The Wire | Ultimate Analysis Redux

[00:00] So, a while back I released a video

[00:02] called The Sopranos's Ultimate Analysis

[00:04] Redux. And if you're familiar with it,

[00:06] then the concept here is exactly the

[00:08] same, except this video is for The Wire,

[00:10] as I promised I was going to do. So,

[00:12] just to explain, I tend to use still

[00:15] images in my videos rather than video

[00:17] clips due to copyright issues, and HBO

[00:19] in particular have often been really

[00:21] difficult when it comes to copyright.

[00:22] There was a period though where it

[00:24] seemed I could put short clips here and

[00:26] there in my videos and get away with it.

[00:28] So, I started to put more and more video

[00:31] footage in my videos. It was all going

[00:33] well, but then all of a sudden, one

[00:35] after another, the videos where I used

[00:37] clips from HBO shows started to get hit

[00:39] with copyright claims. So, I had to cut

[00:41] and trim segments of my videos out,

[00:44] which ended up making my videos skip and

[00:46] jump awkwardly. It caused me a lot of

[00:48] grief after all the research and work

[00:50] that went into videos for me to have to

[00:52] bastardize those videos, sometimes

[00:55] resulting in incomprehensible messes.

[00:57] But more recently, I won my first

[00:59] copyright appeal with HBO. And since

[01:02] then, I've been having much better luck

[01:04] with using video clips. And you may have

[01:06] noticed more and more actual footage

[01:08] from shows in my recent videos. But

[01:11] [ __ ] what about all those videos I had

[01:13] to chop up? I wouldn't have had to do it

[01:15] had I known how to appeal it back then.

[01:17] So, what I thought I'd do, and I've done

[01:19] this for the Sopranos already, was to

[01:21] take those videos that I had to cut

[01:23] wherever I actually had the original

[01:25] files and re-upload them into one

[01:28] massive video. And that's what this is.

[01:30] Some of my best wire videos are in this

[01:32] one, like Avon versus Stringer, who was

[01:34] right, and why did Canard kill. And the

[01:37] versions in this video are uncut,

[01:39] available to watch in the entirety. I've

[01:42] split this video into chapters, so you

[01:43] can jump to whichever video you want to

[01:45] see. So, let's go. I hope you have a

[01:47] good time with this video.

[01:52] [Laughter]

[01:55] >> The Wire is a critically acclaimed

[01:57] American television series created by

[01:59] David Simon. The show aired on HBO from

[02:02] 2002 to 2008, spanning five seasons with

[02:05] a total of 60 episodes. Centered around

[02:08] the city's drug trade, it's known for

[02:10] its realistic portrayal of various

[02:12] aspects of Baltimore, Maryland. And it's

[02:14] known for its multifaceted narrative

[02:16] structure, which takes a look at the

[02:18] likes of the city's educational system,

[02:21] print media, political system, among

[02:23] other institutions and bureaucracies.

[02:25] Omar Little is one of the most iconic

[02:28] characters from the wire. Portrayed by

[02:29] Michael K. Williams, Omar is a complex

[02:32] and compelling figure known for his

[02:33] strict moral code and distinct

[02:35] appearance. often walking around the

[02:37] streets of Baltimore with his sword of

[02:40] shotgun and bandana. A robber of drug

[02:42] dealers, Omar is a thorn in the side of

[02:44] the likes of Avon Barksdale, Stringer

[02:47] Bell, Proposition Joe, and Marlo

[02:48] Stanfield. His various exploits and the

[02:51] embellished retelling of them from the

[02:54] hoppers and street dealers of Baltimore

[02:56] makes Omar a legendary figure, a

[02:58] mythical one even, whose reputation

[03:00] precedes him to the extent that he can

[03:02] rock up to a stash house and have the

[03:04] good dope handed over to him without a

[03:06] hint of resistance. Oh, indeed. Many

[03:09] of's more wild and unbelievable stunts

[03:12] are actually based on real events, such

[03:15] as when he jumps out of a building four

[03:17] floors high. In fact, in real life,

[03:19] Donnie Andrews, who is based off, jumped

[03:22] from a higher point. In any case, Ma

[03:25] retires after a successful heist in

[03:27] season 4. But when his mentor, Butie, is

[03:29] tortured to death as bait to bring him

[03:31] back by Marlo's goons, Omar returns and

[03:34] goes on rampage against the Stanfill

[03:37] organization. He even has a kill list of

[03:39] who he's going to punish, foregoing the

[03:41] promise he made to Detective Bunk Mand

[03:43] about not dropping any more bodies. And

[03:46] so Omar begins his crusade of revenge,

[03:49] murdering Stanfield goons, destroying

[03:51] vials and blowing up cars. He declares

[03:54] to the streets of Baltimore that Marlo

[03:56] is not a man for this town, that he's a

[03:58] coward who's too afraid to fight him.

[04:01] It's adrenaline rushing stuff. And then

[04:03] Omar takes a break from his bravado to

[04:05] get some cigarettes from the store. And

[04:08] then in the most shocking,

[04:10] unceremonious, and anticlimatic fashion,

[04:13] Omar is shot dead by the kid Canard of

[04:16] all people. And you'd be forgiven

[04:18] watching the scene thinking, "Who the

[04:20] heck is Canard?" But there he is looking

[04:23] as shocked as anyone that he's somehow

[04:25] managed to take out the most legendary

[04:27] character in the show. This death is the

[04:30] most infuriating of the entire show. We

[04:32] were robbed of Omar's revenge. Omar

[04:35] versus Marlo on the fiery streets of

[04:37] Baltimore. We wanted it one way, but

[04:39] it's the other way. Yes, it was probably

[04:42] going to end in a flurry of bullets for

[04:44] Omar anyway, but surely he'd go out all

[04:47] guns blazing, but to get punked by a

[04:50] kid, I must be losing my [ __ ]

[04:52] mind. But once you get over it, you

[04:54] realize how perfect it is for the staple

[04:57] character of the show, the most iconic

[04:59] one, to be taken out by a nothing

[05:01] character. Omar is a wild card of the

[05:04] show. He's like a romanticized wild west

[05:07] character. The wire even uses wild west

[05:10] imagery in the show like when Omar and

[05:12] brother Muzon have a face off. He is

[05:14] like Jesse James, like wild Bill

[05:17] Hancock. And like those legendary larger

[05:19] than-l life men, he too was shot in the

[05:22] back of the head by lesser men, men who

[05:24] were fascinated but ultimately

[05:26] disappointed in these men who had huge

[05:29] reputations. the assassination of my

[05:31] little by the coward Canard. You see, it

[05:34] isn't just a random character the

[05:36] showrunners picked to kill. It was

[05:39] precisely the perfect character because

[05:41] Canard has development sprinkled

[05:43] throughout the show whose climax was him

[05:46] taking out. In his first scene back in

[05:48] season 2 or three, we see Canard with a

[05:51] bunch of other kids in the aftermath of

[05:53] a shooting in which was involved in and

[05:55] a person died. Canard is playing a game

[05:57] of cops and hoppers with the other young

[05:59] ones and they're fighting over who gets

[06:01] to be the next Arma. Canard wanting to

[06:03] mimic his hero.

[06:06] >> No, my turn to be Omar.

[06:08] >> No,

[06:10] >> Bunk is disgusted and relays this to

[06:13] Omar who seems affected by it. Struck by

[06:16] the fact that the violence he is

[06:17] involved in ripples out to places he

[06:20] wasn't aware of. So obviously Canard

[06:22] looked up to Omar and over the course of

[06:24] the show he develops into a cold, hard,

[06:27] sociopathic and rather scary Hopper. For

[06:29] someone so young to retain no childhood

[06:32] sense of wonder or zeal and instead act

[06:35] like a stonehard gangster is just as sad

[06:38] as it is terrifying. Just before he

[06:40] kills Omar, you can see he's about to

[06:42] set fire to a cat pouring flammable

[06:45] liquid on it. In his final scene when

[06:47] he's arrested and being taken away, he

[06:49] has that same blank expressionless look

[06:51] on his face that he has throughout the

[06:53] show. There's something quite unsettling

[06:55] about this kid. No code, no loyalty, and

[06:58] damn sure no respect, as Bunny Culvin

[07:00] says, of the new era of gangsters. And

[07:03] Canard is a perfect illustration. But

[07:05] anyway, in season 5, a limping Omar, a

[07:08] shadow of his former self, threatens

[07:10] Michael and a bunch of other hoppers and

[07:11] then hobbles away. As he ambles off,

[07:14] Canard is audibly shocked, saying,

[07:17] >> "That's Omar. Dad can't be as a

[07:21] motherfucker."

[07:22] >> It's a case of meeting your heroes up

[07:24] close and personal. Omar must have

[07:26] looked pathetic compared to whatever

[07:28] image Canad had conjured up in his head

[07:30] of him. It's the Dickinson aspect. He

[07:32] must feel disgusted, betrayed even. He

[07:34] doesn't run with the rest of the kids

[07:36] when Omar approaches, showing he is no

[07:37] longer afraid. And a few minutes later,

[07:39] he shoots Omar dead. Maybe Canard wanted

[07:42] to know if it was even possible. Surely

[07:44] at the last minute, Omar would whip out

[07:46] his shotgun and blast Canard away. I

[07:48] mean, Omar saw him walk in and dismissed

[07:50] him. But no, Ma goes down as any man

[07:53] would. The circle is complete. Ma is

[07:56] killed by a product of his own making,

[07:58] by the only person who didn't think

[08:01] hobbling around on his own was a trap.

[08:02] He saw it for what it was, that the

[08:05] emperor has no clothes on. So, it looks

[08:07] like a completely random anticlimatic

[08:09] death, but it's actually a case of being

[08:12] killed by one of the ripple effects of

[08:13] his own violence that Bunk was talking

[08:16] about. Ma even saw Canard walk in, sees

[08:19] that it's just a kid, and dismisses it.

[08:22] It harks back to a scene where Omar is

[08:24] scoping Marlo, sees Michael, another

[08:26] character who would eventually shoot at

[08:28] Omar, and actually ends up becoming the

[08:29] next Omar. And says, "He just a kid."

[08:32] These old-timers like Omar and Prop Joe

[08:34] didn't see that as Slim Child would say,

[08:37] the game was getting more fierce, the

[08:39] thugs were getting younger, and your own

[08:41] family could betray you. Ultimately, I

[08:44] think if you asked Canard why he did it,

[08:46] even he wouldn't be able to articulate

[08:48] it. There's a few muddy reasons swimming

[08:51] in his head. Maybe he wanted to be the

[08:53] one to take out the legend. Maybe he

[08:55] wanted Marlo's bounty. Maybe he wanted

[08:56] to increase his rep, but no reason

[08:58] concrete enough to justify the murder of

[09:00] a man. It's simply senseless. The kind

[09:03] of senseless violence that Bunk saw Omar

[09:05] breeding through the example he was

[09:07] setting on the streets. Apparently, the

[09:10] shock on Canard's face wasn't even

[09:12] acting. According to the book, All the

[09:14] Pieces Matter, Theliso Dingual was

[09:17] genuinely traumatized by the scene and

[09:19] started crying uncontrollably soon

[09:21] after. And really, a key reason that

[09:24] Canard murdered a man might be because

[09:26] he was simply curious to see what would

[09:28] happen. as curious as to see what would

[09:30] happen when you douse a cat in chemicals

[09:32] and set a match. Maybe that's why he

[09:35] didn't take credit. Maybe his story was

[09:37] lost among many people's stories. Maybe

[09:39] he was scared of the cops, of Omar's

[09:41] people, of even going back to Marlo and

[09:42] getting popped by the Stanfields because

[09:44] they'd rather it was known that they

[09:46] killed Omar instead of some random kid.

[09:49] Maybe pulling a trigger is easy enough,

[09:51] but witnessing what it did and looking

[09:53] at the dead body put the kid into shock.

