-30- (The Wire)

"-30-" is the series finale of the American television drama series The Wire . It is the tenth episode of the fifth season, and the 60th episode overall. Written by series creator/executive producer David Simon (teleplay/story) and co-executive producer Ed Burns (story), and directed by Clark Johnson (who also directed the pilot episode and stars on the show ^[1] ), the episode originally aired on HBO on March 9, 2008. ^[2] This episode is the longest-running episode of the series, with a runtime of 93 minutes. The episode's writers were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series. ^[3]

Contents

• Plot
• Production
• Title reference
• Epigraph
• Music
• Credits
• Reception
• References
• External links

Plot

Tommy Carcetti and his staff learn that the "serial killer" was a hoax. McNulty and Freamon, unaware that their scheme has been exposed, discover that Gary DiPasquale has leaked courthouse documents to Levy. When Freamon gives Pearlman the identity of the mole, she reveals her knowledge of the detectives' duplicity.

Templeton calls 911, and claims there was an attempted kidnapping of an inebriated homeless man which he witnessed. When the police arrive, the man is too drunk to confirm or deny the claims, though an undercover officer at the scene confirms that Templeton made up the story. Marlo and his crew learn of Snoop's death and agree that Michael must be eliminated. Cheese posts bail and Marlo instructs him to hunt down Michael. Freamon informs McNulty that Daniels and Pearlman know about the hoax and the illegal wiretap.

Levy goes through the Stanfield arrest warrants and realizes that the police used an illegal wiretap to decipher the code beforehand. McNulty, Bunk, and Greggs arrive at the scene of another homeless murder, and are distraught that McNulty's fictitious serial killer has inspired a copycat.

Pearlman and Bond are told by Steintorf to quietly settle the Stanfield case out of court to keep the illegal wiretaps from being brought to light. Pearlman meets with Levy and uses a taped conversation given to her by Freamon to force him to settle. McNulty is confronted by Daniels and Rawls, who order him to quickly catch the copycat so that the press will assume he's the original killer.

McNulty identifies a mentally ill homeless man as the killer and the Baltimore Police Department charge him with two of the six "murders". Carcetti holds a press conference taking credit for both the "serial killer's" capture and the Stanfield arrests, then promotes Daniels to Police Commissioner. However, after Steintorf once again requests that Daniels "juke the stats" to boost Carcetti's position on crime reduction, he refuses, and is forced to resign after Campbell threatens to expose his past wrongdoings. Sydnor vents his frustration to Judge Phelan in a scene mirroring McNulty and Phelan's interaction in the first episode. Cheese is killed by Slim Charles for his role in Proposition Joe's murder. Michael becomes a stickup man and robs Vinson in his rim shop, where Michael shoots Vinson in the knee with a shotgun to force him into surrendering his drug money, in a manner similar to Omar. Marlo attends a high society party with Levy but leaves in frustration after Levy attempts to introduce him to developers. Out on the street he angers two corner boys to bait them into attacking him. After disarming one of them when he pulls a gun on him the dealers flee and he stands on the corner reflecting and breathing heavily.

McNulty locates Larry and drives him back to Baltimore, stopping to look over the city on the way. In a closing montage: Freamon is making his miniature furniture at home; Herc is socializing at a bar with Baltimore PD members; Templeton wins a Pulitzer Prize; Slim Charles and Fat Face Rick meet with Spiros while the Greek listens in; Carcetti is elected governor while Campbell becomes mayor; Gus looks on as others happily work in the newsroom; Valchek replaces Daniels as Commissioner; Dukie uses the money he borrowed from Prez to feed his new drug addiction; Pearlman, now a judge, recuses herself from a case Daniels is arguing as a defense attorney; Chris Partlow talks to Wee-Bey in the prison yard; Carcetti makes Rawls superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Bubbles eats a meal with his sister in her kitchen; Kenard is arrested.

The montage ends with rapid cuts of various scenes from the show and people of Baltimore. McNulty gets back in his car and says to his passenger: "Let's go home". They drive off while the shot remains on Interstate-95 overlooking Baltimore.

Production

Reception

Writers Ed Burns and David Simon were nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award in the category Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series for their work on the finale. ^[3]

New York Times television critic Alessandra Stanley said the show "went out the way it came in" but that was to be expected. "The best and most dyspeptic police drama on television would never conclude with a triumph of good over evil," she wrote after the show's final broadcast. ^[5]

The Baltimore Sun was less than thrilled with the finale. Critic David Zurawik wrote that the finale was just another example of how the final season of the show "lost its heart and its way." Zurawik praised the first four seasons but blasted the finale. "Simon so forces events in the improbable newspaper story line of an invented serial killer that he does serious damage to the credibility of the police drama," he wrote. ^[6]

Writing in a retrospective for Collider, Jeremy Urquhart praised the finale. "The final sequence of The Wire's final episode finishes things on a particularly notable high, and is likely striking enough to make even the season's detractors feel moved." ^[7]

Related Research Articles

The Wire is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by American author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, and ended on March 9, 2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons. The idea for 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.

James McNulty is a fictional character and the protagonist of the HBO drama The Wire, played by Dominic West.

Lester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit. He is a wise, methodical detective whose intelligence and experience are often central to investigations throughout the series, particularly with respect to uncovering networks of money laundering and corruption. He sometimes serves as an avuncular figure to several of the characters.

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Law enforcement is an integral part of the HBO drama series The Wire. The show has numerous characters in this field and their roles range from those enforcing the law at street level up to those setting laws citywide. The Baltimore City Police Department has been explored in detail from street level characters to the upper echelons of command. The show has also examined those setting laws in city politics and touched upon the FBI, the correctional system and the family of police officers.

Rhonda Pearlman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Deirdre Lovejoy. Pearlman has been the legal system liaison for all of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' investigations on the show. Later in the series, she begins a relationship with Cedric Daniels.

"Not for Attribution" is the third episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by Chris Collins from a story by David Simon & Chris Collins and was directed by Joy Kecken and Scott Kecken. It aired on January 20, 2008.

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"The Dickensian Aspect" is the sixth episode of the fifth season of the HBO series The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns and was directed by Seith Mann. It aired on February 10, 2008.

"Took" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by Richard Price from a story by David Simon & Richard Price and was directed by cast member Dominic West. It aired on February 17, 2008.

"Clarifications" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by Dennis Lehane from a story by David Simon and Dennis Lehane and was directed by Anthony Hemingway. It aired on February 24, 2008.

"Late Editions" is the ninth episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series The Wire, the penultimate episode of the series. The episode was written by George Pelecanos from a story by David Simon and George Pelecanos and was directed by Joe Chappelle. It aired on March 2, 2008.

References

External links

• "-30-" Archived August 25, 2011, at the Wayback Machine at HBO.com
• "-30-" at IMDb