"-30-" is the

series finale A series finale is the final installment of an episodic entertainment series, most often a television series. It may also refer to a final theatrical sequel, the last part of a television miniseries, the last installment of a literary series, or ...

of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

original series '' The Wire''. With a running time of 93 minutes, this tenth and final episode of the fifth season is the longest episode of the series. The episode was written by series creator/executive producer David Simon ( teleplay/story) and co-executive producer Ed Burns (story). It was directed by Clark Johnson, who also directed the pilot episode and stars on the show. It aired on March 9, 2008. The episode's writers were nominated for the

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series is an award presented annually by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). It was first awarded at the 7th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, held in 1955 and it is given in ...

Plot

Tommy Carcetti and his staff learn that the "serial killer" was a hoax. McNulty and Freamon, unaware that their scheme has been exposed, discover that Gary DiPasquale has leaked courthouse documents to Levy. When Freamon gives

Pearlman Pearlman ( he, פרלמן) is a surname. It is typically an Anglicized version of the Ashkenazi Jewish surname Perelman. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan R. Pearlman, American engineer and entrepreneur, founder of ARP Instruments, Inc ...

the identity of the mole, she reveals her knowledge of the detectives' duplicity. Templeton calls 911, and claims there was an attempted kidnapping of an inebriated homeless man which he witnessed. When the police arrive, the man is too drunk to confirm or deny the claims, though an undercover officer at the scene confirms that Templeton made up the story. Marlo and his crew learn of Snoop's death and agree that Michael must be eliminated.

Cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

posts bail and Marlo instructs him to hunt down Michael. Freamon informs McNulty that Daniels and Pearlman know about the hoax and the illegal wiretap. Levy goes through the Stanfield arrest warrants and realizes that the police used an illegal wiretap to decipher the code beforehand. McNulty, Bunk, and Greggs arrive at the scene of another homeless murder, and are distraught that McNulty's fictitious serial killer has inspired a copycat. Pearlman and Bond are told by Steintorf to quietly settle the Stanfield case out of court to keep the illegal wiretaps from being brought to light. Pearlman meets with Levy and uses a taped conversation given to her by Freamon to force him to settle. McNulty is confronted by Daniels and Rawls, who order him to quickly catch the copycat so that the press will assume he's the original killer. McNulty identifies a mentally ill homeless man as the killer and the

Baltimore Police Department The Baltimore Police Department (BPD) is the municipal police department of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Dating back to 1784, the BPD, consisting of 2,935 employees in 2020, is organized into nine districts covering of land and of waterway ...

charge him with two of the six "murders". Carcetti holds a press conference taking credit for both the "serial killer's" capture and the Stanfield arrests, then promotes Daniels to Police Commissioner. However, after Steintorf once again requests that Daniels "juke the stats" to boost Carcetti's position on crime reduction, he refuses, and is forced to resign after Campbell threatens to expose his past wrongdoings. Cheese is killed by Slim Charles for his role in Proposition Joe's murder. McNulty locates Larry and drives him back to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...

, stopping to look over the city on the way. In a closing montage, Carcetti is elected governor while Campbell becomes mayor; Valchek replaces Daniels as Commissioner; Pearlman, now a judge, recuses herself from a case Daniels is arguing; Bubbles eats a meal with his sister in her kitchen; Marlo becomes a "legitimate businessman" and realizes he has lost his street cred; Spider runs his own crew on Bodie Broadus's former corner; Michael and a partner stick up Vinson, deliberately emulating Omar; the remaining Co-Op members meet with Vondas and The Greek; Dukie uses the money he borrowed from Prez to feed his new drug addiction; Templeton wins a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

while Gus and Alma are demoted;

Kenard Kenard is a fictional young drug dealer on the HBO drama series ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire'', portrayed by Thuliso Dingwall. Series Season 4 Kenard is frequently seen hanging out with Namond's circle of friends, often making fun of Duqu ...

is arrested.

Production

Title reference

-30- -30- has been traditionally used by journalists in North America to indicate the end of a story or article that is submitted for editing and typesetting. It is commonly employed when writing on deadline and sending bits of the story at a time, v ...

is a journalistic term that has been used to signify the end of a story.

