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Backwash (The Wire episode)
Encyclopedia
"Backwash" is the seventh episode of the second season of the HBO original series, The Wire
. The episode was written by Rafael Alvarez
from a story by David Simon
& Rafael Alvarez and was directed by Thomas J. Wright
. It originally aired on July 13, 2003.
".
One of several definitions for "backwash" is "a condition, usually undesirable, that continues long after the event which caused it".
, the owner of the former Baltimore Colts, who, in 1984, took the team to Indianapolis.
, Frankie Faison
and Andre Royo
do not appear in this episode. Also, as of this episode, Larry Gilliard, Jr. is no longer credited.
Keith Flippen's name is mis-spelled in the credits as Keith Flippan.
Singer at Funeral: Sings "Jesus on the Mainline"
and Beadie Russell
meet with Sergeant Jay Landsman
to discuss using a computer to monitor dock traffic. He is initially outraged but is more accepting when he learns that Lieutenant Cedric Daniels
has granted them space in his detail's off site location. Before storming out he speculates that Daniels might take the 14 unsolved murder cases, which would relieve the division of the uncleared murders.
Colonel William Rawls
later calls a meeting with Daniels to try to persuade him to take the Jane Doe homicides. Daniels stands firm. Later, in a tense discussion with his wife, Daniels defends his decision to stay with the police department and tells her he is "playing their game" from now on. She seems unimpressed.
Kima Greggs
and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski follow up on the information they got from Shardene Innes' friend and find a strip club employing Eastern European dancers. Greggs and Prez watch as the girls leave the club and file into a van. They then trail the van to its destination - an apartment building where all the girls are being kept on the sixth floor.
Thomas "Herc" Hauk and Ellis Carver
purchase a remote audio surveillance bug to get information "above street level" on the drug trade. Carver is dubious of the cost ($1,250 with a policeman's discount), but Herc persuades the shopkeeper to let them have it for a trial period of 48 hours in exchange for the store keeping Carver's credit card (Herc's card is "maxed out"), hoping to return it as soon as they have a meet on record. They place the bug in a tennis ball, without the necessary paperwork, and have some success monitoring Frog. However, when Nick Sobotka
arrives, Frog distractedly picks up the ball from the gutter and bounces it repeatedly on the sidewalk, eventually tossing it into the busy street. Panicked that his credit card is on the line, Carver tries chasing the ball in the heavy traffic, only to watch helplessly as it is thoroughly demolished by a Mack truck. Later on, Herc and Carver plan to fraudently claim to work with a CI to recoup the cost of the surveillance bug. Herc insists that Carver register the CI because Carver has the 'trustworthy look.'
Lester Freamon
and Beadie continue to study the drug traffic through the docks by using their cloned computer. Freamon watches clean checkers at work just to familiarize himself with how things work. When they pick up Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa working a ship they call in Kima and Prez for help with surveillance. Soon enough, Russell sees him "lose" a container, and they follow it back to Double G's warehouse and see Sergei "Serge" Molatov meeting with Proposition Joe
. Greggs photographs the encounter.
Bunk, Freamon and Russell decide they must persuade Daniels to take on the murders because he will permit the kind of investigation they feel that they need to run. Freamon makes an impassioned plea to Daniels, successfully convincing him that it's imperative the detail takes on the 14 murders he has been resisting all along. As a result, Daniels later visits Rawls' office to inform him that he's willing to take on the case, as long as he gets Rawls' full support on any request for support. Rawls gleefully agrees to the bargain.
Daniels is far less successful, however, at selling the idea to his wife; when Daniels tells her he loves his job, she replies, "The job doesn't love you." She reminds him that she fell in love with him for his ambition, and he's lost his way. She exits the room in disappointment and anger.
's dealer contact Frog. He is unknowingly picked up by the surveillance of Carver and Herc.
Later, Nick brings a thick roll of bills to Ziggy at Delores' bar—compensation for his destroyed car. When Ziggy fails to show appreciation for the unexpected windfall, Nick pushes him. Ziggy shows him a letter from a law firm claiming he has fathered a child with a notoriously promiscuous local woman. Nick realizes that the letter should have been hand delivered by personal service, rather than mailed; he spontaneously calls the law firm's number and immediately, a cellphone across the room rings—it's Maui's cell phone. Half-amused, Nick tells Ziggy he has been the victim of a prank. Later, Maui continues to taunt Ziggy with a song ("Love Child
" by The Supremes
) from the jukebox and the other stevedores try to convince Ziggy he could take the much bigger Maui in a fight.
