The Wire: 10 Things You Forgot From The First Episode

With an IMDb rating of 8.0/10, The Wire‘s series premiere titled “The Target,” doesn’t count as one of the best episodes of the series. In fact, it ranks 59th among all episodes. However, the episode perfectly established the show’s themes of the War on Drugs, institutional dysfunction, and bulging crime rates in America.

The title of the episode was a reference to Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) targeting the Barksdale Organization. The episode aired on June 2, 2002. Given that 18 years have passed, fans of the series might struggle to recall everything that happened in that episode. Here’s what you forgot.

10 McNulty Used A Little Motivation To Get Someone To Talk

The episode began with BPD Homicide Unit Detective Jimmy McNulty investigating the murder of Snot Boogie, a street craps player from West Baltimore. He persuaded the victim’s friend to talk by buying him a Grape Nehi and cigarettes. The man explained to McNulty that Boogie had a habit of stealing the craps pot.

The young man revealed that a fellow player was angered by Boogie’s actions hence he shot him. When McNulty asked why other players allowed Boogie to keep playing, he responded by saying that they had to let him play because that’s just how America was.

9 A Drug Dealer’s Case Got Compromised

Assistant State Attorney Taryn Hansen took to court a case involving D’Angelo Barksdale, a drug lieutenant who had allegedly shot Pooh Blanchard at the Franklin Terrace housing projects. A couple of Barksdale Organization members were seen monitoring the trial, implying that they were about to do something about it.

A maintenance man positively identified D’Angelo as the person who committed the crime. However, a security guard who had also identified D’Angelo after being shown photos of him retracted her statement and claimed that he was innocent. When McNulty informed Detective Frank Barlow that Barksdale Organization had compromised the trial, he was dismissed.

8 The Counterfeit Cash

Desperate for drugs, two addicts, Bubbles and Johnny Weeks, made counterfeit cash using a printing machine. They then used it to purchase the product from Wallace and Poot.

Later, D’Angelo reprimanded Wallace and Bodie for receiving payments from the same location that they were distributing drugs. As he counted Wallace’s money, he noticed that it was fake. Instead of punishing him, he warned him that he would be demoted from selling to looking if he was ever deceived again.

7 McNulty’s Co-Parenting Problems

McNulty and Bunk stopped by a bar to have a few drinks. McNulty began lamenting how his ex-wife Elena never allowed him to spend much time with their children. The two had gotten divorced. This happened after Elena hired a private investigator to follow him around and found out he was cheating.

The couple had been sweethearts ever since their years at Loyola College. But after the cheating incident, animosity grew between them. Elena began manipulating Jimmy to agree to give her more alimony than he was capable of.

6 The First Informant

The Barkslade Organization attacked Johnny Weeks for attempting to use the fake money to buy heroin again. This made Bubbles mad, hence he vowed to revenge.

When Kima went to see the unconscious Johnny at the ER unit of the University of Maryland Medical Center, Bubbles was present. He agreed to rat, hence becoming the first Confidential Informant (CI) in the series. He figured his knowledge of the streets would be crucial in taking down the crime organization.

5 The First LGBTQ Characters

There weren’t many LGBTQ characters on prime time television when The Wire premiered. Luckily, the series did a good job of changing that. A couple of LGBTQ characters were introduced as the series progressed but the first was Kima.

In the episode, Kima went home after a long day’s work where she kissed a woman. It was revealed that the mystery woman was her girlfriend Cheryl. Even though Kima spent most of her time at work, Cheryl cared about her. In later episodes, she pressured her to take a desk job so that her life wouldn’t be at risk.

4 A Witness Got Murdered

In the brutal world of the streets, snitches often get stitches and that’s exactly what happened to the maintenance man who identified D’Angelo as the shooter. William Gant, who worked for the Baltimore County Department of Social Services, saw D’Angelo committing the crime and despite pressure from the Barksdale Organization, he exposed him.

Three days after the trial, Barksdale hitman Bird Hilton tracked down Gant as he was heading to work and shot him in the head. In the final moments of the episode, Bunk went to take a look at the crime scene. D’Angelo also arrived and appeared glad to see Gant lying dead with people surrounding him.

3 The FBI’s Plan To Exit Baltimore

McNulty visited the FBI’s Baltimore office to catch up with his buddy Special Agent Terrance “Fitz” Fitzhugh. He found him checking out live surveillance footage of an ongoing deal in Pimlico, something that really impressed him.

Fitz had some bad news as he told McNulty that the FBI would be moving out of Baltimore after the Pimlico investigation. The reason? The bureau had decided to place more focus on counterterrorism instead of drugs. Events in the series began not long after the 9/11 attacks, hence the FBI’s priorities make sense.

2 Bunk’s Recklessness

Bunk’s recklessness was evident in the first episode. After having drinks with McNulty, he was totally hungover when he showed up at work the next day. He also appeared lazy and unbothered when Landsman assigned him a new murder case.

Before that, Bunk confessed to McNulty how he once used his service weapon to shoot a mouse that was running around in his home. That’s quite reckless. He could have just used a mousetrap or rat poison. Should it also be mentioned that the wasted bullet came from taxpayers’ money? Maybe not.

1 McNulty’s “Wire” Strategy

It soon became evident why the series was called The Wire. The law enforcement officers were going to rely on informants in order to take down the Barksdale Organization. These informants would be required to wear a wire.

McNulty is the officer who tabled this suggestion when the Barksdale Detail first assembled for the first time. Daniels was against the idea at first. He rebuked McNulty and suggested that arresting junior drug dealers would be crucial to take down the criminal organization. Despite the opposition, McNulty’s method became more prominent in later episodes.

About The Author

Philip Etemesi
(1216 Articles Published)

Philip Etemesi is an author, journalist, screenwriter and film critic based in Nairobi. Kenya. As a child, he preferred watching movies like The Goodfellas instead of Home Alone. His girlfriend constantly has to pull him from the front of the TV but he just keeps returning. Stubborn dude! An animal lover, Philip also has a pet giraffe called Refu.

More From Philip Etemesi