Wait, Was That Lester?

Although it's become a bit of a cliche, I still proudly own the fact that I am an ardent fan of The Wire. Claims of racial stereotypes and a lackluster closing season be damned; it was an engaging show made with a lot of love (sometimes tough love), and for the purposes of this post, you must at least admit it was popular and holds a bit of cachet with fans and come critics.

I was watching the NFL playoff game between the Broncos and Chargers on DVR, and during a joint promo for Hawaii Five-0 and Blue Bloods, I did a double take. I skipped back to watch it again, and the cut was fast enough that I still wasn't quite sure, so I skipped back again and stepped through on slow mo. What did I see?

Lester muthafuckin' Freamon

That's right, Lester Freamon, the dollhouse-furniture-making recluse turned money-following renegade is in an episode of Blue Bloods, a CBS procedural on which Clay Davis couldn't even utter his trademark phrase. Not only that, but based on the screenshot above, he's been paired with a special needs detective. This makes me feel equal parts angry and sad.

Sure, some people might point out the screenshot above is actually of actor Clarke Peters, who has many credits to his name, including a great central role in another David Simon-driven HBO dramatic series. Those same people would probably point out it's fairly common for multi-season, self-contained shows like Blue Bloods, House, and many others to do a little stunt casting to get some attention or bring in a really good/known actor to shake things up after a while. They would also point out many actors have awkward faces like the woman above when scenes are paused.

To those people, I say: holy crap, did you know that Lester Freamon is in True Detective? Sign me up.