[09:55] Or maybe Canard didn't say anything

[09:57] because he's a humble [ __ ] with

[09:58] a big ass dick. You know, I wonder what

[10:01] happened to Canard. He looks like he's

[10:04] between 8 to 12 years old. I imagine

[10:07] he'd be in a juvenile detention center,

[10:09] but wouldn't face as much jail time as

[10:10] an adult. I doubt he'd be respected as

[10:13] the guy who took out Omar when he's

[10:14] released, and instead he'd probably

[10:16] think of himself as invincible, and he

[10:19] gets himself killed. Dead or prison for

[10:21] life, he's got that written all over

[10:23] him. One of the themes of The Wire is

[10:25] the endless cycles, which is best

[10:28] represented by characters turning into

[10:30] other characters. We've discussed some

[10:32] of these on the channel already, but you

[10:34] have the likes of Michael becoming Omar

[10:35] and Dookie becoming Bubbles. Who would

[10:38] Canard turn into, I wonder. Bodhi,

[10:40] maybe?

[10:42] I don't quite see it. Bodhi still had a

[10:44] heart. There was potential in him.

[10:46] Whereas Canard comes off as a straightup

[10:47] psycho. Marlo, I don't know. He's got

[10:51] that coldness, but it takes intelligence

[10:53] and charisma to make it to the top. And

[10:55] there's nothing to suggest Canard had

[10:57] any of that. He's not important enough

[10:59] to become the new Omar. And plus, even

[11:01] Marlo had a soft side with his birds,

[11:03] whereas Canard is burning cats. However,

[11:06] he does punk Neon by stealing from him

[11:08] and then convincing him the cops raided

[11:10] his house. And for such a young kid,

[11:12] that does show he does have some

[11:13] cunning. He's also skilled enough to

[11:15] work a corner at such a young age. But

[11:17] in all honesty, he'd probably be dumb

[11:20] and angry, have an undiagnosed

[11:22] personality disorder, and would get into

[11:24] some kind of trouble along the way. And

[11:26] there is such a dumb and angry character

[11:29] in the show who got put away. Bird,

[11:32] remember him who got jailed after Omar's

[11:34] testimony in season 2. I mean, a canard

[11:38] is a type of bird and bird's name is

[11:40] Bird. Get it? Maybe it's the show's way

[11:43] of telling us Canard will basically be

[11:45] the next bird. Both of these characters

[11:48] appear disturbed and have a never back

[11:50] down attitude, but one that is

[11:51] irritating, loud, and cocky. Both took a

[11:54] beating for running their mouths. Bird

[11:56] in the interrogation room when he

[11:58] insults Ka and Canard when he is

[12:00] plummeted by Michael. Both have made

[12:02] homophobic slurs. They have unlikable,

[12:05] abrasive personalities and look like

[12:07] they would never amount to more than

[12:08] muscle. This would also be poetic on

[12:11] another level as much sent Bird to

[12:13] prison and the future Bird got revenge

[12:16] by taking Ma out. In many ways, the

[12:19] story of Canard is a sad one. I know

[12:22] people think he's a little [ __ ] but as

[12:24] with the rest of the street characters,

[12:25] you wonder how different their lives

[12:27] would be if their environment was

[12:29] different, if they were born in a

[12:30] different street code. Only Neon was so

[12:32] lucky. But Canard is a boy who has

[12:35] internalized the message and ethics of

[12:37] the street that he doesn't know anything

[12:38] else. We never see him at school, for

[12:40] instance. Kan's development is a subtle

[12:43] one, but he goes from being a boy

[12:44] playing poo poo games with his friends

[12:46] to slowly becoming harder, colder, and

[12:48] more violent. And clearly Omar, or the

[12:51] image he envisioned of Omar in his head,

[12:54] was an inspiration to him. I don't mean

[12:56] to raid on the parade and completely

[12:58] nullify all the points I just made, but

[13:00] apparently this arc of Canard was not

[13:02] intentional. Apparently, David Simon

[13:05] didn't even realize that the kid was the

[13:07] same actor who was playing as Ma in the

[13:09] earlier season until the actor told him

[13:11] he was a good actor and they gave him

[13:13] the role of Canard. And you'll notice

[13:15] that his gimpy line was delivered

[13:17] offcreen. Maybe it was Adardin to give

[13:20] his killing of more context after the

[13:22] fact. But even still, it still works. We

[13:25] can chalk it up to being a happy

[13:26] accident if that is the case. So, what

[13:28] do you make of Canard killing? Do you

[13:32] like how this went down? Would you

[13:33] rather it was different? Let me know in

[13:35] the comments section below. Subscribe to

[13:37] the channel and thanks for watching.

[13:40] >> I don't want to be a product of my

[13:42] environment. I want my environment to be

[13:45] a product of me.

[13:48] >> It's like you can change up, right? You

[13:50] can say you somebody new. You can give

[13:52] yourself a whole new story.

[13:54] But what came first is who you really

[13:57] are. And what happened before is what

[14:00] really happened. And it don't matter

[14:01] that some fool say different because the

[14:03] only thing that make you different is

[14:04] what you really do or what you really go

[14:06] through. Like you know like all them

[14:09] books in his library. Now he fronting

[14:11] with all them books. But if we pull one

[14:13] down off the shelf and none of the pages

[14:15] ever been open. He got all them books

[14:17] and he ain't read one of them. Gatsby,

[14:20] he was who he was and he did what he

[14:23] did. And cuz he wasn't ready to get real

[14:27] with the story.

[14:31] >> That [ __ ] caught up to him.

[14:33] >> The [ __ ] was I chasing?

[14:40] >> It's two endings for a guy like me.

[14:42] Highprofile guy. Dead or in a game. Big

[14:46] percent of the time.

[14:49] The thing is, you only got to [ __ ] up

[14:51] once. Be a little slow. Be a little

[14:54] late. Just once. And how you ain't going

[14:57] to never be slow,

[15:00] never be late. It's life.

[15:06] Yeah.

[15:08] Scares me.

[15:11] All the pieces matter.

[15:18] [Laughter]

[15:21] So, this is a video I've been wanting to

[15:24] make for quite a while now, and I've

[15:26] actually avoided making it because I

[15:28] didn't want to screw it up, and I really

[15:30] wanted to think it through because it is

[15:32] really one of the more grand,

[15:34] discussible aspects of The Wire. Who was

[15:36] right, Stringer or Avon? Who had the

[15:39] right philosophy? It's a bit like who

[15:41] whacked Tony at the end of the Sopranos,

[15:43] a video idea I delayed making for a long

[15:45] time before getting round to it because

[15:47] it's such a huge topic with so many

[15:48] facets. And I'm sure that I'm going to

[15:51] forget to mention something in this

[15:52] video. Oh, and if you're wondering what

[15:54] that weird intro was, I just thought it

[15:56] was interesting how Stringer could be

[15:58] summed up by both D'Angelo's speech in

[16:00] prison and Costello's monologue in The

[16:03] Departed and the similarity in

[16:05] philosophy between Tony Soprano and Avon

[16:07] Barksdale in that both seem to accept

[16:10] that one day they're going to go down

[16:12] one way or another. I do plan to expand

[16:14] on these points in future videos. It

[16:16] might also be worth checking out my

[16:18] video, why did Avon get mad at Stringer

[16:21] over brother Muzon in jail before

[16:23] watching this video as that video is

[16:25] something of a precursor. Anyway, as we

[16:27] know in the wire, the Barkstdale

[16:29] organization is run by Avon Barkstdale

[16:31] with Stringer Bell, his childhood friend

[16:33] as his number two. Avon has charisma,

[16:36] swagger, street smart, and a degree of

[16:38] honor. And Stringer has intelligence,

[16:40] pragmatism, and a keen sense for

[16:42] business and entrepreneurship. and

[16:44] together they make a great partnership.

[16:47] But then Avon is sent to prison at the

[16:49] end of season 1, leaving Stringer in

[16:51] charge while he looks to find a new

[16:53] wholesaler for his supply after he loses

[16:55] his own. On the outside, Stringer is

[16:58] approached by East Side rival

[17:00] Proposition Joe for a deal that sees the

[17:02] Barkstdale's buy from Joe in exchange

[17:04] for territory, setting the stage for

[17:06] what eventually becomes the New Day

[17:08] co-op. An alliance between the rival

[17:11] drug dealers, where they favor diplomacy

[17:13] over violence and turf warfare. Only one

[17:16] heavy hitter wants no part in the co-op,

[17:18] Marlo. And when Avon is released from

[17:21] prison, he and Marlo go to war over

[17:23] corners, bringing heat from the cops and

[17:25] frustration from the co-op. Avon's

[17:28] beefing threatens to destroy everything

[17:30] Stringer work towards. So he comes up

[17:32] with a plan to send Avon back to jail

[17:34] for a while so he can streamline things

[17:36] in the streets. Meanwhile, Avon also in

[17:40] a manner of speaking betrays Stringer by

[17:42] giving him up to brother Muzon. Mone who

[17:44] wants revenge against Stringer for

[17:46] setting on him. Stringer's Machavelian

[17:49] web of deceit comes back to bite him

[17:51] when he is killed by both Omar and

[17:53] Muzon. His attempts at reforming the

[17:55] game cut short and tipping the cops

[17:58] against Avon essentially ends the

[18:00] Barkstdale organization with a whole

[18:02] bunch of guys being sent down. Stringer

[18:05] and Avon both wanted different things

[18:07] from the game. String saw it as a means

[18:09] to an end, a stepping stone. Whereas for

[18:12] Avon, the game was all-encompassing. You

[18:15] got to think about what we got in this

[18:16] game for, man. Huh? Was it the rep? Was

[18:20] it so our names could ring out on some

[18:22] [ __ ] ghetto street corners, man? Nah,

[18:24] man. There's games beyond the [ __ ]

[18:26] game.

[18:28] And so is posited one of the great

[18:31] questions of the show. Who was in the

[18:34] right between Stringer and Avon? The

[18:36] angle I'm approaching this question is

[18:38] not who was the better gangster, who was

[18:40] the better man, who could have won the

[18:42] war with Marlo or anything like that.

[18:44] The specific thing I wanted to discuss

[18:46] was their vision for the future, their

[18:48] ideas, their direction for the game. For

[18:51] sure, Stringer lost his way towards the

[18:53] end, and it's easy to argue he lost

[18:56] because he's dead. Whereas, at least

[18:58] Avon is still alive even if he is in

[19:01] prison. David Simon, the creator of the

[19:03] show, has emphasized the point that

[19:05] because of the systems in place, reform

[19:07] in Baltimore is practically impossible.

[19:10] Agents of change are punished and spat

[19:12] out by the system. So Stringer failed at

[19:15] face value. He failed to change the

[19:17] game. And Avon knew that the game stays

[19:20] the game always. But where is Avon? He's

[19:23] behind a cell. Not exactly a great

[19:25] victory, is it? His nephew is dead. His

[19:28] sister doesn't speak to him. And it's

[19:29] implied money is drying up. The

[19:32] honorbound gangster code of silence may

[19:34] eventually become tiring as it did for

[19:37] Weebe. And Avon might just find himself

[19:40] years down the line on a cold winter's

[19:42] night during a prison lockdown thinking

[19:45] just what did I do all this for? What

[19:47] was the point? Family. Well, like

[19:50] Michael Corleó before him, it was the

[19:52] life itself that destroyed his family.

[19:55] And even he himself seems to acknowledge

[19:57] that Stringer was right when he talks to

[19:59] Slim Charles saying

[20:01] >> that [ __ ] String was right about this

[20:02] [ __ ] man. That [ __ ] was right. [ __ ]

[20:06] Marlo. [ __ ] this [ __ ] war. All this

[20:10] beef over a couple of [ __ ] corners.

