Is Herc going to fuck this thing up, all over again?

Seems like it. All the evidence points to a CI providing the info, which allows them to legitimately get that Title 3-whatever to check out the phones, which proves the conspiracy. Levy now has it in his head that there's a wire, while Marlo is telling him that no one outside of those locked up knows about the code, so there can be no snitch. God damn it Herc, the bridge crumbles.

I'm really pissed that Kima ratted out McNulty. Someone mentioned it in Sepinwall's blog, so I'm not taking credit for it, but she tried to draw the parallel between what she wanted to do and what Carver did with Colichio. The situations were completely different though. Colichio was a complete fuck-up who got a rise out of his power, and never seemed to care about being a good cop or the greater good. He just wanted to beat up on the hoppers.

Yeah, McNulty fucked all this up, and you can question whether the ends justify the means, but bottom line, multiple bad guys were going to be locked up and because of her, they'll probably end up walking. And one of those guys who will walk was busted through Bunk's honest police work. I'm holding out hope that someone the inevitable crash can be avoided, maybe because everyone has so much at stake in this.

Bubbs...that was rough to watch. Good for him though. I don't know if it wasn't played up as much in prior episodes or if I just didn't notice it...but I thought this episode showed how physically clean he looked. Clean-shaven, hair not all frayed out, and his face has cleared up substantially.

The worst part about the whole fake serial killer thing...all this is what led to Marlo and co. speculating on who has ratted them out, which led them to Michael, which led them to trying to kill him, which led Mike to get Bug to a safer place, ending their relationship, and which also led Dukie right back to the street and his inevitable future as Bubbs.

It was fitting. I knew it wouldn't pack the punch the penultimate episode did, and I think that's been the trend really throughout the series.

I thought the final montage pretty clearly drove home the point that the characters we've been dealing with aren't overly unique, the wheel will keep turning, with different faces in the same roles. There was a lot of mirroring of things that have happened throughout the show included.

It looks like Freamon got off pretty damn lightly, if he got to retire with any sort of pension. In the end there is just no way it was worth it for McNulty. Marlo walks, Chris Partlow was going down anyway, Snoop was killed before trial. He's a fairly big loser in this whole thing.

I'm still unclear about Herc's motivations. Was he so slick that he gave the cops the number and then used his "investigator" skills to tip Levy to the wiretap? Or is he just so oblivious to his actions that he profited from it purely through dumb luck. I'm leaning towards the latter, unfortunately.

Pretty bleak, but inevitable outcome for Dukie. It's a shame he even had to betray Prez, but it fits.

And this is something I've seen in a lot of comments... people saying Simon has an axe to grind with the Sun. I think if you think that angle is just about the Sun, you're missing the big picture.

I felt a little emotional in the scene where Kima told Lestor and Jimmy she told Daniels. They were two pretty big mentors in her career really (for good and bad), but she was right... they simply went too far and it was not worth it.

I'm really going to miss this show.

Bought the box set when it was on sale on amazon a bit back (90 bucks), and have been watching it with my girlfriend. First time through for her, probably viewing 3 at least for me. Maybe 4... i cant recall exactly.

It's always great to have the show totally redefine someones expectations for what TV can be. Not only in quality, but in having characters shot and killed instantly without some huge buildup or guns-blazing shootout. You realize quite quickly this show has serious stakes, and characters you take for granted could actually die when in dangerous situations. I still get worked up up when Wallace is taken out in season 1. When you know whats going to happen before he does, it's hard not to feel a real sense of panic watching it unfold.


Just hit season 5, and I think i'm now firmly of the opinion that season 4 is the absolute height of the show. It's a brilliant season for start to finish, and it's that much more impressive in the wake of them closing out the Barksdale/Bell storyline at the end of season 3. They introduce a wave of new characters and hit the ground running at the same time.

Rosebud is the name of his childhood sled