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The Worst Episodes of The Wire

Every episode of The Wire ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of The Wire!

The Worst Episodes of The Wire

Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the...

Seasons5

  1. Background image for Backwash
    7.4/10(36 votes)

    #1 - Backwash

    S2:E7

    'Don't worry, kid. You're still on the clock.' -- Horseface Russell tells Sobotka the investigation is over, but, in fact, a port computer is cloned, and when a container goes missing, the detectives follow. Simultaneously, Greggs and Prez tap into a circuit of Russian prostitutes. With two sets of evidence, the detail goes to Pearlman. Neither crime merits wiretap--but a drug connect could give the case legs.

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  2. Background image for The Target
    7.6/10(68 votes)

    #2 - The Target

    S1:E1

    '... when it's not your turn.' - McNulty. Baltimore homicide detective Jimmy McNulty gets into hot water and winds up assigned to a detail of narcotics outcasts charged with investigating drug lord Avon Barksdale and his powerful operation in Franklin Terrace. Meanwhile, Avon's nephew D'Angelo is fresh off beating a murder rap, but he finds himself demoted upon his return to the gang.

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    Director:Clark Johnson
  3. Background image for Duck and Cover
    7.7/10(37 votes)

    #3 - Duck and Cover

    S2:E8

    'How come they don't fly away?' -- Ziggy McNulty is back to his old self, on a drunken binge. Urged by fellow stevedores to fight Maui, Ziggy is again humiliated. Worried about McNulty, Bunk tries to get Daniels and Rawls to take him on. After some labor, the wiretap is up--just in time to catch another disappearing can. Sobotka meets with The Greek and Vondas, and they decide to change up.

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  4. Background image for Old Cases
    7.8/10(47 votes)

    #4 - Old Cases

    S1:E4

    "It's a thin line 'tween heaven and here." - Bubbles. Greggs and McNulty try to get Hardcase to turn informant as arraignment begins for those caught in the raid. Barksdale places a bounty on the head of rival gang leader Omar. Meanwhile, McNulty takes Bubbles on a cultural field trip, and Herc and Carver try to track down Bodie.

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    Director:Clement Virgo
  5. Background image for The Pager
    7.8/10(47 votes)

    #5 - The Pager

    S1:E5

    "..a little slow, a little late." - Avon Barksdale. McNulty's detail finally gets 'clone' pagers to track Barksdale and his gang, but nobody can crack the codes used by the callers. Meanwhile, Bell instructs D'Angelo on how to school his lookouts while simultaneously flushing out a possible snitch. Later, Carver and Herc find Bodie, but their interrogation doesn't turn up results.

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  6. Background image for The Detail
    7.9/10(52 votes)

    #6 - The Detail

    S1:E2

    'You cannot lose if you do not play.' - Marla Daniels. McNulty feels the heat when a witness who testified against D'Angelo is found murdered. Meanwhile, Greggs is given the lay of the land regarding Avon Barksdale's key players, and Herc, Carver and Prez find big-time trouble at the towers.

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    Director:Clark Johnson
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  8. Background image for The Buys
    7.9/10(49 votes)

    #7 - The Buys

    S1:E3

    "The king stay the king." - D'Angelo. The early-morning 'field interviews' by Herc, Carver and Prez result in a minor riot, a boy losing an eye and some bad publicity for the department. On the other side of the law, D'Angelo teaches Wallace and Bodie how to play the game (chess) and later impresses Bell with his 'take' from the low-rises.

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    Director:Peter Medak
  9. Background image for Ebb Tide
    7.9/10(36 votes)

    #8 - Ebb Tide

    S2:E1

    'Ain't never gonna be what it was.' -- Little Big Roy Det. Jimmy McNulty--exiled to police-boat duty--makes a shocking discovery in the Baltimore harbor. Bodie drives to Philly to make a connection for the Barksdale crew and Stringer Bell takes the train to New York to feel out the crew's reticent suppliers.