Frank Sobotka
attends a seminar on robotic dock technology and is appalled when he realizes the automated systems threaten to make stevedores obsolete. He meets with Nat Coxson back at the union offices and appeals to him to let him extend his term as union treasurer for another year, deferring an agreement to alternate between white and black leaders annually.
Frank meets with his lobbyist, Bruce DiBiago, and expressed his frustration with the lack of progress with the politicians, all but accusing DiBiago of playing him and the union. Frank rants about his family's history and its lack of a financially secure future before delivering a box of cash and insisting that Bruce work the politicians harder to get the canal dredged.
A dock worker called New Charles suffers a severe leg injury while moving freight when his leg is trapped under heavy cargo and severely damaged. The stevedores rush to his aid and he is taken to hospital, but he ends up losing the limb. Frank and Nat visit his family and Frank delivers a thick envelope stuffed with cash, saying it's from the union. After Nat reminisces about how New Charles got his name (he arrived on the day "Old" Charles died), Nat pointedly asks Frank where the money comes from. Refusing to answer, Frank simply walks away.
buys a floral arrangement for D'Angelo Barksdale
's funeral and orders it to look like the high rise tower that D'Angelo controlled before his demotion in the season 1 premiere. Stringer Bell
visits Brianna Barksdale's house for D'Angelo's wake and finds her inconsolable. Donette seems more pragmatic about the death. In the prison Avon Barksdale
and Wee-Bey Brice
discuss D'Angelo's ‘suicide’. Unaware that Stringer Bell had engineered the murder (while having the assassin make it look like suicide), Avon is despondent over his nephew's death. Still, Avon musters enough anger at the selfishness of the act to dismiss D'Angelo as weak.
The funeral is well-attended and Bodie's over-the-top floral arrangement garners compliments. After the ceremony, Proposition Joe approaches Stringer Bell to discuss sharing his supply for a share in the Barksdale organization's profits—noting that the word on the street is that the deteriorating quality of the Atlanta product is nearly unacceptable to the junkies. Stringer pragmatically agrees to present the idea to Avon during his next visit to the prison. When he does so, however, Avon angrily dismisses it out of hand.
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
. The episode was written by Rafael Alvarez
Rafael Alvarez
Rafael Alvarez is an American journalist, author and television producer and writer. Alvarez worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun prior to starting a career in television. He has worked as a writer and story editor on the Home Box Office drama series The Wire and a writer and producer on the...
from a story by David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
& Rafael Alvarez and was directed by Thomas J. Wright
Thomas J. Wright
Thomas J. Wright is an American television director. Wright has directed episodes of Smallville, One Tree Hill, Firefly, and many other programs. He also worked extensively on Chris Carter's Millennium, directing 26 of the show's 67 episodes...
. It originally aired on July 13, 2003.
Title reference
The title is a literary reference to the concept that D'Angelo discusses in the prison book club in "All PrologueAll Prologue (The Wire episode)
"All Prologue" is the sixth episode of the second season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Steve Shill...
".
One of several definitions for "backwash" is "a condition, usually undesirable, that continues long after the event which caused it".
Epigraph
Horseface makes this statement to the recently severely injured New Charles while the stevedores wait for the ambulance.Non-fiction elements
The face on the dartboard in Frank's office is that of Robert IrsayRobert Irsay
Robert Irsay , was an American professional football team owner. He owned the National Football League's Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts franchise and, briefly, the former Los Angeles Rams.-Biography:...
, the owner of the former Baltimore Colts, who, in 1984, took the team to Indianapolis.
Credits
Although credited, Paul Ben-VictorPaul Ben-Victor
Paul Ben-Victor is an American actor.Ben-Victor was born Paul Friedman, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Leah Kornfeld, a playwright, and Victor Friedman. Ben-Victor debuted on the small screen in 1987 in the made-for-TV movie Blood Vows: The Story of a Mafia Wife and on an episode of Cagney &...
