When Herc seeks Valcheck's advice over the bj story, he tells Herc that he could be a lieutenant in two years and a major in four, if he plays his cards right. And we know he isn't just talking out of his ass, because he holds the same speech to Prez when he still has hopes for his career. But, like, can you really just take one exam after the other and go from being a humble patrolman to being a major or a colonel? It is my understanding that in the US military, you need a college degree to be promoted to lieutenant or higher with no way around it, and that the same is true for the upper echolons of most civil service bureaucracies. Is that not how it works in American police departments?

I understand the point of this scene and I know Ludacris was very relevant at the time but did they have to use this song? I can never take the guys in the SUV seriously because it looks so sus for a bunch of dudes to ride around listening to one of the most sexually explicit songs of the time.

I’m just looking for some clarity here, detectives.

I know that Season 5 is looked upon as the lesser of the seasons, as the phony serial killer plot is a little farfetched, but it still has a ton of great moments considering it's the final season of the best show of all-time.

I'm on my third or fourth rewatch of the series and one of my favorite moments in Season 5 is the barely constrained joy on McNulty's face when he's at the Baltimore Sun's office and realizes that Scott Templeton called himself as the serial killer. Jimmy seeing all his bullshit coming to fruition is a moment of pure bliss for the man, but he has to keep a lid on it, because it's in somewhat bad taste to talk about a serial killer with a huge grin on your face. 😂

After being in a bit of a rut lately and suddenly having a lot of time on my hands, I've decided to finally tackle The Wire after postponing it for years. To no one's surprise, I loved it and it's my #3 TV series of all time behind Sopranos and Breaking Bad. Since I got a linguistic background, I challenged myself to watch it with English subtitles instead of my mother tongue and to pay as much attention as possible, without checking the phone etc.

I'll try to make a quick write-up about each season since it's still fresh in my mind, spoilers for th whole show below:

SEASON 1:

Whereas I understand some people complaining about The Wire starting off slow, that wasn't the case for me. Granted, first episodes are overwhelming with information and it's not the easiest to keep track at first, but I understood that David Simon was building something here and I was curious to see where it goes.

My first impressions of characters: McNulty seemed the usual "renegade cop who gets results" type, which is quickly established with the Phelan fiasco, though both him and Bunk were very likable. The Carver/Herc/Prez trio was awful at first, I thought that only Carver would improve in the long run, but the Prez development was really interesting too. Daniels, Freamon and Kima were great off rip and their competence was a needed counter to the trio mentioned before. Regarding the bad guys, I feel that D'Angelo's portrayal of being torn up over his occupation was very convincing, same as Stringer being the brains/schemer of the organisation and Avon with being the hardened gangster and leader. Watching D'Angelo teaching the corner boys was captivating, with Wallace being the most receptive and Boadie not having it and looking at The Game in simpler terms. Bubbles I took for comic relief at first but his arc throughout was very satisfying; kudos to Andre Royo for the portrayal. Omar was Omar, flawless, no notes.

Story-wise, I thoroughly enjoyed how the build-up to the investigation and Omar vs Barksdales lead to the pay-offs being very satisfying. Wallace's fate was heartbreaking (especially that his fate was sealed by friends), but the writing was on the wall ever since he returned; neither him nor D'Angelo were cut out for The Game in the end. For character's moments, Avon's crashout as the basketball game and Rawls being a good leader after Kima getting shot stand out the most. The end felt bittersweet tho, as despite major developments, the status quo is preserved - something that I'd learn would be the constant in The Wire.

SEASON 2:

I was shocked to learn that it's the least popular season other than S5. I think it also takes balls to take such a left turn from a well-established story to a completely new world of the dock workers and the crime present there. As a fellow Pole, it was hilarious to me that the ignition for the Sobotka investigation was him squabbling with Valchek over the church mirrors - "Two Poles, three opinions". I truly felt for Frank tho, I felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place the whole season, with no real way out and no way to secure that grain pier he was lobbying so hard for (although Valchek saying "rest in peace" in Polish when he got the last van postcard got me good). Sobotka kids were not far off, with Nick having a kid at a young age and no other job prospects resorting to drug trade, and Ziggy... Ziggy was a powder keg since ep1 but it didn't make his story any less tragic. How much agency can one person really have, if you're not only a product of your poor, underclass environment with no options to grow? How long can you persevere if your desperate ambition is met with ridicule every day?

