Season 2, Episode 10
Storm Warnings
Ethnic tensions over the next union secretary continue to build as Sobotka plans to run against Ott. Ziggy steals several cars from the docks and fences them to George "Double-G" Gleka. However, when he is short-changed, he reacts badly. The detail use satellite technology to try to identify the Greeks' head man. However, Valchek, who feels they have let Sobotka off the hook in pursuit of the Greeks, brings the FBI on board, exploiting their fears of terrorists utilizing the checkers' smuggling operation. Bodie is pleased with the new product in the towers but unhappy that Cheese is on his turf. However, unwilling to give up his real estate, Avon hires feared New York hitman Brother Mouzone to keep rivals off Barksdale territory. Mouzone's reputation is such that Prop Joe refuses to tangle with him, but thinks he knows one person who might have the ability to take him on.
This episode contains examples of:
- Affably Evil: Brother Mouzone, who even says, "Good day to you, sir" after Cheese leaves.
- Armor-Piercing Response: Frank is furious with Nick when he finds out Ziggy killed Double-G, blaming him for not keeping a closer eye on Ziggy: "You're his cousin." But Nick answers, "You're his father," which stuns Frank into silence.
- Badass Bookworm: Brother Mouzone.Puddin: All damn day, he just sit there, reading. And damned if those East Side bitches don't stay away.
Bodie: That's real muscle, right there.
Puddin: True that.- Before this is a scene where Brother Mouzone reprimands one of his assistants for forgetting to buy him the most recent issue of Harpers Weekly where we get a taste for his reading tastes (essay-heavy, high-class left-of-center news magazines like the aforementioned Harpers, The Nation, and The New Republic), and he asserts that the most dangerous thing in America is "a [black man] with a library card"
- Book Ends: As noted, the episode begins and ends with a Hard-Work Montage (though not the same one).
- Continuity Nod:
- Prissy is the woman supposedly suing Ziggy for paternity.
- Jimmy wears the same polo shirt he was wearing when Kima got shot.
- Description Porn: After shooting Cheese in the shoulder:Brother Mouzone: Pellets in plastic. Rat shot. What you need be concerned about is what's seated in the chamber now: a copper-jacketed, hollow-point, 120-grain hot street load of my own creation. So you need to think for a just a moment and ask yourself: "What do I have to do before this man raise up his gun again?"
- Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: The detail's reaction when Prez punches Valchek.
- Diegetic Switch: "I Walk The Line" goes from just being heard from Prez's player to playing over the Hard-Work Montage and then back to Prez's player at the end of the sequence.
- The Dog Bites Back: Ziggy shoots Glekas, and Prez punches Valchek.
- Epigraph: "It pays to go with the union card every time"; Ziggy says this to Johnny Fifty when he compliments him on the good job.
- Foreshadowing: Just about everything that happens in this episode has major consequences the rest of the season.
- In the Back: Ziggy shoots Glekas several times in the back.
- Ironic Echo: Prez said, "Move, shitbird!" to the kid whose eye he bloodied.
- Ziggy calling Glekas "Malaka" during his shooting spree.
- Missed Him by That Much: When Spiros leaves the dinner, Carver and Herc are busy arguing childishly about their lunch, so they don't spot him or even his car rolling out.
- Never Heard That One Before: When Brother Mouzone asks, "You know what the most dangerous thing in America is, right?", Lamar and the other flunky look at each other wearily as Brother Mouzone answers, "A nigga with a library card", and laughs at his own joke.
- Oh, Crap!: Daniels has a truly epic one when Prez punches Valchek
- Pet the Dog: Jay being decent towards Ziggy.
- Showdown at High Noon: Parodied when Fitz and the other agents first enter the detail office, and Bunk and Lester ready themselves.Lester: Aim for center mass. Make sure the man goes down.
Bunk: No problem. I got the three on the left.
Fitz: (laughing) Fuck you, assholes! (everyone smiles and greets each other) - Sophisticated as Hell:Brother Mouzone: (to Cheese) Let me be emphatic; you need to take your black ass across Charles Street where it belongs.