[20:13] >> But then again, maybe he was in an

[20:14] emotional state and would revert back to

[20:17] his usual self after a while. So, we're

[20:19] back to square one. I think a narrative

[20:22] has taken a hold among wire fans where

[20:25] we look at Stringer and point and laugh

[20:27] at how dumb he was, how out of his depth

[20:30] he was. And whilst I agree in spirit, I

[20:32] think it's a bit unfair. As is the

[20:35] constant praise Avon gets as some kind

[20:37] of honorable gangster just because he's

[20:39] so charismatic with people conveniently

[20:42] sideststepping the fact that it was he

[20:43] who okayed the Brandon hit being done

[20:45] the way it was. His murdering of

[20:48] multiple inmates just on the possibility

[20:50] it might reduce his sentence and a whole

[20:53] lot of other things. In fact, it might

[20:55] be time for a why you're wrong about

[20:57] Avon Barkstdale video. Still though,

[20:59] hindsight is a beautiful thing, and it

[21:01] was cringe-worthy listening to Stringer

[21:04] trying to talk economic analogies to a

[21:06] drug kingpin, or his you a student of

[21:09] history lecture to Marlo when Marlo

[21:11] looks like he's holding himself back

[21:12] from trying to eat Stringer's face.

[21:14] Getting rain made by Clay Davis was

[21:17] embarrassing and is often used as the

[21:19] example as to why Stringer was never cut

[21:21] out for the legitimate world. But let's

[21:23] take a step back here. Even Caretti was

[21:26] scammed by Davis. This was a learning

[21:28] experience for Stringer, which would

[21:30] make him a better businessman. Most

[21:32] businesses lose money in their first

[21:34] year. He was smarter than most other

[21:36] guys in the room, but not as smart as he

[21:38] thought he was, which was one of his key

[21:40] flaws represented by his A minus test

[21:43] score, but smart. He was smart enough to

[21:46] play a part in gathering the gangs who

[21:48] have been fighting for years and unite

[21:50] them until Avon came back with his I

[21:52] want my corners mantra. His pragmatism

[21:55] also kept the bark stales afloat during

[21:57] season 2 while Avon struggled to find a

[22:00] wholesaler. So I don't think we should

[22:02] dismiss Stringer. Plus he had the harder

[22:05] task. He had to sell foreign ideas.

[22:08] Ideas his own people didn't buy as shown

[22:10] when P sees the muscles shaking his head

[22:13] during Stringer's speech. It takes more

[22:15] than one person and a lot of time to

[22:17] change company culture and spearhead

[22:20] revolutionary ideas. He stepped out of

[22:22] his comfort zone. Avon, on the other

[22:25] hand, was preaching the status quo.

[22:27] Westside, [ __ ] yeah. And also, Stringer

[22:30] may have had the ideas, but he lacked

[22:32] the skills to communicate them to his

[22:34] people. So, his people never fully knew

[22:37] the benefits of the new ways because he

[22:39] couldn't [ __ ] sell it. When Poot, for

[22:41] example, brings up that they're going to

[22:43] look like some punkass [ __ ] which is

[22:45] a legitimate criticism. Even a low-level

[22:47] guy like Poot understood a vital element

[22:50] of the game was street rep. Stringer

[22:52] resorts to his hoodlike nature and

[22:54] starts screaming at Poot, undermining

[22:56] him instead of addressing his criticism.

[22:59] He does this throughout the show,

[23:01] bringing the business mentality to the

[23:03] streets and the street mentality to the

[23:05] business.

[23:06] >> Forgive me, but you still showing a

[23:08] little bit of that street corner

[23:10] mentality

[23:11] >> with disastrous results. A key example

[23:13] being when he wanted to whack a state

[23:15] senator. How could he not see that was a

[23:18] bad idea? Ironically, for a businessman,

[23:20] he took things too personally. Cochetti

[23:23] recognized that the game is the game,

[23:25] that she it happens. He didn't try to

[23:28] whack Clay. He didn't try to send him to

[23:30] prison, and he ended up one of the

[23:31] winners of the show. I think it would be

[23:34] an interesting question, this video, to

[23:37] pose before you saw season 3 play out.

[23:40] Hindsight is a beautiful thing and we

[23:42] laugh at Stringer now, but how many of

[23:44] us bought his vision and were along with

[23:47] Stringer frustrated initially when Avon

[23:49] came back and started to mess things up

[23:51] when he got out. I think the first time

[23:54] you watch The Wire, you think Stringer

[23:56] is right. The second time you watch it,

[23:58] you side with Avon and think he was

[24:00] right. And the third time you realize

[24:03] they were both right and both wrong. In

[24:06] other words, they had the perfect

[24:08] complimentary system of doing things

[24:10] with both men's strengths being the

[24:12] backbone of the organization. But once

[24:15] they were apart, their flaws came to the

[24:17] forefront. Avon was correct in that

[24:20] street rep counts. It means something

[24:22] and has tangible value. But he

[24:24] romanticized the streets too much, which

[24:26] held him back. Stringer, as we know, was

[24:29] so focused on taking the organization

[24:31] legit that he went into a world way past

[24:34] where his ability was at. Avon screwed

[24:37] up the new ways and stopped the

[24:38] Barkstdale progressing by bringing the

[24:40] bodies and heat. And Stringer messed

[24:43] with the old ways and destroyed the

[24:45] Barkstdale from the inside by going

[24:47] against the values of the game, breaking

[24:49] the Sunday truce, snitching on Avon, all

[24:52] of that kind of stuff. A combination of

[24:54] both may have been the best thing, but

[24:56] the fractures between the two were

[24:58] present all the way back in season 1, as

[25:00] I mentioned in the other video on

[25:02] Stringer and Avon. But in a perfect

[25:04] world, the Barkstdale could have moved

[25:06] forward with Stringer's ideals, which

[25:08] would be kept in check by Avon's respect

[25:10] for the game and his getting rid of bad

[25:12] apples like Marlo, which was really

[25:14] where the crux of Avon's issues was. As

[25:18] he says, there's always going to be a

[25:20] Marlo. No Marlo, no game. All it takes

[25:23] is for one guy, one Marlo to screw up

[25:26] the New Day co-op and screw it up

[25:28] royally. Avon knew that, which is why I

[25:30] think both men were right. Stringer's

[25:33] vision was one without police and

[25:35] violence. But when there's someone who

[25:36] doesn't want to conform, when there's a

[25:38] thug like Marlo, then you have to go the

[25:40] Avon route with your grenades and AKs.

[25:43] Stringer made key mistakes a fully

[25:45] streetwise undistracted gangster

[25:48] wouldn't make. The man issue not being

[25:50] alarmed at the huge amount of money

[25:52] pimping ass Orlando was able to front.

[25:55] Something Avon noticed as soon as he was

[25:57] told the legit world was not one he

[26:00] could thrive in and understand be

[26:02] accepted in as he always dreamed of. He

[26:04] lacked the respect for the game and his

[26:06] huge ego was a barrier to success. Like

[26:09] why didn't he just go to Levy about Klay

[26:12] Davis like he did in the end? Ask him if

[26:14] this plan looked legit to him. He must

[26:16] have thought to himself after a crash

[26:18] course in a community college that he

[26:20] could do it all himself, be a gamecher

[26:22] all on his own. Stringer had one foot in

[26:25] both worlds and didn't fully fit in

[26:27] either. As summed up perfectly by Avon.

[26:29] >> You know what the difference is between

[26:30] me and you? I bleed red, you bleed

[26:34] green. What you been building for us?

[26:36] Huh? You know what I look at you these

[26:38] days? You know what I see? I see a man

[26:40] without a country.

[26:42] Not hard enough for this right here. and

[26:44] maybe, just maybe, not smart enough for

[26:48] them out there.

[26:48] >> Avon's street instinct always trumped

[26:51] Stringer's education. He was right about

[26:54] so many things every step of the way.

[26:56] Stringer was bamboozled by the

[26:58] legitimate world, which had even more

[27:00] corruption. At least the underworld

[27:02] knows what it is, and he didn't have the

[27:05] knowhow how to deal with it. and Avon.

[27:08] He might be narrow-minded and started

[27:10] attracting the cops again, which pulled

[27:12] Daniel's detail away from Kintel

[27:14] Williamson and back onto him, but he

[27:17] knew the game was the game. He's just a

[27:19] gangster, I suppose. He read Marlo when

[27:22] no one else could. When the co-op

[27:24] thought they could evolve him and bring

[27:26] him in, a fatal mistake for the likes of

[27:28] Prop Joe. I'm paraphrasing a quote from

[27:30] Omar, but when you run with the wolves,

[27:32] you have to be a wolf, not a suitwearing

[27:35] businessman trying to lecture an animal

[27:37] like Marlo about market business cycles.

[27:39] Avon knew his place. He stayed in his

[27:42] lane. Didn't play those away games. He

[27:45] knows he doesn't understand that world

[27:47] and would get outclassed. So, he doesn't

[27:49] even attempt to get a foothold in it.

[27:51] And that might make him less ambitious.

[27:53] It might make him narrow-minded. But it

[27:55] does make him smarter on a level.

[27:56] Humble. Even a humble [ __ ] with

[27:59] a big ass head. Plus, he doesn't trust

[28:01] the co-op. Doesn't trust Prop Joe, who

[28:04] may be using the co-op Charlie Luchiano

[28:06] style to actually solidify power for

[28:09] himself and weaken the Barkstdale, like

[28:11] when he threatens to kick Stringer out

[28:12] of the co-op after he has consolidated

[28:15] that power. But then again, Avon's

[28:18] soldier mentality is self-destructive.

[28:20] It's anarchctic and outdated and leads

[28:23] to an endless cycle of violence and

[28:25] chaos. If Avon was in prison for 20

[28:27] years, not a peep, and came out at a

[28:29] time when the co-op was thriving and the

[28:32] new ways of doing things had settled in,

[28:34] he would be seen as a dinosaur, a guy

[28:36] like Fe Lammana from the Sopranos. And

[28:39] let's not forget the co-op worked in

[28:41] real life with the Italian American

[28:43] Mafia Commission making the mob more

[28:45] organized and therefore more powerful.

[28:47] just constantly waring, stagnating on

[28:50] the same level and not evolving can't

[28:52] last forever. Maybe on some deeper

[28:55] level, Avon knew that, knew that you

[28:58] can't wear the crown forever and

[28:59] accepted that. Hence me adding the how

[29:02] you never going to be too slow speech at

[29:04] the beginning of this video. I mean, he

[29:06] seems content in prison and for

[29:07] Stringer, you'd imagine prison would be

[29:10] absolute torture. He would see himself

[29:12] as being wasted in the can. But

[29:14] wholesaling, investing into legit

[29:17] business, becoming the bank, becoming

[29:19] untouchable by the Feds was a viable

[29:22] long-term plan that Avon didn't

[29:23] consider. And that means somewhere down

[29:25] the line, he would be left behind.

[29:28] Stringer was right that the game doesn't

[29:29] have to be about territory and wearing

[29:31] the crown. But Avon was also right that

[29:34] the game can't be made legit because

[29:36] that's the nature of the game. It's

[29:38] illegitimate drug dealing and not

[29:39] everyone is going to play by the rules.

[29:42] There is something to admire in

[29:44] Stringer's idealistic vision, but it

[29:46] relies on everyone being on board and

[29:48] only takes one person to screw it up.

[29:51] The co-op did outlast everyone, though,

[29:53] so you could argue Stringer won. Let's

[29:55] give Prop Joe credit as well there. But

[29:57] the co-op lost beyond season 5, and the

[30:00] gangsters had transformed into

[30:02] businessmen so well, they couldn't quite

[30:03] work out why Mara wouldn't come on board

[30:05] and chose not to revert back to the old

[30:07] ways and kill him, thinking he'd come

[30:09] around, which I've discussed in another

[30:12] video. In a way, they got so far above

[30:14] the game that they lost respect for it.

