History Recap / TheWireS01E04OldCases

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When D'Angelo tells the others about shooting Deirdre, [[AnythingThatMoves Poot]] wants to know why he didn't fuck her first, especially since she was naked and good-looking.

* InsistentTerminology[=/=]RunningGag: The amount of time that Lester was [ReassignedToAntarctica exiled to the Pawn Shop unit]] quickly becomes one. Whenever someone, mostly [=McNulty=] incredulously asks "13 years?" Lester adds "And four months."

* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy: How Bodie is able to escape Boys' Village.
* InsistentTerminology / RunningGag: "13 years?" "And four months."

* PetTheDog: Herc's apology to Bodie's grandmother.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Jay claims he was in the middle of doing this when he suddenly thought of [=McNulty=].

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

[[quoteright:350:"Motherfucker."]]

* ShoutOut: As [=McNulty=] drives to the soccer game, Bubbles gripes, "Where in ''Series/LeaveItToBeaver'' land are you taking me?"

McNulty and Kima try to get some of the hoppers arrested during the pit raid to flip on their superiors. After punching Det. Patrick Mahone, Bodie receives a stern beating from the police. Waking up from his injuries in a Washington, D.C. juvenile detention facility, he manages to escape just as Herc and Carver arrive to interrogate him. Back in Baltimore, Avon discusses the loss of the pit's stash, and marks Omar and his crew for death, doubling the bounty when he learns Omar is homosexual, and fellow stick-up man Brandon Wright is his lover. As Stringer becomes concerned there may be a snitch in the pit, Burrell tries to appease Phelan, but the judge is unimpressed with the progress made thus far. Meanwhile, Freamon has a break-through regarding the crew's use of pagers, and, acting on a tip from Sgt. Jay Landsman, McNulty and Bunk investigate an old murder in which D'Angelo may have been involved.

In the detail office, Herc is trying to get a desk through a doorway. As they come down, Carver, Sydnor, [=McNulty=] and Daniels all try and help moving it from each side of the doorway (only Lester doesn't pitch in, watching everyone instead), [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything but they're unable to budge it]]. Eventually, they stop, completely defeated. Herc guesses it must be caught on something.

->'''Herc:''' At this rate, we're never gonna get it in. (''everyone looks at him, shocked'') [[DefensiveWhat What?]]
->'''[=McNulty=]:''' '''[[CrowningMomentOfFunny In]]'''?!?
->'''Carver:''' Unbelievable. [[PrecisionFStrike Unbe-fucking-lievable.]]

While the others walk out, disgusted, Lester continues to work on his tiny furniture.

[=McNulty=] joins Kima in a courtroom as she confers with a prosecutor. Once she's done, she tells [=McNulty=] she tried to see if the [[Recap/TheWireS01E03TheBuys kids they arrested in the Pit]] would be willing to roll over, but none of them were, and Marvin Browning, the next defendant to be arraigned, is their best shot, as he has a long sheet. Sure enough, despite the charge - one count each for distribution of heroin and cocaine - the prosecutor recommends no bail and a five-year sentence, which gets Browning's attention.

Daniels visits the hospital, where Mahon is laid up after [[Recap/TheWireS01E03TheBuys the beating he got from Bodie]], and Polk is sitting with him. Far from being upset, Mahon is happy, because he can now go out on a medical discharge. Daniels tells him he should wait a couple of days before doing that, but Mahon's mind is made up, and Daniels wishes him the best of luck before leaving. When Daniels leaves, Polk says he's going to miss Mahon, and Mahon suggests Polk deliberately injure himself (maybe by falling off the stairs leading to the detail office) so he can also go out on a medical.

Back in the courtroom, Browning is incredulous at his sentence, but Kima and [=McNulty=] remind him of his rap sheet. They add if he wants to say anything about Avon Barksdale, not to mention Wee-Bay, Savino or Stinkum, they'd recommend a lighter sentence. Browning takes the five years instead.

