most important scene of the entire series. this scene in a nutshell describes the entire failure of the war on drugs. snatch n rips and military interdiction is one thing but when you follow the money trail, what you see is a systemic institutional failure as this dirty money goes to the banks, corporations and politicans' coffers. the unwillingess of our government to follow this trail ascribes to the idea that "who knows where it will lead" and the inherent corruption it will expose.
Well, that and that black market's mean profits are accrued first by violence, only later by competition for customers. Don't get me wrong, the later season's focus on the competition for customers. But by designating a certain consumption behavior that by itself harms nobody other than the user a "crime," the government starts creating loopholes in the common law process of proving someone deserves to have their rights taken. And you are right: a lot of money sloshes in those loopholes.
Abbiyaahwu Asha Or as Lester said follow the money. Like Nisha and Bharat Patel drowning in 3 ft of water in an above ground pool. Every detective, cop, LEO knows that’s impossible. Do they have the heart to do the work though and follow the money??? Or course not.
I have immense respect for Lester for not treating Prez like the buffoon he was made out to be. Everyone thought that of him, including himself ("corporate who?!"), until Lester gave him real work, and Prez found his forte.
Prez wasn't much when Lester found him in a Baltimore junkyard, but as it turned out, with a paint job and a tune-up, he ran like you wouldn't believe.
@@MM-vs2et he’s also one of the few people who has a relatively happy ending. Dukie fell through the cracks and it’s horrible. But Prez found a way to be a good teacher and help people. Not bad for a former cop too happy with his trigger.
@@RikerLovesWorf The more often I watch, the more I notice weird overdubs and green screen. Or maybe it's just the effect of HD? The famous Bunny to McNulty "F the bosses" looks green screen as hell..
This is one of those scenes that determines whether The Wire is the series for you. No hand holding or patience for those with low attention spans and a need for constant action, just a veteran police describing in detail how you follow the money.
There's a difference between teaching the audience things it needs to know and handholding. Teaching the audience things it needs to know is something every series does, and doesn't preclude treating them as intelligent or acting as if they have an attention span greater than a five year old. Handholding, by contrast, would involve simplifying the proceedings until the lowest common denominator viewer can keep up, followed by repeating that simplified explanation periodically so they don't forget.
This was where I finally felt the show was 'right', because this is exactly how you would go after a criminal enterprise, or business rival, or politician, anyone really. It's a puzzle you can't even see all the pieces to or the finished product, but find a piece which leads to another piece which leads to a part, and before long you can know a hell of a lot about someone/something
Lester wants payback. It may not be the same people, but it's the same bureaucracy that fucked him over that he is ultimately looking to put the screws into. love it
@@mkn.567 yeah honestly it confused me a bit at first why lester was down with mcnulty in season 5, but you said it best, he was good police but ultimately he wants some sort of payback ruining his career due to corruption
That pause leading into that quote and the way the line is delivered by Lester gives me the same sorta goosebumps you get from a really good reprise halfway through a song.
It's really cool to watch this, knowing that the two younger detectives end up becoming basically half of the Major Crimes Unit. It's hard to believe that Sydnor's not as into it at first, given how skilled he becomes. Of course Prez loves it from minute one.
I thought the hard to believe part was they had detective rank without knowing that process and being rigorously trained in it. This is Intro to Criminology/Criminal Justice-level knowledge.
It's not really that hard to believe. Prez was at that point largely considered a screw-up, so it's understandable that no one would have given a second thought to anything besides the most basic of training. Sydnor, while talented, was working the auto detail, which means that he would have never had the need to do the kind of in-depth work that Freamon went into here.
When my last apartment building got sold by the original owners I couldn’t help but laugh when the new owner showed up with a business card that said B&B Enterprises. He said he never saw The Wire.
One of the best scenes of the show. Dramatized education at its finest. Chernobyl was the same way - some of the best scenes in the show were the main character describing how nuclear reactors operate and how the Chernobyl reactor exploded.