[30:16] If Stringer had lived, if he hadn't

[30:19] tangled himself with Muzon and if he

[30:21] hadn't clashed with his environment, he

[30:24] would probably have gone on to be a

[30:25] success. But that's the point. He didn't

[30:28] live. He got got to in the end. The

[30:30] streets got to him. His business acumen

[30:32] was only successful relative to his

[30:34] environment and his circumstances. If

[30:36] Stringer was born in a middle-ass

[30:38] suburban family, he would probably be

[30:40] some kind of highlevel property

[30:42] developer by now. And this is one of the

[30:44] key main points of the show, especially

[30:46] with season 4 with the kids and how they

[30:48] will end up. Randy, Michael, Neon, and

[30:51] the like. What if Stringer was adopted

[30:53] by a rich family instead of living life

[30:55] on the streets of Baltimore? He'd be a

[30:57] completely different person. I always

[30:59] thought that Avon knew that Stringer's

[31:01] plan would collapse. Little comments he

[31:04] makes. We take care of business string

[31:06] as Stringer walks in. He says it like

[31:08] he's talking to a child, like he's

[31:10] waiting for the moment where Stringer

[31:11] screws up and he'd be validated.

[31:14] >> That [ __ ] took our money, man.

[31:15] >> I seen it coming.

[31:16] >> You a [ __ ] businessman. You want to

[31:18] handle it like that. You don't want to

[31:19] get all gangster wild with it and [ __ ]

[31:21] right?

[31:21] >> They saw your ghetto ass coming from

[31:23] miles away, [ __ ]

[31:25] You got a [ __ ] beef with them. That

[31:28] [ __ ] is on you.

[31:30] >> And he can then lay it on Stringer. As

[31:32] he does so with the man without a

[31:34] country speech, one of the best

[31:35] summaries of Stringer. Heck, Avon should

[31:37] be doing my job. Once Stringer moved

[31:40] away from the streets, he lost who he

[31:42] actually was because he could never

[31:44] fully be a legitimate businessman. The

[31:46] tricks of the trade, the games, and the

[31:48] politics were all things he was a novice

[31:50] with. This is an entirely different

[31:52] game, and he was maybe, just maybe, not

[31:55] smart enough for them out there. He was

[31:57] too much of a gangster to be a good

[31:59] businessman, and too much of a

[32:00] businessman to be a good gangster,

[32:01] mixing the two worlds. You can

[32:03] legitimately blame Stringer for Avon's

[32:06] and the whole of the Barkstdale's

[32:07] downfall. Stringer was also

[32:09] narrow-minded in his own way, but you

[32:11] can't fully blame Avon on Stringer's

[32:14] downfall. He tried to save him to reason

[32:17] with man. It was Stringer who screwed

[32:19] things up with his scheming. So all in

[32:21] all, Avon comes out looking better. He

[32:24] played the game the way it's always been

[32:26] played the way he signed up to play it.

[32:28] He knew the rules, understood the

[32:29] consequences, and worked within the

[32:32] established framework. He didn't try to

[32:34] change or pretend he was something he

[32:36] wasn't. And that was just a straightup

[32:39] gangster. For better or worse, Stringer

[32:41] was intelligent and educated. He also

[32:43] knew the game but tried to be something

[32:45] he wasn't and didn't fully understand

[32:48] the streets. Avon, for example, would

[32:50] never have called the hit on D'Angelo.

[32:52] It goes against his entire ethos. He was

[32:55] a soldier who became a leader. He was

[32:57] hard, loyal, and with heart. Stringer

[33:00] ran the game as a business, cruel and

[33:02] uncompromising. Wallace and D'Angelo

[33:04] might flip. Who cares who they are? Who

[33:07] cares how young they are, how human they

[33:08] are? They got to go. And the two worked

[33:11] well together. And from a purely

[33:13] business point of view, killing D'Angelo

[33:15] was the correct move. Although, of

[33:16] course, it requires the family and human

[33:18] element to be ignored. Avon and Stringer

[33:21] ended up stepping on each other's feet,

[33:23] dooming each other. Stringer got Avon

[33:25] out of the way to fix the business. Avon

[33:28] got Stringer out of the way to protect

[33:29] his rep. There's something ironic about

[33:32] String killing D'Angelo being business

[33:34] over family and Avon returning the favor

[33:37] by letting Muzone take out Stringer,

[33:39] which was also business over family.

[33:43] Stringer wasn't a weakling. He'd made

[33:45] his bones. He didn't avoid taking part

[33:47] in the Barkstdale Stanfield war out of

[33:49] weakness or anything. He just didn't

[33:51] believe that was the way forward.

[33:53] Likewise, Aan wasn't just a rough and

[33:56] tumble individual, a red-blooded maniac

[33:58] who lunged for his pistol at the first

[34:00] chance. He was intelligent and had a

[34:02] heart. The fact that we are even

[34:04] discussing who won between them

[34:06] showcases that they were idealistically

[34:08] at war with each other. They had drifted

[34:10] apart and no longer saw eye to eye. And

[34:12] that's the real failing. There's a

[34:15] tragedy here. A story of two brothers

[34:17] who came up together to create an

[34:19] empire. And they were eventually the

[34:21] cause for each other's downfall. Losing

[34:23] each other while they chased their

[34:26] dreams. They didn't lose because of

[34:28] Marlo. [ __ ] Marlo. They didn't lose

[34:30] because of the police. [ __ ] the police.

[34:33] They lost because of each other. One of

[34:36] the primary drug kingpins in the show is

[34:39] Avon Barkstdale, boss of the Barkstdale

[34:41] organization, who ends up going to

[34:42] prison at the end of season 1, leaving

[34:44] his second in command, Stringer Bell, in

[34:46] charge. In season two, Barkstdale rival

[34:50] Proposition Joe, who runs the drug trade

[34:52] of East Side Baltimore, approaches

[34:54] Stringer with, well, a proposition,

[34:57] seeing as though Avon's drug supply is

[34:59] cut off and Joe has the best dope in the

[35:01] city. As he lacks territory, he and

[35:04] Stringer come to a deal where he offers

[35:05] Stringer a portion of the product in

[35:07] exchange for the right to deal in some

[35:09] Barkstdale control towers in what is a

[35:12] pretty unprecedented move between the

[35:14] two rival factions. In season 3, Joe

[35:17] extends his share of supply to many of

[35:19] the other drug dealers of Baltimore,

[35:21] forming what becomes known as the New

[35:23] Day Co-op, an alliance between all the

[35:26] dealers where they limit violence.

[35:28] Instead, bringing grievances to the

[35:29] co-op so they can be sorted in a

[35:31] diplomatic fashion. Violence and killing

[35:34] brings the police. So, by limiting

[35:36] violence, the Baltimore drug scene

[35:38] avoids unnecessary attention from the

[35:40] cops. But there's one big problem. The

[35:43] drug dealer, Marlo Stanfield, relentless

[35:46] in his quest to become the king of

[35:47] Baltimore. Both ruthless and merciless

[35:50] in his methods, has no interest in

[35:52] reducing the violence on the streets as

[35:54] he takes Barkstdale Corners by force.

[35:57] Joe approaches him to join the co-op,

[35:59] but he couldn't care less and refuses.

[36:01] When Avon is released from prison, the

[36:04] violence escalates and erupts into an

[36:06] allout war between Avon and Marlo.

[36:08] Eventually, Marlo gets lucky with

[36:11] Stringer selling out Avon to the cops

[36:13] just as the Barkstdale had the drop on

[36:15] Marlo. With Avon out of the way, Marlo

[36:18] eats up more and more territory. It

[36:20] takes a long while and a little help

[36:22] from Omar for Prop Joe to get Marlo to

[36:24] join the co-op. But his methods still

[36:26] remain unruly and rash. As Joe says, "It

[36:30] ain't easy civilizing this

[36:31] motherfucker." But Marlo had higher

[36:34] goals. And after he learns all that is

[36:36] needed to learn from Joe, including

[36:38] learning where Joe gets his drug supply,

[36:41] he kills the old-timer and begins

[36:43] running the co-op, raising prices, and

[36:45] even essentially disbanding the co-op

[36:47] meets. When it's all said and done,

[36:49] Marlo is bought in on conspiracy charges

[36:51] and is given an ultimatum by his lawyer

[36:54] to give up the crown and leave the game,

[36:56] allowing the more civilized members of

[36:58] the co-op to go back to business as

[37:01] usual. However, the question for today's

[37:03] video is why did the co-op not just kill

[37:07] Marlo somewhere along the way? He was a

[37:09] problem for them for so long with all

[37:11] the violence in season 3, the refusal to

[37:14] join the co-op, his brutal methods in

[37:16] season 4, his killing of Joe, and his

[37:19] dictator-like rule of the co-op. These

[37:21] guys are gangsters. They are killers

[37:23] themselves. So, why not just band

[37:25] together and take Marlo out? Seems

[37:28] logical. if the burdensome individual

[37:30] won't come around to the new civilized

[37:32] way of doing things. So, let's discuss.

[37:35] Of course, it's important to note at

[37:38] what point in the timeline of the show

[37:39] are we talking about? Are we talking

[37:41] about when Mara first appeared on the

[37:43] scene and went to war with Avon? Are we

[37:46] talking about towards the end where he

[37:47] ran the co-op and had the connect? Well,

[37:50] let's discuss all the possible

[37:52] scenarios. So, first of all, if we start

[37:54] with when Marlo was up and coming and

[37:57] even when he became an established

[37:59] powerhouse after the fall of the

[38:00] Barkstdale, the co-op quite simply

[38:03] underestimated and misunderstood Marlo.

[38:06] Sure, it's easy in hindsight with what

[38:08] we know how Marlo turned out to say that

[38:11] Joe should have got someone to put a

[38:13] bullet in Marlo and be done with it. But

[38:15] in the beginning, he came off as one of

[38:17] many unruly drug dealers, and there were

[38:19] a lot of them. And remember how it took

[38:21] quite a bit of convincing throughout

[38:23] season 2 and three for something like

[38:24] the co-op to become a reality. The co-op

[38:27] simply underestimated his ambition and

[38:29] completely misunderstood his nature. Joe

[38:32] thought he was all business and money

[38:34] orientated like him and the others. But

[38:37] Marlo was about rep power and being the

[38:39] king. Funny enough, you can make the

[38:42] argument that the only man who truly had

[38:44] Marlo worked out, who recognized him for

[38:47] what he was, was his nemesis, Avon.

[38:50] Perhaps that's why he was so unmovable

[38:52] when it came to waring with Marlo and

[38:54] didn't listen to Stringer's please. He

[38:57] knew Stringer and Joe's business and

[38:59] diplomacy strategy would not work with a

[39:01] guy like Marlo. He's not that kind of

[39:03] animal. But they just couldn't see it.

[39:05] And even if the co-op were on board with

[39:07] killing Marlo, who's to say another

[39:09] gangster unwilling to join the co-op

[39:11] wouldn't take his place. As Avon says,

[39:14] there's always going to be a Marlo. No

[39:16] Marlo, no game. One reason, the most

[39:20] obvious of which is that it would always

[39:22] be beneficial from the co-op's

[39:24] perspective for Marlo to be a part of

[39:26] the crew. He could be an asset. He had

[39:28] terrific muscle. He had the power to

[39:30] clean up the streets to make people

[39:32] disappear. So Joe obviously wanted the

[39:34] boy on his team. Mara proved his worth

[39:37] as a co-op member when he ran off them

[39:39] New York boys. Joe thought he could

[39:41] civilize him, but he and the co-op were

[39:43] blinded, not seeing Mana for what he

[39:46] was, preferring to live in a fantasy

[39:48] world with wanting this new peaceful

[39:50] order. They wanted it one way, but it's

[39:53] another way. You know, it's interesting.

[39:55] The cunning proposition Joe may have in

[39:58] his Machavelian sneaky way actually on

[40:00] some level been pleased with the

[40:02] violence between Marlo and Avon as he

[40:05] used it to undermine the Barkstdale and

[40:08] Stringer Bell even threatening to kick

[40:10] Stringer out of the cult because he

[40:12] couldn't reign in Avon with the street

[40:13] violence and the result of this was that

[40:16] Stringer gutted the Barkstdale

[40:18] organization from the inside even

[40:20] setting up Avon to go back into the can.

[40:23] This may have been an objective of Prop

[40:25] Joe all along, who was Avon's great

[40:28] rival. And with that, Marlo was nothing

[40:30] more than a tool for Joe, but like a

[40:33] Frankenstein grew beyond Joe's control.

