The Wire Retrospective Part 1 – The Show
THE WIRE RETROSPECTIVE
All the angels sing
About Jesus’ mighty sword
And they’ll shield you with their wings
And keep you close to the lord
Don’t pay heed to temptation
For his hands are so cold
You gotta help me keep the devil
Way down in the hole
The devil is certainly trying to make his presence felt in Baltimore. What an amazing experience it was watching The Wire. One of the only disappointing things about the show is that they kept changing the Theme Song, the version in the 1st season was by far the best and I thought they got worse as the seasons went on. But it was still a great tune no matter which version you get I just loved the 1st season the best. Whenever I saw people talking about the Greatest TV Shows of all time, The Wire was always mentioned alongside The Sopranos and Breaking Bad. I’m ashamed to admit it took me until this recent pandemic to finally watch it but I now understand why it was mentioned on all those lists, it is truly a great TV show. I started watching The Wire almost immediately after The Sopranos and I couldn’t help but see the similarity between the mafia and the Barksdale crew, esp seeing both used a strip club as a front for their illegal business and both crews were expected to live by an unwritten code. Both shows also had no qualms about killing people. What an interesting ride The Wire takes you on, we get to see things from so many different eyes. The police, the lawyers, the drug dealers, the drug users, the civilians not dealing or using just trying to live life and even the news reporters. Every single one has a different perspective of what is going on yet none more relevant or meaningful than the others. I know it’s just a TV show, but I really learned a lot about how people can live the same reality but have completely different experiences.
For most of the police it’s all about numbers, trying to have more solved murders than unsolved. For the drug dealers, it’s about the next dollar, the current territory and establishing dominance over everyone and every corner. For the drug users, it’s about that next hit and how high you can get. For the prosecuting lawyers, it’s about that next piece of evidence that can lock away a dangerous criminal or keep an investigation rolling. For defending lawyers, it’s about finding that crack in the armour. For the civilians not in the game, it’s about trying to find a small slice of existence to be a human being without having to worry about them or their families being attacked or killed. For the news reporters, it’s a bout trying to find that next big story that will give them credibility and allow them to keep doing their job. Really an incredible experience watching this show through 5 seasons, wish there was more.
Watching the horrible conditions that some people live in was very tough, I just wanted to help them. But this show is a great example of why the scumbags that control the world don’t ever want things to change. One of the storylines of the show was the police department wanting to keep the number of murders under 275, just appalling that that many people die every year in 1 city. But do you think satan and his illuminati want that number to change? Absolutely not. They don’t want those 275 people to live a good life, get smarter and start focusing their attention on the world and how to make it a better place. What about the hundreds and thousands of people living in the drug and violence infested neighbourhoods? Bc of their situation they don’t have time to think about anything other than how to survive their day-to-day life. And when they do have a spare moment, most are not looking to figure out the rest of the world’s problems, they just want to relax, recharge and have fun with their fellow human beings. This is the society that satan and his illuminati want, this is why things never truly change. They want people to ruin the potential for greatness in their lives with drugs and violence and hopelessness.
The scumbags that control the world want to create an environment for people that gives them almost no chance to break out of it. Looking at some of the living conditions some people have to endure, it’s almost impossible to be the best version of yourself. A lot of families have no choice but to live in “bad” neighbourhoods that expose their children to the darker side of life. The life of the drug game looks a lot more fun and much easier than sitting in school all day so a lot of students that have great educational potential are taken off track. The demon of drugs causes some parents to cease being parents making the road to succeed even harder for their children. The demon of drugs causes people that have so much potential for greatness to completely waste their lives. Then you look at how the prison system is set up so that a lot of people profit off of stealing the freedom from other human beings. People that profit off the prison system don’t want to see society change, they want the drugs to keep flowing and the violence to keep spreading so they have an excuse to put people in jail and put profit in their pockets. If we help these neighbourhoods defeat the demons of drugs and violence, there will be less people in prion and less profit in their scummy pockets. These scumbags that control the world don’t want these thousands of people to wake up to what is really going on and start to have a positive impact that affects real progress in the world.
Despite this being a TV show, these conditions are representative of what people actually have to live through in real life. It filled me with a resolve to do whatever I can to try to help bring on the best version of society where everyone, everywhere has a chance to be a human being and the best version of themselves. To make an impact to fulfill their potential for greatness. To not have to live in fear or without hope bc they happened to be born in a certain city or neighbourhood. It is absolutely possible to turn things around so that the worst realities we see in the show are few and far between in the world. But racism makes people feel a sense of power or safety when they can see themselves above others, so they don’t want society to change so everyone is on the same level. They want see things like drugs and violence as a race problem that are exclusive to a certain race. If we can defeat racism, we take a huge leap towards the best version of society, but we can’t get there without accomplishing that. One way to do it is to make Gross Anatomy labs mandatory for every human bc after seeing it with your own eyes you can’t be racist. I participated in one when I attended Massage Therapy College, there were 3 bodies with the skin removed but everything else there so we could see the muscles. I assumed they were all white but when someone asked if they were all white people, the instructor checked the paper and said that 1 was African American and my mind was blown bc you could not tell. With the skin removed, all 3 bodies looked the same. I think I can say I have never been racist but there was no doubt about it after that. When you see with your own eyes how meaningless skin really is to the full human machine, there is no room to feel superior or judge someone bc of skin. If every human could see that, I guarantee we would have a lot less racism in the world and might even be able to wipe it out.
