so the mcnulty storyline is playing out as would be expected once the writers actually pulled this stunt.... only surprise was Lester joining in. the political Clay Davis and Carcetti (maybe even extending to Daniels) stuff is pretty much plying the same storylines we've seen before. Where the last two episodes have grabbed my attention even moreso than normal are on the street parts. First it was great seeing Micheal, Dukie and Bugs? go to 6 Flags - I'd say 70% chance Micheal is being lined up to shoot Omar, but they're still 14 y/o kids. Plus obviously the ending of E4. I knew Marlo was a usurping motherfucker, but I figured they'd draw it out and have that power struggle last most of S5. (PS - was that guy Chris/Snoop gave up to Cheese someone who was previously involved or just some random banger? I couldn't place him, but if he was worth Cheese giving up Joe he must have been something.) I'm also surprised whats-his-name (bald white guy/Dom from Entourage) didn't mention Marlo's visit to Levy when he was talking with Carver. Not that I think he's smart enough to use it to his advantage, but I think he's dumb enough he wouldn't realize the value of that info and drop it conversationally like 'guess who i saw today'.

Oh well, if I were to guess, the rest of the season is going to feature too much of the fake serial killer plotline with both McNutty trying to sell it and the Sun covering it, and not enough of the interactions between the drug dealers. Prop Joe's relationship with Marlo and his getting clapped had been building up steadily over several seasons, but now the other guys in the Co-op are going to have to react to Marlo's power-play, and there has been no background there. Plus now that Daniels is (almost) commisioner, I think they'll show him being beaten down to where he act's the same as Burrell/Rawls. That whole Dickensian tragedy, the hopes and dreams you place in one individual will be overrun by the system theme they love. And that won't be fun.

The one wild card I have absolutely no idea where he could possibly go now is Slim Charles. He don't like Marlo, but he's not gonna work with Omar. He might respect Omar and realize what Marlo is, but he's not the type to go off on a vendetta mission against the guy who killled his boss.

I was having trouble trying to place that guy too. I think it may have been the older skinny guy from the co-op that he was yelling at earlier in the episode. Seemed pretty pissed when he got up from that meeting. Hard to tell with him wearing sunglasses in that first scene and then the duct tape in the next.

RIP Omar. Fuck you Kenard.

Unbelievable. Compared to my expectations, S5 is terribly straightforward and way too white hat/black hat regarding Simon's personal vendetta against the Sun, but that one scene alone is enough to keep anyone from saying it's predictable. Me and my friends have been convinced Omar would die by the end, but like that with no buildup whatsoever by Kenard? Wow, I guarantee no one anywhere predicted that.

Detox/anyone else who's watched that ep, who was that morgue guy at the end switching tags?

Nice to see the shout-out to DeAngelo/Bode's Lt.

If you consider next week previews to be spoliers, read no further, but that Michael scene is just set up perfectly. He's going to be the King at the end.

I guess that "That's Omar?" from last night was more than enough setup.

Don't know exactly where it should rank, but probably among the Top 3 episodes of all time. Wow. Despite the lack of subtlety, I loved the FBI profile matching McNulty, and his quick, casual smiles as he heard it. Thought Sydnor picking up on the code was nice too -- I remember noticing in past episodes that the clock seemed to keep pointing at 35 (didn't notice that it was 34 in some of them).

Despite the lack of subtlety, I loved the FBI profile matching McNulty, and his quick, casual smiles as he heard it.

I LOVE the face/noise Clay makes in epsiode 58 after Carcetti tells him how scared he is at the though of Davis having two votes on the liquor board.

This season I started reading Alan Sepinwall's blog where he's been breaking down the episodes, and also posted "on demand" threads where people could comment on the latest episode. In this episode's thread someone posted a screenshot from Season 3 of a bunch of little hoppers who were imitating/emulating Omar after his big shootout with the Barksdale crew. The one who grabbed the "gun" (tree branch) and yelled "My turn to be Omar!"? Kenard. Well played David Simon.

Watching a 2nd time, the morgue guy was just switching the right tag onto Omar's bag. I thought he was taking it off for some reason.

Any thoughts on what Freamon wants from Clay Davis? Help when the homeless things breaks? An attempted bribe Lester can get him on?

Some interesting stuff came up as a result of that tag in those threads I brought up before. For one, that tag said his DOB was in 1960. Could Omar really be 47? No chance. Alma and Gus discussed his death (which didn't make the paper) and they said he was 34 (which would correspond to being "29, thereabout" in his testimony against Bird in S1). But we also know that Bunk was a few years ahead of him in high school. Could Bunk be under 40 (given the possibility Omar stayed behind in school a couple times)? Also doubtful. Either way, at a minimum something was messed up, which is unusual in Wire World.

As for Freamon/Clay...I have no clue, although either of those are possibilities. But I can't fuckin wait to find out.

someone in that thread was talking about the coroner messing up and putting the wrong names on the two tags with the correct information - so the other body could have been 47/48. from that line of thinking the guy who switched them back did so because he saw omar's said he was white and the other guy's said he was black.

damn, that whole bit with mike, bug and dookie was sad. I almost teared up there. I was glad he got the jump on that bitch Snoop, even if they gave her way too better of a death than she deserved. Another priceless scene with Clay Davis as well. And Bubbles. Man, that Templeton is a real Fuck Stick. I can't wait for the finale.