142-742: The Barksdale Organization is a fictional drug-dealing gang on the television series The Wire . Many of the characters featured in season one of The Wire belong to this organization. Season 1 largely deals with the Baltimore Police Department setting up a Major Crimes Unit to investigate the Barksdale Organization, led by Avon Barksdale who is portrayed as the most powerful drug kingpin in Baltimore . The gang's criminal activities include heroin and cocaine dealing, homicides (including killing witnesses in criminal cases against
284-443: A Primetime Emmy Award winner who has worked on every season of The Sopranos . The directing has been praised for its uncomplicated and subtle style. Following the death of Colesberry, director Joe Chappelle joined the production staff as a co-executive producer and continued to regularly direct episodes. Each episode begins with a cold open that seldom contains a dramatic juncture. The screen then fades or cuts to black while
426-401: A Baltimore drug lord arrested in the 1980s by an investigation that Burns had been part of, had a recurring role as a deacon beginning in the third season. Jay Landsman , a longtime police officer who inspired the character of the same name , played Lieutenant Dennis Mello . Baltimore police commander Gary D'Addario served as the series' technical advisor for the first two seasons and had
568-557: A Major Case Squad after homicide detective Jimmy McNulty , who seems to be the only authoritative figure aware of his presence or his empire, reveals his identity to his superiors. Avon is feared by other drug dealing criminal organizations in Baltimore due to his ferocity. He is portrayed as hotheaded yet is also a shrewd and intuitive gangster. His drug empire includes the best territory in Baltimore for drug dealers. Together with his closest friend Stringer, Avon and their enforcers dominate
710-536: A crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a longshoreman , a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are committed." The Wire is lauded for its literary themes and its uncommonly accurate exploration of society, politics and urban life . Despite this,
852-536: A criminal conspiracy. Stringer uses Shamrock to insulate himself from the street; Shamrock takes phone calls on Stringer's behalf, then organizes face to face meetings at secure locations. Stringer put Shamrock in charge of overseeing Bernard in obtaining disposable cell phones used by the organization. Stringer insisted that Bernard buy a maximum of two phones from any one outlet. Once Shamrock takes over, he stops checking up on Bernard and Bernard begins to buy phones in bulk from Lester Freamon , an undercover officer in
994-705: A dedicated communications link. Automated monitoring and escalation software clients, often used in hospitals, IT departments and alarm companies, tend to prefer direct connections because of the increased reliability. Small paging systems, such as those used in restaurant and retail establishments, often integrate a keyboard and paging system into a single box, reducing both cost and complexity. Paging systems support several popular direct connection protocols, including TAP , TNPP, SNPP and WCTP , as well as proprietary modem- and socket-based protocols. Additionally, organizations often integrate paging systems with their Voice-mail and PBX systems, conceptually attaching pagers to
1136-432: A desire to harm others; many are trapped in their existence and all have human qualities. Even so, The Wire does not minimize or gloss over the horrific effects of their actions. The show is realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity. There have even been reports of real-life criminals watching the show to learn how to counter police investigation techniques. The fifth season portrayed
1278-659: A driver's license, and owning nothing in his own name. The Barksdales retained attorney Maurice Levy , who advised them on how to counter police investigations and represented members of the Barksdale organization at hearings and trials. At the beginning of the series, Avon is the top player in the West Baltimore drug trade. His territory includes the prized Franklin Terrace Towers, a massive public housing project consisting of six high rise apartment buildings. These towers provided
1420-417: A funeral parlor, Orlando's, and a property developing company named B&B. It also invested in property, never actually using either Avon or Stringer's names on official papers. It also made campaign contributions and later bribes for assistance with development contracts. Avon Barksdale (played by Wood Harris ) is the head of the Barksdale organization. In season one, he is the target of an investigation of
1562-402: A humanistic approach toward its characters. A central theme developed throughout the show is the struggle between individual desires and subordination to the group's goals. Central to the structure and plot of the show is the use of electronic surveillance and wiretap technologies by the police—hence the title The Wire. Salon described the title as a metaphor for the viewer's experience:
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#17328512623801704-409: A later turf war between Barksdale and Marlo Stanfield , Country is one of Slim Charles' few voices of experience in a team of young soldiers, until he is killed in an attempted drive-by on one of Marlo Stanfield's corners. The driver, Chipper, refuses to follow Slim's orders to wait for a signal before making a move. Rico was a soldier in the Barksdale organization, usually seen acting as security at
1846-430: A local base station, or through a telephone number assigned to each individual pager. In the 1990s, pagers became popular among the general public as a cheaper, smaller, and more reliable alternative to mobile phones . Bell System Bellboy radio pagers each used three reed receiver relays, each relay tuned to one of 33 different frequencies, selectively ringing a particular customer when all three relays were activated at
1988-443: A message has been successfully delivered to a pager. Because of this, if a one-way pager is turned off or is not receiving a usable signal at the time a message is transmitted, the message will not be received and the sender of the message will not be notified of this fact. In the mid-1990s, some paging companies began offering a service, which allowed a customer to call their pager-number and have numeric messages read back to them. This
2130-436: A more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews, describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development. Simon described the second season as "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class ... it is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism
2272-470: A newly released convict uncertain of his future. In the fourth season , four young actors joined the cast: Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems ; Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff ; Julito McCullum as Namond Brice ; and Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee . The characters are friends from a west Baltimore middle school. Another newcomer was Norman Wilson ( Reg E. Cathey ), Carcetti's deputy campaign manager. The fifth season saw several actors join
2414-453: A number of other notable stars of The Wire , including Wood Harris , Frankie Faison , John Doman , Clarke Peters , Domenick Lombardozzi , Michael Hyatt , Michael Potts , and Method Man , appeared in at least one episode of Oz . Cast members Erik Dellums , Peter Gerety , Clark Johnson , Clayton LeBouef , Toni Lewis and Callie Thorne also appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street ,
2556-416: A one-way pager is a passive receiver only (it sends no information back to the base station), its location cannot be tracked. However, this can also be disadvantageous, as a message sent to a pager must be broadcast from every paging transmitter in the pager's service area. Thus, if a pager has nationwide service, a message sent to it could be intercepted by criminals or law enforcement agencies anywhere within
