"Slapstick" is the ninth episode of the third season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

original series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2, ...

''. The episode was written by

David Simon David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on ''The Wire'' (2002–08). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' Hom ...

from a story by David Simon &

George Pelecanos George P. Pelecanos (born February 18, 1957) is an American author. Many of his 20 books are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. He is also a film and television producer and a television writ ...

and was directed by

Alex Zakrzewski Alexander Zakrzewski is an American television director and cinematographer. He has directed episodes of ''Cold Case'', '' Law & Order: Criminal Intent'', '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', ''Numb3rs'' and ''The Wire'', as well as worked on ...

. It originally aired on November 21, 2004.

Plot

Daniels and Pearlman discuss the legal requirements for the Major Crimes Unit's wiretaps on the Barksdales' disposable phones. Greggs and McNulty outfit Bubbles with a wire and give him enough money to force Bodie's crew to phone in for a resupply for drugs. McNulty finds Prez standing over what turns out to be a dead plainclothes police officer. Rawls notes there is a racial component to the shooting because Waggoner was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

who was shot by a white officer. As Cutty cleans out the building he plans to convert into a community boxing gym, he struggles with bureaucratic

red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to ...

. The Deacon meets with Colvin, who tells him he is retiring and willing to let others decide whether to sustain Hamsterdam. After a body is found inside Hamsterdam, Carver persuades the officers to move the body elsewhere.

Herc Thomas "Herc" Hauk is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Domenick Lombardozzi. The series introduces Herc as a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Narcotics Unit, begrudgingly detailed to the initial Barks ...

refuses and tips off ''

The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

''. After Crutchfield gives Colvin an

ultimatum An ultimatum (; ) is a demand whose fulfillment is requested in a specified period of time and which is backed up by a threat to be followed through in case of noncompliance (open loop). An ultimatum is generally the final demand in a series o ...

, he meets with the crew chiefs and threatens to close Hamsterdam if they do not turn in the shooter. The crew chiefs turn in the shooter. Gray unaware that Carcetti is also planning a mayoral run offers him a place on his ticket as council president. Carcetti and Gray meet with Watkins to discuss their proposed

witness protection Witness protection is security provided to a threatened person providing testimonial evidence to the justice system, including defendants and other clients, before, during, and after a trial, usually by police. While a witness may only require p ...

scheme. Carcetti charms Watkins and convinces him to offer funds in order to persuade Royce to start the initiative.

Omar ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb ( ar, عمر بن الخطاب, also spelled Omar, ) was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () as the second caliph of the Rashidun Caliphate o ...

arrives at his grandmother's house. Barksdale

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

s are staking out the house who are wary of breaking the longstanding Sunday morning truce. After being given permission by Bell, Sapper and Gerard open fire on Omar and his grandmother, but both survive the attack. Slim Charles chastises his men for violating the truce. Bernard and

Squeak Squeak is an object-oriented, class-based, and reflective programming language. It was derived from Smalltalk-80 by a group that included some of Smalltalk-80's original developers, initially at Apple Computer, then at Walt Disney Imagineering ...

rent a car to buy more disposable phones, unwittingly being followed by Sydnor. Bernard delivers the phones to Shamrock. Joe meets with

Vinson VINSON is a family of voice encryption devices used by U.S. and allied military and law enforcement, based on the NSA's classified Suite A SAVILLE encryption algorithm and 16 kbit/s CVSD audio compression. It replaces the Vietnam War-era NES ...

to organize a meeting to pursue a truce, offering Marlo a chance to join the Co-Op and keep all of his territory. Vinson explains that Marlo believes Avon is weak and wants to take over the West Side. Bell meets with

Davis Davis may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Davis (Antarctica) * Davis Island (Palmer Archipelago) * Davis Valley, Queen Elizabeth Land Canada * Davis, Saskatchewan, an unincorporated community * Davis Strait, between Nunavut and Green ...

, angry that he is still facing bureaucratic obstructions despite

bribing Bribery is the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With regard to governmental operations, essentially, bribery is "Corru ...

the senator. Davis urges Bell to show patience and leave the street mentality behind, but Bell will not be mollified. Meanwhile, Avon meets with

Brianna ''Brianna'', ''Breanna'', ''Breanne'', ''Briana'', ''Brina'', and ''Bryanna'' are feminine given names. ''Brianna'' is a feminine English language form of the masculine Irish language name ''Brian'' as "Briana" is the original spelling. The name i ...

, who tells him about McNulty's suspicions that

D'Angelo Michael Eugene Archer (born February 11, 1974), better known by his stage name D'Angelo (), is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He first garnered attention after co-producing the single "U Will Know" ...

was murdered. Avon tries to convince her that McNulty was lying, while Bell who ordered D'Angelo's death sits calmly throughout the meeting. Brianna begs Avon for assurance that he knew that he could trust D'Angelo; Avon bristles at Brianna's implication. Elsewhere, Omar, outraged at the attack on his grandmother, tells

Dante Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His '' Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ...

and Kimmy that he is taking on the Barksdales alone.