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  10. Background image for Collateral Damage
    7.9/10(36 votes)

    #9 - Collateral Damage

    S2:E2

    'They can chew you up, but they gotta spit you out.' -- McNulty Major Valchek gets back at Sobotka for the church gift fiasco, and a feud begins. Valchek ups the ante by asking Deputy Commissioner Burrell for a detail to go after Sobotka. Avon Barksdale continues to run his empire from a prison cell--counseling his nephew D'Angelo and going after a guard who is harassing the organization's convicted hit-man Wee-Bey.

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    Director:Ed Bianchi
  11. Background image for Hard Cases
    7.9/10(36 votes)

    #10 - Hard Cases

    S2:E4

    'If I hear the music, I'm gonna dance.' -- Greggs Sobotka reprimands his nephew Nick for stealing the cameras and orders him to bring the cargo back--too late. McNulty is on a self-assigned moral mission to identify his floater, but his old partner, Bunk, says they have a more pressing matter at hand: to find Omar so he can testify against a Barksdale trigger man in one of last year's murders.

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    Director:Elodie Keene
    Writer:Joy Lusco
  12. Background image for Undertow
    7.9/10(34 votes)

    #11 - Undertow

    S2:E5

    'They used to make steel there, no?' -- Spiros Vondas Ziggy loses his prized Camaro to drug dealers. Unable to dump the homicide investigation on other agencies, Rawls measures Bunk for the blame, if the cases go unsolved. Homicide detectives hand out grand jury summonses to stevedores involved in the homicide case, and port cop Beadie Russell talks to an old boyfriend to find out how cargo disappears from the docks.

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  13. Background image for Time After Time
    7.9/10(35 votes)

    #12 - Time After Time

    S3:E1

    "Don't matter how many times you get burnt, you just keep doin' the same." -- Bodie A wave of urban reform brings down the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers, forcing the Barksdale drug crew to find a new home. Stringer Bell uses a new sales strategy as he awaits Avon's return. McNulty and the Detail look to make a case against Stringer with a wiretap on a drug ring run by Proposition Joe.

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    Director:Ed Bianchi
  14. Background image for Dead Soldiers
    7.9/10(34 votes)

    #13 - Dead Soldiers

    S3:E3

    "The gods will not save you." -- Burrell Colvin feels the sting of Burrell and Rawls during a Comstat assessment of his district's felony numbers; a blown wiretap forces Daniels's detail to turn to a new target; Proposition Joe cautions Stringer Bell that the police have been tapping phones. Carcetti continues to curry favor in Mayor Royce's inner circle.

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  15. Background image for The Wire
    8.0/10(44 votes)

    #14 - The Wire

    S1:E6

    "..and all the pieces matter." - Freamon. When Rawls looks to make a premature arrest for three murders that are linked to D'Angelo and Avon Barksdale, McNulty and Greggs must argue for a delay in order to preserve the valuable wiretap gains they have made. Meanwhile, Wallace and D'Angelo struggle with their consciences after Avon pays them blood money.

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    Director:Ed Bianchi
  16. Background image for Lessons
    8.0/10(39 votes)

    #15 - Lessons

    S1:E8

    "Come at the king, you best not miss." - Omar. An unlikely source gives McNulty the tag of a car driven by Stringer Bell. Meanwhile, Greggs and Carver bust a congressional aide carrying dirty cash, but are forced to let him go. Omar earns his 'loose cannon' moniker.

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    Director:Gloria Muzio
  17. Background image for Hot Shots
    8.0/10(35 votes)

    #16 - Hot Shots

    S2:E3

    'What they need is a union.' -- Russell Bunk and Freamon chase their crime scene, a container ship, to Philly. Lt. Cedric Daniels--disgusted with his exile to the evidence control unit--makes it known that he's leaving. On orders from Barksdale, Bell finds a way to set up the correctional officer who's been harassing Wee-Bey. McNulty pursues the identity of the Jane Doe found floating in the harbor.

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    Director:Elodie Keene
  18. Background image for All Prologue
    8.0/10(37 votes)

    #17 - All Prologue

    S2:E6

    'It don't matter that some fool say he different...' -- D'Angelo Trying to let go of police work and return to his marriage, McNulty gives up on identifying his Jane Doe. In their investigation of Sobotka, the detectives discover a pattern in the computer and explain the connection to Daniels, but he still won't take the murders. Sobotka tries to play the political game on behalf of his union.