2698-483: A paging network and are less subject to these delays. For this reason, older forms of message submission retain their usefulness for disseminating highly-important alerts to users such as emergency services personnel. Common paging protocols include TAP , FLEX , ReFLEX , POCSAG , GOLAY, ERMES and NTT. Past paging protocols include Two-tone and 5/6-tone. In the United States, pagers typically receive signals using
2840-435: A paging system which includes one or more fixed transmitters (or in the case of response pagers and two-way pagers, one or more base stations ), as well as a number of pagers carried by mobile users. These systems can range from a restaurant system with a single low power transmitter, to a nationwide system with thousands of high-power base stations. Pagers were developed in the 1950s and 1960s, and became widely used by
2982-496: A photo of the injuries on Bird's face so that he can't claim they were inflicted in custody. Bird vehemently rejects their offer to provide information on the people he works for, throwing out as many foul-mouthed insults as he can. His vulgar attitude towards his interrogators prompts Daniels to tear up the Polaroid image, and then, along with Kima and Landsman, deliver a three-man beatdown. Largely because of Omar's testimony, Bird
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#17328512623803124-459: A portable receiver that would usually vibrate, flash, or beep when a table becomes free or when their meal is ready. Pagers have been popular with birdwatchers in Great Britain and Ireland since 1991, with companies Rare Bird Alert and Birdnet Information offering news of rare birds sent to pagers that they sell. Today, companies like Visiplex offer similar solutions for onsite pager systems in
3266-469: A producer for the third season. Pelecanos has commented that he was attracted to the project because of the opportunity to work with Simon. Staff writer Rafael Alvarez penned several episodes' scripts, as well as the series guidebook The Wire: Truth Be Told. Alvarez is a colleague of Simon's from The Baltimore Sun and a Baltimore native with working experience in the port area. Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco , also wrote for
3408-484: A recurring role as prosecutor Gary DiPasquale . Simon shadowed D'Addario's shift when researching his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and both D'Addario and Landsman are subjects of the book. More than a dozen cast members previously appeared on HBO's first hour-long drama Oz . J. D. Williams , Seth Gilliam , Lance Reddick , and Reg E. Cathey were featured in very prominent roles on Oz , while
3550-411: A signal from the car figures out it is a trap. Marlo and Chris Partlow set up a night time ambush for Devonne. When she emerges from her home, Marlo shoots her once in each breast, then a third time through her mouth. Partlow assures him that the murder was necessary. She bears the distinction of being the only person that Marlo has personally murdered on-screen, as opposed to having Chris do it. Gerard
3692-488: A single transmitter tower. The system was manufactured by the Reevesound Company and operated by Telanswerphone. In 1960, John Francis Mitchell combined elements of Motorola 's walkie-talkie and automobile radio technologies to create the first transistorized pager, and from that time, paging technology continued to advance and pager adoption among emergency personnel was still popular as of July 2016. In 1962,
3834-431: A song is played before the closing scene in a montage showing the lives of the protagonists in the aftermath of the narrative. The first season montage is played over "Step by Step" by Jesse Winchester , the second "I Feel Alright" by Steve Earle, the third "Fast Train" written by Van Morrison and performed by Solomon Burke , the fourth "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" written by Dr. John and performed by Paul Weller and
3976-521: A teacher in an inner-city school. The two of them spent a year researching the drug culture and poverty in Baltimore for their book The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood . Their combined experiences were used in many storylines of The Wire . Central to the show's aim for realism was the creation of truthful characters. Simon has stated that most of them are composites of real-life Baltimore figures. For instance, Donnie Andrews served as
4118-422: A telephone extension and set up web portals to integrate pagers into other parts of their enterprise. A paging system alerts a pager (or group of pagers) by transmitting information over an RF channel, including an address and message information. This information is formatted using a paging protocol, such as 2-tone, 5/6-tone, GOLAY, POCSAG , FLEX , ERMES , or NTT. Two-way pagers and response pagers typically use
4260-412: A true range of humanity on screen. Many of the cast are black, consistent with the demographics of Baltimore. Wendell Pierce , who plays Detective Bunk Moreland , was the first actor to be cast. Dominic West , who won the ostensible lead role of Detective Jimmy McNulty , sent in a tape he recorded the night before the audition's deadline of his playing out a scene by himself. Lance Reddick received
4402-481: A whole is portrayed as underfunded and apathetic. While the Major Crime Unit is able to arrest a number of people in the Barksdale Organization, including Avon, they lack the resources to build a strong enough case to permanently cripple the organization. All those arrested plead out and get light sentences (with the exception of Wee-Bey and D'Angelo ). Avon's best friend and second in command Stringer Bell runs
Barksdale Organization - Misplaced Pages Continue
4544-432: A working newsroom at The Baltimore Sun and was described by Brian Lowry of Variety magazine in 2007 as the most realistic portrayal of the media in film and television. In a December 2006 Washington Post article, local black students said that the show had "hit a nerve" with the black community and that they themselves knew real-life counterparts of many of the characters. The article expressed great sadness at
4686-466: Is Stringer's top assistant who oversees the technical aspects of the drug distribution to the various drug dealing crews. Shamrock oversees Stringer's organizational meetings at the funeral home and is told to keep to Robert's Rules of Order . He tries to keep minutes at the first meeting of the New Day Co-Op , a group of major Baltimore drug players; Stringer curtly reminds him that he is taking notes on
4828-541: Is arrested alongside Avon at the end of season three. Slim Charles was an enforcer hired by the Barksdales in season three when they needed muscle after the arrests of Savino, Wee-Bey and Bird and the deaths of Little Man and Stinkum. He proves himself to be capable and loyal on multiple occasions despite his lack of support. Upon Stringer Bell's death he became Avon Barksdale's second-in-command. After Avon's subsequent arrest, Slim Charles began working for Proposition Joe and
4970-524: Is convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole by Judge Phelan . Wintell "Little Man" Royce was a heavyset soldier in the Barksdale crew, responsible for enforcing their regime at the Franklin Towers, mainly Tower 221. He is responsible for handing bags of cash to senator Clay Davis ' aide Damien "Day Day" Price . With Wee-Bey Brice , he is involved in the shooting of "Orlando" and specifically shot Detective Greggs because he
5112-405: Is incarcerated at Avon's weapon stash house at the end of season 3. The Wire (TV series) The Wire is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO . The series premiered on June 2, 2002, and ended on March 9, 2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons. The idea for
5254-401: Is making an argument about what institutions—bureaucracies, criminal enterprises, the cultures of addiction, raw capitalism even—do to individuals. It is not designed purely as an entertainment. It is, I'm afraid, a somewhat angry show. The major characters of the first season were divided between those on the side of the law and those involved in drug-related crime . The investigating detail
5396-455: Is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many." He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws explicit parallels between