"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don’t know where the fuck it’s gonna take you" Everything is said; thanks Lester!
Bob Watson The same actor played a whacked out junkie/dealer in HBO’s The Corner which preceded The Wire. You would never think he could play Lester. The man has got great acting range.
The Wire had no desire to hand hold its viewers... it showed you everything, the down and dirty police work, and never insulted your intelligence as a viewer
@@vesuvyan the irony of B-square as a drug front is funny. Like be square or be legit. I had a principal named bill goode. A principal writing B.Goode on a hall pass was almost too perfect.
One of the Best quotable part of the WIRE at 2:30. Lester was the M V P when came towards police investigations. He was always thorough. One of my favorite tv characters.
Shows like the Wire and Game of Thrones understand that it's the dialog and character development that make a show great. Everything else...like action etc...is the cherry on top.
@@FoolyCooly011 No...it really isn't. You're just one of those types who think they're being cool by going against what they perceive as to much hype surrounding the show. It's far from a joke. It's one of the greatest shows ever made. But whatever...think whatever you want.
Cool Lester Smooth is the kind of man you don't say anything to unless it's a question. Everything to learn from him and nothing to teach him. Best detective of the series.
Best character in the show was without a doubt Lester, as he was not only super smart (even beating McNulty at being the brightest guy in the room), but also his ability to be patient was not something to take lightly. He understood that the drug money doesn't just sit around to rot, but actually has to be used for a purpose and, from the knowledge he got on Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, and their entire operation, it was quite clear that the assets from their illegal activities were being deployed in a highly intelligent way, especially when one sees the Barksdale gang owning Orlando's Club and some other establishments. to truly gauge such a massive operation requires both brains and forbearance, something the audience can see Lester has the most of.
I was a copper/detective for fifteen years I often wonder which of these fine Poelease I would have been. I wanted to be as effortlessly debonair as Bunk, I thought I could be as diamond cut as Daniels, if I hadn't been a bit too much McNulty, I might have become Lester, but I couldn't rein it in, so in the end I think I was Prez.
Lester's a good teacher- he doesn't admonish or tease the guys for not understanding or knowing what he's talking about, he just breaks it down for them.
Lester is the guy you want in your squad when you're playing a hardcore full loot MMO. He's the one who will crawl around prone examining the enemy's base at 3:00AM when none of them are on and find the one tiny weakness in their base construction that will let you break in to their loot chest room without using a ton of your own resources.
The finest tribute Lester received for his brain and his work was in the final season: Daniels sits him down, looks him squarely in the eye and says with respect, "Motherfucker, you ARE the major crime unit"
Different skill set. Lester followed money better than anyone. Bunk excelled at "hand-to-hand" exchanges with characters like Omar. Bunk was also an amazing forensic investigator at crime scenes.
All of them have their major strengths. Freemon was analytical when it comes to breaking down the infrastructure. No one could see a crime scene imo like Bunk. Even with Jimmy amazing at the small details and Kima is a wiz with the CI work
@@SmokinAcesProd kima was the one who could see a crime scene bunks greatest asset was his connection to the streets hell even Lester schooled bunk by finding lexs body bunk could barely put it together in his head
@@SmokinAcesProd th-cam.com/video/o5vWGV1rqkA/w-d-xo.html I think Lester was a cut above. Lester is a doing his Sherlock Holmes impersonation in his head and Bunk is oblivious to the fact that they're both standing right in front of the crime scene.
Just from a production standpoint It's interesting to watch this scene after watching the rest of the series. I think this was the only time they ever did this kind of clippy montage, voice over type scene. Not knocking it, it's a great scene. Just interesting to watch them try different things before they hit their groove.
