"So he garrottes her with something that looks like piano wire, a tool he
carries around on him just in case he needs to murder someone."

Yep.

*SPOILER REPLY*

Okay, maybe I should just rephrase from "can't" to you "shouldn't" quit cold turkey.  What was written (rather glibly) at Cracked lays out a few reasons why refraining from drinking alcohol after being a heavy drinker is dangerous.

"This par for the course in FX."

A longshot thought occurred to me this morning.  **POSSIBLE SPOILER** The deputy recognized something in the picture of the desert with the wind turbines.  I can't recall, but did the location of that initial crime scene he came upon have a similar skyline in the background?  Maybe the deputy had an idea that the…

**This could be SPOILER for FX's The Bridge**

Like someone mentioned earlier, Frye is most likely experiencing DT's (delirium tremens).  Looks like he suffered a seizure from withdrawal.  You can't just quit booze cold turkey if you're a serious alcoholic.  Alcohol withdrawal is life threatening.

I bet Frye is wishing that he would have kept the benzos (c'mon he had everything—-must've had a couple) from the flush.

I don't think the deputy's epiphany in the dentist's chair had any significance.  Hence him being snuffed out pointlessly.  Definitely an "oh shit" moment.  Unlucky dude.

I was really looking forward to this episode as a huge fan of this squad.  It was a bit lackluster for me, not really shedding any new light on the greatness of this team.  I too would have liked to have heard something more about the other members of the team not present for the reunion.

Overwrought is right.  That's just Lennie's style.  Lennie James has the same "American" accent in any show he's been on.  See Jericho.

"It's not a fair comparison—The Wire's one of the best series ever"

@avclub-bbb3af3d466d7231aa738ff95762091d:disqus , I hear what you're saying but to compare the comment activity on both mentioned shows:  HoW seems to be far more involved and it would stand to logic that over time it has probably received more views as show than Magic City.

Magic City coverage continued until its series finale.  Comments were pretty scarce there.

This premiere episode was hearty enough for me to become invested in the show.  I've been watching a number of "murder mystery" type shows here recently (The Bridge, Spiral, The Killing, etc.)  and I find that the best way for me to fully appreciate each show is to not feel compelled to compare them to one another.

Apparently it was a reference to the Sopranos reference to the Godfather. -_- Namely when Silvio liked a suit (suit(s)…get it?…hurr hurr…so clever) from a botched truck hijack by Brendan Filone.

Boooo at these vanilla motherfuckers fail referencing The Wire!

Born Under a Bad Sign" by the great Albert King