The pressure increases on Stringer to stop the street war and Colvin has an impactful Comstat meeting.
This is an excellent episode with great plot and character moments.
At this point in the show, the overarching story is gaining strong momentum, particularly the scenes involving Stringer, Avon, Omar, Marlo, Colvin, and Burrell. It also sees the return of the great Brother Mouzone character. There is little I can say without spoiling, except that the opening scene sets the tone for an episode that develops a lot of intrigue around what the fate will be of certain individuals. When I first saw it, many years ago, I remember the ending compelled me to immediately watch the next episode.
Characters trying to reform certain aspects of their organisations are centre stage again and the repercussions of their actions are portrayed realistically by the writers, particularly Colvin and Stringer.
One of the most enjoyable personal reformations continues to be the character Dennis and his efforts at getting the boxing gym up and running. This story feels like a ray of hope shining out of the usual bleakness.
Michael Potts is a joy to watch as Mouzone. Very rarely has a character with such little screen time been so memorable for me as this one. Once again his dynamic with DeAndre McCullough is very entertaining.
The visual storytelling is exceptionally good. I love how the camera says all you need to know in the opening scenes, plus the surprising character reveal in one scene in a certain bar is superb.
I love the framing of certain individuals in various shots. For example there is an early scene with Daniels positioned between McNulty and Pearlman and one with Stringer with the cage barrier between him Avon and Avon as Slim Charles whispers a message. I love how both Colvin and Burrell exit an office, cap in hand, after delivering the same message to a higher authority.
All actors are on great for as always. Potts, Chad Coleman, Robert Wisdom, Idris Elba, Dominic West, Frankie Faison, and John Doman stand out for me.
It's a 9.5/10 for me but I round upwards.