Beadie Russell
| Beatrice Russell | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "Ebb Tide" (episode 2.01) |
| Last appearance | "–30–" (episode 5.10) |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Amy Ryan |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Beadie |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Port Authority police officer |
| Spouse(s) | Divorced Jimmy McNulty (boyfriend) |
| Children | Jack (son) Cary (daughter) |
Beatrice "Beadie" Russell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by actress Amy Ryan. She was featured prominently in the second season, after she discovered thirteen corpses in a container on the Baltimore docks.
Russell is introduced into the series as a port authority officer, a work that she's been performing from two years previous. She took the job because she needed the pay to support her two young children after her husband abandoned them; before her appointment, she worked collecting tolls, though it didn't represent a decent income. Russell's parents often help her with the kids. 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, though she was kept out of the loop regarding major criminal activities within the stevedore's union because of the Port Authority's lack of manpower.
In season two, Russell notices a broken customs seal on a container while on patrol and searches the container, finding a hidden compartment filled with thirteen dead bodies of young women. She is briefly the primary investigator until Officer Jimmy McNulty intervened after noticing that the air vent in the container had been beaten shut, getting the case reassigned to the city Homicide Unit and also noticing that the Port Authority lacked the necessary resources to investigate the possible murders. McNulty had previously fished out a fourteenth body while working for the Marine Unit, which was an obvious murder. McNulty largely proceeds with his intervention to spite Major Rawls, who sent him to the marine unit as a punishment on Season 1. Russell is subsequently detailed to Homicide to aid in the investigation. Initially she shows her lack of experience and street knowledge, but she develops some latent talent for police work while working alongside veteran homicide detectives Bunk Moreland and Lester Freamon.
Russell moves into Lieutenant Daniels' detail after he agrees to investigate the bodies, where she soon fends off an awkward advance from Herc. The detail is formed to investigate irregularities in the stevedores union's assets, suggesting theft of products from containers and possible ties with contraband and human trafficking, tying the initial detail against union leader Frank Sobotka, fueled by Commander Valchek due to a petty feud with Sobotka, with the investigation regarding the dead women inside the container, fueled by Major Rawls and Deputy Commissioner Burrell.
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