More with Less

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"More with Less"
The Wire episode
More with Less.jpg
Newly promoted Sergeant Ellis Carver struggles to deal with officer discontent stemming from unpaid overtime.
Episode no.Season 5
Episode 1
Directed byJoe Chappelle
Story byDavid Simon
Ed Burns
Teleplay byDavid Simon
Original air dateJanuary 6, 2008 (2008-01-06)
Running time58 minutes
Episode chronology
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"More with Less" is the first episode of the fifth season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Joe Chappelle. It originally aired on January 6, 2008.

Plot Summary[]

The bigger the lie, the more they believe.

— Bunk

Mayor Tommy Carcetti's plan to rejuvenate the Baltimore Police Department has been halted by funding cuts necessitated by the city's education deficit. Carcetti and Council President Nerese Campbell meet with a Republican U.S. Attorney who promises to lend a dozen FBI agents to the BPD in exchange for the corrupt State Senator Clay Davis. Carcetti fears that the U.S. Attorney will use the case to discredit the Democrats, while Campbell sees State's Attorney Rupert Bond's case against Davis as a means of eventually running for mayor. Carcetti's cuts cause the Major Crimes Unit (MCU) to shut down, effectively ending the investigation into the vacant murders. Detectives Lester Freamon and Leander Sydnor take over the Davis investigation.

Colonel Cedric Daniels is outraged that City Hall is prioritizing Davis over 22 murders. Detective Jimmy McNulty, having already fallen back into his old habits of alcoholism and infidelity while working in the MCU, is despondent upon his return to Homicide. In the Western District, Sergeant Ellis Carver struggles to keep up morale following pay cuts. Herc is now working as an investigator for defense attorney Maurice Levy. Marlo Stanfield intimidates other drug dealers into buying his product and causes unrest in the New Day Co-Op. He gets Chris Partlow to find Sergei Malatov as a connection to the Co-Ops' suppliers. Partlow visits the courthouse, where he unwittingly approaches Daniels, Bond, and Rhonda Pearlman to ask for directions. Michael Lee is acting as an enforcer under Partlow, while his friend and cohabitant Duquan "Dukie" Weems runs their drug dealing crew. Dukie has not gained the respect of the crew, and Michael suggests paying him for looking after his younger brother Bug instead.

The Baltimore Sun also faces budget cuts, but editor Augustus "Gus" Haynes remains principled and efficient. The Sun breaks a story about Campbell's relocation of drug dealer Ricardo "Fat-Face Rick" Hendrix's strip club out of a redeveloping neighborhood at a considerable cost to the city budget, linking the plan to campaign contributions from Hendrix and Campbell's associates. Ambitious reporter Scott Templeton remains dissatisfied while his colleague Alma Gutierrez, who got a choice quote from Hendrix for the story, is happy with her work. Bubbles lives in his sister's basement and no longer uses drugs, but leaves each evening as his sister does not trust him enough to leave him alone in her house. He works as a rush hour distributor for the Sun to commuters. He sells a copy to Campbell, who is outraged by the Hendrix story.[1][2]

Production[]

Guest stars[]

Lee Everett Cox and David Costabile's names are misspelled in the credits as Lee Evertt Cox and David Costible, respectively.

Uncredited appearances[]

First appearances[]

  • Gus Haynes - a veteran of The Baltimore Sun and city desk editor[3]
  • Scott Templeton - reporter[4]
  • Alma Gutierrez - reporter[5]
  • James Whiting - the paper's Executive Editor[6]
  • Thomas Klebanow - the paper's Managing Editor[7]
  • Steven Luxenberg - the paper's Metro Desk Editor[8]
  • Tim Phelps - the paper's State Desk Editor[9]
  • Rebecca Corbett - the paper's Regional Affairs Editor[10]
  • Jay Spry - veteran rewrite man[11]
  • Roger Twigg - long-serving reporter[12]
  • Mike Fletcher - young general assignments reporter[13]
  • Det. Christeson - new member of the homicide unit who has McNulty's old desk

References[]

  1. ^ Joe Chappelle (director); David Simon (story and teleplay), Ed Burns (story) (January 6, 2008). "More with Less". The Wire. Season 5. Episode 1. HBO.
  2. ^ "The Wire episode guide - episode 51 More with Less". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 22, 2008.
  3. ^ "Character profile - City Editor Augustus "Gus" Haynes". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  4. ^ "Character profile - Scott Templeton". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  5. ^ "Character profile - Alma Gutierrez". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  6. ^ "Character profile - Executive Editor James Whiting". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  7. ^ "Character profile - Managing Editor Thomas Klebanow". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  8. ^ "Character profile - Steven Luxenberg". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  9. ^ "Character profile - State Editor Tim Phelps". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  10. ^ "Character profile - Rebecca Corbett". HBO. 2008. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  11. ^ "Character profile - Rewrite man Jay Spry". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  12. ^ "Character profile - Roger Twigg". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  13. ^ "Character profile - Mike Fletcher". HBO. 2008. Retrieved January 7, 2008.

External links[]

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