I noticed that too, this being the only montage sequence I’m aware of. The show usually loves to “show, not tell”. In this case, maybe they had to do a bit of both to save time.
every time I see this scene i think of all the crimes lester could've solved if they hadn't dumped him in that pawn shop unit for 13 years....and 4 months
Love this show. It's my favorite of all time. This scene is dating itself now, though, as all the stuff they're talking about here can now easily be done online without ever having to visit any courthouse or department building. The power of this scene might change a little bit if all Prez and Sydnor had to do was sit at the table in front of a laptop all day.
This scene is practically a standard exposition scene, but it also shows one thing that separates Lester and McNulty. Both are natural police, and both also know how to defy their superiors, BUT Lester has the capacity to be a _mentor_. Throughout the show, it’s pretty clear that Lester has the necessary social skills to deal with both his superiors and his subordinates. It is telling that, after Prez killed that undercover cop, he asked Daniels to tell Lester that he was sorry.
Lester proves why people wanted him locked in a hole. He’s not just good or natural police, he’s a true detective. He’s rolled away the stone and is not gonna let it come back. Unfortunately, Jimmy is in the same situation as Lester at the end of the series. And if there is a sequel series, I hope Jimmy comes back as the new Lester.
Lester Freeman is what you would call solid police, he's been in his career for over 20 years and he posts every single string that no rookie in five years would think to do, he's my favorite character out the police, on The wire, he's a thinker, uses critical assessment on the scene and in the books.
You can see why Prez holds Lester in such high regard in the later seasons. This was the sort of detective work that Prez was most suited for and Lester gave him many opportunities to shine, and made Prez feel like what he was doing was important (which it was)
After the records were all digitized, this entire scene's explanation got replaced by a single SQL query that Lester ran from his desk while waiting for glue to dry.
@betatalk357 D&B could have have meant something like that. Though Orlando's wasn't seized because of his drug arrest, Orlando was forced to sign away his ownership immediately after he was arrested by Levy, remember ?. By the time the Police raided the club it had a different owner.
Biggest mistake of the higher-ups wasn't putting Lester in the pawn-shop for 13 years and 4 months, it was not realizing that all that time, he became talented in the very thing he hated the most, paperwork and office work.
"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the fuck it's gonna take you." Things wrong with the world; A bunch. And no one is making good fan art of Lester Freamon
Correct me if I’m wrong: So Prez pulled names off the corporate charter for D&B Enterprises and used them to cross reference any other businesses or names Avon may own. Sydnor then uses those names to find the addresses at city land records, thus pinpointing the businesses that are no doubt fronts and houses are probably being for Electricy like Wallace and the other hoppers house or a stash house. I may be a off, it’s a lot to follow at first.
Lotta people don't know about David Simon's original West Baltimore HBO mini-series The Corner. It serves as almost a prequel to The Wire and features many of the same players. And it's on TH-cam. And they got dem spidabags -- th-cam.com/video/CpOkjzr3vBk/w-d-xo.html
I love this scene and Lester’s knowledge drop. The sound mixing throws me. Lester turns into a passive narrator there for a bit. His voice over monologue feels like it’s been done all in one take in a studio. Feels too much like a book on tape. Not sure if that’s on purpose or not. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was. It’s not exciting but it’s vastly important.
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After reading all the comments on The Wire videos, It's clear to me that EVERY SCENE from this series is the most important scene of this series.
Yep...
Hahaha
Indeed!
The most important scene is when Mcnulty became Heisenberg
@@victorsefan , Please elaborate. I know Heisenberg is Walter White's name from Breaking Bad., but I do not see the on-ramp.
"While we're running around on this, what are you going to do?"
*Jumpcut*
"I want some of that peppa steak!"
KiloByte is this the hot house?
wrong number fool
@@dantae88 "Hi Hat"
“I’ll be down in New Orleans being a contracter and a Mardi Gras Indian chief.”
Bahaha
Imagine Lester giving these instructions to Herc and Carver 😂
Herc woulda lost his shit, but Carver i could see making the effort. Even in season 1.
