Sgt. Carver faces the discontent of officers who are not being paid for overtime. McNulty continues to stake out Marlo's crew. Mayor Carcetti must make some difficult choices between helping the schools and lowering the crime rate.
Freamon is wary of Marlo who is taking care of some unfinished business and makes a deal with Barksdale. Steintorf tries to find good news for Mayor Carcetti and blames the Royce administration for the Campbell revelation. Davis asks Burrell for help with his problem, but Burrell is unable to offer any assistance. McNulty is fed up with the number of unsolved murders and decides to take matters into his own hands.
Det. "Bunk" Moreland finds Det. McNulty still drinking being up all night looking through unsolved murder cases. Bunk is worried that they are both going to be in trouble over Marlo.
Campbell tries to ease the conflict from transitions in the police department. The newspaper tries to beat the TV media in covering the Grand Jury events, but is not successful. Proposition Joe pays respects to his colleague and gets ready to go into hiding if he needs to. Meanwhile, Marlo tries to get in good with the Greeks. Freamon calls on a previous partner to help with his investigation.
Marlo forges an alliance with a drug connection, who shows him a new communications trick. McNulty's case gets increased attention from the newspaper, mostly due to Templeton.
Mystified by Omar's disappearance, Marlo and Chris ramp up their efforts to locate their nemesis. After attending a sparsely attended waterfront ceremony, Carcetti fires away at a larger press event and recasts himself as a champion for the homeless.
McNulty calls Templeton on a re-routed cell phone pretending to be the serial killer. Omar sends Marlo a message through Vincent, who has been tied up next to a murdered Manny. Bunk is upset that McNulty's bogus serial killer case is tying up so much money and manpower. Greggs prepares for a visit from her son. Freamon tries to crack a clock code and wants more manpower to work on it. Davis charms the courtroom.
Baltimore's renewed police commitment brings fresh recruits to Daniels and McNulty, starting with Carver. Facing a new political challenge, Carcetti is forced to make dangerous political deals.
With Steintorf ordering Rawls to initiate "creative" remedies for the rising crime rate, Freamon's vigilance pays off with a promising lead, sending Sydnor and the department into overdrive.
Carcetti maps out a damage-control scenario with the police brass in the wake of a startling revelation from Pearlman and Daniels. Their choices: clean up the mess, or hide the dirt.