The Best Scene: Fuck
Folks have said a lot about the caliber of writing on The Wire, and as well they should. David Simon’s ear for the particular cadence of Baltimore gangsters, thugs, and drug runners, the pithy banter between burned-out homicide detectives, the double-speak of the city’s political class. However, one scene that has always been a favorite of mine – a nearly five-minute sequence between Bunk and McNulty early in the first season as they reexamine a colleague’s crime scene – manages to communicate so much by relying on one simple yet versatile little word: Fuck.
Using only the word “Fuck,” and its variants, the two manage to rework a crime scene and develop a new theory to explain the murder of ex-Avon Barksdale flame Deirdre Kresson.
They use it to express their disgust with photos of the scene. To show their surprise, their frustration. It’s used as a means of rumination: “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck.” As an interrogatory: “…the fuck?” Even as an outburst of pain as McNulty’s finger get pinched in his tape measure.
Through the entire scene they’re able – by their expressions, gestures, inflections, and with the aid of some quality camerawork – to keep the audience following their train of thought despite the limited, and characteristically profane, dialogue. If that wasn’t enough, it also helps develop these two integral characters and show their relationship: good police who work well – almost preternaturally well – together.
Matt Fair lives in Philadelphia, another crumbling post-industrial East Coast city, where he covers the state and federal court systems. He appreciates the Phillies, bourbon, gin, tonic, his beautiful wife and the fucking farmer in the dell.
Editor’s Note: Find an oral history of the aforementioned scene here.