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"Why you got to go and fuck with the program?" - Fruit
Summary
Directed by: Ernest Dickerson
Story by: David Simon & George Pelecanos
Teleplay by: George Pelecanos
Cops and City Council members meet with angry residents of Baltimore's West
Side to reassure them that the police are on top of the drug war in their
neighborhoods. The cops also encourage the residents to report drug activity, but
the West Siders are having none of it. "My cousin Billy Gant cooperated," one
resident reports. "Went downtown and testified. He deader than Tupac today."
Jumping into the fray, Major Colvin takes over the podium and tells the gathering
there are no easy answers to the drug problem. "Truth is, I can't promise you it's
gonna get better," he says. "We can't lock up the thousands that are out on those
corners. There's no place to put them if we could... This here is the world
we've got, and it's time that all of us had the good sense to at least admit that
much." When asked what the answer is, Colvin responds: "I'm not sure. But
whatever it is, it can't be a lie." As Colvin leaves, the room erupts into angry
chaos.
Greggs and McNulty press Bubbles back into duty to gather street intelligence on
the Barksdale gang, which has lost its prime territory, the Towers. Bubbles
discovers that some of the city's best turf — downtown near the lunchtime crowd
looking to score — is now controlled by "a young boy name Marlo." He also offers
up the tag number of the Marlo's SUV. Looking into Marlo's background,
Greggs discovers that he was a murder suspect until a witness who'd agreed to
testify against him was found dead — two bullets in the chest and one in the
mouth — and Marlo went free.
Cutty goes to work with a crew of Hispanic laborers but soon finds that even in
doing menial yard work, he's in over his head. Confronted with a temperamental
lawn mower, Cutty is unable to get it started until the foreman teaches him how
to prime an engine. Realizing that his foreman is an ex-con himself, Cutty hears
counsel that is not heartening: "Yeah it's hot. Every day. And you gonna be
riding in the back of that hard truck, bouncin' around, every day. And your back
gonna be yellin' at you, every day... I'm just sayin': You wanna stay on the
straight, ain't gonna be no big reward to it. This is it right here."
Face to face with the hard reality of the straight life, Cutty seeks out the
Barksdale gang, contacting Slim Charles and asking for work. Cutty's reputation
has preceded him, and Slim Charles tells Cutty the first thing they need to do is
get him a gun. Cutty is amazed to find himself the new owner of a 14-round .45
automatic pistol. "Game done changed," he tells Slim Charles. "Game's the
same," Slim replies. "Just got more fierce."
Bunk — under pressure to find Dozerman's gun — rousts a group of West Side
dealers and offers them a "get-out-of-jail" card if they can lead him to it. Herc and
Carver are skeptical of his approach, but Bunk is unapologetic: "Well, shit, I gotta
do something," he says.
At the Detail Room, Freamon and McNulty clash bitterly over McNulty's
continued defiance of Daniels' authority. Freamon again points out that the Lieutenant has
directed the Detail to nail Kintel Williamson, suspected of drug dealing and
murder, but McNulty's continued pursuit of Stringer Bell rankles Freamon.
Daniels, Freamon says, has "earned some loyalty." McNulty's response: "Fuck
loyalty. And fuck you, Lester. I never thought I'd hear that chain-of-command
horseshit outta your mouth."
Colvin lunches with Johns Hopkins officials to discuss his transition out of the
police force and into a university job as No. 2 security man, for $80,000 a year.
Daniels and Pearlman learn that Avon Barksdale, having cut a prison deal, is due
for a parole hearing soon. Daniels is worried he'll be released, but Pearlman
reads a letter she's written to the parole board, pointing out that Barksdale is a
major, violent offender. "Parole Commission's not gonna walk him on his first trip
to the plate. Not after a letter like that," she reassures Daniels.
McNulty sees ex-wife Elena at his son Michael's science fair and she reminds
him that he's behind on his alimony. McNulty tells her that after the $2,000 in
child support every month he doesn't have anything left for alimony. "You signed
a separation agreement that gives me another thousand in alimony," Elena
reminds him. "I signed the fucking thing 'cause I thought we'd be together,"
McNulty responds. "You look at how much I make, and I'm not close to being
able to pay that much every month."
