.gif)
One Arrest (The Wire episode)
Encyclopedia
"One Arrest" is the seventh episode of the first season of the HBO original series, The Wire
. The episode was written by Rafael Alvarez
from a story by David Simon
& Ed Burns
and was directed by Joe Chappelle
. It originally aired on July 14, 2002.
Another interpretation of the title is that it refers to Rawls's demand that Santangelo close at least one case; for a homicide case to be considered "closed" only requires that a suspect be arrested and charged. After the suspect is charged, the murder is considered closed/solved even if the suspect is not convicted; this is why, earlier in the season, Rawls pushes for arrests on murders in order to help the statistics, even though the cases are weak.
.
, Leander Sydnor
and Kima Greggs
make a labored arrest of the package carrier, but let Stinkum (the driver) get away to protect the wiretap. Stinkum pages Stringer Bell from outside the towers and Sydnor rushes over to photograph him as the call is returned, so they can legally monitor the phone call. In interrogation, Prez recognizes the carrier as Kevin Johnston, the boy he blinded in one eye in Episode 2. Lieutenant Daniels
appeals to Johnston to contact him if he ever wants to change his life; Johnston mocks his offer.
Detective McNulty
and ASA Rhonda Pearlman
meet with Judge Phelan, who pulls McNulty up in his poor grammar, but nonetheless decisively agrees to back the detectives. He then flirts with Pearlman, but when she leaves he opens up to McNulty and asks him to respond. Phelan gives support to McNulty - phone calls at "50 cents a pop" no longer work.
Phelan is surprised that Daniels stood up for the wiretaps, and worries that McNulty no longer trusts him since the murdered witness story hit the newspapers. McNulty feels that he cannot trust anyone at the moment. Daniels attends a fundraiser with his wife, Marla. Also in attendance are Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell
and State Senator Clay Davis
. Daniels finds himself in the kitchen with Davis’ driver Damien "Day-Day" Price, who is viewing the house's valuables. He speculates about the profit that could be made until Daniels reveals that he is a police officer.
Major William Rawls
puts more pressure on Detective Michael Santangelo to inform him of McNulty's actions. He then gives him an ultimatum - if he wishes to remain in homicide, he must either clear at least one of his unsolved cases by day's end or inform on McNulty. Sergeant Jay Landsman
jokingly recommends a psychic, Madame LaRue, and a desperate Santangelo follows his advice.
McNulty and Bunk Moreland
work on the William Gant murder case based on Omar Little
’s tip that Bird Hilton was involved. They canvass the buildings opposite the crime scene looking for witnesses and find an older woman who corroborates Omar's story, and is willing to testify. Omar informs them where Bird goes to get high. The entire detail covers the shooting gallery; when Bird comes out, Bubbles identifies him and Freamon neutralizes him with a Malt Liquor
bottle. Bird is arrested, and a ballistics
test confirms that his gun was the murder weapon. After Bird refuses to cooperate with the interrogation and repeatedly and profanely insults the interrogators, Greggs in particular, he is beaten by Daniels, Landsman, and Greggs. Omar gives a statement to Bunk, criticizing Bird for killing a civilian. When Bunk asks Omar if he has any other tips on old murders, he gives information of Denise Redding, which happens to be one of Detective Santangelo's open cases. McNulty relays Omar’s information to Santangelo, waking him up at home to inform him they have solved one of his open cases. Relieved, Santangelo tells McNulty that Rawls is after him. McNulty visits Pearlman to discuss his worries about Rawls as he loves the job too much for Rawls to take it from him.
' behalf; part of his deal involves going into a treatment program. Bubbles and Johnny attend a Narcotics Anonymous
meeting as part of the deal. Bubbles is impressed by the speaker, Walon, and declares that he has a strong desire to live at the end of the meeting.
D'Angelo Barksdale
visits Orlando's to see Avon Barksdale
. Orlando tells D'Angelo he has a proposition for him. Later, Orlando asks him to help sell some cocaine from New Orleans behind Avon’s back; D'Angelo tells Orlando he will have to think about it.
