Case file · Who is who
The Wire Faces
Season 2 · 2003 · The docks
The detail was scattered as punishment. A feud over a church window between a major and a union man reopens the shop, and the case moves down to the port of Baltimore, its stevedores and their Greek suppliers.
This page says who people are, not what happens to them, so it is safe to read mid-season. It does assume the previous seasons have been watched. Cards marked “later” are people who only show up in the back half of the season.
- Police
- The port
- The Greeks
- Barksdale crew
- Eastside & the Co-op
- The street
- Courts & politics
- Home
The policescattered, then called back
Jimmy McNulty
Marine Unit
Banished to a patrol boat in the harbor, the worst assignment Rawls could find. Actively bored.
played by Dominic West
Daniels
Cedric Daniels
Lieutenant, Evidence Control
Punished with the evidence room in the basement. Ready to quit.
played by Lance Reddick
Kima Greggs
Det., Narcotics
Recovered from her shooting, stuck at a desk to keep Cheryl happy. Hates it.
played by Sonja Sohn
Lester Freamon
Det., Homicide
His reward for season 1: Homicide, next to Bunk. Still the most methodical man in the building.
played by Clarke Peters
Bunk Moreland
Det., Homicide
Lands, with Lester, a case nobody wants.
played by Wendell Pierce
Prez
Roland Pryzbylewski
Det., Southeastern District
Working under his father-in-law Valchek. Found his calling last season: wiretaps and codes.
played by Jim True-Frost
Carver
Ellis Carver
Sergeant, Southeastern District
Made sergeant, in Valchek's district. Herc came along.
played by Seth Gilliam
Herc
Thomas Hauk
Det., Southeastern District
Same as ever. Chance and bad ideas bring him back into the case.
played by Domenick Lombardozzi
Beadie Russell
Beatrice Russell
Officer, Port Authority police
Single mother patrolling the docks for the paycheck. What she finds in a container starts the season. Learns the job from the detail.
played by Amy Ryan
Claude Diggins
Marine Unit
Pilots the boat, McNulty's only colleague on the water.
played by Jeffrey Fugitt
Fitz
Terrance Fitzhugh
FBI special agent
McNulty's friend at the Bureau. The feds now have other priorities than drugs.
played by Doug Olear
Agent Koutrislater
Kristos Koutris
FBI, counter-terrorism
A federal agent on the counter-terrorism squad whom Fitz calls for a favor.
played by Tom Mardirosian
The brassand the stained-glass feud
Valchek
Stan Valchek
Major, Southeastern District
Furious that a dockworkers' union gave the Polish church a finer stained-glass window than his, he wants Frank Sobotka's head. That is where the season starts.
played by Al Brown
Burrell
Ervin Burrell
Acting Commissioner
One rung up. Needs council votes to be confirmed.
played by Frankie Faison
Rawls
William Rawls
Colonel, CID
Promoted too. Still obsessed with his numbers and with McNulty.
played by John Doman
Landsman
Jay Landsman
Sergeant, Homicide
Bunk and Lester's boss. Counts the files piling up.
played by Delaney Williams
The portstevedores' local 1514
Frank Sobotka
Union treasurer
Runs the stevedores' local in all but name. Fighting for a dying port, by increasingly dubious means, so his men get shifts.
played by Chris Bauer
Nick Sobotka
Nicholas Sobotka
Stevedore, Frank's nephew
Young, not enough shifts to support his girlfriend Aimee and their daughter. The smart one in the family.
played by Pablo Schreiber
Ziggy
Chester Sobotka
Stevedore, Frank's son
The problem son. Big mouth, small schemes, the dock's punching bag. Owns a duck.
played by James Ransone
Horseface
Thomas Pakusa
Stevedore
Frank's right hand on the pier, up in the crane.
played by Charley Scalies
Nat Coxson
Nathaniel Coxson
Union elder
The local's elder statesman, eyeing the presidency and watching Frank's books.
played by Luray Cooper
Johnny Fifty
John Spamanto
Stevedore
One of the dock crew, the kind who follows Ziggy's ideas.
played by Jeffrey Pratt Gordon
La La
Stevedore
Another regular of the pier and the bar.
played by Kelvin Davis
Ott
Vernon Motley
Stevedore
A respected stevedore running against Frank for treasurer.
played by Bus Howard
Louis Sobotka
Nick's father
Frank's brother, a retired stevedore who watched the port empty out.
played by Robert Hogan
Aimee
Nick's girlfriend
Mother of his daughter. Wants a place of their own.
played by Kristin Proctor
Bruce DiBiago
Lobbyist
The man you pay in Annapolis to get the canal dredged and the port rebuilt.
played by Keith Flippen
Andy Krawczyk
Developer
Dreams of condos on the waterfront. Everything Frank is fighting.
played by Michael Willis
The Greekswho are not all Greek
Le Grec
The boss
A quiet old man at the back of a diner who looks like nobody. Moves everything that pays through the port.
played by Bill Raymond
Vondas
Spiros Vondopoulos
The Greek's lieutenant
The one Frank and Nick deal with. Courteous, patient, never in a hurry.
played by Paul Ben-Victor
Sergei
Sergei Malatov
Driver and muscle
Ukrainian, not Russian, and does not like being called Boris.
played by Chris Ashworth
Eton
Eton Ben-Eleazer
The drug end
Israeli, handles the drugs and the people who buy them.
played by Lev Gorn
Double G
George Glekas
Fence
Runs the warehouse where lost containers end up.
played by Teddy Cañez
White Mike
Michael McArdle
Dealer
Supplies the dockworkers' neighborhood, buying from Eton.
played by Brook Yeaton
The Barksdale organizationboss in prison, Towers in trouble
Avon Barksdale
The boss, in prison
Doing seven years. Runs what he can from his cell.
played by Wood Harris
Stringer Bell
Russell Bell
Running things outside
Runs the day-to-day. His problem: the product is weak and the Towers are losing customers.
played by Idris Elba
D'Angelo
D'Angelo Barksdale
In prison
Twenty years, in the same prison as Avon. Wants out of the family.
played by Lawrence Gilliard Jr.