Sorry went off on a bit of a tangent there lol but those feelings came on very strong watching the show and I felt it had to be said. Now back to the specifics of the show, after it ended there were 2 things that really brought out the emotions in me: Omar’s death and Kima’s actions in the final episodes. Maybe the most shocking moment in the show for me was Omar’s death, I just could not believe he went out like that. After Butchie was killed, I was more than ready to watch Omar take down Marlo’s empire including Marlo himself in violent fashion, but he got cut down just as he was getting started. I was worried with Omar being so open in the streets about wanting to take down Marlo, but I figured he would be able to survive and than BOOM! It’s over. But I should have realized this wasn’t going to go down like I wanted. The Wire, like The Sopranos, wanted to be set in a real world instead of a TV world and for that to happen there is no way they could have let Omar be successful. In a TV world, Omar terminators the entire crew. But in a real world, Marlo had far too many supporters for Omar to stay alive given the way he was acting. Omar let his guard down for a moment and that was what cost him his life. I couldn’t believe that was the end. The other twist that brought out my emotions was when Kima told Daniels about what McNulty and Freamon were doing. I was so angry lol esp when it allows Marlo to get away with zero consequences. What did Kima really accomplish? She allowed a ruthless, violent drug dealing murderer to escape all punishment and retire with all of his money. And 2 of the best murder police were forced to leave the force. Wow great job Kima. The true crime here was the police not being given the opportunity to solve the 22 murders that Marlo was responsible for. I know they introduced the copycat killer storyline to justify Kima’s actions but that was 1 of the only instances I thought was bad writing. You’re telling me the homeless guy that has lost his mind all of a sudden reads the paper or watches the news and understands everything to the point of copying the murders? No fn way. I get that some police were wasting time investigating the fake serial killer, but more harm was being down by not bringing Marlo to justice. No reason for Kima to rat out Jimmy and Lester there. Really riled me up lol but I’ll talk more about it when I talk about the characters.
I loved seeing the team come together in Season 1.
-Lt Daniels
-Det McNulty
-Det Freamon
-Det Sydnor
-Det Hauk “Herc”
-Det Carver
-Det Pryzbylewski “Prez”
Backed up by Det Moreland “Bunk”, Sgt Landsman, Maj Rawls, Commissioner Burrell, State Attorney Rhonda Pearlman and Judge Phelan.
I did not think Prez would be as big of a character as he was after him, Herc and Carver cause a riot at one of the towers when they start roughing up random guys standing around there. Started out not a fan of Prez at all the way he smashed that kid with a gun and ended up blinding him in one eye. Def some racism in Herc and Prez making it hard for me to enjoy their characters. But I did enjoy watching Prez use his skills with numbers and puzzle solving to give the Major Crimes Unit an edge in figuring out what the criminals were doing and how their operations worked. By the end of the season, I was actually becoming a fan of Prez who had seemed to learn the error of his ways. I gained a ton of respect for the writing team being able to introduce an extremely flawed character and instead of keeping him flawed, start to show realistic growth into a different kind of character by the end of S1. Really well done. Everyone on the team had their flaws but when they were focused and together, they were a formidable opponent for the drug game. It was so interesting to watch a show set back in a time where cell phones are not in use. We start with the drug dealers still using pagers and payphones which was def cool to see. I loved watching the investigation into the Barksdale crew grow piece by piece from nothing into a huge tree with multiple branches. The Barksdale crew are running things in S1 and are the subject of the initial investigation.
The main players of the Barksdale crew were made up of:
-Avon Barksdale
-Stringer Bell
-D’Angelo Barksdale
-Orlando(strip club owner)
-Wee-Bey
-Bodie
-Poot
-Wallace
Backed up by their lawyer Maurice Levy.
