Brother Mouzone confronts Omar. Cutty tries to convince Avon to help him purchase new equipment for the gym. As Burrell and Rawls try to formulate a strategy for how to deal with the drug tolerant zones, Royce decides to delay closing them down, believing they may be doing some genuine good. Believing Royce's delay is to enable him to work out how to blame the police department, Burrell leaks the story to Carcetti, who is keen to get Colvin's side of things. Stringer learns from Levy that Clay Davis has been lying to him, and has conned him into making financial contributions for no return. A furious Stringer orders Slim Charles to kill Davis. As the MCU's wires begin to yield information, they discover Avon and Stringer are not on the same network as everyone else. Believing that putting Avon back in prison is the only way to end the war with Marlo, Stringer gives Colvin the location of Avon's safe-house. However, Stringer is unaware that Avon has made a deal of his own.
This episode contains examples of:
- Abusive Parents: Justin shrugs off the beating he's taking in the ring by saying, "My momma hit me harder than that."
- Actor Allusion: Kurt Schmoke, the former mayor of Baltimore, plays a health official who meets with Royce at Hamsterdam. At one point, Schmoke says Royce will be called "the most dangerous man in America", which Schmoke was called in real life when he advocated during his term (in the 90's) decriminalizing drug use.
- Bait-and-Switch: When Cutty finally specifies that he needs $10,000 from Avon for boxing equipment, he and Slim Charles start laughing their asses off... because Cutty made such a big deal for a relatively small sum; Avon gives him 15 instead.
- Blown Across the Room: Omar shoots Stringer's bodyguard with his shotgun, sending him him flying onto cardboard boxes.
- Casual Danger Dialogue: the episode opens with Brother Mouzone and Omar holding a very civil conversation while each pointing a gun at the other.
- Continuity Nod: The tension between Daniels and McNulty is still there.
- "Could Have Avoided This!" Plot: As exasperatedly pointed out by Levy, Stringer probably could of avoided Clay Davis conning him out of a quarter of a million dollars had he just gone to Levy first for advice.
- Creator Cameo: Dennis Lehane, one of the writers on the show, plays Sullivan, the cop on duty at the equipment office when McNulty comes in.McNulty: McNulty, Major Crimes.
Sullivan: Sullivan, minor irritations. - Curse Cut Short / Get It Over With: "Well, get on with it, motherfuck-"
- Death by Irony: A Running Gag throughout the first three seasons is how Stringer always wanted the doors shut and locked. If just one of the doors in the property he was at when Brother Mouzone and Omar caught up with him had been open and/or unlocked, he might have escaped.
- Enemy Mine: Brother Mouzone and Omar.
- Epigraph: "We ain't got to dream no more", said by Stringer to Avon at their final meeting.
- Et Tu, Brute?: Avon and Stringer betray each other. Stringer is the first to learn, as he is cornered by Brother Mouzone and Omar, and when the latter tells him that Avon gave him up willingly, he immediately gives up his attempt to bargain with them.
- Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: When Royce hesitates to make the call to move on Hamsterdam, Burrell, pretty much only capable of thinking in terms of realpolitik, immediately jumps to the conclusion that the mayor is attempting some sort of political manoeuvring and is trying buy time for finding he can throw the police department under the bus. Burrell is not entirely wrong, Royce is a politician after all, and is certainly considering that option, but Royce is not blind to the undeniable beneficial effects the Hamsterdam plan has had on the community in the Western district either, and is simultaneously seriously considering the idea that it could be a possible solution to the drug problem that can change the whole city for the better, and could be presented as such, provided he can find the right spin. Burrell's paranoia and causes him to whistleblow, and once the press get involved, Royce feels his hand has been forced and jettisons the idea entirely.
- Face Death with Dignity: When cornered by Omar and Mouzone after running, Stringer just tells them to "Get on with it motherfu—".
- Failure Is the Only Option: Gene calls the current policy the government has towards drugs this: "We've seen that law enforcement steam roller approach is just spitting in the wind."
- First-Name Basis: While meeting with Stringer, Colvin refers to him by his actual first name, Russell.
- Foreshadowing: Carcetti's reaction to Hamsterdam, Stringer's death, and the information Stringer gave to Colvin, will all become important in the season finale. In more general terms, Sherrod becomes more important in future episodes.
- Get It Over With: "Well, get on with it, motherf—"
- Ironic Echo: Mouzone uses "Your boy" to denote that Dante gave up Omar's location. Omar uses it again to denote that Avon gave up String's location.
- Killed Mid-Sentence: Stringer.
- Layman's Terms: Lampshaded:Burrell: We're to hold off on any action in Hamsterdam. No arrests, no movement until further notice. He says he wants to regroup.
Rawls: Translate that for me, will ya, Erv? I don't speak his fucked-up lingo.
Burrell: Royce is figuring a way to put all of us in the guillotine and keep the blood from spraying anywhere near the Hall. - Pet the Dog: Avon giving Dennis money for his gym.
- Pragmatic Evil: Stringer is so furious at finding out Clay Davis conned him that he tries to get Slim Charles to kill him. Avon comes along and vetoes the hit, claiming that if they kill a state senator, that's going to be WAY too many eyes on them.
- Rule of Symbolism: Stringer, who came from the streets of Baltimore and unsuccessfully tried to ascend to higher ambitions is fatally trapped in the middle by the street-dressed gangster Omar on the lower floor of his condominium and the more sophisticatedly dressed Brother Mouzone on the higher floor. Then, in the vein of classic fictional gangsters (Little Caesar, Scarface (1932), Carlito's Way), String dies near a billboard illustrating his broken dreams.
- Shout-Out:
- One of the kids at Dennis' gym wants to know if he got his equipment at Bedrock.
- Avon says Stringer would need a "Day of the Jackal type motherfucker" to assassinate Clay Davis.
- When remembering the story of Stringer stealing the badminton net, Avon recalls how the man at the counter of the store was running like Carl Lewis. Lewis was a famous sprinter in the 80's.
- Showdown at High Noon: The scene at the beginning between Brother Mouzone and Omar looks at first like it'll play this way, but it's ultimately subverted.
- Snake Oil Salesman: As Levy points out to Stringer, this is basically what Clay did to him.Levy: He rainmade you. A guy says if you pay him, he can make it rain. You pay him. If and when it rains, he takes the credit. If and when it doesn't, he finds reasons for you to pay him more. Clay Davis rainmade you.
- Title Drop: When Royce is trying to get his staff and health officials to figure out a way to sell Hamsterdam, he says, "There's got to be a middle ground here that we have yet to find."
- Wham Episode: Thanks to Stringer's murder.
- Yiddish as a Second Language: Levy calls Clay a "gonif", which is Yiddish for "thief".
