Complete story — includes the ending
Epigraph: "...the life of kings." - H.L. Mencken Another man is murdered and McNulty catches the perpetrator—another homeless man—who is framed as the killer. He and Freamon are fired, though the latter identifies the leak and points Pearlman to Levy. Levy gets Marlo freed because of the wire, but on the condition that the rest stay in jail and he stays out of the drug game. An enraged Sydnor breaks chain of command by going to Daniel Phelan. Marlo gets in a fight with dealers rather than let Levy introduce him to developers. Carcetti becomes governor and Rawls is promoted, leaving Daniels to become commissioner under new mayor Nerese Campbell. He refuses to doctor stats and is served his FBI file, so he resigns after promoting Carver to major crimes lieutenant and becomes an attorney while Pearlman becomes a judge. Valchek takes his place. Templeton fakes a story and wins a Pulitzer Prize, while Gutierrez is transferred. Haynes is demoted but is happy to see Fletcher in his place for his moving story on Bubbles, who is invited upstairs to eat with Rae. Dukie asks Prez for money to enroll in a GED program, who warns him their friendship is over if he is lying. He later sees Dukie giving it to the junk man, who he starts using heroin with. Michael robs Marlo's advisor and Kenard is arrested for Omar's murder. Charles kills Cheese for his role in Joe's murder and starts business with Vondas. Having healed his relationship with Russell, McNulty takes Larry back to Baltimore, stopping and contemplating the city as a montage reveals the characters' fates. After a moment, he tells Larry "let's go home" before driving off. The episode is dedicated to Robert F. Colesberry, the show's co-creator and Ray Cole's actor, who died between the second and third season.
Sources and content license
Source and revision history · Adapted from Wikipedia contributors, The Wire season 5. HTML formatting and reference markers removed. · Content license