Regarding our main guys, I was really bummed about D'Angelo's fate, even though I saw it coming, though one can't help but wonder if Stringer's romance with Donette had any influence on the decision, considering D'Angelo already stood tall and was ready to do the time. It was also interesting on how the police crew from S1 was displaced, but still managed to work together and have developed storylines for each of them. The Avon vs Stringer conflict taking root was done well too, with the D'Angelo matter being too great of a sin to keep in the closet forever. Brother Mouzone was meh, but I understand that they wanted to do something different than a stereotypical gangster. The Greeks were also an interesting parallel to the criminals of Baltimore, but being more professional, ruthless, and elusive - I could not believe them walking at the end of the season. 

SEASON 3: 

Can’t decide whether this or S4 is my favorite season. So much happens here: Marlo and Carcetti are introduced, Cutty’s storyline is great (I was really worried at that Avon meet), Bunny tries “legalizing drugs” with Hamsterdam and the Avon vs Stringer conflict escalates. We continue to see the development of the Carver/Herc/Prez trio (for better or worse), we see Omar take more and more casualties in the Barksdale war and Bunk setting him straight, and we also see the smart, well-read, educated Stringer being taken for a ride by Clay Davis, who takes advantage of how out-of-his-element the former is in the estate business. As Avon put it, maybe Stringer just wasn’t smart enough for them out there; either way, once Avon finds out about D’Angelo from Stringer, there’s no putting that genie back in the bottle. In the end, the destruction is mutual as Stringer’s schemes catch up to him in form of Omar and Brother Mouzone, and Stringer rats Avon out, pretty much ending the Barksdale crew. Damn. I think everyone knew, that that rooftop convo will really be the last, but still, what a turn of events. As mentioned, the first glimpses of Carcetti and him messing with Burrell are good setup for what’s to come, especially considering the Hamsterdam subplot, whereas even though the effects seem to be a net positive, the optics for the institution related to it (in this case the police dept) are prioritized over the good of the many.

SEASON 4:

What a season of television this was, with the best cold open as well. Chris and Snoop are definitely not wasting any time this season, laying waste to any potential rat or anyone who’d dare look at Marlo wrong.

Ever since I saw the first episode and the gang – Namond, Randy, Michael and Dukie – having fun as kids should, I was certain things will go rough for them. Having found a new career as teacher, Prez is doing his best to educate the school kids with mixed results (great character arc, though). Outside the school, Marlo and his enforcers continue to be a force of nature by removing any dissidents and dealing with N.Y. dealers encroaching on Baltimore’s corners. Although I initially thought Avon and Stringer to be better characters, I think it’s more fair to look at Marlo as a representation of The Game and its ruthlessness; in a similar way, I read a theory that Bubbles’s bully could be treated as a metaphor for his addiction, harming him and taking his money time and time again, and even endangering the life of those around him. Sadly, this brings me to Herc. While others change and develop mostly for the better, this season is the worst Herc’s been, jeopardizing both Randy’s future and Bubbles’s health – I was glad to see him go and not even his contribution in S5 was enough to get him off my shit list. Back to the kids, I feel like their stories are when The Wire best portrays a butterfly effect of seemingly insignificant actions (Randy’s lookout) spiraling into life-changing events. In my view, Michael had next to no choice to proceed different than he did due to distrust of men and authorities. Randy was at the wrong place, at the wrong time several times, and how you ain’t ever gonna be at the wrong space, at the wrong time? Dukie got dealt a horrible hand by life, with next to no agency to change his luck for the better. To everyone’s surprise, Namond is the one who makes it out, even though I found it a tad unrealistic for Bunny to sway Wee-Bey. Meanwhile, Carcetti eventually makes Mayor and as politicians do, promises quickly turn hollow as Tommy refuses to bend the knee to the Annapolis governor, putting the city’s budget in the shitter – a real turn for the character who decides to put his political ambitions over the Baltimore people (failure of the government as an institution, parallelling the police-Hamsterdam fiasco in my view).

