#rhonda

-The interrogation of D'Angelo is incredible, one of the biggest achievements of the whole season. It's almost NINE MINUTES of mostly Dee talking, and every moment is riveting. Really really fantastic work from Larry Gilliard Jr throughout.

-Dee presumably suspects who shot Wallace, right? Especially once Bunk points out that it must have been someone who knew where he lived and could make sure the kids weren't there. But even while he's throwing the whole rest of the Barksdale org under the bus, he chooses to protect Bodie and Poot.

-Love Rhonda talking about the breakthrough in the case like it was great sex. And I can finally understand why she puts up with Jimmy - she's turned on by good detective work!

Also, two different garage scenes this episode, huh.

-Ahh, teasing next season:

Actually I have no idea if Simon already knew his plan for a potential season 2 at this point, but it does effectively set up the idea that the forces behind/above Avon & co -- that is, the corrupt politicians and the suppliers -- need attention to really understand what's happened this season.

-Obligatory mention of the glimpse of Bodie's tattoo:

I mean obviously this is just JD's actual tattoo, and I don't think it quite makes sense that Bodie would have a big detailed piece like this at 16, but oh well, it's cool and I wish we got a proper look at it at some point.

-Love Carver's incredibly obvious guilt when he and Herc are talking about the promotions. And you know what, it speaks well of Herc as a friend that he knows something unfair happened and gives Carv a genuine congratulations anyway.

-Asdfasdf Lester why are you bringing Shardene to work just to make out in your office, calm down! I mean I know why, it's to show her off, but still.

-Hahaha I love Jimmy's look of utter ignorance when Lester starts talking about the real estate stuff:

So Jimmy goes on his power trip against the FBI guys but I have to say that the FBI's position (i.e., that they can't take the case unless they have info on suppliers or hard evidence on political corruption) is like...totally reasonable? The fact that the BPD is dysfunctional and can't prosecute their own murders is not the FBI's fucking problem! They're a federal organization, of course they should be focusing on national-level crime and/or the forces behind the local stuff!

And anyway, this is exactly analogous to what Jimmy has been arguing all season: arresting street-level dealers changes nothing, the BPD should be focused on bringing down the kingpins. Likewise, even if they could take down Avon and Stringer completely, as we see later that doesn't really change anything as long as the Greeks are bringing in the supply and Clay etc are allowing things to happen. It goes back to my musing last episode on whether the detail should have refrained from pursuing the money - once the case reached the Clay Davis level, the BPD can't bring it in because they've reached a target who is in fact controlling them. They need a bigger power like the FBI to take on Clay.

Jimmy is acting like getting Avon and Stringer is more important than tracing it to the suppliers and politicians, but that's really about his ego, not some wide-view evaluation of what will actually make the biggest difference.

-God I'm not saying anything new here but Michael Hyatt is SO good, coming out of nowhere in the last two episodes with a fucking powerhouse performance. Her big scene with Dee is so devastating.

-Let's talk about Carver the rat! Here's the thing: I've had this on my mental list of examples of The Wire's exploration of snitching, but I realized that's not quite what this is. Because snitching is about going outside the bounds of your organization, which Carver doesn't do - he's reporting up within the BPD. (It's only snitching if you consider the detail to be an independent org from the BPD, basically a rogue unit.) He's not jumping outside of the system (deadly in The Wire), he's just jumping a rung in chain of command (frowned upon, but safer and sometimes rewarded).

You know what the closer analogue is?

THAT'S RIGHT! Carver and Bodie are both asked to do an unsavory task by the second-in-command of their org, "for the good of the organization." Both step up and get a promotion out of it.

That means Daniels and D'Angelo are in parallel roles here, as Carv and Bodie's direct supervisors who would not want them to do this thing. The difference is that Daniels finds out and gives Carver a talking-to about it, which helps him eventually grow beyond that kind of thing, while of course D'Angelo never has the opportunity to do that with Bodie (and probably wouldn't have anyway, since he does not see himself in Bodie the way Daniels does with Carv).

-Uggh Daniels joking with Prez when he gives him his gun back:

He means it as a compliment but Prez straight up does not want it! Ugh!!!

-Hahaha of course Levy is the kind of guy who answers the phone with "this is he" (and identifies himself as an asshole in the process, god bless)

-Ahh Herc's newfound wisdom, which of course does not last long. I've seen people suggest that this is because the writers hadn't decided yet whether Herc or Carv would get the character development in future seasons, but I don't think that's true. Throughout the season, Carver has consistently been shown as the slightly smarter and more mature of the two. Most likely this is just a throwaway comic moment for Herc, although I guess you could argue that he's making an attempt to step it up so he can get the promotion next time. Either way, it also parallels Poot:

Meaning we get a complete instance of my beloved Bodie-Poot-Carver-Herc square to close out the season!

-Speaking of which, let's appreciate Bodie's beautiful sendoff, gazing up at the sky while the camera spins around him:

-Aah and here's the running motif for this episode:

Daniels, Carver, D'Angelo, Kima, and probably others all struggle this episode with whether it's about them individually or it's about the work/the organization (and the "correct" answer varies! E.g., Carver will eventually mature to the point that it's about the work, not himself; but D'Angelo choosing the "work" over himself is a betrayal of himself)

-HOLD THE FUCK ON. The couch changes without any explanation???? I mean I recognize that it's symbolic, but in-universe they got rid of my beloved orange couch without a word about it???? What the fuck!

The only watsonian explanation I can think of is that they thought it might have been bugged. Which is actually a really funny concept, imagine if the cops had bugged the couch and were just listening to a bunch of Seinfeldian conversation about chicken nuggets and blowjobs.

-I couldn't convey it in caps but I like that they announce "all rise" at the end of the sentencing scene but never actually show the judge exit, so really everyone is rising for Avon's slomo walk out of the courtroom :)

-Aww look at Carver's miserable little face at his promotion (and of course, wonderful contrast with his earned promotion later):

-Nothing can match the emotions that a season-ending Wire montage induces in me. Especially when it includes Stringer looking at the camera and then closing his eyes in a moment of contemplation, Jesus:

-This very last moment with Omar is quite extraordinary in terms of the tone. The finale in general is pretty much a downer and everything else in the ending montage is at BEST a return to status quo.

But then Omar shows up, for the first time in several episodes. You've missed him so much and here he is being charming, laughing, dropping his catchphrase. The emotional whiplash is crazy. Omar as a character operates outside the normal rules of the show in many ways, and it's honestly kind of a gift to the audience to let them spend the last moment of the season with him. Like a reward for making it through the season and maybe a bribe to come back for the next.