this is the same episode that wallace was killed in. the way daniels looks up to mcnulty is parallel to bodie looking down to poot on the staircase. each nods to tell the other to do the deed, play their game and know their place. standing on opposite sides, mcnulty and poot both wanna break the rules. mcnulty wants stringer locked up but the law wont allow it. poot wants wallace to live but the game wont allow it. the wire - masterpiece.
Scenes like this are what makes The Wire different. This is the climax of the entire season, no bullets fired, nobody dies, no dramatic music or hard cuts or yelling. The whole season leads up to this point and its just more character moments and a light twist.
If it was the Shield, it would've been a massive shootout with one or two of the main characters taking a hit, with Vic Mackey trying to snatch that money in the safe for himself.
@@earthmagickrising you're right but these are big arrests. Wee bey copping to all those murders turned a bunch of red unsolved murder cases into black solved ones which looked really good for their department statistics and helps justify the major crimes unit coming back in later seasons.
“They think he’s tony Montana up there, he probably hasn’t touched a gun in years” not a while after when they arrested Avon he had enough arms to invade a small country.
In my opinion what made this scene so great was the eye exchange between Stringer and Avon when Stringer isn't arrested along with Avon. Normally, that would signal a snitch move, but Avon and Stringer trust each other with their lives so that look Avon gave was like, "I wonder what these "mf's" are up to with this" Best show ever.
I think the plan was definitely to make it look like Stringer was a snitch, and that's why McNulty hesitated at the top of the stairs. He was torn between going through with the plan and going back for Stringer. But Daniels over-ruled him. And although Stringer didn't get a target on his back because if it, it did start the discord between the two that would end up in the way we all know.
Brenton Rolle yeah Avon and String knew what the play was, knew the police were just trying to fuck with them. It was a weak chess move which they saw coming. **spoiler alert But the trust they have makes the season 3 backstabbing all the more dramatic.
@@AlanHope2013 no they didn't have a charge on stringer because *spoiler* Stringer got rid of the one person who had something on him - they had him but the witness ended up dead. And this didn't start the discord, at this point Avon trusts him completely.
@@samuelmuiruri4704 no not when he was arrested. That was season 4. He talks about Bird, in season 1.. episode 7 I’m pretty sure, tells mcnulty that Bird would “throw down” with them if he has the gun on him. . Then he wears a wire down the line to get Stringer Bell caught up in the meeting that Prop Joe sets up.
@@jonmacie7581 that's nonsense. Big boy didn't resist and kept his hands where they were visible. If the cops just straight murdered the dude when he answered the door, those police would be in front of a judge with some serious charges. The guy may be a criminal, but as an American, he still has rights.
not exactly. watch the scene where mcnulty gets analyzed by the fbi profilers. I think it all goes back to the very first sequence in the show where stringer drew that picture and told mcnulty to go fuck himself. that or its something before the series started that we don't know about
fleshcookie oh i was just exaggerating it yaoi style. boyz lovu...seriously though they get off to one-upping eachother...whose gonna be the bottom bitch
stringer was snitching you can see in episode where Avon is preparing retaliation on Marlo but police raids the warehouse where avon´s muscles get arrested and McNulty shows Avon the warrant that shows stringer as a snitch on it...
1:48 great acting by Idris Elba. Look at his fingers and his leg. Super fidgety. Had anxiety about being arrested. Wood Harris and all the actors killed it too
The way String and Avon bounced off each other was probably my favorite part of the show, which made it that much more riveting to watch their relationship come apart at the seems.
The way the cop puts his arm around the guard looks like he was gonna take him out for drinks and dancing or someshit. I bet they became best friends after this.
Its called de-escalating. It makes perfect sence for that situation. The guard is being passive and you wanna keep it that way. Why struggle with a massive guy when you can just get him to follow you without restraint.
Mr Pink In reality, they would’ve all been pointing their firearms at the guy and hollering at him to get on the ground!! As if EVERYBODY wants to really lay down on the ground!! Hate that shit!!
