Napping in Movies/TV 2

The Wire

                March 23, 2023

            Napping in Movies/TV 2

                Karma is a boomerang

            As I discussed yesterday, I was appalled when watching Season 3/Episode 7 of The Wire, where Detective Bunk Moreland cut a fellow detective’s tie in half when he caught the man sleeping innocently in the office. I concluded the post as follows:
Can’t wait to see Crutchfield get back at Bunk at some point. Otherwise, watch out for TND fan fiction later this year.
Well, I’ve finished Season 3, and in Episode 12 (last of the season), we learn more about Bunk’s depravity and see him get his just desserts.
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At 41:55, we see Bunk admiring a wall of half cut ties (I count 20) that he’s got tacked up like trophies. Detective Lester Freamon asks if the tie belongs to Detective Crutchfield, Bunk’s victim in Episode 7. Bunk replies that it wasn’t Crutchfield but rather was that of Detective Ed Norris, whom he caught “sleeping on a stakeout.” Fun fact: Ed Norris was played by Ed Norris, former Commissioner of the BPD and later a convicted felon.
We now know that Bunk (a) takes pride in his work, which amounts to destruction of personal property and potentially (intentional?) infliction of emotional distress; (b) is a repeat offender, having done this at least 19 other times that we haven’t seen onscreen (and it’s probably safe to assume that the sicko has another 20 or so tacked up on his wall at home); and (c) has targeted at least two of his colleagues here — to whom do the other 18 ties belong? I’d note here that we see Crutchfield’s tie on the wall (second in from the right on the bottom row), which suggests that 20 (rather than 21) is the right number.
But Bunk doesn’t get away scot-free (fun fact: the expression originates from the Scandi word “skat,” meaning “tax” or “payment” — so I’m not taking a swipe at the Scottish here). At 56:45, we see someone return the favor to Bunk. 
Bunk gets got
Now he knows how it feels. I hope we see more of this in later seasons, as my sense is that a few more people owe Bunk a cut tie…nobody gets between a man and his nap, not even Bunk Moreland. 

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