Now that I’m back – and a have a week of rest under my belt – from the odyssey that was Comic-Con 2012, I can finally dive back into The Wire, starting with the beginning of the second season. I’ve actually surprised myself at how much I’ve been able to stay unspoiled for this show, and I plan on staying that way. The only thing I really know about each season of The Wire is that the stories aren’t always connected; to that point, I was actually surprised at how many of the season one actors had returned.
Catch up on the first season of my The Wire Virgin Diary.
Season Two, Episode One: “Ebb Tide”
“It’s all about self-preservation … something you never learned.”
I’m not going to lie, I expected a lot more out of this episode. Introducing a new story and a cadre of new characters can’t be easy. The scene at the bar was especially bad; not only do I not yet care about these young whippersnappers – nor their elder counterparts – I’m even less interesting in seeing what the young guys have in their pants. At least the story at the docks ended with an interesting twist.
The politics of the Baltimore Police Department are rough; not only was McNulty dumped into the Marine Unit, Daniels was sent to the evidence locker. It’s an interesting way to pull him back into the story – whenever that happens. Until then, it seems like everyone is going to be left to their various loose ends, including Kima driving a desk and Prez searching for an assignment as rewarding as his last.
Even the bad guys seem at loose ends. It seems to me that they were left in a better position after the case came down than they find themselves now. Brodie’s wild goose chase turns out to be a test of some kind, but to what end? Stringer Bell is trying to open the pipeline back up, but it turns out their source finds themselves under investigation, conveniently following Barksdale’s imprisonment. I’m not sure I’d trust Stringer either.
Episode Two: “Collateral Damage”
I’m glad the case started to form up quickly in this episode; otherwise, I would have been way bored. But McNulty made sure that Baltimore Homicide would be involved; even if that meant that it was actually Freamon and Bunk that were the collateral damage that caught the case. It’s just one more indicator that the band will be getting back together sooner rather than later.
After the first season, nothing should surprise me about the inner workings of the BPD, but it is a little surprising that the union boys are catching so much hell because of such a petty grudge from Valchek. The new detail will surely stumble onto the connection to the girls killed in the container, but only because the “phenom” Prez is on the case.
I don’t know if the real identity of The Greek was supposed to be a twist, but I had it figured fairly quickly. I’m a fan of Paul Ben-Victor, and am glad to see him here, even if he’s only The Greek’s right hand man. His physicality with the worker they killed proves that I’ll like him here as well.
It was good to see D’Angelo after only hearing about him in the first episode. I had always hoped his would be a character redeemed in the first season, something that obviously didn’t happen. It’s disappointing to see that his life has spiraled even more, as he’s now using the product that he used to sell on the outside.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jul 24, 2012 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
