History Characters / TheWireMajorCrimesUnit

* BadassPacifist: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaysD0qByUo Behold]] his peaceful arrest of Avon inside the Barksdale compound, taking over a [=SWAT=] operation.

[[center: [- [[Characters/TheWire Main Character Index]] | [[Characters/TheWireBaltimorePoliceDepartment Baltimore Police Department]] | '''Major Crimes Unit'' | [[Characters/TheWireHomicideUnit Homicide Unit]] | [[Characters/TheWirePoliceCommanders Police Commanders]] | [[Characters/TheWireWesternDistrict Western District]] | [[Characters/TheWireBaltimoreUnderworld Baltimore Underworld]] |[[Characters/TheWireBarksdaleOrganization The Barksdale Organization]] | [[Characters/TheWireOmarAndAssociates Omar and Associates]] | [[Characters/TheWireTheGreeks The Greeks]] | [[Characters/TheWireStanfieldOrganization Stanfield Organization]] | [[Characters/TheWireNewDayCoOp New Day Co-Op]] | [[Characters/TheWireCourthouse Courthouse]] | [[Characters/TheWireCityHall City Hall]] | [[Characters/TheWireBaltimoreSun The Baltimore Sun]] | [[Characters/TheWireOtherCharacters Other Characters]] | [[Characters/TheWireHomelessPeopleAndAddicts Homeless People and Addicts]] | [[Characters/TheWireBaltimoreDocks Baltimore Docks]] | [[Characters/TheWireTheNextGeneration The Next Generation]]]]-]

! The Major Crimes Unit

!!! Tropes

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Daniel's detail is seen as a dumping ground for the worst of the worst in BPD.

* FatBastard: Mahon in particular is cantankerous, slovenly and has a beer gut. Polk is also overweight but tends to come across more as dim, directionless and permanently befuddled, making him a lesser evil than his JerkAss partner.

* TokenEvilTeammate: Mahon takes his laziness and dishonesty too far; he openly scoffs at being part of the unit and tries to convince Polk to hurt himself also to get retirement benefits, even if it means suing the city.

* UngratefulBastard: Willing to stab Daniels in the back through Colvin despite Daniels working to get McNulty off the boat.

* LargeAndInCharge: Usually the tallest police officer in any room.

* TranquilFury: One of his specialties. Detectives that wouldn't think twice about throwing down with hardened gangbangers are scared ''shitless'' when Daniels' voice drops another octave in restrained fury.

* AntiHero: A drunken, philandering mess in his personal life. Jimmy might be a great cop when he has the will to be, but he's got serious personality issues that need addressing.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He may be a womanizing asshole, but he does care about being a good cop, and his screw-ups hit him VERY hard.

* TheChessmaster: Probably the smartest of the police on the whole show, including McNulty and Daniels.

* TheChessmaster: Probably the smartest of the police on the whole show.

The closest thing to a main character in ''[=The Wire=]''. A detective in Homicide, [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving he is an alcoholic womanizer, something of a deadbeat, insubordinate toward his supervisors, and known for coming up with creative solutions to hard cases]]. His [[MaverickCop disrespect for the chain of command makes him many enemies among his superiors]], while his [[TheAlcoholic self-destructive behavior]] alienates his peers and friends.

The closest thing to a main character in ''[=The Wire=]''. A detective in Homicide, [[ArsonMurderAndLifesaving he is an alcoholic womanizer, something of a deadbeat, insubordinate toward his supervisors, and known for coming up with creative solutions to hard cases]]. His disrespect for the chain of command makes him many enemies among his superiors, while his self-destructive behavior alienates his peers and friends.

* PyrhicVictory: Takes down Marlo's crew in Season 5 and ultimately [[spoiler: Is thrown off the force but Marlo is never allowed to return to the streets again and is forced to retire which unlike Stringer, is Marlo's own personal hell]].

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: He is demoted at the end of season 1 for his role in bringing the Barksdales to justice.

** Subverted in Season 2; he grows tired of all the bullshit inherent in the BPD, sends in his resignation papers and is days aways from leaving the force, but he changes his mind after the Major Crimes Unit and actual police work become plausible.

-->'''Bunk''': Jimmy [=McNulty=], when he ain't policing he's a picture postcard of a drunken, self-destructive fuck-up. And when he is policing... he's pretty much the same motherfucker. But on a good case, he runnin' in front of the pack. That's as close as the man comes to bein' right.

