The Best Episodes Written By Ed Burns

"...the life of kings." - H.L. Mencken A damaging report by Pearlman and Daniels gets a reaction from Carcetti, while Haynes finds little support for his concerns about a reporters work from the bosses. Meanwhile, McNulty wants to put a homeless case to an end, Dukie searches for an old mentor and a fallen officer is given a wake.

Director: Clark Johnson

Writer: Ed Burns

"all in the game..." - Traditional West Baltimore. Every crew has weak links--including Avon Barksdale's. With the heat turned up in the high-rises, Daniels and McNulty turn to a higher authority in an effort to crack the case wide open. Season finale.

Director: Tim Van Patten

Writer: Ed Burns

"Maybe we won." - Herc. Barksdale plays an expensive game of one-upmanship with an east-side rival. Meanwhile, Herc and Carver take some cash off of Wee-Bey's hands, and Omar resurfaces with a bang.

Director: Milcho Manchevski

Writer: Ed Burns

"And then he dropped the bracelets..." - Greggs. With Wallace in custody, McNulty and Daniels try to figure out what to do with him in the months before he testifies. Sydnor and Carver track down one of Barksdale's stash houses, and Prez shows off his 'gift for the paper trail.' McNulty's estranged wife Elena takes desperate measures after learning that he had their kids follow Stringer Bell.

Director: Brad Anderson

Writer: Ed Burns

'It pays to go with the union card every time.' -- Ziggy The Detail uses satellite technology to its advantage. Bodie is unhappy that Proposition Joe's people are slinging on his turf, but business flows--until a new face arrives. Stringer Bell looks to an unlikely solution to the problem. Valcheck visits the FBI in an attempt to get real results on the docks. Ziggy's deal with Double-G goes bad in a big way.

Director: Rob Bailey

Writer: Ed Burns

"Call it a crisis of leadership." -- Proposition Joe Brother Mouzone returns to Baltimore on a mission of revenge and casts a wide net in his search for Omar, who has his own plan. Colvin manages, for now, to put off a 'Sun' reporter inquiring about Amsterdam. Carver learns how much he doesn't know about good policing, while Pearlman and Daniels plead their case for a new kind of wiretap to Judge Phelan.

Director: Ed Bianchi

Writer: Ed Burns

"A man must have a code." - Bunk. Tipped off by the wire, Greggs, Herc, Carver and Freamon make a bust, but the incident makes Avon and Stringer suspicious, leading them to close shop in the Pit. Meanwhile, Bunk and McNulty look for another witness in the Gant slaying and hunt a suspect known as 'Mr. Bird.'

Director: Joe Chappelle

Writer: Ed Burns

"Buyer's market out there." - Templeton Omar plots his revenge for his former associates murder now that he's returned from exile. Gus stresses the need for a city-court reporter, after missing out on a grand jury probe. Carcetti finds there are strings attached in his desire to get rid of Burrell. While McNulty investigates the deaths of homeless men, Freamon needs the help of an old friend. Also, Marlo looks to the future in his dealings with the Greeks.

Director: Daniel Attias

Writer: Ed Burns

"You play in dirt, you get dirty." - McNulty Randy has trouble with his friends at school, while Carcetti faces a huge dilemma. Meanwhile, Omar visits Proposition Joe, while Freamon reveals a secret.

Director: Brad Anderson

Writer: Ed Burns

Bengelsdorf, with Evelyn as his assistant, becomes a fundamental asset in the Lindbergh camp.

Director: Minkie Spiro

Writer: Ed Burns

"..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.

Director: Ed Bianchi

Writer: Ed Burns

"World goin' one way, people another." -Poot Walker catches Donut boosting cars and teaches him a lesson; Commissioner Burrell gets advice from Senator Davis; Little Kevin has a talk with Marlo and regrets it; Herc ignores Bubbles call and regrets it; the Area Superintendent questions the success of Colvin and Parenti's project class; Senator Davis attempts to con Carcetti; Carver arrests Namond but keeps him out of baby booking; Burrell has the police force juke the numbers with street sweeps; Marlo puts the word out that Randy is a snitch; Elena sees McNulty as a grown up; Chris Partlow and Snoop target Bug's father for Michael.

Director: Ernest R. Dickerson

Writer: Ed Burns

Herman looks to move the family to a new neighborhood, as Bess worries about leaving their tight-knit Jewish community.

Director: Minkie Spiro

Writer: Ed Burns

Herman, Bess and Philip each struggle to accept the family's selection for the Homestead Act and imminent relocation to Kentucky.

Director: Thomas Schlamme

Writer: Ed Burns

'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.

Director: Clark Johnson

Writer: Ed Burns

"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.

Director: Peter Medak

Writer: Ed Burns

"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.

Director: Gloria Muzio

Writer: Ed Burns

'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.

Director: Steve Shill

Writer: Ed Burns

"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.

Director: Daniel Attias

Writer: Ed Burns

"If you have a problem with this. I understand completely." - Freamon Marlo's crew goes on full alert after Omar's mysterious disappearance. Meanwhile, Carcetti concentrates on the plight of the homeless, while Bunk has an interview with a witness connected with the row-house case, and Templeton looks to a follow up to his recent front page story.

Director: Seith Mann

Writer: Ed Burns

Jenkins pivots after a high-speed car chase yields no drugs. During his interview with the Feds, former officer Maurice Ward recalls how Jenkins remained unscathed as the GTTF’s supervisor – despite a series of illegal incidents. Steele confronts Davis about a list of cops who lied in court, and the city is rocked by the Freddie Gray protests.

Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green

Writer: Ed Burns

"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.

Director: Clement Virgo

Writer: Ed Burns

"..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.

Director: Clark Johnson

Writer: Ed Burns

"If you with us, you with us." - Chris Partlow Commissioner Burrell loses Royce's support; Chris Partlow tries to recruit Michael to become a soldier in Marlo's unit; Dukie shows Randy and the boys that the missing are really dead; Odell Watkins drops his support for Royce and considers an offer from Councilman Carcetti.

Director: David Platt

Writer: Ed Burns

Bravo Company gets an order to treat any Iraqi, holding a weapon, as a hostile.

Director: Susanna White

Writer: Ed Burns