Unconfirmed Reports

"Unconfirmed Reports"
The Wire episode
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 2
Directed by	Ernest Dickerson
Teleplay by	William F. Zorzi
Story by	David Simon William F. Zorzi
Original air date	January 13, 2008 (2008-01-13)
Guest stars
see below
Season 5 episodes
January 6, 2008 – March 9, 2008 "More with Less" "Unconfirmed Reports" "Not for Attribution" "Transitions" "React Quotes" "The Dickensian Aspect" "Took" "Clarifications" "Late Editions" "–30–"
List of The Wire episodes

"Unconfirmed Reports" is the second episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by William F. Zorzi from a story by David Simon & William F. Zorzi and was directed by Ernest Dickerson. It originally aired on January 13, 2008.

Production

Title reference

The title refers to Scott Templeton's fabricated report, as well as McNulty's imaginary serial killer and the purported insults to Marlo's sexuality.

Epigraph

“	This ain't Aruba, bitch.	”
—Bunk

While discussing the situation in Baltimore with Lester and McNulty, Bunk sardonically remarks that Baltimore is not like Aruba, apparently referring to the Natalee Holloway case. Had McNulty's "killer" garnered anywhere near as much media coverage as the Holloway case, the Baltimore P.D. would likely start to receive their much needed funding. This was made in reference to the fact that the death of African-American males in inner cities seem to be handled as less of a concern than that of Whites (see Missing white woman syndrome).

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited Lance Reddick, Seth Gilliam, Domenick Lombardozzi, Michael K. Williams, Jermaine Crawford, and Michael Kostroff do not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

• Frankie Faison as Ervin Burrell
• Wood Harris as Avon Barksdale
• Steve Earle as Walon
• Felicia Pearson as Snoop
• Delaney Williams as Jay Landsman
• Chris Ashworth as Sergei Malatov
• Genevieve Hudson-Price as Dee-Dee
• Frederick Strother as Odell Watkins
• Benay Berger as Amanda Reese
• Doug Olear as Terrence "Fitz" Fitzhugh
• Joseph Urla as Maryland District US Attorney
• David Costabile as Thomas Klebanow
• Sam Freed as James Whiting
• Donald Neal as Jay Spry
• Bobby J. Brown as Bob Brown
• Anthony Mangano as Kevin Infante
• Kristie Dale Sanders as Nancy Porter
• Gregory L. Williams as Michael Crutchfield
• Bruce Kirkpatrick as Roger Twigg
• Thomas J. McCarthy as Tim Phelps
• Kara Quick as Rebecca Corbett
• Todd Scofield as Jeff Price
• Darrell Britt-Gibson as O-Dog
• Kwame Patterson as Monk
• Scott Shane as Scott Shane
• Suzanne Wooton as Suzanne Wooton
• Willa Bickham as Willa Bickham
• Dan Manning as Assistant Medical Examiner
• Kate Revelle as Jane
• Kelley Slagle as Assistant Medical Examiner
• Brendan Walsh as Brendan Walsh
• Erica Chamblee as Pregnant Mother
• Lee Everett Cox as Aaron Castor
• Rachel Lynn Dinenna as unknown
• Frank McPartland as Angry fan
• Andrew Roth as Tim Packard
• Tasha R. Rudolph as Abusive mother
• Andrew Cruttenden as unknown
• Ayoka Dorsey as Gus' wife
• Tyson Hall as Marvin
• Adrienne Meisel as Recovering addict
• Patricia Penn as Sun staff member
• Steve Zettler as Prison guard

Uncredited roles

• Curt Boushell as Andy - Sun copy editor
• Louis Stancil - Unknown Corner Boy

Notes

• Kevin Infante and Nancy Porter (the people McNulty runs into at the medical examiner's office) are characters from novels by Laura Lippman, who is married to series creator David Simon.

Plot

Bubbles

Bubbles attends a Narcotics Anonymous meeting. He follows a speaker named Dee-Dee who discusses her struggle with her inner addict and her inability to maintain a personal code because of her addiction. Bubbles is engaging and humorous but unable to discuss an emotional memory. Walon tries to convince Bubbles that he has to share the tragedy of Sherrod's death in order to move on. Walon convinces Bubbles to at least occupy his time and he volunteers at a local soup kitchen.

Baltimore Sun

Scott Templeton plans a color piece about the Baltimore Orioles opening game. He fails to find a suitable subject and returns with an unverifiable story about an orphaned wheelchair user truanting to attend. Gus Haynes is concerned about the piece's lack of corroboration, but is forced to print it after James Whiting gives his approval.

Stanfield Organization

Marlo Stanfield meets with Chris Partlow and Snoop about the withdrawal of the year-long police investigation. Stanfield decides to reassert his authority and orders several murders and the luring of Omar Little out of retirement. Accompanied by Partlow and one of the young proteges they have been training, Snoop carries out the murder of a rival drug dealer. Afterwards, Snoop, Partlow and Michael Lee watch the house of one of Stanfield's targets named June Bug. Michael questions the necessity of the murder and is admonished by Snoop. Michael is instructed to wait in the back alley and to shoot anyone who runs out of the back door. Snoop and Partlow disable the street's security cameras, stage a home invasion, and kill the three adults inside. Two children escape - one hides undetected in a closet and another flees via the back door. Michael does not shoot the child and appears to be even more disgusted at the entire operation.

Stanfield visits MCI Jessup to see Sergei Malatov, but finds Avon Barksdale waiting in his place. Barksdale tells Stanfield that in order for him to talk to Malatov, Stanfield has to give his sister $100,000. Stanfield agrees and later talks to a defiant Malatov. Stanfield convinces Malatov, with encouragement from Avon, to give him a line to Vondas.

Politics

Commissioner Burrell struggles to deliver clean statistics and accommodate the mayor's crime reduction target while implementing budget cutbacks. Burrell alienates Clay Davis by refusing to interfere in his corruption case. Mayor Carcetti plans a run for governor despite the city's fiscal difficulties; Odell Watkins expresses disappointment in the mayor's priorities.

Major Crimes Unit

Detectives Freamon and Sydnor are still preparing the Davis case for court. Freamon believes this type of sprawling and interconnected case is career-defining but also spends his own time surveilling known Stanfield meeting places. Jimmy McNulty desperately wants to return to the Stanfield case and is increasingly frustrated in the homicide unit.

Freamon and McNulty meet with FBI agent Terrence Fitzhugh seeking support for their investigation. Fitz arranges a meeting between the local and federal authories, but the proposal is shot down by the Republican federal prosecutor with whom (Democrat) Mayor Carcetti previously argued about the case. Freamon and McNulty bitterly drown their sorrows with Bunk afterward.

Homicide

McNulty is assigned a natural death and learns at the morgue that postmortem pressure on the neck is indistinguishable from deliberate strangulation. Later, Detective Greggs is assigned to June Bug's homicide and finds a child hiding in the closet, showing a rare moment of unveiled compassion by embracing the child and evacuating the building, creating the evocative image used in the title sequence.

McNulty and Bunk Moreland are assigned a probable overdose. McNulty goes to his car and drinks some whiskey he had in the trunk. He goes back to the crime scene and chokes the deceased and stages the scene to suggest a strangulation. McNulty tells Bunk that he plans to create the illusion of a serial killer; Bunk leaves the scene in disgust.

Deceased

June Bug + 2 others - murdered by Chris and Snoop on orders by Marlo Stanfield.

Unknown Corner Boy - shot and killed by Snoop Pearson.

External links

• "Unconfirmed Reports" at HBO.com
• "Unconfirmed Reports" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Unconfirmed Reports" at TV.com