In Boys Village, Bodie just waking up after his beating, still feeling woozy. The guard asks him how he feels, and tells him he needs to put on a uniform. When the guard leaves, Bodie spots a mop bucket in the hallway. He makes his way over, and though he can't go very fast, Bodie manages to push the bucket through a set of doors. He sees a nurse talking with a guard, sees the exit, checks to make sure there's no one else, and pushes the bucket along till he gets to the exit.

Carver and Herc are driving, and Herc is pissed at drawing a shit detail, but Carver points out [[DramaticIrony once Bodie sees them, he'll start crying in front of the people who beat him up, Carver and Herc will make up things like Mahon being at death's door, and Bodie will give up to them what they need to help break the case]]. This makes Herc happy, but as the car pulls in, we see Bodie's already limping on the street and thumbing a ride.

In Homicide, [=McNulty=] tells Bunk about his and Kima's bad luck. Jay joins them with the file on an old murder that he claims is related to their case, because "Dee" was a possible suspect in the shooting of Deirdre Kresson, the victim. [=McNulty=] doesn't buy it, because she was a "college girl" with no possible connection, but Jay says a witness put someone named "Dee" with her the night before she was killed. He also bitches that Homicide is shorthanded because of the detail [=McNulty=] is on, and [=McNulty=] eventually relents. Satisfied, Jay leaves. Bunk says that Keeley (the detective who worked the case) did next to no work on it, and wants to know why he didn't dump the case on Santangelo; [=McNulty=] responds Santangelo's been MIA. Bunk tries to call the witness' number in the file, but finds out it's disconnected. He says he'll call Verizon to get a new number, and adds, "[[CatchPhrase You happy now, bitch?]]"

Kima is driving around with Bubbles, looking for a van Bubbles [[Recap/TheWireS01E03TheBuys had taken the tag numbers for]]. Bubbles says it belongs to Omar, and tells her he's been "ripping and running" for years. Kima asks if Omar has any family, and Bubbles mentions his brother "no-heart Anthony", but to Bubbles' disgust, Kima has no idea who that is. Kima's beeper goes off, which reminds her she's late for class, and she calls for someone in her unit to take Bubbles. [=McNulty=] takes the call, and says he'll do it.

Omar is sitting on a stoop with his crew, including Brandon Wright (Michael Kevin Darnall), who's also Omar's boyfriend, and John Bailey (Lance Williams). They're happy with the take they got - Omar says Barksdale's package is always good - but Omar chides Brandon for giving himself away at the robbery. A junkie named Shirley comes up, holding a baby, and asks Omar if she can get some drugs even though her check is late. After playing briefly with the baby, Omar instructs one of his crew to hook Shirley up. Once she leaves, Omar says he'll be working the east side for a while until things cool down, and John goes to his mother's.

Kima and [=McNulty=] meet in a parking lot, and [=McNulty=] says he has somewhere to be, but will be happy to drop Bubbles off afterwards. Kima asks if he knows who "No-Heart Anthony" is. [=McNulty=] does, and says "No-Heart" (whose real name is Anthony Little) is in prison on a robbery conviction. Bubbles is delighted to hear this, and calls [=McNulty=] his main man as he gets in the car. Kima, disgusted, drives off.

In a gym, Avon is playing basketball with Stringer, Stinkum and Wee-Bey, and says they need to make an example of Omar when they catch him. Wee-Bey says his people are on it. Avon at first puts a price of $1,000 each on Brandon and John, and double that on Omar, but when he hears Omar is gay (Marquis "Bird" Hilton (Fredro Starr), one of the shooters trying to find Omar, apparently jailed with him), Avon doubles the price again on Omar, and offers six thousand if he gets to holler at Omar before he dies. Wee-Bey and Stinkum say they're on it, and leave. Stringer brings up the robbery, and says while D'Angelo is doing a good job making money, there might be something going on he doesn't know about. Avon looks thoughtful, and Stringer says he's on it.

