"The Cost" is the tenth episode of the first season of the HBO original series, The Wire. The episode was written by David Simon from a story by David Simon & Ed Burns and was directed by Brad Anderson. It originally aired on August 11, 2002.

Bubbles, clean for three days, meets with Walon at a park. Walon gives Bubbles some frank advice, while telling him about how he caught HIV and infected his girlfriend. Avon and Stringer meet with Wee-Bey and tell him to contact Omar to negotiate a truce. Stringer convinces Avon to take a step back from the game and insulate himself further from his organization. Avon gives up his pager so that his subordinates will have to contact him through Stringer. McNulty visits Phelan, who seems to have lost his stomach for the Barksdale investigation. Pearlman later informs McNulty that Phelan has been cast off the mayor's re-election ticket.

D'Angelo ignores Donette as she plans out a home for their family, and walks out without giving her the money she is asking for. He waits for Shardene outside of Orlando's strip club, but she refuses to talk to him. Freamon traces the Barksdale stash to a payphone in Pimlico. Every time a resupply is needed, they page the same number and the return call comes from the same payphone. Carver and Sydnor are the only detectives available to watch the phone, as Herc is on a training course for the week. The next day. Santangelo identifies Little Man using the tower phone, and Sydnor soon finds the respondent. Freamon instructs Sydnor to follow the resupply man and tracks him to a suburban house. Later, Freamon organizes Sydnor and Prez to surveil the house as garbage men.

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