by Nicholas Beaudrot of Electoral Math
One of the sobering observations of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, the book that launched Wire creator David Simon's television career, is the damage that forensic procedurals have done to the criminal justice system. Colombo, Murder She Wrote, CSI, and their brethren have left American television viewers, and therefore jurors, with the impression that investigative policework can patch together a complete picture of the criminal act and establish the defendant's motive. Anything less constitutes "reasonable doubt" that the defense bar will attempt to exploit. In practice, police usually rely on brute force to canvass for witnesses, hunt for audio and video recordings, and hopefully find a weapon. Yet tonight we were treated to the series' third forensic deus ex machina. First McNulty & Bunk solved a cold case in the Barksdale file while using only the F-Word; then Jimmy debunked D'Angelo's suicide-that-wasn't; and this year Greggs solves the state's witness murder thanks to "soft eyes"—in a matter of minutes. I was surprised, and a tad disappointed, to see Simon and his team of writers (which include the authors of realist crime novels like Clockers and Mystic River) would rely on such a crutch.
As for the episode itself, it was refreshing to get a reminder that Omar is, in fact, a bad guy. Soon-to-be-Mayor Carcetti seems to be eyeing the possibility of Commissioner Daniels, which is sure to bend an awful lot of noses in the departent. Something tells me we're going to find out why the fancy books & hardware were collecting dust in the book room in a later episode. Prez's sudden ability to win over the class feels sudden. And the "special curriculum" doesn't seem to be going anywhere, though it's not like the school system was accomplishing much for those at the lower end of the spectrum to begin with.
Consider this an open thread on The Wire and associated education/crime/urban policy issues.
