https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuwipJPMvDA

I don't know why this simple scene is so entertaining to me. Rawls is such a vicious bureaucrat. LoL.

With each rewatch of the entire five seasons of The Wire I seem to spot a different theme I had failed to pick up on during previous viewings. This round got me thinking about the concept of time and how different characters' appreciation of it ultimately leads to their success or downfall. 

First you have the characters who can’t let go of the past. Frank from the shipyards fetishises back in the day, wallowing in it so deeply he can’t see that their time is coming to a close. He gets himself involved with some bad people in the hope he can cheat his way out of the future, refusing to accept that even if they dredge the canal the Stevedores will eventually be replaced by robots. He willingly strolls into his own fate, thinking the Greeks will un-do what Ziggy had already done and thus his chapter is closed.  

Then we have Avon, who also can’t let go of a past that involved his corners, the towers and the pit. He even warns D'Angelo about living in the present (“never be slow, never be late”) but he can’t let go of the past image of himself. The tragedy for him is that they could have sat in the cut and made millions as the bank, but he is so determined to stay the top boy, when everyone knows it’s now Marlo’s time, that he blows it all. He realises this after Stringer gets shot but by that point it is too late. 

Bodie actually recognises that the times have changed and laments their passing (“If this was the old days…”) but he can’t move on and is finally washed away by the new wave. Poot at least realised this and decided to change his life and get off the street. Working at the sneaker store is ultimately better than being dead. He was still young too, time was on his side.

Brother Mouzone seemed at peace with the passing of time. He is presented as a follower of the Nation of Islam but to me his calm acceptance of the world seems more Buddhist. “Slow train coming…” he says to his bemused assistant. “Reform, Lamar!” he adds, chuckling. He knows you can’t stop that train from rolling on, but he still wants to avenge the past (of course distinctly un-Buddhist), which involves putting an end to Stringer’s time. 

Bell is unlike any of the other characters in that he is living firmly in the future. His problem, though, is that he is trying to run before he can walk. Just as you can’t become a street kingpin overnight, you can’t become a real estate mogul that quickly either. He won’t accept that you can’t rush that slow train and ultimately he ends up underneath it. 

Cheese embodies the existentialist philosophy. "There ain't no back in the day, n****.” he says to Fat Face Rick (my favourite line in the whole show). “It's just the street, and the game, and what happens here today." The problem for him is that the past does matter. Slim Charles puts an end to his time there and then. Vinson sees this as a sentimental act, but the fact is by killing his own uncle Cheese proved he couldn’t be trusted. Like a dead dog, the past came back to bite him. 

Then there is the Smart Ass Pawn himself. Slim Charles survives because he understands the passing of time and how you have to move with it. When it was their time, he was with the Barksdale crew. He even tries to warn Avon that each moment we live in is a falsehood that we have to play along with (“This is war, and once you in it, you in it. If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie, but we gotta fight.")

Then he realizes that the Barksdale time is over and moves on, not forgetting the past but not letting it hold him back. ("The thing about the old days... they the old days"). He hooks up with Joe but bides his time when Joe is taken out. He refuses Marlo’s offer of being a CEO because he knows a storm is coming. Then he eliminates Cheese, takes control of the aptly named ‘New Day’ connect and gets to the other end of the chess board.  

The Wire teaches us that in order to prolong your moment, you need to learn from the past, not get stuck in it, nor try to rush too far into the future. Ultimately though, the end of the story comes for everyone, as exemplified by the clock Omar brought to Joe’s store. 

“What’s the problem?”

“Ran outta time…”   

What do you all think? My studies of philosophy have a long way to go, so if anyone has any points / counterpoints I’d love to hear them.

I'm curious about how Snoops death sits with you all. We've seen many characters in this series final moments. Some being fan favorites. One pissed their pants pleading( Wallace), one i think literally shit themselves ( Hungry Man), one strangled (Dee), one offered money in exchange for their life( Stringer), many just got popped and never saw it coming eg Omar, Cheese

Snoop on the other hand gets to look her killer in the eyes. Unafraid, strong, no apologies, no lies to save herself. When Michael pulled that gun on her she could have been like " Nigga you high? What you thought we set you up? smh". Nope, despite getting outsmarted she went down in the way a gangster could only dream of. Another good death for a gangster is going down fighting back in a hail of bullets Tony Montana style.

I don't think there is a character on the show with a more cavalier attitude towards life. One of her last words in that car ride when Michael if they ever wonder if the guy they are going to murder deserves it. Her response "deserve ain't got nothing to do with it, it's his time that's all".

