Rather than ask people to rewatch all of Season 2 before reading a post, I’ve compiled a timeline of scenes and developments to accompany my analysis of the dynamic between Spiros Vondopoulos and Nick Sobotka.
The scenes and developments are coded for ease of reference. The codes list the season, the episode, followed by either a number (for scenes), or a letter (for summaries of developments). For example, the code for the second relevant scene of "Hot Shots" would be 2.03.2. Alternatively, the code for the first summary for "Collateral Damage" would be 2.02.a.
2.01: ebb tide
2.01.1: Frank tells Nick he has to go see the Greek and get a number.
Frank: Hey, Nick. Need you to go see the Greek and get a number. He's got one on the way. Nick: Today? Frank: Tomorrow. The Atlantic Light over at North Point. Nick: All right?
2.01.2: Nick goes to see Spiros with Ziggy in tow to get a number. The Greek is there (although Nick doesn’t know who he is), as are Sergei and Double G.
Spiros: Nicky, from the docks. Nick: Spiros. Spiros: How are you? Good? Who's your friend? Nick: Oh, he's Zig. My uncle's kid. Spiros: Your uncle. Nick: Frankie, yeah. Ziggy's his oldest. My car broke down, y'know? He drove. Ziggy: So, you must be the Greek. Spiros: Well, I'm Greek, anyway. Ziggy: Hey, Boris! Boris Badenov I know from ‘round the way, right? Sergei: Why am I Boris? I don’t understand this. Everywhere I am Boris. Nick: Shit, you’re Russian, right? Sergei: No, Kiev is Ukraine. Ziggy: It’s the same difference, though. Sergei: No, you’re wrong. Nick: What’s the matter? You don’t like being called Boris? Sergei: Sergei. Ziggy: Aw, no way, man, Boris is way better. It’s like the guy from the cartoon. Boris and Natasha? Bullwinkle, man, Rocky and Bullwinkle. Spiros: [to Nick] You want some coffee, pie? Nick: Nah, I’m good. Ziggy: Actually, what kind of pie you got? Nick: Hey, Zig. Shut the fuck up, huh? [Ziggy steps off, dejectedly.] ...Sorry. Glekas: Malaka. Nick: Nah, it’s cool. He’s cool. […] [Spiros passes Nick a slip of paper.] Spiros: Same deal, same rate. Nick: All right. Who's driving? [Spiros nods toward Sergei.] Again? You oughta mix it up a little more. Make it so Customs doesn't put no names to faces. Spiros: You trust a man, you stay with him. Nick: Okay. Spiros: Alright. Nick: Boris it is. Sergei: Sergei. Nick: Yeah, whatever. [Nick gets up to leave and collects Ziggy on his way out.] Ziggy: How's the open-face turkey? Nick: It's shit. Let's go. Ziggy: See you guys later. [Once Nick and Ziggy are out the door, Glekas looks at Spiros and Sergei with an amused, get-a-load-of-that guy sort of expression.] Sergei: Bullwinkle? Spiros: [making a one-handed shrugging motion] Polacks.
2.01.3: Nick brings the slip of paper to Frank, who reads it and passes it to Horse.
Nick: I checked the computer. It’s Bay 9, Cell 11. It’s right on the bottom. [to Horse] You workin’ the Light, ain’t ya? Horse: I’m on it, yeah. [Horse walks away with the slip.] Frank: They say anything else? Nick: No, just that it’s the same money to us.
2.01.4: Down at the docks, Sergei doesn’t pick up the can. Frank calls Nick to find out why.
Nick: Yeah? Frank: Nicky, what the fuck? It's still sittin' here. Nick: Shit. Frank: Yeah. Nick: Where's Sergei? Frank: He's parked at the end of the lot. Nick: What's he waiting for? Frank: I got no fucking idea. But the ship's almost empty. They need to shit or get off the pot. Nick: I’ll look into it.
2.01.a: While the can is sitting in the stacks, Beadie opens it after noticing the broken customs seal and finds 13 dead women in the back half of the container.
2.02: collateral damage
2.02.1: Frank takes Nick with him to the diner to confront Spiros about the dead women in the container.
Nick: You don't have to do this. Frank: No? Nick: No. Anything you're gonna say I already said to Spiros. Frank: You call him a Greek asshole? Spiros: You think we wanted this? Frank: I don’t know what the fuck you people want or don’t want. All I know is I got a can full of young girls suffocatin’ to death on my docks. Spiros: This was a mistake. Frank: A mistake? They fuckin’ died in that can while this stupid son of a bitch sat there with his dick in his hands! Sergei: You know nothing. Spiros: We understand you’re upset, Frank. We’re upset, too, okay? Sergei was supposed to wait for our friend to come off the boat, right? Our friend was supposed to tell us that there was no problem, y’know? No Customs. Sergei: He did not come off the boat. Frank: Why the fuck not? Spiros: This is what we’re trying to find out, we don’t know. Frank: So ‘cause you don't get the right message, these girls are dying on my docks? This is how it goes? On my docks, this happened? Spiros: I understand how you feel. We're upset, too. Everybody, we're all upset. Nobody here wanted this. Nick: Uncle Frank, they're saying it wasn't on purpose. Frank: …Coulda told me there were girls in that fuckin’ can. You coulda told me so I didn’t just shove ‘em back in the stacks like I did, right? Why the fuck didn’t you tell me what was in that motherfuckin' can? Spiros: Now you wanna know what’s in the cans. Before, you wanted to know nothing; now, you ask. Guns, okay? Drugs. Whores. [Sergei chuckles.] Vodka. BMWs. Beluga caviar. Or bombs, maybe, hm? Bad terrorists with big nuclear bombs. [Sergei imitates the sound of an explosion.] Spiros: I’m kidding you, Frank, it’s a joke. But you don’t ask because you don’t wanna know. Frank: ...Tell the Greek that the next time he’s got somethin’ breathin’ in one of them cans, I need to know it. Nick: Give him a couple days, y'know?
2.02.a: Sam, the man on the ship who killed the 13 women in the container, is interrogated by the Greek. Spiros slits his throat with a single-edge blade; Sergei disposes of the body as ordered: no hands, no face.
2.03: hot shots
2.03.1: Nick turns down Ziggy’s proposal for them to pool their money and buy a package.
Nick: Another goddamn day we put our cards up and get nothing. Zig, I don't know why I fucking bother. Ziggy: Yeah, tell me about it. Nick: One ship today, nothing yesterday. Wait for Thursday, a couple ro/ros hit the berth and congratu-fuckin'-lations, you grab a day. Friday's quiet again. Ziggy: Look at it this way, y'know, at least you get the day off. Nick: Days off is the fuckin' point, Zig. I can't keep waking up in the morning not knowing if I'm gonna get paid. [...] Ziggy: What are you gonna do? Nick: I’ll think of something.
