Storm Warnings (The Wire)
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"Storm Warnings" is the tenth episode of the second season of the
HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, 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 based a ...
original series ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. The episode was written by
Ed Burns Edward P. Burns (born January 29, 1946) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. For HBO, they have collaborated on '' The Corner,'' ''The Wire,'' ''Generation Kill'', ''The ...
from a story 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'' (2002–2008). He worked for ''The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–1995), wrote '' ...
& Ed Burns and was directed by Rob Bailey. It originally aired on August 10, 2003. With nearly 3.5 million viewers, it was the second most popular program of the week on U.S. premium cable.


Plot

Frank causes tensions in the
stevedore A dockworker (also called a longshoreman, stevedore, docker, wharfman, lumper or wharfie) is a waterfront manual laborer who loads and unloads ships. As a result of the intermodal shipping container revolution, the required number of dockwork ...
s union when he plans to run again for treasurer, despite an earlier agreement to let Ott take the position next.
Ziggy Ziggy is a masculine given name, often a diminutive form (hypocorism) of Zigmunt and other names. It is also a nickname. Notable people with the name include: Nickname or hypocorism * Ezekiel Ansah (born 1989), National Football League play ...
and Johnny Fifty steal several cars from the docks, with plans to
fence A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or net (textile), netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its ...
them to Glekas. When Ziggy tells Glekas the cars were put into containers, Glekas cuts Ziggy's share. Ziggy furiously demands more money, which Glekas laughs off until Ziggy racially abuses him. After leaving the store, Ziggy retaliates by shooting Glekas and a shop attendant. Ziggy breaks down at the scene as the police arrive. He is questioned by Landsman and signs a confession with little hesitation. When Aimee questions
Nick Nick may refer to: People and fictional characters * Nick (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Désirée Nick, German actress and writer Places * Nick, Hungary, a village * Nick, Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland, a ...
about the sums of cash she has found hidden in his room, he tells her he is being paid off the books by the person who runs the warehouse he claims to work for. When they learn about Ziggy's shooting, Nick and Frank trade recriminations. Valchek, annoyed that the detail has shifted focus away from Frank, calls in the
FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...
to take over the case. He hands them all the detail's information and requests their help in recovering his surveillance van. The Bureau agrees to share the case with Daniels and
Pearlman Pearlman () is a surname. It is typically an Anglicized version of the Ashkenazi Jewish surname Perelman. Notable people with the surname include: * Al Pearlman, Democratic member of Philadelphia City Council *Alan R. Pearlman, American engineer ...
on the condition that they focus attention on the union. Bunk accompanies
McNulty McNulty is an Irish surname. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Mac an Ultaigh'' meaning "son of the Ulsterman". Usually considered a branch of the Ulaid ruling dynasty of ''Mac Duinnshléibhe'' ( MacDonlevy), a branch of Dál Fiatach, who fled Ul ...
on a fishing trip to disguise their surveillance. On the home front,
Greggs Greggs plc is a British bakery chain. It specialises in savoury products such as baked goods, sausage rolls, sandwiches and sweet items including doughnuts and vanilla slices. It is headquartered in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is lis ...
is cold toward a now-pregnant
Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...