Herc: *blinks his left eye, then blinks his right eye*
Carver: *leans over; farts*
Carver isnt as big of a dumbass Herc was tho.
Prez and Syd are both like “who?” “Huh?” They couldn’t possibly sound dumber
Major, you just insulted your command!
most important scene of the entire series. this scene in a nutshell describes the entire failure of the war on drugs. snatch n rips and military interdiction is one thing but when you follow the money trail, what you see is a systemic institutional failure as this dirty money goes to the banks, corporations and politicans' coffers. the unwillingess of our government to follow this trail ascribes to the idea that "who knows where it will lead" and the inherent corruption it will expose.
Well, that and that black market's mean profits are accrued first by violence, only later by competition for customers.
Don't get me wrong, the later season's focus on the competition for customers. But by designating a certain consumption behavior that by itself harms nobody other than the user a "crime," the government starts creating loopholes in the common law process of proving someone deserves to have their rights taken.
And you are right: a lot of money sloshes in those loopholes.
Our economy in a nutshell
Abbiyaahwu Asha Or as Lester said follow the money. Like Nisha and Bharat Patel drowning in 3 ft of water in an above ground pool. Every detective, cop, LEO knows that’s impossible. Do they have the heart to do the work though and follow the money??? Or course not.
@@Righteous1911 It was a 7 feet deep pool, stop spreading misinformation.
Big Stanko Do you think 2 doctors are dumb enough to drown in an above ground pool?
I have immense respect for Lester for not treating Prez like the buffoon he was made out to be. Everyone thought that of him, including himself ("corporate who?!"), until Lester gave him real work, and Prez found his forte.
Prez wasn't much when Lester found him in a Baltimore junkyard, but as it turned out, with a paint job and a tune-up, he ran like you wouldn't believe.
Prez was his protege after all. One of most heartbreaking scene was the “tell Lester I’m sorry” line.
@@MM-vs2et he’s also one of the few people who has a relatively happy ending. Dukie fell through the cracks and it’s horrible. But Prez found a way to be a good teacher and help people. Not bad for a former cop too happy with his trigger.
"It'll be a couple hundred pages".
"Really? I'll take all of them".
Like a boss.
In the calmest tone I have ever seen a police officer take.
It’s an overdub but I always loved the way he said that. It’s like openly welcoming the entire class’ homework assignments.
@@RikerLovesWorf The more often I watch, the more I notice weird overdubs and green screen. Or maybe it's just the effect of HD? The famous Bunny to McNulty "F the bosses" looks green screen as hell..
Natural police
The more the merrier, lol.
"We're runnin' around on this, what are you gonna do?"
*immediately cuts to Lester plowing Shardene*
BYEEEEEEEEEE
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
This comment is underrated af 🤣🤣🤣
When you walk in the gardennnnn
@@breadman5048 You gotta watch your back
It needs to be said again: Freamon is the man.
+typacsk cool lester smooth
Natu'ral Poh-leece
Ends up with D's girl too... Not bad.
typacsk I felt like I needed a task to help out
As far as police is concerned, he's the G.O.A.T
Lester gets excited about a "couple hundred pages" of campaign finance documents; NAT-ural POleese!
Lester's natural po-lice instincts got sharpened, not dulled, by the pawn shop unit and the miniature dolls. The man's eye for detail is amazing.
His lack of oversight is phenomenal😂
Harkens back to the scene where he explains how you follow the tickets in the pawnshop unit, making cards for everything, following the paper trail.
This is one of those scenes that determines whether The Wire is the series for you. No hand holding or patience for those with low attention spans and a need for constant action, just a veteran police describing in detail how you follow the money.
Scott Schaffer This is totally hand holding dude, Lester is explaining to the audience exactly what they are doing, he even gives an example
There's a difference between teaching the audience things it needs to know and handholding. Teaching the audience things it needs to know is something every series does, and doesn't preclude treating them as intelligent or acting as if they have an attention span greater than a five year old. Handholding, by contrast, would involve simplifying the proceedings until the lowest common denominator viewer can keep up, followed by repeating that simplified explanation periodically so they don't forget.