2.03.a: The next time we see Nick and Ziggy, we see what he thought of: stealing a container of cameras off the docks.
2.03.2: Nick and Ziggy meet with Double G to negotiate over the cameras.
Glekas: Alright, what have you got? Ziggy: All digital, four megapix, 16 megs of memory, 3x optical, 4x digital zoom. That's brand new on the market. Nick: That's the Cadillac of cameras right there. Glekas: How many? Nick: 400. Glekas: You are talking a big number. Ziggy: Showtime, baby! This ain't the WNBA! Glekas: I'm thinking with these features, this brand... I can get, maybe, $350 each at retail. Nick: Alright, cool. Ziggy: Nope, not cool. $500. Glekas: Eh? Ziggy: Yeah, see, I've been calling some of the local chain stores, you know, Best Buy, Circuit City. This model goes for $550, $500 when they're on sale. Glekas: Okay, $500. Times 400 units, that comes to— Nick: That's $200,000. Glekas: What are you looking for? Nick: Twenty percent. There's three of us. Glekas: I want a woman with thin ankles. But I'm going to go home tonight, and there's going to be my wife. Eight percent, $16,000. That's over $5,000 apiece for you and your friends. Nick: $20,000. Upfront. Glekas: Because I like you. Ziggy: Look at that. It's a Kodak moment in the house! Glekas: I got to run this by my people. They okay it, I'm going to give you a call. Nick: All right, cool.
2.03.3: Glekas meets with Spiros.
Glekas: Four hundred good cameras, Spiros. Πολύ ωραία. (Very nice.) Spiros: Who brought them in? Glekas: The young stevedore, Niko, and that idiot cousin of his. [A brief exchange of derisive remarks about Ziggy in Greek.] Spiros: And I think he uses, too. Glekas: I don’t give a damn nothing about him. Listen, I’m paying 10 cents on the dollar for the cameras. We’re going to clear, what, $180,000. Spiros: What about Niko? Glekas: He’s smart. Spiros: Make the deal.
2.04: hard cases
2.04.1: Frank confronts Nick about the cameras.
Frank: Good anchorage, good cranes, good railroads, close to I-195, lotta people ready to work, right? That's my fuckin' town. 'Cept the thing is we're another 110 miles for any ship comin' up from Hampton Roads. An extra day. So why come, right? Why come unless you know your cargo's gonna move fast and clean through the port? Why offload in Baltimore, except that a Baltimore gang'll turn your ship around faster than any other port, and a Baltimore gang'll make sure your cargo—all your cargo—gets where it needs to go faster than anywhere else. Nick: Like you guys never stole nothing back in the day. Frank: We ain't back in the day, Nicky. When's the last time you saw trucks backed up for three miles outside Patapsco Terminal? If it wasn't for the car ships we'd be starvin'. The cameras come back. I'm serious, they come back today, we tell the shipper we lost the can in the stacks. Nick: They're gone. We turned 'em over already. Frank: To who? ...You know the Tasco Line's a cunt hair away from takin' their business down to Norfolk? I don't need this shit right now— Nick: I do, Uncle Frank, I need the money. Frank: God damn it, you ain't hearin' me! Nick: What, you think this shit is easy, huh? You think it's fuckin' easy? You try livin' on five or six days a month, see how fast it puts you on your ass. I am on my ass, Uncle Frank. Frank: You need money, you come to me! Nick: Oh yeah, Frankie Sobotka's Father fucking Christmas on the docks lately. No doubt his pockets are full, huh? Frank: You think it's for me? Is that what you think, huh? It ain't about me, Nick! Nick: I know, I'm sorry. Frank: And you got Ziggy mixed up in this? Jesus, Nick, the fuck are you thinking? ...Me and Zig are gonna talk on this long and hard. ...C'mon, let's go to work. How much? Nick: Twenty. Three-way split. Frank: Yeah? Who's the inside man? Nick: You don't know? Fuck you then, I ain't no snitch. Frank: Nobody should flash too much money, you know that much, right? Nick: Yeah.
2.04.a: Nick paid Ziggy at the bar earlier, telling him that Frank knew about the cameras. Ziggy is wearing the amazing technicolor brown leather dreamcoat he bought with his share of the money. Nick says the Greeks want to talk to them.
2.04.2: Nick and Ziggy meet with Double G. Glekas gives Nick a slip of paper—not a number for a container to disappear, but a list of chemicals.
Glekas: If you are able to do like you did, we have other things we can use. Ziggy: Like what? Nick: Fact is, we shook things up down there snatching all them cameras. It comes to expensive shit like that, we got to lay back for a while. Glekas: Stuff we need is not like that. Nick: No? … “Acetone, sulfuric acid, potassium permanganate.” Ziggy: Chemicals? Nick: Yeah, it's like paint thinner, shit like that. Ziggy: What the hell you need with those? Why don't you just go down to the hardware store and pick 'em up? Glekas: No, we need much. Metric tons, five or ten tons. Check and you'll see, they make these things here, send them from here. Tanks and tanks down at your docks. Good money for those. Ziggy: How much? Glekas: How much chemical? Two tons? Four? Eight? Nick: I’ll look into it.
2.04.b: Ziggy takes the slip of paper to the tower at Patapsco Terminal, but Johnny Fifty tells him that the chemicals are over at Fairfield.
2.05: undertow
2.05.a: Ziggy fucks up a package and gets his ass handed to him by Cheese, who he now owes $2,700. He tries to get the money from Nick, to no avail: Nick already gave his money to Aimee for an apartment.
2.05.1: Nick meets with Spiros at the diner to discuss the investigation. Oh, and the chemicals. Sergei is there.
Spiros: A grand jury? Nick: They snatched up some of our guys, drove ‘em downtown. Spiros: But you know nothing. Nick: Yeah, no shit, we know nothing. The only guy they got that even knows you had a can that day was Horse, and he ain't gonna say shit to nobody. Spiros: You sure? Nick: Horse is a rock. Don't ever worry about him. My uncle neither. Spiros: But you say he wants to stop. Nick: Yeah, for a little while. He wants you to stop moving cans through our docks, at least until this shit chills. Spiros: These were local police? Nick: Yeah. Spiros: Their interest is in the girls. That happened on the ship. The ship is gone. A dead end. The malaka they want, we already got to in Philly. Sergei: Another dead end. Spiros: The police are going nowhere. But, more important, we address Frank’s concerns. You tell your uncle I will meet with him. Nick: He says he wants to meet with the Greek. Spiros: Anything he can say to the Greek, he can say to me. Nick: Says he wants the Greek. Says you tell him when and where. Spiros: Niko. [Nick gets up to leave, only to sit back down again.] Spiros: About that other business. The chemicals. Nick: What do you need ‘em for? Spiros: It’s just business. Everything is just business with us. Buy for a nickel, you sell for a dime. Nick: Yeah? Who wants a dime’s worth of fucking chemicals?
