"More with Less" is the first episode of the fifth season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, 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 based a ...

original series ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

''. 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

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

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 The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agents to the BPD in exchange for the city allowing the investigation into the corrupt

State Senator A state senator is a member of a State legislature (United States), state's senate in the bicameral legislature of 49 U.S. states, or a member of the unicameral Nebraska Legislature. History There are typically fewer state senators than there ...

Clay Davis to be made a federal case. 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 In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

is prioritizing Davis over 22 murders. Detective Jimmy McNulty, having already fallen back into his old habits of

alcoholism Alcoholism is the continued drinking of alcohol despite it causing problems. Some definitions require evidence of dependence and withdrawal. Problematic use of alcohol has been mentioned in the earliest historical records. The World He ...

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 ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...

'' 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 A strip club (also known as a strip joint, striptease bar, peeler bar, gentlemen's club, among others) is a venue where strippers provide adult entertainment, predominantly in the form of striptease and other erotic dances including lap dances. St ...

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 that his sister is assigned to night shift, as she does not trust him enough to leave him alone in her house. He works as a

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

distributor for the ''Sun'' to commuters. He sells a copy to Campbell, who is outraged by the Hendrix story.

Production

Guest stars

* Frankie Faison as Ervin Burrell *

Amy Ryan Amy Beth Dziewiontkowski (born May 3, 1968), known professionally as Amy Ryan, is an American actress. She began her professional stage career in 1987 and made her Broadway debut in 1993 as a replacement in the original production of Wendy W ...

as Beatrice "Beadie" Russell * Marlyne Afflack as Nerese Campbell * Robert F. Chew as Proposition Joe * Delaney Williams as Jay Landsman * Felicia Pearson as

Felicia "Snoop" Pearson Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is a semi-fictional character on the HBO series ''The Wire'', played by the actress of the same name. She is a young female soldier in Marlo Stanfield's drug dealing organization and Chris Partlow's earliest protégé. ...

*Duane Rawlings as Hungry Man *Troj Marquis Strickland as Ricardo "Fatface Rick" Hendrix * Anwan Glover as Slim Charles *

David Costabile David Costabile (; born January 9, 1967) is an American actor. He is best known for his television work, having appeared in supporting roles in several television series such as '' Billions'', ''Breaking Bad'' and ''Better Call Saul'', ''Damages ...

as Thomas Klebanow * Sam Freed as James Whiting * Dion Graham as Rupert Bond *Bruce Kirkpatrick as Roger Twigg * Jay Landsman as Dennis Mello * Ed Norris as Ed Norris *

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

as Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff *Joseph Urla as Maryland District US Attorney *Gregory L. Williams as Michael Crutchfield * William F. Zorzi as Bill Zorzi *Bobby J. Brown as

Bobby Brown Robert Barisford Brown Sr. (born February 5, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and dancer. Alongside frequent collaborator Teddy Riley, he is recognized as a pioneer of new jack swing: a fusion of hip-hop and Contemporary R&B, R ...

* Benjamin Busch as Anthony Colicchio *Rick Otto as Kenneth Dozerman *Ryan Sands as Lloyd "Truck" Garrick *Ron Tucker as Unknown *Thomas J. McCarthy as Tim Phelps *Donald Neal as Jay Spry *Robert Poletick as Steven Luxenberg *Kara Quick as Rebecca Corbett *Todd Scofield as Jeff Price *Eisa Davis as Bubbles' Sister *Gil Deeble as Hucklebuck *Edward Green as

Spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...

*Dante Painter, Jr. as DeShawn *Corbin Smith as Monell *Peter Linari as Pete the Bartender * Laura Lippman as Laura Lippman * Michael Olesker as Michael Olesker *Gene Terinoni as Jimmy Asher *Brandon Young as Mike Fletcher *Lee Everett Cox as Aaron Castor *Dennis Hill as Detective Christeson *Juhahn Jones as Drug Dealer *Brian E. McLarney as Officer Brian McLarney *Jermaine Shorts as Unknown *Jay Spadaro as Officer Lee Everett Cox and David Costabile's names are misspelled in the credits as Lee Evertt Cox and David Costible, respectively.

Uncredited appearances

*Mike D. Anderson as

Ghost In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

*Keenon Brice as Bug * Darrell Britt-Gibson as O-Dog * Chris Clanton as Savino Bratton * Thuliso Dingwall as Kenard

First appearances

* Gus Haynes - a veteran of ''The Baltimore Sun'' and city desk editor * Scott Templeton - reporter * Alma Gutierrez - reporter * James Whiting - the paper's

Executive Editor Executive ( exe., exec., execu.) may refer to: Role or title * Executive, a senior management role in an organization ** Chief executive officer (CEO), one of the highest-ranking corporate officers (executives) or administrators ** Executive dir ...

* Thomas Klebanow - the paper's

Managing Editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

* Steven Luxenberg - the paper's Metro Desk Editor * Tim Phelps - the paper's State Desk Editor * Rebecca Corbett - the paper's Regional Affairs Editor * Jay Spry - veteran rewrite man * Roger Twigg - long-serving reporter * Mike Fletcher - young general assignments reporter * Det. Christeson - new member of the homicide unit who has McNulty's old desk

References

External links

"More with Less"
at HBO.com * {{The Wire episodes The Wire season 5 episodes 2008 American television episodes Television episodes written by David Simon