The Wire Revisited

Understandably, as the number of TV stations grows prolifically and the
number of TVshows grows exponentially every year, us viewers have our
attentions directed this way and that like a rag doll in a 15-way
tug-of-war between four-year-olds who really need a buddy for the day.
Therefore, we watch all kinds of TV shows and all kinds of TV
networks, including food shows, reality shows, movies, news, daytime
soap operas, Saturday cartoons, and don't forget the ever-present
sports market showing live sporting events. It makes it o so easy to
forgo any long-lasting loyalties with shows and just go to the next
big thing that gets your attention. Just yesterday I watched the new
"Storage Wars" show with the bidder who always goes "Yuuuuuup", "Star
Wars 24-hour marathon," and watched 4 hours of NFL football. There's
just a LOT of stuff on.

Which makes the inspiration behind this post even more important: to
revisit shows that you enjoyed, loved, and swore by while watching,
but now haven't contacted for a long time, like a far-away relative
who you spent a month bonding with but now barely even email. (Yikes,
I have a few of those) The Wire is still my favorite TV show ever,
full of real-life conflict, sums-it-up-exactly quotes, and brilliantly
developed characters, this show was a godsend for 5 epic season. Here
are my top 10 favorite moments of a show that had more than its fair
share.
(SPOILER ALERT)

10. Avon and Stringer fight it out. Frustrated, beaten (Stringer just
got scammed by Clay Davis, Avon just got shot by Chris), Avon
confronts Stringer about his perceived lack of toughness and Avon
retorts back with "I just killed ur nephew, son. How's that for
toughness?" What's awesome is that it symbolized so many things
leading to the climax of episode 3: the crumbing of the Barksdale
organization, the difference in philosphy of Bell and Barksdale, the
evolution of the game v. the game is always still the game, and also
just a gradual betrayal between guys who used to be friends.
Delicious, delicious truth, plot development and symbolism in one
scene that pretty much epitomized the whole series.

9. Anytime Clay Davis said "Sheeeeeeeeeeit." You knew it was coming,
but you laughed anyway. One of the classic punch lines and typical of
the humor of the Wire: very dry and thrown in in the midst of death,
political turmoil, and other deflating conditions, but still very very
funny.


8. When older Randy is revealed to have been a thug: Broke your heart,
but highlights the problem of places like West Baltimore: Kids are
thrown into the fire and just don't come out the same. 1 in a absurdy
high number (Namond, Wee-bey's son) get "saved," but the majority end
up like Randy: in a group home where he's forced to adapt to his
surroundings, and in most cases he must adapt negatively: hardened by
the brutal reality that is the streets, Randy no longer espouses the
good-nature values he shared in Mr. Prezbo's class and must adhere to
the rules of the street: make money by selling drugs, beat up or be
beaten up. Sad, sad state of affairs but necessary to the honest
portrayal.

7. Gus's speech to younger writer at the Baltimore Sun as she's
leaving: "The pond is shrinking; the fish are nervous; win a prize;
maybe find a bigger prize somewhere." Such a great quote that
reflected the newspaper industry but also fittingly most industries
everywhere. Jobs are scarce, economy's not great, people have to fend
for themselves somehow, and quality gets diluted in the process. This
after one of his writers, in conjunction with McNulty, fabricated a
story about a serial killer who murdered homeless people to satisfy
his sexual appetite. Great storyline to end the series on but an
important one; people will take drastic measures to get ahead; the
truth gets sacrificed.

(Notice the subtlety of these moments I'm sharing. The most powerful
scenes on the Wire were not the "bam-bam-someone dies" scenes like
most shows are, the most important ones were the conclusory
conversations between ordinary people revealing what exactly was going
on. Masterful).

6. Carcetti waits for meeting with Governor; left waiting outside.
Perfect example of bureaucratic waste; a mayor and his top aide are
left to do nothing by a governor of the opposite party who "sees him
coming for him" in a future election, even though the mayor of the
"broke-ass city" is trying to do the right thing by fixing the
broker-than-broken" school system. Can't imagine how many cities and
states in the U.S. operate this way and how many good-faith attempts
for money for needed projects like school, welfare, or other social
goods are sacrificed by politics and individual people's struggle for
power.

5. Marlo visits Avon at his court hearing putting him away; gets his
product out on the streets. A changing of the guard; "the Young Boy"
gets his way and starts to rule West Baltimore and takes all of Avon's
corners. Like "Game of Thrones" in which it takes seasons for changes
in power to take place and the build-up to the regime change is better
than the change itself, so much of the street wars leading up to this
were similar to historic battles in medieval days or ancient China, or
in fictional Westeros in Game of Thrones: just a battle of power.
Everyone wants it; you have to fight and risk death in order to get
it. "The king calls all the shots. And he stay the king."

4. DeAngelo teaching Bodie and Wallace how to play chess, in the
process showing who's who in the drug war. "The king stay the king."
And the pawns die early. Basically foreshadowing each character's
fate as a "pawn" who got used and was forced to die so that the king
could be safe. Bodie tried to be the "smart pawn" and get all the way
to the other side to become a king, and was often referred to as
"smart" by McNulty for his "entrapment" stuff, but ultimately still
gave way to the true kings. It's sad: Kings get all the
accommodations, but out of thousands/millions, there can only be one.

3. Detective Freamon figuring out the supply system of Marlo: More of
a "Career Achievement prize" for Detective Freamon's awesome detective
work; enjoyed it more than the highly-publicized Bunk and McNulty
"Fuck" detective scene, Freamon was a solid presence on the show that
was the definition of "career cop" but also epitomized someone who was
actually good at his job.....and of course never gets promoted, never
makes major or colonel, etc. due to the "what-have-you-done and
who-do-you-know" nature of the police system, as well as pretty much
all systems.

2. Omar, while limping around West Baltimore getting chased by Marlo's
guys, burns one of Marlo's cash transporters and burns the money.
"It's not about that paper. Marlo ain't man enough to come to the
streets with Omar." Honor, integrity, man v. man......Omar, before
dying, shows us what a true hero he is. I'm glad there wasn't a cheap
spin-off with the "Omar Tales" or something to cheapen what he was on
The Wire: simply one of the best characters in television history,
ever.



1. The ending. Obviousy the ending of any long-lasting series stays
with you for awhile, but The Wire's ending tied it all together by
showing that the pattern continues indefinitely: Marlo's empire is
destroyed, but the Co-op continues to operate the drug trade; Omar's
dead, but Michael is the new Omar; bureacracy continues as Daniels is
demoted and Krawcheck becomes the deputy ops; a once-idealistic mayor
with good intentions becomes a political animal by jumping ship and
becomes governor; everything goes on despite McNulty's best efforts
(which in turn will be carried on by Sydnor). It is realy the
inevitability of the cycle of events that gets me; it rings true.
Everything will go on; there's really no change. Perfect ending to a
great series of television, and recommended viewing for anyone over
18; learned a great deal about how the world works, and it's not the
lily-white surburban world that I normally live in. Thanks for the
memories, The Wire. May something else come along that can rival your
awesomeness.



Fantasize on,

Robert Yan