Season 1

Complete listed story — includes the ending

S1E1 · The Target

Epigraph: "...when it's not your turn." - McNulty At the homicide trial of West Baltimore drug kingpin Avon Barksdale 's nephew D'Angelo, underboss Russell "Stringer" Bell intimidates witness Nakeesha Lyles into changing her story, resulting in an acquittal. Homicide detective Jimmy McNulty breaks chain of command by complaining about the BPD's failure to investigate Avon to judge Daniel Phelan, who insists to deputy commissioner Ervin Burrell that something be done. Sergeant Jay Landsman warns McNulty that his behavior may get him reassigned, who admits he gets seasick and dreads the marine unit. Burrell tasks lieutenant Cedric Daniels with creating a detail that will passively investigate Avon. Heroin addict Johnny Weeks is beaten for trying to scam Barksdale dealers, prompting his friend Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins, an informant for detective Kima Greggs, to give her information on them. D'Angelo is demoted to heading the low-rise "Pit" projects, where he finds the body of William Gant, the other murder witness.

S1E2 · The Detail

Epigraph: "You cannot lose, if you do not play." - Marla Daniels Believing the Barksdales killed Gant, McNulty has Phelan put him on the case. He and his partner William "Bunk" Moreland detain D'Angelo and manipulate him into signing a confession, but his attorney Maurice Levy pulls him before he can incriminate himself. Bubbles covertly marks Barksdale men by selling them hats and they are photographed by the detail. Burrell gives Daniels useless officers to fill the rest of the detail, including Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, who drunkenly attacks teenage dealer Kevin Johnston. Daniels backs Prez, which his wife Marla admonishes him about. He later learns that Johnston lost vision in one eye.

S1E3 · The Buys

Epigraph: "The king stay the king." - D'Angelo Detective Leander Sydnor goes undercover in the Pit with Bubbles and finds that money and drugs are never held by the higher-ups. Prez's father-in-law, Major Stan Valchek, saves his job by agreeing to keep him off the street. Daniels orders a raid on the Pit, unaware that robber Omar Little has emptied it, and dealer Marvin Browning is arrested while detective Lester Freamon notes a phone number written on a wall. D'Angelo's man Preston "Bodie" Broadus punches an officer and is beaten. When the detail realizes they have no pictures of Avon Barksdale, Freamon finds a poster from Avon's old boxing career. McNulty learns from assistant state's attorney and frequent fling Rhonda Pearlman that he needs to prove he is out of options to clone a pager, and hears from his FBI contact Terrance Fitzhugh that Daniels was investigated in the past for pocketing drug money.

S1E4 · Old Cases

Epigraph: "Thin line 'tween heaven and here." - Bubbles Landsman makes a deal with major William Rawls that McNulty can return to the homicide unit with a clean slate if the detail wraps soon. Bodie easily escapes from the facility he is held in and challenges D'Angelo upon his return, who boasts about killing Avon's ex-girlfriend Deirdre Kresson for him, an old case which McNulty and Bunk investigate and find a previously unnoticed shell casing. Browning chooses jail over flipping on the Barksdales. Avon puts out a bounty on Omar's crew while Stringer wonders if the Pit has a mole. As McNulty explains the requirements for a clone to the detail, Freamon reveals that the number he saw is likely D'Angelo's. McNulty turns up to Greggs's apartment drunk, who explains that their inability to monitor their targets inside buildings qualifies them for a clone.

S1E5 · The Pager

Epigraph: "...a little slow, a little late." - Avon Barksdale Avon shows D'Angelo his brother, left vegetative after being shot in the head, and encourages D'Angelo to use the fear of ending up like him to work harder. Stringer recommends that D'Angelo withhold pay from his dealers to flush out a rat. He takes his girlfriend Donette to a ritzy steakhouse dinner, but is uncomfortable in the lavish atmosphere. A ballistics test connects the casing to two previous murders. Detectives Ellis Carver and Thomas "Herc" Hauk arrest Bodie and beat him when he insults them, but warm to him over a game of pool. Phelan approves the clone and the detail discovers that the Barksdales only send numerical codes, though Prez realizes through his love of puzzles that they are sending jumbled phone numbers. McNulty and Greggs track down Omar to inform him that one of his men was killed, and he reveals that Barksdale soldier Marquis "Bird" Hilton killed Gant. Pit boys Wallace and Malik "Poot" Carr spot Omar's boyfriend Brandon Wright and notify D'Angelo.

S1E6 · The Wire

Epigraph: "...and all the pieces matter." - Freamon Wallace is horrified to find Brandon's mutilated body the next day. D'Angelo pardons a pair of dealers that have been stealing due to their withheld pay and tells Stringer his crew is clean. Johnny is arrested while buying drugs. Levy gets Bodie released from custody. Rawls tries to force Bunk to investigate murders connected to Avon, so Daniels has Burrell override him to prevent Avon from being alerted of the detail. Wiretaps are installed in payphones on Avon's territory. After McNulty shows Omar Brandon's body, he agrees to testify about Gant's murder.

S1E7 · One Arrest

Epigraph: "A man must have a code." - Bunk As the detail learns the Barksdales' routines, they arrest Johnston when he picks up drugs from enforcer Anton "Stinkum" Artis. Knowing there is a reason Stinkum was untouched, Avon and Stringer order Pit trade to halt and the phones in it to be destroyed. Wendell "Orlando" Blocker, the owner of Avon's strip club front, asks D'Angelo for help selling cocaine. To get Johnny out of trouble, Greggs makes him to go to NA, where Bubbles is moved by a speaker named Walon. Bird is arrested after another witness corroborates that he killed Gant and a ballistics test identifies his gun. Rawls orders detective Michael Santangelo to either solve an open case or give him dirt on McNulty to protect his job, and McNulty gets information from Omar that solves a case for him. A grateful Santangelo warns McNulty that Rawls is after him.

