Marlo’s ruthlessness in dealing with Proposition Joe was the standout image of Transitions, episode four of season five of The Wire on FX.
There were no hints of doubt or regret from Marlo as he calmed Joe before the hit. ‘Close your eyes. It won’t hurt none.’
It’s not only the gangster world that’s dealing with transitions. Ervin Burrell, the police commissioner, is being forced out of office by the Mayor, and Roger Twigg, the old-school reporter on The Baltimore Sun with years of experience and a great contacts book, is on his way out.
There are so many great strands to The Wire, but it’s the political in-fighting that’s grabbing my attention at the moment. I loved it when city editor Gus Haynes put his own newsroom spin on the Mayor’s tribute to the departing Burrell. ‘It took a while but I finally put his ass out to pasture.’