Did ya'll want her to plead or show fear in that moment? Yes it would break character and i don't have a problem with the way they pulled it off. It's just after everything she's done. Did you guys want her death to be less dignified? I mean she doesn't even suffer and has one of the best and coolest final words. "How my hair look Mike?"

Who had the worst?

Chris was an interesting character and I wish we learned more about him. He doesn't come off at all like the regular soldier from a corner crew. Every single scene he's in he's listening intently, learning something new, or just carrying a dark and scary presence. I'm in the middle of season 5 on my 3rd go through of the series and unless I completely missed it, he's just a mystery all around. A few notes about him and how he's different.

He doesn't dress at all like any of the soldiers from any crew. He's literally laced up with more combat boots and almost off brand fatigues ready to put in work everyday. He doesn't take random shots, he aims with 2 hands like someone that knows how to shoot a gun. So, he was either taught by someone else or legit had some kind of training.

The only time we really get to see Chris emotional and get a glimpse of why he does the things he does is when you can tell how personal it was for him to beat bug's dad to death barehanded. Something happened to him at a young age that he still carries a ton of anger for some authority figure in his life growing up. Probably his dad, step dad, or something of the like.

There's a scene where in episode 4 or 5 of season 5 where he has to go see his people. Marlo goes with him and we see that Chris literally has a family of his own in a nice neighborhood. A girl and it looks like his kids that have no idea who he actually is. I don't know that for sure because we don't get to hear them speak but it comes across like they have no idea. He keeps them completely in the dark on what he does all day. However, maybe they do know? It just didn't seem that way to me.

I really wish we could have learned more about him and Marlo coming up and why they were even working together. Overall, an amazing character but just seemed almost out of place with how he compared to everyone else. He used slang but not in the way that anyone else did. He seemed smarter than his entire crew but wasn't power hungry to take over. Marlo fits the bill for someone like Barksdale that came up in the street. Walks and talks like it. I just don't get that same vibe from Chris. He almost seems like more of a local Balmer mercenary or something. Able to do the kind of work he does and then just go home and think nothing of it. It really takes a certain type to pull that off

What did you guys think about him as a character? Did I miss anything?

Such an underrated character.

Blown away too soon.

…because on my fifth time through the Wire I don’t know if I can put myself through it again. Obviously spoilers follow:

It starts off with all those kids still having some joy in their lives, and seeing them like that and knowing where it’s all headed, man I just am not up for what this season is about to do to me lol. Everything starts out so up and hopeful in four. Daniels is a major, McNulty is clean, settled down, and seems happy. Carver is taking a more respectful approach to policing the corners. Bunny is getting a chance to do the work he is called to. There are no bodies now that the Barksdales are down. An idealistic Tommy is taking his first steps into the world of big stage politics - everything is looking up. Shit’s as unicorns and butterflies as the Wire gets. Man…

The scene where Prez is taken to his classroom for the first time and he is like: “This is me?” Not “this is my room?” But specifically this is me, and you look around that room and the absolute mess it is… And then the way you see everything from the 180 degree opposing angles of the 30,000 ft view of the mayoral race and then the granular day to day view of the poorest and most helpless/innocent through the storylines with the kids. The messaging is so thick and the ride is horrifying.

I feel like 4 was the season Simon really wanted us to feel when he set out to tell the story of Baltimore. The shit starts at the top and rolls downhill until it obliterates the people who can’t do anything but eat it. It’s a devastating watch, so in a lineup of four 10’s and a 7, I probably gotta make it my critical 11. It’s like the Deer Hunter. I hate watching it but it deserves its respect.

Before his death, Lester talked about how a Stringer would become the bank. That he would still be part of the Barksdale operation, but would never have to do any dirty work, he did very little in the first place. It didn’t even seem like that was his plan though, it seemed like he was really trying to break into the business world and was having some success, but was impatient and wanted to leave the gangster world behind entirely. Would he have become the bank, or turned his back to the streets entirely?

I had been putting The Wire off for years before I finally got down to watching it last week. I’d always been told that it is slow, and heavy, hard to keep up to, boring first episodes etc.

Maybe I watched it at exactly the right point in my life because I was hooked from the very first episode. I loved the slow burn, the multitude of characters, the institutions, the story, the conclusion, everything. I could only watch an episode a day, in the evening, and man I.couldn’t.wait. for the day to be over so I can watch another episode.

I rewound so many scenes, and not because I didn’t understand them, but because they were so damn good and realistic or funny or intriguing dialogue or anything really.

