At this point, I think the major weakness of Season Five is clear: David Simon didn't have the good sense to repeat himself. Imagine this: There is no Scott Templeton. Instead, the season revolves around Alma Gutierrez. She's young, a little naïve, and wants to write about Baltimore's rapidly-growing Latino population (according to Simon, the likely focus of Season Six if there had been one), which remains largely invisible in city that still sees everything in terms of black and white. Then, in the course of reporting a prize-bait series on the Dickensian lives of the homeless, she runs across a man in a soup kitchen whose life seems to sum up everything that needs to be said about Baltimore's past, present, and future. But when she brings these ideas to her boss, Gus Haynes, he's reluctant. Gus is an essentially decent man who's been ground down by relentless budget cuts and has started to give into cynicism. He sees a little of his old self in Alma, but he has one eye on retirement, has to think of his family, and knows her ideas won’t fly with the idiots running the show. So Alma has a choice to make, about herself, her profession, and her city.
Instead we get the lengthy Templeton story, which is strange given that of the myriad flaws and problems with the news media today, outright fabrication isn’t one of them.
Similarly, while I enjoy Isaiah Whitlock Jr. as much as the next person, what does the story of Clay Davis’ baroque corruption really tell us? Better to focus on someone with a more complex mix of self- and public-interest, like Council President Campbell. Fortunately, the show seems to be moving back to its roots in the final three episodes, because this was easily the best episode of the season.
Summary: McNulty discovers that he’s an open book, and that after years of railing against The Man, actually being The Man isn’t as easy as he thought. Carcetti continues to sell out the schools piece by piece, first to the police and then to PG County pols, in a way that’s particularly terrible if you think about education for a living. Even as Marlo and Chris get ready to celebrate in A.C., people are closing in from all sides. There were a lot of great notes and moments—Kima’s stubborn integrity, Dukie on the junk cart, Lester throwing down on Senator Davis, McNulty finally having an honest conversation with Beadie. Poot, meanwhile, emerges from hiding at last, disguised as a Foot Locker salesman. The fan part of me enjoys the extended roll-call / where-are-they-now thing, but it does pull you out of the narrative slightly.
Also, Omar dies. After years of watching The Wire, I can’t say the moment or manner of his death was a surprise. The scene before it, with him hobbling around, shouting for Marlo in the bright, empty, quiet streets, was terrific. Omar’s survival as a lone predator depended on him living within the system. He served as a kind of natural Darwinian check on the inefficiencies of the Game, probably making it stronger in the long run. Once he decided to fight against it directly, he was doomed, because even the baddest man in Baltimore can’t stop a bullet, and your rep doesn’t carry to little men with guns. R.I.P, Omar Little. Even the coroner knew your name.
Next week: The previews are too spoilerish by half, but the next episode looks kind of awesome.
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