Production

Title reference

The title is an ironic reference to the

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such ...

manner in which many of the very serious events (all of which could have been avoided) in the episode play out: Prez's tragic misfire; the breaking of the Sunday morning truce by Barksdale soldiers culminating almost comically in the shooting off of Omar's grandmother's church 'crown' before an awkward escape; Carver's decision to move the body out of the free zone, which is easily picked up on by homicide; Herc's and other Western District detectives' growing disenchantment with Colvin's initiative.

Epigraph

Spoken while Freamon tries to persuade McNulty to see that there is more to life than casework. The camera pans over to the refrigerator covered with pictures of members (past and present) of the detail, settling on the picture of

Beadie Russell Beatrice "Beadie" Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama '' The Wire'', played by actress Amy Ryan. She was featured prominently in the second season, after she discovered thirteen corpses in a container on the Baltimore docks. Cha ...

. The line comes from the famous lyrics by John Lennon, "Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."

Context

Producer

has previously published a novel, ''

Right as Rain ''Right as Rain'' is a 2001 crime novel by George Pelecanos George P. Pelecanos (born February 18, 1957) is an American author. Many of his 20 books are in the genre of detective fiction and set primarily in his hometown of Washington, D.C. ...

'', dealing with the fallout after a white police officer shoots an undercover black police officer. Much of Prez's situation is drawn from that novel, including several direct lines of dialogue.

Non-fiction elements

McNulty makes reference to several real-life Baltimore police officers when saying the few people who have as good of a position as the detail, including co-creator Ed Burns.

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited,

Frankie R. Faison Frankie Russel Faison (born June 10, 1949) is an American actor known for his role as Deputy Commissioner, and, later, Commissioner, Ervin Burrell in the HBO series ''The Wire'', as Barney Matthews in the ''Hannibal Lecter'' franchise, and as Suga ...

and

Wendell Pierce Wendell Edward Pierce (born December 8, 1963) is an American actor and businessman. Having trained at Juilliard School, Pierce rose to prominence as a character actor portraying roles both on the stage and screen. He first gained notoriety port ...

do not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

# Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as

Clay Davis R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes. However, throughout the series Davis remains p ...

Chad L. Coleman Chad L. Coleman (born September 6, 1967) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for playing Dennis "Cutty" Wise on the HBO series ''The Wire'' (2004–08), Tyreese on the AMC series '' The Walking Dead'' (2012–15), Mingo on ''Roots'' ( ...

Dennis "Cutty" Wise Dennis "Cutty" Wise is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Chad Coleman. Wise is a reformed criminal who sets up a boxing gym for neighborhood children. The name "Dennis Wise" was taken from an actual Baltimore c ...

Michael Hyatt Charlene "Michael" Hyatt is a British-born American actress. Before her work in film and television, she performed on stages throughout the United States, particularly in '' Ragtime'' on Broadway. She has played Brianna Barksdale on '' The Wir ...

Brianna Barksdale The Barksdale Organization is a fictional drug-dealing gang on the television series ''The Wire''. Many of the characters featured in season one of ''The Wire'' belong to this organization. Season 1 largely deals with the Baltimore Police Depa ...

# Brandy Burre as Theresa D'Agostino #

Delaney Williams Delaney Williams (born December 12, 1962) is an American character actor from Washington, D.C. He appeared on the HBO drama ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) as a recurring guest star playing homicide sergeant Jay Landsman. He also had a small role on H ...

as Sergeant Jay Landsman # Robert F. Chew as

Proposition Joe Joseph Stewart, better known as "Proposition Joe" or "Prop Joe", is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug lord who prefers a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible. H ...

# Melvin Williams as

The Deacon Dagger Dagoth Dagoth is a demon who has clashed with Doctor Strange. Daken Dakimh the Enchanter Damballah Daniel Whitehall Daniel Whitehall is a British intelligence agent also known as the Kraken. An elite assassin and member of the t ...

Ryan Sands Ryan Sands is an American actor from Washington, D.C. He is known for his portrayal of Geoffrey Wilder in ''Marvel's Runaways''. Early life and education Sands grew up in Washington D.C. along with several older brothers and sisters. His father ...

as Officer Lloyd "Truck" Garrick #

Brian Anthony Wilson Brian Anthony Wilson (born February 22, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He first appeared in the 1997 film ''The Postman'' as Woody. Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the la ...

as Detective Vernon Holley #

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s, and he gave a memorable p ...

as Sean "Shamrock" McGinty #

Anwan Glover Ralph Anwan Glover (born May 5, 1971 in Washington, D.C.) is an American rapper, actor, model, DJ, and founding member of the D.C.-based go-go band "BackYard Band" (also abbreviated as "BYB"). Glover is also known for his portrayal of Slim Cha ...

Slim Charles Slim Charles is a fictional character in the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by Anwan Glover. An enforcer for the Barksdale Organization and later the top lieutenant of kingpin Proposition Joe, he is portrayed as principled, loyal, and competen ...

Ernest Waddell Ernest Waddell (born July 22, 1982) is a New York City-based actor. He is perhaps best known for his recurring roles on two television series: Fin Tutuola's son Ken Randall on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and Omar Little's boyfrien ...

References

External links

"Slapstick"
at HBO.com * {{The Wire episodes The Wire (season 3) episodes 2004 American television episodes Television episodes written by David Simon