2.05.b: Nick goes with La La to try and work things out with Cheese, with limited success.
2.05.2: Spiros discusses the investigation with the Greek, who declines to meet with Frank but doubles the money per container.
Spiros: A talk would ease his mind. The Greek: Ease my mind first. The business with the grand jury. Spiros: We checked the courthouse. There is nothing special, just the regular panels. They’re trying to scare the men on the docks. The Greek: And? Spiros: Nobody talks. But Sobotka, as I said, he’s upset. It is more attention than he expected. The Greek: He will need money for his lawyers. Double his fee. But I don’t need to meet with him. Let the money talk.
2.05.3: Spiros goes to meet with Frank, who is angry that the Greek won’t talk to him face-to-face. Frank says he’s done dealing with them.
Frank: Where’s the Greek? Spiros: He sent me. Frank: Fuck you and fuck him. Spiros: Frank, he sent me to tell you that we’re doubling your fee to help with any legal troubles. He also told me to tell you he regrets that you’re still having trouble on our behalf. Frank: They’re throwing my people in the back of police cars and this asshole can’t even talk face to face? I’m done. I’m out. I need nothing more to do with you people. I don’t need the trouble or the money. I got a union to run. Spiros: They used to make steel there, no? Smoke from the stacks. But inside...
2.05.c: Ziggy and Nick go to the library to look up the chemicals, and with the help of streetdrugs.biz, learn that they’re for processing cocaine.
2.05.4: Nick meets with Spiros, presumably later that same day. Again, Sergei is there.
Nick: You and my uncle talk? How’d it go? Spiros: No problem. [Spiros passes Nick a slip of paper.] Three boxes. All of them on the Wilhelmina. And you should tell your uncle that it’s three times the usual fee for each. Nick: We checked on those chemicals. We looked into that. I was worried, you know? Before I deliver, I wanna know what you need it for. A bomb or some shit? I ain’t down for that. You use that shit to process drugs, don’t you? Cocaine. ...You still want it, I got it on the Fairfield piers, no problem. Sergei: When? Nick: End of the week.
2.05.5: Nick brings the numbers to Frank.
Nick: Is Horse working the Wilhelmina today? Frank: I told that motherfucker we were done. I told him! Nick: He said he talked to you. He said it’s triple-rate for every can. Frank: Triple? … Call Horse in the tower, tell him he’s working the Wilhelmina. ... It’s now or never for us, I got no choice. Nick: Today we got ships, Uncle Frank. Today. But the writing’s on the fuckin’ wall. Frank: Fuck the wall.
2.06: all prologue
2.06.1: Nick goes to the diner. An introduction, some information, and an ask for help.
Spiros: Niko. Eton is my friend. It’s good to have friends meet, no? Nick: Eton, huh? That’s from the Greek, meanin’ what? Spiros: No Greek. Israeli. Nick: Oh, yeah? ‘Cause you look Greek. No offense. Either way, I mean. Eton: You have the chemicals? Nick: I can get ‘em. As much as you want. Eton: When? Nick: I was gonna do something this week. There’s been a problem, though. Spiros: What problem? Nick: My cousin, Ziggy. He got into a beef with these East Baltimore guys. Drug dealer by the name of Cheese took his car, burned it, now he’s sayin’ he’s gonna dust Zig if he doesn’t pay. [Spiros and Eton exchange derisive comments about Ziggy, including but not limited to “malaka”.] Nick: Yeah, malaka, right. Zig fucked up the package. Spiros: So, you bring us the chemicals, we pay, then you pay your debt. Nick: It was $2,700, right? Now this asshole’s sayin’ it’s double. $5,400, you believe that? First he takes the car, and now he’s jackin’ us around on the money. Spiros: You want, we kill him. Nick: No. That ain’t it either, no. Spiros: Why not? Nick: 'Cause first of all, Zig fucked it up. He owes 27. And second, you kill Cheese and we're gonna have a fight with his people, right? A year down the road, some nіgga sees my cousin comin' out the burger shop, puttin' gas in his car on Central Avenue, no question, puts a cap in his ass. Spiros: [to Eton] He’s smart, eh? [to Nick] Niko. Smart. Nick: Look, we don’t have the muscle to go and talk to this guy, make things right. I was hoping maybe you do.
2.06.a: Fortunately for Nick, they do. Sergei and a couple of Russian (or are they Ukrainian? Some secret third thing?) thugs who negotiate with Cheese by holding him and his crew at gunpoint, reaching a better agreement than Nick did.
2.06.b: Sergei takes Nick along to sort things out with Joe, and—aside from Nick talking before being told, which Sergei apologizes for, telling Joe that “[he] is with us”, and they come to an agreement. But Joe makes it clear that it’s only because Sergei was there: were it otherwise, Nick and Ziggy would “be cadaverous motherfuckas”.
2.06.2: Nick drops off the chemicals with the help of Johnny Fifty and Ziggy. Spiros has an offer, which Nick accepts—in part.
Nick: You unload this shit, you gotta ditch the trucks and the trailers both. Make it look like it was a hijack, alright? Spiros: Okay. [Nick turns to leave, but he only takes a step or two toward the exit, holding eye contact with Spiros as he does. He seems to suspect the conversation isn't over yet. It isn't.] Spiros: Niko. If you want, I will pay you straight, or Eton can pay in heroin. Wholesale. Eton: Turn it around, you can make sixty, seventy thousand. Ziggy: Nicky, he's offering, like, three, four times the value. Johnny: I'm out on this. Ziggy: Nick, even if we walk it up to White Mike, we can make thirty, thirty-five thousand. Nicky, come on, man. Nick: Half in cash, half in dope. [Spiros and Eton look at each other. Eton says nothing. Spiros looks back at Nick and nods his head once.] Nick: Alright. [Nick, Ziggy, and Johhny Fifty exit together.] Ziggy: Nicky, I can turn that package around no problem. Nick: No, Zig, I got it. Ziggy: Nicky, you don’t know— Nick: You hear me? I fuckin’ got this one. Why don’t you stay at home and watch cartoons, let me handle this for the both of us, alright? ...You fuckin' walkin' home, or what?
