Transitions (The Wire)

Buyer's market out there.

— Templeton

At Michael's corner, Kenard places a brown paper bag under a step. Officer Anthony Colicchio and his partner observe the scene from their patrol car nearby and decide to move in. Once Colicchio has handcuffed the crew and called in back-up, he puts his hand in the bag expecting to find drugs. When he withdraws it, he is holding dog excrement. As a furious Colicchio puts the crew into a transport van, a queue of traffic develops. One motorist inflames Colicchio's anger by requesting that they move the cars, causing Colicchio to assault him. Sergeant Ellis Carver helps restrain Colicchio. Michael is later signed out of custody by his mother, and he refuses her request for money.

The following day, Carver informs Colicchio that his victim was a school teacher and that the incident is being looked into by Internal Affairs. When Colicchio shows no remorse over his actions, Carver decides that he will charge Colicchio himself. Later, Carver meets with his old partner Herc, who tries to argue Colicchio's case and insists that Carver cannot turn against his own men despite his closeness to making rank. Reminding Herc of their past experience with Randy Wagstaff, Carver explains that everything they do matters. Herc compares Colicchio's situation to his own and wonders if Carver thought that his own dismissal was fair. Carver doesn't answer and Herc admits that it probably was justified. Herc warns Carver that he will face a bad reputation, but encourages him to do the right thing.

Sydnor is frustrated when he discovers that an $80,000 withdrawal from Senator Davis' account was used to pay back his mother-in-law for a loan. Freamon learns that the loan was for a mortgage down payment, which means that Davis has broken federal law by lying on a mortgage application and claiming her money as his own. Freamon and Pearlman meet with Bond, who is hesitant to make the case federal. Speaking alone with Pearlman, Bond believes that with a ten-year penalty for each of the four lesser counts of theft, a conviction on local charges will be sufficient. Davis visits the courthouse for a secret grand jury hearing, where he denounces the enquiry and refuses to answer further questions. As he leaves the courthouse, Davis denies wrongdoing to a throng of reporters. Freamon realizes that Bond leaked the hearing to the press in order to raise his own profile.

Daniels meets with Commissioner Burrell and denies any role in Burrell's firing, offering to decline his planned promotion; Burrell simply gives him the silent treatment. Meanwhile, Mayor Carcetti holds a meeting in his office with his senior staff and is forced to make concessions to the ministers to smooth Daniels' transition to commissioner. During a meeting with Campbell, Burrell reveals that the FBI investigated Daniels for skimming drug money, threatening to expose him if Burrell is forced to resign. Campbell warns Burrell against this and promises a lucrative job if he leaves quietly. Campbell takes and peruses the FBI file. She urges Carcetti to secure her job offer to Burrell, arguing that it is necessary to ensure that Burrell does not damage the reputation of his former subordinates.

Prior to the press conference announcing Burrell's departure, Rawls visits his office. Burrell expresses bitterness towards the city's politicians, acknowledging that he may have been a bad commissioner but that his failings were the fault of schizophrenic policies from City Hall. Burrell warns Rawls to expect more of the same treatment as acting commissioner. At the press conference, Daniels again tries to reassure Burrell that he did not ask for the promotion. Burrell reminds Daniels that he once called his bluff about exposing his past and claims that he no longer remembers the details of the FBI file as it was so long ago.

At The Baltimore Sun, Templeton tells Alma that he is being interviewed for a junior position at The Washington Post. During his interview, Templeton is introduced to a senior Post editor named Ed, who critiques his "wrought" prose. Remarking that the Sun often beats the Post to breaking stories from Annapolis, Ed asks Templeton if he was involved in a story on ground rent; Templeton admits he was not. Templeton leaves the interview with an assurance that his resume will be kept on file. He declines the opportunity to sit in on a Post budget meeting despite his earlier request.

Alma learns about Burrell's rumored departure from a source, which others on the Sun's metro team are unable to confirm. Gus is worried that they will not have enough to run their story, but outgoing police reporter Roger Twigg places one last call to a police department source – Stan Valchek – to confirm the rumor. As the newsroom watches the press conference, Gus expresses disappointment that Twigg's departure, caused by the recent cutbacks, will cut them off from the department sources. Alma replaces Twigg as senior police reporter. Cutbacks are also blamed when the Sun misses the story of Davis' grand jury hearing, as the paper has recently lost its city court reporter.

