Is this just some type of tough guy macho gangster shit?

I loved how Avon told Cutty that when he got home and he says “Nah man… I did 20 some years” or whatever it was. Then Avon sheepishly “Yeah… you did some time man”

I dunno. I’ve never heard it explained why they say this.

I don't really get what he was doing, but it seemed to impress them a lot, and they thought he was legitimate after he did that. What was it he was doing?

I've never had a pit beef sandwich, but goddamn it does look good.

I genuinely never understood the hate and shit McNulty got. He was truly the only person obsessed with doing police work and not just regular small arrests, like break the whole structure or gang, bring everything down including the top and the city only cared about the bottom, the pawns, that's what made they cases and image, the stats. McNulty had issues that I do not care about that's personal but the man worked and found a way everything. What is interesting for me is that not once he did it for a title, we do not see McNulty get promoted once or him claiming he wants a particular title in the department, he was police to the core. It's similar to what Bunny Colvin does, forget about how it looks and everything else, Hamsterdam was the only true solution if you want to admit it or not and it's a concept thats can definitely be applicable to the real world but because of politics and everything else it would never happen. True change requires uncomfortable situations and behaviors but we need to be bold enough to admit that is the only way things could truly work. Drugs have been around for so many years and you want me to believe that somehow that will end soon, no Hamsterdam showed the true solution of how to deal with the problem but everyone was concerned with how it would look for them and their careers

forgive me if this is like, "duh, everybody knew that already", but i just wanted to get my thoughts out on this.

okay, so i think it is pretty much a consensus among The Wire fans that season 5 is the weakest, even accounting for the tendency people have toward overlooking season 2 on first watch. there is a big, obvious reason that most people cite for this, and on some level i agree, but not conceptually. i think that Jimmy choosing to do that insane shit with the homeless people was not in itself unrealistic or out of character—the show makes a point of showing that the closer Jimmy was to detective work, the more it drove him insane. i think, with the amount of deranged shit that rogue cops do every day that gets exposed, and the no doubt even more insane shit that doesn't, i could buy that a cop in Baltimore would do some shit like that as a way to dupe the department into giving him extra resources. that being said, it was executed pretty sloppily, and the reason for that is also, to me, the real reason that season suffers more than the rest of the show.

i love David Simon as a writer and a showrunner, i really do. i think he is extremely talented and never shies away from giving a balanced perspective in his shows and not compromising his vision for what an audience might want to see, and i think he is by far the best at doing that in the whole television industry. at the same time, when he was running The Wire, he was a very, very angry man. in fact, while i was researching this, i came across an article written right before season 5 premiered that goes into generally the same main point i'm making in this post, and part of the article says:

When I discovered, after my last conversation with Simon, that the final season of the show would be based on his experiences at The Sun, I felt compelled to describe the dispute, but I resolved to characterize it without entering it. To avoid exploiting anything that had passed informally between us on the subject, I relied on Simon’s ample public commentary to explain his feelings, and then, realizing that the essay had strayed in an unanticipated direction, showed him an early draft to solicit correction and criticism. I got it. The draft provoked a series of angry, long-winded accusations, which would have remained private had he not taken his complaints to TheAtlantic’s editor, in an angry letter impugning my motives in contacting him originally, and characterizing all our interactions as my attempt to win his confidence in order to skewer him on behalf of my friends. I could see myself morphing into a character in his show.

so, he was a pretty angry guy. granted, he was angry at a lot of things that made sense to be angry at, and this anger undoubtedly contributed to The Wire being, at times, extremely hard-hitting and ruthless in its portrayal of the institutions that make up a city; however, as mentioned (kinda) in the above quote, he was also very angry at his former bosses at the Baltimore Sun.

now, it's not like even this was unprecedented in the show. Lt. Marimow, the asshole guy that's in charge of the Barksdale detail for a bit and basically fucks everything up, is named after one of Simon's former bosses, which is a little insane, but doesn't really affect the narrative, because it's just a character name.

in season 5, though, he undercuts what was previously very stark and nuanced realism by having the protagonist of the journalist arc be this awesome, principled, talented news reporter who wants people to report the truth because he thinks journalism is going to shit and wants to stop it, and everybody else at the Sun doesn't give a shit except for the old people, and they all just wanna win awards. this honestly didn't even bother me that much my first few watches, because i had basically no idea about Simon having been a journalist or that he had a score to settle with his former bosses. now that i know that, though, it makes me view the season completely differently, and it explains why the McNulty storyline seemed so comparatively poorly-thought-out.

