The Wire

Lessons

Season 1, Episode 8, Aired 7/28/02

Episode Summary

"Come at the king, you best not miss." - Omar

McNulty has his sons play the game of "front and follow" with Stringer Bell as the target at a local market, and the two get Bell's license plate number. As a result, the two get Stringer's license plate number and McNulty couldn't be happier. Greggs and Carver bust a driver picking up a suspiciously large amount of cash from the Towers, only they are forced to return the money on orders of the Deputy Commissioner. Avon finds out about Orlando's inquiries about branching out into "dirty" business, and makes it clear to Orlando that the plan will never happen.moreless

9.3

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Cast & Crew

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Wendell Pierce

Det. William "Bunk" Moreland
Wood Harris

Avon Barksdale
John Doman

Maj. William A. Rawls

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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Amazing stuff

9.5

"Superb"

By fanofatj, Aug 24, 2011 Report Abuse

It took five episodes for me to fall in love with this show, and now I cannot stop watching it. I especially like this episode because it is the most recent one I have seen. But not only that, it has such a human and logical view from the drug dealers' perspectives. You see nearly everyone as equals and you care about the criminals and the cops almost the same. It's amazing seeing a show that doesn't just give a black & white/right & wrong view of the world. Since the fourth season has ended on live3 television I am at a slight disadvantage because I hear about things that happen in the future before I see them, but during this episode I got to see the infamous Omar and his amazing work. I can't wait for the next episode. This show is amazing.moreless

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Everything I have grown to like about this series is represented in this fine installment.

9.1

"Superb"

By rockin01, Aug 24, 2011 Report Abuse

I'm still getting used to the pace and the style of this series, but I guess I am hooked now. This is storytelling at its finest- a cast of multidimensional, believeable characters who are interesting enough to make me continue to tune in to see what happens to them; a plot that unfolds at a pace that seems slow to our caffeinated, jump-cut trained sensibilities, but which I think is actually expertly paced: just enough happens in each episode to further the narrative while still allowing for that all-important character development. In this episode, the political intrigue continues, with the Deputy Ops moving to shut down the wiretap operation when a money pick-up man who is busted turns out to have connections. McNulty gets a license plate number for Stringer and tails him to a community college, where he observes him attending a macroeconomics class(!) Dee and Shardene discuss getting out of the game. Mitchell continues to stay away from The Pit, and his drug habit looks like it's getting worse. Omar takes revenge into his own hands, queering (no pun intended) the case the cops had built against Stink. Orlando gets puled up by Avon for his business ambitions. And Avon renews his hunt for Omar, upping the bounty on his head. Oh, one more thing: Bunk- get some help, brotha!moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Bunk is seen reading a book written by Laura Lippman in the squad room. She is best known for writing a series of novels set in Baltimore. Laura Lippman is also the wife of David Simon, executive producer of The Wire. Edit
Notes
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- Although credited, John Doman, Deirdre Lovejoy and Andre Royo do not appear in this episode. Edit
Quotes
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- McNulty: Hey, are we still police? Lester: Technically, yes. McNulty: Good, just checking. Edit
Allusions
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