5538-411: Is probably best remembered for enthusiastically uttering the line "like a forty-degree day!" as he misunderstands a speech from Stringer Bell. Sapper is first seen guarding the back door during an attempted heist by Omar Little . Gerard, Sapper and Dennis "Cutty" Wise were charged with finding a thief in the Barksdale organization. Cutty's experience made the task simple and Gerard and Sapper punished
5680-570: Is rarely breached, notably for the end-of-season montages and occasionally with a brief overlap of the closing theme and the final shot. The opening theme is " Way Down in the Hole ," a gospel -and- blues -inspired song, written by Tom Waits for his 1987 album Franks Wild Years . Each season uses a different recording and a different opening sequence, with the theme being performed by The Blind Boys of Alabama , Waits, The Neville Brothers , DoMaJe and Steve Earle . The season four version of "Way Down in
5822-422: Is satisfied with their response. Stringer entrusts Shamrock with driving Bodie to dispose of the weapons used in a misguided territory war after a young child was killed by a stray bullet. Unfortunately Bodie unknowingly drops the bag of guns onto a passing barge instead of into the water. Little comes of the mistake because Bodie had already wiped the weapons clean of fingerprints. Stringer entrusts Shamrock with
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5964-440: Is the case with many new technologies, the functionality of the pager shifted from necessary professional use to a social tool integrated in one's personal life. During the rise of the pager, it became the subject of various forms of media, most notably in the 1990s hip-hop scene. Popular artists from the era, including Ice Cube , Method Man , and A Tribe Called Quest , began referencing newly developed mobile technologies such as
6106-631: The Bell System , the U.S. telephone monopoly, presented its Bellboy radio paging system at the Seattle World's Fair. Bellboy was the first commercial system for personal paging. It also marked one of the first consumer applications of the transistor (invented by Bell Labs in 1947), for which three Bell Labs inventors received a Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956. Solid-state circuitry enabled the Bellboy pager, about
6248-525: The FLEX protocol in the 900 MHz band. Commercial paging transmitters typically radiate 1000 watts of effective power , resulting in a much wider coverage area per tower than a mobile phone transmitter, which typically radiates around 0.6 watts per channel. Although 900 MHz FLEX paging networks tend to have stronger in-building coverage than mobile phone networks, commercial paging service providers will work with large institutions to install repeater equipment in
6390-556: The Iraq War and drug prohibition , which in Simon's view has failed in its aims and has become a war against America's underclass. This is portrayed by Major Colvin, imparting to Carver his view that policing has been allowed to become a war and thus will never succeed in its aims. Writer Ed Burns , who worked as a public school teacher after retiring from the Baltimore police force shortly before going to work with Simon, has called education
6532-433: The New Day Co-Op , an organization of which he eventually takes a leading role. Marquis "Bird" Hilton is a foul-mouthed soldier in the Barksdale crew who is involved in the brutal murder of Omar Little 's boyfriend and accomplice Brandon . As revenge, Omar cooperates with the police to provide testimony that Bird killed William Gant, a state witness against D'Angelo Barksdale as a warning to others not to testify. Because
6674-1181: The ReFLEX protocol. Modern paging systems typically use multiple base transmitters to modulate the same signal on the same RF channel, a design approach called simulcast . This type of design enables pagers to select the strongest signal from several candidate transmitters using FM capture , thereby improving overall system performance. Simulcast systems often use satellite to distribute identical information to multiple transmitters and GPS at each transmitter to precisely time its modulation relative to other transmitters. The coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite communications, can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial based cellular networks in some cases, including during natural and human-made disaster. This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging. Pagers themselves vary from very cheap and simple beepers, to more complex personal communications equipment, falling into eight main categories. Pagers have certain privacy advantages and disadvantages compared with cellular phones. Since
6816-464: The illegal drug trade , the port system, the city government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news medium. Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city. When the series first aired, the large cast consisted mainly of actors who were unknown to television audiences, as well as numerous real-life Baltimore and Maryland figures in guest and recurring roles. Simon has said that despite its framing as
6958-425: The series finale , which started with a quote from H. L. Mencken that is shown on a wall at The Baltimore Sun in one scene, neither quote being spoken by a character. Progressive story arcs often unfold in different locations at the same time. Episodes rarely end with a cliffhanger , and close with a fade or cut to black with the closing music fading in. When broadcast on HBO and on some international networks,
7100-734: The 1980s through the late 1990s and early 2000s. Later in the 21st century, the widespread availability of cellphones and smartphones with text messaging capability has greatly diminished the pager industry. Nevertheless, pagers continue to be used by some emergency services and public safety personnel , because modern pager systems' coverage overlap, combined with use of satellite communications , can make paging systems more reliable than terrestrial based cellular networks in some cases, including during natural and human-made disasters . This resilience has led public safety agencies to adopt pagers over cellular and other commercial services for critical messaging. The first telephone pager system
7242-426: The 1990s. While Motorola announced the end of its new pager manufacturing in 2001, pagers remained in use in large hospital complexes. First responders in rural areas with inadequate cellular coverage are often issued pagers . The 2005 London bombings resulted in overload of TETRA systems by the emergency services and showed that pagers, with their absence of necessity to transmit an acknowledgement before showing
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#17328512623807384-494: The Barksdale family. The season follows the police investigation of the latter over its 13 episodes. The investigation is triggered when, following the acquittal of D'Angelo Barksdale for murder after a key witness changes her story, Detective Jimmy McNulty meets privately with Judge Daniel Phelan . McNulty tells Phelan that the witness has probably been intimidated by members of a drug trafficking empire run by D'Angelo's uncle, Avon Barksdale , having recognized several faces at
7526-556: The Barksdale organization since the first episode; he was born to their trade and showed a fierce aptitude for it. Omar had a vendetta against the Barksdale organization and gave them all of his lethal attention. New additions in the third season included Tommy Carcetti ( Aidan Gillen ), an ambitious city councilman; Mayor Clarence Royce ( Glynn Turman ), the incumbent whom Carcetti planned to unseat; Marlo Stanfield ( Jamie Hector ), leader of an upstart gang seeking to challenge Avon's dominance; and Dennis "Cutty" Wise ( Chad Coleman ),
7668-426: The Barksdale organization. A strict telephone usage policy was applied rigidly throughout the organization. The pager messages were encoded to prevent easy tracing of the telephones used, all of which were public telephones . When pages were returned with a phone call no names were supposed to be used, and if a name was used, the speaker was rebuked. A separate code was used for resupply signals, which involved turning