Epigraph

This is seen in the lobby of the ''Baltimore Sun'', as an excerpt from a longer Mencken quote displayed on the wall when Alma talks with Gus after she has been demoted to the Carroll County bureau. The full quote reads "...as I look back over a misspent life, I find myself more and more convinced that I had more fun doing news reporting than in any other enterprise. It is really the life of kings."

Music

The Blind Boys of Alabama's version of Tom Waits' " Way Down in the Hole" plays over the episode's closing montage. This version of the song had previously been used as the theme music for the show's first season. During the scene where McNulty plays Trouble with Beadie Russell's children, the song that can be heard playing in the background is "

Rich Woman "Rich Woman" is a song written by Dorothy LaBostrie and McKinley "Li'l" Millet, who recorded it in 1955, and was most notably recorded by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on their 2007 album ''Raising Sand.'' Background The song was first recorde ...

" by Alison Krauss and

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

from their 2007 album '' Raising Sand''. "

Body of an American Body may refer to: In science * Physical body, an object in physics that represents a large amount, has mass or takes up space * Body (biology), the physical material of an organism * Body plan, the physical features shared by a group of animal ...

" by The Pogues is heard during McNulty's staged "detective's wake", making it the third time the song was used in the course of the show's run. Also, "

The Broad Majestic Shannon ''If I Should Fall from Grace with God'' is the third studio album by Irish folk-punk band the Pogues, released on 18 January 1988. Released in the wake of their biggest hit single, "Fairytale of New York", ''If I Should Fall from Grace with God ...

" can be heard echoing out of the bar in the scene after the "wake".

Credits

Starring cast

Although credited, Michael K. Williams and

Isiah Whitlock, Jr. Isiah Whitlock Jr. (born September 13, 1954) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as corrupt state senator Clay Davis on the HBO television series ''The Wire'' as well as being a frequent collaborator of Spike Lee. He has also a ...

do not appear in this episode.

Guest stars

* Jim True-Frost as Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski * Peter Gerety as Judge

Daniel Phelan Law enforcement is an integral part of the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. The show has numerous characters in this field and their roles range from those enforcing the law at street level up to those setting laws citywide. The Baltimore City Police ...

* Amy Ryan as Beatrice "Beadie" Russell * Paul Ben-Victor as Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos * Bill Raymond as The Greek * Delaney Williams as Jay Landsman *

Marlyne Afflack Marlyne Nayokah Barrett (née Afflack: born September 13, 1978) is an American actress. She had a recurring role from 2006 to 2008 as Nerese Campbell in the HBO crime drama ''The Wire'' and in 2007, she had a recurring role as Felicia Marquand in ...

as Nerese Campbell *

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

as Walon *

Ptolemy Slocum Ptolemy Slocum (born 20 November 1975) is an American actor, known for his role as Sylvester in ''Westworld''. Slocum was born in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. He was named after the Greek astronomer Claudius Ptolemy and has been active as an actor ...

as Business Card Homeless Man *Maria Broom as

Marla Daniels The following are politicians, family members, and assistants administrating the politics of Baltimore on '' The Wire''. Maryland State politicians Clay Davis * Played by: Isiah Whitlock, Jr. * Appears in: :Season one: "One Arrest"; " The Cost" ...

* David Costabile as Thomas Klebanow * Sam Freed as James Whiting *

Anwan Glover Ralph Anwan Glover (born May 5, 1971 in Washington, D.C.) is an American rapper, actor, model, DJ, and founding member of the D.C.-based go-go band "BackYard Band" (also abbreviated as "BYB"). Glover is also known for his portrayal of Slim Charle ...

as Slim Charles * Hassan Johnson as Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice * Method Man as Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff *Dion Graham as

Rupert Bond Law enforcement is an integral part of the HBO drama series ''The Wire''. The show has numerous characters in this field and their roles range from those enforcing the law at street level up to those setting laws citywide. The Baltimore City Police ...