McNulty visits the medical examiner's office and researches the locations where unclaimed homeless deaths have occurred, seeing that an overwhelming number of bodies are found in the Southern District at night. McNulty calls Freamon to advise him of the findings and suggests that they need a contact in the Southern night shift. Freamon and McNulty visit Southern District headquarters and learn that Freamon's old patrol partner, Oscar Requer, is listed on the night shift. The detectives approach Requer and ask him to notify them of any male homeless deaths in the district. Requer realizes they are looking to open a homicide file and agrees to help them with no further questions asked. When McNulty expresses surprise that Requer was willing to help them, Freamon explains that Requer was unfairly reassigned from Homicide after correctly asserting his authority over Rawls at a crime scene.

The next day Detective Ed Norris breakfasts with Sergeant Jay Landsman. Landsman recites the story from the paper about Burrell's forced retirement and the plan for Rawls to take over temporarily while Daniels is groomed for the job. Landsman jokes that he feels "dissed" that he was not considered and guesses that Daniels will be commissioner before the year ends. Bunk Moreland arrives with a report about the vacant murders and Landsman places it straight into his desk drawer. Bunk is upset that Landsman is ignoring his reports and Landsman points out that Bunk is just changing the date and submitting essentially the same report. Bunk angrily asserts that he is forced to repeat his requests as he is still waiting for the crime lab to process evidence on 14 of the 22 vacant murder scenes. As Bunk leaves Landsman's office, McNulty facetiously shows him that he is working on finding links between the homeless murders. Bunk is annoyed at McNulty's scheme and curses at him before leaving. Greggs arrives and remarks on Bunk's mood and McNulty tells her that Bunk is surprisingly emotional despite his gruff veneer. Greggs is about to go and interview the survivor of her home invasion case.

Later, through a 2-way mirror, Greggs watches Devonne, the child from the home invasion, with a psychiatrist. Devonne is extremely withdrawn and does not engage with toys or the psychiatrists. Greggs calls her ex-partner Cheryl and asks to see her son Elijah. She apologizes for the time that has passed and they set a meeting for the following day. The psychiatrist tells Greggs that Devonne remains too withdrawn to revisit the event.

Greggs spends the next afternoon with Elijah at Cheryl's apartment. Elijah is content coloring and does not answer Greggs' questions. She manages to get the boy to engage in building a Lego house with her.

McNulty and Freamon canvass an area where the homeless gather at night. McNulty is dubious of the need for actual canvassing on their false case. Freamon believes that it is still worth doing the work even on their false case as it will make their office reports seem true and verifiable and protect them from the potential consequences of their plan. McNulty complains that he was working on the case in the squad room and that Landsman barely noticed but Freamon reminds him that if their plan works the case will attract more interest and sloppiness could be their downfall. McNulty attempts to question a few people. One man is too busy as he is preparing for work, another calls him aside to ask for a card. Among the homeless is ex-checker from the docks Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto.

Requer hears a call about a dead body and responds that he will attend. He contacts McNulty who is already at a bar. McNulty attends the scene and finds the decedent too far gone for their plan. Requer imposes the first officer's report on McNulty in return for finding bodies for him.

McNulty returns home and tries to cover his drinking with mouthwash. Beadie Russell awakes and questions his whereabouts earlier. He tells her that he was called on a suspicious death and she is dubious because he was assigned to the day shift. He claims that he will now be called on any death potentially related to his serial killer. Russell asks where they called him as he did not return home after his shift and he admits to being at a bar. She tells him that she can smell the alcohol. She reminds him of the strength of their relationship and tells him that she used to not believe people when they warned her about his self-destructive behaviour. McNulty's phone rings and he readies himself to leave. He tells Russell he is chasing a serial killer and she tells him he is chasing more than that. She tells him not to return if he doesn't want to be there.

McNulty arrives at the scene and fakes another strangulation to fit with the pattern he has established. Freamon arrives as McNulty repositions the body to encourage the appearance of the bruising that indicates strangulation. McNulty discards drug paraphernalia to conceal overdose as the actual cause of death. McNulty fakes defence wounds by cutting the decedent's hands and Freamon calls him twisted. McNulty reminds Freamon of his idea to use the dentures and Freamon claims that he is basing the plan on actual serial killers and the way they mature from brutal killings to elaborate and ornate ones. McNulty asks Freamon never to tell his mother or his priest what he has done and Freamon promises to take it to his grave.

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• "Transitions" at IMDb