Perfectly said.
This was where I finally felt the show was 'right', because this is exactly how you would go after a criminal enterprise, or business rival, or politician, anyone really.
It's a puzzle you can't even see all the pieces to or the finished product, but find a piece which leads to another piece which leads to a part, and before long you can know a hell of a lot about someone/something
Exactly
For being stuck in the pawn shop for 14 years and 4 months Lester knows how to run down the paper trail like a pro.
13 years...
And 4 months.
He's natural police
He's a beast, they underutilized him
Lester wants payback. It may not be the same people, but it's the same bureaucracy that fucked him over that he is ultimately looking to put the screws into. love it
@@mkn.567 yeah honestly it confused me a bit at first why lester was down with mcnulty in season 5, but you said it best, he was good police but ultimately he wants some sort of payback ruining his career due to corruption
The BPD had no idea what they unleashed when they pulled Cool Lester Smooth out of the Pawn Shop unit.
13 years...
@@Gryffilion ....and fo' months.
Lester schoolin' the youngins.
Take the youngins with you get em a workout
Some people in the comment section needs a lesson as well🤣
The “when you start to follow the money” speech always gives me chills.
That pause leading into that quote and the way the line is delivered by Lester gives me the same sorta goosebumps you get from a really good reprise halfway through a song.
Neva fuckin up the count!!
It's really cool to watch this, knowing that the two younger detectives end up becoming basically half of the Major Crimes Unit. It's hard to believe that Sydnor's not as into it at first, given how skilled he becomes. Of course Prez loves it from minute one.
I thought the hard to believe part was they had detective rank without knowing that process and being rigorously trained in it. This is Intro to Criminology/Criminal Justice-level knowledge.
It's not really that hard to believe. Prez was at that point largely considered a screw-up, so it's understandable that no one would have given a second thought to anything besides the most basic of training. Sydnor, while talented, was working the auto detail, which means that he would have never had the need to do the kind of in-depth work that Freamon went into here.
All these locations they mention, Druid Lake, Reservoir Hill, all real places in Baltimore. The city really is the main character of the show
When my last apartment building got sold by the original owners I couldn’t help but laugh when the new owner showed up with a business card that said B&B Enterprises. He said he never saw The Wire.
Priceless 🤣
bell and barksdale lmfaoooo he was hiding something
One of the best scenes of the show. Dramatized education at its finest. Chernobyl was the same way - some of the best scenes in the show were the main character describing how nuclear reactors operate and how the Chernobyl reactor exploded.
The reactor DIDN'T EXPLODE and you are delusional. You need Jesus
"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers.
But you start to follow the money, and you don’t know where the fuck it’s gonna take you"
Everything is said; thanks Lester!
+The Aegis we could do with a few white Lesters also 😉
i still enjoy watching Lester he should've received an Emmy his voice and acting are great.
Lester and Bunny Colvin
Bob Watson The same actor played a whacked out junkie/dealer in HBO’s The Corner which preceded The Wire. You would never think he could play Lester. The man has got great acting range.
The Wire had no desire to hand hold its viewers... it showed you everything, the down and dirty police work, and never insulted your intelligence as a viewer
Well.. sometimes they did use technical language and jargon that most people first watching the show wouldn’t understand😂😂
Good thing Herc wasn't there,
"I'm exhausted just listening to this shit!"
who else smiled at seeing Levy name on most of the documents as Lester was talking about the money trail 😆
Did you catch B-Square LTD?
@@justaboutbi Triple-B as well on what Sydnor found. B and B enterprises; Barksdale and Bell.
@@vesuvyan the irony of B-square as a drug front is funny. Like be square or be legit. I had a principal named bill goode. A principal writing B.Goode on a hall pass was almost too perfect.
