Lessons (The Wire)

8th episode of the 1st season of The Wire

"Lessons"

The Wire episode
Episode no.| Season 1
Episode 8
Directed by| Gloria Muzio
Story by| David Simon
Ed Burns
Teleplay by| David Simon
Original air date| July 21, 2002 (2002-07-21)
Running time| 56 minutes
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"Lessons" is the eighth episode of the first season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon and Ed Burns and was directed by Gloria Muzio. It originally aired on July 21, 2002.

## Plot summary

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### The Street

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As Wallace helps one of his young charges with their math homework, Poot shows up and asks him to return to work. Wallace refuses and asks to borrow money from Poot, who begrudgingly obliges. Afterward, Poot reports his concerns to D'Angelo, who wants to speak with Wallace face-to-face. Meanwhile, at a Barksdale-run print shop, Stringer scolds his subordinates for not acting like professionals. Wee-Bey, Stinkum and Savino raid Omar's apartment and torch his van while he watches from his hiding place across the street. Later they pick up D'Angelo, who mentions Orlando's proposition; the others tell him that he should talk to Avon. Orlando is berated and beaten by Avon for even considering getting involved in dealing.

Barksdale soldiers throw a party celebrating Stinkum's impending promotion, which will be official as soon as they kill a dealer named Scar and chase his crew off his corner. Before leaving to buy more alcohol, D'Angelo notices an extremely inebriated dancer named Keisha being held by Wee-Bey against his chest; he regards D'Angelo coldly before he takes Keisha into a bedroom and shuts the door behind him. When D'Angelo returns, he finds Keisha's naked corpse lying on a bed in the room where Wee-Bey took her. D'Angelo is slightly shaken, while Wee-Bey appears disturbingly unconcerned; it is implied Keisha died of an overdose after Wee-Bey drugged and raped her.

When Shardene later asks D'Angelo about Keisha, he tells her that she was sick when he last saw her. They discuss his future and she tells him that if he is unhappy, he should do something else. As Wee-Bey and Stinkum prepare to hit Scar's corner, they are ambushed by Omar; Stinkum is killed while Wee-Bey is wounded. Avon increases his bounty on Omar, but Stringer suggests luring him into the open with the promise of a truce.

### The Police

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McNulty spots Stringer while taking his sons to Northeast Market and has them follow him. McNulty briefly loses sight of his sons, but they manage to write down Stringer's license plate number. Bunk disapproves of McNulty involving his sons in the operation. Meanwhile, Herc and Carver prepare for their sergeant's exam. Prez and Greggs ask them to tail the Pit crew to see which phones they are now using. Based on information gleaned from the wire, they pull over Senator Davis's driver, Damien "Day-Day" Price, and find a bag full of cash in his car.

Because of Price's political connections, Burrell demands that his men return the money and tells Daniels he will shut down the detail. Daniels tells Marla that his superiors dislike wiretaps because they know that Baltimore's drug trade has ties to local politics. He also complains that McNulty asked what Burrell has on him; she asks him what he said, and he does not reply. Phelan calls McNulty into his chambers and asks about Burrell's order, and they agree to the opposition involved with it. The judge threatens Burrell with a contempt charge if the wiretap is terminated prematurely. Later, McNulty tails Stringer and discovers he is taking an economics class at Baltimore City Community College.

The detail learns through the wiretaps about Omar's murder of Stinkum. McNulty and Greggs bring in Omar, but he denies any involvement. While at the detail, Omar spots a photo linking Avon to Orlando's club. Omar is unapologetic about his actions and the detectives have to let him go. Later, Omar observes the club from the shadows. Greggs goes to Freamon with her concerns that she caused Omar to volunteer as an eyewitness; Freamon assures Greggs that justice will be served even without Omar, as the ballistics matched. They discuss dancers at the club and pick out Shardene as a potential informant.[1][2][3]

Bunk tells McNulty that Ray Cole has been assigned to solve Stinkum's murder. McNulty tells Bunk that Omar was the shooter and asks him to tell Cole they will give him a closed case once their case is finished, but acknowledges that because of Omar's assistance, he will not ultimately deliver him to Cole; both men regret the lie and go out drinking to soothe their consciences. They discuss the strange position of protecting Omar. Bunk spots a woman he wishes to sleep with and asks McNulty to cover for him with his wife. Later, McNulty is called by the woman to come and collect Bunk, who is so drunk that he decided to burn his clothes to destroy any evidence of his infidelity. McNulty brings Bunk home and deposits him in the empty bunk bed normally used by his sons. Bunk mumbles that McNulty is bad for the people around him before falling asleep.

