Beadie Russell
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| Beatrice Russell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | Ebb Tide (episode 2.01) |
| Statistics | |
| Aliases | Beadie |
| Gender | Female |
| Age | 30s |
| Occupation | Port authority police officer |
| Episode Count | 14 |
| Portrayed by | Amy Ryan |
| Created by | David Simon |
Beadie Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actress Amy Ryan.
[edit] Biography
Russell is a port authority officer who discovered the corpses of thirteen girls in a container on the Baltimore docks. Russell started working as an officer because of the pay and her need to support her children. She was the single mother of two young children. She found the job unchallenging and spent most of her time patrolling the docks and checking shipping manifests. She developed a friendly working relationship with many of the stevedores, including Frank Sobotka.
While on patrol, Russell noticed a container that had a broken customs seal and explored it finding a hidden compartment filled with 13 dead bodies. Initially she was the primary investigator and was quite overwhelmed having never dealt with a homicide before. Officer Jimmy McNulty intervened for his own reasons and proved that the homicides occurred in city jurisdiction rather than the port. The case was reassigned to the city homicide unit and Beadie was subsequently detailed to homicide for the duration of the investigation. Initially she shows her lack of experience and street knowledge but in working alongside homicide detectives Bunk Moreland and Lester Freamon she develops her latent talent for police work.
Russell was motivated to investigate the deaths of the girls as she felt an empathy for them, particularly once she learned that they were sex trade workers. Her compassion was shared by McNulty and the two also shared a flirtation during the investigation.
Russell taps an old boyfriend named Maui in Frank Sobotka's union to find out more about illegal activity in the port. Although Maui will not become an informant directly his information turns the case towards cloning the ports computers to monitor container traffic.[1] Russells familiarity with the people and organization of the port proved invaluable to the investigation.
Russell moved into Lt. Daniels' office site while his detail investigated Frank Sobotka as the homicide investigation became intertwined. She fended off an advance from Detective Thomas "Herc" Hauk. Her home life made it difficult for her to work the long hours necessary for the investigation, but she perservered. She connected with detective Kima Greggs when discussing the balance of a mother's responsibilities and the dangers inherent in their work.
However, Russell inadvertently tipped the investigation's hand by having her colleagues in the port authority stop a truck carrying normal goods that Sobotka had sent out to test the waters. She was also responsible for confirming Frank's suspicions that he was being investigated - she had told him she was being transferred to try to convince him the heat generated by the dead girls was fading when in reality she remained detailed. Frank checked her status with unwitting port officers who told him she was still working with the detail.
Despite these mis-steps, Russell gains the respect of the officers in the Sobotka detail. At the end of their investigation when the focus shifted past Sobotka she was entrusted with following Spiros Vondas to a key meeting with The Greek. She displayed some nerves but came through delivering the location of the meeting and a chance photograph of the Greek.
Russell was instrumental in convincing Frank Sobotka to agree to inform on the Greek once a strong case was built against him. Her emotional offer of a deal had Frank ready to give up everything he knew in order to help his family. However, Frank was murdered before he could come in and the Sobotka case was forced to end prematurely. With several arrests made and the murder of the girls solved, Beadie returned to her work at the Port.
McNulty reinitiated his relationship with Russell once he returned to beat police work. In season 4 the two are living together and he has overcome many of his personal demons. Beadie's children Jack and Cary have come to know McNulty and always refer to him using his surname.
[edit] References
- ^ Character profile - Beatrice Russell. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-19.