He wasn’t connected to a specific crew, but Omar Little was a force to be reckoned with on his own, but he did have a handful of people he could trust to help him at times. Loved that Omar was established as a type of Robin Hood, choosing to rob drug dealers and leave people not in the game alone. Interesting twist that he was gay, def a surprised me after meeting the character. Omar robs Avon’s crew in early S1, but it ends up being a blessing in disguise as the police come for a raid but find nothing due to Omar’s robbery. But this does put a bullseye on Omar that would remain for the rest of the series. We also meet Bubbles, a drug user with a serious addiction but also a good heart that is one of everyone’s favourite characters. Bubbles acts as an informant for Kima and provides key information in S1 by using a red hat to identify the big players in the Barksdale crew. This allows the Major Crimes Unit to set up The Wire on the Barksdale crew to start making arrests and busts. We learn that things are not as simple as arresting people in the drug game when they are forced to release and return drug money that is connected to politician Clay Davis. Sheeeeeit lol you start to understand why nothing ever really changes in the drug game when you see how many people benefit from the money it brings in. One of the more depressing aspects of the show is seeing how all the higher ups in the police force really care about are numbers. Keeping the unsolved murder numbers low even if it means not investigating to their full potential. Keeping the budgets low even if it means allowing criminals to go free. So frustrating that the police brass has no interest in pursuing the money trails that lead to political corruption bc of how many feathers it will ruffle. The corruption extends to just about everybody so there is really no support for any kind of investigation, even the FBI isn’t interested.
Somebody on the Walking Dead casting team was def a fan of The Wire as there were at least 3 characters that had major roles on TWD, thought that was cool to see. I knew it was going to lead to some payback, but man did I not realize just how big of an impact Stringer having Omar’s lover Brandon killed in the way he was, would have across the show. It starts a war between Omar and the Barksdale crew that would last multiple seasons. It leads to Wallace’s death which was so damn sad. It led to Omar testifying to put Bird, a member of Barksdale’s crew in jail for life. It takes Brother Mouzone out of his alliance with Avon to provide muscle. It leads to the death of Stringer. So many significant storylines came off of that murder. Interesting to think about how different things would have been if Brandon hadn’t been murdered or at least not tortured. Omar would have wanted revenge no matter what, but the torture aspect was what really kept the fire burning in Omar. The Major Crimes Unit decides to do an undercover operation with Kima to make a big bust against the Barksdale crew and that was where I realized how big of a fan I was becoming of the show. I actually felt genuine concern when you realize that the deal is a set up to kill Orlando who is trying to make a side deal and that Kima is in big, big trouble. I thought she was dead for sure when the hit went down but thankfully, she survived.
But unfortunately, bc Kima is a police officer, the pressure from the higher ups to “put dope on the table” forces the team to act against the Barksdale crew earlier than they wanted putting the major arrests in jeopardy. But they are still able to arrest most of the major players like Avon and D’Angelo with the exception of Stringer Bell. At the end of the S1, Daniels and McNulty are punished being given shitty assignments for doing real police work and not bringing in the numbers quick enough. Then the Major Crimes Unit was disbanded. Such a piss off. I was warned about S2 not being very good and it seems like a lot of fans consider it one of the worst, but I actually loved it. Seeing how the union guys at the port are struggling as technology gets better and the dynamics between the crew. We are introduced to some pretty great new characters:
-Frank Sobotka
-Nick Sobotka
-Ziggy Sobotka
-Beadie Russell
-Spiros Vondopoulos “Vondas”
-The Greek
Tough to see McNulty be regulated to working on the boats away from the murders and investigations where he could actually make a good impact. Loved seeing McNulty figure things out so that the murder of the body he found in the water gets assigned to Rawls unit. But damn I felt so bad for the woman that were found in the container, just a brutal way to die. And then realizing that so many more women out there are subjected to horrific conditions and forced into prostitution just bc they want a better life. I just had to shake my head at the problems between Deputy Commissioner Valchek and Frank Sobotka, all bc Valchek wants the bigger display at the church for his stained-glass window. I always hate to see people involved with the Church acting the exact opposite of what Jesus teaches. This issue is the entire reason why the Major Crimes Unit gets going again but I was just happy the team was mostly getting back together. Stealing containers was a lucrative business for the union crew as long as they were careful but as technology got better it became harder not to get caught. Really interesting seeing the Investigative Unit hack into the container system on the docks so they could track which containers were being stolen. Just like in S1, I loved watching the docks investigation grow from nothing into a big tree with multiple branches esp as they learned of the Greeks involvement. Getting the Wire up on the cellphones, tracking the trucks and containers was great to watch. Def happy to see Daniels insist on getting McNulty off the boat and back onto the team where his talents could be used properly. But the Unit lost Herc and Prez who felt disrespected as if they were only seen as errand boys after not being told Nick Sobotka had turned himself in so they could end their boring surveillance.