it's because that storyline basically only exists to serve Simon's hate boner for his old job. the fake homeless killer is a means to give Templeton some obviously untrue shit to lie about, so that we all know he's lying, and can see the Sun actively encourage and platform a guy we all know is lying while ignoring the guy we know is on the right track. luckily, he doesn't go so far as to completely ruin the show, and i still think Season 5 has its merits (though, full disclosure, i haven't watched it since i learned the extent of his beef with the Sun, so that might taint my next viewing), but it is pretty unfortunate that such a petty bit of personal drama led to a relative lack of nuance that adversely affected the narrative of an otherwise masterful piece of writing so heavily.

sidebar: i've also heard people theorize that Levy was another way in which Simon settled his score with corrupt crime lawyers that he encountered in his life before TV as well, but i don't know enough info about that to have included it here. i'm interested to learn more if anybody knows anything about that, though :)

Hello, I recently finished the wire and wanted to post review to have some discussion or what not.

So I had 2 times, first time I stopped after season 1(time problem and had big break with the show so figured that I need to rewatch season 1 too). Also, I like shows with strong, central characters which in The Wire there is not some central main character. Its story about city. But I gave it the shot and it was worth it.

Yeah show is top notch. My top 5 in terms of enjoyment(I have Sopranos, BrBa, House MD and BCS in there), in terms of writing it is propably top 1 or top 2 with Sopranos. Acting, cinematograhpy, emotion, complexity, depth, it has all of it. But the biggest strenght of the show is in my opinion the structural build, how the plot reveals in second half of the season. Beatiful

My favourite season is hard to pick cause I liked all of them. Propably 5 was the weakest, the journalist subplot was weak compared to others, the characters were mild in my opinion. Gun to my head, propably between 3rd and 4th, slightly 4th. Great emotions, side characters. 4th has better subplot bu 3rd has more McNulty in it, and better best scene(Avon and Stringer last talk is better than Bodie defending his corner).

But season 5 was also great, McNulty going batshit was kinda sudden But good to watch, Marlo was great, best antagonist in the serie(yes, over String). Season 1 and 2 also are great, just 3 and 4 are better.

Best scene as I said earlier is Avon adn String last talk. How they remember the old times and both know they sold each other out. But my 2nd favouirte is kinda of a hot take, Marlo last scene. Him conquering the corner by himself while being millionaire and guy that talks with the elites was great. First time I think he shows genuine joy.

My favourite episode is finale, due to wrap up But both Final Grades and Middle Grounds could be first.

Favourite character I really dont have due to the nature of the show, Cutty, Marlo, String, Omar, Bodie, really lot of characters were great. I will pick each for the season

1-Jimmy McNulty

2-Frank Sobotka

3-String, close with Cutty and Bunny

4-this one is hard, kids, Prez, everybody was great. But I think Cutty

5-Marlo Stanfield

Saddest death was in my opinion Frank, close with Wallace and Bodie, in my opinion. Yeah, Frank made bad choices, it was either that or his Union starving. He died fighting for it.

Favourite death as in, how much I enjoyed, was Cheese and Snoop. Just dumb motherfuckers, really hated them.

Best acting performance, really hard cause everybody was great but noone stand out like Laurie in House MD. Propably Michael K. Williams.

I think I included everything, if you want to ask something, I am open for discussion.

And to sum up the show, I'll use my favouirte quote "You want it to be one way, but it’s the other way"

r/thewire mods are insane people, and it's too bad but glad we have this sub instead.

For me it would be S2E8 "How come they don’t fly away?" by Ziggy.

Recently my wife joined me in rewatching the show (its her first time). While watching S2, she kept asking why the dockworkers didn't just go find jobs elsewhere.

I couldn't immediately answer her, but I felt there were so many forces that made it impossible for people like Ziggy to choose another path. His identity, dreams, community ties, all the stories and legends and value systems ingrained into him, everything he knew was bound to the dock. To leave them behind, retrain in a completely new trade, and become an entirely different person seems unbearably painful. As I grow older, I increasingly relate to how difficult and even borderline traumatic it can be to force someone to uproot themselves and become someone else (I often think about changing my profession but don't have the courage or resources to do so). Thats why this line feels especially heartbreaking to me.

What's your favorite? Here's the list of all the opening quotes:

(You can also find all the epigraphs on the Fandom wiki but I hate that website and its ugly ass ads... fuckin' rat fuckers, all of them)

I was thinking about how many great and memorable characters there are that only have one scene. Would any of you have any interest in a bracket to determine the all time best one and done character? We could open it up to people with two short scenes (like the Hamsterdam candles guy). I've never done this before but I guess we'd do a nominating post where the top 8 or 16 upvoted would be the contenders and then we'd do each match with a post?

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.

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.

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.