[=McNulty=] drives to a soccer field. He and Bubbles get out of the car, looking uncomfortable. [=McNulty=] spots Elena (Callie Thorne), who's watching the game. She's smiling as she watches the ten-year-old boys play, but when she sees [=McNulty=], she stops smiling. Mikey (Antonio Cordova), their son, who's on the sidelines, runs over to [=McNulty=], and they greet each other happily. Mikey says their team is down 4-1, but he got an assist on their only goal, and [=McNulty=] congratulates him on that. Elena comes over with a water bottle, warning Mikey not to get dehydrated. She and [=McNulty=] greet each other warily, and she doesn't respond when he introduces Bubbles to her. The coach calls Mikey, and he runs over. After they both watch him, Elena and [=McNulty=] start to argue with each other; she bitches about him being late and letting work ruin his life, while he complains every other weekend isn't enough. She storms off in a huff, and Mikey asks if [=McNulty=] "saw"; [=McNulty=] lies and says he did.

That evening, [=McNulty=] drops Bubbles off near an alleyway. They thank each other, and [=McNulty=] drives off as Bubbles walks off.

The next day, in the Pit, D'Angelo, Poot and Wallace are discussing Omar's robbery. Just then, Bodie comes up, and they marvel at how he got away. Bodie says he boosted a car, and "boys village" can't hold him. D'Angelo points out it's not a real jail, and that he actually has been in a real jail. Bodie thinks he's just talking about [[Recap/TheWireS01E01TheTarget the murder he was acquitted for]], but D'Angelo's talking about something else. He tells them about a woman Avon was seeing, and everything was going fine until she found out Avon had another girlfriend. At that point she became possessive and started threatening to go to the police if Avon didn't leave the other girl. So early one morning, D'Angelo drove to her apartment, went around to the back window, and tapped his gun on the window in groups of three, until she came into the kitchen, turned the light on, and walked over to the window to try to see what was making the noise. He doesn't say anything after that, but implies that he shot her, and the others look thoughtful.

Burrell and Phelan are in Phelan's chambers, and Burrell informs him blood samples from several homicides and rapes went bad because of an electrical failure in the lab. Phelan confirms the state's attorney and mayor's offices both know, and Burrell adds their equipment is over 25 years old. Phelan says if Burrell wants, he could get money from a non-profit Phelan's brother serves on, and Burrell accepts. Phelan then asks about Barksdale, and Burrell gives him a file, saying they've gotten a couple of "mid-level players"; Phelan, however, is unhappy because it's just "hand-to-hands and search and seizures", and Avon and Stringer's names are nowhere in the file. He tells Burrell they have work to do, and Burrell sighs.

An elderly woman is in her apartment folding laundry when she hears a loud knock on the door. She walks over slowly as the knocks get louder. As she opens it, Carver and Herc burst in, demanding to know where Bodie is. They tear around the apartment while she sits back down, finding nothing. As Carver leaves, he tells her, "Tell Bodie we're on his ass." Herc comes down, goes to her, and apologizes for cursing at the door. As he's about to leave, she asks, "Is it the drugs again?" She invites him to sit down, and he does, and she explains she's had "Preston" since he was four and his mother died. While Carver is outside with the uniformed officer, Herc again apologizes for their conduct, tells her he's sorry about her troubles with Bodie, and gives her his card, asking her to get in touch if "Preston" comes by. He squeezes her hand and leaves. Carver asks what he was doing, and Herc says he was talking; Carver is surprised, but gets in the car.

In the detail office, Prez, who's on the computer, takes a call for [=McNulty=]; when [=McNulty=] finds out it's the judge, he tells him he'll call back.