Avon, D’Angelo and Wee-Bey are doing their prison time thanks to the investigation from S1. Avon is still living pretty good considering his connections, but D’Angelo is starting to become tired of the drug game and the shitty things it makes people do. The prison guard that was messing with Wee-Bey and bringing drugs into the prison is set up to be caught after bringing in a bad batch that kills and hospitalizes multiple inmates. Smart play by Avon to use the information about the prison guard smuggling the drugs to gain some good will with the prosecution helping him get an early parole. But this leads to the death of D’Angelo who wants no part of being connected to Avon after this but assures him he will keep what he knows to himself. Stringer is paranoid D’Angelo will flip so he has D killed with it looking like a suicide. Shocking scene, I was liking the change in character for D, so it sucked to see him be killed. We see that Proposition Joe has struck a deal with the Greeks to supply him heroin that is of a much higher quality than what the Barksdale crew has, meaning more business for Joe and less for the Barksdale crew. Stringer fashions himself a businessman and see’s the potential in making a deal with Prop Joe to get the higher quality heroin while also squashing the violence that comes with battles over turf. Avon is stuck in his ways and will not entertain giving up territory and cutting a deal with an East side crew for even a second.
Avon pulls the strings to get one of those bowtie wearing fanatics that killed the Notorious BIG named Brother Mouzone, a legendary feared assassin, to come into the territory and keep Prop Joe’s guys off of Barksdale corners. Brother Mouzone proves his worth immediately shooting Prop Joe’s nephew Cheese and forcing their crew to back down. Stringer knows the violence puts the heat on them from the police and they are bleeding money with the low-quality heroin, so he cuts a deal with Prop Joe behind Avon’s back to give up territory for access to the higher quality heroin. Brother Mouzone’s presence complicates this deal, so Stringer tries to manipulate Omar into thinking Brother Mouzone was behind the torture of Brandon. Omar shoots Brother Mouzone but before he kills him, realizes Stringer has played him so Omar leaves Brother Mouzone alive. This takes care of Stringer’s Brother Mouzone problem allowing the deal with Prop Joe to get back on track. Bubbles getting arrested for trying to steal morphine from an ambulance leads to him giving Kima and McNulty the info about the agreement between Prop Joe and Stringer’s crews.
Back on the docks, Ziggy laments his lower status and wants to start making big money, so he gets involved with trafficking heroin. I knew this was gonna end bad and it did with Ziggy being beat up and having his prized Camaro taken by Cheese as collateral. Nick has significantly more success getting into the drug game using the Greeks’ heroin and muscle to push the drugs and help Ziggy with his problem. But it does little to satisfy Ziggy who is jealous that Nick is doing most of the work and just giving Ziggy money handouts. Ziggy cuts a deal to steal cars and deliver them to Glekas, the Greek guy that helped Vondas move equipment from stolen containers, but this proves to be the beginning of the end for Zig. Just like with the drug dealers, Ziggy gets no respect due to his lack of connections and Glekas tries to pay Ziggy half of what they agreed to. Another shocking moment as Ziggy loses his shit and kills Glekas while wounding a young employee. Seeing the employee beg for his life triggered something in Ziggy as he looks devastated and doesn’t even try to run. Did not expect that kind of ending for his story, prison would not be kind to a guy like Zig so I was def concerned about what his future would look like. The investigation into the docks is heating up fast and they figure out Nick is a player leading to a warrant for his arrest, but he avoids it thanks to being out of his house cheating on his girlfriend. Man, another show where these guys like Nick and McNulty have amazingly beautiful women in their lives and still look to cheat on them. Blows me away, never understand it. Watching in 2020, you forget S2 was set in 2002 long before text messaging was a thing, so it was surreal to see the Major Crimes Unit slowly figure out what it was.