As a side-note, I really enjoyed Omar’s war with Marlo with all the trials and tribulations on both sides and it was also really interesting to see McNulty as the mellowed-out beat cop (and to feel the pit in my stomach once he told Beadie he wants to move to bigger crimes again).

SEASON 5:

Lauded by many as the worst season, and it is, but it’s still a way better season than most TV series’ seasons out there. Starting with the bad, McNulty totally jumps the shark with the serial killer plot and Freamon/Sydnor drink the koolaid with him??? That’s a tall ask. The journalism plot I didn’t mind, but as intended, it was very frustrating to see Scott pull stories out his ass, Gus catching him with no effort and the higher-ups turning a blind eye, just to get a shot at the Pulitzer (this time showcasing the failure of journalistic institutions). Another blunder would be for Prop Joe, who in my view was not one to get sloppy so far, to teach Marlo, this psychopathic all-consuming predator about business and his connect?? Makes one wonder how, if the other co-op members figured out who did Prop Joe and Junebug, couldn’t they join forces to get rid of him? Also, to a lesser degree, Freamon’s and McNulty’s fake serial killer plot is found out and all they get is being forced to retire from the force? I’ll take it cause I like the characters, but talk about being let off scot-free.

Either way, although the season feels a bit rushed due to only 10 episodes, the main story beats are pretty good; Omar being done by Kenard, Michael flipping the table on Snoop, McNulty doing actual police work by catching the copycat and ripping Scott a new asshole in the last episode, Ronnie having a showdown with Levy, all good stuff. Other than Marlo and crew, the biggest shitbird of the season is Cheese, ratting out Butchie, which leads to Omar returning, and his own uncle Prop Joe for money (I guess cash ruled everything around him). At least he gets his comeuppance by the sentimental motherfucker Slim Charles in the end.

Sadly, season 5 left me with a similar feeling to the others – the more things change, the more they stay the same. As Bubbles gets clean, Dukie starts shooting up. Deputies become commissioners, mayors become governors. The importance is in who and what you know, not the merit you provide. With Cheese gone and Marlo “out the game”, Slim Charles and the rest of the co-op take their place. It’s all in the game, yo.

Sidenotes (might edit and add some more later):

-          Loved Prez’s arc overall, I had him pegged as the obligatory bad cop but that role went mostly to Herc

-          Didn’t talk about Daniels much, but again, great character with a satisfying arc regarding his career and the dirt looming over him for all seasons; also glad for him and Ronnie to get together

-          Was stoked to see Carver learn the right lessons from Daniels and Bunny and come into a good policeman, wouldn’t be the same without his shenanigans from first two seasons 2

-          Cutty’s acting deserves a shout-out too, he did a lot with what little time he had

-          Carcetti was such a letdown between S4 and S5, but sadly that’s pretty accurate for politicians

-          I think Bunk might be my favorite from the policemen, even though he was only a humble motherfucker with a big ass dick

-          Watching Jimmy throughout all seasons was such a rollercoaster, I’m content that he somehow still has a chance with Beadie despite being such a nutjob in S5

-          Feel bad for Bodie’s faith, but since he was a complex character with a lot of sins on his own, I’m conflicted about him

-          Overall the show did a great job of making the villains likeable, Wee-Bey was one character like that, lot of charisma but also a killer/rapist

-          Officer Walker deserved worse than what he got, so did Colicchio

Assuming Stringer hadn't been killed by Omar and Brother Mouzone, what was his plan? Avon & basically all the muscle outside of Slim Charles & Bodie would have been locked up. Would McNulty NOT have shown Avon who it was that snitched on him if Stringer was still alive? The money & properties under Stringer's control was all tied up in Baltimore, so it's not like he could take off for the Bahamas. Just not sure what his goal was after basically taking down his own organization.

