Who?
Al Swearingen. In the hospital someone was watching Deadwood on the TV.
Still, it wasn’t as good as the log-rolling last year on the Sopranos: Uncle Junior, in a bout of dementia, becomes agitated when he is watching TV and sees Larry David and Jeff Garlin in a scene from Curb Your Enthusiasm, because he thinks that it is he and Bobby Baccala on TV in some sort of a surveillance video.
I finally watched the final episode last night. Another great conclusion to a great season.
I thought for sure that Bubbles was going to go, which would have been very sad. I had expected either the street thug or Herc to kill him, but not a suicide attempt.
I have to say that I wasn’t quite as affected by Bodie’s death as I was by Wallace’s or Sobotka’s or Stringer’s. Still, we’ve known Bodie since S1, Ep. 1, longer than any one else on the street, except Bubbles. As McNulty said, he was a soldier. It’s a shame that, like so many soldiers, he died for no good reason, even if it’s how he wanted to go.
I was sure that Michael killed Bodie, so thanks to Dooku for pointing out that it wasn’t him. I’m a little pissed at the producers for not making that shooter more clearly not Michael. I can’t see why they would want us to believe it was him, but I was sure it was. Which confused me as to who it was he killed later.
BTW, no one’s mentioned the reappearance from Season 1 of Walon [sic, cite], the biker guy who visits Bubbs in the hospital with Kima. He spoke at the NA meeting that Bubbs went to with Johnny in S1, Ep 6 or 7, and provided Bubbs with his first impetus to get clean. He didn’t have that big beard in S1, but it’s the same guy, played by singer/songwriter – and recovering addict – Steve Earle. (I might not have remembered, but I’ve been rewatching S1 on DVD.)
Good post, eponymous. I think you may end up being right about a lot of your predictions.
Based on what you say later in your post, I think you and I agree in general, but I disagree with this statement. I think the message of the show is that organizations of all stripes – political, capitalistic, socialistic, whatever – are inherently malevolent, because ultimately their primary goal is their own survival, even at the cost of the individuals they are supposed to serve. Time after time we see people trying to do the right thing, trying to make an organization do good. They usually fail, and often pay a terrible price just for making the attempt. It’s easier for people to turn the organization to their own corrupt ends than to push it towards The Good, even when the whole system is supposed to be doing good, like the legal system, the school system, the foster care system, just to name a few.
This is what I would call malevolent. True, it’s not necessarily trying to do bad things, but that’s what happens despite the best efforts of many people in the organization. As someone said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” The Wire seems to be telling us that this is an overly optimistic statement! We have seen a few small victories in this season, but many more tragedies that happened even though good men (and women) did their best. Only the organizations prevailed. I think this is the lesson of The Wire.
There’s a lot more to talk about, but I have to get back to work. I’ll probably be back with more later this evening.
Gotcha. I saw it but forgot that part. I thought that it meant he was IN it (as a character), which I was surprised I’d missed- that’s the sort of thing that would have made my SO and I hoot and jump on the couch like monkeys.
You are 100% correct. The guy who shot Bodie was taller and had darker skin. I thought it was quite clear it was NOT Michael.
The only thing worse being these schools remaining open.
Quite clear? The scene in which Bodie is shot was very dark, the shooter was wearing a hooded jacket and moving quickly, we saw his face for less than a second, and I thought even when looking at him in freeze-frame that he resembled Michael.
Also, and I could be wrong about this, I think he was wearing a jacket similar to one of Michael’s.
Later, when Michael shoots the shooter, it’s easy to tell that he’s taller and has darker skin, but on first viewing, I was sure that Michael had shot Bodie and I was wondering, “Who is this guy and why is Michael shooting him?”
I think they should have made it a lot clearer that the guy was not Michael.
And overburden other local schools, whose teachers aren’t going to get paid more for bigger classes full of kids who got bumped from a failed school? Do you really think so? Huh.
Enter Charter Schools. And eventually a voucher system that allows competition to make our K-12 the envy of the world, the same way our higher education institutions are.
I’ll apologize for the hijack and make those my last comments on the subject.
Hahahahahahahaha. And kids like Namond and Albert and Zenobia and Kennard and Michael benefit through the use of vouchers and “competition” how?
Anyway, let’s take this to GD.
I think it’s been established here that, in the universe of The Wire (you can draw your own conclusions about the real world) the fault lies not only with the schools, but with the culture (including parents, police, and politicians). Put these same kids in any schoolroom, run by the most well-meaning, well-trained professionals, without changing the rest of their environment, and you don’t change the results…
And commasense I agree with you. My statement that the System is not malevolent was only to suggest that It has no intentions toward anyone. It’s similar to what Bill Maher said about Dick Cheney (paraphrasing): He doesn’t hate children, puppies, or the poor; they’re just in the way.
