"Don't worry, kid. You're still on the clock". - Horseface
Russell goes back in the bag for a day to con Sobotka's crew into thinking that the heat is off; Nick and Frog work out a deal that hinges on an upfront and making good on the money Frog owes Ziggy; as Stringer makes the back end payment to his out-source, it appears that this arrangement may have been all on Stringer; Avon and Brianna are inconsolable, but Donette seems to be taking things in stride; the latest in surveillance technology is no match for the modern urban crime environment and the idiocy of Herc and Carver; Landsman and Rawls are unsuccessful in getting Daniels to take the cuddles, but Lester finally makes the persuasive argument; after getting a horrifying glimpse of the future during a presentation about robotically-run docks, Sobotka gives DiBiago grease to get some speed under the wheels of union-friendly legislation; depressed that Nick has taken away the package business and made it a success, Ziggy is further demoralized when he becomes the butt of Maui's practical joke; the cloned computer hands the detail the information they need to stake out and follow a stolen can, and thereby connect Sobotka's crew to Proposition Joe; Greggs and Prez continue to follow the pross connection; Daniels tries unsuccessfully to convince Marla that the detail is good for his career; Sobotka asks Nat for another year as union president, as Nat wonders about the source of the contributions Sobotka makes on behalf on the union; Herc and Carver get Nick on surveillance and discuss the merits of creating a phony C.I. to recoup their losses on the bug; taking a break from consoling the bereaved, Stringer discusses a business deal with Proposition Joe, but Avon turns the arrangement down flat; Elena continues to rebuff McNulty's charms.
In chronicling a multi-generational family business dealing illegal drugs and the efforts of the Baltimore police to curb their trade, this series draws parallels between these organizations and the men and women on either side of the battle.
The words of Gary W. Potter, Professor of Criminal Justice and Police Studies at Eastern Kentucky University, in writing about the savings and loan scandals of the 1980s, can also be used to illuminate some of the central premises of the show.