[40:37] Of course, another reason for not

[40:38] straight up killing Marlo is that it

[40:39] goes against the entire ethos of the

[40:41] co-op, with cooperation and peace being

[40:44] the name of the game. Killing Marlo

[40:46] would disprove the co-op, show that its

[40:49] goals were nothing more than wishful

[40:50] thinking. If after everything they still

[40:53] had to resort to violence. And anyway,

[40:55] if the co-op jump in and aid the

[40:58] Barkstdale in killing Marlo, who takes

[41:00] over his territories after he goes down?

[41:03] Avon. Why would Joe want that? Avon

[41:06] shares more in common with Marlo than he

[41:08] does with the co-op. He could

[41:09] potentially be just as much of a

[41:11] nuisance for them as Marlo is. The co-op

[41:14] had an attitude of sheer and she like,

[41:17] but this seems to only apply when it

[41:19] came to business and product and was not

[41:21] extended to violence. When it came to

[41:23] action and internal violence, it seems

[41:25] the co-op had a more of a deal with it

[41:28] yourself policy. And the only time they

[41:30] banded together was with an outside

[41:33] threat, the New York boys. After all,

[41:35] Marlo was entitled to his corners as

[41:37] much as Avon. And it's noted the

[41:39] violence ramps up when Avon comes home.

[41:42] and he's much of a cause for it as the

[41:44] boy Marlo. If anything, Avon is

[41:46] encroaching on corners which now belong

[41:48] to Marlo and he is causing unnecessary

[41:51] beef. So, it's Avon who Joe wants

[41:53] Stringer to get to calm down and adopt

[41:55] the new ways. The whole point of the

[41:57] co-op is to avoid violence. Violence

[42:00] brings the cops. One of the first

[42:02] casualties in the war was a child and

[42:04] the co-op went quiet after that. The Aan

[42:06] Marlo conflict brings a lot of heat to

[42:08] the co-op. So why would they want to get

[42:10] wrapped up in all of that? Make it even

[42:12] worse by declaring war on Marlo. War

[42:15] uses money and resources. And who said

[42:17] they even have that? Maybe their best

[42:20] guys caught a nickel or went away and

[42:21] cleaned their whole act up. A point is

[42:24] made in season 3 that good muscle is

[42:26] hard to come by. Even Avon had to

[42:28] outsource in season 2 with brother

[42:29] Muzon. And ultimately the Avon Maro beef

[42:32] wasn't the co-op's fight. It was a war

[42:35] that was being fought on outdated

[42:37] principles. Looking at it from their

[42:38] perspective, there was plenty of

[42:40] territory for everyone, and Marlo was a

[42:42] problem for only a few members of the

[42:44] co-op anyway. If everyone had to band

[42:46] together just to sort out a problem for

[42:48] a few, it would have forcibly stepped up

[42:51] everyone's obligations and set a

[42:53] precedent for the future. The east side

[42:55] already had a problem with Walmart and

[42:58] couldn't afford to fight two wars

[42:59] simultaneously. And by the time Marlo

[43:01] did become a problem for the entire

[43:03] co-op, it was too late. He was already

[43:05] too powerful. Who wants to be the one to

[43:08] step up to risk their territory and make

[43:10] an enemy out of Marlo who might win the

[43:12] war with Avon and hold a subsequent

[43:15] grudge against you? If Avon Barkell

[43:18] cannot win this war, what makes the

[43:19] co-op members think they can? At the

[43:21] time of the making of this video, there

[43:23] is a war going on between two nations,

[43:25] one of whom is part of NATO. And yet

[43:27] none of the NATO nations, much like the

[43:29] co-op, have stepped up and said they'll

[43:31] be the ones to join the fight, opting

[43:32] instead to stay out of it or make

[43:35] symbolic or small contributions. And by

[43:38] the end of the show, when Marlo had

[43:40] killed Proposition Joe, a man who the

[43:42] co-op respected, it appears they were

[43:44] quite simply too scared of him. There's

[43:46] even a scene while Joe was still alive

[43:49] where the co-op are discussing different

[43:50] theories as to how Marlo is disappearing

[43:53] bodies. And the different ideas and the

[43:55] lack of answers is of course going to

[43:57] make Marlo seem even more scary than he

[43:59] is. The streets might even believe that

[44:02] he had Stringer Bell killed. Marlo and

[44:04] his muscle was something else completely

[44:06] ruthless. Marlo being de facto dictator

[44:09] of the co-op may have been favorable

[44:12] rather than going to war with him. After

[44:14] all, the co-op were comfortable and not

[44:16] hurting. Not until Marlo raised the

[44:18] price of the brick. Many of these guys

[44:20] were not even fighters like Avon. They

[44:22] may have been hitters back in the day,

[44:24] but were now businessorientated,

[44:26] focusing on investing and laundering.

[44:29] Remember when Rick and Hungry Man are

[44:31] discussing making their dirty money

[44:33] legitimate, and Marlo gets irritated and

[44:35] tells them to shut the [ __ ] up? He's

[44:37] just made different to them. Marlo's

[44:39] people, by contrast to the co-op, was

[44:42] sharp and battleh hardened, having

[44:44] experience in warfare. While the co-op

[44:46] underlings hadn't tasted war in a while,

[44:49] that's part of the reason why East Side

[44:51] had to reach out to Marlo in the first

[44:53] place with the New York boys. This guy

[44:55] is just too ruthless, and no one wants

[44:58] to be the one caught in his crosshairs

[45:00] if they decide to fight him. The game

[45:02] still the game just got more fierce and

[45:04] the co-op were not hard enough to take

[45:06] on Marlo. He was the natural evolution

[45:09] of the violence of Baltimore. The

[45:11] endgame where codes and ethics didn't

[45:13] matter. You just had to be more ruthless

[45:15] than the man next to you to succeed.

[45:18] Plus, after he takes out Joe, you can't

[45:20] kill him. He was the only one with the

[45:22] Greek connect in the end. Sure, the

[45:24] Greeks would probably reach out to other

[45:26] gangsters in the events of Marlo's

[45:28] death, but the co-op didn't know that.

[45:30] They were in a position where they were

[45:31] firmly on Marlo's tit, as without him,

[45:34] they'd have no supply. So, there you

[45:36] have it. My take on why the co-op chose

[45:39] not to try and kill Marlo, which

[45:41] initially seems quite an obvious thing

[45:43] to do. One of the most elusive and

[45:46] mysterious characters of the show is the

[45:48] Greek. If there is such thing as the

[45:51] ultimate kingpin, the gangster who

[45:53] towers above all others, it's probably

[45:55] this guy, a quiet and unassuming old

[45:58] man. The Greek is in fact ruthless in

[46:01] his quest to make more money,

[46:02] representing muscular, unrestrained

[46:04] capitalism on steroids. Those who get in

[46:07] his way are swiftly eliminated. And the

[46:09] signature move of his organization is to

[46:12] leave murder victims headless and

[46:14] handless to make identification near

[46:17] impossible. The Greeks operations

[46:19] include importing sex workers, drugs,

[46:22] and stolen goods through the Baltimore

[46:24] docks through his man Spiros Vondas. and

[46:27] he is the main wholesaler of drugs in

[46:29] East Baltimore, allowing drug kingpin

[46:31] proposition Joe to have the finest dope

[46:33] in town and thus exert opportunistic

[46:36] power over the likes of the Barkstdale

[46:38] who have weaker product. The Greek is

[46:40] off radar to the cops for much of the

[46:42] season 2 dock investigations right up

[46:44] until the latter stages of the season.

[46:46] And he's so powerful he even has a

[46:48] relationship with the FBI as the agent

[46:50] Coutris sends him tips as he did so when

[46:53] Frank Sabotka was going to testify

[46:55] against him. It's thought that this

[46:57] quidd pro crow relationship involves the

[46:59] Greeks supplying the feds with valuable

[47:01] information, perhaps terrorism. And

[47:03] there's even insinuations that the

[47:05] Greeks help move weapons and chemicals

[47:07] for shady organizations involved in

[47:10] international warfare and espionage. He

[47:12] is quite simply untouchable and

[47:14] completely out of the reach of the likes

[47:16] of Baltimore's finest like McNalty. And

[47:18] the icing on the cake is that after we

[47:21] learn so little facts about him over the

[47:23] course of the season, he drops the

[47:25] bombshell that he isn't even Greek. The

[47:28] cops never stood a chance. The Greeks

[47:31] are ghosts. They operate in the shadows.

[47:33] Completely the opposite from the streets

[47:35] where reputation is everything. Compare

[47:38] Marlo's my name is my name with Vonda's

[47:42] my name is not my name. When the heat

[47:44] gets too hot, the Greeks simply leave

[47:46] Baltimore in the nick of time. Though

[47:48] much of their business interests remain

[47:50] intact, Prop Joe still gets his drugs

[47:53] with Vombas telling him there will be

[47:54] new people providing the re-ups. And the

[47:56] final episode of the season shows a

[47:58] fresh stock of women being unloaded. By

[48:01] the time season 5 rolls around and Marlo

[48:04] gets up and prop Joe's wholesaler

[48:06] business, we see that the Greeks have

[48:08] returned to Baltimore and reestablished

[48:10] their operations from the same

[48:12] restaurant they did so in season 2.

[48:14] Vondas is in season 4 talking to Joe and

[48:17] Marlo. And in season 5, the gang is back

[48:19] in the diner. Marlo goes through their

[48:22] man Sergey who is in prison. And

[48:23] presumably he gives Maro information on

[48:26] how to contact the Greeks. Either that

[48:28] or he told him the location of the

[48:30] restaurant where they operate. But why

[48:32] did the Greeks come back in the first

[48:34] place? And why on earth, after the huge

[48:37] investigation of season two, did they

[48:40] set up shop in the exact same place they

[48:42] did before when the cops know full well

[48:45] that this was their place of business?

[48:47] Aren't their faces plastered into every

[48:49] police database in Baltimore? Aren't

[48:52] Interpol after them now that they've

[48:54] left the US? Of course, perhaps the most

[48:56] asked question regarding the Greek,

[48:58] aside from what ethnicity and

[48:59] nationality he actually is, is why he

[49:02] chose Marlo over Proposition Joe. But

[49:04] this is something we've already talked

[49:06] extensively about in another video. So,

[49:08] be sure to check it out. And while you

[49:10] do so, hit that subscribe button. But

[49:12] with the Greeks coming back to the exact

[49:14] same place and how odd this is, could we

[49:17] simply chalk it up to poor writing? The

[49:20] wire may be an unbelievably good show,

[49:22] but that doesn't necessarily mean it's

[49:24] immune to subpar writing. Maybe the

[49:27] writers just didn't think too hard about

[49:29] where the Greeks were and just needed

[49:31] them in the show for the Marlo and Prop

[49:33] Joe storyline. But in universe, it's

[49:35] always worth going back to the

[49:37] implication that the Greek is an asset.

[49:40] As he's feeding the Fed's info on

[49:41] criminal activity, he knows they'll look

[49:43] the other way and knows he cannot be got

[49:46] to. If he is somehow arrested because

[49:48] Bey recognizes him and puts him in

[49:50] cuffs, he'll be out of the jail cell in

[49:52] no time with one quick call. When the

[49:54] Colombians didn't pay for their

[49:56] chemicals, the Greek grasped on them to

[49:58] Agent Cowros and the Feds fan cocaine in

[50:01] the shipment. And on two separate

[50:03] occasions, Cowros gives the Greek a

[50:05] heads up when the heat's getting too

[50:06] hot. It's a similar relationship that

[50:09] Whitey Bular had with the Boston police.

[50:11] He feeds them info that helps eliminate

[50:13] his rivals while they look the other way

[50:15] from his crimes. Although some fans

[50:18] might want to speculate that the Greek

[50:19] is not necessarily an asset in the

[50:22] classic sense, but that Calcross is

[50:24] actually corrupt, a part of the Greeks

[50:27] organization in the sense that maybe

[50:28] they've known each other a long time.