Obviously Frank Sobotka was a criminal, but I didn’t think he was that bad of a guy, I actually liked the character. So, it was def tough to see him walking into a sure death. Man, The Greek is damn lucky he had that contact in the FBI or he would have been locked up for sure. The Greeks killing Frank causes Nick to turn himself in and try to give information to the Investigative Unit as revenge. I thought at least 1 of Vondas or The Greek would get busted, so it was a shock they were both able to escape. I was happy to see Nick not go to jail, but it sucked to see all the work Frank put in to try and save the docks go to waste after his death. Not sure why it gets a bad rap bc I thought S2 was great. Kind of disappointing to know we would have to say goodbye to the characters and storyline going into S3 esp bc I wanted to see Vondas/The Greek pay for killing Frank. S3 is still great but I would actually rank it as the worst season of the show. The focus goes from the docks back to the streets with the impending release of Avon Barksdale. The drug game has adapted to the tactics of the police and are not giving the Major Crimes Unit anything, they can use which is threatening to end the wire taps. 3 of the towers the Barksdale crew were using to deal their drugs are being torn down which will force them to go harder into the streets and corners. Stringer has def changed things by creating the co-op and having business like meetings with all of the players in the game to make moves that benefit everyone decreasing the violence that brings the heat on them. We are introduced to 2 new characters connected to the Barksdale organization:
-Slim Charles
-Dennis ‘Cutty’ Wise
Slim is part of the co-op and acts as an enforcer for the Barksdale crew. Cutty was a legendary enforcer that ahs just been released after a long stint in prison. We are also introduced to the political side of the life in Baltimore which brings in several new characters:
-Tommy Carcetti
-Mayor Royce
-Coleman Parker
-Odell Watkins
Carcetti has eyes on becoming the mayor and is putting big time pressure on Commissioner Burrell over the rising crime rates. This is causing the Commissioner to put pressure on the police officers below him which lead to investigations being forced to act too soon and even a police officer being shot in a botched undercover operation. Major ‘Bunny’ Colvin is watching as his peers are being chastised for not delivering enough results for the higher ups but knows their hands are tied with budgets and how their work is constantly being manipulated so the higher ups can have photo ops and short-term numbers. The normal practice of reclassifying the types of crime to manipulate statistics is what causes Bunny Colvin to create ‘Hamsterdam’ in a desperate attempt to deliver the numbers the higher ups want while still having a real affect on the drug game and improving the neighbourhoods for regular people. Colvin goes behind his superior’s backs and uses areas that are almost 100% abandoned to allow drug dealers/users to make transactions without the threat of arrest as long as there is no violence. It seems like a good idea until you see what kind of hell it creates. McNulty is beyond frustrated as the higher ups mandate that the Major Crimes Unit stop investigating the Barksdale crew and turn their attention to someone else that is not as high profile. McNulty has been investigating the D’Angelo suicide and believes it was a murder, but he is having trouble getting D’Angelo’s girlfriend Donette to believe it. D’s mother Brianna however is taken aback by the accusation and starts to believe it.
The Barksdale crew is getting sick of being robbed by Omar, so they set up a stash house to be ready in case Omar and his crew try to rob it. Omar and his crew make a move, but a shootout goes down and Tosha is killed. This hits Omar hard and causes him to question his never-ending war against the Barksdale Crew. Stringer Bell is continuing to try and broaden their horizons opening legitimate business and investing in property development. Cutty tries to live a regular life but soon tires of it and joins back with the Barksdale crew as an enforcer. Avon is welcomed home after receiving early parole but a new rival, the Stanfield crew, has risen up to try and take control of the drug game. This introduces us to:
-Marlo Stanfield
-Chris Partlow
-Felicia ‘Snoop’ Pearson
-Monk Metcalf
Despite Stringer’s pleas that peace is better for their business than violence, Avon is set in his ways and orders the Barksdale crew to go after the Stanfield crew. McNulty, Kima and The Major Crimes Unit is about to have no choice but to shift their focus away from the Barksdale crew but the attack on Stansfield that results in deaths keeps the heat on Barksdale. It comes at a cost as McNulty and Kima have to go behind Daniels back to keep it going which creates a huge rift between Daniels and McNulty. I loved the team working together so it was hard to watch it start to break down. Stringer is having big problems trying to break into the property investment world as he keeps being shaken down for more money by Clay Davis for permits, he needs. His relationship with Avon is also having problems as Avon just wants to be a gangster while Stringer wants to be a businessman. The Barksdale crew initiate a hit on Omar while he is taking his grandmother to church on a Sunday morning which breaks a long-standing unwritten rule and pours gasoline on the fire of Omar’s revenge. Stringer and Avon have a heated confrontation that turns physical and leads to Stringer admitting to Avon that he had D’Angelo killed. Thought Avon might be the one to kill Stringer after that but someone else would have Stringer in their sights.
Colvin’s ‘Hamsterdam’ plan is working like he wanted it to, the drug game has moved almost exclusively into the areas Colvin wanted allowing the streets to be drug free for the first time in God knows how long. The regular people are able to live their lives without being around the drug game. With a high-quality product and free range to deal them, the drug dealers are also flourishing. But the quality of life for drug users having easy access to their drugs is appalling. Sexual immorality is running rampant, dirt and filth are everywhere. Users are engaging in drug use at higher levels due to the freedom from arrest or violence. The cops like Herc that have been tasked with patrolling the safe zones to keep the peace are disgusted with what the see and that they can’t make arrests. Carver is still loyal and actually moves a body from the safe zone to outside it to keep other cops away from there, but it almost backfires big time. Herc finally has enough and tells the press about ‘Hamsterdam’ as he knows once the public knows about this it will be shut down. Once it goes public, Colvin has no choice but to admit what he did to his superiors. Some like Burrell are furious while some like the mayor see the reduction in crime and don’t think it is that bad. ‘Hamsterdam’ is allowed to continue by Mayor Royce bc of the numbers so he can win the election, but Carcetti uses it to his advantage to ruin the reputation of Mayor Royce.
