Disgusted over the death of Bodie, McNulty has re-joined the MCU, determined to bring down Marlo, but in doing so has quickly returned to his old drinking and womanizing ways. Having turned down the offer of money from the governor of Maryland, worried about the ramifications for his own gubernatorial run, Carcetti must try to make up the $54m education deficit via cutbacks. This has led him to delay the promised increase in police pay, with newly promoted SIC Carver trying to placate the Western District troops, as they reach breaking point. Meanwhile, Burrell and Rawls explain to Carcetti that without budgetary assistance from City Hall, they cannot deliver the reductions in crime on which he campaigned. The FBI offer to help work the vacant murders investigation, but on the condition that Bond take the Clay Davis corruption case federal. When he and Carcetti refuse, the FBI withdraw their proffered support. As such, the MCU is shut down. Similar cutbacks in The Baltimore Sun ... Written by Bertaut

The Sun breaks a major story linking Council President Campbell with drug dealer Ricardo Fatface Rick Hendrix in a suspicious real estate deal. With the closure of the MCU, McNulty and Greggs return to homicide, Sydnor and Freamon are transferred to the impending grand jury investigation of Clay Davis, and Dozerman is moved to tactical. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the police, Herc has taken a job as a private investigator for Maurice Levy, and is using his inside contacts to feed Levy information. The closure of the MCU emboldens Marlo, who orders several murders and attempts to subvert Prop Joe and contact Vondas directly. However, in doing so, he runs into an unexpected face from the past. At The Sun, when Haynes pitches a series of articles examining the social ills of the poor in Baltimore, he is overruled by Executive Editor James Whiting, III, who wants to focus the series on the schooling system instead, placing ambitious young reporter Scott Templeton in charge. However, ... Written by Bertaut

As Michael begins to question Chris and Snoop's morals, Pearlman and Sydnor begin to move in on Clay Davis, who is furious with Burrell for not protecting him. McNulty begins to put the pieces together for his serial killer plan. Marlo continues to try to circumvent Joe and get a direct line to the Greeks. In an effort to force Omar out of retirement, Cheese suggests Chris and Snoop target his friend and advisor Butchie. Meanwhile, Valchek leaks raw police data to Carcetti to show him how badly things are going. However, when Rawls and Burrell present a more palpable set of stats, Carcetti realizes they are juking the numbers, and thus is given the ammunition he needs to remove Burrell as commissioner. To counter any accusations of racism, he has Norman leak a story to The Sun heralding Daniels as Burrell's most likely replacement. However, when Templeton invents a quote implying Daniels was involved in Burrell's demise, Daniels becomes worried Burrell will reveal his shady past from ... Written by Bertaut

Bunk asks Freamon to try to talk sense into McNulty, but is stunned when Freamon gets on board with the fake serial killer idea. The two then set about sensationalizing the murders so as to draw more attention to them. The moral of the officers in the Western District reaches rock bottom when Ofc. Anthony Colicchio assaults an innocent civilian. Daniels goes to see Burrell to explain he had nothing to do with his removal from the commissioner's chair. Sydnor inadvertently stumbles across evidence that can nail Clay Davis, but Bond proves reluctant to act on it, as it would mean the case would have to go federal. Meanwhile, Joe organizes a funeral for Butchie in an attempt to placate Omar, well aware it was Cheese who gave him up to Marlo. Carcetti finds himself having to suck up to the ministers to appease them regarding the removal of Burrell, and Campbell learns of Daniels' history. Elsewhere, Marlo finally makes in-roads with the Greeks, when Vondas' loyalty to Joe is questioned by... Written by Bertaut

McNulty's life with Beadie begins to fall apart. Having killed Joe with Cheese's help, Marlo takes over as the Greeks' Baltimore distributor. When they give him a mobile phone with which to contact them, he gives the number to Levy, but Herc steals it and passes it on to Carver. McNulty leaks details of the serial killer to the press as the story begins to gain traction, prompting Daniels to meet with Carcetti about the case. With money still an issue, however, Carcetti authorises Daniels to assign two detectives only, much to McNulty's chagrin. As such, he and Freamon come up with a scheme to try to get a wire approved. Elsewhere, Dukie struggles with bullying, turning to an old friend for help, Bubbles gets some important news, and Bond holds a press conference regarding the Davis corruption case. When Davis tells Campbell that if he goes down, he is bringing others with him, she is able to persuade him to play things a different way. Meanwhile, Chris sets a trap for Omar. Written by Bertaut