, Frankie Faison
Frankie Faison
Frankie Russel Faison , often credited as Frankie R. Faison, is an American actor.-Personal life:Faison was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Carmena and Edgar Faison. He studied drama at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, where he joined Theta Chi Fraternity...
and Andre Royo
Andre Royo
Andre Royo is an American actor. He is best known for his role as "Bubbles" in The Wire , and has had guest starring appearances in Fringe, Party Down, and How To Make It In America.-Career:...
do not appear in this episode. Also, as of this episode, Larry Gilliard, Jr. is no longer credited.
Guest stars
- Seth GilliamSeth GilliamSeth Gilliam is an American actor. He is known for his HBO television roles, first as corrections officer-turned-prisoner Clayton Hughes on Oz, and later as Baltimore police detective promoted to sergeant Ellis Carver on The Wire. On both of these series, he co-starred with Lance Reddick and J.D....
as Detective Ellis CarverEllis CarverEllis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit... - Domenick LombardozziDomenick LombardozziDomenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi is an American actor best known for his role as Thomas "Herc" Hauk on The Wire. Lombardozzi was inspired to act by the film State of Grace.-Filmography:...
as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk - Jim True-FrostJim True-FrostJim True-Frost, born Jim True, is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program The Wire.-Biography:...
as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski - James RansoneJames RansoneJames Ransone is an American actor and former musician from Baltimore, Maryland. He is best known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of HBO's The Wire, and Corporal Josh Ray Person in the Iraq War-based mini-series Generation Kill...
as Ziggy SobotkaZiggy SobotkaChester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's often reckless and juvenile behavior gained him little respect among other members of the union and... - Pablo SchreiberPablo SchreiberPablo Tell Schreiber is an American actor known for his dramatic stage work and for his portrayal of the Polish-American character Nick Sobotka on HBO's Baltimore drug-related crime drama The Wire. He was nominated for a Tony Award for his performance in Awake and Sing! on Broadway...
as Nick SobotkaNick SobotkaNickolas Andrew "Nick" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Pablo Schreiber. the character of Nick is cousin to, Ziggy Sobotka, the wayward and rebellious son to his uncle Frank Sobotka... - Callie ThorneCallie ThorneCalliope "Callie" Thorne is an American actress known for her current role as Dr. Dani Santino on the USA Network series Necessary Roughness...
as Elena McNulty - J.D. Williams as Preston "Boadie" BroadusBodie BroadusPreston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
- Hassan JohnsonHassan JohnsonHassan 'Iniko' Johnson is an American actor/producer from Staten Island, NY, born November 19, 1976. His most noted performance was appearing on the HBO program The Wire as Roland Wee-Bey Brice. His first acting role was in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He also had a significant role in the...
as Roland "Wee-Bey" BriceWee-Bey BriceRoland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides.... - Kristin ProctorKristin ProctorKristin Proctor is a Norwegian-American actress. She is the daughter of actor Phil Proctor and Television producer Barbro Semmingsen....
as Aimee - Michael HyattMichael HyattMichael Hyatt is a British-born film and television actress. Before Hyatt's work in film and television, she enjoyed memorable performances on stages throughout the country, particularly in Ragtime on Broadway.-Early life:...
as Brianna Barksdale - Robert F. ChewRobert F. ChewRobert F. Chew is an American actor from Baltimore, Maryland. He starred in the HBO television drama series The Wire as manipulative drug kingpin Proposition Joe on all five seasons of the show...
as Proposition JoeProposition JoeJoseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug kingpin who preferred a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible... - Maria Broom as Marla Daniels
- Lance Irwin as Maui
- Delaney WilliamsDelaney WilliamsDelaney Williams is an American actor from Washington, D.C. He appears on the HBO drama The Wire as a recurring guest star playing homicide sergeant Jay Landsman. He also had a small role on HBO's mini-series The Corner which brought him to the attention of the producers, who worked on The prior to...
as Sergeant Jay LandsmanJay Landsman (The Wire)Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work... - Shamyl Brown as Donette
- Keith Flippen as Bruce DiBiago
- Gary "D.Reign" as Frog
- Tray ChaneyTray ChaneyTray Chaney is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as Poot Carr.Chaney began his entertainment career as a dancer at the age of four winning competitions at the Apollo Theater. He appeared in the 2003 music video "My Baby" by rap artist Bow Wow. He later appeared in The Wire...
as Malik "Poot" CarrPoot CarrMalik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him... - Luray Cooper as Nat Coxson
- Charley ScaliesCharley ScaliesCharlie Scalies is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa, one of the stevedores and union members on the second season of HBO's The Wire. He has also appeared in TV shows Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, and The Sopranos.- External links :...
as Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa - Stan Stewart as New Charles
Keith Flippen's name is mis-spelled in the credits as Keith Flippan.