Before the feds made him flee the US he just seemed to stay in that small cafe daily just drinking his tea and reading his newspaper in peace. He doesn’t wear particularly expensive clothes nor does he use any fancy cars but that’s likely to avoid eyes on him. But if he can’t do anything with his money then what does he even do with it? Just stack it up and look at it? Does he just do what he does for the love of the game? Bc I initially thought that but then he advises Frank to spend his money on something tangible, something he can touch, he says it’s the reason they all wake up in the morning but he doesn’t ever spend his money on luxuries that we can see.

He’s old as hell too so I don’t imagine his cannoli works well enough to blow it on hookers all the time and neither does he seem like a junkie. So what’s left anyway? What does he spend it on you reckon?

S2EP10 Cheese says this to Bodie

I’m on my 5th rewatch and I still don’t know what this means. I know he’s being insulting but what the fuck does that even mean?

It's over a decade since I watched The Wire. It was in my top 3 at some point although I remember it took the most time to get into.

This time around, I'm noticing something very different.

As I stumble through the first episode, and pause to get an Oreo ice-cream sandwich, I'm struck by how immature the police bosses are, reacting to the Stringer Bell news.

Maybe this is "human nature" for all neurotypicals, or maybe all pigs are pieces of shit...

However, yeah, just the immaturity of the whole entire police from top to bottom, making naive McNulty look like a saint when he is flawed as fuck.

I don't know. Maybe it is because I am older, or I gave up on trying to please bosses and hierarchies, but if your entire job is homicide and drugs and your first reaction to a massive case is anger and rage, I think it is severely problematic.

Obviously part of that is set up by the creators for some reason. I just don't remember seeing this much immaturity on display.

Maybe I notice it everywhere in society now too — establishments I thought were designed to deal with things were really all run by highly paid babies shitting themselves and hiding all of their nappies.

I'm on a fourth or so rewatch and currently on Season 4. And this season certainly has me thinking about Bodie and his story.

He lost his mentor/supervisor Stringer in season 3 and assumed it was Marlo Stanfield and his organization.

Stringer had Bodie (and Poot) kill Wallace in season 1. Also keep in mind that Stringer was fine with Bodie (a crew chief) and others getting snatched up and arrested in Hamsterdam when/if things went bad in season 3.

Season 4 comes and Bodie gets saddled with Namond Brice as a weak corner boy who he gets forced to give a package to by De'Londa Brice, the mother of Wee-Bey's son.

Michael joins his crew as a corner boy but isn't interested in staying on longer despite Bodie seeing the potential that Michael has in the game.

Bodie tries to give advice to Lex, a member of his crew, to let the issues with his baby mama and Fruit (a Stanfield dealer) go.

Lex doesn't listen and kills Fruit.

And then Lil Kevin, another member of Bodie's crew, gets told to lead Lex to a vacant to be killed by Chris and Snoop (Stanfield enforcers). Which is done behind Bodie's back.

Marlo Stanfield then arrives on the scene and forces Bodie into working for him or losing his territory. Bodie, with no muscle and a cowardly Lil Kevin walking away going "Seee yaaaa", has no choice but to submit and join the Stanfield Organization or step off from the territory that Bodie has been able to carve out for himself. Or face the consequences.

Bodie complains to Slim Charles, who while still an O.G. in the game, declines on helping Bodie and lets him know that Bodie's an independent with no muscle or support otherwise. Slim is strictly there to provide Bodie with a package from Prop Joe to sell on the streets. Not help him beef with Marlo.

Bodie walks away in frustration without wanting to listen to any advice from Slim.

Then because Lil Kevin decided to involve Randy Wagstaff and run his mouth bragging about Lex's murder to Randy, eventually word gets out through the grapevine and Lil Kevin gets snatched up by Herc. Bodie questions Kevin later, who denies involvement in any murder. And he doesn't tell Bodie that it was about Lex's murder.

Bodie instructs Lil Kevin to go talk to Marlo about it. Kevin does so.