Jay comes to Rawls' office, and says he was thinking; "[[DeadpanSnarker It's a clear violation of the general orders, I know, but...]]" Rawls motions for him to sit down. Jay brings up [=McNulty=]; he acknowledges [=McNulty=]'s [[CowboyCop tendencies towards acting like he's the smartest guy in the room]], and acknowledges it makes him an "asshole", but also makes him a good detective, as he got eight clearances the year before, one on a John Doe. Rawls considers this, and tells Jay if [=McNulty=] wraps up the detail in two weeks, he can come back with a clean slate. Jay smiles and leaves.

[=McNulty=], meanwhile, is on a pay phone with Phelan, who's telling him about his meeting with Burrell. Phelan asks for his approval, but [=McNulty=] says he has to go, and hangs up.

Kima is sitting in front of her couch, studying, while Cheryl lies down behind her. Cheryl complains about the highlighter mark on the couch, and accuses Kima of the deed. Kima tries to deny it, and she and Cheryl playfully fight over the marker she's holding in her hand. Cheryl orders her to do her work on the table. Kima wanders over and sees the cell-phone bill. Cheryl says her company pays for it, and Kima looks thoughtful.

Daniels is in Burrell's office while Burrell [[OfficeGolf practices putting]]. Burrell tells Daniels Phelan won't let go, and Daniels repeats he'll do whatever Burrell wants, but adds [=McNulty=] thinks the case needs a wire, and Daniels thinks it needs something. Burrell says nothing, but continues to putt.

In the Pit, Bodie is throwing a rock at the surveillance cameras. Lester, who's in a car watching, dials the number [[Recap/TheWireS01E03TheBuys he pulled from the raid]]; D'Angelo's pager goes off, and he goes to a pay phone. He calls Lester's cell phone, and Lester answers, but hangs up when D'Angelo says, "Yo, who this?", and smiles.

Kima and [=McNulty=] walk towards the detail office, and [=McNulty=] talks about getting a wire on the Barksdale crew. They agree the pagers must be some kind of "throwback thing". Kima brings up Cheryl's cell-phone bill and how every call was listed, and [=McNulty=] says if they get Barksdale's pager, they can get a lot of numbers from that. Kima asks about "No-Heart" Anthony; [=McNulty=] explains he was a drug dealer who got cornered by police after a jewel robbery, and put a .44 against his chest, attempting to kill himself, but woke up in the hospital instead. Kima and [=McNulty=] guess they [[TemptingFate might be able to get Omar to turn on Barksdale, which makes them happy.]]

Polk is at stairs, attempting to throw himself off, but stops when Kima and [=McNulty=] open the door and start walking down, still talking. Inside the office, Daniels briefs the others; he asks about Santangelo, who's missing, and [=McNulty=] lies that he's on a case. Daniels says they're still on as far as he knows, and asks for ideas. Kima and [=McNulty=] bring up the idea of cloning pagers. Herc wants to know why they use pagers instead of cell phones; Lester, who's been quiet up to this point, pipes up, "It's a discipline." He points out you can't bug a pager, but if they had a pen register, they could get on all the phone numbers in the pit and the towers. [=McNulty=] animatedly tells Daniels he got a wiretap affidavit from Rhonda, and they have enough PC from the hand-to-hands for exhaustion (Lester explains exhaustion means they couldn't get information otherwise, and [=McNulty=] adds they haven't been able to). Daniels asks if anyone has a pager number for the Barksdale crew; Lester pulls the number he called (along with the photo of D'Angelo on the payphone), and puts it on the desk. [=McNulty=], excited, asks if it's D'Angelo's number, and Lester nods. Daniels says, "Let's do this." The meeting breaks up, and [=McNulty=] looks at Lester in admiration.

[=McNulty=] joins Bunk at the apartment house where Deirdre was murdered, Bunk complains about Keeley's work on the case, and [=McNulty=] complains the case isn't connected, but Bunk tells him to cram it. [=McNulty=] brings up Lester, and how little he thought of him before, especially because of his hobby. Bunk laughs and says Lester makes more money off the tiny furniture than either them make on the job, and adds Lester used to work in Homicide, calling him "natural police". [=McNulty=] asks why Lester's no longer there, and Bunk says he'll have to ask Lester. The building superintendent shows up with a key, and says the apartment's been vacant since the murder.