@@solorxch7424 i feel you lol, but do you understand the unlimited amount of layers and themes the writers built into this show? ...Every word, gesture, eye movement, and sound has meaning...I can literally watch these scenes all day and STILL find something new lol
@@RashBoogieTV Well said. I come from a family of literary scholars. English teachers, law professors, and writers. I have convinced many of them to dedicate themselves to truly watching this show. Every single one of them absolutely loved it, and two of them now show clips from The Wire to their higher education classrooms. I think a certain type of mind, maybe ones more intellectually and academically inclined is more likely to enjoy the vast depth of this show because it leaves a breadcrumb trail that allows you to go as far down the rabbit hole as your heart desires. It brings up deeply philosophical questions rooted in morality, politics, and complex emotions. It's not like Breaking Bad for example. BB has a plot that a 3rd grader could follow and it has explosions and drama is much more appealing to a different type of viewer. Anyways, to your point, I beleive you could watch this show from start to finish an infinite number of times and still find something new to chew on.
The framing of Daniels looking up at Mcnulty in the stairwell is mirrored in the scene when Poot looks up at Bodie in the stairwell before they confront Wallace
2:30 - great moment. McNulty was always obsessed about String. That was his counter-part and a big driving force that got the show going. He was far more obsessed about String, then Avon.
zoo05zoo Totally. Just like later with Marlo "He does not get to win. We get to win!" I think it drives him nuts that Stringer gets to be more successful than him and there is nothing he can do about it. Maybe even a little subtle racism too, Stringer came from the streets. He is a criminal. And McNulty is supposedly so smart. It haunts McNulty that such a person can get the better of him.
asbrozek64 I think McNulty and to that extent, other investigators in police departments do have that mix of envy, racism, jealousy and even admiration because they study these guys lives, their movements, their money flows and they largely know a good deal about their beings. Thus when they find it so difficult to pin anything on them, it can drive some of them to bend or even break the law, i.e., how they got Marlo and Avon.
@@blacktsunamit never too late to see the wire. you can still watch the show out there and the quality stays the same, it won't make a difference even if you watch it 10 years later from now.
The infatuation mcnulty had with stringer was..mcnulty was the smartest cop on the wire and he knew it..and often thought his superiors and counterparts were not intellectually on his level..just as Stringer was intellectually superior than all his peers. mcnulty often wondered why Stringer was associated with these guys..when he clearly could be doing bigger and better things..He saw himself in Stringer.
He saw a challenge, like you said right, mcnulty is supposed to be the smartest guy in the business, and thats why he got obsessed with getting stringer
Mcnulty was obsessed by Stringer because Stringer was the smarter one. When he finds Stringers corpse he says something along the lines of "Who the fuck was this guy". He never really had a clue.
One interesting detail was the front door and how it was setup to swing outside instead of inside. They had a swat guy ready with a battering ram that would have been ineffective against that type of door. The attention to detail is amazing in this show.
It is perhaps ADA and Fire Safety code that doors must swing out and must have a push panic hardware installed. Aka it’s just part of every commercial building in the states
All clubs have to have out swinging doors to prevent another station nightclub in the event of a fire. People will be trapped inside with an In swinging door
@@utizzle44 He was never going to see it ever again. Do you think the police were going to return it to him with his other property once he maid bail? Lol wishful thinking maybe.
The thought didn't even cross Avon's mind because he's all about loyalty. Stringer isn't, which is why he was able to go behind Avon's back and kill D.
He had good reason to Kil D'angelo, he brought it upon himself, acting like an idiot the entire time he was locked up, refusing their help completely turning their backs on the organization. What people forget we are watching a tv show and see every scene in their reality stringer doesn't know that D'angelo changed his mind about snitching and had no idea what was going on with him anymore.
Permitted_ This show won awards and was a huge money maker for HBO. Lol its even still being compared today against other crime-dramas like breaking bad
I mean this is probably the least nuanced and unimpressive lines and still 152 people liked it not tryna shit on you just saying goes to show how high caliber the writing was... sidenote does anyone know if the dialogue was verbatim as many writers/directors want you to stick to the script verbatim but the nuances of Baltimore hood slang combination makes it fairly difficult to be so on point example idk if cheese(method man's character) backstory was that he was a Bmore native or not but Im assuming he was so, during his interrogation with Bunk and McNulty he's being asked about his dog but that word if you from Bmore sounds alot more like "dig" so when we watched it I'm yelling "ITS DIG" at the screen everytime he said dog lol.. fellow Bmoreans did you catch that..also what are some of your other favorite words that slipped through the cracks
Almost 2 full minutes with very little dialogue yet that just made the scene that much more intense. Goodness The Wire was one of the greatest shows ever!!!
It just shows how good the directing was, they didn't fill every scene with music or unneeded dialog. Like that scene with Bunk and McNulty at the apartment going over the old case, I think the entire time they're in the apartment the only dialog is the usage of the word "fuck" or some kind of variation. However what truly makes this show great was the casting, you couldn't replace any of the characters with anyone else.