All of the positive development in Prez seems to go out the window when he accidentally kills a black plainclothes officer. Really bummed me out to see the regression in his character but also to know that he was done in the Major Crimes Unit. As the Barksdale/Stansfield war heats up, Cutty realizes he doesn’t want to be in the drug game anymore and is allowed to leave by Avon. Cutty is a good boxer and decides to use his skills to help the youth in the area by opening a boxing gym. Avon helps make it a reality by giving Cutty 15k for new equipment. Thought that was a great twist to Cutty’s story. Stringer realizes he is being conned by Clay Davis and wants Avon to help kill him, but Avon literally laughs it off. The Stringer/Avon partnership has deteriorated beyond saving as both end up turning on each other. Stringer gives Colvin information about Avon while Avon tells Brother Mouzone about where Stringer will be for a meeting. Brother Mouzone and Omar get the revenge they seek as both gun down Stringer. You knew his story wasn’t going to end without death or jail but still shocking to see Stringer killed.
The Major Crimes Unit was having success in setting up the Wire on the disposable phones the drug crews were using. Based on that and the information they get from Stringer, they are able to arrest most of the Barksdale crew but most importantly Avon again and this time put him away without a chance for early release. The Stansfield crew is left mostly untouched and are ready to take over. Mayor Royce takes a major hit for allowing ‘hamsterdam’ to continue and this puts Carcetti in a great position to defeat Royce in the race for mayor. Bunny Colvin is forced by Burrell to retire with less comfort than he originally thought. McNulty was going to be off the Major Crimes Unit anyways after he went behind Daniels back to investigate the Barksdale crew but decides to return to patrol to try and clean up his life. Really frustrating end to the season but had me excited for S4. In S4 we get a look inside the schools to se how the younger generation are affected by the life they are exposed to which introduces us to new characters:
-Michael Lee
-Namond Brice
-Randy Wagstaff
-Duquand ‘Dukie’ Meems
-Kenard
We see that Prez is getting another chance to redeem himself as a teacher but considering how his police career ended, I was def expecting things not to go his way. The crew of kids we are introduced to have to deal with violence on their level as they are attacked by bullies. Marlo Stansfield and his crew are now in complete control thanks to effective enforcers Chris and Snoop who are boarding up victims in abandoned houses so nobody finds them, and they can avoid heat from the police. Randy is inadvertently caught up in this when he delivers a message to set up an independent drug dealer named Lex who is then killed by Chris and Snoop. The race for mayor is heating up between Carcetti and Royce with Carcetti using the murder of a state witness to his advantage. Marlo tries to establish his presence even further and gain favour with the youth in the community by giving money for school clothes to the kids, but Michael refuses the handout not wanting to be indebted to Marlo. Smart move but it does make him stand out to Marlo as someone with potential in the drug game. The Major Crimes Unit is down to Det Freamon, Sydnor and Greggs with Herc now working security for the mayor but they don’t last long after the asshole Lt Marimow is sent over by Rawls to gut the Unit from the inside. Man that guy really pissed me off lol but it works as Freamon and Kima leave to join the homicide unit leaving the Stansfield crew pretty much free to do their work.
Marlo quickly learns who Omar is after his stash is robbed and then Omar robs a card game that Marlo is at. Prop Joe is doing a lot of manipulating trying to strike a deal with Marlo while at the same time giving Omar the tip about the card game, was getting nervous that things would soon catch up with Prop Joe. Bubbles is now working with a homeless youth named Sherrod selling junk now that his buddy Johnny is dead. But Bubbles is constantly being harassed by another addict that robs and beats Bubbles every time he sees him. Hated to see that. Bubs encourages Sherrod to go back to school as he is still young with his entire life ahead of him. At the school, Prez is having trouble controlling the kids and getting them to engage in learning. Bunny Colvin’s new job is a researcher into violent behavior and creates a new class at the school to try and teach the worst behaving kids in a different way. This helps Prez gain more control over his class while also helping the worst behaving students actually engage in learning. The kids storyline really made me want to help them and figure out innovative ways to teach them so they would understand and engage. Fn tough when you don’t have the proper materials at school or when their home life is toxic.
Herc is getting frustrated with no meaningful arrests or bust on the Stanfield crew, so he takes a video camera without permission to try and catch Marlo in the act. Someone tips off Marlo to the existence of the camera which Marlo then steals putting Herc in a bad position. Carver hands Randy over to Herc so he can help with the investigation, but Herc is careless, and ppl learn Randy is talking to the police. Bubbles agrees to help Herc identify a witness in exchange for helping Bubbles deal with his tormentor, but Herc doesn’t come through causing Bubbles to set him up to arrest a minister that Herc thinks is a drug dealer. This leads to Herc having to admit to losing the camera which causes him to be suspended. Marlo tries to set up Omar for murder and it works initially as Omar is arrested. Considering how many people Omar has robbed over the years, being locked up is very dangerous for him but he is able to get word to Butchie who has people on the inside help Omar stay alive. Omar is given a weapon and then has phone books taped to his body to protect him from being stabbed which work like a charm after Omar is attacked but survives. He reaches out to McNulty who knows Omar never touched civilians and influences Bunk to dig deeper. Bunk figures out that it wasn’t Omar which pisses off the other detectives on the case but clears Omar’s name and gets him out of jail.