Uncredited appearances
- Richard BurtonRichard Burton (Baltimore)Richard Burton is a Baltimore, Maryland, city council employee and runs the "Believe" campaign. He was a rapper before becoming involved in Martin O'Malley's first Mayoral campaign after meeting him in 1998....
as Shaun "Shamrock" McGinty - Richard Pelzman as Little Big Roy
- Kelvin Davis as La La
- Chris AshworthChris AshworthChristopher Michael Ashworth , better known as simply Chris Ashworth, is an American actor, perhaps best known for his portrayal of Sergei Malatov on The Wire...
as Sergei "Serge" Molatov - Ted Feldman as George "Double G" Glekas
- Jeffrey Pratt Gordon as Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto
- Curtis L. McClarin as florist
- Jacques Derosena as Leech
- Randall Boffman as Bill Anderson - administrator for the port of Baltimore
Singer at Funeral: Sings "Jesus on the Mainline"
Sobotka detail
Bunk MorelandBunk Moreland
William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer and nicknamed "the Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who...
and Beadie Russell
Beadie Russell
Beatrice "Beadie" Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Amy Ryan. She was featured prominently in the second season, after she discovered thirteen corpses in a container on the Baltimore docks....
meet with Sergeant Jay Landsman
Jay Landsman (The Wire)
Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work...
to discuss using a computer to monitor dock traffic. He is initially outraged but is more accepting when he learns that Lieutenant Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
has granted them space in his detail's off site location. Before storming out he speculates that Daniels might take the 14 unsolved murder cases, which would relieve the division of the uncleared murders.
Colonel William Rawls
William Rawls
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...
later calls a meeting with Daniels to try to persuade him to take the Jane Doe homicides. Daniels stands firm. Later, in a tense discussion with his wife, Daniels defends his decision to stay with the police department and tells her he is "playing their game" from now on. She seems unimpressed.
Kima Greggs
Kima Greggs
Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...
and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski follow up on the information they got from Shardene Innes' friend and find a strip club employing Eastern European dancers. Greggs and Prez watch as the girls leave the club and file into a van. They then trail the van to its destination - an apartment building where all the girls are being kept on the sixth floor.
Thomas "Herc" Hauk and Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver
Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit...
purchase a remote audio surveillance bug to get information "above street level" on the drug trade. Carver is dubious of the cost ($1,250 with a policeman's discount), but Herc persuades the shopkeeper to let them have it for a trial period of 48 hours in exchange for the store keeping Carver's credit card (Herc's card is "maxed out"), hoping to return it as soon as they have a meet on record. They place the bug in a tennis ball, without the necessary paperwork, and have some success monitoring Frog. However, when Nick Sobotka
Nick Sobotka
Nickolas Andrew "Nick" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Pablo Schreiber. the character of Nick is cousin to, Ziggy Sobotka, the wayward and rebellious son to his uncle Frank Sobotka...
arrives, Frog distractedly picks up the ball from the gutter and bounces it repeatedly on the sidewalk, eventually tossing it into the busy street. Panicked that his credit card is on the line, Carver tries chasing the ball in the heavy traffic, only to watch helplessly as it is thoroughly demolished by a Mack truck. Later on, Herc and Carver plan to fraudently claim to work with a CI to recoup the cost of the surveillance bug. Herc insists that Carver register the CI because Carver has the 'trustworthy look.'
Lester Freamon
Lester Freamon
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...
and Beadie continue to study the drug traffic through the docks by using their cloned computer. Freamon watches clean checkers at work just to familiarize himself with how things work. When they pick up Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa working a ship they call in Kima and Prez for help with surveillance. Soon enough, Russell sees him "lose" a container, and they follow it back to Double G's warehouse and see Sergei "Serge" Molatov meeting with Proposition Joe
Proposition Joe
Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug kingpin who preferred a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible...
. Greggs photographs the encounter.