One of the Best quotable part of the WIRE at 2:30. Lester was the M V P when came towards police investigations. He was always thorough. One of my favorite tv characters.
that line might be the thesis for the entire series.
Honestly? This is way more interesting to me then any shootout or "clever" detective crap where they start randomly pulling "clues" out of their ass
Shows like the Wire and Game of Thrones understand that it's the dialog and character development that make a show great. Everything else...like action etc...is the cherry on top.
Game of Thrones can't hold a candle to The Wire.
Actually it can, and it does. Have you watched it?
@@doublestrokeroll had you made that comment 7-8 years ago, I might've even sided with you. But as it turned out, GoT is a joke lol
@@FoolyCooly011 No...it really isn't. You're just one of those types who think they're being cool by going against what they perceive as to much hype surrounding the show. It's far from a joke. It's one of the greatest shows ever made. But whatever...think whatever you want.
I must be a giant nerd because this is one of my favourite scenes from The Wire. I love it when they actually show you how systems work.
This is the best scene in The Wire and describes money laundering in the United States.
Cool Lester Smooth is the kind of man you don't say anything to unless it's a question. Everything to learn from him and nothing to teach him. Best detective of the series.
Damn, Lester sure knows his shit. He must play a lot of "Papers, Please."
man lester was smart if the bosses didnt fuck wit him he would have locked up half of city hall and then some behind all that dirty money
Too bad he was a c-hair from getting locked up come season 5.
Natural police.
I love how in one or two episodes Lester goes from housecat to full on Woodward/Bernstein.
"Police work, detective."
Best character in the show was without a doubt Lester, as he was not only super smart (even beating McNulty at being the brightest guy in the room), but also his ability to be patient was not something to take lightly. He understood that the drug money doesn't just sit around to rot, but actually has to be used for a purpose and, from the knowledge he got on Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, and their entire operation, it was quite clear that the assets from their illegal activities were being deployed in a highly intelligent way, especially when one sees the Barksdale gang owning Orlando's Club and some other establishments. to truly gauge such a massive operation requires both brains and forbearance, something the audience can see Lester has the most of.
I was a copper/detective for fifteen years I often wonder which of these fine Poelease I would have been. I wanted to be as effortlessly debonair as Bunk, I thought I could be as diamond cut as Daniels, if I hadn't been a bit too much McNulty, I might have become Lester, but I couldn't rein it in, so in the end I think I was Prez.
you were herc
@@reibarker585 burn!
Probably herc since ur BRITISH
@@reibarker585 love it
Out and about blinding children was it?
I’m drunk as hell right now and this all sounds like rocket science lol
lol
With a computer and pretty good OCR software this should be a piece of cake.
I'm sober and that may as well have been quantum physics
"While we're on this, what're you gonna do?"
FAPFAPFAPFAPFAPFAPFAPFAP
+sn00ke "I'll be at home dipping my wick in Shardene."
-“it’ll be a couple hundred pages”
-“really? I’ll take all of them”.
Lester's a good teacher- he doesn't admonish or tease the guys for not understanding or knowing what he's talking about, he just breaks it down for them.
Lester was so underrated in this series. His character was brilliant.
I have never seen such a collection of underrated gifted actors in a single series before or after The Wire.
Lester is the guy you want in your squad when you're playing a hardcore full loot MMO. He's the one who will crawl around prone examining the enemy's base at 3:00AM when none of them are on and find the one tiny weakness in their base construction that will let you break in to their loot chest room without using a ton of your own resources.
When you work in the pawn shop unit for thirteen years and four months, you learn some serious shit.
The finest tribute Lester received for his brain and his work was in the final season: Daniels sits him down, looks him squarely in the eye and says with respect, "Motherfucker, you ARE the major crime unit"
Bunk was good, but he was no lester
Different skill set. Lester followed money better than anyone. Bunk excelled at "hand-to-hand" exchanges with characters like Omar. Bunk was also an amazing forensic investigator at crime scenes.