. Back at the detail, Greggs questions Beadie about balancing her police duties with being a mother. After the FBI agents offer to help trace the contraband containers' origins, Valchek arrives at the detail and lays into Daniels for failing to deliver a case on Frank. He insists Prez leave the detail, but Prez refuses to go and punches Valchek when he insults him. After an outraged Valchek leaves, Prez turns in his gun and submits himself to Daniels for a reprimand. Koutris becomes aware of the FBI's investigation and divulges their tracking methods to The Greek. Vondas arranges for Eton to organize a meeting while insisting that phones be avoided. When Eton informs Vondas about Glekas' murder, he orders the warehouse to be cleaned out. Bunk and McNulty observe from a boat as Vondas and Eton discard their phones. Herc and Carver watch as Nick tries fruitlessly to see Vondas at The Greek's cafe. McNulty is disappointed when Fitz tells him that tracing
text message Text messaging, or texting, is the act of composing and sending electronic messages, typically consisting of alphabetic and numeric characters, between two or more users of mobile phones, tablet computers, smartwatches, desktop computer, des ...
s is impossible without knowing the service provider and the call's time and location. Fitz and Bunk trace a call using FBI technology and
subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
the billing information from the service provider. Bunk talks the phone company clerk into allowing them a peek at the records, and is dismayed to see messages are written in
Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
. The detectives learn that Vondas has ordered the operation shut down. McNulty types warrants as Eton and
Serge Serge may refer to: *Serge (fabric), a type of twill fabric *Serge (llama) (born 2005), a llama in the Cirque Franco-Italien and internet meme *Serge (name), a masculine given name (includes a list of people with this name) *Serge (post), a hitchi ...
destroy evidence. The Barksdales see their trade improve after they begin their collaboration with
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 ...
.
Stringer Stringer may refer to: Structural elements * Stringer (aircraft), or longeron, a strip of wood or metal to which the skin of an aircraft is fastened * Stringer (slag), an inclusion, possibly leading to a defect, in cast metal * Stringer (stairs), ...
gives
Cheese Cheese is a type of dairy product produced in a range of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk (usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats or sheep). During prod ...
control of three of the six Barksdale towers. Bodie quickly adapts to the new circumstances and becomes friendly competitors with Cheese. However,
Brother Mouzone Brother Mouzone is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Michael Potts. Character history Brother Mouzone (from Arabic موزون ''mawzūn'', meaning "balanced,” "weighted") is a drug enforcer and hitman from N ...
shows up and tells Cheese to leave if he doesn't work for Avon. After Cheese insults Mouzone, the hitman shoots him in the arm with a round of
snake shot Snake shot, rat shot, or dust shot, more formally known as shotshell (a name shared with the shotgun shell) or canister shot, refers to handgun and rifle cartridges loaded with lead shot canisters instead of bullets, intended for pest control ...
. Cheese is sufficiently intimidated and leaves. Joe knows of Mouzone's reputation and decides not to retaliate directly. Instead, he visits
Butchie Butchie is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by S. Robert Morgan. A blind man, he runs an East-Side Baltimore bar, and is Omar Little's bank and advisor. Like his character, actor S. Robert Morgan is blind; ...
and convinces him to broker a meeting between Stringer and
Omar Umar ibn al-Khattab (; ), also spelled Omar, was the second Rashidun caliph, ruling from August 634 until his assassination in 644. He succeeded Abu Bakr () and is regarded as a senior companion and father-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muh ...
. At the towers, Bodie and other dealers observe Mouzone and are impressed by his notoriety.


