Who is Bubbles in The Wire?

The best CI in Baltimore · The Street

Bubbles (The best CI in Baltimore) is a character in The Wire, part of The Street. Bubbles knows every corner, crew, and face in West Baltimore because his habit has walked him through all of them — a heroin addict with a salesman's charm, a photographic memory, and a hat-trick scheme always in progress. When the game costs his running buddy more than the usual, Bubbles starts trading what he knows to Kima Greggs. The best informant in the city, and the one whose ledger of pain nobody upstairs reads.

When does Bubbles first appear?

Bubbles first appears in Season 1, Episode 1 (“The Target”) of The Wire (2002–2008, HBO).

Who is Bubbles connected to?

Relationships already established when Bubbles first appears — nothing from later episodes.

• Kima Greggs — Handler and informant — with care

Who else is introduced in this episode?

• Jimmy McNulty — Natural police, unnatural everything else
• Bunk Moreland — The other half of the double act
• Kima Greggs — The detail's best detective
• Cedric Daniels — Lieutenant between the fires
• Avon Barksdale — The name on the towers
• Stringer Bell — The economist of the corner
• D'Angelo Barksdale — The nephew in the pit
• Wallace — The kid in the pit
• Ellis Carver — Narcotics muscle, slowly learning

Watching right now? Open Bubbles in the interactive map, set the episode you've reached, and see every relationship and bio update you already know — spoiler-free.