-->'''[=McNulty=]''': You know what they call a guy who pays that much attention to his clothes, don't you?
-->'''Bunk''': Mm-hmm, [[InsultBackfire a grown-up]].

--->'''Rawls''': ''([[ActuallyPrettyFunny laughing]])'' Fuckin' Jimmy. Fuckin' with us for the fun of it. I gotta give the son of a bitch some credit for wit on this one. Cocksucker.

--> ''Comes a day you're gonna have to decide whether it's about you or about the work.''

-->''I mean, I know you don’t like it. But shit, I was proud.''

--> ''I say we go down to the terrace and fuck some people up.''

-->'''Daniels:''' ... a formal brutality charge, which for Herc will make an even four in the last two years.\\

--> ''I don't need to chase these fucking knuckleheads. I know half of 'em. Shit, I know where they hang.''

-->''You juke the stats, and majors become colonels. I've been here before.''

--> ''This is the best work I ever did. I never did a case like this. But it's not enough. I gotta go back to Auto tomorrow morning. I just feel like this just ain't finished...''

->'''Played by''': Nat Benchley and Tom Quinn, respectively
-->'''Polk:''' Who signs the overtime slips?\\
'''Mahon:''' A case goes from red to black by way of green, Lieutenant.

[[/folder]]

[=McNulty=] proves unable to stay uninvolved with the reign of terror run by the Stansfield Gang, however, and attempts to get Bodie to cooperate with the police against Marlo. This quickly gets Bodie killed, and inflames both [=McNulty's=] guilt and his drive to catch and punish the bad guy. He returns to the MCU, and takes all his self-destructive behaviors UpToEleven as he takes part in the efforts to catch Marlo even while the police budget is slashed to the bone by Carcetii. At this point he dreams up the fake SerialKiller idea, and uses the resources sent to the department to illegally pursue Marlo. When his superiors finally catch on, it proves to be the last straw for [=McNulty's=] career and he's forced to resign.

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: For all his arrogance and abrasiveness, [=McNulty=] believes deep down that if he isn't a detective his life is basically pointless.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: More than once, but his interrogation of Little Kevin, in which he lets slip that Randy talked to the police and thereby ruins his life, is the worst.

* FatBastard: Cantankerous, sloven and with a beer gut.
* JerkassHasAPoint: Mahon's line about cases being solved by devoting at least ''some'' money into them gets vindicated and invoked by other characters in the final season when the Mayor cuts the Department budget dramatically.

Daniels begins the show as a Lieutenant in charge of the Narcotics Unit of the western district, and spends most of the series in charge of the special details that would become the model for the Major Crimes Unit. He is fiercely loyal to those under his command and demands similar loyalty in turn. He works to rein in the various excesses of [=McNulty=], Herc, Carver, and Pryzbylewski, while resisting the bureaucratic rot that has corrupted the district command. There is only so much he can do, given his superiors' impatience for in-depth police work, and the existence of a dossier implicating him in past corruption that Ervin Burrell holds over his head.

He begins the series as a career-minded officer who is pliant to the demands of his superiors, but when he's confronted with the deeds and scale of the Barksdale drug crew, realizes the inefficacy of the limited investigative measures that his bosses will allow, and is pressured by [=McNulty=], Greggs and Freamon to commit to the case, ultimately he jumps in with both feet. Daniels's renewed commitment to quality police work costs him much throughout the series (including his marriage), but in seasons 4 and 5, he receives a series of rapid promotions that ends with a gig as Police Commissioner. Daniels soon resigns after earning this top spot, since keeping the job would entail manipulating the crime statistics for the mayor, or a fight to keep the job which would put the lives and careers of his friends in jeopardy. At the end of the show he's become a prosecutor, finally making use of the law degree he'd earned before his police career.

* CharacterDevelopment: In the last season, after he has been kicked off the force and is working for Levy as a consultant, he privately admits to Carver that he realizes he was a useless, brutal policeman and wishes he'd tried to make a better go of it.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Like Carver, he gets tired of doing lowly surveillance jobs and transfers away from the MCU, but unlike Ellis, Herc earns little respect or knowledge and eventually comes back to the unit.

* TheChainsOfCommanding: After he's promoted to sergeant, most notably when he's forced to write up Officer Colicchio for police brutality in season 5.