McNulty is the best in Homicide, and we're replying to a 7 yr old comment
All of them have their major strengths. Freemon was analytical when it comes to breaking down the infrastructure. No one could see a crime scene imo like Bunk. Even with Jimmy amazing at the small details and Kima is a wiz with the CI work
@@SmokinAcesProd kima was the one who could see a crime scene bunks greatest asset was his connection to the streets hell even Lester schooled bunk by finding lexs body bunk could barely put it together in his head
@@SmokinAcesProd th-cam.com/video/o5vWGV1rqkA/w-d-xo.html I think Lester was a cut above. Lester is a doing his Sherlock Holmes impersonation in his head and Bunk is oblivious to the fact that they're both standing right in front of the crime scene.
Lester was a genius. Plain and simple.
Just from a production standpoint It's interesting to watch this scene after watching the rest of the series. I think this was the only time they ever did this kind of clippy montage, voice over type scene. Not knocking it, it's a great scene. Just interesting to watch them try different things before they hit their groove.
It was like the narrative in Casino when they walk you through the money room.
I noticed that too, this being the only montage sequence I’m aware of. The show usually loves to “show, not tell”. In this case, maybe they had to do a bit of both to save time.
every time I see this scene i think of all the crimes lester could've solved if they hadn't dumped him in that pawn shop unit for 13 years....and 4 months
The beggining of what was to become the one man who fought City Hall....without ever pulling a trigger
More research and thought went into this three-minute sequence than the entirety of just about any other cop show.
Love this show. It's my favorite of all time. This scene is dating itself now, though, as all the stuff they're talking about here can now easily be done online without ever having to visit any courthouse or department building. The power of this scene might change a little bit if all Prez and Sydnor had to do was sit at the table in front of a laptop all day.
Now I realize that Freamon probably acquired those bureaucratic skills when he was in the pawn shop unit.
Met Lester in real life. No lie coolest cat ever. Mad friendly and cool.
I could never become a detective, too much paper work.
This scene is practically a standard exposition scene, but it also shows one thing that separates Lester and McNulty.
Both are natural police, and both also know how to defy their superiors, BUT Lester has the capacity to be a _mentor_. Throughout the show, it’s pretty clear that Lester has the necessary social skills to deal with both his superiors and his subordinates. It is telling that, after Prez killed that undercover cop, he asked Daniels to tell Lester that he was sorry.
Lester at the end: "And give me some of that peppa steak!"
Lester proves why people wanted him locked in a hole. He’s not just good or natural police, he’s a true detective. He’s rolled away the stone and is not gonna let it come back.
Unfortunately, Jimmy is in the same situation as Lester at the end of the series. And if there is a sequel series, I hope Jimmy comes back as the new Lester.
Not only was this the best scene in the Wire (arguably one of the best shows ever), this is one of the best scenes in all of television.
*Batman invites Lester Freamon to Batman Inc*
It's hard to pick a favorite and/or best character from the Wire, but Lester is for sure the one to beat.
Masterclass in police work from Lester Freamon
“While we’re doing this….. what are you gonna do?”
[Cut to Lester at Orlando’s getting a lap dance from Shardene]
LMAO.... It would be even more funny if the loud music playing was the same song playing when Furio went to those dudes apartment - "Up In The Club"
after watching this about 100 times, i finally get the plan!
I've always liked Sydnor... He's like most of us. He's not a hump, he's not playing for promotion-- he's just a guy, an average guy.
natural police
Lester Freeman is what you would call solid police, he's been in his career for over 20 years and he posts every single string that no rookie in five years would think to do, he's my favorite character out the police, on The wire, he's a thinker, uses critical assessment on the scene and in the books.
You can see why Prez holds Lester in such high regard in the later seasons. This was the sort of detective work that Prez was most suited for and Lester gave him many opportunities to shine, and made Prez feel like what he was doing was important (which it was)
I've always loved Lester!
