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The Wire

Edward "Ed" Norris is a veteran homicide detective.

Biography[]

Background[]

Norris became a BPD homicide detective in 1991.

Season 1[]

Norris and his squad mate Vernon Holley first appeared assigned to the case of the murder of Omar Little’s boyfriend Brandon Wright. They recognized a connection to the recent murder of Omar’s crew member John Bailey because both corpses were found in Kevlar vests. They called in their colleague James McNulty and the Barksdale details work secured a conviction for the murder against soldier Roland Brice.

Norris was also lead detective on the shooting of Wendell "Orlando" Blocker and Shakima Greggs this time working with Detective Ray Cole. This case was also solved when Roland Brice confessed to the shooting.

Season 2[]

In 2003, he appeared briefly when investigating the shooting of a child by a stray bullet. ("Stray Rounds")

Season 3[]

He attended the wake of his colleague Ray Cole.

Season 4[]

He was the lead investigator in the politically important murder of a state's witness. He is briefly taken off the case and replaced with Greggs, now a rookie in the squad, in order to slow progress because of pressure from the Mayor. Norris is soon reinstated when this story is leaked to the press. He works alongside Greggs to maintain a coverup story that they were always working together. Norris secures an informant for the witness murder, but his attempt to break the story right before the election leads to him and Greggs being sent off to a security detail at a polling station for the day. Norris continues to pursue this lead after the election, however Greggs solves the case with a careful recanvassing of the crime scene before he is able to make progress. She earns Norris' respect with her work although he responds to the knowledge that the shooting was random with incredulity because of the political ramifications it had. Norris also investigated the death of Sherrod who died by tainted drugs. He also was quizzed by Detective Sergeant Jay Landsman about numerous red names on the board. After saying that those are Lester Freamon's fault and tells Landsman that Bubbles came in and confessed to tainting the drugs to kill a man who was stealing his drugs as well as beating him. Bubbles threw up on the detectives. They later found Bubbles hanging himself. They cut him down and despite losing the clearance they send him to rehab.

Season 5[]

Production[]

Appearances[]

Season 1
"The Target" "The Detail" "The Buys" "Old Cases" "The Pager"
"The Wire" "One Arrest" "Lessons" "Game Day" "The Cost"
"The Hunt" "Cleaning Up" "Sentencing"
Season 2
"Ebb Tide" "Collateral Damage" "Hot Shots" "Hard Cases" "Undertow"
"All Prologue" "Backwash" "Duck and Cover" "Stray Rounds" "Storm Warnings"
"Bad Dreams" "Port in a Storm"
Season 3
"Time after Time" "All Due Respect" "Dead Soldiers" "Amsterdam" "Straight and True"
"Homecoming" "Back Burners" "Moral Midgetry" "Slapstick" "Reformation"
"Middle Ground" "Mission Accomplished"
Season 4
"Boys of Summer" "Soft Eyes" "Home Rooms" "Refugees" "Alliances"
"Margin of Error" "Unto Others" "Corner Boys" "Know Your Place" "Misgivings"
"A New Day" "That's Got His Own" "Final Grades"
Season 5
"More with Less" "Unconfirmed Reports" "Not for Attribution" "Transitions" "React Quotes"
"The Dickensian Aspect" "Took" "Clarifications" "Late Editions" "-30-"

Notes[]

  • Norris is played by convicted felon and ex-police commissioner of Baltimore Ed Norris. His cameo appearances are a source of irony on the show, and he is often given dialogue bemoaning the state of the Baltimore police department.

References[]

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