Random thoughts re-watching the finale.
The producers aren’t letting us forget about the secrets of a couple of the major characters: Landsman sees graffiti on the wall of the men’s room that says “Rawls sucks cock.” I was hoping for that Rawls would come out (or be pushed out) of the closet this season, but I guess we have to wait for S5.
And a little while later, when Rawls and Burrell are in the makeshift morgue, Rawls says that solving all of Chris and Snoop’s murders will put Daniels “closer to the throne.” But Burrell says Daniels is “a long way from my chair,” a reminder that there are some skeletons in Daniels’ closet that have been hinted about, but not revealed, since S1. (Does Rawls know any of those details, or is that arrow only in Burrell’s quiver?)
Ooh! I just thought of a possibility: in two years Carcetti goes to Annapolis, leaving Daniels as his anointed successor on the strength of having solved the murders in the vacants. But during the campaign Burrell (possibly running against him) reveals his secrets to scuttle his candidacy.
The scene in which Bubbles explains to Landsman how he was trying to help Sherrod was very powerful. Andre Royo is one hell of an actor.
I’m confused about Omar’s big heist. He seems to have entered into it with no real plan, which doesn’t seem in keeping with his character. Unless he thought he was intercepting an ordinary re-up and got the whole shipment by mistake (and if so, why did he arrange for all the extra help?), what was he planning to do with all that dope? He gave a bunch of it to the girl, and I thought he gave some to the Mexicans as well, but presumably all that must have accounted for only a small portion of the package, since Prop Joe must have expected to get all of it back.
But the whole deal seems to go against Omar’s principles. I saw him as a kind of anti-drug crusader, stealing from the bad guys but never hurting “civilians.” Fighting fire with fire, in a way. So giving back the drugs to the bad guys, even if it’s to fund his own retirement, would seem to violate his code. And as he told Bunk, “a man must have a code.” Or am I just being too idealistic to expect Omar to be the most principled person in Baltimore?
One of the (several million) things I love about The Wire is that it steadfastly refuses to give us the pat happy endings that virtually all other forms of American drama guarantee. Watching the four boys, we desperately want each of them to come out of the story all right, or at least for the most deserving of them (Randy and Dukie, IMHO) to end up okay. Instead, the least promising of them, Namond, by being the squeaky wheel and getting Colvin’s attention, comes out best of the four. And Dukie and Randy look like they’re going down the tubes.
And of course, Michael, who started out as the most grown up, the most principled of them, who was (and still is) dedicated to taking care of his little brother, has become a murderer. It’s heartbreaking, but we all know that tragedies like this must happen all the time, in every city in the world.
I see a parallel between Michael and Bug and Wee Bey and Namond. I wonder what Bug will learn from his big brother and how he will turn out.
I also wonder if S5 will update us on any of the four. Has anyone heard when they plan to start shooting or when it will be aired? I suppose it can’t be much earlier than 2008, dammit. I don’t wanna wait that long!
It happened right after Chris told Marlo, “Michael worked with Bodie. Get someone he doesn’t know to do it.”
And then after Michael killed the other guy, Chris told him, “now, you can look any man in the eye,” meaning to me that he had just popped his cherry.
I enjoyed what **jlrepka[b/] and commasense wrote about “The System”.
In the Slate interview that someone linked to last week, Simon said that people tell him the show is Shakepearean (or something), but that he sees the show as a Greek drama with the “institutions” playing the role of the gods.
Personally, I always thought of the show more like a Steinbeck novel, but I can dig his take, too.
I don’t remember the officer taking the ring from Omar. Does it make sense that Marlo thinks Michael was in on that stick-up with Omar?
Probably not. I think that Marlo is grooming Michael to be a new Snoop/Chris type of guy. But he has doubts about Michael. He didn’t like him sticking up for Randy and this is the second time that he’s asked about who the guy was that they killed. He doesn’t seemed completely satisfied with the answer.
Next season. . .could go anywhere. I like that Simon has said it will focus on the media. Marlo knows something is up with prop joe. I don’t see the co-op surviving. . .moreso because of problems from within, not the cops, who barely seem to have a clue about it.
Great season. Very memorable moments. Very heartbreaking.
I think the highlight was the end of the penultimate episode with Randy yelling at Carver “you gonna be there, right? You got my back, right?” and Carver just walking away, really with no other choice. Ouch.
The moral of this season: don’t snitch. Jesus. . .they didn’t even provide an alternative, a “Hamsterdam” for snitching. You snitch; it’s over.