[50:30] They stayed in contact but grew up

[50:32] different lives and now they help each

[50:34] other out. Anyway, by season 5, the feds

[50:37] have moved on from the port and from the

[50:39] drug cases. They're more focused on

[50:41] political corruption and terrorism by

[50:43] the time season 5 rolls around. So, if

[50:45] anything, having the Greek in their

[50:48] corner works in their favor, but it also

[50:50] speaks to how unbothered they would be,

[50:53] how his movements and that of the

[50:55] comingings and goings of the restaurant

[50:56] wouldn't be tracked. And then there's

[50:58] the Baltimore PD so strapped of cash in

[51:01] season 5 that the major crimes unit is

[51:03] literally ordered to be shut down. And

[51:06] even evidence- wise, there's hardly

[51:07] anything on the Greek. The wire shows us

[51:09] that people are human and the systems in

[51:12] place are inadequate. Nobody from season

[51:15] 2 was in command anymore at a department

[51:17] level. And people forget, remember how

[51:19] Avon was released from jail and none of

[51:21] the primary characters even knew? And

[51:23] they only found out after Herk

[51:25] off-handedly recognized him. In the same

[51:27] way, people have moved on from the

[51:30] Greek. It's been years. So, he can

[51:32] quietly slip back into his diner and

[51:34] remain under radar with a new identity

[51:36] as he does. The dusty photo of him the

[51:39] cops had long forgotten. Many names,

[51:42] many passports. If someone had the money

[51:44] and manpower to go after the Greeks

[51:46] again, the entire case would need to be

[51:48] rebuilt, and they'd need a new witness

[51:51] now that Frank Sabotka was dead. Nikki

[51:53] could provide info, but nobody's looking

[51:55] for the Greek anymore. Those who were

[51:57] involved, like Daniels, know that there

[52:00] was a leak in the FBI, and chances are

[52:02] if they managed to get a major case

[52:04] going against the Greek, the government

[52:06] would shut it down for quote unquote

[52:08] national security reasons. That's how

[52:11] high we got to in the food chain with

[52:13] the Greek. The fact is when all the

[52:15] parameters are considered, the Greeks

[52:17] are perfectly safe coming and going.

[52:19] They've literally got the Department of

[52:21] Homeland Security on their side. It's

[52:23] also worth adding that there is a scene

[52:25] where Herk and Carver are watching the

[52:26] diner and they miss Bondas leaving. So,

[52:29] the cops might not even know that the

[52:31] diner is a place the Greeks frequent.

[52:34] And the fact is, the Greeks had business

[52:36] in Baltimore that never stopped. They

[52:38] need to be there. As late as the season

[52:40] five montage, we see the Greek and

[52:42] Spyros at the diner talking business

[52:44] with Slim Charles and Fatfaced Rick. So,

[52:47] the question isn't really why they came

[52:48] back. Whether in person or through

[52:51] intermediaries, the Greeks never left.

[52:54] And the showrunners could have chosen

[52:55] different characters to exchange with

[52:57] Marlo and the like in season 5, but that

[52:59] wouldn't have made for good television.

[53:01] Their organization is international, and

[53:04] they have shops set up all over. When

[53:06] things get hot, they simply pack up and

[53:08] leave as they would have planned and

[53:10] return later. One thing I have

[53:13] considered is that it isn't a case that

[53:15] the Greeks left in season 2, then

[53:17] quietly came back and do their business

[53:20] in the diner as they do. It may be that

[53:23] instead they only come in when they need

[53:25] to. That there is a system in place to

[53:27] call them. It's like when Marlo leaves

[53:29] the bartender, the case full of cash, he

[53:32] would have gotten word to the Greeks.

[53:34] Then they come in to talk to this guy

[53:36] who's giving them money. And again later

[53:38] when Marlo gives the co-op the connect,

[53:41] Slim and Rick would know what to do to

[53:43] get in touch with the Greeks. And then

[53:45] they would come in from wherever they

[53:47] are to the diner to discuss the import

[53:49] of dope. For sure in season 4 when we

[53:52] see Vondas, it looks like Prop Joe

[53:54] called in a favor and asked him to come

[53:55] in so he could sort out the Marlo

[53:57] situation. So maybe we're overthinking

[53:59] it and they came in when they needed to

[54:01] but left Baltimore straight after. Yes,

[54:04] perhaps it was unwise to go back to the

[54:06] same diner, but as mentioned, the Greek

[54:09] knew he was untouchable and after being

[54:11] a clean front for years, it's unlikely

[54:13] the diner would still be monitored. Omar

[54:16] Little is one of the most memorable and

[54:18] iconic characters in The Wire. Portrayed

[54:20] by Michael K. Williams, Omar is a

[54:23] notorious stickup man in Baltimore who

[54:25] specializes in robbing drug dealers.

[54:27] Unlike many other characters involved in

[54:29] the drug trade, Ma operates by a strict

[54:32] moral code. He doesn't harm innocent

[54:34] people and only targets those within the

[54:36] drug world. This code earns him a

[54:39] reputation for a sort of ethical

[54:41] criminality, setting him apart from the

[54:43] other violent characters in the series.

[54:45] Add this to the fact that he sells drugs

[54:48] undercutting the market value and

[54:50] sometimes even gives them away. He gains

[54:52] a reputation among hoppers who don't

[54:54] divulge information to those who want

[54:56] Omar dead. Omar is a street legend whose

[55:00] name alone instills fear in the

[55:02] drugdeing community. He is known for his

[55:04] boldness, often walking the streets with

[55:06] a shotgun and whistling the farmer in

[55:09] the Dell as a form of psychological

[55:11] warfare. And throughout the course of

[55:12] the show, he gets the better of the

[55:13] show's biggest drug kingpins like Avon,

[55:16] Stringer, Prop Joe, and Marlo. His

[55:19] ability to outsmart and outgun his

[55:21] opponents makes him a formidable and

[55:23] respected figure. Omar is known for

[55:26] delivering some of the most memorable

[55:27] lines in the series, such as, "A man got

[55:30] to have a code, and you come at the

[55:31] king, you best not miss." His scenes

[55:34] often blend tension, humor, and drama,

[55:36] making him a standout character. The

[55:39] fact that the show is about

[55:40] institutions, including the drug trade,

[55:42] and then you have this larger than-l

[55:44] life character walking around with a

[55:46] shotgun, robbing said drug dealers,

[55:48] makes him a wild card of the show. An

[55:51] unpredictable character who impacts the

[55:53] show's narrative significantly. Whether

[55:55] it be testifying to send Bird to prison,

[55:58] robbing the co-op, or going on a revenge

[56:00] spree against Marlo after his friend and

[56:02] mentor Butch, is killed. Speaking of the

[56:05] revenge spree, in one of the most

[56:08] shocking moments of the show, while Omar

[56:10] is on a rampage against Maro's

[56:12] organization, he is unceremoniously

[56:14] killed by the kid Canard. The dynamics

[56:17] of Canard and the reason why he killed

[56:19] him is very interesting and something

[56:20] which we can discuss in a future video.

[56:22] But what I wanted to talk about today

[56:24] was a very curious scene. After when

[56:26] Omar's body is at the morg, this fell

[56:28] looks a bit beused at a name tag. So he

[56:31] unzips the body bag to reveal and then

[56:34] takes a look at the name tag of the guy

[56:36] next to him, which is name tag. The guy

[56:38] unzips this body bag and it turns out to

[56:41] be a white guy not having died of a

[56:43] gunshot. So our man switches the name

[56:46] tags and zips up the body bags, ending

[56:49] the episode. And that's the last we see

[56:51] of Omar Little. And even then, the age

[56:53] of the name tag is clearly wrong, as it

[56:55] would have to mean Omar was in his 40s.

[56:58] It's a very interesting scene. quiet

[57:00] without words but profound and powerful.

[57:02] So what's the meaning behind it? Well,

[57:05] the scene is multifaceted and there are

[57:07] several takeaways. Of course, one simple

[57:09] one is that look, the institutions in

[57:11] Baltimore are so defunct that they even

[57:13] get the names of dead bodies wrong. What

[57:16] else are they getting wrong? It speaks

[57:18] to the broken infrastructure and

[57:20] systems. Maybe a low paid temp worker

[57:23] made the error. But in terms of this

[57:25] specific incident, it might amuse you to

[57:27] learn that when I first watched this

[57:29] scene. I thought the man knew who Omar

[57:31] was. Maybe he had family in Baltimore

[57:33] neighborhoods and is aware of Omar's

[57:35] reputation. So he knew that the name tag

[57:37] was wrong and switched it. But the point

[57:39] being that Omar's legend lives on. He is

[57:41] remembered. Even this guy knows who he

[57:43] is. But it's actually the opposite

[57:46] because firstly, there is nothing to

[57:48] indicate the man knew who Omar was. In

[57:50] fact, it says AA on the tag, indicating

[57:53] African-American. Plus, the name Omar is

[57:56] associated more with black people than

[57:58] white people. And as a black man, he'd

[58:00] know this. So, he just wanted to double

[58:02] check the tags were correct and then was

[58:04] vindicated in his decision. Secondly,

[58:07] the thing to note is not that he

[58:08] corrected the tags, but that they were

[58:10] wrong in the first place. And the reason

[58:13] is that Omar is just another black hood

[58:15] that was gunned down on the streets of

[58:17] Baltimore. He'll be remembered. Sure.

[58:20] Marlo's final scene where the two corner

[58:22] boys are theorizing badass ways in which

[58:24] Elmo must have checked out proves this.

[58:26] But his legend lives on only within his

[58:29] own world. He was a legend, a myth of

[58:31] his world. But outside of it, he was a

[58:33] nobody. Just another dead guy in

[58:36] Baltimore. [ __ ] Another meaningless

[58:39] statistic for the likes of Caretti and

[58:41] then Narice to use as a political

[58:44] pingpong in the Game of Thrones that

[58:46] occurs at the capital. Indeed, it's such

[58:49] a brilliant scene because it perfectly

[58:51] contextualizes

[58:53] Omar Little as a character. We've been

[58:55] following him for five seasons. He has

[58:57] some of the best scenes, the best lines,

[58:59] the best story lines. He takes on and

[59:01] beats the very best. But when you zone

[59:03] out of the streets, when you expand your

[59:06] scope a little, all of a sudden Omar

[59:08] just isn't that important and

[59:10] significant. And this scene is perfectly

[59:13] bookended by another in the newsroom

[59:15] when they are discussing which stories

[59:17] to put in the paper. And his story, the

[59:20] murder of a 34 year old black man, which

[59:22] is what it is to the newspaper guys, is

[59:25] dumped from the paper and replaced by a

[59:27] fatal housefire story. So Omar the

[59:29] legend's death wasn't even significant

[59:31] enough to warrant a small piece in the

[59:33] papers. It's a similar situation to

[59:36] Proposition Joe's death. a huge

[59:38] character, not just in terms of girth,

[59:40] but in terms of his importance in the

[59:42] story. He was the only drug kingpin to

[59:44] appear in every season. But there's no

[59:46] room for his passing in the paper

[59:48] either. Heck, if Omar's body had been

[59:50] lying next to some other black guys, the

[59:52] tag might have never been corrected.

[59:54] Omar's death sent shock waves throughout

[59:57] the streets, but as this series shows

[59:59] us, there is a huge divide between the

[1:00:01] streets and the rest of society. It all

[1:00:04] really went back to the whole thing

[1:00:06] about staying in your lane, staying

[1:00:08] within your own established world and

[1:00:10] environment. Within that, you can

[1:00:12] achieve success, you can achieve to a

[1:00:15] point, achieve legend, but try and move

[1:00:17] out or worse, try to change the game and

[1:00:20] you'll get chewed up. String a bell

[1:00:22] comes to mind who tried to revolutionize

[1:00:24] the game and also get into bed with the

[1:00:26] likes of downtown Clay Davis.