In the office, Stringer Bell
berates Stinkum for talking on the phone and insists that something is wrong in D'Angelo's crew. Avon tells D'Angelo to change up and stop all trade for now. Avon also worries that the police do not seem to be onto Stinkum, as they should have connected him through the truck's plate number already. In The Pit, Bodie Broadus
quizzes fellow dealer Poot Carr
about Wallace
. Wallace is holed up in his squat and has started taking drugs, as he is still upset over the murder of Brandon. Stringer orders them to rip out the payphones in the pit and to vary which payphones they use, not using the same one more than once per day.
The WIRE
the WIRE is the student-run College radio station at the University of Oklahoma, broadcasting in a freeform format. The WIRE serves the University of Oklahoma and surrounding communities, and is staffed by student DJs. The WIRE broadcasts at 1710 kHz AM in Norman, Oklahoma...
. The episode was written by Rafael Alvarez
Rafael Alvarez
Rafael Alvarez is an American journalist, author and television producer and writer. Alvarez worked as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun prior to starting a career in television. He has worked as a writer and story editor on the Home Box Office drama series The Wire and a writer and producer on the...
from a story by David Simon
David Simon
David Simon is an American author, journalist, and a writer/producer of television series. He worked for the Baltimore Sun City Desk for twelve years. He wrote Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and co-wrote The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood with Ed Burns...
& Ed Burns
Ed Burns
Ed Burns is a producer, screenwriter, and novelist. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. They have collaborated on The Corner and The Wire . Burns is a former Baltimore police detective for the Homicide and Narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher...
and was directed by Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle
Joe Chappelle is an American film and television director and producer. Chappelle was a Co-executive producer and regular Director for the HBO crime drama The Wire...
. It originally aired on July 14, 2002.
Title reference
The title of this episode seemingly refers to the arrest of Bird for the murder of William Gant, the major event of the episode. As the wire taps are killed by the payphone removal, "One Arrest" -- that of Kevin Johnston, the runner—is also the sum total of progress the unit made from information gathered from the wire.Another interpretation of the title is that it refers to Rawls's demand that Santangelo close at least one case; for a homicide case to be considered "closed" only requires that a suspect be arrested and charged. After the suspect is charged, the murder is considered closed/solved even if the suspect is not convicted; this is why, earlier in the season, Rawls pushes for arrests on murders in order to help the statistics, even though the cases are weak.
Epigraph
Bunk uses this phrase when Omar discusses his rules for life on the street. It also refers to the codes that the law and the street also follow, such as that there should be no talking on phones about business which Stinkum breaks resulting in being berated by Stringer.Non-fiction elements
The scene in the bar in which McNulty tells Bunk why he respects him, recounting quite explicitly a metaphorical homosexual encounter they had, was previously in the book Homicide: A Year on the Killing StreetsHomicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets is a 1991 book written by Baltimore Sun reporter David Simon describing a year spent with detectives from the Baltimore Police Department homicide squad...
.
Guest stars
- Peter GeretyPeter GeretyPeter Gerety is an American actor.Gerety began acting while a student at Boston University, participating in productions at the Charles Playhouse. In 1965, he joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company, a resident theater company in Providence, Rhode Island where he appeared in over 125...
as Judge Daniel Phelan - Seth GilliamSeth GilliamSeth Gilliam is an American actor. He is known for his HBO television roles, first as corrections officer-turned-prisoner Clayton Hughes on Oz, and later as Baltimore police detective promoted to sergeant Ellis Carver on The Wire. On both of these series, he co-starred with Lance Reddick and J.D....
as Detective Ellis CarverEllis CarverEllis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit... - Domenick LombardozziDomenick LombardozziDomenico "Domenick" Lombardozzi is an American actor best known for his role as Thomas "Herc" Hauk on The Wire. Lombardozzi was inspired to act by the film State of Grace.-Filmography:...
as Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk - Clarke PetersClarke PetersClarke Peters is an American actor, singer, writer and director best known for his role as Detective Lester Freamon on the HBO drama The Wire.-Early life:...
as Detective Lester FreamonLester FreamonLester Freamon is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Clarke Peters. Freamon is a detective in the Baltimore Police Department's Major Crimes Unit... - Jim True-FrostJim True-FrostJim True-Frost, born Jim True, is an American stage, television and screen actor. He is most known for his portrayal of Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski on all five seasons of the HBO program The Wire.-Biography:...
