Season 1, Episode 06
The Wire
"...and all the pieces matter."
As one might have been guessed from the end of last episode, Brandon has been killed, and was left brutally mutilated. Despite this, he refused to give up Omar, and both Omar and Wallace are left shaken by his death (Wallace getting paid the money promised to him for fingering Brandon doesn't help). Meanwhile, D'Angelo discovers two of the people on his crew are stealing from him, and deals with it by rearranging his crew on the stash. Also, to the disgust of Carver and Herc, Bodie gets released (thanks to Levy).— Freamon
Rawls orders McNulty to come back to Homicide in one week. Not only that, but he takes a look at the open murders Jay connected to Deirdre's murder, and decides to charge D'Angelo for all three murders so he can have the stats. Reluctantly, McNulty takes it to Daniels; Daniels isn't able to convince Rawls or Foerster, but convinces Burrell by reminding him of what Phelan can do. Also, Omar agrees to testify that he saw Bird kill Gant.
This episode contains examples of:
- As the Good Book Says...: As he's bringing him into Rawls' office, Jay calls McNulty "the prodigal son".
- Book Ends: The episode opens and closes on the same image: Brandon's dead body displayed on the hood of a car, the beginning on the real thing, and the end in the photograph on Lieutenant Daniels' desk.
- Call-Back: In trying to talk about how Brandon's torture and murder affected him, Wallace asks D'Angelo if he felt the same when he killed Deirdre.
- Continuity Nod: D'Angelo is now seeing Shardene, and Santangelo is still Rawls' mole, though to Rawls' exasperation, he hasn't come up with any dirt on McNulty yet.
- Dead Guy on Display: Brandon's body is left on the hood of a car, to send a message to both Omar and everyone living in the Pit. Unfortunately for Avon, this also motivates Omar's Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
- Epigraph: "And all the pieces matter," said by Lester, of course, when he explains to Prez the kind of case they're trying to build against the Barksdale crew.
- Foreshadowing: While in the detail office, Omar sees what they have on Barksdale's crew, which will come in handy for him later. Also, while Johnny (along with Bubbles) pulls off a successful heist of copper, he gets caught trying to make a buy, which will also become important later.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Wallace's reaction to seeing Brandon's dead and tortured body, which leads to his later Heel–Face Turn.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: After Lester tells McNulty they had heard, but couldn't monitor, calls setting up Brandon's murder, McNulty storms into Daniels' office.McNulty: (slams a file on Daniels' desk) He's on you. We're up on those payphones Tuesday night, we catch that murder - shit, we get there before the murder. It's all here on the pen register. This one calling that one, that one calling back. We're up on those pay phones when we should be, and we have him cold. But we're not up in time, are we? In this case, we're never where we need to be!Omar: (watching McNulty storm out, and Daniels glaring after him) Bad time for y'all?
- Nobody Poops: Averted; Santangelo is taking a leak while on stakeout on the roof, so he misses Avon, Stringer and Stinkum visiting the Pit.
- Rhetorical Question Blunder:Rawls: Do you know what we do here, McNulty?
McNulty: What we do here?
Rawls: That was one of them, what is it, a question you don't have to...
Jay: A rhetorical question. You were being rhetorical. Rhetorical and reasonable, sir. - The Scream: Omar's reaction when he sees Brandon's corpse in the morgue. McNulty's kids, who are in a waiting area upstairs, can even hear it, and are a little freaked out.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: When Daniels catches Polk coming in drunk, he gives him two choices; check into a place for alcohol abuse, or straighten up and do the work. Polk decides to take the first choice, confessing he's not cut out for the type of work the squad is doing.