Wee-Bey
Roland Brice
In prison for life
Took the fall for everyone. Keeps his fish in photos.
played by Hassan Johnson
Bodie
Preston Broadus
Towers lieutenant
Promoted up from the Pit. Running a corner with product nobody wants.
played by J.D. Williams
Poot
Malik Carr
Soldier
Still at Bodie's side.
played by Tray Chaney
Shamrock
Sean McGinty
Stringer's aide
Takes the minutes at meetings and carries the messages.
played by Richard Burton
Brianna
Brianna Barksdale
Avon's sister
Keeps the family money and an eye on her son in prison.
played by Michael Hyatt
Donette
D'Angelo's girlfriend
Alone with their son while D'Angelo does his time.
played by Shamyl Brown
Levy
Maurice Levy
The lawyer
Still on the crew's payroll.
played by Michael Kostroff
Brother Mouzonelater
Hired gun from New York
Bow tie, glasses, reads Harper's. Avon brings him in to hold the Towers.
played by Michael Potts
The Eastsidewhere the good product is
Proposition Joe
Joseph Stewart
Eastside boss
His product beats Barksdale's, and he knows it. Always has a proposition.
played by Robert F. Chew
Cheese
Melvin Wagstaff
Joe's nephew
Runs corners for his uncle. None of Joe's patience.
played by Method Man
The street
Omar
Omar Little
Stick-up man
Back in town with a new crew and a score to settle with the Barksdales.
played by Michael Kenneth Williams
Butchie
Omar's adviser
Blind bar owner, Omar's banker and sounding board.
played by S. Robert Morgan
Tosha & Kimmy
Tosha Mitchell, Kimmy
Omar's crew
Two women who rob alongside him.
played by Edwina Findley, Kelli R. Brown
Bubbles
Reginald Cousins
Informant
Still on the street, still with Johnny. Kima is no longer around to listen.
played by Andre Royo
Johnny
Johnny Weeks
Bubbles' sidekick
Still tagging along.
played by Leo Fitzpatrick
Courts & politics
Rhonda Pearlman
Assistant State's Attorney
The detail's prosecutor again.
played by Deirdre Lovejoy
Ilene Nathan
Assistant State's Attorney
A colleague of Pearlman's, on the Homicide cases.
played by Susan Rome
Dr Frazier
Randall Frazier
Medical examiner
The man at the morgue Bunk and Lester bring their questions to.
played by Erik Dellums
Clay Davislater
R. Clayton Davis
State senator
One of the people Frank pays about the canal.
played by Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Home
Elena McNulty
Jimmy's ex
The divorce is moving along, and Jimmy is not helping.
played by Callie Thorne
Marla Daniels
Cedric's wife
Wants him to leave the department for the law. He passed the bar.
played by Maria Broom
Cheryl
Kima's girlfriend
Nearly lost her. Wants a desk job, and a baby.
played by Melanie Nicholls-King
No match. Try a nickname (Bunk, Prez, Stringer, Wee-Bey…).
Nicknames to real names
- Daniels → Cedric Daniels
- Prez → Roland Pryzbylewski
- Carver → Ellis Carver
- Herc → Thomas Hauk
- Beadie Russell → Beatrice Russell
- Fitz → Terrance Fitzhugh
- Agent Koutris → Kristos Koutris
- Valchek → Stan Valchek
- Burrell → Ervin Burrell
- Rawls → William Rawls
- Landsman → Jay Landsman
- Nick Sobotka → Nicholas Sobotka
- Ziggy → Chester Sobotka
- Horseface → Thomas Pakusa
- Nat Coxson → Nathaniel Coxson
- Johnny Fifty → John Spamanto
- Ott → Vernon Motley
- Vondas → Spiros Vondopoulos
- Sergei → Sergei Malatov
- Eton → Eton Ben-Eleazer
- Double G → George Glekas
- White Mike → Michael McArdle
- Stringer Bell → Russell Bell
- D'Angelo → D'Angelo Barksdale
- Wee-Bey → Roland Brice
- Bodie → Preston Broadus
- Poot → Malik Carr
- Shamrock → Sean McGinty
- Brianna → Brianna Barksdale
- Levy → Maurice Levy
- Proposition Joe → Joseph Stewart
- Cheese → Melvin Wagstaff
- Omar → Omar Little
- Bubbles → Reginald Cousins
- Johnny → Johnny Weeks
- Dr Frazier → Randall Frazier
- Clay Davis → R. Clayton Davis
Words you will hear
- Local 1514
- The Baltimore stevedores' union local, Frank Sobotka's.
- Can
- A shipping container. The ones that vanish from the port's computer system are the heart of the season.
- Checkers
- The clerks who log containers in and out of the port.
- The canal
- The channel to be dredged so the big ships come back. Frank's obsession, and his lobbyist's.
- The window
- The stained-glass window the stevedores gave St. Casimir's, which humiliated Valchek. The whole season follows from it.
- The game
- The drug trade and everything around it, as seen from inside. “The game is the game.”
- Westside / Eastside
- Baltimore's two territories. Barksdale, then Stanfield, are west; Proposition Joe is east.
- Re-up
- A fresh delivery of product to a corner.
- Hopper
- A kid on the corner, running lookout or hand-to-hand.
- “Police” (the word)
- A cop. “Natural police”: someone with the instinct for the job. The show's highest praise.
- Clearance rate
- Share of murders closed. Rawls' favorite number.