The Wire
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The Wire

"Did he have hands? Did he have a face? Yes? Then it wasn't us."
―Sergei Malatov

Sergei "Serge" Malatov, ( Ukrainian: Сергій Малатов ) also known as Boris, acts as a driver and muscle for The Greek. He is Ukrainian, although Americans often assume he is Russian. He hates this and their subsequent tendency to nickname him "Boris" (based on Boris Badenov). He is responsible for picking up containers of stolen goods from the port and taking them to The Greek's front warehouse to be fenced. According to him, he is from Kiev and he was incarcerated four years in Ukraine. Sergei is played by Chris Ashworth.

Biography

Sergei Malatov is a trusted lieutenant in The Greek's nefarious import business. When fresh supplies of Russian vodka, appliances, electronics — and even Eastern Bloc women to serve as sex workers — arrive to Baltimore, Sergei is there to ensure the cargo is delivered to their associates in the city.

The Wire- Sergei

Sergei is supposed to collect a container carrying prostitutes, but when the Greek's crewman on board the ship that delivered the cargo fails to signal him, he abandons the container. The Greek later learns that the girls were killed, and Sergei is sent to the ships next destination to find the crewman. He infiltrates the Philadelphia port and captures the crewman. When The Greek and Spiros Vondas arrive, the crewman tells them everything about how the girls were killed, and Spiros murders him. Sergei is charged with disposing of the body and The Greek instructs him to make sure there was no face or fingerprints. The body is later found and identified by a tattoo the crewman had.

Sergei is friendly with drug kingpin Proposition Joe, who is supplied by The Greek. He intervenes on behalf of Ziggy Sobotka when he gets into debt with Proposition Joe's people because of The Greek's ties to the Sobotka family.

When security camera footage of him abducting the crewman is discovered by a police detail investigating the deaths of the girls and smuggling on the docks, Sergei is persuaded to become an informer and turn on The Greek and Spiros, but The Greek has already escaped.[1] He was sentenced to life without parole and incarcerated in the Jessup County Prison. When Marlo Stanfield tries to get in touch with The Greeks. He organized a meeting with him, but he met Avon Barksdale, who is like the "king" of Jessup. Avon tells Marlo he will grant him access to Sergei if he gives $100,000 to his sister, Brianna Barksdale. Sergei eventually agrees to meet Marlo. Despite receiving a great deal of money from Marlo, he is at first disrespectful and states that he does not need Marlo's help or money. However, Marlo points out that Sergei can win back some favor with the Greeks if he gets a message to Vondas regarding Marlo's intentions to do business with them. Avon encourages Sergei to cooperate with Marlo, and Sergei, realizing that Marlo is right that he can claim some credit if the deal happens, agrees to get in touch with Vondas

Appearances

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 5
"More with Less" "Unconfirmed Reports" "Not for Attribution" "Transitions" "React Quotes"
"The Dickensian Aspect" "Took" "Clarifications" "Late Editions" "-30-"
  1. Character profile - Sergei "Serge" Malatov. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2007-03-29.
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