as Detective Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski - Leo FitzpatrickLeo FitzpatrickLeonardo Aurellio Randy "Leo" Fitzpatrick is an American actor.-Biography:Leo Fitzpatrick was born in West Orange, New Jersey. He was discovered at age 14 by director Larry Clark at Washington Square Park in New York City, skateboarding. Fitzpatrick was trying to perform certain skating tricks,...
as Johnny Weeks - J. D. WilliamsJ. D. WilliamsDarnell "J.D." Williams is an American actor with starring roles in the HBO television programs Oz and The Wire, in which he appeared as Preston "Bodie" Broadus...
as Preston "Boadie" BroadusBodie BroadusPreston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks... - Hassan JohnsonHassan JohnsonHassan 'Iniko' Johnson is an American actor/producer from Staten Island, NY, born November 19, 1976. His most noted performance was appearing on the HBO program The Wire as Roland Wee-Bey Brice. His first acting role was in the 1995 Spike Lee film Clockers. He also had a significant role in the...
as Roland "Wee-Bey" BriceWee-Bey BriceRoland "Wee-Bey" Brice is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Hassan Johnson. Wee-Bey was the Barksdale Organization's most trusted soldier before being sentenced to life imprisonment for multiple homicides.... - Corey Parker-Robinson as Detective Leander SydnorLeander SydnorLeander Sydnor is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Corey Parker Robinson. Sydnor is a young, married Baltimore Police detective who was a member of the Barksdale detail and later worked in the Major Crimes Unit.-Season 1:...
- Steve EarleSteve EarleStephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
as Walon - Michael B. JordanMichael B. JordanMichael Bakari Jordan is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as teenage drug dealer Wallace on the HBO drama television series The Wire, for his role as Reggie Montgomery in All My Children, as quarterback Vince Howard on the NBC television series Friday Night Lights, and since...
as WallaceWallace (The Wire)Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr... - Michael K. WilliamsMichael K. WilliamsMichael Kenneth Williams is an American actor known for his portrayal of Omar Little on the HBO drama series The Wire, and of Albert "Chalky" White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.-Early life and career:...
as Omar LittleOmar LittleOmar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game".... - Maria Broom as Marla Daniels
- Michael Salconi as Detective Michael Santangelo
- Delaney WilliamsDelaney WilliamsDelaney Williams is an American actor from Washington, D.C. He appears on the HBO drama The Wire as a recurring guest star playing homicide sergeant Jay Landsman. He also had a small role on HBO's mini-series The Corner which brought him to the attention of the producers, who worked on The prior to...
as Sergeant Jay LandsmanJay Landsman (The Wire)Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work... - Tray ChaneyTray ChaneyTray Chaney is an American actor. He appeared on the HBO program The Wire as Poot Carr.Chaney began his entertainment career as a dancer at the age of four winning competitions at the Apollo Theater. He appeared in the 2003 music video "My Baby" by rap artist Bow Wow. He later appeared in The Wire...
as Malik "Poot" CarrPoot CarrMalik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him... - Clayton LeBouefClayton LeBouefClayton LeBouef is an African American actor, best known for his recurring role as Colonel George Barnfather in Homicide: Life on the Street...
as Wendell "Orlando" Blocker - Brandon Price as Anton "Stinkum" Artis
- Donnell RawlingsDonnell RawlingsDonnell Rawlings is an American comedian and actor.-Career:Notable roles include appearing in Chappelle's Show, as well as making a guest appearance in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 and a cameo appearance in the music video for Jim Jones' "We Fly High"...
as Damien "Day-Day" Price - Jimmy Jelani Manners as Kevin Johnston
- Lizan Mitchell as Shooting Witness
- Robin Skye as Madame LaRue
- Fredro StarrFredro StarrFredro Scruggs better known by his stage name Fredro Starr, is an American rapper and actor from South Jamaica, Queens, New York best known as a member of hardcore hip hop group Onyx.-Music career:...
as Marquis "Bird" Hilton
Uncredited appearances
- Isiah Whitlock, Jr.Isiah Whitlock, Jr.Isiah Whitlock Jr. is an American actor.He is most famous for his role on the HBO television series, The Wire as corrupt state senator Clay Davis. He also is notable for appearing in Spike Lee films She Hate Me and 25th Hour as Agent Amos Flood...
as Senator R. Clayton "Clay" DavisClay DavisState Senator R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes...
