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"Transitions" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by Ed Burns from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Dan Attias, who won the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Drama Series for the episode. It first aired on January 27, 2008.

Production

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited, Andre Royo and Jermaine Crawford do not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

• Frankie Faison as Ervin Burrell
• Amy Ryan as Beatrice "Beadie" Russell
• Paul Ben-Victor as Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos
• Robert F. Chew as Proposition Joe
• Bill Raymond as The Greek
• Delaney Williams as Jay Landsman
• Marlyne Afflack as Nerese Campbell
• Benjamin Busch as Anthony Colicchio
• Anwan Glover as Slim Charles
• Felicia Pearson as Felicia "Snoop" Pearson
• Method Man as Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff
• Duane Chandler Rawlings as Hungry Man
• Dion Graham as Rupert Bond
• Melanie Nicholls-King as Cheryl
• Frederick Strother as Odell Watkins
• David Costabile as Thomas Klebanow
• Shamika Cotton as Raylene Lee
• Sam Freed as James Whiting
• Bobby Brown as Bobby Brown
• Ed Norris as Ed Norris
• Roscoe Orman as Oscar Requer
• Michael Salconi as Michael Santangelo
• Bruce Kirkpatrick as Roger Twigg
• Donald Neal as Jay Spry
• Todd Scofield as Jeff Price
• William F. Zorzi as Bill Zorzi
• Jeffrey Pratt Gordon as Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto
• Curtis L. McClarin as Florist
• Jeff Roberts as Homeless Employed Man
• Ptolemy Slocum as Homeless Business Card Man
• John Badila as Sun Staff Member
• Valerie Leonard as Washington Post Editor
• Jayne Miller as TV news journalist
• Jerry B. Whiddon as Washington Post Editor
• Miriam Hyman as Social Worker
• Nathan James as Western DEU Officer
• Tim R. McAdams as Motorist
• Joey Perillo as Medical Examiner
• Alan J. Wendl as Southern District Desk Sergeant
• Larry Andrews as Donnie
• Sho "Swordsman" Brown as Phil Boy
• Thuliso Dingall as Kenard
• Edward Green as Spider
• Derrick Purvey as Big Guy
• Troj Marquis Strickland as Ricardo "Fat-Face Rick" Hendrix

Uncredited appearances

• Mike D. Anderson as Ghost
• Thomas J. McCarthy as Tim Phelps
• Kwame Patterson as Monk Metcalf
• Brandon Young as Mike Fletcher

Ryan Sands (Lloyd "Truck" Garrick) was supposed to appear in this episode but Sands was busy filming The Kill Point. Nathan James was hired to fill in for Sands as an unnamed officer.

Plot

McNulty and Freamon canvass among the homeless to further their scheme of faking a serial killer. Freamon sensationalizes the "case" by adding a sexual motive and supplies a set of dentures to create bite marks. Freamon also recruits his old patrol partner to look out for bodies. When they find their next fake victim, McNulty mocks up the body and crime scene to imply another murder. His binge drinking and infidelity causes tensions with Beadie. Greggs finds the child survivor in her case too withdrawn to help and decides to spend more time with her ex-partner Cheryl's son Elijah. In the Western District, Officer Anthony Colicchio is subject to a police brutality complaint when he attacks a motorist who turns out to be an elementary school teacher. Carver decides to charge an unrepentant Colicchio. Herc appeals for leniency, but Carver explains his new philosophy that their actions as police are always important. Herc expresses regret over his own past misdeeds.

Michael is arrested during Colicchio's outburst and is signed out of holding by his mother. Sydnor uncovers new evidence in the Davis investigation, but Bond decides not to file the new charge as it would allow a federal prosecution and cost him a political opportunity. Bond has Pearlman hold a grand jury deposition for Davis, after which Bond stages a perp walk for Davis to raise his own profile. Templeton rushes to catch up on the Davis story after an unsuccessful job interview with The Washington Post. Mayor Carcetti has to grant favors to Campbell and the ministers to smooth the change in commissioners at the BPD. On the advice of his ex-wife, Daniels unsuccessfully appeals Burrell to tell him he had nothing to do with his removal, contrary to the quote in Templeton's Baltimore Sun article. Burrell gives the file on Daniels' past to Campbell, who convinces him to leave the BPD quietly with the promise of a well-paid replacement position. Burrell announces his departure to the press.

Marlo convinces The Greeks to consider him as an insurance policy for handling their supply of narcotics into Baltimore. Proposition Joe fears reprisal from Omar following the death of Butchie and decides to leave town. Marlo asks Joe to teach him more about money laundering and is introduced to attorney Levy. Omar returns to Baltimore and quickly ascertains that Marlo was behind Butchie's death. Later, Omar and Donnie decide to go after Monk. At a New Day Co-Op meeting, Marlo observes Joe settling a territory dispute between Hungry Man and Cheese. Marlo has Partlow capture Hungry Man and deliver him for Cheese to kill. Cheese reciprocates by revealing Joe's location. Marlo surprises Joe and explains that he's doing business with the Greeks from now on, after which he has Partlow execute Joe.

First appearances

• Oscar Requer: Freamon's former partner in the patrol division an ex-homicide detective. Requer was kicked out of Homicide after pulling rank over an Area Chief at the scene of a murder. It is subsequently revealed that the Area Chief was William Rawls, who retaliated by transferring Oscar to the midnight shift in the Southern District. A retired homicide detective with the same surname provided inspiration for the character of Bunk Moreland on the show.

Deceased

• Proposition Joe: Shot by Chris Partlow on orders of Marlo Stanfield.
• Hungry Man: Delivered as prize to Cheese by Marlo Stanfield.

References

1. "Season 5 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
2. "HBO Schedule: THE WIRE 54: TRANSITIONS". HBO. 2008. Retrieved December 1, 2007.
3. Nathan James' WAMO interview
4. Dan Attias (director); Ed Burns (story and teleplay), David Simon (story) (January 27, 2008). "Transitions". The Wire. Season 5. Episode 4. HBO. {{cite episode}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |city= (help); Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help)
5. Simon, David (2006) . "Post Mortem". Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets (4th ed.). Owl Books. p. 641. ISBN 0-8050-8075-9. Rick 'The Bunk' Requer left to man the department's retirement services bureau, though his homicide incarnation lives on in Wendell Pierce's portrayal of the legendary Bunk Moreland on The Wire, right down to the ubiquitous cigar.

External links

• "Transitions" at HBO.com
• "Transitions" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode

• The Wire episodes
• 2008 American television episodes