Bodie walks out of detention pretending to be a janitor but Patty is recovering in hospital and is pleased that his injuries will result in a medical pension. Avon Barksdale puts a contract out on Omar and others who robbed him. He wants to make sure everyone on the street knows he's not to be messed with. Judge Phelan keeps the pressure on and Daniels recommends to the Deputy that they need a wire. McNulty suggests they get a warrant to clone the pagers the drug runners use. Det. Fremon is one step ahead of everyone having already found D'Angelo Barksdale's pager number.

Avon takes care of Omar's man Brandon but Wallace, who saw Brandon in the arcade, isn't too comfortable when he sees what they've done to him. Avon gives D'Angelo and Wallace a bonus for their good work. The police meanwhile get authorization to place taps for the pay phones used by D'Angelo and his crew but can only listen in when one of their suspects is using it meaning they'll have to keep the phones under constant observation. McNulty is in a tight spot when Major Rawls gives him a week to report back to his old job. When he realizes the connections McNulty's made in the various shootings, he announces he's going to arrest the Barksdales for murder and threatens to mess up the drug investigation.

McNulty uses his children to tail Stringer after a chance encounter in a local market, with one of them getting his license plate. As the detail discuss the implications of the pit pay-phones being disconnected, speculating the crew are going to start using phones outside their immediate area of operations, Herc and Carver prepare for the sergeant's exam. Stinkum, Roland 'Wee-Bey' Brice (Hassan Johnson), and Savino Bratton (Chris Clanton) raid Omar's pad, but he is nowhere to be found. Avon is unhappy when he learns of Orlando's proposal to D'Angelo. Meanwhile, Greggs and Carver arrest a driver picking up a large amount of cash from the towers, but are surprised to learn he is an aide to State Senator Clay Davis (Isiah Whitlock Jr.). Burrell is furious with this turn of events and confronts Daniels about the direction in which the case is heading, giving him one week to charge Avon and/or Stringer. Phelan, however, tells Burrell he wants the full thirty days of surveillance assigned by the court. As Wee-Bey and Stinkum attempt to take over new territory, they encounter an unanticipated problem.

Lt Cedric Daniels lets it be known he is going to leave the department. McNulty pursues the identity of the Jane Doe found floating in the harbor. A pair of young longshoremen, Frank Sobotka's son Ziggy and nephew Nick, heist a container and sell its contents, digital cameras, to men working for The Greek.

After the notorious Franklin Terrace public housing towers are razed, the Barksdale drug crew searches for a new home on the streets of West Baltimore. McNulty and the detail look to make a case against Stringer Bell with a wiretap on a drug ring run by his ally, Proposition Joe. Daniels' promotion is derailed by City Hall due to his estranged wife's political ambitions.

Greggs and McNulty recruit Bubbles to gather street intelligence on the Barksdale gang. Cutty seeks out the Barksdale gang after he loses his taste for the straight life. Bunk feels the pressure to find Dozerman's gun. Daniels worries that Avon Barksdale, having cut a prison deal, will be paroled. Stringer Bell tries to make amends with Donette.

Johnny pressures Bubbles to stop snitching for the detail. Cutty lies to his grandmother about going straight. McNulty realizes pursuing Barksdale and Bell is a losing cause, so he turns his attention to nailing Kintel Williamson. Colvin's free drug dealing zone, now known in the streets as Hamsterdam, scores a small victory. Avon Barksdale emerges from prison to a warm welcome from Stringer Bell.

Responding to an officer's call for help, McNulty and Prez turn up the wrong alley with unanticipated results. Cutty is surprised to find help from within Baltimore's power structure for his proposed boxing gym. Omar decides to go it alone against Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. Bubbles is wired up and sent into Hamsterdam

Acting on Clay Davis' advice, Burrell seeks to burnish his reputation by ordering the department to double their street arrests. The mandate does not sit well with McNulty, who sets his sights instead on cracking a string of church robberies.

Marlo forges an alliance with a drug connect, who shows him a new communications trick. McNulty's case gets increased attention from the newspaper, in large part thanks to the addition of Templeton to the reporting team.