7810-426: The Hole" was arranged and recorded for the show and is performed by five Baltimore teenagers: Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse. Earle, who performed the fifth season version, is also a member of the cast, playing the recovering drug addict Walon . The closing theme is "The Fall," composed by Blake Leyh , who is also the music supervisor of the show. During season finales,
7952-502: The Major Case unit investigating Stringer. Freamon is thereby able to supply the Barksdale's crew with pre-wiretapped phones. When Avon is paroled, Shamrock continues in his role as Stringer's assistant controlling their drug dealing through the lieutenants and crew chiefs. He is peripherally involved in Avon's turf war with Marlo Stanfield , passing messages back and forth to soldiers. Shamrock
8094-611: The UK National Health Service was thought to have been using over 10% of the remaining pagers in the world (130,000), with an annual cost of £6.6 million. Matt Hancock , (then) Secretary of State for Health and Social Care , announced in February 2019 that the 130,000 pagers still in use were to be phased out. NHSX announced plans in May 2020 to replace pagers and bleepers with "more modern communication tools," accelerated by
8236-498: The United States, pagers using the commercial FM band receive a subcarrier, called the Subsidiary Communications Authority , of a broadcast station. On-site paging systems in hospitals, unlike wide area paging systems, are local area services. Hospitals commonly use on-site paging for communication with staff and increasingly for contacting waiting patients when their appointment is due. These offer waiting patients
8378-660: The Western district where the Barksdale organization operated, and nearing retirement, he came up with a radical new method of dealing with the drug problem. Proposition Joe, the East Side's cautious drug kingpin, became more cooperative with the Barksdale Organization . Sydnor, a rising young star in the Police Department in season 1, returned to the cast as part of the major crimes unit. Bodie had been seen gradually rising in
8520-476: The arrest of Bernard and Squeak. Bernard says that he could not wait to go to jail to get away from Squeak, and does not seem to be entirely kidding. Cutty was a prisoner who became affiliated with the Barksdales when they needed muscle, recommended by his cellmate Wee-Bey . After Cutty's release from prison, he proves highly effective in the organization until he realizes that he is no longer willing to kill people, declaring "The game ain't in me no more". He leaves
8662-459: The attempted shooting of Omar's grandmother, in violation of the Sunday truce. They are ordered by Avon Barksdale to replace a hat that they damaged in this unsanctioned action. Gerard is arrested at a Barksdale safehouse for weapons violations. Sapper is a young idiotic Barksdale organization enforcer working under Slim Charles . He often works with Gerard , and seems to be the dumber of the two. He
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#17328512623808804-542: The best territory in the city to sell drugs. The Barksdales have a crew at each tower that sells heroin and cocaine 24 hours a day. The Barksdales also control other smaller territories, including a nearby low-rise housing project referred to as "the Pit". Each crew is headed by a lieutenant who is responsible for trade in a certain area, with some receiving a percentage of the revenue of the narcotics they sell. The lieutenants contact their superiors to refill inventory and to kick up
8946-524: The brutal killing of Omar's accomplice and boyfriend Brandon in retribution. Stinkum is set to be a central piece of the Barksdale detail's case as their investigation progressed, amassing much evidence of him performing various illegal acts. The police seizes the resupply from his subordinate Kevin Johnston, but allow Stinkum to go free to avoid arousing suspicion about their surveillance methods. After being promoted by Avon Barksdale to run new territory for
9088-545: The bureaucracy of the Baltimore Police Department ; Simon saw similarities with his own ordeals as a police reporter for The Baltimore Sun . Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city. During his time as a writer and producer for the NBC program Homicide: Life on the Street , based on his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (1991), also set in Baltimore, Simon had come into conflict with NBC network executives who were displeased by
9230-489: The camera for the first time in the series to play Augustus Haynes , the principled editor of the city desk of The Baltimore Sun . He is joined in the newsroom by two other new stars; Michelle Paress and Tom McCarthy play young reporters Alma Gutierrez and Scott Templeton . The first season introduces two major groups of characters: the Baltimore Police Department and a drug dealing organization run by
9372-608: The case moving. On the other side of the investigation was Avon Barksdale 's drug empire. The driven, ruthless Barksdale ( Wood Harris ) was aided by business-minded Stringer Bell ( Idris Elba ). Avon's nephew D'Angelo Barksdale ( Larry Gilliard Jr. ) ran some of his uncle's territory, but also possessed a guilty conscience, while loyal Wee-Bey Brice ( Hassan Johnson ) was responsible for multiple homicides carried out on Avon's orders. Working under D'Angelo were Poot ( Tray Chaney ), Bodie ( J. D. Williams ), and Wallace ( Michael B. Jordan ), all street-level drug dealers. Wallace
9514-470: The characters are typically betrayed by the institutions that they accept in their lives. There is also a sentiment echoed by a detective in Narcotics—"Shit rolls downhill"—which describes how superiors, especially in the higher tiers of the Police Department in the series, will attempt to use subordinates as scapegoats for any major scandals. Simon described the show as "cynical about institutions" while taking
9656-402: The city; Simon was welcomed to work there again. He hoped the show would change the opinions of some viewers but said that it was unlikely to affect the issues it portrays. The casting of the show has been praised for avoiding big-name stars and using character actors who appear natural in their roles. The looks of the cast as a whole have been described as defying TV expectations by presenting
9798-460: The club together. After they have sex in his car Devonne persuades him to meet her again the following day. Marlo phones Devonne to arrange a meeting and begins to feel suspicious. He assigns Chris Partlow to investigate Devonne. Snoop sits in the restaurant Marlo arranged to meet Devonne at and notices a Barksdale soldier buying a large quantity of food and taking it to a nearby SUV. Snoop reports in to Partlow. Partlow observes Devonne receiving
9940-444: The creative team behind The Wire were alumni of Homicide and Primetime Emmy Award -winning miniseries The Corner . The Corner veteran, Robert F. Colesberry , was executive producer for the first two seasons and directed the season 2 finale before dying from complications from heart surgery in 2004. He is credited by the rest of the creative team as having a large creative role as a producer, and Simon credits him for achieving
10082-431: The culprit with a savage beating. Gerard and Sapper are thrown out of Avon Barksdale 's homecoming party when Barksdale saw them come in high. Gerard receives more work as the organization becomes embroiled in a turf war with Marlo Stanfield . He is almost killed in an attempted drive by where both Chipper and Country are killed, when Chipper, the driver, impatiently sets off early. Gerard and Sapper are later involved in
10224-421: The culprit with a savage beating. Gerard and Sapper were later thrown out of Avon Barksdale 's homecoming party when Barksdale saw them come in high. Gerard and Sapper are later involved in the attempted shooting of Omar Little while Omar was with his grandmother after church, in violation of the Sunday truce. They are ordered by Avon Barksdale to replace a hat that they damaged in this unsanctioned action. Sapper