2.07: backwash
2.07.1: Nick turns a package around.
Nick: First of all, and I don’t know how to tell you this without hurting you deeply. But first of all? You happen to be white. I'm talkin' raised-on-Rapolla-Street white, where your mama used to drag you down to St. Casimir's just like all the other little pisspants on the block. Second, I’m also white. Not hang-on-the-corner-don't-give-a-fuck white, but Locust Point, IBS Local 47 white. I don’t work without no fuckin’ contract, and I don’t stand around listenin’ to horseshit excuses like my cousin Ziggy—who, by the way, is still owed money by you and all your down, street-wise wiggas. You go in your pocket, come up with $500 in advance and the $210 that you owe to Zig, you can work my package. Frog: I’m sayin’, this is the shit you had out here last week? The dimes that Moochie was slingin’? …Shit was good. Moochie sold out quick.
2.07.2: Nick goes by the bar to give Ziggy his half of the profits on the last two packages and the $210 Frog owed him. (This is the "Love Child" scene.)
La-La: Nicky boy, you get any days this week? Nick: Nah. La-La: Four ships on Thursday. You could've pulled a day, for sure. [Nick looks away, looks back briefly, then walks over to Ziggy without responding.] Nick: That's your half on the last two packages, plus what Frog owed you on your own shit. It's all there, cuz. [Ziggy picks up the money and looks at it. He rolls his eyes while shoving it in his pocket.] Nick: The fuck is wrong with you, smiley? Ziggy: Nothin'. Nick: Zig… Ziggy: What'd Frog say? "Here's a couple hundred extra, make the fuckin' goof happy"? Packages were my thing, Nick. Fuck if you ain't handle that business better, too. Nick: Zig, we're making money. Ziggy: It's your move, Nicky. Fuck it. I got other issues right now.
2.07.a: The detail (minus Herc and Carver) gets ready to follow a container off the Esmeralda, a ship on the Talco line with Horse as the shiprunner, from the terminal to the warehouse.
2.07.b: Meanwhile, Herc and Carver are in a vacant in East Baltimore looking for a drug connection to the target. Nick stops by in his new truck and Frog gets a re-up from him. Herc and Carver take pictures of him and his truck tags.
2.07.3: Nick brings Frank a note, who gives the note to Horse.
Horse: Nothin’s alive in these, right? Frank: They don’t go hot to a truck, you go back in the stacks and bang on ‘em to make sure. Frank: I trust these Greek fucks with nothing. How’re you hangin’? Nick: Good. I’m good. Frank: You ain’t been workin’ much. [Nick gives a noncommittal tilt of the head and turns to leave.] Frank: Stay close, Nick. Stay close. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.
2.07.c: The detail follows a disappeared container to the warehouse.
2.07.d: Herc and Carver got Nick's name and address from his truck tags. Nick isn't Frank, but he's a Sobotka, and that's enough to say he's a street-level drug connection to their target.
2.08: duck and cover
2.08.a: Nick’s street dealing gives the detail the drug connection they need for a tap on Sergei’s cell.
2.08.b: Frank tells Horse that the Greeks have containers coming in on the Caspia and that Nick’s going to get the numbers tomorrow.
2.08.1: Payday again for Ziggy. Nick gets a call from Spiros.
Nick: It's payday, Zig. Once again. Ziggy: All that, huh? [...] Nick: Yeah, it’s me. Spiros: Hey, Niko, things okay? Nick: Things are goin’ great, you know? Spiros: If you need more, talk to Sergei. Nick: Yeah, I gotta see you soon. Look, I’ll call you back in a few, alright? Spiros: Okay. [Nick hangs up.] Ziggy: That the man? Nick: You don’t have to concern yourself— Ziggy: I wanna meet him. Nick: Let me handle the business. I mean, you’re gettin’ paid, right? Ziggy: Fuck you! I’ll play the game for myself. Nick: Take the money, Zig. Ziggy: You don't think I can do it? Nick: Pick up the fucking money, Ziggy. Ziggy: I don't want it. You pick it up. Nick: You. Ziggy: Fuck you.
2.08.2: The wiretaps are up, so the detail hears Nick’s call to Sergei.
Nick: I’m ready to talk about more, okay? You just say where and when. Sergei: I’ll call you back. Prez: Not as careful as Barksdale’s people were. Lester: This ain’t West Baltimore. They’re on their phones because they don’t expect us to be on ‘em.
2.08.c: The cops follow two cans off of the Caspia, but before the second one goes out, Frank learns Beadie is detailed with city police. Out of an abundance of caution, he has Horse disappear a clean can instead.
2.08.3: Frank calls Spiros from the office phone to tell him about the second can, shortly before Glekas calls him about it.
Frank: I just wanted to give you a heads up. That last little item we sent out? It’s wrong. I knew it was wrong when I let it go, see? Spiros: Not on the phone, Frank. Frank: Okay. But this time he needs to be there. In fact, he wants to be there to hear this shit. [Spiros hangs up. The Greek, sitting at the counter, overheard the call. They look at each other.] [...] [The second container arrives at Glekas's store. Indeed, it is wrong. He calls Spiros on Sergei's phone for an explanation.] Spiros: Λέγετε. (Speak.) Glekas: It came, but it's nothing. [He says something in Greek], this is bullshit! Spiros: [Word in Greek], eh? I was expecting this. Just... just get rid of it. Glekas: Get rid of it where?! Spiros: [Another word in Greek], you drop it in the fucking street.
2.08.4: Frank talks with Nick at the bar.
Nick: I don’t know, Uncle Frank. Putting two and two together and comin’ up with six, maybe. Frank: Maybe. Nick: You called Spiros, though right? Spiros’ll know what to do. Frank: Come past early tomorrow. I wanna get down to the diner first thing.
2.08.5: Frank takes Nick with him to the diner to tell the Greek about his suspicions.
