"The Wire": Episode 4, "Transitions"

Marlo has also envisioned himself as a figurehead and taking advice or counsel from others just doesn't suit him. While Marlo's knocking off of Joe was a way to eliminate the middle man between himself and the Greeks, he was also getting a bit tired of Joe acting as a father figure. He didn't think he needed a father figure; a position that Joe seemed to fill. Just before his death, Joe said, "I treated you like a son." To which Marlo replied: "I wasn't meant to play the son."

Not only a surrogate dad but one who tried to smooth out ruffled feathers. After the last meeting ended with a bunch of hard feelings, Joe turns to Marlo and says, "Son, you need to focus a bit more on what can be gained by working with people. That's just a thought, now."

Marlo not only didn't appreciate the advice, he took offense to it. Who was Joe tell him how to run his business? And Marlo only knows one way to make a point.

Joe, a pro at picking out flowers, said it best on his card for the recently deceased Butchie: "Woe to them that call evil good and good evil. Your true and loyal friend, Proposition Joe."

And back at ya, Joe. You'll be missed.

Other observations while wondering what was the lead story discussed in the Page One budget meeting at the Washington Post:

-- Omar back. Returning from Puerto Rico, he put a gun to the back of the head of Slim and found out Marlo was responsible for Butchie's death, not Joe. Omar mad now. You don't want Omar mad.

-- Seemed a bit odd that the woman who worked in human resources or editorial who escorted Scott to and from the Post's newsroom would inform him he didn't get the job right after the interview. Isn't protocol usually, "Thanks for coming in and we'll get back to you." I guess working at the Wichita Eagle and three years at the Kansas City Star and two at the Baltimore Sun doesn't get you a job in D.C.

-- Nice to see Alma's career take a nice boost. She was named senior cop reporter in place of Twigg, who was packing up his desk and taking his forced buyout.

-- Burrell needs to work on his putting. He's pushing everything to the right.

-- Loved the conversation between Herc and Joe in attorney Levy's office, talking about Burrell's demise. Said Joe: "Burrell was a year before me at Dunbar. He was in the glee club." Dunbar, by the way, is a famous Baltimore High School that has produced many great basketball players.

-- Just as good as that was Marlo's passing shout out to Herc: "You ever find that camera?" Herc fired back: "It cost me the job." Tough to figure how Herc can stomach watching all these drug pushers he was after for so long come prancing through Levy's office.

-- Good for Carver to standing up to Tony, who went ballistic when a teacher asked him to move his car and clear traffic. Carver, it turns out, is still steaming over how Herc screwed up watching out for Randy, who had his house torched at the end of last season.

-- Glad to see McNulty still using his badge to pick up women.

-- I don't like seeing Daniels bending over backward to please Burrell. It's unbecoming for a police commissioner.

-- Great that Amy Ryan appeared again, as McNulty's frustrated wife, even if she was only in one scene. Why she stays with him is beyond me, but the more we see of Amy — in the midst of this year's Oscar race for her role in "Gone Baby Gone" — the better for everyone. She's a great actress, and someone who fits right in with this brilliant ensemble. I wonder what's worse: waiting up for a drunk-ass McNulty or driving around the docks all day?