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    Director:Steve Shill
  19. Background image for Stray Rounds
    8.0/10(35 votes)

    #18 - Stray Rounds

    S2:E9

    'The world is a smaller place now.' -- The Greek Bodie's effort to improve sales ends disastrously, forcing Bell to rethink his strategy. Ziggy pulls Johnny Fifty into a new caper that should make the Greeks pay off big. McNulty, undercover and outnumbered in the brothel, awaits 'rescue.' Daniels and Pearlman stay cool as Valcheck fumes over the change of targets--and Burrell pulls the rug out from under him.

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  20. Background image for Amsterdam
    8.0/10(32 votes)

    #19 - Amsterdam

    S3:E4

    "Why you got to go and fuck with the program?" -- Fruit West Baltimore residents get surprising straight talk at a community meeting from Major Colvin. Bubbles finds gainful employment; Stringer lunches uptown; and Bunk dangles the promise of immunity to a group of corner boys, in exchange for help. Greggs learns how Marlo takes care of business as Bubbles instructs her on the next big thing: disposable cell phones.

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  21. Background image for Straight and True
    8.0/10(33 votes)

    #20 - Straight and True

    S3:E5

    "I had such fuckin' hopes for us." -- McNulty Frustrated in his grass-roots reform efforts, Colvin arms himself with intelligence from Daniels's detail and personally delivers a message to the next level of corner management. McNulty sees Stringer Bell's legitimate business dealings as a sign that he is now unreachable as a drug target. Bubbles shakes the tree for Johnny one more time.

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  22. Background image for More with Less
    8.0/10(4.4k votes)

    #21 - More with Less

    S5:E1

    "The bigger the lie, the more they believe." - Bunk Moreland. McNulty and the detail continue to stake out Marlo and his crew. Recently promoted Sergeant Carver is met with complaints concerning unpaid overtime. Meanwhile, Haynes deals with cutbacks, but is still able to expose a politician's connection to a drug dealer; and Joe, Marlo, Fatface Rick meet to divide up the drug trade across Baltimore.

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    Director:Joe Chappelle
  23. Background image for All Due Respect
    8.1/10(33 votes)

    #22 - All Due Respect

    S3:E2

    "There's never been a paper bag." -- Colvin Omar continues his bold strikes on Barksdale stash houses, now heavily guarded. Under orders from Stringer Bell, Bodie faces a critical test against Marlo, a fierce young dealer with lucrative corners. As the wire on Proposition Joe continues to yield little, McNulty launches his own reinvestigation of last year's prison suicide of D'Angelo Barksdale.

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  24. Background image for Back Burners
    8.1/10(32 votes)

    #23 - Back Burners

    S3:E7

    "Conscience do cost." -- Butchie Herc discovers a blast from the past, which he belatedly reveals to his ex-colleagues. Daniels blows a gasket over the real reason the detail was reassigned from an investigation in Pimlico to the Western District. Stringer Bell learns from Donette that she's told Brianna about McNulty's visit and that Brianna is likely to talk to him.

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    Writer:Joy Lusco
  25. Background image for Slapstick
    8.1/10(34 votes)

    #24 - Slapstick

    S3:E9

    "...while you're waiting for moments that never come." -- Freamon Responding to an officer's call for help, McNulty and Prez turn down the wrong alley, with unanticipated results. A Barksdale crew violates the unspoken Sunday truce with gunplay, increasing discontent among the New Day Co-op members. Stymied in his effort to open a gym, Cutty is surprised to find help from within Baltimore's power structure.

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  26. Background image for Unconfirmed Reports
    8.1/10(4.3k votes)

    #25 - Unconfirmed Reports

    S5:E2

    "This ain't Aruba, bitch." - Bunk Moreland Freamon keeps a look out for Marlo, who is putting together a deal with Avon Barksdale. Davis goes to Burrell for help, but finds that the commissioner's hands are tied. Whiting puts together a series on broad strokes.

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Backwash" is the worst rated episode of "The Wire". It scored 7.4/10 based on 36 votes. Directed by Thomas J. Wright and written by Rafael Alvarez, it aired on 7/13/2003. This episode scored 0.2 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Target".