## Production

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In the Homicide unit, Bunk is reading a book written by Laura Lippman. Lippman is a Baltimore resident and is married to series creator David Simon.

### Title reference

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The title refers to the classes Stringer takes, Wallace teaching the math problems to the child in his charge, Judge Phelan showing his control over Burrell to McNulty, the sergeant's exam Herc and Carver take, Freamon teaching Kima about the use of instinct in solving cases, Kima learning that she made an error on the Omar witness case, and Omar teaching a lesson to the Barksdale soldiers. It may also refer to McNulty teaching his sons how to tag a suspect when he has them follow Stringer.

### Epigraph

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> Come at the king, you best not miss.

— Omar

Omar uses this phrase while taunting Wee-Bey after shooting Stinkum. It also relates to the chess discussion in episode #3.

### Credits

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#### Starring cast

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Although credited, John Doman, Deirdre Lovejoy, and Andre Royo do not appear in this episode.

#### Guest stars

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* Peter Gerety as Judge Daniel Phelan
* Seth Gilliam as Detective Ellis Carver
* Domenick Lombardozzi as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk
* Clarke Peters as Detective Lester Freamon
* Jim True-Frost as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski
* Hassan Johnson as Wee-Bey Brice
* Corey Parker-Robinson as Detective Leander Sydnor
* Michael B. Jordan as Wallace
* Michael K. Williams as Omar Little
* Maria Broom as Marla Daniels
* Antonio Cordova as Michael McNulty
* Wendy Grantham as Shardene Innes
* Eric Ryan as Sean McNulty
* Tray Chaney as Poot Carr
* Clayton LeBouef as Wendell "Orlando" Blocker
* Brandon Price as Anton "Stinkum" Artis
* Donnell Rawlings as Damien "Day-Day" Price

## References

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1. ^ "Episode guide - episode 08 The Wire". HBO. 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2006.
2. ^ David Simon, Ed Burns (July 28, 2002). "Lessons". The Wire. Season 1. Episode 8. HBO.
3. ^ Alvarez, Rafael (2004). The Wire: Truth Be Told. New York: Pocket Books.

## External links

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* "Lessons" at HBO.com
* "Lessons" at IMDb

* v
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The Wire episodes

Season 1|

* "The Target"
* "The Detail"
* "The Buys"
* "Old Cases"
* "The Pager"
* "The Wire"
* "One Arrest"
* "Lessons"
* "Game Day"
* "The Cost"
* "The Hunt"
* "Cleaning Up"
* "Sentencing"

Season 2|

* "Ebb Tide"
* "Collateral Damage"
* "Hot Shots"
* "Hard Cases"
* "Undertow"
* "All Prologue"
* "Backwash"
* "Duck and Cover"
* "Stray Rounds"
* "Storm Warnings"
* "Bad Dreams"
* "Port in a Storm"

Season 3|

* "Time After Time"
* "All Due Respect"
* "Dead Soldiers"
* "Hamsterdam"
* "Straight and True"
* "Homecoming"
* "Back Burners"
* "Moral Midgetry"
* "Slapstick"
* "Reformation"
* "Middle Ground"
* "Mission Accomplished"

Season 4|

* "Boys of Summer"
* "Soft Eyes"
* "Home Rooms"
* "Refugees"
* "Alliances"
* "Margin of Error"
* "Unto Others"
* "Corner Boys"
* "Know Your Place"
* "Misgivings"
* "A New Day"
* "That's Got His Own"
* "Final Grades"

Season 5|

* "More with Less"
* "Unconfirmed Reports"
* "Not for Attribution"
* "Transitions"
* "React Quotes"
* "The Dickensian Aspect"
* "Took"
* "Clarifications"
* "Late Editions"
* "-30-"

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