* Thomas J. McCarthy as Tim Phelps *Robert Poletick as Steven Luxenberg *

Michael Willis Michael Willis, (born October 4, 1949), is an American television and movie character actor. Willis' credits include movie roles in ''Pushing Tin'' and ''Men in Black'', and several episodes of '' Law & Order''. Willis was born in Lancaster, P ...

as Andy Krawczyk *Donald Neal as Jay Spry *Kara Quick as Rebecca Corbett *Brandon Young as

Mike Fletcher Mike Fletcher (born 14 April 1967) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played as a , or . He spent almost his entire club career at Hull Kingston Rovers, and is the club's record point scorer. He also played for Hunslet ...

William F. Zorzi William F. Zorzi Jr. (born 1954) is an American journalist and screenwriter. He worked at ''The Baltimore Sun'' for almost twenty years and covered politics for the majority of his career. He has also written for the Home Box Office, HBO televisi ...

as Bill Zorzi *Al Brown as Stan Valchek * Ed Norris as Ed Norris *Michael Salconi as Michael Santangelo * Brian Anthony Wilson as Vernon Holley *Megan Anderson as Jen Carcetti *Benay Berger as Amanda Reese *

Eisa Davis Eisa Davis (born May 5, 1971) is an American playwright, actress and singer-songwriter. She is most commonly known for her work as a playwright, writing shows such as ''Bulrusher'' and ''Angela's Mixtape'' as well as through her acting work, where ...

as Rae *

Tootsie Duvall Tootsie Duvall (sometimes credited as Susan Duvall or Susan "Tootsie" Duvall) is an American film, theatre and television actress. Early life She was born Susan Steinweidle. Career In recent years, she is known for her role as Assistant Pri ...

as Assistant Principal Marcia Donnelly *

Wendy Grantham Wendy is a given name now generally given to girls in English-speaking countries. In Britain, Wendy appeared as a masculine name in a parish record in 1615. It was also used as a surname in Britain from at least the 17th century. Its popularity ...

as Shardene Innes *Bobby Brown as Bobby Brown *Dennis Hill as Detective Christeson *Doug Olear as

Terrance "Fitz" Fitzhugh Terrance is a given name. Notable people with the name include: People * Terrance Brennan, American chef and restaurateur *Terrance Carroll (born 1969), American lawyer, minister, Speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives *Terrance Cauthen ...

*Rick Otto as

Kenneth Dozerman The Baltimore Police Department plays an integral part in '' The Wire''. Command The department is led by a Police Commissioner assisted by Deputy Commissioners of Operations (often shortened to Deputy Ops) and Administration. The Police Commissio ...

*Gregory L. Williams as Michael Crutchfield *Thuliso Dingwall as

*Dave Ettlin as Dave Ettlin *Edward Green as Spider *Kwame Patterson as Monk Metcalf * Stephen Schnetzer as Robert Ruby *Carl Schoettler as Carl Schoettler *William Joseph Brookes as Lawrence Butler *Sho "Swordsman" Brown as Phil Boy *Norris Davis as Vinson *Reggie A. Green as Arabber *Joey Odoms as Corner boy *Troj. Marquis Strickland as Ricardo "Fat Face Rick" Hendrix *Connor Aikin as Jack Russell *Sophia Ayoud as Cary Russell * Gary D'Addario as

Gary DiPasquale Law enforcement is an integral part of the HBO drama series ''The Wire (TV series), The Wire''. The show has numerous characters in this field and their roles range from those enforcing the law at street level up to those setting laws citywide. The ...

*Clinton "Shorty" Buise as Clinton "Shorty" Buise *Alan V. Poulson as Developer *Dionne Audain as Social Worker *Chris Kies as Petey the drunk *Stephen Kinigopoulos as Officer * Jeff Wincott as Johnny Weaver *Henry Carter as unknown *Edward C. Lewis as unknown *George Smith as unknown

Uncredited appearances

* David Simon as ''Baltimore Sun'' staff member *Rebecca Corbett as ''Baltimore Sun'' staff member

Reception

Writers Ed Burns and David Simon were nominated for the

in the category

for their work on the finale.

References

External links

"-30-"
at HBO.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:30 The Wire (season 5) episodes American television series finales 2008 American television episodes Television episodes written by David Simon