S1E8 · Lessons

Epigraph: "Come at the king, you best not miss." - Omar McNulty spots Stringer in public and has his sons write down his license plate. He follows him and discovers he studies economics at BCCC. After learning about a money drop on the wire, the detail pulls over senator Clay Davis 's driver Damien Price and finds money in the car. Phelan stops Burrell from subsequently shutting down the detail by threatening to charge him with contempt. Poot notices Wallace's withdrawn behavior and alerts D'Angelo, who passes Orlando's request to Avon and is denied. Stinkum is promoted and thrown a party, where a stripper dies of an overdose. D'Angelo lies when her coworker and his side girlfriend Shardene Innes asks after her. Omar ambushes Stinkum and enforcer Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice, killing the former. Stringer suggests luring him out with a false truce. The detail learns of Omar's crime but do nothing to keep him as a viable witness. A guilty Bunk and McNulty go drinking, and Bunk cheats on his wife, forcing McNulty to take him in for the night.

S1E9 · Game Day

Epigraph: "Maybe we won." - Herc Avon attends the annual basketball game between Baltimore's East and West sides, which his team loses. Herc and Carver come across the game and realize he is there, identifying him when Sydnor brings the boxing poster. They try to follow him as he leaves, but he notices and outmaneuvers them. Freamon pulls records from City Hall that identify Avon's fronts and confirm that he donated to several politicians. He and Greggs show Shardene the stripper's corpse after finding it in a dumpster, convincing her to help the detail. The detail overhears Poot talking on the phone about Wallace's mental state. Bubbles steals drugs from the Barksdales but realizes they are actually baking soda. He convinces his mistrustful sister Rae to let him move into her basement. Omar buys Avon's pager code from East side leader "Proposition" Joe Stewart and lures him to a spot to kill him. Wee-Bey arrives just in time to save Avon and shoot Omar, who flees.

S1E10 · The Cost

Epigraph: "And then he dropped the bracelets..." - Greggs Sober for three days, Bubbles asks Greggs for help getting a place. As Avon isolates himself, Stringer sets up a meeting with Omar, who realizes it is a trap and leaves town. Phelan pulls support from the detail after losing his spot on the mayor's re-election ticket. The detail brings in Wallace, who identifies several men associated with Brandon's murder, and they send him to his grandmother for protection. Orlando is arrested buying drugs and is noticed by Browning in prison, who alerts Avon. With Burrell pressuring him to make progress, Daniels sends Orlando and Greggs to buy from a stash identified by the detail, but they are shot up by Wee-Bey and enforcer Wintell "Little Man" Royce, and Orlando is killed.

S1E11 · The Hunt

Epigraph: "Dope on the damn table." - Daniels Greggs lies in critical condition and Bubbles is picked up after trying to page her. McNulty, unaware of his attempt to get sober, sends him to buy drugs and find the shooters. He names Savino Bratton, who rode shotgun with Orlando and Greggs to the buy. McNulty threatens to pull Levy's finances if he does not bring Savino in, who takes prison over informing. Wee-Bey kills Little Man on Stringer's orders and takes D'Angelo to an unknown location, leaving him terrified that he is about to be killed, though he is actually being asked to take care of Wee-Bey's apartment while he is in hiding. Burrell orders raids that Daniels tries to prevent to keep the Barksdales unaware of the wire, but Phelan refuses to help after being put back with the mayor. When Daniels tries to withhold locations from his superiors, they find out and he realizes there is a mole in the detail. As the raids occur, an unaware Prez misses a call where Wallace resolves to come back to Baltimore.

S1E12 · Cleaning Up

Epigraph: "This is me, yo, right here." - Wallace Daniels convinces McNulty to get over his guilt about Greggs while Herc passes his sergeant's exam with a higher score than Carver. Daniels accuses Davis of corruption in a meeting between them and Burrell, who tries to threaten an unafraid Daniels with his FBI file. Lyles is killed to protect the Barksdales and Stringer orders Wallace's death due to the risk he poses, which Poot and Bodie reluctantly carry out. As the Barksdales stop using phones entirely, Shardene, now in a relationship with Freamon, maps out the dimensions of Orlando's, giving the detail the position they need to install a camera in the neighboring building. They hear Avon ordering D'Angelo to pick up their next package and fit his car with a tracker. He is arrested and McNulty reveals that Wallace is dead, which he does not believe until Stringer refuses to answer his questions. He rejects Levy's counsel while Avon is arrested.

S1E13 · Sentencing

Epigraph: "all in the game..." -Traditional West Baltimore Greggs wakes and sends Bubbles his money, who spends it on heroin. McNulty and Daniels take the case to the FBI to avoid Burrell's tampering. When they explain that the Barksdales are working with politicians to gentrify neighborhoods for profit, McNulty erupts when the agents plan to work with Avon and Stringer instead of being more concerned with helping victims. He interviews D'Angelo, who gives up Wee-Bey and implicates him as Kresson's true killer. He offers to give up everything he has on Avon if he can be relocated, but his mother Brianna visits him and convinces him to stay quiet. The Barksdales plead guilty on advice from Levy and Stringer takes over for Avon, setting up in a funeral home. Wee-Bey is arrested and confesses to several murders, some of which he did not commit. Carver is promoted to sergeant over Herc and Daniels realizes he is the leak. McNulty's outburst is reported to Burrell, who passes Daniels over for a promotion, while Rawls, after talking to Landsman, sends McNulty to the marine unit, promotes Freamon to homicide, and demotes Santangelo. In New York, Omar robs a dealer and tells him it is "all in the game."