10366-472: The dangers of her job from her domestic partner. Her investigative work was greatly helped by her confidential informant , a drug addict known as Bubbles ( Andre Royo ). Like Greggs, partners Thomas "Herc" Hauk ( Domenick Lombardozzi ) and Ellis Carver ( Seth Gilliam ) were reassigned to the detail from the narcotics unit. The duo's initially violent nature was eventually subdued as they proved useful in grunt work, and sometimes served as comic relief for
10508-459: The drug trade. Together, Stringer and Avon operate out of a strip club where they discuss business, conduct meetings with their subordinates and launder money. His greatest aspiration is to transition into the legitimate business world. Aside from wholesaling drug packages, Stringer wants to enter the business world and leave the violence. In the third season Stringer is killed by Omar Little and Brother Mouzone in his own commercial building that
10650-471: The earlier and award-winning network television series also based on Simon's book; Lewis appeared on Oz as well. A number of cast members, as well as crew members, also appeared in the preceding HBO miniseries The Corner including Clarke Peters , Reg E. Cathey , Lance Reddick , Corey Parker Robinson , Robert F. Chew , Delaney Williams , and Benay Berger. Alongside Simon, the show's creator, head writer , showrunner , and executive producer , much of
10792-399: The episodes are preceded by a recap of events that have a bearing upon the upcoming narrative , using clips from previous episodes. Rather than overlaying songs on the soundtrack, or employing a score, The Wire primarily uses pieces of music that emanate from a source within the scene, such as a jukebox or car radio. This kind of music is known as diegetic or source cue . This practice
10934-503: The event that service is not available in needed areas of the subscribing institution's buildings. This is especially critical in hospital settings where emergency staff must be able to reliably receive pages to respond to patient needs. Unlike mobile phones, most one-way pagers do not display any information about whether a signal is being received or about the strength of the received signal. Since one-way pagers do not contain transmitters, one-way paging networks have no way to track whether
11076-488: The fifth uses an extended version of "Way Down In The Hole" by the Blind Boys of Alabama, the same version of the song used as the opening theme for the first season. While the songs reflect the mood of the sequence, their lyrics are usually only loosely tied to the visual shots. In the commentary track to episode 37, " Mission Accomplished ", executive producer David Simon said: "I hate it when somebody purposely tries to have
11218-428: The funeral home they use as a base of operations. He is playing video games with Perry when Omar Little robs a Barksdale stash house he was supposed to be keeping secure, and was involved in the subsequent shootout. He is then assigned to provide security for Poot Carr 's corner because of the turf war with Marlo Stanfield . Rico is killed in a drive-by shooting by Stanfield soldier Snoop against Poot's corner. Tank
11360-400: The funeral home they use as a base of operations. He sometimes acts as a bodyguard for Avon Barksdale . He is playing video games with Rico when Omar Little robs a Barksdale stash house he was supposed to be keeping secure. Perry is one of those arrested for weapons violations at the Barksdale safehouse. Savino Bratton was a soldier in the Barksdale Organization. He is involved in setting up
11502-478: The gang), and money laundering. Avon Barksdale's power in west Baltimore was established some time before the events of season 1. The Barksdale Organization started a turf war for the city's largest public housing project . When they won the war and got the prized Franklin Terrace Towers, they had the best drug territory in the city and dominated the illicit heroin trade in west Baltimore. The show starts sometime after these events. The Baltimore Police Department as
11644-494: The heroin trade in West Baltimore. Despite Stringer's attempts to move the two towards legitimacy, Avon shows little interest in leaving the drug business or West Baltimore. Stringer (played by Idris Elba ) is Avon Barksdale's second-in-command, closest friend, and the main strategist behind coordinating their street dealing organization which he does as the main contact for all business. He also attends community college to better understand business and economics and to apply them to
11786-511: The institutions featured on the show. The majority of the cast is black, which accurately reflects the demographics of Baltimore . The show's creators are also willing to kill off major characters, so that viewers cannot assume that a given character will survive simply because of a starring role or popularity among fans. In response to a question on why a certain character had to die, David Simon said, We are not selling hope, or audience gratification, or cheap victories with this show. The Wire
11928-444: The intro music fades in. The show's opening title sequence then plays; a series of shots, mainly close-ups, concerning the show's subject matter that changes from season to season, separated by fast cutting (a technique rarely used in the show itself). The opening credits are superimposed on the sequence, and consist only of actors' names without identifying which actors play which roles. In addition, actors' faces are rarely seen in
12070-593: The last paging provider was closed in November 2021. Many paging network operators now allow numeric and textual pages to be submitted to the paging networks via email. A significant convenience for users given the widespread adoption of email, and commonalities in delivery assurances . This can result in pager messages being delayed or lost. Older forms of message submission using the Telelocator Alphanumeric Protocol involve modem connections directly to
12212-415: The legal liaison between the detail and the courthouse and also had a sexual relationship with McNulty. In the homicide division, Bunk Moreland ( Wendell Pierce ) was a gifted, dry-witted, hard-drinking detective partnered with McNulty under Sergeant Jay Landsman ( Delaney Williams ), the sarcastic, sharp-tongued squad supervisor. Peter Gerety had a recurring role as Judge Phelan, the official who started
12354-515: The lyrics match the visual. It brutalizes the visual in a way to have the lyrics dead on point. ... Yet at the same time it can't be totally off point. It has to glance at what you're trying to say." Two soundtrack albums, called The Wire: And All the Pieces Matter—Five Years of Music from The Wire and Beyond Hamsterdam , were released on January 8, 2008, on Nonesuch Records . The former features music from all five seasons of
12496-466: The main inspiration of Omar Little . Martin O'Malley served as "one of the inspirations" for Tommy Carcetti . The show often cast non-professional actors in minor roles, distinguishing itself from other television series by showing the "faces and voices of the real city" it depicts. The writing also uses contemporary slang to enhance the immersive viewing experience. In distinguishing the police characters from other television detectives, Simon makes
12638-518: The medical, education and commercial sectors. By early 2002, pager usage was rapidly declining in places like North America. The U.S. paging industry generated $ 2.1 billion in revenue in 2008, down from $ 6.2 billion in 2003. In Canada, 161,500 Canadians paid $ 18.5 million for pager service in 2013. Telus , one of the three major mobile carriers, announced the end to its Canadian pager service as of 31 March 2015, but rivals Bell , Rogers and PageNet intend to continue service. In 2017
12780-425: The message, and the related capability to operate on very low signal levels, are not completely outclassed by their successors. Volunteer firefighters, EMS paramedics and rescue squad members usually carry pagers to alert them of emergency call outs for their department. These pagers receive a special tone from a fire department radio frequency. Restaurant pagers remain in wide use since the 2000s. Customers are given
