Bunk Moreland
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| William Moreland | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "–30–" (episode 5.10) |
| Cause/reason | End of series |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Wendell Pierce |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Bunk |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 40s |
| Occupation | Detective in the homicide unit of the Baltimore Police department |
| Title | Detective |
| Spouse(s) | Nadine |
| Children | Three, two sons, one daughter |
William "Bunk" Moreland is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actor Wendell Pierce. Bunk's character is based on a retired Baltimore City Police Detective named Rick Requer, an officer who joined the force in 1964 as a Western District patrolman who eventually moved into the Homicide Division.[1]
Contents |
[edit] Biography
Bunk attended Edmondson High School in West Baltimore. He lives in Randallstown, MD, a predominantly African American suburb of Baltimore, with wife Nadine and three children. It is stated in Season 1 that Bunk worked as a patrolman in Baltimore's Southwestern District before becoming a homicide detective.
[edit] Season 1
Bunk serves as Jimmy McNulty's lone ally in the homicide unit, keeping him apprised of the happenings there while chiding him for getting involved in the Barksdale case. He is also the primary investigator for the murder of William Gant, who testified against D'Angelo Barksdale. Omar Little informs Bunk that the shooter is a Barksdale soldier called Bird, and agrees to testify against him in court. Because of this, Bunk persuades his colleague Detective Cole not to arrest Omar for the murder of Stinkum. When Omar is at the police station, Bunk discovers that they had gone to the same high school, beginning an ongoing association between the two.
After one particularly heavy night of drinking, McNulty has to pick Bunk up from a random woman's house. Bunk has locked himself in her bathroom and burned his clothing so that his wife will be unable to find trace evidence of him having slept with another woman.
At Landsman's insistence, Bunk and McNulty review the old Deirdre Kresson murder, which ultimately turns out to be related to the Barksdales, and is solved as part of the final arrests of D'Angelo Barksdale and Wee-Bey Brice.
[edit] Season 2
Bunk is partnered with Lester Freamon in Homicide, and they are quickly recognised as the squad's best detectives. This reputation leads Landsman to assign them the investigation into the deaths of fourteen Jane Does in a shipping container on the docks, a seemingly impossible case. They are detailed Officer Beadie Russell from the Port Authority, who initially found the bodies. The girls suffocated after the air pipe was deliberately closed off (other than one girl who was murdered and thrown overboard on the previous night).
Bunk and Freamon track down the ship which carried the package, and hold the ship in port in Philadelphia to question the crew. None of the crew admit to speaking English, and Bunk and Freamon let the ship go after learning that two crewman had jumped ship after Baltimore. Based on the few sparse facts they know, Bunk and Freamon deduce (correctly) that the women were prostitutes being smuggled in from overseas, that one of the girls was murdered by a sailor after refusing sex, and the rest were killed for witnessing the crime. The murderer is one of those who fled, so the investigation is at an impasse, and Bunk and Freamon come under heavy criticism from a frustrated Colonel Rawls for releasing the ship without getting statements.
Bunk also worries about the William Gant murder; state's attorney Ilene Nathan threatens to drop the charges if the police are unable to find the key witness, Omar Little. Bunk repeatedly reminds McNulty of this, and eventually McNulty is able to find Omar, with the help of Bubbles. Omar testifies, and Bird is imprisoned for a maximum term.
Later, Bunk and Russell return to the port in Philadelphia and find video evidence implicating Sergei, whose testimony leads to the solving of the Jane Doe murders, as well as aiding the Major Case unit's investigation into Frank Sobotka.
[edit] Season 3
When the city deals with five homicides in one night, Bunk has to leave his son with McNulty at an Orioles game to investigate one of them. He quickly recognizes the scene of Omar Little's drug robberies, and (wrongly) believes one of the victims to be an innocent taxpayer. He becomes incensed, and obsesses over her death, continuing to investigate it even after his superior officers Landsman, Colonel Raymond Foerster and Rawls order him to find the stolen weapon of Officer Kenneth Dozerman, who was nearly killed in a failed drug bust led by Sergeant Ellis Carver. They all consider the weapon's recovery to be a top priority, though he thinks it is a frivolous use of his abilities.
Bunk meets with Omar, confronting him about the "innocent" victim. Omar informs him that she was part of his crew, and says that he would never kill an innocent person. As Omar states that no one will talk to Bunk about the murder, and that she died in the game, Bunk is able to make Omar feel guilty about his negative influence on the world due to the collapse of their old West Baltimore neighborhood. Bunk says that predators like Omar are all that still exist in their old neighborhood, which was once a community despite the hardships of the neighborhood. As a way of assuaging this guilt, Omar finds Dozerman's gun and returns it to Bunk.
