The Pager

Avon gets more cautious and aware he might be under surveillance and Omar shares information about a common enemy.

This is an excellent episode with clever plotting and great character work.

There are some key moments in this episode that greatly impact the main narrative of the season. They come with a strong level of irony given the failures by the police detail to fully observe events as they are transpiring. This is tied into some of the main themes of the episode about the need to be careful, organised and alert to the dangers of 'the game'. All the scenes involving Avon, Omar, and the police wiretap of D'Angelo's pager tie in well to this.

D'Angelo's character further develops in his attitude towards the business and the mentality of people in his life. Two scenes that contrast well are one set in a nice restaurant and the other in Orlando's.

Herc, Carver and Bodie interact in scenes that both shock and entertain. There is a certain level of amusement in thinking that if they were all on the same team they would be good pals. Also pretty humorous is McNulty in a few scenes concerning his personal life, particularly the way he describes his ex-wife after an irate conversation.

As ever the production values are superb with great cinematography and editing. The final sequence involving the wiretap technology capturing certain calls taking place is very effective considering you know something terrible and unseen is happening.

All performances are great as ever with Michael K Williams, Wood Harris, J D Williams, Seth Gilliam, Domenic Lombardozzi, Dominic West, and Lawrence Gilliard Jr with particularly good screen time.

For me it's a 9.5/10 but I round upwards.