12922-618: The money, "touts" were responsible for attracting customers; "runners" would hand over drugs to the customer; "look-outs" were responsible for watching for police or stick-up gangs approaching, while others would watch over the main drug stash. Each dealer would receive a weekly cash payment for their work from the lieutenant above them based on hours worked. Every member of the organization was subject to strict rules designed to thwart police investigations. The dealers were not allowed to carry cell phones (initially) or use drugs. They were all aware of how to deal with police interrogation and knew that
13064-572: The nationwide service area. On September 17, 2024, a massive attack against Hezbollah members in Lebanon and Syria was allegedly committed by Israel, who simultaneously detonated pagers that they were using. Lebanese Health authorities confirmed at least nine deaths and over 3,000 injuries as a result of the explosions. In February 2024, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah had told the group's members to use pagers instead of cell phones, claiming that Israel had infiltrated their mobile phone network. As
13206-838: The opportunity to leave the waiting area, but still be contacted. Paging systems are operated by commercial carriers, often as a subscription service and they are also operated directly by end users as private systems. Commercial carrier systems tend to cover a larger geographical area than private systems, while private systems tend to cover their limited area more thoroughly and deliver messages faster than commercial systems. In all systems, clients send messages to pagers, an activity commonly referred to as paging . System operators often assign unique phone numbers or email addresses to pagers (and pre-defined groups of pagers), enabling clients to page by telephone call, e-mail and SMS. Paging systems also support various types of direct connection protocols, which sacrifice global addressing and accessibility for
13348-542: The organization as a hierarchy with himself at the top and Stringer directly below him. Stringer oversees the entire drug operation and advises Avon on all matters. They were both isolated from the drugs, handling only money. Avon had a number of enforcers (soldiers) who served him through protection, contract killings , and intimidation work, including childhood friend Wee-Bey Brice . Avon himself kept an extremely low profile, eschewing overt displays of wealth so as not to attract attention, avoiding being photographed, not having
13490-432: The organization on respectful terms from Avon , who later gives him money to start a boxing gym. Devonne is a young woman used by the Barksdale Organization as bait for Marlo Stanfield . She is first mentioned by Avon as a means to get close to Marlo Stanfield. She catches Marlo's attention in a club and he approaches her. Marlo checks that she is there with friends and declines both drinking and dancing. Instead they leave
13632-566: The organization until Avon is released from prison in season 3. Ultimately, a second prolonged investigation by the Major Crimes Unit, a bloody turf war with the emerging Stanfield Organization , and internal dissent led to the Barksdale Organization's collapse in the fall of 2004. With most of the Barksdale Organization in prison or dead, the Stanfield Organization becomes the dominant heroin dealership in west Baltimore. Avon ran
13774-415: The organization would protect them if they did not say anything to the police. Lieutenants and enforcers carried pagers so that they could be contacted (they later used disposable cell phones). They were subject to the same rules as the dealers, but also knew not to talk business in cars, public places or with anyone outside of the organization. Such discussions were limited to property and territory owned by
13916-436: The organization, Stinkum is killed by Omar as revenge for Brandon. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale organization's most trusted soldier, before being arrested in season one for multiple homicides. He becomes a connection for the crew and its members while they go through the system for lesser crimes. His family uses his trusted status in the crew to its fullest advantage and after he is arrested they attempt to carry on with dealings on
14058-450: The pager display upside down. When the police catch on to this method and tap the public phones, the Barksdales start using disposable cell phones that are constantly replaced to avoid being wiretapped. Avon received his narcotics supply through a connection to a Dominican organization in New York and had several other options for suppliers in surrounding cities. The main supply of narcotics
14200-514: The pager. A Tribe Called Quest's single "Skypager" directly speaks of the importance of such a wireless communication device, with group member Q-Tip stating that the Skypager "serves an important communicative function for a young professional with a full calendar". Three 6 Mafia 's "2-Way Freak," Sir Mix-A-Lot 's " Beepers " and " Bug a Boo " from Destiny's Child also make reference to pagers. Illicit drug dealers used pagers to great effect during
14342-431: The point that even the best police of The Wire are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve, but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminals they are chasing. While many of the police do exhibit altruistic qualities, many officers portrayed on the show are incompetent, brutal, self-aggrandizing, or hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. The criminals are not always motivated by profit or
14484-423: The police need a witness, Omar agrees to falsely testify that he saw Bird shoot Gant with his signature gun. Omar further tells the police they will find Bird taking drugs (contrary to the rules of the Barksdale organization) and that they should be careful, as Bird is reckless. The arrest is made, and a ballistics report matches Bird's gun to the killing. Before the police begin interrogating Bird, Landsman takes
14626-621: The pressure placed on the service by the COVID-19 pandemic in England . In August 2020, a new procurement framework for clinical communications was launched which was intended to phase out pagers by the end of 2021, replacing them with "dedicated clinical-facing communication and tasks management tools" from 25 approved suppliers. In Japan, more than ten million pagers were active in 1996. On 1 October 2019, Japan's last paging service provider shut down radio signals and terminated its service. In Russia,
14768-432: The proceeds from the drug sales. Lieutenants did none of the legwork in the drug transaction. They had to monitor their crew and make sure everything ran smoothly, only periodically collecting the proceeds from the drug sales and making sure everything adds up at the end of the day. Beneath the lieutenants there are several drug dealers usually referred to as "hoppers." Typically there is a second-in-command who would handle
14910-822: The role of Cedric Daniels after auditioning for the roles of Bunk and heroin addict Bubbles . Michael K. Williams got the part of Omar Little after only a single audition. Williams himself recommended Felicia Pearson for the role of Snoop after meeting her at a local Baltimore bar, shortly after she had served prison time for a second degree murder conviction. Several prominent real-life Baltimore figures, including former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. ; Rev. Frank M. Reid III; radio personality Marc Steiner ; former police chief and radio personality Ed Norris ; Baltimore Sun reporter and editor David Ettlin; Howard County Executive Ken Ulman ; and former mayor Kurt Schmoke have appeared in minor roles despite not being professional actors. "Little Melvin" Williams ,
15052-520: The same time—a precursor of DTMF . The ReFLEX protocol was developed in the mid-1990s. As prices for mobile phones declined, small form factor phones like the Motorola StarTAC and the Nokia Series 40 line came on the market, cellular connectivity expanded, and digital phones adopted text messaging , most pager customers outside of specialist fields migrated to mobile phones toward the end of