Omar is looking for revenge again after getting out and robs the new shipment that was going to the co-op but then turns around and sells it back to Prop Joe who is now desperate for product. Only Omar lol this creates heat with Marlo who wasn’t real keen on the co-op to begin with and wants to be introduced to Joe’s connection. We see that Spiros is back in town continuing the drug trade. After a falling out over Sherrod not going to school, Bubbles connects with him again and they are back in business. But to deal with the guy that keeps robbing him, Bubbles learns how to make a lethal hot shot knowing that the guy will rob Bubs, take the hot shot and then be killed. But before Bubbles can make that happen, Sherrod takes the hot shot thinking its a normal hit and dies. Bubbles is beyond devastated and turns himself in to the police, even trying to hang himself in the interrogation room. Fuck that was a crazy turn of events. Sgt Landsman knows Bubbles is not a murderer and is suffering enough so he orders him to be released. Thought that was the end of Bubs but was really happy they let him go, wanted to give him a hug.
Colvin’s new class is having a positive affect on many of the kids but esp Namon who even earns a reward of being taken out to a nice restaurant for a meal with 2 other students Darnell and Zenobia. But that doesn’t matter to the education board who don’t see enough results to justify allowing the class to continue and shut it down. Colvin, worried that Namond will be led back into the drug game, convinces his parents to allow him to live with Colvin and his wife permanently. Man, I hated to see all the trouble Randy got for trying to help solve the murders. Not only did the kids around him start making his life hell but they firebombed his house severely burning his foster mother and forcing Randy to be placed in a group home. Shit ain’t right. It was great to see Prez help out Dukie and the bond start to grow between them but then they force Dukie into high school and you knew that was gonna be bad. Dukie had a promising future but ends up in the drug game at the end of S4. After Chris and Snoop help Michael get rid of Bug’s stepfather, he is brought into the crew and commits his first murder at the end of the season. Was hoping he would stay out of the game, but the lure was too strong.
Despite an ugly campaign, Carcetti wins and becomes mayor. But he is immediately faced with growing crime statistics and a huge school budget deficit which ends up becoming his biggest problem. At least the Major Crimes Unit is once again put back together but the original crew all don’t come back which was def a bummer. Bodie is sick of the way Marlo has people killed like it’s nothing, so it looks like he is going to provide information to bring down the Stanfield crew, but he is seen talking with McNulty and then killed. Man at this point I was so fired up to see Marlo, Chris, Snoop and the entire crew brought down and couldn’t wait for the Major Crimes Unit to put all the pieces together. Really maddening that the only reason the police get the go ahead to start investigating the 22 bodies Freamon and Bunk discover in the abandoned houses is bc they can be pinned on the former Mayor Royce instead of Carcetti. The Governor tries to gain a political edge by offering to help Carcetti with the school deficit problem, but Carcetti knows it will cost him later, so he refuses. This would have a big impact on S5.
Season 5 is a year later, and the Stanfield crew is still running the drug trade. Carcetti is finding it impossible to fund the police budget to fight the rising crime while also bringing down the school deficit. This causes cuts to budgets and overtime for police not allowing them to properly investigate their cases. Morale is also at an all time low. The Major Crimes Unit is disbanded yet again. Bubbles is getting clean but really struggling with his role in Sherrods death. Michael is working as an enforcer for the Stanfield crew allowing him to take care of Bug and Dukie in an apartment they share. We also get to see things from the news reporter perspective courtesy of the Baltimore Sun. This introduces us to new characters:
-Gus Haynes
-Scott Templeton
-Alma Gutierrez
They are starting to feel the heat from the rise of technology putting their jobs in jeopardy and also making them desperate for stories. Some reporters like Templeton are walking the edge of real/fake while Haynes only wants real, legit news. With the Major Crimes Unit done, Marlo becomes bolder ordering more murders. He also tries to establish a connection with the Greeks, so he doesn’t have to rely on Prop Joe for product. Det Freamon isn’t done with Marlo and secretly continues surveillance on him while working on the Clay Davis corruption case. McNulty makes the career killing move of faking a serial killer to get the funds flowing to the police department again so he can then direct them to help take down Marlo. Def don’t get a good feeling watching Jimmy do this even though it is for a good reason.