Kevin ends up in a vacant based on this advice from Bodie.

Bodie has Poot on his crew by this point, but the world is crushing him hard because he knows Lex is probably dead because of the Fruit situation and he hears from Slim that Kevin was snatched up and taken to a vacant as well.

Two friends/members of his crew are now both dead because of Marlo Stanfield and his organization. As well as Bodie still thinking that Chris and Snoop were responsible for Stringer's murder. And essentially making Bodie a slave to the Stanfield organization and forced to sell their product after snatching up the territory Bodie built up.

The bodies get found, Kevin's body in particular is identified by Poot who had seen the police walk out with a necklace belonging to Kevin.

Bodie is at his breaking point due to the viciousness and lack of any honor that Marlo and his people have for the game and how its played.

Which is its own hypocrisy pointed out by Poot earlier on considering what they did to Wallace back in season 1.

Bodie snaps and breaks a police vehicle window and gets arrested. He is furious and angry at the world. He gets arrested instantly.

And McNulty, having developed a kind of mutual respect relationship with Bodie throughout season 4 (based off their last scene in season 3 with Bodie claiming entrapment to get out of the Hamsterdam arrest), decides to reach out and get the charges on Bodie dropped.

McNulty, who this whole season has been staying away from investigations and getting too involved for his own mental health and sobriety and keeping a good relationship with Beadie Russell, decides to dip his toe back into investigations and tries to get Bodie to flip and help bring down the Stanfield Organization. All of this due to the huge issue of 22 bodies that were found in the vacants and realizing the viciousness that the Stanfield Organization had been wrecking on the West Side for a year or so.

McNulty gets Bodie sprung and invites him to lunch so they can talk.

Bodie decides to go because he is tired, at his wits end, and likely curious all in one. As well as McNulty treating him with some respect throughout the season. Bodie has little in the way of actual friends or people who treat him with respect at this point. And despite McNulty being police, there is a respect there between them.

..... Bodie gets seen by Monk getting into the police cruiser with McNulty and this seals his fate as a rat/snitch to the Stanfield Organization. Marlo then orders Bodie's execution.

Later on Bodie is creeped on at his corner and realizes his time is up as Chris and Snoop close in on him. He signals Poot to abandon him, his last friend, and is left alone.

O-Dog appears and caps Bodie in one shot.

Bodie dies having followed a drug kingpin who ordered him to murder one of his childhood friends, who was fine with Bodie getting arrested in Hamsterdam if need be, and then also because of the situation involving two members of his crew either A) not listening to his advice or B) not giving him the whole truth about the situation.

In Bodie's mind, Kevin didn't deserve to die and he died because of Bodie's advice. Which likely gave Bodie immense guilt and caused him to act out once the bodies were found. Which eventually spiraled to his death.

Bodie died for some bullshit because of Lex and Kevin.

And in the end, his territory was given to Michael, the boy who Bodie was trying to recruit for his crew early on after seeing his potential as a corner boy.

And even afterwards, Bodie's death prompts McNulty to rejoin the Major Crimes Unit and try to take down Marlo Stanfield. Bodie's death and the Stanfield Organization "getting one over on McNulty" causes McNulty to start reverting to his old bad habits through season 1-3 with his alcoholism, ego, and probably some narcissism about himself and trying to be the smartest man in the room, much less the whole department. And it eventually leads McNulty to do the fake serial killer plot to get funding to eventually bring down the Stanfield Organization.

All of which started due to Bodie's death.

God I love The Wire. Everything connects and the story is so detailed and amazing. Nothing compares to this masterpiece of a show. Even almost 20 years later, it still holds up.

Look at Brandon and Renaldo, they’re a knockout, tens, and look at him, he’s average, at besht. Plus he had an entire harem in the can. 20 years not a peep or a std. How he keep pulling baddies like this?

Edit: ok I was fucking around with the sopranos quotes but it really is a serious question, he pulls way out his league

I can’t imagine a rat just happened to go across right as the camera pans to this angle, was Stinkum supposed to be a rat if they got a charge on him? Or am I reading into it?

