AllMovie

Omar's (Michael K. Williams) boyfriend, Brandon (Michael Kevin Darnall), is found dead and on display, having been beaten, tortured, and maimed. When Wallace (Michael B. Jordan) sees the mangled body, the direct result of his actions, he's traumatized. When McNulty (Dominic West) and Greggs (Sonja Sohn) find out about the murder, they go looking for Omar, hoping to turn him in. Wallace expresses his feelings about the killing to D'Angelo (Larry Gilliard Jr.), who tells the boy to "let it go." McNulty's boss in homicide, Major Rawls, wants him back in the unit, and gives him a week to wrap up the Barksdale case. The narcotics team finally puts a wiretap on the low-rise pay phones, and they start to gather info about Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) crew. Bodie (J.D. Williams) has a fast-talking lawyer, who manages to get him sent home. Herc (Dominick Lombardozzi) and Carver (Seth Gilliam) spot him on the street and fly off the handle. But when they find out he was released, they give him a ride home. Johnny (Leo Fitzpatrick) gets out of the hospital, and immediately involves Bubbles (Andre Royo) in a robbery scam. D'Angelo finds out which members of his crew are stealing from him. He demotes them, but he doesn't tell Avon about it, because he wants to avoid "drama." McNulty demonstrates questionable parenting skills when he brings his kids with him to meet with Omar, who tells the cops he'll testify against the Barksdale crew. Rawls decides the homicide unit will bring shaky murder charges against D'Angelo, even if it ruins the narcotics investigation. When Daniels (Lance Reddick) is pressured by McNulty to go over Rawls' head to save their case, Rawls sets out to destroy McNulty. Baltimore police commissioner Ed Norris has a cameo as a disgruntled cop.