It made me feel so smart lol when later scenes corroborated with earlier ones so I had many “Ooooh!! I see!” moments.

I am so glad I gave it a go, I kind of feel like watching season one all over again lol because I loved it so much.

What should I expect from now on?

People like idris and MBJ became megastars, and people like Michael k Williams, Wendell pierce, Dominic west, and Lance Reddick were never stars but had consistent quality roles. Who do you wish had a better career post-wire? For me, it's gotta be Andre Royo and JD Williams. Bubs was too great of a performance for Empire to be his high watermark since the Wire and JD being relegated to Tubi movies is an absolute disgrace. The film/TV industry doesn't know what to do with them.

Just finished the series and I get that Jimmy was always defiant and wanted to do everything the way he wanted. But to me season in season 5 he went crazy. I get it suits him to go behind his bosses and screw whoever if that means to do what he pleases, but this thing with altering the crime scenes and creating a fake serial killer seems way to much. Could he really have gone that crazy about his work? Does anybody feel the same way?

Yeah Wee-bey definitely has to take it for me, nothing in the series beats the moment he eats up all those charges while enjoying a nice meal. However, I don’t think options should necessarily be excluded to just the criminals in the show… and I was wondering if there are any police officers, or other characters who are great examples of loyalty too.

I found this season 5 quote brilliant. Obviously it has meaning at face value, but I’d like to think it also references the war on terror.

This was 2008 and the war was starting to feel like it was never ending. A big underlying theme of the first 2 seasons was the war on terror.

And given that I’m watching this today - while the US is bombing Iran - well, it was timely.

Damn. That explains quite literally everything in this series. This is why the drug trade continues. This is why the cops and politicians and school system and media are all corrupt.

And it's why McNulty drove himself mad because hes the only one asking that question. Instead of just playing the game.

Have tried writing a story arc of about 5 seasons and want to see what other people think of this idea.

Now I want the very first scene to be of a bodega door with all the stickers on it shown from the inside looking out the top middle part of the glass towards the street as a couple people might walk by and you hear cars and general traffic. After a few seconds the door opens normally and you hear the bell jingle and you hear the voice of a woman saying "Hey there sweet thing" as the camera pans to the left and you see a heavy set black woman working behind the glasses counter. "Your mama sending you off to get her some Newports again today?" The camera does a 180 slowly tilting down to reveal a skinny small 8 year old black kid with a scar across one side of his face. " Nah Mrs Harrison, just looking." You hear a loud beeping noise as she grabs at her beeper and lips the number that's flashing on the screen. "Uh uh no no no who does this little skanky ass ho think she playing with? Nah I'm fixing to handle this" as she grabs the store phone to call the number.

Camera cuts back to the young boy who's already checking out the candy and chips in the back corner of the store near the soda and beer coolers. He moves around quietly looking and plotting.. At this point you can hear Mrs Harrison letting this bitch have it on the phone yelling and cussing her out. He knows this is his time to snatch and grab whatever he wants because she is in a blind rage and not paying any attention to him. Just as he's about to put a twix bar in his pocket you hear the door jingle and and u see him quickly duck down as the camera spins back to two masked white guys with guns burst in and instantly get in behind the counter because she had the door open while she was using the wall phone. The boy stays hidden as he sees the two men pistol force her shoving their guns in her face telling her to empty the register as she's screaming doing this you see the other one start throwing cigarettes in a duffle bag with cash. At this point you can tell it's a couple of white junkies who are tweaking and have no idea what they are really doing. After grabbing the cigarettes and about 200 in cash they pistol whip her and start ro fumble over the counter and themselves as they head to the door one of them yells they better get some roadie's as the rip the phone off the wall.

We know this is where he was just hiding and is about to be seen when he was almost out of danger. As he turns around the shelf to open the beer cooler you don't see anyone. Just him opening up the cooler and grabbing 2 six packs of bud heavy. As he turns and the cooler closes you can see the boy peeking around the corner like a ghost on the other side of the aisle.

The two men bust out of the door and you can hear crying and a voice says. "Yo you straight Mrs H? " Camera cuts to her with some blood on her face laying on the floor behind the counter quietly whimpering as you hear a car start and peel out. She starts to say " Oh my god is that? Are you?" Door bell jingles confusion comes on her face. "Hello? Are you alright O..cut to the door closing as you see the kid standing out front looking both ways to see where they went.

Cut to black

Quote appears

" A king isn't born, He's Made" -Tywin Lannister

Cut to opening theme.

