The second season continued to follow the police and those involved with the
Barksdale drug-dealing organization. The returning cast included
Dominic West as detective
Jimmy McNulty, whose insubordinate tendencies and personal problems continued to overshadow his ability.
Lance Reddick reprised his role as Lieutenant
Cedric Daniels, who was sidelined because of his placement of case over career, but used his political acumen to regain some status.
Sonja Sohn played
Kima Greggs, who had transferred to a desk job, but could not resist the lure of a good case.
Deirdre Lovejoy continued as assistant state's attorney
Rhonda Pearlman, the legal liaison between the detail and the courthouse.
Wood Harris and
Lawrence Gilliard Jr. reprised their roles as newly incarcerated drug dealers
Avon and
D'Angelo Barksdale.
Idris Elba's character
Stringer Bell took over the operations of the
Barksdale Organization.
Andre Royo returned as
Bubbles, who continued to indulge his drug addiction and act as an occasional informant. The police were overseen by two commanding officers who are concerned with politics and promoting their own careers: Colonel
William Rawls (
John Doman) and Acting Commissioner
Ervin Burrell (
Frankie Faison).
Wendell Pierce portrayed homicide detective
Bunk Moreland, who became more involved with the core case. Previously recurring guest star
Clarke Peters joined the starring cast and his character, veteran detective
Lester Freamon, joined the homicide unit as Moreland's new partner. The new season also introduced a further group of characters working in the Baltimore port area, including
Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos (
Paul Ben-Victor),
Beadie Russell (
Amy Ryan), and
Frank Sobotka (
Chris Bauer). Vondas was the
underboss of a global smuggling operation, Russell an inexperienced
Port Authority officer and single mother thrown in at the deep end of a multiple homicide investigation, and Sobotka a union leader who turned to crime in order to raise funds to save his union. Also joining the show in season two were recurring characters
Nick Sobotka (
Pablo Schreiber), Frank's nephew;
Ziggy Sobotka (
James Ransone), Frank's troubled son; and
"The Greek" (
Bill Raymond), Vondas' mysterious boss. Returning guest stars included:
Jim True-Frost as Detective
Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski;
Seth Gilliam as newly promoted Sergeant
Ellis Carver;
Domenick Lombardozzi as errant Detective
Thomas "Herc" Hauk;
J. D. Williams as Barksdale crew chief
Bodie Broadus; and
Michael K. Williams as renowned stick-up man
Omar Little. == Cast ==