Top 10 scene in the Wire imb. Probably number 1 in terms of investigation scenes. Learned a lot on how to hustle from watching this
And this here is why Lester was in the pawn shop unit for 13 years. He followed the money.
Before he got to them, most of these guys were fighting the drug war; Lester arrived and showed them how to WIN the drug war...
Won the match, but the game never ends.
"it'll be a couple hundred pages"
Lester: *with clear excitement* "really?" 😂😂
I love that the basement scenes sound realistic and not as if they're all mic'd up.
Cool Lester Smooth, the only Detective that could challenge Columbo in the determination department.
2:55 Lester Freamon pulled
Q: how much do you want of X?
A: YES
joke before it was cool
Just listening to this is making me exhausted.
this was the only instance in which The Wire used a flash forward montage.
2:35 best line of the whole fucking show!!!!!
Name of show please
After the records were all digitized, this entire scene's explanation got replaced by a single SQL query that Lester ran from his desk while waiting for glue to dry.
lol, nice one
Salute!!! The real life Reka!!! From "THE CORNER!!!
I barely realized B&B stands for Barksdale and Bell
@J Jackson They were saying D&B, it also says so right on the paper Sydnor was holding at 0:26.
@robert power You need to have your eyes checked. It says 'D&B Enterprises' right there on the page where Sydnor points his finger in frame 0:26
@betatalk357 D&B could have have meant something like that. Though Orlando's wasn't seized because of his drug arrest, Orlando was forced to sign away his ownership immediately after he was arrested by Levy, remember ?. By the time the Police raided the club it had a different owner.
"CHECK THOSE FUCtKING ADDRESSES!"
why lester was the best character in the show imo
I just noticed, is the BOE receptionist the same receptionist as at the school season 4?
Biggest mistake of the higher-ups wasn't putting Lester in the pawn-shop for 13 years and 4 months, it was not realizing that all that time, he became talented in the very thing he hated the most, paperwork and office work.
and 4 months.
@@daviddalton9214 Sorry. and 4 months.
Lester was presently suprised and excited when he heard he had 100 pages to shift thru lol
I love this guy.
That’s Natural Poh-lice work right there!
Lester was so smooth.
To think there are people out there who think a comedy like The Sopranos is better than this show is mind boggling.
"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the fuck it's gonna take you."
Things wrong with the world; A bunch. And no one is making good fan art of Lester Freamon
Lester was PERFECTLY cast
Correct me if I’m wrong:
So Prez pulled names off the corporate charter for D&B Enterprises and used them to cross reference any other businesses or names Avon may own.
Sydnor then uses those names to find the addresses at city land records, thus pinpointing the businesses that are no doubt fronts and houses are probably being for Electricy like Wallace and the other hoppers house or a stash house.
I may be a off, it’s a lot to follow at first.
"it'll be a couple hundred pages"
Lester: More work? I love more work!
Lester was in his bag this season
Lotta people don't know about David Simon's original West Baltimore HBO mini-series The Corner. It serves as almost a prequel to The Wire and features many of the same players. And it's on TH-cam. And they got dem spidabags -- th-cam.com/video/CpOkjzr3vBk/w-d-xo.html
I love this scene and Lester’s knowledge drop. The sound mixing throws me. Lester turns into a passive narrator there for a bit. His voice over monologue feels like it’s been done all in one take in a studio. Feels too much like a book on tape. Not sure if that’s on purpose or not. Wouldn’t be surprised if it was. It’s not exciting but it’s vastly important.
This scene is basically the whole Snowfall series. The Wire is untouchable.
I fucking love Lester Freamon
2:48 you need something?
Freemon: ya gimme sum dat peppa steak....
That's not what he says, but that's what I heard!
Rip to the victims of the corner. The lady in the end is the real life baby mama to andre. Hope all is well for her god bless everybody
Luther was always the smartest character in the Wire
I never noticed levy name was on a lot stuff