So the not-best-show-in-TV-history has concluded. I thought overall the finale was very good, with a couple of minor flaws. My thoughts:
It's really a testament to the writers to find yourself (much like the Sopranos) liking and rooting for bad, bad people. I liked Stringer Bell, D'Angelo, Wallace, I loved Omar, I even liked Chris Partlow in a way (I didn't care for Avon, Snoop, or Prop Joe as much as some people), and now I find myself with a huge mancrush for Slim Charles. I'm so glad Slim Charles will be the one to destroy lives by controlling the Baltimore drug trade!
Seriously, though, Slim Charles. He quietly became the hero of the show to me. First, he respectfully refused to play ball with Marlo at the co-op meeting. Then, when Omar was bent on revenge and was after Prop Joe's people, he could have easily killed Slim. But he didn't, and in that scene, you could tell that Omar had a healthy amount of respect for Slim. And if you have Omar's respect, you have mine. And finally, by shutting the opportunistic Cheese up with a bullet to the head, he fulfilled the wishes of millions (thousands? hundreds?) of Wire fans. I actually vocally cheered when he did it.
Bubbles redemption: very cheesy, and totally worth it.
Marlo rebuking the high life and taking back Baltimore one corner at a time. Fucking great scene. The smile he has when he realizes he's been stabbed says everything.
Dukie, man, what the fuck? Why didn't you have Michael drop you off at Prezbo's that night? Prez could have taken you in like Bunny did to um, that one kid. YOU could have been winning debates. Now you're Bubbles circa seasons 1-4.
In general, I have always liked the gang/drug aspect of The Wire more than the po-lice angle, the docks angle, the schools angle, the politics angle, or the newspaper angle. Of course they all feed on each other to create the bleak picture of Baltimore, but almost all the memorable scenes involve the drug trade.
I think the closing montage was really tacky. It sort of felt like the end of Van Halen's "Hot For Teacher" video, with a "where are they now?" approach. I mean it was alright for closures sake, but Daniels as an attorney in court made me groan. I didn't really need closure, I prefer Soprano's style ambiguity.
Herc is an asshole. Yes, he provided Marlo's cell number, but he also tipped Levy off to the illegal wiretap. In a way, Marlo is free because of Herc. I never like Herc.
I don't think people ever give Homicide: Life on the Streets enough credit. Many aspects of that show were lifted directly for The Wire (David Chase created both, so it's understandable), but I never see proper credit given in all the post-episode online dialogues.
Great show. Not the greatest ever, but up in the top five, easily. Sucks that it's gone. One of the dudes who participates in Slate's weekly Wire circle jerk listed his top 13 scenes. It's a good list. Here are six scenes I'll never forget.
The "fuck" scene.
Snoop buying a nailgun.
Slim Charles offing Cheese.
Bodie and Poot kill Wallace.
Carver's frustration after taking Randy to the group home.
[fuck, can't find a clip of this anywhere, and it's the scene that had the most impact on me]
Clay Davis on trial.
And speaking of Clay, honorable mention to the now legendary "Sheeeeeeeeiiitt".
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