Never seen the show, heyyyyooo, but, there was two more very comfortable opportunities in that building, a little espionage, and a ticket getting punched
Stringer putting his glasses on to open the safe shows that he near sided so he has complications on seeing stuff right in front of him now watch him in the second season
No over dramatic shootout, even big man guarding the door just walked away peacefully with SWAT. Even the way they were dressed, Avon in cool casual wear and Stringer in the short sleeve shirt and dress slacks and hard bottom shoes. The Wire will always be my favorite show of all time.
This is the moment that stringer and Avon were done. It’s here stringer starts getting the idea he’s got more brains than Avon and that his way won’t get him caught out. Avon himself I believe was thinking that he’d lucked out, his partner was still out, and “the game is the game” so with all the experience, the crew wouldn’t lose too much of a step. After the towers came down and he could see string was going to join prop joe it was all over and the power struggle really began. Sad because even at the end he didn’t wanna give up string, but he wasn’t gonna lose his rep over string’s life.
"This isn't as much fun as I thought it would be. Swat guys think there's Tony Montana up there? , these guys probably haven't touched a gun in years" Exactly what The Wire was all about. Hyper realistic!!!
nateo200 Haha yeah there are a few slips but its still MILES better then I could ever do. I mean imagine you and me trying to maintain a convincing British accent for an entire movie as an American. Lmfao I bet we would have UK audiences absolutely destroying us for our accent slips. Dominic is no Hugh Laurie but he's not bad at all!
+tankmaster1018 Lol I just look at Dominic talking sometimes and its like he's got too much teeth in his mouth or something with certain words you really just see his jaw grinding away lol
+tankmaster1018 When I found out that both West and Elba were British, I was dumbfounded. Then comes Aiden Gillen, who's Irish. Of the three, Gillen looked to be working harder at getting his mouth around an American accent, I think. He sure as hell didn't sound as though he was from Baltimore. Aren't there any American actors who can do strong acting? Sorry, but, damn! In any case, they were all exceptionally good.
THERE WILL NEVER EVER EVER BE ANOTHER SHOW AS INTENSE, DRAMATIC, AND ENTERTAINING AS THE WIRE WAS. I AM JUST UPSET THEY COULD NOT SQUEEZE OUT ONE MORE SEASON
''Hundred fifty? Well open it up man no sense in ruining a good safe...'' I swear who ever wrote the dialogue for Avon was fucking inspired. Shit like that gets you into the characters head haha.
At 2:45 McNulty's thinking about killing Stringer. He knows that Stringer is guilty, but they don't have enough to bring him in. He's thinking that he could say Stringer attacked him or grabbed for his gun, because they're the only two people up there. But then he looks down and sees Daniels, and he's not sure that Daniels would go along with it, so he leaves.
Sorry, but you're way off. There's no way McNulty would ever even consider killing Stringer. The entire first three seasons Jimmy had a hard-on for one thing and one thing only: catching Stringer Bell. He even said "catch you later" in this very clip. Look at how heartbroken he was that Omar and Mouzone got to him first when he would have had Stringer arrested the very next day.
ShaneSpear02 It wasn't until later seasons that the fight against Stringer became personal, largely due to the fact that they couldn't arrest Stringer here. In the first season, he's just fed up that no one's holding these guys accountable for what they're doing. He can't stand the fact that they're going to get away, even though they're responsible for more crime and violence than anyone else in Baltimore. He may have become obsessed with beating Stringer later on, but in the first season he was still chasing the idea of a just world, where people pay for their crimes. He knows the system is broken, so he considers taking the law into his own hands.
Another one of those "this is not CSI, this is The Wire" moments that quietly establish this show as the best in history. In every other cop show once you see a SWAT team knocking on someone's door you know you can look forward to a shootout. Not here. Just exquisite story telling and subtle, flawless acting.
Always my biggest complaint with American cop shows. Too much flash and trying to look cool. British cop shows are almost always better, far more subtleties involved and there was a bit of that here in The Wire which is a breath of fresh air.
Body language tells: Avon tries his best to appear laid back and relaxed, but one hand still guards the family jewels (defensive) and the picking at his face when Daniels walks up indicates a lot of discomfort
Nah dude people chill with their hand right above their dick a lot. Though usually alone. its comfortable af in a completely nonsexual way. But u right about the wiping of the mouth, though that was something he does a lot in the show