Production


Epigraph

Ziggy makes this comment as a joke to his (union) accomplice as they steal cars from the docks.


Music

The montage that opens the episode is accompanied by the
Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...
song "
Walk the Line ''Walk the Line'' is a 2005 American biographical drama film directed by James Mangold. The screenplay, written by Mangold and Gill Dennis, is based on two autobiographies by the American singer-songwriter Johnny Cash: '' Man in Black: His Own ...
". While the song technically has a source within the universe of the story, with Detective Pryzbylewski playing it from a CD and ending the montage by pressing pause, this scene still noticeably stands out among the rest of the show which usually makes a point of not including
non-diegetic Diegesis (; , ) is a style of fiction storytelling in which a participating narrator offers an on-site, often interior, view of the scene to the reader, viewer, or listener by subjectively describing the actions and, in some cases, thoughts, of ...
music (with few exceptions).


Credits


Starring cast

Although credited,
John Doman John Doman is an American actor best known for playing Bill Rawls on HBO series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), Colonel Edward Galson on '' Oz'' (2001), Dr. Deraad in '' ER'' (1999–2003), Rodrigo Borgia in the international television series ''Bo ...
, and
Wood Harris Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film '' Above the Rim'' (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in t ...
do not appear in this episode.


Guest stars

#
Seth Gilliam Seth Gilliam (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is best known for his portrayals of Ellis Carver on ''The Wire'', Clayton Hughes on '' Oz'', Dr. Alan Deaton on '' Teen Wolf'', and Father Gabriel Stokes on '' The Walking Dead''. E ...
as Detective Ellis Carver #
Domenick Lombardozzi Domenico Lombardozzi (; born March 25, 1976) is an American actor. He is best known for portraying the police officer Herc in ''The Wire'', and is also known for his roles in ''Tulsa King'', ''Entourage'', ''A Bronx Tale'' (1993), and ''The I ...
as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk #
Jim True-Frost Jim True-Frost (''né'' True; July 31, 1966) is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program ''The Wire'' (2002–2008), as James Woodrow ...
as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski # James Ransone as
Ziggy Sobotka Chester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's thoughtless and immature behavior gained hi ...
#
Pablo Schreiber Pablo Tell Schreiber (born April 26, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his stage work and for portraying Nick Sobotka on ''The Wire'' (2003, 2008), William Lewis on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2013–2014), Mad Swe ...
as
Nick Sobotka Nickolas Andrew Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Pablo Schreiber. Nick is the cousin of Ziggy Sobotka, the wayward and rebellious son of Nick's uncle Frank Sobotka. Plot details Season 2 Nick is a do ...
#
Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...
as Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff #
Melanie Nicholls-King Melanie Nicholls-King is a Canadian actress, perhaps best known for playing Cheryl in the drama series ''The Wire'', and for her portrayal of Officer Noelle Williams in the drama series ''Rookie Blue''. Personal life Nicholls-King is from Toron ...
as
Cheryl Cheryl is a feminine given name with multiple origins. The name might have originated as a combination of the name Beryl with the prefix ''Cher-'' from the French ''chérie'', meaning ''darling'' (from the past participle of the verb ''chérir'' ...
# Michael Potts as
Brother Mouzone Brother Mouzone is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire'', played by actor Michael Potts. Character history Brother Mouzone (from Arabic موزون ''mawzūn'', meaning "balanced,” "weighted") is a drug enforcer and hitman from N ...
#
Bill Raymond William Joseph Raymond (born September 9, 1938) is an American actor who has appeared in film, television, theater and radio drama since the 1960s. Career He is featured in the second and fifth seasons of the HBO drama ''The Wire'' as "The Gre ...
as
The Greek The Greek is a fictional character on the HBO drama ''The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police repo ...
# Al Brown as Major Stanislaus Valchek # 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 ...
# Kristin Proctor as Aimee #
Merritt Wever Merritt Carmen Wever (born August 11, 1980) is an American actress. She had roles in the Showtime television series '' Nurse Jackie'' (2009–2015), ''The Walking Dead'' (2015–2016), '' Godless'' (2017), '' Welcome to Marwen'' (2018), '' Unb ...
as Prissy #Benay Berger as FBI Supervisor Amanda Reese #
Toni Lewis Toni Lewis is an American actress best known for playing Terri Stivers on '' Homicide: Life on the Street''. The role led to her receiving a nomination for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. She is also ...
as Assistant United States Attorney Nadiva Bryant #
Tom Mardirosian Tom Mardirosian (born December 14, 1947) is an American actor. He is known for playing Agamemnon Busmalis in the HBO show '' Oz'' and Agt. Kristos Koutris in the HBO show ''The Wire''. Mardirosian was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, the s ...
as Agent Koutris # Delaney Williams as Sergeant Jay Landsman #Teddy Cañez as George "Double G" Glekas #Jeffrey Fugitt as Officer Claude Diggins # Lev Gorens as Eton Ben-Eleazer #
Charley Scalies Charles Joseph Scalies Jr. (July 19, 1940 – May 1, 2025) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa, one of the stevedores and union members on the second season of HBO's ''The Wire''. He also appeared in ...
as Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa #
J.D. Williams Darnell "J. D." Williams (born May 22, 1978) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the HBO television programs '' Oz'' as Kenny Wangler, ''The Wire'' as Bodie Broadus and '' Pootie Tang'' as Froggy, '' Surviving Family'' (2012) ...
as Preston "Boadie" Broadus #
Chris Ashworth Christopher Michael Ashworth (born March 13, 1975) is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sergei Malatov on ''The Wire''. He commonly plays characters from Eastern Europe due to his ability to mimic accents and dialects. ...
as
Sergei Malatov Sergei "Serge" Malatov ( Ukrainian: Сергій Малатов) is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', played by Chris Ashworth. He acts as a driver and enforcer for The Greek. He is Ukrainian, although Americans often ...
#Kevin McKelvy as FBI Agent # S. Robert Morgan as
Butchie Butchie is a fictional character on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'', portrayed by S. Robert Morgan. A blind man, he runs an East-Side Baltimore bar, and is Omar Little's bank and advisor. Like his character, actor S. Robert Morgan is blind; ...
#Doug Olear as FBI Special Agent Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh # William L. Thomas as FBI Agent