Bunk is also one of the investigators of Stringer Bell's murder, during which Bunk uses the acronym "BNBG" - Big Negro, Big Gun - to sum up witness Andy Krawczyk's stereotypical description of the murderer.
[2] Bunk realizes Omar was the shooter but does not conclude the case. After the investigation, he tells McNulty the city's homicide rate will probably reach 300 by New Year's, noticing how McNulty has slowed down on his consumption of alcohol.
[edit] Season 4
Bunk investigates the murder of Fruit, one of Marlo Stanfield's drug dealers. He is unable to find his main suspect, Curtis "Lex" Anderson, and it becomes clear that Lex was murdered, but no leads are forthcoming. At the same time, Bunk is surprised at McNulty's seemingly successful attempts to get his life back on track.
Omar Little contacts Bunk after Chris Partlow framed him for murdering an innocent woman in a convenience store robbery. Bunk initially ignores him, reasoning that Omar was guilty of several other unproven murders (including Stringer Bell), but Omar appeals to his sense of honor. He tracks down new evidence proving that Omar's witness Old Face Andre lied, leading to Omar's release. In exchange, Bunk extracts a promise from him to never kill again.
Freamon transfers back to Homicide, and the two are partnered again. Freamon manages to find Lex's body and, in the process, more than twenty other bodies, all of which are linked to Marlo Stanfield after Bunk gets key testimony from Lex's mother.
[edit] Season 5
Bunk first appears interrogating and manipulating a young murder suspect. With Detective Ed Norris and Sergeant Jay Landsman, Bunk gives the suspect a fake polygraph using a photocopier to coerce a confession. Bunk and his colleagues are dealing with cutbacks, including no overtime pay until the city's financial situation is properly resolved. The fiscal problems cause the closure of the major crimes unit and Detectives Jimmy McNulty and Kima Greggs are reassigned to Landsman's squad.[3][4]
McNulty and Bunk are assigned a probable overdose. When they arrive, Bunk is concerned at McNulty's behavior. McNulty creates choking bruises on the body and stages the scene to suggest a strangulation. McNulty tells Bunk that he plans to create the illusion of a serial killer; Bunk leaves in disgust.[5][6] Bunk is unable to sleep that night and returns to the homicide unit to find out when McNulty left. He is disgusted again when he finds his partner still there, drinking and poring over case files in an interrogation room. Bunk warns McNulty about the potential consequences of his actions, including the possibility of prison time, but McNulty refuses to back down. McNulty alters an old case file and further details of the probable overdose to create links to an open strangulation case being investigated by Frank Barlow. Bunk is forced to watch his machinations. Bunk enlists Freamon to talk sense into McNulty, but this plan backfires when Freamon decides that the plan could work and makes suggestions to improve it by sensationalizing the killer.[7][8]
Bunk remains angry at McNulty and refocuses his attention on the vacant house murders to engage with real police work. Bunk delivers a report to Landsman that is placed straight into a desk drawer. Bunk is upset that Landsman is ignoring his reports and Landsman points out that Bunk is just changing the date and submitting essentially the same report. Bunk angrily asserts that he is forced to repeat his requests as he is still waiting for the crime lab to process evidence on 14 of the 22 murder scenes.[9]
[edit] References
- ^ Simon, David [1991] (2006). "Post Mortem", Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, 4th, Owl Books, 641. ISBN 0-8050-8075-9. “Rick 'The Bunk' Requer left to man the department's retirement servies bureau, though his homicide incarnation lives on in Wendell Pierce's portrayal of the legendary Bunk Moreland on The Wire, right down to the ubiquitous cigar.”
- ^ Org Chart - The Law. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ "More with Less". Joe Chappelle, Writ. David Simon (story and teleplay), Ed Burns (story). The Wire. HBO. 2008-01-06. No. 1, season 5.
- ^ The Wire episode guide - episode 51 More with Less. HBO (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ "Unconfirmed Reports". Ernest Dickerson, Writ. William F. Zorzi (story and teleplay), David Simon (story). The Wire. HBO. 2008-01-13. No. 2, season 5.
- ^ The Wire episode guide - episode 52 Uncomfirmed Reports. HBO (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ "Not for Attribution". Scott and Joy Kecken, Writ. Chris Collins (story and teleplay), David Simon (story). The Wire. HBO. 2008-01-20. No. 3, season 5.
- ^ The Wire episode guide - episode 53 Not for Attribution. HBO (2008). Retrieved on 2008-01-22.
- ^ "Transitions". Dan Attias, Writ. Ed Burns (story and teleplay), David Simon (story). The Wire. HBO. 2008-01-27. No. 4, season 5.