Colvin's cops spread the word among the street dealers that they must move to
the Free Zone in order to avoid harassment by the cops. The dealers are
incredulous — uncomprehending — at the new world order. Carver explains it
again: "This corner's indicted. We're coming back tomorrow and when we do,
everybody wears bracelets — unless you people move your shit down to Vincent
Street, down where the houses are all vacant. You do that and we don't give a
shit." "Vincent Street is like Switzerland. Or Amsterdam," explains another cop.
"The fuck is that?" asks one of the dealers. Marlo's man Fruit still doesn't get it.
"Look: We grind, and y'all try to stop it. That's how we do. Why you got to go and
fuck with the program?"
On a hunch, McNulty visits the registrar at Baltimore Community College and
learns that Stringer Bell is in fact a student there. He gets Bell's cell phone
number and wanders the halls until he sees Bell in his economics class. Waiting
outside the school, McNulty watches Bell emerge and can't resist calling his cell
to make sure he's really scored what he thinks he has. Bell answers but McNulty is silent. Later, McNulty trails Bell to a meeting with an architect, a real estate
developer and State Senator Clayton Davis. The subject is the Barksdale organization's
vast property holdings in West Baltimore. Binoculars trained, McNulty wonders if
Bell has really gone straight.
When McNulty returns to the Detail Room, gloating over having scored Bell's cell
number, Freamon is quick to take the wind out of his sails. He informs McNulty
that he already knows Bell's cell phone number. "I had Prez pull the B-and-B
property assessments and the land transfers from circuit court," Freamon says.
"Some of the paperwork asked for a contact number." A step ahead of McNulty,
Freamon knows Bell is using the line exclusively for legit business. "From the
looks of things," Freamon adds, "Stringer Bell's worse than a drug dealer." "He's
a developer," chimes in Prez.
In a bar in Little Italy, Carcetti drinks with a group of old friends, informing them of
his intention to run for Mayor of Baltimore. About that time, he sees an old friend
arrive — the beautiful Theresa D'Agostino. Carcetti bets his friends that he can
convince her to let him buy her a drink. And so he does, while he flatters her with
pleas to manage his campaign. D'Agostino is skeptical, telling Carcetti that a
white man could never get elected Mayor of Baltimore. Finally, one of Carcetti's
buddies recognizes D'Agostino and sees that they've been gamed. He tells the
others: "She's down in D.C. now with the National Party. A campaign fixer."
Frustrated over the slow progress his clean-streets program is making, Colvin
orders his troops to round up the dealers and bring them to a city high school so
the police can again pound home the message. Bodie, Poot and other Barksdale
soldiers are there, as well as Fruit, Jamal and Boo from Marlo's crew. It's a
rowdy bunch, and Colvin finds it impossible to get their attention, much less
respect, until the arrival of the Vice Principal, a tough, tiny Black woman who
knows the boys and provokes respect if not fear among them. She brings quiet to
the room for the moment, but the chaos returns the second she leaves.
Saying he's sorry, Stringer Bell shows up at Donette's house, whose calls he's
been ignoring for weeks. "Sorry don't warm my bed at night," she tells him. She
also lets him know McNulty has been poking around looking for information on
who might have killed D'Angelo. Bell reassures her that no one would kill
D'Angelo, since that would invite the wrath of D'Angelo's uncle Avon. Kissing her,
he promises that he's going to be a bigger presence in her life from now on.
McNulty and Bunk knock back a few, and later, dead drunk, McNulty shows up at
Pearlman's house, hoping for a roll in the hay. He leaves when she won't
answer the door, but is not so drunk that he doesn't recognize Daniels' car parked outside her apartment.
Across town, Cutty attends a house party with the Barksdale gang, where
drugs, music, and booze — not to mention a variety of available women — are in
plentiful supply. Bodie has two young women in particular in mind for Cutty, and,
taking it all in, Cutty realizes that he's back in the game for real.
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