Marlo has Prop Joe help him clean and launder his drug money but Joe is not aware that Marlo is getting ready to take him out so he can be the kingpin. Marlo makes a serious move against Omar but having Butchie tortured and then killed. Oh man did that make me angry, I couldn’t wait for Omar to take care of Marlo. Carcetti is getting ready to install Daniels as the new Commissioner, but Burrell has some dirt on Daniels making him uneasy about the whole thing. So much drama in the higher end of the police force. Bunk is pissed about what McNulty is doing creating a fake serial killer and tries to get Freamon to talk some sense into Jimmy. But Freamon ends up giving Jimmy advice on how to do it eventually agreeing to help him. Hilarious scene lol Marlo connects with the lawyer Levy to help him in case he catches heat from the police and that is the last piece Marlo needs to be kingpin. Cheese who is Prop Joe’s nephew, betrays him by telling Marlo where he is. Marlo confronts Prop Joe and watches as Chris kills him. Did I say I was ready for Marlo to get his lol Omar returns to Baltimore to learn that Marlo killed Butchie and vows revenge. But Omar walks into a setup going after Monk but Chris, Snoop and Michael are waiting for him. Omar escapes by jumping off the balcony. Not very believable but I didn’t care I wanted Marlo dead by Omar’s gun.
McNulty and Freamon make the murders more sensational using false teeth to put bite marks on the body and McNulty alerts the press. It works and the serial killer story gets big enough to force Mayor Carcetti to divert funds to the police department. Freamon and McNulty use the funds to set up the wire tap on Marlo in secret, thanks to Herc stealing Marlo’s cell number from Levy, while pretending to set it up on the fake serial killer. Marlo is now working with the Greeks which puts him in total control of the drug game. Marlo disbands the co-op, promoting Cheese and raising the price of drugs for the other dealers. Omar’s leg is in rough shape but knows Marlo will be looking for him so he can’t go to a hospital. Despite the injury he keeps robbing Marlo’s operations. Whenever Omar robs someone, he yells that Marlo is a coward that is scared to meet him in the streets. Omar was walking the streets out in the open trying to draw Marlo out but his reputation kept him safe. Until it didn’t. Omar goes into a corner store to buy cigarettes, doesn’t realize Kenard is a threat and is shot in the head. Unbelievably shocking moment. I wanted Omar to kill Marlo so bad that I didn’t know what to do after he was shot and realized it wasn’t gonna happen lol but that was a real-life moment.
Freamon figures out Marlo and the Greeks are communicating using photos as code so he has McNulty stage a phone call from the fake serial killer to the reporter at the Baltimore Sun, Scott Templeton saying he will be sending photos of the victims from now on. This gets Freamon and McNulty the photo surveillance equipment they need to bust Marlo. Chris Partlow beating Michael’s stepdad to death instead of shooting him costs Chris his freedom as Bunk with an assist from McNulty is able to match DNA found at the scene to Chris and he is arrested. Det Sydnor breaks the photo code Marlo was using and they get the information they need to arrest him too. Marlo can’t figure out how they got his cell phone and figures Michael is a snitch, so he orders Snoop to kill him. But Michael figures it out and kills Snoop first. Levy is implicated in leaking courthouse documents to drug dealers which almost takes him out of the game, but he realizes the police used an illegal wiretap to get Marlo and cuts a deal. Rhonda Pearlman knows they can’t fight the illegal wiretap bc of the fake serial killer, so she has no choice to but to go along with it. Levy and Marlo avoid charges while everyone else enters guilty pleas. Man, this boiled my blood knowing Marlo was going to go free.
McNulty felt bad about Kima spending time investigating the fake serial killer, so he tells her the truth. Big mistake. Kima tells Daniels who is furious and ready to bring down the fury on McNulty and Freamon. But Carcetti wants to cover it up as it would be a disaster for him. This leads to Pearlman telling McNulty and Freamon they will never be given cases that can go to court ever again so they both end up retiring. Daniels is also done with all the corruption and retires to become an attorney. Marlo sells the connection to the Greek back to the remaining dealers in the co-op for 10 million dollars. Cheese is killed by Slim as revenge for betraying Prop Joe. Michael sends Bug to live with their Aunt and becomes a stick-up artist like Omar. Dukie starts using heroin. Pearlman becomes a judge. Carcetti becomes Governor. Kenard is arrested for Omar’s murder.
That brings us to the end of the series. Going back over it makes you realize just how great the run of the show was. I didn’t go over everything bc I’m still going to talk about each character and wanted to save some of the storylines for that. This was more of a general look at how the storylines went through the 5 seasons. If you want a deeper dive into your favourite characters, then you will def want to read Part 2 as well. It made me appreciate these amazing characters and this incredible show even more. Cheers and thanks for reading!