Frank: Where is he? Spiros: You can talk to me. Frank: This is bigger than you. Spiros: I'll tell him what you say. Frank: Bullshit. Come on, Nick. [...] The Greek: A long time since we talk, eh, Frank? Coffee, something? Frank: We're good. The Greek: What's on your mind? Frank: Every goddamn thing. For one, I think my cell phone's being tapped. All of a sudden the phone company don't care if I pay my bills anymore. Meantime, I hear that our regular port cop, the one that found your girls, she got pulled off to work some special detail with the city police. The Greek: So you switched the can. Frank: I ran a test. I gave you that clean one, put yours in the stacks. Straight away, the MPA cops stop that Russian’s truck, right after he picked it up. I think someone’s got a line into our computer. The Greek: Very smart. Spiros: As soon as you called, I shut down the warehouse. The Greek: That’s fine. But now we’re going to have to open the warehouse up again. Lose a few more clean cans, deliver them there... someone’s watching, show them we have nothing to hide. Nick: Our cut stays the same though, right? Spiros: You kidding? The Greek: What’s your name? Nick: Nick. Frank: Sobotka. The Greek: Oh. Well, that’s a fair question, Niko. But it has to be the same for everyone: no work, no pay. Nick: Doesn’t matter what’s in the cans, we still gotta check ‘em through. That’s work, isn’t it? Spiros: We take gas, so do you. Frank: You don't understand— Greek: I understand completely, no one is in this for love. Frank: It ain't just the money. I got things happening, things with my union—right now. Not a fuckin' month from now when the legislative session is history—now! The Greek: ...Okay. We pay you still. I'm thinking of all the business we do in the future, and I want you should be happy. Frank: Thanks. [He gets up, and Nick follows. The Greek stands, too.] The Greek: It's a new world, Frank. You should go out and spend some of the money on something you can touch: a new car, a new coat. It's why we get up in the morning, hm?
2.09: stray rounds
2.09.a: The detail discusses the pause in the warehouse's operations.
2.09.1: Nick meets with Spiros (and Eton) at the diner.
Nick: I got people waiting on a package from me, but Sergei says that until we’re sure about the police… Spiros: We’re not going to be doing that business for a few days. Your uncle, he is right to be careful. But, Niko. If you’re going to be doing this, you should not be talking to us about it. Nick: Why not? Spiros: We are more what you call, ah, wholesalers. Nick: I’m kinda small-time, huh? Spiros: είσαι καλό παιδί. (You’re a good kid.) You are not so big, but you’re among friends. So. [Eton passes Nick a slip of paper.] Call that number. Talk to him. Nick: Mike? This White Mike? Eton: You know him? Nick: From Curtis Bay. I went to Southern High School with the guy. Spiros: You are with us now, so he will be fair. No problem. For the rest of our business… [Spiros passes Nick a slip.] We will disappear these containers, all of them clean. Take them to Newkirk Street. If there is a problem, they will stop the trucks, or... we will see the police. If not, no more worries. Nick: Alright. [Nick leaves.] Spiros: We are off the warehouse phone now, yes? Eton: All day yesterday I was giving the new number to our people. Spiros: This is bullshit. If they were onto the truck, they would’ve searched it.
2.09.b: The detail lays out their strategy for getting back on the main stem.
2.09.2: Spiros and Eton talk shop. We found out where those chemicals Nick delivered in 2.06.2 ended up.
Eton: They say they will pay another $200,000 once their shipment clears the docks. Spiros: And then? Eton: That is all. These Colombians are without honor, Spiros. They are cheats. Spiros: The chemicals we sent are good, no? Eton: No complaint. They say that they want more, even. Spiros: And they understand that we can guarantee their product gonna clear Customs? Eton: Right. Spiros: And still, they try to chisel. Eton: Why? What are they thinking? Spiros: That it is all profit for us. That we will settle for half of what we agreed because $400,000 is still a lot of money. Eton: The Greek will be angry. Spiros: This is business, Eton. The Greek, he will be smart.
2.09.c: McNulty reconnects with Fitz to see what the feds have on Glekas. An agency-wide contact search brings up a sealed case involving Agent Ernest Koutris, ostensibly based out of San Diego. Fitz calls him using the FedCom system. Koutris calls the Greek.
2.09.3: The Greek, Spiros, Glekas, Eton, and Ilona talk over dinner at a restaurant.
Glekas: They were asking about me? […] The Greek: Our friend in Washington does not know why, only that the people asked. [to Spiros] You told me that the police looking into the women were local. Spiros: They were. No FBI. The Greek: We’ve been running only clean containers? Eton: Yes. No one watches, no one follows, no one stops anything. The Greek: And we changed the warehouse phone? Eton: Mm-hmm. The Greek: A day or two more, and we are back to business. We watch, we are careful, but we are back to business. Spiros: We will have to do a favor for our friend, no? Fair is fair. The Greek: The Colombians, I think. They take our chemicals and pay less than promised. Down there, I understand everyone is a terrorist now. Spiros: The Colombians who cheated us are not with the guerillas. They're trash. The Greek: The world is a smaller place now. And the FBI cares very much about such things. Fair is fair, eh?
2.09.3.a: Sergei calls the new warehouse phone.
2.09.4: Nick goes to White Mike for a re-up.
Mike: My man called. Said you was gonna take a re-up from me. Nick: Yeah, that’s what they told me, too. Mike: Nicky Sobotka, livin’ the life. Who fuckin’ knew, huh? So how much you lookin’ for? Nick: Two or three g-packs a week. I was gettin’ that shit straight from the Greek’s people, four each. Mike: Four? I wholesale for five, man. Nick: I don’t know. They said you were gonna be straight with it, so… [Mike calls Sergei to confirm.] Mike: Sergei. What up, dawg? I got a friend of yours here, says we're giving Gs at four. ...Yeah? Alright, fuck it. Yeah, it's fine. Another thing. I wanna know it wasn't your people dropped that body over on Potee Street the other night, you know? I'm asking 'cause it was someone with some Greek-ass name, and fuck if he wasn't dumped in front of a house I was using. Sergei: Did he have hands? Did he have a face? No? Then it wasn't us. [Sergei hangs up.] Mike: You got friends in high places, Nicky. Four a pack for you.
2.09.4.a: Lester makes a call to ask about any bodies found in the Mid-Atlantic region missing hands and faces.
2.09.f: The Greek meets with Koutris on a bench. The conversation is inaudible, but we get the gist later on when Koutris and a handful of other FBI agents from the counterterrorism unit in DC seize a shipment of 1,125kgs of crack cocaine disguised as paint pigments.
2.09.g: The brothel raid is a success. The detail acts as though it was random to see what's said on the wire. Eton calls Spiros to confirm that they’ve moved the last of the clean containers through without issue—giving the detail Spiros’s phone number (though they don’t know who he is) and the PC to tap it.
2.10: storm warnings 2.10.a: In the opening sequence, we see that the detail has placed GPS trackers on Glekas, Eton, and Ilona. Those trackers show two meeting spots: the diner on South Clinton and the western shore of Fort Howard. They post up at both spots, waiting to see the man they think is the boss—since they’re not up on Spiros’s phone yet.
