Old Cases

"Old Cases"
The Wire episode
Episode no.	Season 1 Episode 4
Directed by	Clement Virgo
Teleplay by	David Simon
Story by	David Simon Ed Burns
Original air date	June 23, 2002 (2002-06-23)
Guest stars
see below
Season 1 episodes
June 2, 2002 – September 8, 2002 "The Target" "The Detail" "The Buys" "Old Cases" "The Pager" "The Wire" "One Arrest" "Lessons" "Game Day" "The Cost" "The Hunt" "Cleaning Up" "Sentencing"
List of The Wire episodes

"Old Cases" is the fourth episode of the first season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Clement Virgo. It originally aired on June 23, 2002.

Production

Title reference

The title refers to both the old homicide cases being investigated by Bunk and McNulty and to the old bullet cases found at the Deirdre Kresson crime scene.

Epigraph

“

Thin line 'tween heaven and here. – Bubbles

”

The line is said as Bubbles is being returned to the ghetto by McNulty after the two have spent an afternoon in suburbia, which Bubbles refers to as "Leave It to Beaver land."

Music

When Freamon and McNulty start talking in the bar, Miles Davis' "All Blues", from the album Kind of Blue plays diegetically in the background. When the John Coltrane intro to the music has finished and Davis begins his trumpet solo, Freamon opens up and tells McNulty what happened to his career.

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited, Deirdre Lovejoy does not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

1. Peter Gerety as Judge Daniel Phelan
2. Callie Thorne as Elena McNulty
3. Michael K. Williams as Omar Little
4. J. D. Williams as Preston "Bodie" Broadus
5. Seth Gilliam as Detective Ellis Carver
6. Domenick Lombardozzi as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk
7. Clarke Peters as Detective Lester Freamon
8. Jim True-Frost as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski
9. Hassan Johnson as Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice
10. Michael B. Jordan as Wallace
11. Corey Parker-Robinson as Detective Leander Sydnor
12. Delaney Williams as Sergeant Jay Landsman
13. Melanie Nicholls-King as Cheryl
14. Michael Salconi as Detective Michael Santangelo
15. Tray Chaney as Malik "Poot" Carr
16. Brandon Price as Anton "Stinkum" Artis
17. Nat Benchley as Detective Augustus Polk
18. Tom Quinn as Detective Patrick Mahon
19. Michael Kevin Darnall as Brandon Wright
20. Caroline G. Pleasant as Bodie's grandmother
21. Antonio Cordova as Michael McNulty
22. Lance Williams as John Bailey

Uncredited appearances

• Kim Tuvin as Judge Emily Johnson
• Jeorge Watson as Marvin Browning
• Gbenga Akinnagbe as Officer in courtroom
• Unknown as ASA Dawkins

Plot

The Police

Kima Greggs and McNulty attend a court hearing for Marvin Browning – a Barksdale dealer arrested for a hand-to-hand deal. Hoping he will give them information, they push ASA Dawkins to pursue the maximum sentence of 5 years due to his prior arrests, even though Browning had only been caught selling 1 gel cap of heroin and 1 vial of cocaine. He nonetheless refuses their offer of a deal without hesitation. Polk visits Mahone in the hospital, where he learns that Mahone will be getting an early retirement and an increase in his pension due to his injury. Mahone tells Polk that he could follow him by deliberately injuring himself, which Polk reluctantly considers.

Herc and Carver drive out to the "Boy's Village",^[1], in Prince George's County, planning to interrogate Bodie Broadus, only to find that he has escaped from the low-security facility. They burst into Bodie's home, but find only his grandmother. Embarrassed by his strongarm tactics, Herc apologizes respectfully to Bodie's grandmother and leaves his card.

Bunk Moreland and McNulty review old homicide cases and try to match them to the Barksdale organization. Their sergeant, Jay Landsman, insists they review the case of Deirdre Kresson, a college girl murdered far from the west side, with a "Dee" listed as a possible suspect. Landsman points out that the Homicide Unit is under-staffed while McNulty is on the Barksdale detail, and McNulty reluctantly agrees to investigate the months-old murder despite not believing there is any connection.

McNulty and Bunk visit the Kresson crime scene, where they communicate using only variations of the word "fuck". McNulty snags his finger in a metal tape measure and Bunk uses a squeaky marker pen. They are able to accurately recreate the events of the murder and find the shell casings and bullet that previous detectives missed. Landsman visits Major William Rawls and says that McNulty is addicted to himself and that his ego leads him to believe that he is the smartest person in the room. Somewhat convinced, Rawls offers a deal: if McNulty wraps up the detail in two weeks, he can come back with a clean slate.

