The Baltimore "drug wars" enter a new phase (with a few diversions along the way) as
The Wire launches its second season of 12 hour-long episodes. Although he was instrumental in weakening the Barksdale drug empire during the previous season, narcotics-division detective James McNulty (
Dominic West) ruffled too many high-ranking feathers in the process, and has been demoted and reassigned to the Baltimore Police Harbor Unit. Swallowing his pride, McNulty is able to unearth a hotbed of corruption and duplicity within the Dockworker's Union, his investigation sparked by the recovery of a woman's body floating in the harbor -- which in turn leads to the recovery of 13 other corpses, all female. This season, the fly in the ointment vis-à-vis the "negotiations" between the good guys and the bad guys is Ziggy Sobotka (James Ransome), the loose-cannon son of the Union's secretary treasurer, Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). These new plot developments do not in any way eclipse the Baltimore PD's ongoing campaign to bring the drug-dealing Barksdale family to its knees. In fact, one of the predominant subplots involves the willingness of the Barksdales' main rival, Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), to testify in court...if he lives that long. The season's final episode is titled "Port in a Storm" -- and be assured that this port will be tragically elusive to several of the main characters. ~ All Movie Guide