[1:00:28] Shenanigans which embarrassed him as he

[1:00:30] wasn't made for it. Instead, he could

[1:00:32] have focused on the Barksdale war and

[1:00:34] increased his own rep on the street, but

[1:00:36] alas, he is remembered as someone who

[1:00:38] died as a coward. Then there's Marlo,

[1:00:41] who is completely in his element as a

[1:00:43] drug kingpin, but feels alien and

[1:00:45] weirded out by Levy's business,

[1:00:47] shindigs, and fancy suit parties. Being

[1:00:50] on a related note, the death of Ma is a

[1:00:52] slap in the face to fans who may have

[1:00:55] envisioned him going down all guns

[1:00:57] blazing on the war path. Marlo's

[1:00:59] beheaded face in his hand or something.

[1:01:02] But not only is he killed by a child,

[1:01:04] he's not important enough to even make

[1:01:05] the news. He's a legend to us, a king on

[1:01:08] the streets. But back in the real world,

[1:01:09] he's nothing. He's like Bod. His death

[1:01:12] hits so hard. But again, he's just

[1:01:14] another dead body gunned down on the

[1:01:16] streets. Aside from you, me, his

[1:01:18] grandmother, and the cops who made an

[1:01:20] effort to know the community, a point

[1:01:22] Bunny Culvin stresses to his cops. And

[1:01:24] they gave a [ __ ] when it wasn't their

[1:01:26] turn to give a [ __ ] I.e. McNalty, who

[1:01:28] really cares? In fact, that's what this

[1:01:31] guy at the morg did. He gave a [ __ ] when

[1:01:33] it wasn't his turn. He made an effort,

[1:01:35] and as a result, we don't get a scene

[1:01:37] where everyone props up to Omar's

[1:01:39] funeral, and there's a middle-aged white

[1:01:41] guy in the coffin, sparking rumors that

[1:01:43] Omar is still alive as some kind of

[1:01:45] zombie. The newspaper thing also speaks

[1:01:48] to their ineffectiveness that they

[1:01:50] hadn't done their due diligence to work

[1:01:53] out the importance of who these guys are

[1:01:55] who have died. It's the result of them

[1:01:57] stripping down for profit margins. A

[1:02:00] good example of this is when Gus is

[1:02:01] looking for information on Daniels and

[1:02:04] Scott Templeton doesn't know, but Tigs

[1:02:06] blurts out Daniels's entire career

[1:02:09] history. And Tigs is someone who is

[1:02:11] clearing his desk because he's lost his

[1:02:13] job after the papers buyout. The paper

[1:02:15] is losing this invaluable institutional

[1:02:18] knowledge to make money shortterm, but

[1:02:20] long-term it will damage the paper. Omar

[1:02:23] Little started this episode on a feared

[1:02:25] crusade. He ended up being a misplaced

[1:02:28] statistic. Shocked by the same kid who

[1:02:31] once idolized him and role-played him in

[1:02:33] a game of cops and robbers, but was

[1:02:35] dumbfounded when he saw the realm was

[1:02:38] this dude limping around the city. And

[1:02:40] then Michael, who started off as a brave

[1:02:42] young, happy kid who could have had a

[1:02:44] great life, ends up replacing as

[1:02:47] Baltimore's stickup man. It's all just a

[1:02:49] cynical cycle. The game is rigged. Yo,

[1:02:52] it's like when Omar talks to Bunk and he

[1:02:54] tells him that Tasha, who got shot,

[1:02:56] wasn't a taxpayer and was in the game

[1:02:58] and therefore her death doesn't mean

[1:02:59] anything to anyone in Bunk's world. He

[1:03:02] was wrong for including Bunk in that

[1:03:04] sphere. But the point being made here by

[1:03:06] Omar was right and was proven by his own

[1:03:09] death. There is so much

[1:03:11] compartmentalization in the show, so

[1:03:13] much of institutions not being aware of

[1:03:15] the effects they have on other

[1:03:17] institutions. Avon is Westside's biggest

[1:03:20] drug dealer in season 1, but aside from

[1:03:22] McNalty, the cops don't know who he is.

[1:03:25] Carver runs the DEU in season 3 and

[1:03:27] doesn't know who the waring parties are,

[1:03:29] which shows us nothing has changed. Avon

[1:03:32] is released from prison in season 3, and

[1:03:34] none of our main cop characters know.

[1:03:36] They only find out because Herk

[1:03:38] half-heartedly recognizes him as he

[1:03:40] drives past. Rhonda is one of the lead

[1:03:42] investigators of the Stanfield case. And

[1:03:44] when Chris Partlo in the flesh walks up

[1:03:46] to her and asks her for directions to

[1:03:48] the clerk's office, she doesn't even

[1:03:50] recognize him. And then there's the myth

[1:03:52] of Omar Little, which means nothing to

[1:03:55] the likes of the coroner or the

[1:03:57] newspaper people. At the end of the day,

[1:04:00] the king and the porn go back into the

[1:04:02] same box because the game is the game

[1:04:05] and that's the only thing that doesn't

[1:04:07] change. Saying that though, at least on

[1:04:10] a level, Omar lives on as Marlo's final

[1:04:12] scene shows, even if it's only on the

[1:04:14] streets of Baltimore. And that's because

[1:04:16] Omar was more than just the man himself.

[1:04:19] Think Batman. You can kill a man, but

[1:04:21] you can't kill a symbol. Marlo was just

[1:04:24] a man. But Omar, a guy who walked up to

[1:04:26] stash houses and without even having to

[1:04:28] blink would have the goods handed over

[1:04:30] to him, developed into a legend whose

[1:04:33] name on the streets at least will ring

[1:04:35] out. Oh, no doubt. Today I wanted to

[1:04:39] talk a little about Cedric Daniels

[1:04:41] played by the late Lance Reic. Daniels

[1:04:44] is a prominent character in the show who

[1:04:46] starts off as a shift commander who

[1:04:47] takes the Barksdale detail taking charge

[1:04:50] of a ragtag bunch of cops in a basement

[1:04:52] looking to take down Westside

[1:04:54] Baltimore's biggest drunk kingpin. The

[1:04:56] case ends up a success, but since

[1:04:58] Daniels defied Deputy Commissioner

[1:05:00] Burell repeatedly in order to get what

[1:05:02] he needed for the case, he is assigned

[1:05:05] to evidence control in season 2 as

[1:05:07] punishment. The dead-end nature of his

[1:05:10] work even tempts him to leave the police

[1:05:12] force and become a lawyer, but he's

[1:05:14] given a second chance to run a new

[1:05:16] detail investigating the ports when the

[1:05:18] influential Major Val wants to settle a

[1:05:21] personal beef. And Daniels uses the

[1:05:24] situation to get Burell to promise him a

[1:05:26] permanent major case unit if his

[1:05:28] investigation is a success. Daniels

[1:05:31] eventually becomes commander of a

[1:05:32] district in season 4 and his competence

[1:05:35] and honesty turns the head of Caretti

[1:05:37] who eventually becomes mayor. Daniels

[1:05:40] becomes a colonel and Burell becomes

[1:05:42] suspicious and anxious fearing that

[1:05:44] Careti is grooming Daniels to replace

[1:05:46] him. Cedric is moved by Careti talking

[1:05:49] about a new day, a new era where proper

[1:05:52] police work is done, where juking the

[1:05:54] stats are a thing of the past and

[1:05:56] corruption and career ladder climbing

[1:05:58] are kept to a minimum. But Kquetti has

[1:06:01] his own story which involves him being

[1:06:03] swallowed up by the system and becoming

[1:06:05] as much of a ladder climber as his

[1:06:07] predecessors, even closing down the

[1:06:09] major crimes unit and having no time to

[1:06:11] speak to Daniels. When Daniels is

[1:06:14] eventually promoted to commissioner, he

[1:06:15] refuses to juke the stats for Cochetti.

[1:06:18] And when he is threatened, he chooses to

[1:06:20] resign, changing career paths and

[1:06:22] becoming a criminal defense lawyer.

[1:06:24] Daniels is one of the most interesting

[1:06:27] characters in The Wire. As with pretty

[1:06:29] much all the main characters, he feels

[1:06:31] like a real person. He feels fully

[1:06:33] realized to such an extent, it's hard to

[1:06:35] describe him. People change, and Daniels

[1:06:38] is one of them. He starts off as clearly

[1:06:41] a career cop, wanting to climb the

[1:06:43] ranks. Sharp and ambitious, Daniels is

[1:06:46] clearly real police, but chooses to tow

[1:06:49] the lines of his superiors, not wanting

[1:06:52] to rock the boat. But his innate nature,

[1:06:54] the good cop that's hidden in the skin

[1:06:57] of a ladder climber, occasionally bursts

[1:06:59] out, surprising those around him like

[1:07:02] McNell.

[1:07:03] Cedric clashes frequently with McNalty,

[1:07:06] who dismisses him as simply being one of

[1:07:08] the bosses. chain of command, detective.

[1:07:10] But when it really matters, with a bit

[1:07:13] of pushing, Daniels actually sticks it

[1:07:15] to the likes of Burell, earning the

[1:07:17] respect of the people working under him,

[1:07:19] but at the detriment to his career and

[1:07:21] even his marriage with the equally

[1:07:24] ambitious wife, Mara. I think our

[1:07:26] perception of Daniels as the audience

[1:07:28] flips and turns over the course of the

[1:07:31] show, but once it's all over, he's one

[1:07:33] of the few characters who comes out

[1:07:35] looking really good, earning our respect

[1:07:38] as a man of integrity, a leader who came

[1:07:40] close to losing his soul, who left the

[1:07:43] game before it corrupted him and stayed

[1:07:45] true to his values. But season 1,

[1:07:48] Daniels is different. He's difficult.

[1:07:51] He's a pain for McNalty and the rest of

[1:07:53] the detail. and he refuses to listen to

[1:07:55] reason when it's staring at him in the

[1:07:57] face. Ostensibly, it's because he is

[1:07:59] basically a high school prefect

[1:08:01] desperate to be squeaky clean so he can

[1:08:03] rise the ranks. But in the episode the

[1:08:06] buys after a bust up between Daniels and

[1:08:08] McNelte, one of many, it becomes evident

[1:08:11] that it may be a bit more sinister. As

[1:08:14] McN's FBI contact says,

[1:08:16] >> Daniels is dirty. He's got dirt on him.

[1:08:19] Your own agency came to us with concerns

[1:08:20] about him last year. integrity

[1:08:23] questions.

[1:08:23] >> You looked at Daniel specifically.

[1:08:25] >> Yeah, we did a two-month assets

[1:08:26] investigation. Man's got a couple

[1:08:28] hundred thousand more in liquid assets

[1:08:30] than any police lieutenant should ever

[1:08:32] have.

[1:08:32] >> So, Mr. Squeaky Clean isn't so squeaky.

[1:08:35] He has way more cash than someone on his

[1:08:38] pay grade should have. And he was

[1:08:40] investigated for 2 months. Still though,

[1:08:43] at this point, it's speculation. As

[1:08:45] McNei says,

[1:08:46] >> maybe he goes to Atlantic City.

[1:08:49] Seriously, you look at his background,

[1:08:52] >> maybe he's got other sources of income.

[1:08:54] >> Interestingly, McNalty's brother says

[1:08:56] they never got a chance to investigate

[1:08:58] further as they took it to Deputy

[1:09:00] Burell, who said he would take the

[1:09:02] matter from here and that was the last

[1:09:04] they heard of it. The implication here

[1:09:06] possibly is that Burell is protecting

[1:09:08] Daniels. But of course, as we find out

[1:09:11] later in episode 12, when the deputy

[1:09:13] shows his true colors, he was using the

[1:09:16] case file to threaten Daniels to keep

[1:09:18] him on a leash. But what exactly was the

[1:09:21] dirt on Daniels? It's never really gone

[1:09:24] into detail to, just vaguely referenced.