2.10.b: Ziggy pulled off the stealing part of the car heist without a hitch, but Glekas does to him what the Colombians did to the Greeks and pays him half on the same grounds—“it’s good money for a few hours work”. The conflict escalates, Ziggy kills Glekas, shoots the kid working in the store and confesses soon after—written statement and all. Landsman asks him if we wants to call anyone—how about a family member?—but Ziggy declines.
2.10.1: Nick tells Frank that Ziggy shot Double G.
Frank: The Talco line's in Wednesday. I'mma send Nick for a number. Horseface: The Greeks again? Frank: Who else? Horseface: They sure do stir up the shit, them Greeks do. Frank: Hey, Nicky boy, just in time. Nick: Uncle Frank. Frank: What, what happened? Nick: Ziggy. Frank: The fuck is it this time? Nick: He shot… they’re sayin’ he shot two of the Greeks. Last night, they’re sayin’. Frank: Shot? He shot? Horseface: Fucking christ! Nick: He’s locked up. He’s fuckin’ charged with murder. Frank: The Greeks? Nick: Double G. And one of the kids that works down the store on the Avenue with him. They're sayin' he walked in there, he went in— Frank: Why was he there? Where were you? Where the fuck were you? Nick: Uncle Frank, I didn’t know. Frank: Didn't know what? What didn’t you know? What the fuck is Ziggy doing anywhere near the fucking Greeks? Nick: I don't know, I don't! Frank: You don't know? You're supposed to, you're his fuckin' cousin! Nick: You're his father.
2.10.2: Since the FBI agreed to help with the BPD's case, they've been feeding information into the database. Agent Koutris updates the Greek on the status of the investigation.
Koutris: 1,125 kilograms. Not that drug enforcement’s my cup of tea, but I’m told it was the largest crack seizure on record. I just wish I had good news for you. The Greek: You told me this was a local effort. Koutris: It’s sprawled. Now the Bureau’s involved and we’re looking hard at the port unions. My hands are tied. They’re onto you with wiretaps. Several phones, several addresses.
2:10.3: Spiros gets a text message from the Greek.
Spiros: Stefanos. Have the boy go to Eton. Tell him to come right away to the other place. Stefanos: You no call? Spiros: No phones. No more phones. [Stefanos asks something in Greek.] Spiros: Adieu, my friend.
2.10.4: Eton and Spiros meet at Fort Howard; McNulty, Bunk, and Diggsy watch from a boat nearby through binoculars.
Spiros: My god. He shoots both? Eton: He kills George right there in the store, leaves the boy to bleed. Spiros: For what? An argument over a few cars? With that little Polack? Eton: He’s crazy, that one. But the police have him now, so… Spiros: The police still there? Go to the store. Whatever they did not take, papers, pictures, everything—you clean it up. The warehouse, too. Everything gets clean now. And the phones are dead.
2.10.5: Nick goes to the diner, looking for Spiros. (Herc and Carv see him drive up and go in, but don’t make much of it beyond that.)
Nick: I need to get with Vondas. Stefanos: Who’s that? Nick: Spiros. Where is he? Stefanos: I don’t know no Spiros.
2.10.c: Fitz and Bunk get records of Spiros's texts from the past 24 hours, only to find that the message he sent in 2.10.4 is in Greek.
2.10.d: Nick goes to Latrobe Park.
2.10.e: The Greeks shut down the warehouse and remove all the documents from Double G's store.
2.11: bad dreams
2.11.a: Nick slept with Prissy the night before, so he’s at her house when the police raid just about every house they can—including his parents’ house—and snatch up Sergei, Eton, Ilona, and White Mike. The detail leaves Spiros out on the street, hoping he’ll lead them to the real boss, since the text message came from someone higher up. Nick goes home and learns that there’s a warrant out for his arrest at the Southeastern.
2.11.b: Frank goes to see Ziggy in jail.
2.11.1: The detail locks onto Spiros, hoping he'll lead them to the boss.
Cedric: Still, my guess is the drug players… even if they roll, give us Eton and Sergei, the case gets thin when we get up to this… Spiros Vondopoulos. Bunk: Boy, them Greeks and those twisted-ass names. McNulty: Hey, lay off the Greeks. They invented civilization. Bunk: Yeah? Ass-fuckin’, too.
2.11.2: Bunk and McNulty monitor Spiros at his house.
Bunk: A different look for our boy. McNulty: Perry Ellis or somethin’. Bunk: Now, how would a just-rolled-outta-bed lookin’ motherfucker like you know the designer? McNulty: Okay, I’m guessing. Bunk: It’s a Joseph Abboud. He puts dark buttons instead of brass. That’s the Abboud signature. McNulty: You know what they call a guy who pays that much attention to his clothes, right? Bunk: Mm-hmm. A grown-up.
2.11.c: The detail follows Spiros to a hotel (the Inner Harbor Hyatt Regency), where Beadie trails him up to the room. Spiros is seen leaving with a middle-aged man in a blue suit—later identified as Stephen Rados, a K Street lawyer from DC.
2.11.d: Beadie learns that the detail hasn’t offered anything to Frank and that Frank has returned the favor to the feds, so she volunteers to go talk to him. Pearlman lets her do so, but makes it clear that Bea can’t promise anything specific.
2.11.3: Spiros and the Greek talk over dinner.
The Greek: Come on, you can’t eat only olives. Order something. Lamb, something. Spiros: I’m not hungry. […] All this trouble. The Greek: Our associates, they are strong? Spiros: Yes, I don’t worry about our people. We can try to get them out before trial. If not, they will stand for us. The Greek: We have shown them too much. There will be no more trouble. We must make certain of this. Spiros: Maybe there’s another way. The Greek: There is only one sure way. Spiros: Hear me out. If I could guarantee that Frank Sobotka and his nephew would be silent, wouldn’t you prefer that? The Greek: But you cannot guarantee this. Spiros: Hear me out. Frank’s son, the idiot who shot George in his store. He is going to jail for a long time. Unless. The Greek: Mm-hmm? Spiros: There was a young clerk wounded that day in the store. The prosecutors want to use him as a witness. I know his family. Frank Sobotka will have his son back. If a man can have this, why would he talk to the police? The Greek: What about Frank’s nephew? Spiros: He is the idiot’s cousin. He wants the same thing as Frank. Anyway, I don’t worry about Niko. λεβέντης είναι αυτός. [The term λεβέντης doesn't have a straightforward translation, but the meaning of what he's saying is something along the lines of "he's a really brave, good guy, someone you can count on".] The Greek: You are fond of him, Spiros. You should have had a son. Spiros: But then I would’ve had a wife.
