You Come At the King,You Best Not Miss

With the exception of maybe Tony Sopranao from The Sopranos and Al Swearengen from Deadwood, Omar Little might be the most charismatic character in all of television history. At least in HBO drama television history. A Robin Hood of The Hood. A player of The Game. A thug with a code. A sociopath. A murderer. And a homosexual one to boot.

Not only is Omar one of--if not the--first gay characters on a major television program that wasn't portrayed in stereotypical fashion, he is also one of the first characters on The Wire by which we, the audience, fall in love with. That fact that Omar is gay is irrelevant on the show except for the storyline that starts it all: when Stringer takes out his lover Brandon in season 1.

That event alone lead to the death of Wallace and one of most intriguing plotlines of the entire show: Omar vs. The Barksdale Crew. Who can forget the classic courtroom scene with Omar (dressed in a ramshackle suit and tie) ammuses the jury and courtroom with his blatant bantar with Levy. "I robs drug dealers."

Perhaps it is Omar's relentless pursuit of Barksdale that drives the character. Or his hypocritical moral code of hurting no civilians (ask Bunk what he thinks of Omar's "parasitical" ways). Or perhaps it his bluntness and willingness to hold nothing back when talking to anyone. For me, it's scenes where Omar rolls up on a crew and has proven himself so much in the past, that they simply just give in to him without a fight. Omar's name rings out in West Baltimore and everyone in the game knows who he is. The man with the shotgun.

Like Tony Soprano, with whom an audience attaches itself regardless of character decency, Omar is a character we root for. He plays the game by his own rules and we view him as a sort of Street Justice Vigilante taking out the "bad" dealers. Omar doesn't kill civilians, he doesn't deal the drugs, and his charisma and humor (not to mention whistling "Farmer in the Dell" while rolling through the hood), make every scene with him astonishing. The jury's reaction to him during Levy's questioning is very much an analogy of how we the audience view Omar. He is one of the good "bad" guys because he is only doing harm to those that are doing harm to others.

It would be quite tragic for Omar to die. Like Wallace, D'Angelo, Bodie, and Stringer, we have grown attached to Omar and to see him die would be a major blow to our faith in happy endings. But if there is one thing The Wire has shown time and time again it's that no one is safe from death when playing The Game.

Why The Wire Is Bad For Television

I am addicted to a television show. Not just any television show, but a show that not many people watch, even fewer have heard of, and those that have, are simply underwhelmed by its promotional material or too apprehensive to take the show on. The show I am talking about is HBO's The Wire.

The Wire is a Baltimore-based crime drama that follows the stories of all participants in America's War on Drugs. From the top level street dealers to the mayors office down to the strung-out street junkies, the writers of the show hold nothing back in what at times seems more like a documentary than it does a piece fictional work of art. And let me state that last word again, art, because that is what this show is: a piece of artwork framed in the city landscape that is the modern urban environment.

For four seasons now, every Sunday night (and numerous re-watches during the week) at 9 or 10 p.m. I am transfixed to my television as I tune out the rest of the world. Don’t dare speak, call, burp, cough, snore, laugh, shift around, or ask questions while The Wire is on. Even with the pause and rewind options of today's service providers, I need to see it go down as it was meant to go down. The Wire isn't a group of hit singles, it's an album best listened to in it's entirety. In other words, you won't get the show if you only catch one episode. You might get a glimpse of its appeal, but you can’t truly appreciate the arcs of the story line or development of its characters unless you view entire seasons in a short time span.

