The Wire: Season 3

2004 · 12 episodes · ★ 8.2

What Season 3 of The Wire

Season 3 of The Wire focuses on Baltimore's politicians and the struggle for power and social leadership. Daniels' team keeps gathering evidence against Avon Barksdale's organization, but they need a court order to wiretap phones, and their superiors care more about their careers than the case. McNulty, insubordinate and gifted at investigation, clashes with them. Carcetti and Burrell try to find common ground under tense conditions, while the city council hears from furious residents about drug trafficking in their neighborhoods. On the streets, Avon gets out of prison and Stringer Bell reorganizes the drug sales. The police try a drug-free zone to force dealers to use it.

12episodes

Sep 19, 2004premiered

Dec 19, 2004final episode

11.8 hrtotal runtime

Season 3 Episodes

3x01 Time After Time
Sep 19, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.0
"Don't matter how many times you get burnt, you just keep doin' the same." -- BodieA wave of urban reform brings down the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers, forcing the Barksdale drug crew to find a new home. Stringer Bell uses a new sales strategy as he awaits Avon's return. McNulty and the Detail look to make a case against Stringer with a wiretap on a drug ring run by Proposition Joe.
Directed by: Ed Bianchi · Written by: David Simon · Starring: Jamie Hector, Glynn Turman, Chad L. Coleman, Callie Thorne
3x02 All Due Respect
Sep 26, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.1
"There's never been a paper bag." -- ColvinOmar continues his bold strikes on Barksdale stash houses, now heavily guarded. Under orders from Stringer Bell, Bodie faces a critical test against Marlo, a fierce young dealer with lucrative corners. As the wire on Proposition Joe continues to yield little, McNulty launches his own reinvestigation of last year's prison suicide of D'Angelo Barksdale.
Directed by: Steve Shill · Written by: Richard Price · Starring: Jamie Hector, Chad L. Coleman, Method Man, Rick Otto
3x03 Dead Soldiers
Oct 3, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 7.8
"The gods will not save you." -- BurrellColvin feels the sting of Burrell and Rawls during a Comstat assessment of his district's felony numbers; a blown wiretap forces Daniels's detail to turn to a new target; Proposition Joe cautions Stringer Bell that the police have been tapping phones. Carcetti continues to curry favor in Mayor Royce's inner circle.
Directing: Rob Baieu, Rob Bailey · Writing: Dennis Lehane · Starring: Jamie Hector, Glynn Turman, Chad L. Coleman, Delaney Williams
3x04 Amsterdam
Oct 10, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.1
"Why you got to go and fuck with the program?" -- FruitWest Baltimore residents get surprising straight talk at a community meeting from Major Colvin. Bubbles finds gainful employment; Stringer lunches uptown; and Bunk dangles the promise of immunity to a group of corner boys, in exchange for help. Greggs learns how Marlo takes care of business as Bubbles instructs her on the next big thing: disposable cell phones.
Directed by: Ernest R. Dickerson · Written by: George Pelecanos · Starring: Isiah Whitlock Jr., Michael Kostroff, Chad L. Coleman, Delaney Williams
3x05 Straight and True
Oct 17, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.0
"I had such fuckin' hopes for us." -- McNultyFrustrated 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.
Directed by: Dan Attias · Written by: Ed Burns · Starring: Jamie Hector, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Michael Kostroff, Gbenga Akinnagbe
3x06 Homecoming
Oct 31, 2004 · 58 min · ★ 8.3
"Just a gangster, I suppose." -- Avon BarksdaleStringer Bell gets an education in construction management; Bunk uses shoe-leather to catch up with Omar and deliver a searing message; a frustrated Colvin unleashes the troops on the corner boys, ignoring his new edict; Avon sends Cutty and Slim Charles against Marlo; Bubbles refocuses the picture for Greggs.
Directed by: Leslie Libman · Written by: Rafael Alvarez · Starring: Jamie Hector, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Gbenga Akinnagbe, Glynn Turman
3x07 Back Burners
Nov 7, 2004 · 56 min · ★ 8.3
"Conscience do cost." -- ButchieHerc discovers a blast from the past, which he belatedly reveals to his ex-colleagues. Daniels blows a gasket over the real reason the detail was reassigned from an investigation in Pimlico to the Western District. Stringer Bell learns from Donette that she's told Brianna about McNulty's visit and that Brianna is likely to talk to him.
Directed by: Tim Van Patten · Written by: Joy Kecken · Starring: Jamie Hector, Michael Kostroff, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Glynn Turman
3x08 Moral Midgetry
Nov 14, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.5
"Crawl, walk, and then run." -- Clay DavisWith Amsterdam running full-tilt, Carver and Truck discover there really is no honor among thieves. Prez impresses the detail with what he's found out from Bodie's cell phone, information that sends McNulty and Greggs on a road trip. Colvin sees the benefits of his plan working but has overlooked the human toll, until the Deacon points out the deficiencies.
Directed by: Agnieszka Holland · Written by: Richard Price · Starring: Jamie Hector, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Gbenga Akinnagbe, Chad L. Coleman
3x09 Slapstick
Nov 21, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.0
"...while you're waiting for moments that never come." -- FreamonResponding to an officer's call for help, McNulty and Prez turn down the wrong alley, with unanticipated results. A Barksdale crew violates the unspoken Sunday truce with gunplay, increasing discontent among the New Day Co-op members. Stymied in his effort to open a gym, Cutty is surprised to find help from within Baltimore's power structure.
Directed by: Alex Zakrzewski · Written by: David Simon · Starring: Isiah Whitlock Jr., Chad L. Coleman, Delaney Williams, Ernest Waddell
3x10 Reformation
Nov 28, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 8.4
"Call it a crisis of leadership." -- Proposition JoeBrother 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.
Directed by: Christine Moore, Ed Bianchi · Written by: Ed Burns · Starring: Jamie Hector, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Glynn Turman, Chad L. Coleman
3x11 Middle Ground
Dec 12, 2004 · 59 min · ★ 9.1
"We ain't gotta dream no more." -- Stringer BellThe wire begins to yield information about the Barksdale organization, while Stringer and Avon reminisce on how far they have come.
Directed by: Joe Chappelle · Written by: George Pelecanos · Starring: Michael Kostroff, Glynn Turman, Chad L. Coleman, Peter Gerety
3x12 Mission Accomplished Season Finale
Dec 19, 2004 · 64 min · ★ 8.4
"...we fight on the lie." -- Slim CharlesIn the Season Three finale, a reticent Avon readies his troops for a war against Marlo. Meanwhile, as the detail works towards the top rungs of the Barksdale organization, McNulty reassesses his pursuit of Stringer Bell and the path he's chosen for himself. While Royce continues to grapple with Amsterdam, Burrell offers a deal to minimize the fallout.
Directed by: Ernest R. Dickerson · Written by: David Simon · Starring: Jamie Hector, Amy Ryan, Michael Kostroff, Gbenga Akinnagbe