Rats always run for holes in times of danger”–Omar For his second heist, Omar and his crew take their act to the Eastside, partly because they want to lay low after Brandon called Omar out in the Lowrise rip, and partly for some easy pickings. This stickup is the opposite of the first one in every way. This one is in broad daylight, with not a … [Read more...]
1.1: The Snotboogie Paradox
A version of this piece was originally posted on wirefans.com Why’d you even let him in the game? — McNulty Before the Barksdale Crew, before the Special Investigations Unit, before the docks and the Greeks, before City Hall and Hamsterdam, before the eighth graders of Tilghman Middle School and the reporters of the Baltimore Sun, there was … [Read more...]
Date Night at the Harbor
Acting like we belong down here, know what I’m saying?–D’Angelo F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is one of the clearest literary influences for The Wire. I teach literature, so I will grant that I am inclined to see correspondences with the books that I teach everywhere I look, but in this case, I can defend it pretty easily. … [Read more...]
1.3: Chess as a Metaphor for Everything
Chess is a metaphor for drug deals, Avon is the king and you’re the pawns.”–Larry Gillard Jr., reprising his role as D’Angelo Barksdale in The Wire: The Musical The chess lesson from “The Buys” has become one of The Wire’s most iconic scenes. It is a brilliantly-scripted and -acted scene, one that actually serves as a double metaphor. D’Angelo … [Read more...]
Stranded Somewhere Between Life and Death
Soon, though, soon.–Avon If the first four episodes of The Wire are intentionally stingy with details on Avon’s personal life, “The Pager” lets it all out. First, there is the opening scene which portrays Avon as a prisoner of his own paranoia. Then, near the end of the episode, we get a rare glimpse into the Kingpin’s psyche. What we see is a … [Read more...]
The Great Copper House Caper
We creep back in there…”–Bubbles Now that Omar’s crew has been torn apart by the vengeful Barksdales, the title of most feared stickup crew in the Westside falls to Bubbles’ ragtag group of friends. It’s a long fall. Instead of Omar, Brandon and Bailey, we now have Bubbles, Johnny, and a third fiend with the onomatopoetic name of Uck. Instead of … [Read more...]
Explaining “On Rawls and Reason”
I’m a reasonable guy.–Rawls Bill Rawls is a fierce major, one who strikes fear in the hearts of both his underlings and his equals. Major Forrester says he is “as ruthless a fuck as we have in this department” and refuses to challenge him. Rawls is vengeful and aggressive, and he knows how to play the game, which is probably how he became a … [Read more...]
The Meaning of Brandon’s Profanity
Brandon: Bailey’s a fucking dope fiend, I’m telling you. Them fucking people ain’t to be relied on. Omar: Yo, why you always gotta talk like that, man? Brandon: What? Omar: “F” this and “f” that. Brandon: If I give it up, I’ll lose half of what I mean to say. There is an interesting connection between two seemingly-unrelated scenes near the … [Read more...]
1.4: A Bounty on Omar’s Crew
Keep it close—Omar The police are a drug kingpin’s primary natural enemy. They are the ones who are most likely to topple his empire, putting him away for decades or even life. The Wire supports this notion by focusing on Daniels’ detail and their attempt to take down the Barksdale crew. But after the introduction of Omar’s small, tightly-formed … [Read more...]
The Man of the Vacant House{Explained}
That’s him. You see?–Poot “The Wire” begins with one of the season’s more disturbing images: stickup boy Brandon’s dead body, horrifically mutilated and left on the hood of a car like a trophy buck for all of the residents of the low rises to see. It is a tough image to look at for even the most hardened of viewers, and the sadistic … [Read more...]