The Wire is a challenging show to watch. It does not contain any quick fixes or high paced action sequences. Things don't get worked out in 40 minutes like that other classic crime drama on TV. The cops aren't always the good guys (nothing new there) and the bad guys aren't always without morals (nothing new there either). But what The Wire does so amazingly compared to other television crime shows is its broad range of focus on all of the characters involved within the context of a story line. There are no throwaway lines or even characters. The Chief of Police gets just as much camera time as do the detectives working the case, the street junkies shooting the junk, and the dealers running the game. The Wire shows you the drug "game" from all sides of the field and never lets you feel as if its rooting for one team or the other

So why is this show bad for television? Besides the fact that near ever TV critic in the country proclaimed season four "one of the finest pieces of television ever created," the show still has, at best, a loyal cult following. I don't have numbers, but I would imagine there are quite a few more people watching this show on the East Coast and near major urban centers such as Chicago, LA, and Detroit, than there are watching in Deadwood, South Dakota (another incredibly written HBO show in itself). This is bad for television because it is shows such as The Wire that can really open the eyes of Americans that might not live near a major city or know much about the problems with crime and drugs that persist in most, if not all of them.

But the real reason The Wire is bad for television is because it makes every other show on television look bad because of its obvious superiority in writing and acting. I see shows like Lost (which I do enjoy sans the current X-File mess it has gotten itself into), Desperate Housewives, Greys Anatomy, and more recently, Heroes, getting most of the golden globe and emmy hype. And while they are probably deserving of some of these awards, how can someone like me not look at the lack of nods from these groups to The Wire as just blatant ignorance or avoidance? Is The Wire "too real" for them? Is it too "gritty"? I really hope it's not because 80% of the cast is African-American or that "white America" does not have the time to figure out slang terms such as "re up" and "hopper."

The American Television Watching Public is obsessed with high drama, hot actors, and happy endings. And while some of the ladies adore McNulty and Stringer, the show has very little sex or sex appeal to it. There are no made up happy endings, just endings that are realistic to the storylines and characters themselves. There is no glorification of being a crime lord, just as there is no hero worshipping of the men in blue. There are good cops and bad ones on the show just as there are good dealers that you root for and those that you despise. The show is not scared to kill off its main characters—but unlike other network television shows—it is seldom done with excessive build ups or western style shoot outs. Characters die like they would in real life. And for this, The Wire is rewarded with having to essentially beg its way into a fourth (and amazing) season, and very little viewership.

But while The Wire is bad for television because it is leaps and bounds above its peers in almost every category, it is good for something: my faith in the American Television Watching Public. Just as I get excited knowing that such anti-pop-and-fame bands such as TOOL and Radiohead sell millions of records with no hit singles, it gives me great hope knowing that there are a few million peeps out there watching this show and feeling the same way that I do. Maybe it's best that The Wire doesn't reach mainstream popularity. Maybe that is what makes it so special, that the show feels like its "ours" and rewards its viewers with amazing and intellectually challenging storylines and characters. Not sure I'm ready to see Prop Joe on the cover of People and my mom whistling "Farmer in The Dell."

Some Favorite Scenes

NOTE: If you have not watched all four seasons of The Wire and don't want any spoilers I suggest you don't read this post. JB.

There are so many excellent shots and scenes in The Wire that it's hard to really pick any sort of "list" or "top ten" because to give any preference over the other is almost a sin, no?

Unlike most shows that use dramatic orchestration or slow motion shots to build drama, The Wire might take eight episodes before a storyline reaches any sort of climax. Now that is build up.

I can correlate it to a good song in many ways. Perhaps one that has that one certain part that really grabs your attention. It happens 3/4 of the way into it so you spend the first half eagerly awaiting your part to come. You might even ignore the other parts leading up to it because you just can't wait to hear it. But once that part finally hits your ears you get that great feeling from it. You have been "enhanced" by it. Next time you hear the song you start to realize it's the entire song that grabs you, not only your favorite section. You start to appreciate the parts that lead up to the climax because they are in and of themselves what make the climax so enjoyable: the build up.

Each of my favorite scenes, if taken by themselves, might not seem like huge dramatic events. I think what makes them so great are the storylines that lead to these scenes and the emotions that come out of them. The first scene that comes to mind is from season 1: Poot and Bodie shooting Wallace. This was really the first time The Wire "hit" me with real emotion. I had grown attached to the Wallace character. His ability to watch after the kids, to use his intelligence as a sword, and his ultimate demise via his attempts to leave the game. This was the first major character that would be killed in the show and the scene just shows all the rawness of the streets and how friends become enemies with one wrong move. Watching him beg for his life as profressing their brotherhood shook me to a core. With his death we were exposed to the brutal nature of the game. How old was he? 15? 16?