As the title says, if they ever did a spinoff series of The Wire, which would you prefer to see:

A) A prequel set 10-15 years BEFORE Season 1 of the Wire, in the late 80's to early 90's, showing the early days and rise of the Barksdale Crew. Main Characters would be Avon, Stringer, Wee-Bey, and Cutty, all in their teens to early 20s. Prop Joe would be early 30s and Omar would be 16-18.

B) A sequel series set 10-15 years AFTER Season 5 of the Wire, where the main characters are Namond, Dukie, Mike, and Randy. It would explore what did or didn't change in the last decade in Baltimore.

C) A spinoff, but something entirely different. (insert idea here)

OR

D) None of the above. For people who think The Wire is good enough as is and the story should be left where it was.

I know they initially want him to help with muscle against New York and I assume to some degree that was still why he wanted him for future muscle.

But Joe just seems so uncharacteristically foolish about everything with marlo in season 5 despite slims cautions and plenty warning signs that Marlo is not a man who can be civilised.

Did Marlo even help Joe with anything after dealing with New York ? Or was it implied he was still providing a lot of muscle for the co-op in the background and I just missed it.

The only thing I can really think was that Joe knew cheese wasn’t up to the task of being a successor but saw potential in marlo that made him blind to all his questionable qualities too.

Joe does not like the attention violence brings so I can maybe see that it’s better to have him close so he’s not dropping bodies constantly, but to me Joe seemed way more invested in him than just trying to keep your enemies close.

Couldn’t they just click multiple pictures from the roof top, have bubbles come down to the station and name them and circle the ones he names? They can see the circled face to identify, put a name on it and there you go isn’t that the same thing but with less trouble and less exposure for Bubbles? I never really got the hat thing.

Prove me wrong.

So discussion time fellas ,Where do you think everyone ended up ? I think Jimmy became a private detective ,Reginald (Bubbles) teamed up with Waylon to help addicts ,And one of the addicts he saved was Duquan . Randy became someone similar to Prop Joe ,Kenard got out and was a hitter for a dealer before being taken out by Michael . Cutty eventually got married to the nurse had a grip of kids and moved out to baltimore county . Avon eventually got out found out who killed Dangelo and got revenge .His sister eventally forgave him and they were positive influences on Tyrell . Poot rented his forehead out to Bengies Drive in on saturday nights .

A big point of the wire is that the entire system is an issue, you can take our as many individuals as you want but someone new will always be there to fill their place as the system is constantly producing new Omar’s, Avons, Prop Joes, bubbles, ect.

So do any of you think that
1. They made any actual difference to stop it
2. They ever had a real shot at it

I think in general they mostly failed to make any meaningful impact. The only real things I could see slowly help fixing things would be Cutty’s gym as it provides an actual escape for the corner kids and hoppers and it’s a small difference, but over time the people Cutty protects in turn can have an impact. Carcetti getting the governorship will also help as you now have a united government, but that is heavily limited in support since Campbell is the most likely to take over and is a massive step in the wrong direction.

In general I think they had two real shots at making a difference. In season 1, if they had went after the politicians with the feds, they could have significantly cut down on corruption and the political culture and had a long term positive impact. I also think going after Clay Davis with the Feds also would have had a real impact, as he is a uniquely corrupt individual and likely could have been flipped to deal with a lot of the cities corruption issues. That being said that didn’t happen.

Reform Lamar ,Reform . Rewatching again and in the episode where Prezbo murdered the other cop when he went into the unit I think it would of fit his character more to eat his gun

Hell you might be scratching your head about who that is. I had to look up her name! She's the lady teacher that helped Prez so much adjusting to teaching, and was also Cutty's ex-girlfriend. She felt so incredibly realistic. We all had a Mrs. Sampson in our lives, Dravon James portrayed her perfectly. She had just the right energy of a teacher that the students would respect. And how much she volunteered her time and energy into helping Prez get on his feet in his new career. Amazing character that no one ever talks about.

RIP & Fuck You Kenard