2.11.4: Herc and Carver are posted outside of Nick's parents' house.
Herc: If this maggot doesn't post by midnight, I'm gonna take it personal. Carver: The shitbird lives in his parents' basement. Where's a guy like that gonna run?
2.11.5: Beadie goes to the union hall and talks to Frank.
Frank: My pal Beatrice. What, you gonna run me in again? Ain’t that like double jeopardy or some shit? Beadie: Stop it, just stop it. Talk to me. Frank: And say what? I’m sitting here trying to figure it out myself. Beatrice: Didn’t happen overnight. Frank: I knew I was wrong. But in my head, I thought I was wrong for the right reasons, you know? Beadie: There are different kinds of wrong. Frank: What are you doing here, Bea? Beadie: I’d like you to come in—not in cuffs. Because you want to. I’m opening a door here, Frank. I can’t promise you anything. Just come in. We’ll start from there. You’re better than them you got in bed with.
2.11.6: McNulty and the Bunk remain posted outside of Spiros’s house.
McNulty: Our man Vondopoulos didn’t come home? Maybe he got lucky. Bunk: Maybe we didn’t. McNulty: You think he ditched the Benz 'cause he picked up the tail?
2.11.7: Spiros meets Nick in Patterson Park.
Spiros: Nicky, from the docks. Nick: If you hadn’t called last night, I’d have never found you. Spiros: Relax, Niko, come on. It’s like I told you on the phone. It is going to be alright. We can make it alright. Nick: I shouldn’t have never gone done the road with you people. Spiros: Ah, come on. You tried to make something of yourself. There’s no harm in that. And you still have friends. Nick: I’m busted. So’s my uncle and the whole fuckin’ union. And Ziggy? Christ... Spiros: We will be a friend to him too. Nick: Nothin’ your people can do about that. Ziggy’s done. Spiros: Nothing is done, Niko. Nothing. [He hands Nick a passport.] Take a look. Nick: That’s not your name. Spiros: Many names, many passports… [Spiros takes the passport back.] We can do many things. Nick: What can you do for Ziggy? Spiros: We ask only loyalty, mm? [Spiros rubs Nick’s back, strokes his hair, and says something quietly in Greek that I can’t make out.] Spiros: Ahh. Why do they need sticks? Can’t they kick it with their feet?
2.11.e: Frank goes in to talk to the police: he’s willing to give up anyone who isn’t in either of the IBS locals, so long as Ziggy gets moved to a better facility and Nick comes away from his charge with just probation. But Pearlman stops the conversation there: Frank needs a lawyer present for this to go any further. He leaves.
2.11.f: In the montage that follows, we see a lot and hear very little. The Greek, Spiros, and Stephen Rados having what appears to be a jolly old time at dinner. Nick calls the can office, Horse passes the phone to Frank. Frank agrees to something. Spiros tears up the passport he showed Nick earlier; the Greek hands him a new one. Fitz feeds the papers on Frank’s proffer session into the fax machine, sending them down to the DC office.
2.11.8: Frank goes to meet Nick on East Fort Ave. Nick passes him a slip of paper that we didn’t see him receive.
Frank: Under the bridge, huh? Nick: It’s out in the open. I guess the cops can’t bug it or nothin’. These guys, they got a big operation to protect. They’re global-like. Frank: They’re really somethin’, huh? Nick: You got no idea. Frank: Oh, I think I got a pretty clear picture of what they’re about. We ain’t talkin’ about a bunch of thieves rollin’ drums of olive oil off the docks, are we? Heroin? How the fuck did that happen, Nick? Look at me! You ain’t much more than a kid. Me, I should’ve know better. I put you up with them, for what? I flushed my fuckin’ family, for what? [Frank stares out at the grain pier.] You know what that is, Nicky? Do you? A condominium. I ain’t goin’ down there. What I’m gonna do is, I’m gonna go in and I’m gonna talk to the police. That’s right. I’m gonna do to those cocksuckers what they did to me. Nick: You can’t do that. Frank: Why not? Nick: They wanna meet with us on Ziggy. They can lean on that witness—that kid he shot, the one who was in the store. The kid’s gonna say that Double G had the gun, that it was, like, self-defense or some shit. Ziggy could walk, Uncle Frank. He could. Frank: And for that they want what? Nick: Loyalty. Frank: Motherfuckers! …I’ll hear ‘em out. Nick: Alright, I’ll drive. Frank: No, it’s just me. You ain’t dealin’ with those guys no more. Nick: Uncle Frank, me and Spiros— Frank: I don’t fuckin’ want you with me, Nick! Go home!
2.11.9: As Frank makes his way down to the Key Bridge, Agent Fitzhugh’s faxes make their way to Koutris. But the papers get there first. Koutris calls the Greek just as Frank arrives under the bridge.
The Greek: Your way… it won’t work.
2.12: port in a storm
2.12.a: Nick goes looking for Frank.
2.12.1: Nat Coxson, La La and Horse surround Nick in the can office.
Nat: Easy, Nick, easy. Nick: I’m gonna kill ‘em. Fuckin’ Greek bastards. Get out of my fuckin’ way! Get the fuck off of me, all of you! He was there for all of you and now you’re nowhere for him! Nat: The fuck you gon’ do? Get a gun? Go play gangster? Horse: Like your fuckin’ cousin? [The door slams as Lou enters.] Lou: Let’s go.
2.12.b: Lou takes Nick to the Southeastern; Nick turns himself in and agrees to cooperate. Lester happens to be there to overhear it.
2.12.2: Spiros goes to the Greek’s hotel room to talk.
Spiros: The body came up. The Greek: I saw on the television. Spiros: We weighted him down pretty goddamn good, but the water just… coughed him back up. The Greek: Bad luck, that’s all. Spiros: Sergei would’ve done better, I admit. … Niko, the nephew. By now he knows. The Greek: Our people wait for him, but so do the police. I am thinking… there’s nothing to be done, at this point. What he says, he says. Spiros: He knows my name, but my name is not my name. And you? To them you’re only the Greek. The Greek: And, of course, I’m not even Greek. Spiros: So we go. But… there’s still a little business to do first. There’s a shipment on the docks this week. 150 kilograms. The Greek: And no one to pick it up. Spiros: Not just Sergei. I miss Frank, too. We can’t disappear the can. But maybe we send someone, bring it off the docks. Legitimate. The Greek: Everywhere we go these days, we seem to be walking into police. This is telling us something. Spiros: You’re going to leave 15 million thollaria to rot on the pier. The Greek: Lambs go to slaughter. A man, he learns when to walk away. No, we go. Call the others in. Let them know there is no longer any point.