Greggs and Bubbles discuss the recent hit on the Barksdale stash. Bubbles is disappointed she has never heard of Omar Little or his brother No-Heart Anthony. She realizes that she is late for a class and calls in for a replacement. McNulty picks up Bubbles (and proves to Greggs that widespread knowledge of No-Heart Anthony isn't a figment of Bubble's imagination; an irritated Greggs responds by saying fuck y'all) and then drives to soccer practice to see his sons. McNulty discusses sharing custody of his sons with his estranged wife Elena, but the conversation devolves into profanity. Greggs studies at home, until Cheryl chastises her for getting marker on the sofa. The two play around and Cheryl insists that Greggs work at the table. Greggs notices Cheryl's cell phone bill and realizes that the Barksdale dealers use pagers rather than cell phones because cell phones maintain a record of all incoming and outgoing calls.

Judge Phelan is disappointed when Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell tells him they have nothing on the Barksdale organization's leaders. At the detail office, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski does wordsearch puzzles and mans the phones, when Phelan calls McNulty to tell of his meeting with Burrell. Daniels meets with Burrell and tells him that he can take the case wherever Burrell wants, raising the possibility of a wire to make the case, suggested by McNulty, as the only way to get at the higher-ups.

At the detail office, Greggs brings up pager cloning, and they discuss the requirements for a surveillance affidavit, including the need to prove "exhaustion" by showing that no other method will work. Daniels points out that they need to have a number to bug, and Freamon surprises everybody by revealing that the number he found in the stash house (in "The Buys") belongs to D'Angelo Barksdale. Realizing that Freamon is "natural police" (as confirmed by Bunk), McNulty buys him a drink. Freamon tells how he was thrown out of homicide and moved to the pawn shop unit for defying orders from his Major by doing his job properly and fully. Freamon warns that McNulty is likely on a similar path, and that if a commanding officer ever asks "where do you not want to wind up", as if they are concerned, to be wary and not answer honestly. That night, McNulty shows up at Greggs's apartment, drunk. She confirms that their visual surveillance was unable to follow targets into the project towers, fully proving "exhaustion", and he thanks her for her good work. Back with Cheryl, Greggs explains that McNulty is lonely, and they begin to make love.

The Street

Omar, Brandon, and Bailey enjoy the proceeds from the Barksdale stashhouse robbery. Brandon apologizes for using Omar's name during the raid, and Omar reassures Brandon that he is not worried, as he is already is well known in Baltimore anyway. His only concern was that the Barksdale crew would come back on Brandon, at which point it is revealed that Omar and Brandon are lovers. An addict approaches Omar with her infant son and respectfully asks for a free fix, which he gives her.

Avon Barksdale discusses the loss of the stash with his enforcers Anton "Stinkum" Artis and Wee-Bey Brice and puts a contract out on Omar's crew. Avon ridicules Omar and doubles the price of the original bounty for his murder when informed that, according to Barksdale soldier Stinkum, Omar is gay. Stringer Bell tells Avon he is worried about the pit operation, since the stashhouse robbery coincided with the police raid. He reassures Avon that his nephew D'Angelo is doing well, but he is worried there may be a leak from someone else in D'Angelo's crew.

Bodie arrives back at the low-rises, where Poot Carr and Wallace are surprised that he got home so soon after his arrest for assaulting a police officer. D'Angelo laughs when Bodie says that he's just too bad and that the system 'can't hold me' and Bodie says to D'Angelo that if it was him, he would still be down there. D'Angelo feels his alpha male status being challenged and tells them a story of murdering a girlfriend of Avon's – Deirdre Kresson. He describes tapping on the window of her apartment and shooting her once she approached. Bodie, who has never killed anybody, is humbled. Later, the dealers destroy some new security cameras around the towers.^[2][3][4]

First appearances

This episode marks the first appearance of Jimmy McNulty's estranged family. Callie Thorne plays Elena McNulty, Jimmy's estranged wife and the mother of his two sons. Callie Thorne also appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street alongside several other Wire cast members. Antonio Cordova plays Michael McNulty, Jimmy's soccer-playing younger son. His older son, Sean, remains unseen in this episode.^[5]

Trivia

Gbenga Akinnagbe, the actor who portrays Chris Partlow, Marlo's adviser and primary enforcer, appears in this episode uncredited as a police officer in court.

References

1. ^ TelevisionWithoutPity > Old Cases - Episode Details
2. ^ "Episode guide - episode 04 Old Cases". HBO. 2004. http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season1/episode04.shtml. Retrieved 2006-07-26. 
3. ^ "Old Cases". David Simon, Ed Burns. The Wire. HBO. 2002-06-23. No. 4, season 1.
4. ^ Alvarez, Rafael (2004). The Wire: Truth Be Told. New York: Pocket Books. 
5. ^ Rob Owen (2002-06-01). "TV Reviews: Networks aren't taking it easy this summer". Pittsburgh Post Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/20020601owen1.asp. Retrieved 2007-10-04.