Get out your hip boots

By the second episode, when both reporter Scott and Detective McNulty were both weaving their respective yarns, it seemed like only a matter of time until these two fabulists would team up for some monumental bullshit. Three episodes later, and these lies have finally intersected, with Templeton using his 'talent' to steal some of the limelight from Alma's reporting on McNulty's biting serial killer. By faking a phone call from a payphone to his cell, Scott plays right into McNulty and Lester's wiretap scheme, and the look on his face when McNulty says they got a call from the killer as well was priceless.

The wiretap is setup on Marlo's cell phone number, obtained via Herc's employment to Levy, Marlo's lawyer. While it's nice to think that Herc delivers it because he can't help but be police, it's more likely that he just wants to get back at Marlo for stealing his camera. Marlo gets the phone from by Season 2's Spiros, who 'overcame his grief' over Joe and moved on. Poor Joe only gets a brief eulogy from Spiros, and then minor mention in a city desk rundown of the day's homicides (as Joseph Stewart, along with Nathanial Manns, who appears to be Hungry Man). Someone mentioned recently that Marlo is a bit like WalMart, squeezing out the small shops and then bypassing regional distributers entirely, making for an interesting business metaphor. Only instead of undercutting them, Marlo just cuts them. The game's the game, though, right?

Cue Omar and Donnie staking out the setup that Chris has set up for our favorite stick-up artist. Our heroes are clueless as to what's in store for them -- perhaps if they'd listened a little closer to the songs playing on the radio. Each song referenced something desirable that wasn't really there, whether it's "Just My Imagination" or a mirage like "Gypsy Woman," they both try to tell Omar he's walking into a trap -- a trap that required a houdini-like escape, flying out the window from the fifth floor of a building. Dude's like Batman or something.

Meanwhile, McNutty's downward spiral brings hits home, and the excellent Callie Thorne, as his ex-wife Elena makes her first appearance. Their boys Sean and Michael apparently like themselves a little Dead Meadow, the B'more psychedelic rockers. They're listening to "Beyond The Fields We Know" from 2006's self-titled release, but the band's latest and greatest, Old Growth, is out this week on Matador. Since the time line here is a few months in the future, if the McNulty boys were true fans, wouldn't they be zoning out their dad's "what's wrong with The Ramones?" question to this latest album?

Playlist: The Wire - Ep 505
1. "In Time" - Sly & the Family Stone - Cutty and Dukie talk at the gym
2. "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" - Tears for Fears - Mcnulty meets Alma and Scott in bar
3. "Just Out Of Reach" - Joe Tex - Omar and Donnie wait in car
4. "Party Like A Rock Star" - Shop Boyz - Marlo's crew talk at the rim shop
5. "Just My Imagination (Running Away With Me)" - The Temptations - Omar and Donnie still waiting
6. "Beyond The Fields We Know" - Dead Meadow - The McNulty boys at home
7. "My Girl Has Gone" - Smokey Robinson - Omar and Donnie still waiting
8. "Gypsy Woman" - The Impressions - Omar and Donnie still waiting
HBO track and scene info

Previously: Succession (Episode 5.04)