Mystified by Omar's disappearance, Marlo and Chris ramp up their efforts to locate their nemesis. After a sparsely attended waterfront ceremony, Carcetti fires away at a larger press event--and recasts himself as a champion for the homeless. Written by Anonymous

McNulty abducts and photographs a homeless man, then fakes a call from the serial killer to Templeton, forwarding him the pictures in order to acquire PC for picture intercepts, and sending both the entire police department and The Sun into meltdown. As such, Carcetti authorizes more resources for the investigation, with McNulty finally getting the funds he had initially hoped for. However, with the city in uproar, the situation soon sprawls far beyond anything he envisioned, as everyone in the homicide unit begins to turn to him for help in their own cases. Matters are made even worse when Freamon proves unable to crack the code Marlo is using in his picture messages. When reporter Mike Fletcher (Brandon Young) visits a soup kitchen to interview the homeless about the serial killer, he makes a connection with Bubbles, who is serving food. Meanwhile, Carcetti begins to gear up for his gubernatorial run, whilst Bunk continues to do leg work on the vacant murders, and Omar begins to ... Written by Bertaut

After a grandstanding court performance, Clay Davis is sensationally acquitted of all corruption charges, destroying Bond's chances at becoming mayor. When Carcetti gives the police carte blanche in the serial killer investigation, McNulty asks Carver to provide a surveillance team for Freamon. Unable to stand by and allow Greggs to waste her time working a fake case at the expense of her real ones, McNulty tells her of his and Freamon's ruse. Much to Michael's surprise, Chris and Snoop decide not to tell Marlo that Omar is damaging his reputation and word is spreading that Marlo is ducking a confrontation. At The Sun, when the Iraq veteran whom Templeton wrote a seemingly solid story about comes forward to complain that certain details are inaccurate, Haynes' suspicions regarding Templeton intensify. When the DNA from the murder of Michael's stepfather comes back from the lab, Bunk is finally able to get a murder warrant for Chris, but McNulty persuades him to sit on it for a few ... Written by Bertaut

Carcetti sees off the gubernatorial challenge, but is forced to make promises to both Davis and Campbell, and give up half his school board funding to Prince George's County. Having been turned down by the FBI, Freamon reveals to Davis the evidence he is sitting on, and bluffs that he is prepared to take the case federal, leading to Davis offering him some advice on where to follow the money. With Omar dead, Marlo breathes a sigh of relief. However, with the extra manpower from Carver's people on the case, Sydnor is able to break Marlo's code, and the police intercept a major re-supply. As Marlo, Chris and Cheese discuss who could have informed on them, suspicions fall on Michael. When Marlo learns Chris kept it from him that Omar was belittling his reputation and calling for a street confrontation, he is livid. Despite his ruse getting him exactly what he wanted, McNulty is far from happy. Meanwhile, Haynes launches a more thorough investigation into Templeton's fabrications, Whiting... Written by Bertaut

After Marlo tells Levy the only people who knew their code were himself, Chris, Cheese and Monk Metcalf, all of whom are in jail, Levy begins to dig as to who exactly the police's CI is. Greggs tells Daniels that McNulty and Freamon made up the serial killer, and Daniels in turn tells Carcetti. However, fearing for his campaign for governor, Carcetti orders a cover-up, much to Daniels' disgust. As McNulty tries to talk the homicide department out of throwing more man-hours into the serial killer case, an unanticipated problem presents itself. Elsewhere, Freamon learns who the leak is at the courthouse, and Levy realizes the Marlo investigation used an illegal wire, forcing Pearlman to negotiate. At The Sun, when Templeton tries to sneak his biggest fabrication yet into the paper, Haynes decides to make a move against him. Meanwhile, Bubbles debates whether to let Fletcher publish his story, the hierarchies at the police department, City Hall and The Sun receive a shake-up, Michael ... Written by Bertaut