Another great scene is the infamous Pelecanos penned Omar vs. Brother Mouzone showdown in the alley during season 3. Omar whistling with his latest stash down a wet, dark alley, and the sudden voice of Brother humorously telling him to, "drop your laundry" as Omar slowly turns, drops, and returns the banter. A classic western showdown in a modern urban setting. Two code-driven men standing off against each other knowing neither will back down. The exchange of gun calibers and tense stares just make the scene intense the first time through. Would this really be the end of Omar?

"I want to ask you a question....brother."

Pause.

"Omar Listenin'."



And finally, another emotionally touching scene gets a nod. Season 4, Carver and a sulking Randy in the hospital waiting room after his foster mother was burned in the fire bombing of his apartment. Carver had promised to look after Randy and tried to do his best with a kid caught up in the system. Once the street played the cops with a false alarm Randy's apartment gets torched and his foster mother ends up in critical condition. Carver's men had abandoned their post on the false alarm and Randy was betrayed by the very police he had come to realize might be his only hope. As Carver approaches Randy's look of disappointment and disgust is overwhelming. The storyline of Randy had reached its climax and with profound sadness he yells to Carver, "you looking after me. Oh, you got my back?" Carver walks down the hallway, back turned with the symbolism of a man who is being forced to walk away from a problem he couldn't fix.

There are some other great scenes of course. Bubbles breakdown at the end of season 4, The Greek and Spiros' escape from Baltimore--revealing he wasn't even Greek--during season 2, almost every scene with Omar is classic including his suit and tie courtroom shoot down of Levy and "you come at the king you best not miss", D'Angelo asking Stringer "where's Wallace? Where's the kid String?", Michael Lee being hunted/trained by Snoop and Chris with paint guns, Rawls at the gay bar, Omar and Mouzone taking down Stringer, Bodie's end (prequeled with McNulty telling him he was a solider), and almost every line that either Prop Joe or Bunk speaks is awesome.



I look forward to season 5 for many reasons. I anticpate some new characters and some old ones keeping form. I look forward to Marlo vs. Lester Freamon. Something tells me we might be seeing the cycle come to an end. A friend and I have a theory put together about the sumnation of one of the show's main storylines:

The Old: Avon and Stringer.

The New: Michael Lee and Dukie.

The game's the same.

Bubbles Depot

Why do I love Bubbles so much?

In the real world, he would probably be someone most of us would walk on the other side of the street to avoid. Someone we would see and use as a warning showing the harm of drugs to our kids. He's a dirty, addicted, petty thief, snitch who leads a dispicable life...and I can't get enough of him

In most every single movie, television show, book, or play, a junkie is usually portrayed as a less-than-human social parasite. They are there to act stoned or give the cops trouble. They commit murder, robbery, and sloth upon themselves. But with the complexity of a Tony Soprano comes Bubbles. Our anti-hero hero. A philosophical drug abuser who the viewer comes to root for, and dare I say, love.

Perhaps this is why I love the character of Bubbles so much: a human face on an otherwise socially ignored ill. If you have read up on the actor, Andre Royo, he tells an interesting story of being on the set and during a break in shooting he was approached by a "real" street junkie who assumed Andre (dressed as Bubbles) was in fact a real user as well. The fellow junkie handed Andre a bag of heroin telling him he looked as if he needed it more than him.

What is my point here? My point is that the Bubbles character exemplifies the realism of this show. Down to the way a character looks. It also show us that The Wire does not follow any standards in writing or storyline. We love junkies (Bubbles), cops (McNulty, Kima, Lester, etc.), dealers (Wallace, D'Angelo, Bodie), and even the kingpins themselves show human sides.