I’m pretty sure it’s something only Burrell knows…
Yes, I think that’s a good possibility. I really do think that Daniels bid to become Police Comissioner will be derailed by Burrell. I also think word will will get out that Rawls is gay (although in a limited way - I’m thinking maybe Valchek or Burrell finds out and uses it to blackmail Rawls to keep him in his place or force him to retire), which will derail any chance he has at being Commisioner. In no way do I think Burrell ends up ousted as Police Commissioner.
One silver lining, if the folks at The Wire take that route - if Carcetti becomes governor, Daniels and Perleman go with him to the capital in some capacity.
I think the point of the heist was getting back at Prop Joe - it was he, after all, that told him about the card game that Marlo was involved in. As a consequence of that heist, Marlo had the civilian kiled to frame Omar and have him put into lock-up so they would have a better chance of having him killed.
After he got out - due to the diligence and persistence of Bunk, he kept his word that there would not be any more bodies. He couldn’t go at Marlo directly (which is what I think he would have preferred to do), so he began watching him. Once he found out that Marlo was part of the Co-op and working with Prop Joe, I think it was then he decided that he would really hurt him by taking the entire shipment. And I don’t think his doing so in any way is inconsistent with his code - in fact, it reinforces it (steal the drugs from the bad guys - hurts the bad guys; force them to buy it back - REALLY hurts the bad guys; plus, it adds to the legend that is Omar - who else would be ballsy enough to actually steal drugs then sell it back to the guys he stole it from? Simply brilliant and a thing of beauty).
I also think that Omar will repay his debt to Bunk by clueing him into the existence of the Co-op. Which I think will be a focal point for Major Crimes in Season #5.
Here’s a question:
What did Omar have over Prop Joe that made him give him the info about the drop?
I remember Omar saying something like, “if you don’t tell me where the drop is, I’ll let it slip that you told me where the card game was.”
But, IMO, that’s somewhat weak.
(I think I asked this before, but didn’t get an answer).
Why is that weak? You think Marlo would have taken kindly to knowing that Prop Joe set him up to be robbed?
Right. It was far from weak: if Omar told Marlo that Prop Joe had set him up at the card game, Marlo would have killed Prop Joe without hesitating. In the scene a couple of episodes back in which Omar made that deal (which Prop Joe thought would just be to intercept one of Marlo’s packages) Joe told his nephew that he had been caught between Omar and Marlo, adding memorably that he had managed to crawl out of his own grave.
Prop Joe made the mistake of telling Omar that it would be the nephew who would make the drop. So Omar tailed him and instead of waiting to hear from Prop Joe when Marlo’s package would be delivered, ended up getting the whole shipment.
I caught that, so I was confused as to why it looked like Michael shooting Bodie.
After Marlo framed Omar for killing the delivery woman in Andre’s store, it was Officer Walker who nabbed Omar on the street. As he was cuffing him, before any other officers got to the scene, he took the ring.
Hmmmm. I hadn’t thought of that, but it’s possible. If so, it’s trouble for Michael down the line. But I think it’s too small a point to carry over to S5.
Maybe not weak.
The whole thing just seemed slightly contrived. Omar asks where this card game is from PJ, then says to PJ, “well, I’m going to tell him you told me.”
I would have tought PJ just would have said, “Fuck it. Tell Marlo. I’m in deep enough already.”
Ah, that definitely slipped past me.
Probably too small, but it seems like Marlo isn’t as down with Michael as Chris and Snoop are, though.
I never felt like Marlo thought the hit on Bug’s dad was a great idea.
Think about that ring for a second, though. . .Marlo doesn’t know about the cop in the “chain of evidence”.
Michael just said, “I took it from a nigger.” From Marlo’s point of view, how did that ring get from Omar to Michael?
There’s no way he thinks that Michael robbed Omar.
There’s no way he thinks that a random person robbed Omar and Michael subsequently robbed the same random person.
There’s no way he could put together that a cop would have taken it, and then Michael stole it from a cop.
I don’t think it’s all that damning. Marlo knows that Omar was arrested after he got the ring. If he doesn’t jump to the conclusion that a cop took it, it could have been stolen by someone at intake at the jail, by another prisoner, or by someone who was in Omar’s crib while he was in jail. There are any number of possible explanations that don’t involve Michael being in league with Omar.
I think Marlo has seen Michael strength from the beginning, and has always wanted him on his team. It was Snoop who asked Michael who the guy they killed for him was, not Marlo. Marlo didn’t care. Just like Don Corleone, he was happy to do a big favor like that because he wanted Michael to be indebted to him.