“The job will not save you.”

Lester Freamon, The Wire

Starting from 00:00

Context

McNulty rolls into work on a Sunday and, to his ultimate delight, sees two of his co-workers are also in the office. McNulty then goes off on a masturbatory rant about how amazing they are at their jobs - that they are, in fact, “natural po-lice”. And that’s when the exchange below occurs:

Lester:
Tell me something, Jimmy. How exactly do you think it all ends?

McNulty:
What do you mean?

Lester:
A parade? A gold watch? A shining Jimmy-McNulty-day moment, when you bring in a case sooooo sweet everybody gets together and says, “Aw, shit! He was right all along. Should’ve listened to the man.” The job will not save you, Jimmy. It won’t make you whole, it won’t fill your ass up.

McNulty:
I dunno, a good case -

Lester:
Ends. They all end. The handcuffs go click and it’s over. The next morning, it’s just you in your room with yourself.

McNulty:
Until the next case.

Lester:
Boooooy, you need something else outside of this here.

McNulty:
Like what, dollhouse miniatures?

Lester:
Hey, hey, hey, a life. A life, Jimmy. You know what that is? It’s the shit that happens while you’re waiting for moments that never come.