15194-481: The season. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand the ongoing story arc and the relevance of each character to it. Salon has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows. Each season of The Wire consists of 10 to 13 episodes that form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw in viewers, resulting in
15336-418: The second season ended, the focus shifted away from the ports, leaving the new characters behind. The third season saw several previously recurring characters assuming larger starring roles, including Detective Leander Sydnor ( Corey Parker Robinson ), Bodie (J.D. Williams), Omar (Michael K. Williams), Proposition Joe ( Robert F. Chew ), and Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin ( Robert Wisdom ). Colvin commanded
15478-450: The series and the latter includes local Baltimore artists exclusively. The writers strove to create a realistic vision of an American city based on their own experiences. Simon, originally a reporter for The Baltimore Sun , spent a year researching a Baltimore homicide detective unit for his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets , where he met Burns. Burns served in the Baltimore Police Department for 20 years and later became
15620-597: The series received only average ratings and never won any major television awards during its original run, but it is now widely regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time. Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of his writing partner Ed Burns , a former homicide detective and public school teacher who had worked with Simon on projects including The Corner (2000). Burns, when working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology, had often been frustrated by
15762-572: The set-up of CO Dwight Tilghman to allow Avon to exchange information about Tilghman with the prison authorities for an early parole hearing. Stringer, Shamrock and Country follow Tilghman and learn that he smuggles heroin from Butchie into the prison. Stringer has Shamrock deliver a package of tainted narcotics to Tilghman through Butchie, causing several deaths in the prison. Shamrock also plants narcotics in Tilghman's car to make sure Avon could successfully inform on Tilghman. By season three, Shamrock
15904-464: The shooting of Detective Greggs and Orlando and is sentenced to three years imprisonment. Savino is eventually killed in season five by Omar Little. Anton "Stinkum" Artis was a lieutenant and enforcer in the Barksdale crew, responsible for making re-supplies from the crew's base at the Franklin Towers to their territory in the low-rise projects, known as "The Pit". He is robbed during one such delivery by stick-up man Omar Little , later taking part in
16046-452: The show in each of its first three seasons. Baltimore Sun writer and political journalist William F. Zorzi joined the writing staff in the third season and brought a wealth of experience to the show's examination of Baltimore politics. Playwright and television writer/producer Eric Overmyer joined the crew of The Wire in the show's fourth season as a consulting producer and writer. He had also previously worked on Homicide . Overmyer
16188-448: The show started out as a police drama loosely based on the experiences of Simon's writing partner Ed Burns , a former homicide detective and public school teacher. Set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland , The Wire introduces a different institution of the city and its relationship to law enforcement in each season while retaining characters and advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in chronological order;
16330-494: The show were often co-written by Burns, who also became a producer in the show's fourth season. Other writers include three acclaimed crime fiction writers from outside of Baltimore: George Pelecanos from Washington, Richard Price from the Bronx and Dennis Lehane from Boston. Reviewers drew comparisons between Price's works (particularly Clockers ) and The Wire even before he joined. In addition to writing, Pelecanos served as
16472-417: The show's pessimism. Simon wanted to avoid a repeat of these conflicts and chose to take The Wire to HBO , because of their working relationship from the miniseries The Corner . HBO was initially doubtful about including a police drama in its lineup but agreed to produce the pilot episode. Simon approached the mayor of Baltimore , telling him that he wanted to give a bleak portrayal of certain aspects of
16614-432: The show's realistic visual feel. He also had a small recurring role as Detective Ray Cole . Colesberry's wife Karen L. Thorson joined him on the production staff. A third producer on The Corner , Nina Kostroff Noble also stayed with the production staff for The Wire rounding out the initial four-person team. Following Colesberry's death, she became the show's second executive producer alongside Simon. Stories for
16756-524: The size of a small TV remote device, to fit into a customer's pocket or purse, quite a feat at that time. The Bellboy was a terminal that notified the user when someone was trying to call them. When the person received an audible signal (a buzz) on the pager, the user found a telephone and called the service center, which informed the user of the caller's message. In the mid-1980s, tone and voice radio paging became popular among emergency responders and professionals. Tone and voice pagers were activated either by
16898-579: The starring cast. Gbenga Akinnagbe returns as the previously recurring Chris Partlow , chief enforcer of the now dominant Stanfield Organization . Neal Huff reprises his role as mayoral chief of staff Michael Steintorf , having previously appeared as a guest star at the end of the fourth season. Two other actors also joined the starring cast, having previously portrayed their corrupt characters as guest stars— Michael Kostroff as defense attorney Maurice Levy and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as State Senator Clay Davis . Crew member Clark Johnson appeared in front of
17040-507: The street as usual, updating him on their periodic visits to speak at the prison. Country was a Barksdale soldier who returned to work for the organization as soon as he was released from prison, despite being on parole. He is first seen trailing Bodie and Shamrock to Philadelphia, to make sure they follow Stringer Bell 's orders. He also works with Shamrock to set up crooked prison guard Dwight Tilghman so that Avon Barksdale could inform on Tilghman to reduce his prison sentence. During
17182-529: The theme as an opportunity to explore how individuals end up like the show's criminal characters and to dramatize the notion that hard work is not always justly rewarded. Simon has identified the organizations featured in the show—the Baltimore Police Department, City Hall, the Baltimore public school system , the Barksdale drug trafficking operation , The Baltimore Sun , and the stevedores ' union—as comparable institutions. All are dysfunctional in some way, and
17324-406: The theme of the fourth season. Rather than focusing solely on the school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside of their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for. Burns and Simon see
17466-403: The time spent repeatedly visiting dozens of stores while she accompanied him on these outings. She puts Bernard in touch with an undercover Lester Freamon , who provides them with illegally re-charged phones at a lower price (and fake receipts), in actuality phones with pre-installed wiretaps. Information collected from these phones eventually brings down the Barksdale drug operations, including
17608-521: The title sequence. At the end of the sequence, a quotation ( epigraph ) is shown on-screen that is spoken by a character during the episode. The three exceptions were the first season finale which uses the phrase "All in the game", attributed to "Traditional West Baltimore", a phrase used frequently throughout all five seasons including that episode; the fourth season finale which uses the words "If animal trapped call 410-844-6286" written on boarded up vacant homes attributed to "Baltimore, traditional" and
