The Bar

Official Bar Score: 

I’ve decided to start delaying these reviews a bit so as to justify including a few spoilers, because in situations like this episode, to not speak on exactly why it was simply amazing is to not do it any justice at all.

First things first, Burrell is out as commissioner. After coming to the mayor with potentially falsified stats and lying about their accuracy, Mayor Carcetti finally has his excuse to expedite Daniel’s rise to the position, although at the moment Rawls is taking over while Daniel’s learns the ropes.

At the Baltimore Sun, the cutbacks are taking their toll, as they have no real connection to the police department or the DA anymore. Because of this, they miss out on catching Clay Davis emerging from testifying in front of a grand jury, where he refused to incriminate himself. Also, Templeton continues his aspirations to move to the Washington Post, however when interviewing for them they point out his penchant for over writing his pieces and decide to pass.

McNulty’s fake serial killer is starting to make some waves. However, the results aren’t exactly what he expects.

And now to the undeniably best plot line going this season: Marlo. SPOILER AHEAD! He is actively going after total control of the Baltimore drug trade, continuing to pursue The Greek so he can have the connection to himself. He is also studying the way that Proposition Joe does business so he can learn how to keep under the radar while raking in money hand over fist. He is doing this all while gearing up for a confrontation with Omar, who is back to get revenge for the murder of Butchie.

When Marlo learns all he needs to know, he makes his move to become the top dog. First, he takes advantage of the unhappiness of Prop Joe’s nephew and second in command Cheese by offering up one of the charter members of the Co-op with whom he has a beef on a platter, calling it repayment for giving up Butchie. This pretty much marks Cheese’s defection to Marlo’s crew, as well as eliminating one more potential competitor. With the Greek connection shored up and the Co-op paired down to a manageable amount of people, Marlo makes his final move to gain complete control: he murders Proposition Joe.

When somebody gets killed on this show, it’s always such a bittersweet moment. On one hand, the way they set up the scenes is nothing short of genius and is always so well executed that you can’t take your eyes off it. On the other, regular viewers connect with the characters, and Prop Joe was no exception. He was as shady as they come, but they way he did things and the way he carried himself made him a very likeable character. His sendoff was right, as he didn’t go out crying or begging for his life, the same way Bodie was killed last season standing tall. Unfortunately, it’s yet another thing to hate about Marlo. I REALLY hope Omar gets his hand on him before the police.

Until next week…

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