Final Grades
| "Final Grades" | |
|---|---|
| The Wire episode | |
 |
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| Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 13 |
| Directed by | Ernest Dickerson |
| Story by | David Simon Ed Burns |
| Teleplay by | David Simon |
| Featured music | "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" by Paul Weller |
| Original air date | December 10, 2006 |
| Running time | 78 minutes |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
"Final Grades" is the 13th and final episode of the fourth season of the HBO original series The Wire. Written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns, and directed by Ernest Dickerson, it originally aired on December 10, 2006. The running time of this episode is 78 minutes, making it the second longest episode of the series.
Although most obviously referring to the test grades received by the school's students, the title also refers to the final evaluation of Parenti and Colvin's pilot program, Chris and Snoop's evaluations of O-Dog and Michael's skills, and to the end-of-year statistics which Carcetti leaves in Royce's name.
This is printed on the wooden doors used to close off the vacant houses in West Baltimore. The text has appeared several times in past seasons. The quote references many of the season's characters, who appear hopelessly trapped by their environment.
At the time of the episode the number connected with an automated message giving the local Baltimore time. That number was disconnected in June 2011.
Paul Weller's "I Walk On Gilded Splinters" plays over the episode's closing montage.
Although credited, Glynn Turman does not appear in this episode.
Sergeant Jay Landsman walks into the homicide unit office humming a carol. His Christmas spirit is rapidly dispelled when he sees several red names being added to the case board. He quizzes Detective Ed Norris about the board; Norris tells him that Lester Freamon is responsible, having received the go-ahead to search vacant houses for concealed bodies. Landsman is angry at the sudden drop in his squad clearance rate and calls Freamon a Hun, a Vandal and a Visigoth. Landsman next asks what Norris is working on and is dismayed to find out that he is also working a new case: that of a deliberate killing using poisoned narcotics. Landsman is somewhat forgiving when Norris tells him that he has the perpetrator in custody as he came in and voluntarily confessed to the crime.
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