In Jonathan Abrams' book All the Pieces Matter, about the process of making The Wire, Simon described Pierce's state of mind at the audition: "He was really pissed off.

Bunk serves as Jimmy McNulty's lone ally in the Baltimore Police Department's Homicide Unit, informing him of its happenings while chiding him for getting involved in the Barksdale case.

At Sergeant Jay Landsman's insistence, Bunk and McNulty review the Deirdre Kresson murder, which ultimately turns out to be related to the Barksdales and is solved as part of the final arrests of D'Angelo and Wee-Bey Brice.

With McNulty having been bumped out to the Marine Unit, Bunk is partnered with Lester Freamon, and they are quickly recognized as the most efficient detectives in Homicide.

Based on a few sparse facts, Bunk and Freamon deduce that the women were prostitutes being smuggled from overseas, that one of the girls was murdered by a sailor after refusing him sex, and the rest were killed for witnessing the crime.

While working the port case, Bunk worries about the William Gant murder; State's Attorney Ilene Nathan threatens to drop the charges if the police cannot find Omar.

Later, Bunk and Russell return to Philadelphia and find video evidence implicating Sergei Malatov, whose testimony leads to the solving of the Jane Doe murders and aids the Major Crimes Unit's investigation into stevedore union treasurer Frank Sobotka.

Bunk quickly recognizes the scene of Omar's drug robberies and mistakenly believes one of the shootout victims, Tosha Mitchell, was a civilian.

He continues to investigate her death even after Landsman, Rawls, and Colonel Raymond Foerster order him to find the stolen weapon of Kenneth Dozerman, who was shot and nearly killed in a failed drug bust led by Sergeant Ellis Carver.

Bunk and his colleagues in Homicide deal with budget cutbacks, including no overtime pay, until the city's financial situation resolves.

The fiscal problems lead to the closure of the Major Case Unit and the reassignment of McNulty and assignment of Greggs to Landsman's squad.

[7][8] While investigating a probable overdose, McNulty tampers with the body and the crime scene to create the illusion of a serial killer, and Bunk leaves in disgust.

Bunk finally gets a DNA match on Partlow for the unrelated murder of Michael Lee's stepfather, but agrees to delay his case in order to allow the Stanfield wiretap to continue.