What exactly do you do for a living, Mr. Little?
  Omar: I robs drug dealers.
  Asst. State's Attorney Ilene Nathan: And exactly how long has that been your occupation, Mr. Little?
  Omar: Oh, I don't know exactly, I venture to say about... eight or nine years.
  Asst. State's Attorney Ilene Nathan: Mr. Little, how does a man rob drug dealers for 8 or 9 years and live to tell about it?
  Omar: [smiles, shrugs, and sits back in his seat] Day at a time, I suppose.
• The Cameo: Richard Price (who wrote the novel Clockers, which David Simon has acknowledged as a big influence on The Wire), plays the prison teacher. Price would join the writing staff in Season 3.
• Chekhov's Gun: The "Get Out of Jail Free" Card Nathan gives Omar.
• Cut His Heart Out with a Spoon: Bird threatens to "rip your (Omar's) heart out (his) goddamn chest!"
• Epigraph: "It don't matter that some fool say he different...", said by D'Angelo when he gives his theory of The Great Gatsby.
• Everybody Has Standards: Omar takes exception to Levy's suggestion that he is the kind of person to kill someone and pin the blame on another, on the basis that, felon or not, he has never harmed anyone he considers a innocent "citizen", i.e. a non-criminal.
• Exact Words: Nathan did tell McNulty, after all, to get Omar "anything with a tie".
• Flush the Evidence: D'Angelo Barksdale flushes his drug stash down a prison cell toilet.
• Foreshadowing: D'Angelo's murder will have major consequences the next two seasons, while Nick's decision to take a payment in drugs, and sell those drugs, will be important over the next few episodes.
• Framing the Guilty Party: Omar's perjured testimony - along with Bird's own ill-advised outburst - helps pin the murder of Gant on Bird, the actual killer.
• Hidden Depths: Classical Mythology was one of Omar's favorite subjects in school.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Levy may be an Amoral Attorney, but he's correct that Omar is Framing the Guilty Party.
• Killed Off for Real: D'Angelo Barksdale.
• Let Me Get This Straight...:
  Proposition Joe: Now let me understand; you gonna come up in here, having fucked up a package, asking me to tell Cheese - who you fucked it up on - to pay you out $2400.
  Nick: He gets to keep the Camaro.
  Proposition Joe: Just how good a friend is this motherfucker to y'all? (Sergei shrugs)
• Nepotism / Surrounded by Idiots: Sergei and Proposition Joe both commiserate about this.
  Sergei: Family cannot be helped.
  Proposition Joe: Who you telling? I got motherfucking nephews and in-laws fucking all my shit up all the time, and it ain't like I can pop a cap in their ass and not hear about it Thanksgiving time.
• Out-of-Character Moment: The normally crude Herc actually being polite and shy when asking Beadie if she'd like to get a cup of coffee with him. Carver naturally mocks him right away.
  Ellis Carver: "Yo, I'm Thomas. You want a coffee?"
  Herc: Listen, I was gonna ask her for her panties to make some soup with but I was afraid she'd take it the wrong way.
• Running Gag: Lester's ability to persuade people to do things.
  Shardene: Lester's been pushing me, you know. He does it kinda without you knowin' that he's doin' it.
  Kima: Yeah, I know what you mean.
• Sex with the Ex: McNulty hopes doing this with Elena will help them get back together. It doesn't work.
• Shout-Out: The D.C. contact Stringer meets says D.C. is now known as "Drama City". George Pelecanos, a staff writer on The Wire, lives in D.C. and has written several novels set there, including one called Drama City.
  • One of the books D'Angelo has in his cell is Frankenstein.
  • Bunk says, "Tomorrow is another goddamn day, right?"
• Wham Episode: Thanks to D'Angelo's murder.
• Villainous Breakdown: Bird loses composure during the trial: "YOU'RE A LYING COCKSUCKER MAN!!".

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