Duck and Cover (The Wire)

"Duck and Cover" is the eighth episode of the second season of the HBO original series The Wire. The episode was written by George Pelecanos from a story by David Simon & George Pelecanos and was directed by Dan Attias. It originally aired on July 20, 2003.

Plot[edit]

After failing to reconcile with his ex-wife, McNulty goes on a drinking binge and tries to drive home drunk. After he crashes his car and cuts his hand, McNulty eats at a diner and ends up having a one-night stand with the waitress. While drinking with Bunk, he expresses a desire to work murder cases again. Pearlman is shown how phone logs and photographic evidence link the east side warehouse to White Mike and Proposition Joe. They have identified Serge and tracked his cell phone through truck rental records. His phone records show that he calls the warehouse every day that a container goes missing. Herc and Carver have linked Nick to Frog, information which they have falsely reported as being obtained from an informant. The judge signs off on the detail's request for a wiretap, but has Herc and Carver do chores in his house in exchange.

Daniels is persuaded to appeal to Rawls to allow McNulty's transfer to the Sobotka detail, which Rawls reluctantly does. Meanwhile, in a scheme to recover the money Carver lost on the destroyed surveillance bug, Herc gets his cousin Bernard to pose for photos as their fake informant, "Fuzzy Dunlop." Carver hands the paperwork to Daniels, who balks at the name and high price but signs off anyway. Pearlman meets with Bunk and Greggs and learns that the same company owns both the warehouse and the apartments, which they speculate are being used as a cat house. They decide they need someone to go undercover to infiltrate the apartment as a john and settle on McNulty when he reports in on the Sobotka detail.

Greggs and McNulty set up surveillance of a parking garage at the apartment building. They pull over one of the johns and get him to explain how to contact the madam. Freamon, Beadie, and Prez notice a potential container theft from a ship where Horseface is working as a checker. This time the surveillance work runs in combination with the wiretaps and the detail tracks the container to the warehouse. When Frank sends out a second container as a decoy, McNulty rushes to tail it. Beadie arranges to slow down the rig with a fictitious traffic stop until McNulty can get into position.

Ziggy is egged on by the other stevedores to retaliate against Maui's taunting. His attempt ends with Ziggy stranded atop a two-story container. When Horseface reports the fight to Frank, he is too distracted by their month-end finances. Frank goes to pay his overdue cell phone bill and learns that his account is "flagged" to not be cut off—a possible clue that law enforcement is monitoring his activity. Later, Frank spots Greggs on the docks when she is posing as an engineer to watch the smuggling operation. He then learns that Beadie has been detailed to the Baltimore Police, and not transferred to Fairfield as she had claimed. He sends out the decoy container and sees it being stopped. He uses the untapped office phone to set up a meeting with The Greek; the detail sees that the call was made but cannot hear its contents.

Frank offers his brother Louis a position with the port advisory board. Louis refuses, noting the position has been offered to him because Frank made contributions and insists that everything he has comes straight. Frank is infuriated that Louis has a sense of moral superiority over his choices. Ziggy buys a duck from a neighborhood man who keeps birds. He meets with Nick, who asks about the fight with Maui and can't hide his amusement. Ziggy takes the duck to the bar, entertaining the other stevedores with the bird's propensity to drink whiskey and beer on top of the bar. Glekas and Serge unload the clean container and angrily phone Vondas at the cafe. The detail traces the call and recognizes it as the same number that Frank dialed. Vondas instructs Serge to dump the container; McNulty follows it for a time but is recalled by Daniels.

Frank and Nick meet with The Greek, who is impressed by Frank's caution and suggests they only move clean containers for a while. Nick insists that they are to be paid in full for moving the containers, and The Greek agrees to their terms. After Frank slams the table, The Greek mocks him by saying he should spend some money on things that will make him happy, such as a new coat or a new car — a clear reference to Ziggy. Meanwhile, the detail dismisses the clean container as a mistake, but Freamon is pleased to have obtained Vondas' phone number. McNulty and Beadie go for a drink and discuss their past relationships. While at the bar, McNulty calls the number for the madam and sets up an appointment. McNulty has another drink at Beadie's home but leaves when he sees pictures of her children, realizing nothing good could come from sleeping with her.

Bodie, Poot, and Puddin lament that their weak product has led to a lack of trade. After noticing an independent crew dealing on their territory with more success, Bodie and Poot organize a crew to drive them from the corner. They succeed, but expect retaliation.^[1][2][3]

Production[edit]

Title reference[edit]

The title refers in part to Ziggy's pet duck. It also refers to Frank's realization that the docks are under surveillance and to the coverup measures he has to take. This could also be seen as a warning call to surrounding characters or the audience about McNulty's actions after his failed reconciliation with his ex-wife.

Epigraph[edit]

How come they don't fly away?

— Ziggy

Ziggy asks why the ducks don't leave their cages when they are free to do so, the reason being that their wings are clipped. This serves as a metaphor for many of the groups in The Wire, and the individuals that find themselves in some way caged—the stevedores, the illegal immigrants, D'Angelo, the police, the corner boys.

Non-fiction elements[edit]

Ziggy references Stephen L. Miles, a Baltimore lawyer remembered by locals due to the local-run late-night commercial advertising his firm.^[4]

Credits[edit]

Starring cast[edit]

Although credited, Idris Elba and Wood Harris do not appear in this episode. This is notable for being the first episode where Idris Elba does not appear.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

• "Duck and Cover" Archived June 26, 2012, at the Wayback Machine at HBO.com
• "Duck and Cover" at IMDb