2.12.3: Nick is in a proffer session with the police.
Pearlman: You have a public defender sitting next to you, Mr. Sobotka. If there’s anything about this deal you don’t understand— Nick: They killed my uncle. I don’t need to talk to no one but you people. Bunk: How do you know they did it? Nick: I… I told… Spiros calls me after everyone’s getting arrested, right? Tells me he wants us to keep our mouths shut. But Uncle Frank, he says he ain’t gonna. Says he’s gonna talk to the police. Spiros says that if we keep quiet, they can help my cousin, Zig, you know? And now Spiros is sayin’ that, I don’t know, the kid, the one that didn’t die, the one that got shot, he’s gonna say that the gun, it wasn’t Zig’s. That Glekas pulled the gun and it wasn’t really Zig’s fault. Lester: So your uncle went to meet them and talk to them about that. Nick: Under the Key Bridge. I seen his car was still there this morning. I seen that, I fuckin’ knew. Pearlman: If they killed your uncle to shut him up, they probably— Nick: Wanna kill me too? Shit. I was gonna go down with him to the bridge. I was gonna go down there with him. He wouldn’t… […] Bunk: That’s your cousin’s signed statement. He put himself in, talked about buying the gun. The bill of sale from the pawn shop is in there, too. Lester: You see, it wouldn’t have mattered if the second victim backed up on his story. Your cousin was locked in. […] Nick: Spiros was the main guy. He told me and Frank which cans to disappear, and then when it came to me and the drugs, he was the one that hooked that up too. The Israeli, he was their drug guy. I went through him for all my re-ups until they passed me off to White Mike McArdle. You know Mike? [Pearlman nods toward Mike’s photo on the bulletin board.] Guess you do. Double G was in charge of stolen shit. Anything we could lift from the docks went straight to his store, but he’s dead, so why am I wasting your time, right? [...] Bunk: What about the Russian? Nick: He drove for them. Anything that had to come off the docks, he was their guy. But I also got the feeling that if somebody needed to get hurt, he was probably gonna be around for that part of it, too. Pearlman: Why did you think that? Nick: Sergei, he just carried it like that. And also, after them girls died in the can, they told me that whoever fucked that up, they had already got to in Philly. They said that whoever did that to them girls was dead. Bunk: And how did they say it? Nick: They just said... I don't know, that, uh... that the guy that you all was looking for, he was a dead end. Pearlman: A dead end? Nick: Yeah. In Philly, they said. Lester: Who's the suit? [Nick shrugs.] Bunk: You sure? We know that someone is above your man Spiros, someone he was in communication with. Nick: Yeah, the Greek. Sure, I know who you mean. I mean, I don't have a name or nothin'. Cedric: The man in the suit, the man with Vondopoulos in the photograph. That's not the Greek? [Nick shakes his head, then takes a closer look. He points to the Greek.] Nick: That's the Greek right there. Lester: That the guy?
2.12.4: Nick sits on the bed with Ashley, watching a cartoon—but based on his expression, it might be more accurate to say that Nick is staring at the TV and there happens to be a cartoon playing.
Aimee: Nick. Nicky. What’s gonna happen, Nicky?
2.12.c: Spiros meets with Prop Joe.
2.12.d: Spiros and the Greek depart.
season 4 + 5
4.13: final grades
4.13.1: Joe arranges a meet between Marlo and Spiros in order to reassure Marlo that he had nothing to do with the shipment being stolen by Omar and his crew.
Marlo: But I need to hear it from you. Spiros: From me? This is not my affair, hm? It is what Joe says. I’m only here right now for Joe, who I trust, who I respect, who I worked with for many years. You, I do not know, and I don’t need to know. But because this thing goes wrong for Joe, then… Marlo: Well, how am I supposed to know this ain’t no setup? How am I supposed to know your people ain’t in on it too? Spiros: You know because Joe says. And because I say. Marlo: And you trust your people like that? Spiros: I talk to my driver. I look into his soul. [Spiros and Marlo stare each other down in silence for a few moments, then shake hands.]
5.03: not for attribution
5.03.1: Marlo drops by the diner to drop off a briefcase full of cash.
Marlo: Andreas, right? The Russian sent me. Need you to get a word to Vondas. He got a new friend. Andreas: I never hear the name. Marlo: You just let him know Marlo came past with a gift. Be at you same time tomorrow.
5.03.2: Spiros meets with Marlo at the diner to clarify some things.
Spiros: A generous gift. But your money, the money you bring me... I don't need. Marlo: Money is money. What’s the difference who bring it to you? Spiros: [opening the briefcase, which is full of bills that look a little worse for wear] It’s dirty money. It stinks. [He closes the briefcase, pushes it back across the table to Marlo, and crosses his arms.] Marlo: We ain't in the same business? Spiros: The bills are from the street. They’re dirty. You understand? Everything runs through Joe. Everything is clean with Joe. Marlo: Ain’t a problem. Spiros: Good. Goodbye.
5.03.a: Marlo returns to the diner and drops off a briefcase full of fresh $100 bills.
5.04: transitions
5.04.1: Marlo meets with Spiros at the diner. Spiros clarifies some apparent misunderstandings.
Spiros: [He opens the briefcase…] Very clean. Very nice. […and closes it, pushing it back to Marlo.] But this is unnecessary. It was not our intent to mislead. When I spoke before, about the condition of your money, I was talking… in symbols. They money, it came from the street, and so I thought you came… from the street. Marlo: I did. I do. Spiros: It wasn’t the money that concerned me. You have been more than generous, and this is a gift of an honorable man, clearly. But in accepting such a gift, we would give you the wrong impression. Spiros: You come from the street, hm? The street… doesn’t concern us. We know a man here, and we trust him. But, to know more people, to learn more names, to have them learn our names… Marlo: I'm not here to badmouth Prop Joe. But people depend on me. Now, last year, there was a robbery. I'm saying, you know, what if this happens again? Where do that put my people? Spiros: That is for you to discuss with Joe. Marlo: All I'm asking for is an insurance policy. You know, something that covers me and covers you. Spiros: And covers Joe. The Greek: The young man makes a point. You're right. These are volatile times. It is not unreasonable to carry insurance. Who can say what tomorrow will show us? You go. Be safe. [Marlo gets up and starts to leave.] Spiros: Your case. Marlo: Oh, y'all came a ways. Put it to expenses. [Marlo leaves.] The Greek: If we were to tell him no, he will still come back. This he shows us. Spiros: But he is not Joe. The Greek: He is not Joe.














