McNulty (Dominic West) is assigned to a team of outcasts assigned to probe drug lord Avon Barksdale's (Wood Harris) operations.
Detectives' inquiries spark a minor riot, causing a boy to lose an eye and giving police a black eye publicity-wise.
McNulty's detail tries breaking the code on the gang's pagers; Bell teaches D'Angelo how to train lookouts.
Rawls' demands create strange allies; Wallace and D'Angelo wrestle with their consciences; Omar turns witness.
Barksdale plays games with an East Side rival; Herc and Carver take cash from Wee-Bey; Omar resurfaces.