The police
The Barksdale detail discuss the information they have garnered from their cloned pagers and wiretap, with Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski showing a surprising gift for decrypting messages. They have identified a resupply with a specific time. Detectives Herc, Ellis CarverEllis Carver
Ellis Carver is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Seth Gilliam. Carver is an African American lieutenant and formerly in command of the Baltimore Police Department's Western District Drug Enforcement Unit...
, Leander Sydnor
Leander Sydnor
Leander Sydnor is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Corey Parker Robinson. Sydnor is a young, married Baltimore Police detective who was a member of the Barksdale detail and later worked in the Major Crimes Unit.-Season 1:...
and Kima Greggs
Kima Greggs
Detective Shakima "Kima" Greggs is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Sonja Sohn. Greggs is a police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer and capable detective with some off-the-job issues. Openly lesbian, she has had problems...
make a labored arrest of the package carrier, but let Stinkum (the driver) get away to protect the wiretap. Stinkum pages Stringer Bell from outside the towers and Sydnor rushes over to photograph him as the call is returned, so they can legally monitor the phone call. In interrogation, Prez recognizes the carrier as Kevin Johnston, the boy he blinded in one eye in Episode 2. Lieutenant Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Cedric Daniels is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Lance Reddick. He is a well regarded officer in the department whose focus is on good police work and quality arrests...
appeals to Johnston to contact him if he ever wants to change his life; Johnston mocks his offer.
Detective McNulty
Jimmy McNulty
Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by British actor Dominic West. McNulty is an Irish American detective in the Baltimore Police Department...
and ASA Rhonda Pearlman
Rhonda Pearlman
Rhonda Pearlman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Deirdre Lovejoy. Pearlman has been the legal system liaison for all of Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' investigations on the show...
meet with Judge Phelan, who pulls McNulty up in his poor grammar, but nonetheless decisively agrees to back the detectives. He then flirts with Pearlman, but when she leaves he opens up to McNulty and asks him to respond. Phelan gives support to McNulty - phone calls at "50 cents a pop" no longer work.
Phelan is surprised that Daniels stood up for the wiretaps, and worries that McNulty no longer trusts him since the murdered witness story hit the newspapers. McNulty feels that he cannot trust anyone at the moment. Daniels attends a fundraiser with his wife, Marla. Also in attendance are Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Ervin Burrell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Frankie Faison. Burrell was an officer in the Baltimore Police Department who ascended from Deputy Commissioner of Operations to Commissioner over the course of the show...
and State Senator Clay Davis
Clay Davis
State Senator R. Clayton "Clay" Davis is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Davis is a corrupt Maryland State Senator with a reputation for pocketing bribes...
. Daniels finds himself in the kitchen with Davis’ driver Damien "Day-Day" Price, who is viewing the house's valuables. He speculates about the profit that could be made until Daniels reveals that he is a police officer.
Major William Rawls
William Rawls
William A. "Bill" Rawls is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor John Doman. Over the course of the series he ascends to the rank of Superintendent of the Maryland State Police.-Season 1:...
puts more pressure on Detective Michael Santangelo to inform him of McNulty's actions. He then gives him an ultimatum - if he wishes to remain in homicide, he must either clear at least one of his unsolved cases by day's end or inform on McNulty. Sergeant Jay Landsman
Jay Landsman (The Wire)
Jay Landsman is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Delaney Williams.-Policing method:Landsman's role in the police department is that of a supervisory detective sergeant who doesn't participate in much investigation work...
jokingly recommends a psychic, Madame LaRue, and a desperate Santangelo follows his advice.
McNulty and Bunk Moreland
Bunk Moreland
William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer and nicknamed "the Bunk", an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who...
work on the William Gant murder case based on Omar Little
Omar Little
Omar Devone Little is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, portrayed by Michael K. Williams. Omar is a renowned stick-up man who lives by a strict moral code and never deviates from his rules, foremost of which is that he never robs or menaces people who are not involved in "the game"....
