This is sampled from 50 Cent’s “What Up Gangsta” – the S is a reference to Superman’s logo.

“Going cold turkey” refers to getting off of drugs immediately and without transition. Since Chris is constantly getting high, the only cold turkey he ever deals with is the meat.

Rock band Nirvana dropped their classic album Nevermind in 1991, and Apathy has been ill on the mic ever since.

“Burners” is slang for the prepaid disposable cell phones that the Barksdale organization uses. This episode shows Bernard and his girlfriend Squeak buying mass quantities of disposable phones for the crew.

This title also plays off the saying “put it on the back burner”, stop paying as much attention to something. In this episode, Prez and Sydnor have to put their investigation against Kintel “Prince K” Williamson on the back burner as Major Crimes begins focusing their attention on Marlo.

This quote pops up twice in this episode; first by Scott Templeton regarding how hard it is for a journalist looking for work to “sell” their services these days, and once again by BPD nightman Oscar Requer when talking to McNulty and Freamon about the real estate market.

In the context of this season, it means that there are opportunities out there to be taken for those bold enough to take them. Both McNulty and Templeton make a splash with their fake serial killer, and fake story about said serial killer, because they were “buyers” that were brave/stupid enough to try and get away with the same lie.

This speaks to the importance of self-reliance in The Wire, whether it be in the street or in the police house. The only way to stay alive, figuratively or literally, is to keep doing your job – something Burrell makes very clear when he drops this quote to his majors at a ComStat meeting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNLKG_XIqMk

Additionally, this ties in with David Simon’s attempts to make The Wire somewhat of a Greek tragedy. In Greek tragedies, heroes are often competing against vengeful gods and only have themselves to rely on. As he explains in an interview with The Believer:

But instead of the old gods, The Wire is a Greek tragedy in which the postmodern institutions are the Olympian forces. It’s the police department, or the drug economy, or the political structures, or the school administration, or the macroeconomic forces that are throwing the lightning bolts and hitting people in the ass for no decent reason. In much of television, and in a good deal of our stage drama, individuals are often portrayed as rising above institutions to achieve catharsis. In this drama, the institutions always prove larger, and those characters with hubris enough to challenge the postmodern construct of American empire are invariably mocked, marginalized, or crushed.

This refers to Gus' insistence that The Sun submit a clarifications and corrections piece regarding Templeton’s story on the homeless war vet. Templeton had gotten away with embellishing and making up stories for most of the season, but Gus finally calls him out in this episode.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytI3-PuNJrs

It also refers to the final scene of the episode, where the mortician sees that Omar is wearing the toe tag of a middle-age white man. Out of respect to the legend of Omar, he clarifies the situation and gives him his proper tag.

The most notable transition in this episode is in who takes on The Greek’s package – when Prop Joe is murdered, Marlo takes over.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW5K8E1Wkew

This episode also marks the long-awaited transition in BPD police commissioners. Nerese is able to convince Burrell to step down silently, promising him a high-ranking position once he’s gone. This allows Carcetti to promote his boy Daniels and bring a “new day” to Baltimore.

This most directly references Scott Templeton’s color piece written about the Orioles' opening day. Editor Gus Haynes feels there isn’t enough substance for it to be published – Templeton couldn’t even get the full name of the kid he “interviewed” – but it still is sent out as is.

It also refers to the unconfirmed reports that there is a “serial killer” loose in West Baltimore (word to McNulty).

Finally, it refers to Marlo’s obsession with disproving or silencing any rumors going around about him – his name is his name afterall. June Bug puts out an “unconfirmed report” that Marlo was gay as a joke/slight jab, and Marlo had him killed as retribution.