S2E8 · Duck and Cover

"How come they don't fly away?" – Ziggy McNulty deals with the disappointment of his failed reconciliation with his wife by returning to his old drinking and womanizing habits while falling further into depression. The detail closes in on Sergei Malatov when they track his cell phone through his truck rental paperwork. Concerned about the union's finances, Sobotka decides to pay the bills and discovers that his cell phone account was flagged so as to not have service disconnected. Becoming paranoid, he smuggles a container without contraband to see the results, and his suspicions solidify when the police pull the container over. Frank and Nick visit the diner to meet with The Greek; The Greek tells him to deliver more disappeared but clean containers to the shut down warehouse as suspicions mount about possible interest from the police. With his business faltering, Bodie moves his crew into new territory.

Plot summary and ending

Spoilers ahead. Coverage follows the scope labeled below.

Complete story — includes the ending

Epigraph: "How come they don't fly away?" - Ziggy McNulty goes on a bender and laments about wanting to work a case to Bunk. He informs Daniels, who convinces Rawls to put McNulty on the detail. Herc has his cousin pose as an informant so he can pay off Carver's bug debt with the reward money and legally tie Nick to Frog. The detail obtains wires after presenting their findings to Pearlman. After learning that the same company owns the warehouse and apartment, the detail suspects the latter is being used as a brothel and McNulty sets up a session after forcing a client to give up Petrovich's number. He almost sleeps with Russell, but leaves when he realizes she is a single mother. The stevedores convince Ziggy to fight Maui, who beats and humiliates him. He buys a duck and gains some popularity when he lets the stevedores feed it alcohol. After his unpaid phone is not shut off and he learns that Russell lied about being transferred, Sobotka realizes the detail is watching him and tricks them by sending a normal container to the Greeks. He calls Vondas, which gives the detail Vondas's number. Sobotka and the Greek agree to move clean containers for the time being.

Sources and content license

Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Wire season 2. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license