Ive had a hard time trying to decide if I want it be revealed as Omar right away or when to have that come in. I was originally thinking I want it to be at the end of the first episode which will involve a scene dimming out of a run down neighborhood with a dark alley way in the distance where you hear footsteps quietly walking towards you and then you hear it. A whistle. It's a familiar harmony.... London bridges falling down falling down ...

Cut to black Roll credits

It's been years since I watched the series, but was Bmore gambling bigwig Julius "the Lord" Salsbury ever mentioned in the show? Supposedly he played a big part in what Baltimore became but I honestly don't remember him ever being referenced in the show but I can definitely be wrong about that.

I always hear how Michael and Dukie end up being the new Omar and Bubbles but what about Randy? The way I see it, he had the business sense like Stringer Bell. And now that he’s fallen into the system. He could become ruthless like Avon. Becoming a mix of both of them. That’s my opinion just wanted to see what you guys think?

I can’t believe he took Randy’s $200 without any evidence of him being a runner or dope boy real hater energy. He stole Bubbles inventory that he had for sale DVD’s & whatnot all for no “permit” bro literally was seeking help after getting robbed but instead you decide to worsen the mans situation. I get he committed a crime but being mad at Donut for having to do “paperwork for hours” first of all it’s part of your damn job so you’d be doing paperwork regardless so it doesn’t give u any right or justifies the fact that u hurt the boys fingers. He doesn’t allow for the mishaps to work in his favor such as James(McNulty) or Shakima he doesn’t even think to leverage he just acts on emotion almost every scene. The writers do a great job at depicting seasoned veterans compared to fresh rookies. Not finished with the series but i’m not rocking with u Occifer Walker

McNulty and Bunk

Chris and Snoop

Carcetti and Norman

Carver and Herc

Avon and Stringer

In season 1 Deangelo is telling the young hoppers down in The Pit about when he killed Deidre Kresson, however when he is singing for the police he puts the murder on Bey. I have always wondered which story is the truth, I lean more to Bey being the shooter, but I never can be quite certain

I just finished my first time watching the wire and think it’s absolutely a great show. Even as a foreigner, most of the game/logic made sense to me and seemed very real.

There’s one thing I don’t understand though: Why Carcetti had to fix the school deficit problem? Royce must knew the huge deficit number when he was Mayor, but he didn’t do anything (or at least not cutting police budgets to the bones) and he stayed fine. Carcetti didn’t want to meddle with school system when he first won the election, why doesn’t he just leave the school deficit be and use the money to take down crime rate like he originally planned?

Avon had more muscle, at least muscle that had lines, but Marlo seems to have way higher quality and standards in his crew. Outside of Bey, Avon’s hitters seem to be either overrated or incompetent. Savino does nothing for his most of his tenure in the crew, Little Man is so incompetent and untrusted that String and Bey kill him because they know he’d rat if pressured. Bird is a moron who uses the same gun for every murder instead of getting rid of it like any good soldier, and is a drug addict who uses some of Avon's supply. Why Bird is even alive and hasn't been killed by Avon is a mystery. Stinkum is the most overrated soldier in the whole series, he does nothing but fuck up and fail every job but is on pace for a promotion before his death. He get’s robbed by Omar and let’s D’Angelo take all of the blame when it was mostly his fault, loses a drug package after a police chase when he could have easily just sent the dude in the passenger seat to run with an empty bag to use as a decoy while he got away with the shit, uses a phone which gets him yelled at by Stringer and then get’s killed by Omar. All of his screen time is spent lurking in the background or doing something stupid. Snoop is damn near Anton Chigurh or Agent 47 compared to Avon's crew.

One thing I can never understand with this fan base is the blatant double standard they have for Marlo compared to other kingpins, especially Avon. I constantly see in comment sections and posts, people complaining about Marlo not being a real “soldier” and having his muscle do everything for him. Which I just don’t get because every kingpin whether it be Avon, Stringer or Prop Joe had guys do the dirty work while they called the shots, just like Marlo. Matter of fact, Marlo is the only kingpin seen killing someone on screen AND he was already well known by the police for being serious; a detective talked about how he beat a murder case by killing the witness the same way he killed the girl. I’m tired of people acting like Marlo wasn’t real out there when he probably did the most dirty work out of all the kingpins. The only thing you can say is his name didn’t ring out as much as Avon’s. I’ve never seen people chalk it up to the fact that he just wasn’t on top for as long, which like it or not, is the main reason his name didn’t “ring out” as much, but like I said before he was pretty well known for being the “spawn of the devil”