Inside the apartment, Bunk and [=McNulty=] walk in, and Bunk pulls out the crime scene photos, which they look at. While Bunk arranges the photos on the floor, [=McNulty=] pulls out the lab report, and they study what they have. [=McNulty=] notices Deirdre has a wound going through the top of her left breast, and one in her lower back. He pulls out a tape measure. Bunk draws circles on the floor, and also one on the window, putting a crime scene photo near it. [=McNulty=] measures the distance between where he thinks the gun is and the wound, Bunk grabs the tape measure, and [=McNulty=] holds his gun over himself and turns around, trying but failing to find a shell casing. Bunk takes another look at the window, and realizes the shot must have come from outside; [=McNulty=] holds the gun up, sees that it plays, and they both look towards the refrigerator. [=McNulty=] first tries the wall by the refrigerator, but can't find anything. He then opens the refrigerator, and notices a hole. Bunk hands him a pair of pliers, and [=McNulty=] eventually is able to pull out a bullet fragment. They walk outside till they get to the window; [=McNulty=] holds his gun to the window, Bunk grabs the tape measure, and measures out to a spot on the grass. [=McNulty=] and the super join him, and they dig around until Bunk finds a shell casing, and smiles.

Kima tells Carver, Herc and Sydnor to follow D'Angelo in the Towers, but not to worry if they lose him. Herc, impatient, wants to know why they're doing this in the first place, and Kima tells them to just trust her on this.

[=McNulty=] joins Lester, who's still in the detail office, and asks how long he's been in the pawn shop unit. Lester answers, "13 years and four months." [=McNulty=] wants to know what he does in the pawn shop (keep an index of every stolen item that's valued over $50 so they can find it if something is pawned), and asks why he asked out of Homicide (he wasn't asked, he was booted out for doing "police work"). [=McNulty=] says he needs to buy Lester a drink, and Lester responds, "[[DeadpanSnarker Only one?]]"...

...[[DescriptionCut and they're in a bar]]. Lester tells [=McNulty=] the particulars; he caught a case of an elderly woman who was stabbed and robbed, and caught the killers easily enough, but the fence was the son of a newspaper editor who had pull with the deputy ops, who ordered the major ([=McNulty=] thinks it's Burrell, but Lester says it was the one before him), who ordered Lester not to charge the fence, and Lester did it anyway. Lester then says after the trial was over, the major asked where he didn't want to go, and Lester said he was fine with any department as long as he was on the street, [[ReassignedToAntarctica which got him stuck in the pawn shop unit]]. He warns [=McNulty=] not to make the same mistake.

[=McNulty=] knocks on Kima's apartment door. Cheryl answers, and after establishing who he is, tells Kima, who's lying on the coach watching TV, "a decidedly confused white boy" is at the door. When Kima goes to the door, [=McNulty=] greets her, and asks how it went; she says they lost D'Angelo, picked him up again in the Pit, but lost him later. [=McNulty=] says she did good work, and thanks her for backing him up with Daniels. Kima looks confused at what [=McNulty=]'s doing there, and asks if he's good to drive; [=McNulty=] lies and says he's fine. He tries to flirt with her, but she says good night and shuts the door. Once inside, she asks Cheryl what she missed. Cheryl responds that it wasn't much, and asks about [=McNulty=]; Kima clarifies that he's lonely, not confused. Cheryl nags Kima about missing a class, and said she promised. Kima gets up, straddles Cheryl, and [[GirlOnGirlIsHot they begin to kiss each other and have sex]] as we FadeToBlack.

This episode contains examples of:

-->"Thin line 'tween heaven and here."
-->--'''Bubbles'''

->'''Carver:''' [[PrecisionFStrike Unbe-fucking-lievable.]]