So The Wire didn't hit a home run like they did last week, but they seem to have taken a long single and stretched it into an extra base hit with a headfirst slide just to beat the tag, when half the fans in the stands thought it was bullshit*. I thought the episode was okay, though certain parts didn't really work. I was happier for Carcetti that he won than he was, I think, but I didn't really buy his bittersweet, almost disappointed reaction. The scene between Cutty and Michael was really fucking creepy in a way I can't quite describe (and I don't think that's a good thing, unless it was more intentional than I'm guessing), Namond's punkass mom being cut off was meh, and the scene with Randy and the assistant principal didn't quite ring right (I hate to say it, but I think the fault was with the kid that plays Randy - he's the most natural of the bunch in the hanging out situations, but his desperation came off as too scripted, even though the scene was pretty well written).

Still, there were highlights. Omar's plotline, particularly the reaction he got in Jail (chilling but accurate), was a standout, and I like that Marlo threw it in the face of Herc and the new Major Crimes unit by setting up what was pretty much a straight-up punking. (How fucked is Major Crimes when HERC of all people is the top dog?!) Prez's bits worked, too, setting Dukie up with a means to clean himself up, and using his police connections to try and see that Randy doesn't get lost in the system. The election day scenes worked, and so did the after-party, with Carcetti getting hit on by his campaign manager and turning her down. What a great, horny-celebratory-creepy-drunk-ass vibe that whole scene gave off!

Solid but far-from-overwhelming episode.

*And speaking of baseball, how 'bout them Tigers! Sheeeeit, four straight over the A's, winning with a walk-off shot in the bottom of the mofuckin' ninth! I remember growing up in Michigan in the 80's, when Sparky Anderson was ruling the roost, with Kirk Gibson (before his heroics with the Dodgers in later years), Alan Trammel, Lou Whitaker (they're not booing, they're Louing!"), Roger Morris (what the FUCK was up with that moustache?), and the rest. Going from the laughingstock of Major League Baseball to the world series, after seven straight wins! Yowza! Go Tigers! [hell, even the Lions seemed to carry some of that momentum, getting their first win of the season against the struggling Bills.