The Wire, Season 5, episode 2

I'd say that the worst thing about this episode was the portrayal of the newsroom stuff; so far it looks formulaic and predictable, but who knows? The writers have been known to throw curveballs at us before.

Aside from that, there was a lot of good stuff in this episode. For a guy who was such a villain in the first season, it was a pleasure to see Avon again, especially in contrast to the humorless Marlo -- who at least seemed to know how to talk to the Russian (and I see with the revival of the Greek connection that all of the seasons are getting tied in together -- I'm waiting to see when the Baltimore Sun's proposed series on education ends up in Prez's classroom).

I liked the humanization of Michael -- he can't shoot the kid who bears a pretty strong resemblance to his little brother. Pretty sad -- and powerfully bookended when Kima finds the other child hidden in the closet.

And Jimmy. Oh, Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy. What was a he thinking? Well, I have an idea as to what he was thinking; throw some negative publicity on the crime issue to get the major crimes unit up and running again so that they can get Marlo. Strikes me as an unlikely bank shot, but he's driven, I guess.