Jimmy McNulty
| Jimmy McNulty | |
|---|---|
| File:The Wire Jimmy McNulty.jpg | |
| First appearance | The Target (episode 1.01) |
| Created by | David Simon |
| Portrayed by | Dominic West |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Detective |
| Occupation | Baltimore Police Detective |
Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by British actor Dominic West.
The character of McNulty is an Irish-American police detective in the Baltimore Police Department who is a dedicated officer with several off the job issues. When off the job, he has frequent problems involving alimony, alcohol, child support, relationships, and money. On the force, while he has proven to be a canny and tenacious detective, he is disliked by several of his superiors such as William Rawls and later Cedric Daniels in addition to several other officers. McNulty nevertheless manages to play the role as one of the more competent officers in several of the largest drug related arrests that take place within Baltimore.
Biography
Template:Spoiler McNulty began the show as a Homicide Detective in season one. McNulty was responsible for the formation of the Barksdale detail. He noticed a number of drug related homicides that went unsolved or without conviction tied to the same group of dealers - the Barksdale crew. McNulty began following homicides that were not his case and attended the trial of D'Angelo Barksdale where he noticed the presence of Russell "Stringer" Bell and several Barksdale soldiers, for his part Stringer also clocked McNulty. He was present when one of the cases major witnesses changed her story and refused to identify Barksdale in court. McNulty reported the collapse of the case to Det. Barlow, the investigating officer, and when a not guilty verdict was rendered Judge Daniel Phelan asked McNulty to come and see him. In the Judge's chambers McNulty was frank about his observations and the lack of investigation so far, prompting Judge Phelan to bring it up in a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner. McNulty's involvement was noticed by his commanding officer, Major Rawls, who assigned him to the detail and was furious with him for going around the chain of command. McNulty denied that he had any intention of starting an investigation but later revealed to his friend and partner "Bunk" that he hoped that this investigation would lead to a case that meant something to him.
McNulty's commanding officer on the detail was Lt. Daniels - Daniels knew McNulty's role in getting him assigned the detail. McNulty learned from Bunk to expect Daniels to be a career officer with a promotion soon around the corner. The two argued about how to handle the case at their first meeting - McNulty suggested surveillance and wiretaps and Daniels wanted a fast case with buy busts and McNulty working on trying to pin a homicide to the Barksdale's. McNulty's relationship with Daniels continued to be complicated by their mutual distrust.
McNulty and Bunk often spend their evenings drinking heavily together and McNulty drink drives, turns up for work inebriated and sometimes sleeps in the office. McNulty is estranged from his wife, who later divorces him, and has limited contact with his two sons. McNulty's wife tried to have an emergency order placed against him to stop him seeing his sons when she learned he had involved them in tailing a suspect.
An inveterate womanizer, McNulty had a casual relationship with Assistant State's Attourney Rhonda Perlman and would often turn up at her house drunk in the middle of the night when she would take him in. She later became involved with Daniels and ended their relationship.
Working on the Barksdale detail McNulty developed a mutual respect with Det "Kima" Greggs. Together they tracked down the elusive Omar Little, gaining his respect and cooperation. Kima also introduced McNulty to her CI "Bubbles". When Kima was shot in a buy-bust gone wrong he took it particularly hard. Maj. Rawls was the one to tell him, none too gently, that the shooting was not his responsibility. Rawls reminded McNulty that he hated him and that if there was any blame on McNulty he would be eager to point it out. Following Kima's shooting McNulty had a frank discussion with Daniels where he admitted that the Barksdale case had been all about him - a chance for him to show how clever he was and how messed up the department was. Daniels told him that everyone had known this all along but that the case had taken on meaning for those involved and that McNulty needed to get back to work.
He was demoted to a boat patrol officer in season two by his former boss, Major Rawls, but continued to work with his old detail. Stubborn as ever, he successfully got back at Rawls by showing that fourteen murder cases were his responsibility, at one point spending four hours poring over wind and tide charts to prove his case. He managed to get back his detective position when the Major Case Unit was formed in season three.
At the end of season 3 he requested another transfer and was shown in uniform walking a beat and apparently very happy.
Critical response and analysis
The character has been described as "irresistibly charming, a classic anti-hero; a modern-day Rockford."[1] The role of McNulty's character has been described as defying genre conventions - although his actions drive several plot points he is not exactly the central character you might expect from the shows opening or promotional material.[2] Flak magazine also picked McNulty as a central character - they commented on the uncommon experience of having the main character fit to a standard police character archetype ("He has poor impulse control. He's personally fearless and outspoken, and he bangs babes like a hunchback rings bells.") but also exposing the archetype as self destructive and emotionally immature. [3] Salon described McNulty as "The heart, soul and oft-impaired nervous system of "The Wire"", again selecting him as a central character. Salon also chose McNulty's pride as his main character trait - they described this aspect of his personality as being the thing which gives him his success as an investigator and his failure in most other aspects of his life. [4] EW picked McNulty as offering one of the shows most wicked ironies, he is one of the characters you would expect to be on the side of law and order as a police detective but they describe him as a "boozing cop who pisses on authority and order." [4]
References
- ^ Jim Shelley (2005). "Call The Cops". The Guardian. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ Jon Garelick (2004). ""A man must have a code" - listening in on The Wire". Boston Phoenix. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ James Norton (2005). "The Wire vs. The Sopranos". Flak magazine. Retrieved 2006-07-12.
- ^ a b Dan Kois (2004). "Everything you were afraid to ask about "The Wire"". Salon.com. Retrieved 2006-07-12. Cite error: The named reference "SLN" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).