Bunk, Freamon and Russell decide they must persuade Daniels to take on the murders because he will permit the kind of investigation they feel that they need to run. Freamon makes an impassioned plea to Daniels, successfully convincing him that it's imperative the detail takes on the 14 murders he has been resisting all along. As a result, Daniels later visits Rawls' office to inform him that he's willing to take on the case, as long as he gets Rawls' full support on any request for support. Rawls gleefully agrees to the bargain.
Daniels is far less successful, however, at selling the idea to his wife; when Daniels tells her he loves his job, she replies, "The job doesn't love you." She reminds him that she fell in love with him for his ambition, and he's lost his way. She exits the room in disappointment and anger.
Dock business
Nick gets further involved in illegal activity and sets himself up as a supplier to Ziggy SobotkaZiggy Sobotka
Chester Karol "Ziggy" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor James Ransone. Though his father Frank Sobotka was a well-respected stevedore union leader, Ziggy's often reckless and juvenile behavior gained him little respect among other members of the union and...
's dealer contact Frog. He is unknowingly picked up by the surveillance of Carver and Herc.
Later, Nick brings a thick roll of bills to Ziggy at Delores' bar—compensation for his destroyed car. When Ziggy fails to show appreciation for the unexpected windfall, Nick pushes him. Ziggy shows him a letter from a law firm claiming he has fathered a child with a notoriously promiscuous local woman. Nick realizes that the letter should have been hand delivered by personal service, rather than mailed; he spontaneously calls the law firm's number and immediately, a cellphone across the room rings—it's Maui's cell phone. Half-amused, Nick tells Ziggy he has been the victim of a prank. Later, Maui continues to taunt Ziggy with a song ("Love Child
Love Child (song)
"Love Child" is a 1968 song released by the Motown label for Diana Ross & the Supremes, becoming the Supremes' 11th number-one single in the United States....
" by The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
) from the jukebox and the other stevedores try to convince Ziggy he could take the much bigger Maui in a fight.
Frank Sobotka
Frank Sobotka
Francis "Frank" Sobotka is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Chris Bauer.-Biography:Frank is a respected Polish-American secretary treasurer for the International Brotherhood of Stevedores at the Baltimore docks...
attends a seminar on robotic dock technology and is appalled when he realizes the automated systems threaten to make stevedores obsolete. He meets with Nat Coxson back at the union offices and appeals to him to let him extend his term as union treasurer for another year, deferring an agreement to alternate between white and black leaders annually.
Frank meets with his lobbyist, Bruce DiBiago, and expressed his frustration with the lack of progress with the politicians, all but accusing DiBiago of playing him and the union. Frank rants about his family's history and its lack of a financially secure future before delivering a box of cash and insisting that Bruce work the politicians harder to get the canal dredged.
A dock worker called New Charles suffers a severe leg injury while moving freight when his leg is trapped under heavy cargo and severely damaged. The stevedores rush to his aid and he is taken to hospital, but he ends up losing the limb. Frank and Nat visit his family and Frank delivers a thick envelope stuffed with cash, saying it's from the union. After Nat reminisces about how New Charles got his name (he arrived on the day "Old" Charles died), Nat pointedly asks Frank where the money comes from. Refusing to answer, Frank simply walks away.
D'Angelo's funeral
Bodie BroadusBodie Broadus
Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
buys a floral arrangement for D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo "D" Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore...
's funeral and orders it to look like the high rise tower that D'Angelo controlled before his demotion in the season 1 premiere. Stringer Bell
Stringer Bell
Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment...
visits Brianna Barksdale's house for D'Angelo's wake and finds her inconsolable. Donette seems more pragmatic about the death. In the prison Avon Barksdale
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...
and Wee-Bey Brice
Wee-Bey Brice
Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides....
discuss D'Angelo's ‘suicide’. Unaware that Stringer Bell had engineered the murder (while having the assassin make it look like suicide), Avon is despondent over his nephew's death. Still, Avon musters enough anger at the selfishness of the act to dismiss D'Angelo as weak.
The funeral is well-attended and Bodie's over-the-top floral arrangement garners compliments. After the ceremony, Proposition Joe approaches Stringer Bell to discuss sharing his supply for a share in the Barksdale organization's profits—noting that the word on the street is that the deteriorating quality of the Atlanta product is nearly unacceptable to the junkies. Stringer pragmatically agrees to present the idea to Avon during his next visit to the prison. When he does so, however, Avon angrily dismisses it out of hand.