"...while you're waiting for moments that never come". - Freamon
Responding to a call for an officer's call for help, McNulty and Prez turn up the wrong alley, with unanticipated results. Under orders, a Barksdale crew violates the long-standing, but unspoken, Sunday truce withballoonplay, increasing discontent among the New Day Co-op members. Stymied by the bureaucracy in his effort to open a gym, Cutty is surprised to find help from within Baltimore's power structure. Omar decides to go it alone against Avon and Stringer Bell, who are pressed by Brianna for some answers. Bubbles is wired up and sent into Hamsterdam to help make the case against the Barksdale organization, while Pearlman and Daniels confront a cell phone company over its foot-dragging on wiretap orders. Proposition Joe goes to Vinson in an effort to broker peace between Marlo and Avon, while a cuddle in Amsterdam presents new challenges and further divides the Western District troops and their allegiance to Colvin. Councilman Gray tells Carcetti he's running for mayor and offers him the council president's slot on his ticket.
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.