Unconfirmed Reports

Infobox The Wire episode


caption =
episode_name = Unconfirmed Reports
episode_no = 52
epigraph = "This ain't Aruba, bitch."
- Bunk
teleplay = William F. Zorzi
story = David Simon and William F. Zorzi
writer =
director = Ernest Dickerson
guest_star = "see below"
prod_code = 502
airdate = 13 January, 2008
season = five|"Unconfirmed Reports" is the second episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series, "The Wire". The episode was written by William F. Zorzi from a story by David Simon & William F. Zorzi and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. It originally aired on 13 January, 2008.

Production

Title reference

The title refers to Scott Templeton's fabricated report, as well as McNulty's imaginary serial killer.

Epigraph

While discussing the situation in Baltimore with Lester and McNulty, Bunk sardonically remarks that Baltimore is not like Aruba, apparently referring to the Natalee Holloway case. Had McNulty's "killer" garnered anywhere near as much media coverage as the Holloway case, the Baltimore P.D. would likely start to receive their much needed funding.

Credits

tarring cast

Although credited Lance Reddick, Seth Gilliam, Domenick Lombardozzi, Michael K. Williams, Jermaine Crawford, and Michael Kostroff do not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

#Frankie Faison as Ervin Burrell
#Wood Harris as Avon Barksdale
#Steve Earle as Walon
#Felicia Pearson as Snoop
#Delaney Williams as Jay Landsman
#Chris Ashworth as Sergei Malatov
#Genevieve Hudson-Price as DiDi
#Frederick Strother as Odell Watkins
#Benay Berger as Amanda Reese
#Doug Olear as Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh
#Joseph Urla as Maryland District US Attorney
#David Costabile as Thomas Klebanow
#Sam Freed as James Whiting
#Donald Neal as Jay Spry
#Bobby J. Brown as Bob Brown
#Anthony Mangano as Kevin Infante
#Kristie Dale Sanders as Nancy Porter
#Gregory L. Williams as Michael Crutchfield
#Bruce Kirkpatrick as Roger Twigg
#Tom McCarthy as Tim Phelps
#Kara Quick as Beth Corbett
#Todd Scofield as Jeff Price
#Darrell Britt-Gibson as O-Dog
#Kwame Patterson as Monk
#Scott Shane as Scott Shane
#Suzanne Wooton as Suzanne Wooton
#Willa Bickham as Willa Bickham
#Dan Manning as Assistant Medical Examiner
#Kate Revelle as Jane
#Kelley Slagle as Assistant Medical Examiner
#Brendan Walsh as Brendan Walsh
#Erica Chamblee as Pregnant Mother
#Lee Everett Cox as Aaron Castor
#Rachel Lynn Dinenna as unknown
#Frank McPartland as Angry fan
#Andrew Roth as Tim Packard
#Tasha R. Rudolph as Abusive mother
#Andrew Cruttenden as unknown
#Ayoka Dorsey as Gus' wife
#Tyson Hall as Marvin
#Adrienne Meisel as Recovering addict
#Patricia Penn as Sun staff member
#Steve Zettler as Prison guard

Uncredited roles

*Curt Boushell as Andy - Sun copy editor
* Louis Stancil - Unknown Corner Boy

Notes

* Kevin Infante and Nancy Porter (the people McNulty runs into at the medical examiner's office) are characters from novels by Laura Lippman, who is married to series creator David Simon.

Plot

ummary

Bubbles attends a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. He follows a speaker named Dee-Dee who discusses her struggle with her inner addict and her inability to maintain a personal code because of her addiction. Bubbles is engaging and humorous but unable to discuss an emotional memory. Walon tries to convince Bubbles that he has to share the tragedy of Sherrod's death in order to move on. Walon convinces Bubbles to at least occupy his time and he volunteers at a local soup kitchen.

Scott Templeton plans a color piece about the Baltimore Orioles opening game. He fails to find a suitable subject and returns with an unverifiable story about an orphaned wheelchair user truanting to attend. Gus Haynes questions the piece's credibility, but is forced to print it after James Whiting gives his approval.

Marlo Stanfield meets with Chris Partlow and Snoop about the withdrawal of the year-long police investigation. Stanfield decides to reassert his authority and orders several murders and luring Omar Little out of retirement. Snoop, Partlow and Michael Lee watch the house of one of Stanfield's targets named Junebug. Michael questions the necessity of the murder and is admonished by Snoop. Snoop and Partlow disable the streets security cameras, stage a home invasion and kill the three adults inside. Two children escape - one hides in a closet and another flees via the back door. Michael is guarding the rear but does not shoot the child, defying Chris's orders. Detective Greggs is later assigned the case and finds the child still hiding in the closet. Snoop later carries out the murder of a rival drug dealer.

Stanfield visits MCI Jessup to see Sergei Malatov, but finds Avon Barksdale waiting in his place. Barksdale tells Stanfield that in order for him to talk to Malatov, Stanfield has to give his sister $100,000. Stanfield agrees and later talks to a defiant Malatov. Stanfield convinces Malatov, with encouragement from Avon, to give him a line to Vondas.

Commissioner Burrell struggles to deliver clean statistics and accommodate budget cutbacks. Burrell alienates Clay Davis by refusing to interfere in his corruption case. Mayor Carcetti plans a run for governor despite the city's fiscal difficulties; Odell Watkins expresses disappointment at his attitude.

Detectives Freamon and Sydnor are still preparing the Davis case for court. Freamon believes this type of sprawling and interconnected case is career defining but also spends his own time surveilling known Stanfield meeting places. Jimmy McNulty desperately wants to return to the Stanfield case and is increasingly frustrated in the homicide unit. McNulty is assigned a natural death and learns at the morgue that postmortem pressure on the neck is indistinguishable from deliberate strangulation.

Freamon and McNulty meet with FBI agent Terrence Fitzhugh seeking support for their investigation but have no success. They bitterly drown their sorrows and McNulty later continues to drink on the job. McNulty and Bunk Moreland are assigned a probable overdose. McNulty chokes the decedent and stages the scene to suggest a strangulation. McNulty tells Bunk that he plans to create the illusion of a serial killer and Bunk leaves in disgust.cite episode | title = Unconfirmed Reports | episodelink = Unconfirmed Reports | series = The Wire | serieslink = The Wire (TV series) | credits = Ernest Dickerson | writers = William F. Zorzi (story and teleplay), David Simon (story) | network = HBO
station = | city = | airdate = 2008-01-13 | season = 5 | number = 2] Cite web|url=http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season5/episode52.shtml|title="The Wire" episode guide - episode 52 Uncomfirmed Reports|accessdate=2008-01-22|publisher=HBO|year=2008]

Deceased

Junebug - murdered by Chris and Snoop on orders by Marlo Stanfield.

Unknown Corner Boy - shot and killed by Snoop Pearson in drive by.

References