It truly messes with your mind when you root for or against characters that in the past you have been programmed to root for or against. Bubbles and his tee-shirt selling, advice giving, heroin shooting, caper running self is one of the most beloved characters on the show. His constant attemps to get clean show us that not all users of drugs are just addicts looking to get a fix. It shows us that they are humans and have feelings and emotions and the street smarts to survive in a morally corrupt world. We root for Bubbles to get clean because we know he wants to get clean.

In many ways, Bubbles is the hero of our show. A character that survives the game as humaly possilbe by playing both sides and being untouchable by them both. He shows the audience the true side of the user: the daily rituals to get cash for the next fix, the inner self doubt and hatred for what he has become, and the dreams of a man who wishes to live a clean life but simply doesn't know how.

I love Bubs.

Welcome to My Blog

I had decided a while back that it might be time for me to start a blog about my all-time favorite television show, The Wire. You see, the way I see it, I practically spend enough time talking about it that people think I am some sort of top secret sales executive trying to "turn people on" to the otherwise unhyped show.

Let me start by explaining why I feel the need to talk about this show so much. It's really hard to pin point the exact moment I realized this show was not just another good cops bad guys show. I explicitly remember the teaser promos that HBO started running before season one even started and thinking, "that looks pretty cool, I'll watch it since I lived in Baltimore for a couple of years and the show seems gritty." I recall watching episode one and when it was over looking to my family and saying, "it was okay. I'll keep watching cause nothing else is on at this time on Sunday's anyhow."

It took about three or four more episodes to get me hooked like a junkie. Whether it was D'Angelo correlating the drug game with chess, or explaining how the man who thought up chicken mcnuggets was just some low level worker not reaping the benefits of its success, I knew the writing on this show was going to drive it. And when in one of the most emotional scenes ever on the show, Poot and Bodie shooting Wallace, came to and end I remember thinking that not only was the writing going to be real, but the portrayel of the game and its environment was not going to alter much from real life. David Simon, the shows creator and producer, was not going to be scared to kill off main characters. Even drug runners that we as an audience came to love.

I had seen some of the main actors in minor roles in the past. Being a long time HBO drama fan, I had seen Daniels, Carver, and Bodie on OZ. I recognized Lester Freamon from another David Simon produced HBO mini-series The Corner. While McNulty might be the "leading man" on the show, when season 4 came and went without McNulty playing a major role and not even appearing in some episodes, and I realized I didn't really miss his storyline, I knew that this entire cast was responsible for how great this show is.

But what ultimately gets me going with The Wire is one basic thing: realism. In the past, successful cop shows such as NYPD Blue or Hill Street Blues had a loyal following because of what seemed to be a realistic portrayel of "life on the streets." Not until The Wire came along did we as viewers realize that we were being jipped the entire time. Those shows were good but far from realistic. The good guys aren't always good and the bad guys aren't always bad. The Wire shows us that in the real world, cases dont get wrapped up in 55 minutes.

The Wire challenges its audience. This show will not blow you away in the first 30 minutes. This show will not tie up all the loose ends at the one hour mark. This show is not written to be watched on a per episode basis. This show is a book, to be read from cover to cover. A full album to be listened to in it's entirety. Trust me, if you are a smart viewer of this show it will reward you time and time again with little bits of dialogue and humor. Who can forget during Season 3 when Brother Mouzone was looking for Omar in the gay clubs of Balitmore. If you had turned your head for one second you would have missed the quick shot of Rawls drinking away in the corner. Simon rewards those that pay attention.

I have heard all the usual complaints about The Wire: its too slow, too many characters, it's too "black" (more on that another time), I don't understand the slang. I am proud to say I didn't know what a "re up" was before I watched this show. Or that "WMD", "Bin Laden", and "Greenhouse Gas" were street terms for drugs. I simply paid attention to the talk of the crews and the talk of the cops (who use just as much jargon as that streets do). It lends itself to some humorous realizations and actually enables viewers to get a better, and more real, understanding of the war of drugs.

So in conclusion, I will say that I am looking foward to finally starting my own blog to discuss this show with all my friends and online tough guys. My plan is to post after each episode of Season 5 and start a dialogue with all of you other fans of the show.

January 6, 2008. Season 5. It's on.