Uncredited appearances

*
Michael K. Williams Michael Kenneth Williams (November 22, 1966 – September 6, 2021) was an American actor. He rose to fame for his acclaimed portrayals of Omar Little on the HBO drama series ''The Wire'' (2002–2008) and List of Boardwalk Empire characters, Alb ...
as
Omar Little Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO Crime fiction, crime drama TV series, series ''The Wire'', portrayed by Michael K. Williams. He is a notorious Baltimore Stickup, stick-up man who frequently robs street-level Drug trafficking ...
*De'Rodd Hearns as Puddin *Jeffrey Pratt Gordon as Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto *
Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...
as Sean "Shamrock" McGinty *DeAndre McCullough as Lamar *Bus Howard as Ott *Tommy Hahn as FBI Special Agent Salmond *
Wes Johnson Wes Johnson (born June 6, 1961) is an American actor, cartoonist, comedian and voice artist, who has appeared in such films as ''A Dirty Shame'', ''Head of State (2003 film), Head of State'', ''The Invasion (film), The Invasion'', ''For Richer ...
as Security Supervisor


First appearances

* Lamar: Mouzone's dim-witted assistant. Lamar is played by DeAndre McCulloch, one of the people David Simon wrote about in '' The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood''. *Prissy: a friend of Nick, former girlfriend of Ziggy. Previously mentioned in " Backwash"


Reception

On its debut, "Storm Warnings" had 3.51 million viewers and a 2.4 rating, ranked by
Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...
as the second most popular premium cable program of the week ending August 10, 2003.
Alan Sepinwall Alan Sepinwall (born October 19, 1973) is an American television reviewer and writer. He spent 14 years as a columnist with ''The Star-Ledger'' in Newark until leaving the newspaper in 2010 to work for the entertainment news website HitFix. He ...
of ''
The Star-Ledger ''The Star-Ledger'' was the largest circulation newspaper in New Jersey. It is based in Newark, New Jersey. The newspaper ceased print publication on February 2, 2025, but continues to publish a digital edition. In 2007, ''The Star-Ledger''s ...
'' praised James Ransone for "one of the most indelible performances of the season" despite playing "such a deliberately irritating character" of Ziggy. For ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'', Judith Soal called the scene of Ziggy shooting Double G "shocking" for showing "a Baltimore nobody could take out one of the Greek's top men" and "Ziggy's personal transformation from an immature object of ridicule to a person of (rather severe) consequence." Samuel Walters graded the episode with a B+ for Dauntless Media: "Each of the episode’s major developments is driven by some kind of conflict which has roots in mistrust, suspicion, or downright dishonesty.... is episode’s commentary is on how dysfunctional large groups of people inevitably become, even when they are working toward the same general goals, due to motivations of greed, jealousy, or conceit."


References


External links


"Storm Warnings"
at HBO.com * {{The Wire episodes The Wire season 2 episodes 2003 American television episodes