’s tip that Bird Hilton was involved. They canvass the buildings opposite the crime scene looking for witnesses and find an older woman who corroborates Omar's story, and is willing to testify. Omar informs them where Bird goes to get high. The entire detail covers the shooting gallery; when Bird comes out, Bubbles identifies him and Freamon neutralizes him with a Malt Liquor
Malt liquor
Malt liquor is a North American term referring to a type of beer with high alcohol content. In legal statutes, the term often includes any alcoholic beverage above or equal to 5% alcohol by volume made with malted barley. In common parlance, however, it is used for high-alcohol beers made with...
bottle. Bird is arrested, and a ballistics
Ballistics
Ballistics is the science of mechanics that deals with the flight, behavior, and effects of projectiles, especially bullets, gravity bombs, rockets, or the like; the science or art of designing and accelerating projectiles so as to achieve a desired performance.A ballistic body is a body which is...
test confirms that his gun was the murder weapon. After Bird refuses to cooperate with the interrogation and repeatedly and profanely insults the interrogators, Greggs in particular, he is beaten by Daniels, Landsman, and Greggs. Omar gives a statement to Bunk, criticizing Bird for killing a civilian. When Bunk asks Omar if he has any other tips on old murders, he gives information of Denise Redding, which happens to be one of Detective Santangelo's open cases. McNulty relays Omar’s information to Santangelo, waking him up at home to inform him they have solved one of his open cases. Relieved, Santangelo tells McNulty that Rawls is after him. McNulty visits Pearlman to discuss his worries about Rawls as he loves the job too much for Rawls to take it from him.
The street
Greggs gets Johnny out of his charge for possession on BubblesBubbles (The Wire)
Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Andre Royo. Bubbles is a recovering heroin addict. His real name is not revealed until a fourth-season episode when he is called "Mr. Cousins" and in the fifth-season premiere when he is called "Reginald"...
' behalf; part of his deal involves going into a treatment program. Bubbles and Johnny attend a Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous
Narcotics Anonymous is a twelve-step program modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous describing itself as a "fellowship or society of men and women for whom drugs had become a major problem," and it is the second-largest 12-step organization...
meeting as part of the deal. Bubbles is impressed by the speaker, Walon, and declares that he has a strong desire to live at the end of the meeting.
D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo Barksdale
D'Angelo "D" Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Larry Gilliard Jr. D'Angelo is the nephew of Avon Barksdale and a lieutenant in his drug dealing organization which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore...
visits Orlando's to see Avon Barksdale
Avon Barksdale
Avon Randolph Barksdale is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire portrayed by actor Wood Harris. Avon is the dominant drug dealer of Baltimore's West Side, running the Barksdale Organization...
. Orlando tells D'Angelo he has a proposition for him. Later, Orlando asks him to help sell some cocaine from New Orleans behind Avon’s back; D'Angelo tells Orlando he will have to think about it.
In the office, Stringer Bell
Stringer Bell
Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment...
berates Stinkum for talking on the phone and insists that something is wrong in D'Angelo's crew. Avon tells D'Angelo to change up and stop all trade for now. Avon also worries that the police do not seem to be onto Stinkum, as they should have connected him through the truck's plate number already. In The Pit, Bodie Broadus
Bodie Broadus
Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor J. D. Williams. Bodie is initially a Barksdale organization drug dealer in "The Pit" who slowly rises through the ranks...
quizzes fellow dealer Poot Carr
Poot Carr
Malik "Poot" Carr is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Tray Chaney. Poot is a drug dealer in the Barksdale Organization who slowly rises through the ranks, but ends up serving time in prison as his institution collapses around him...
about Wallace
Wallace (The Wire)
Wallace is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Michael B. Jordan. Wallace is a 16-year-old drug dealer for the Barksdale Organization, who works in the low-rise projects crew known as "The Pit" with his friends and fellow dealers Bodie Broadus and Poot Carr...
. Wallace is holed up in his squat and has started taking drugs, as he is still upset over the murder of Brandon. Stringer orders them to rip out the payphones in the pit and to vary which payphones they use, not using the same one more than once per day.