* DudeWheresMyRespect: Gets tired of doing lowly surveillance jobs after he has been promoted to Sergeant and asks for a transfer to another district.

* DoWrongRight: When he learns of [=McNulty=]'s scheme, he apparently reacts with a WhatTheHellHero, but what Lester means is the plot is weak and needs to be sensationalized.

* GuileHero: Very subtle and very good at making other people dance to his tune. For instance, he often adresses Daniels as Cedric, in a paternalist, almost condescending way to make Daniels do what Lester asks.

A promising young detective that Daniels fights to get assigned to the unit due to his skills and undercover abilities. Does surveillance and undercover work alongside Greggs and Bubbles. He is oddly absent from the reconstituted MCU in season 2, but returns in season 3 and remains a member from that point until the end of the show, even when at one point he is the ''only'' detective within the MCU. He agrees to help Freamon work his illegal wiretap in season 5, and in the finale, is shown going to Judge Phelan to get a case worked on, demonstrating his willingness to disregard the rules and chain-of-command to bring in a good case.

Two old-timer detectives tranferred from the property department, they are among the useless detectives or "humps" thrown into the first incarnation of the MCU, and proved themselves to be exactly that even as others such as Prez or Lester showed that they had much more to contribute than expected. When the MCU attempts to raid a Barksdale stash house, Mahon is injured by Bodie and leaps at the chance for an early retirement, then encourages Polk to "accidentally" get himself injured on duty so he can do the same. Polk is ultimately unable to go through with it, and goes into a despondent drinking binge. Due to all the time he misses Daniels gives him an ultimatum to either get to work or go on medical leave to deal with his alcoholism. Polk chooses the latter.

* CluelessDetective: Up to pathetically comical levels, they are tasked with putting a face to Barksdale and come up with a photo of a middle-aged white man.

* CharacterDevelopment: In the last season, after he has been kicked off the force and is working for Levy as a consultant, he privately admits to Carver that he realizes he was a useless, brutal policeman and wishes he'd tried to make a better fist of it.

Intended as a temporary creation to address a specific problem, the MCU becomes the main focus of attention within the police. After Judge Phelan sees the Barksdale gang blatantly intimidate witnesses in his courtroom and is enlightened about the reach and scope of the organization by [=McNulty=], he complains to the police higher ups that he wants an investigation specifically targeting the Barksdales, and in response they create the first MCU squad. Populated largely by cops who are either worthless or perceived to be so, and commanded by the promising but career minded Lieutenant Cedric Daniels, the MCU is intended to do the absolute minimum amount of work necessary to satisfy Phelan without having to become too involved.

[[folder:James "Jimmy" [=McNulty=]]]

[[folder:Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski]]

While indoors, he takes to Freamon's wiretapping, showing a real knack for codebreaking, deciphering the street talk through the tinny audio of the wiretap, following the paper trail and organizing the accumulated info on their targets. In the third season, when responding to a distress call while out making a food run, he accidentally shoots a plainclothes officer, and resigns. He becomes a middle school teacher in season four, helping out Randy and Dukie as best he can.

* LeeroyJenkins: One of the reasons he's a poor street cop is his tendency to panic and rush in without a plan in dangerous situations. This flaw ultimately ends his police career when he accidentally shoots a fellow police officer to death during a firefight.

* TheSmartGuy: He's not much good as a street cop, but he turns out to be highly adept at cracking the Barksdale gang's various codes and figuring out how their organization fits together.

** Used rather painfully after his accidental shooting of Officer Waggoner in season 3. All the other police present are talking about how much of a fuck-up Prez is based off of his record prior to joining the MCU, not having seen the way that he's grown in the years since. [=McNulty's=] expression as he listens to Landsman lambaste the guy says it all: Prez's mistake is so huge [=McNulty=] can't really refute the talk, but at the same time he knows just how unfair it is that no one outside the unit will ever understand the true quality Prez has demonstrated to his comrades.

* SecondEpisodeIntroduction: Daniels successfully fights to get Sydnor assigned to the detail as a compensation for having to carry the seemingly useless Pryzbylewski.

-->Me? [[IAmTheNoun I'm just the police]].

* NotSoDifferent: A minor story arc has Kima realizing she's following in Jimmy's [[CowboyCop foot]][[MarriedToTheJob steps]].

** Security Officer: Kima

* BasementDweller: The MCU is not given its own office until Valchek arranges a building for the Sobotka case, so they had to make do with a basement at city hall.