17750-450: The toll drugs and violence are taking on the black community. Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks , with the exceptions of two flashbacks – one at the end of the pilot episode that replays a moment from earlier in the same episode and one at the end of the fourth season finale that shows a short clip of a character tutoring his younger brother earlier in
17892-614: The trial, most notably Avon's second-in-command, Stringer Bell . He also tells Phelan that no one is investigating Barksdale's criminal activity, which includes a significant portion of the city's drug trade and several unsolved homicides. Pager A pager , also known as a beeper or bleeper , is a wireless telecommunications device that receives and displays alphanumeric or voice messages. One-way pagers can only receive messages, while response pagers and two-way pagers can also acknowledge, reply to, and originate messages using an internal transmitter. Pagers operate as part of
18034-403: The viewer. Rounding out the temporary unit were detectives Lester Freamon ( Clarke Peters ) and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski ( Jim True-Frost ). Freamon, seen as a quiet "house cat", soon proved to be one of the unit's most methodical and experienced investigators, with a knack for noticing important details and a deep knowledge of public records and paper trails. Prez faced sanction early on and
18176-447: The wiretaps provide the police with access to a secret world, just as the show does for the viewer. Simon has discussed the use of camera shots of surveillance equipment, or shots that appear to be taken from the equipment itself, to emphasize the volume of surveillance in modern life and the characters' need to sift through this information. The Wire employs a broad ensemble cast, supplemented by many recurring guest stars who populate
18318-417: Was a Barksdale organization soldier. He was first seen working with Country checking up on newly promoted crew chief Bodie Broadus as he made a trip to collect a new package of narcotics. Later, in the third season, Tank is shown to be guarding Barksdale stash houses. Tank is killed by Kimmy from Omar Little 's crew during a shootout following an abortive heist of the stash house he was guarding. Bernard
18460-409: Was a dim Barksdale organization enforcer working under Slim Charles , though more intelligent than Sapper , who he usually works with. He is first seen guarding the front door during one of Omar Little 's attempted heists. Later, Gerard, Sapper and Dennis "Cutty" Wise are charged with finding a thief in the Barksdale organization. Cutty's experience makes the task simple, and Gerard and Sapper punish
18602-427: Was a mule in the Barksdale organization given the task of buying their supply of disposable mobile phones used by the entire organization every two weeks in order to not be traced. "Shamrock" insists that Bernard buy no more than two phones at any one outlet (providing receipts to prove it) using rental cars to do so each time, per Stringer Bell 's cautious instructions. Bernard's nagging girlfriend "Squeak" , tires of
18744-569: Was an intelligent but naive youth trapped in the drug trade, and Poot a randy young man happy to follow rather than lead. Omar Little ( Michael K. Williams ), a renowned Baltimore stick-up man robbing drug dealers for a living, was a frequent thorn in the side of the Barksdale clan. The second season introduced a new group of characters working in the Port of Baltimore area, including Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos ( Paul Ben-Victor ), Beadie Russell ( Amy Ryan ), and Frank Sobotka ( Chris Bauer ). Vondas
18886-487: Was brought into the full-time production staff to replace Pelecanos who scaled back his involvement to concentrate on his next book and worked on the fourth season solely as a writer. Primetime Emmy Award winner, Homicide and The Corner , writer and college friend of Simon, David Mills also joined the writing staff in the fourth season. Directors include Homicide alumnus Clark Johnson , who directed several acclaimed episodes of The Shield , and Tim Van Patten ,
19028-525: Was forced into office duty, but this setback quickly became a boon as he demonstrated natural skill at deciphering the communication codes used by the Barksdale organization. These investigators were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned with politics and their own careers than the case, Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell ( Frankie Faison ) and Major William Rawls ( John Doman ). Assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman ( Deirdre Lovejoy ) acted as
19170-450: Was here, behind a locked and heavily guarded door, that the drug money was counted and secured before being sent on to its ultimate destination. Avon usually conducted his business in this office, rarely venturing onto the street. The club's legal owner, Orlando Blocker , was kept away from the drugs in order to maintain the front's appearance of legitimacy for the city. The organization laundered its profits through various fronts, including
19312-402: Was in development at the time. Shamrock was Stringer Bell 's main assistant while Avon Barksdale was in prison. Stringer sounds out his loyalty by having him followed on a trip to Philadelphia to collect a package of drugs, along with Bodie Broadus . The package was not delivered correctly, but Shamrock and Bodie keep to Stringer's orders and meticulously document their progress, and Stringer
19454-461: Was launched by the actions of Detective Jimmy McNulty ( Dominic West ), whose insubordinate tendencies and personal problems played counterpoint to his ability as a criminal investigator. The detail was led by Lieutenant Cedric Daniels ( Lance Reddick ) who faced challenges balancing his career aspirations with his desire to produce a good case. Kima Greggs ( Sonja Sohn ) was a capable lead detective who faced jealousy from colleagues and worry about
19596-481: Was patented in 1949 by Alfred J. Gross . Intended for the use of physicians, there was initial resistance to the idea of being permanently on-call, according to Gross. One of the first practical paging services was launched in 1950 for physicians in the New York City area. Physicians paid US$ 12 per month and carried a 200-gram (7 oz) pager that would receive phone messages within 40 kilometres (25 mi) of
19738-474: Was separated from the rest of the organization and held in a house in Pimlico where it could be cut and divided into smaller "stashes" for distribution among the Barksdale territory. Once inside the towers, these smaller packages were moved from room to room on a regular basis, to avoid the scrutiny of police and stick-up men. Avon's main office was one of his front organizations , a strip club named Orlando's. It
19880-428: Was surprised by her presence. Stringer Bell decides that with the police cracking down on them because an officer has been shot, they would be better off without the unreliable Little Man, and Wee-Bey kills him. The murder occurs offscreen, but Wee-Bey later tells the police where to find Little Man's body as part of his confession. Perry was a soldier in the Barksdale organization, usually seen acting as security at
20022-483: Was the underboss of a global smuggling operation, Russell an inexperienced port authority officer and single mother thrown in at the deep end of a multiple homicide investigation, and Frank Sobotka a union leader who turned to crime to raise funds to save his union. Also joining the show in season 2 were Nick Sobotka ( Pablo Schreiber ), Frank's nephew; Ziggy Sobotka ( James Ransone ), Frank's troubled son; and " The Greek " ( Bill Raymond ), Vondas' mysterious boss. As
20164-580: Was useful for times when the pager was off or out of the coverage area, as it would know what pages were sent to the subscriber even if the subscriber never actually received the page. Other radio bands used for pagers include the 400 MHz band, the VHF band and the FM commercial broadcast band (88–108&MHz). Other paging protocols used in the VHF, 400 MHz UHF and 900 MHz bands include POCSAG and ERMES. In Canada and
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