[1:09:27] Overall, we can conclude he just had too

[1:09:29] much money that a guy like him shouldn't

[1:09:31] have had. And references to Daniel's

[1:09:33] crooked past are sprinkled throughout

[1:09:35] the show. difficult to find when doing

[1:09:38] research for this video. It's like

[1:09:39] looking for a needle in a hay stack, but

[1:09:41] there are numerous references enough to

[1:09:44] remind us that Daniels constantly has

[1:09:46] the threat of his past catching up to

[1:09:48] him looming over his head. As McNei

[1:09:51] bluntly asks in the episode Lessons, he

[1:09:54] got something on you? And indeed he did,

[1:09:56] as revealed in the penultimate episode

[1:09:58] of the first season. Burell butters up

[1:10:01] Daniels to close down the detail early

[1:10:03] on, or at least not stir up [ __ ]

[1:10:06] dangling offers of promotion in front of

[1:10:08] him. But when Daniels refuses to back

[1:10:10] down from investigating Senator Clay

[1:10:12] Davis's aid, circumvents Chain of

[1:10:15] Command, and discovers Burell has a rat

[1:10:17] in his detail, Burell puts his cars on

[1:10:20] the table, straight up threatening to

[1:10:22] expose Daniels for his dirty days in the

[1:10:24] Eastern District.

[1:10:26] >> You want to talk about dirt? How about

[1:10:28] at it? Talk some [ __ ] about your Eastern

[1:10:30] District days. Talk some [ __ ] about what

[1:10:32] was going on back when you was running

[1:10:34] wild in the DEU. Let's just talk

[1:10:41] FBI field reports. You came into a lot

[1:10:44] of money quick. You can go to jail just

[1:10:46] as quick if I start asking the right

[1:10:49] questions.

[1:10:50] >> So Cedric came into a lot of money very

[1:10:53] quickly. Perhaps he stole drug money

[1:10:55] when he was working narcotics in the

[1:10:57] streets and invested what he took,

[1:10:59] skimming off the top of bust. It's

[1:11:02] interesting if this is the case because

[1:11:04] Carver also steals money in season 1,

[1:11:07] something which Daniels calls him out

[1:11:08] on. Daniels chastising Carver takes on a

[1:11:12] whole new meaning now because he's been

[1:11:14] down that road and is trying to now

[1:11:16] school Carver. With many Wire fans

[1:11:19] agreeing that Carver ends up like

[1:11:21] Daniels by the end of the show, it's

[1:11:23] fitting that he was just as corrupt and

[1:11:25] dirty in the beginning of the show. This

[1:11:27] doesn't happen. Not in my unit, Daniels

[1:11:30] says. Why? Well, it must have hit too

[1:11:33] close to home for Daniels. Reminded him

[1:11:36] of the dark old days in the eastern. And

[1:11:38] in his lecture to Carver, he draws from

[1:11:41] his own experiences in the eastern.

[1:11:43] Another link I'd like to make is we own

[1:11:46] Own this city. Another show created by

[1:11:48] David Simon following the true life rise

[1:11:50] and fall of the Baltimore PD gun trace

[1:11:53] task force. The team in this series

[1:11:55] regularly stole from people in the

[1:11:57] street. Even innocent people regularly

[1:11:59] took bad money, but instead of declaring

[1:12:01] it, put it into their own pockets.

[1:12:03] Perhaps Daniels was part of such a team.

[1:12:06] And if we want to be generous to him,

[1:12:08] maybe he was like Sha Sutor in the show,

[1:12:11] reluctantly taking the money so he isn't

[1:12:13] the odd one out and ostracized by his

[1:12:15] fellow cops. Serpico style. But Daniels

[1:12:18] calls Burell's bluff and throws it back

[1:12:20] in his face, suggesting that some of the

[1:12:22] people who were dirty back in the day

[1:12:24] are prominent figures now, and digging

[1:12:26] up dirt on Daniels would drown them,

[1:12:28] too.

[1:12:30] >> You do what you feel. You want to put my

[1:12:32] [ __ ] in the street, feel free, but the

[1:12:35] eastern had a lot of stories. Mine ain't

[1:12:37] only one. A lot of people came through

[1:12:39] that district.

[1:12:40] >> And Daniels emerges victorious,

[1:12:42] triumphant in putting away Avon. but he

[1:12:45] is of course punished for it by Burell

[1:12:47] before getting a second lease of life.

[1:12:49] There is a conversation between Daniels

[1:12:51] and his wife where Daniel says Burell

[1:12:54] knows about the money. So, it wasn't

[1:12:56] just talk. Daniels clearly did things he

[1:12:58] could be locked up for. As Burell said,

[1:13:01] there's enough in Daniel and Mara's

[1:13:03] relationship to warrant its own video.

[1:13:05] But in short, her political ambitions

[1:13:08] stagnates Daniel's career until it

[1:13:10] doesn't. as it's after Major Culvin's

[1:13:13] Hamsterdam project is exposed that Mayor

[1:13:15] Royce throws his support behind Mara

[1:13:18] after having been against her. Meaning

[1:13:20] Cedric now is in the right crowd and no

[1:13:23] longer held back by Burell. So you'd

[1:13:25] think he'd have it easy now. But

[1:13:26] Cedric's past is the point of more focus

[1:13:29] in the final two seasons with Burell

[1:13:31] feeling the heat about getting replaced

[1:13:33] by him. When Scott Templeton

[1:13:35] manufactures a coat, putting Daniels in

[1:13:37] it, he is fearful his past will be

[1:13:39] bought up if Burell thinks he's trying

[1:13:41] to take his job. As his wife says,

[1:13:44] >> the alternative is that he goes public

[1:13:46] with what he knows, whatever he has

[1:13:48] about the old days.

[1:13:50] >> It's interesting that how incriminating

[1:13:52] the file is is never really revealed. As

[1:13:55] Daniel says,

[1:13:56] >> how much could even be in that file? And

[1:13:59] that's investigation some loose talk. It

[1:14:03] was so long ago. Most of those guys have

[1:14:04] moved on.

[1:14:05] >> He only needs smoke. He doesn't even

[1:14:08] need fire to drag you down.

[1:14:10] >> This runs contrary to what Burell said

[1:14:12] in season 1 about the file being enough

[1:14:14] to land him in prison. And in the final

[1:14:17] scene with Daniels and Marlo, where

[1:14:19] Daniels has the actual file in his hand.

[1:14:22] He says, "There's not enough in here to

[1:14:25] indict me." So just how bad is it? We

[1:14:28] never really know. And in all honesty,

[1:14:30] it doesn't matter. All that matters is

[1:14:31] that Burell had enough to cause enough

[1:14:34] of a scene, enough smoke which would

[1:14:36] force Daniels to quietly walk away from

[1:14:38] the police force. Enough to raise

[1:14:40] questions and to bury both Daniels and

[1:14:43] Mara's careers. But there's enough lines

[1:14:46] of dialogue in the show to suggest that

[1:14:47] Burell would never have actually used

[1:14:50] the dirt on Daniels as it would throw

[1:14:52] [ __ ] on others and generate too many

[1:14:55] headlines. It was simply a weapon he

[1:14:57] could use, a gun pointed in Daniel's

[1:15:00] direction with the rusty trigger

[1:15:03] destined to never be pulled. In the

[1:15:05] episode Transitions, Burell says to City

[1:15:08] Council President Narice, who's playing

[1:15:10] games of her own, that Daniels isn't the

[1:15:13] [ __ ] and Span boy they think he is, and

[1:15:16] then says the line in the show that is

[1:15:18] the clearest about what Daniels may have

[1:15:21] been up to.

[1:15:21] >> He's not the [ __ ] and Span boy they

[1:15:24] think he is. He came up in the Eastern

[1:15:26] District, part of a bad drug unit that

[1:15:29] was skimming seized drug money. I

[1:15:31] actually had to fail.

[1:15:32] >> This isn't about Daniels.

[1:15:33] >> Narice tells Burell that it doesn't

[1:15:35] matter now that it's too late, but she

[1:15:37] takes the file with her with the show

[1:15:39] making a point to have her look through

[1:15:41] it, showing that this circus of threats

[1:15:44] on Daniel's head will never truly go

[1:15:46] away. They'll just switch hands even

[1:15:48] after Burell is gone. And in the Reese's

[1:15:51] very next scene, when she wants Caretti

[1:15:53] to give Bell a good sendoff, she implies

[1:15:56] there's dirt on Daniels and Burell knows

[1:15:58] about it. And in season 5, Daniels

[1:16:01] refuses to budge on the stat and Ketti's

[1:16:03] aid goes to Narice and we get almost an

[1:16:06] exact replica of the scene where Burell

[1:16:09] told her he had dirt on Daniels with her

[1:16:11] now telling Caretti's man just showing

[1:16:14] as the show does the cycles of

[1:16:16] corruption which means things never

[1:16:18] change and never improve. One other

[1:16:21] scene where the dirt is referenced is

[1:16:23] when Burell is about to go and Daniels

[1:16:25] reiterates he didn't ask to take his

[1:16:27] place. Burell, who has no weapons left

[1:16:29] in his corner, says,

[1:16:31] >> "Relax.

[1:16:33] You once told me that if I was going to

[1:16:35] do you, you'd be done already. Remember?

[1:16:38] [ __ ] I don't even remember what was in

[1:16:40] that foul. Something about the Eastern

[1:16:43] District.

[1:16:45] So long ago, who can remember?"

[1:16:48] >> Avon is the show's main kingpin for

[1:16:50] three seasons, being the main target of

[1:16:52] the major crimes unit in season 1. He is

[1:16:55] arrested and sent to prison at the end

[1:16:57] of the show's first season. And from

[1:16:58] there, he runs his crew through his

[1:17:00] number two, Stringer Bell. Friction

[1:17:02] starts to emerge between Stringer and

[1:17:04] Avon with their two different

[1:17:06] philosophies on how to handle the

[1:17:08] organization's issues causing a crack in

[1:17:11] the outfit as well as in their

[1:17:12] relationship with Stringer propagating

[1:17:15] the New Day co-op, an alliance between

[1:17:17] rival drug dealers where they favor

[1:17:19] diplomacy over violence. Proposition Joe

[1:17:22] provides the good dope in exchange for

[1:17:24] territory. Everyone shares and pitches

[1:17:27] in and any issues or grievances are

[1:17:29] brought to the table. Avon, however,

[1:17:32] isn't up for this new business outlook

[1:17:34] on life. He's just a gangster, I

[1:17:36] suppose, as is Marlo Stanfield, a rival

[1:17:39] Westside upandcomer who Avon goes to war

[1:17:41] with. War which brings bodies and heat

[1:17:44] from the cops and threatens to ruin the

[1:17:46] good work the co-op have done to avoid

[1:17:48] bloodshed. As a result, Stringer gives

[1:17:51] Avon up to the cops and he is sent back

[1:17:54] to the can and Stringer himself is

[1:17:56] killed after his scheming comes back to

[1:17:58] haunt him. Now, who was right between

[1:18:01] Avon and Stringer is something we've

[1:18:03] already discussed on the channel, but

[1:18:05] with Avon in prison, he is pretty much

[1:18:07] out of the game and his territory is

[1:18:09] swallowed up by Marlo, the new kingpin

[1:18:11] of Westside Baltimore. Avon is

[1:18:14] completely absent in season 3, his

[1:18:16] storyline finished, though he makes a

[1:18:18] surprise cameo in season 5 with Marlo

[1:18:20] having to go through him to get to

[1:18:22] Sergey who can get to the Greeks, prop

[1:18:25] Joe's wholesaler. Avon clearly has a

[1:18:28] heavy pull in prison with him having

[1:18:30] established himself as a powerhouse

[1:18:32] inside the walls of Jessup. Now, after

[1:18:35] Marlo is forced to leave the game,

[1:18:37] having reigned dictator-like over the

[1:18:40] New Day co-op, the Baltimore gangsters

[1:18:42] seem to go back to the alliance

[1:18:44] mentality. In the season 5 montage, we

[1:18:47] see Slim Charles and fat-faced Rick

[1:18:49] talking to the Greeks, implying that

[1:18:51] they now jointly head the co-op, or at

[1:18:53] least represent it when meeting with the

[1:18:56] Greeks. Prop Joe and Stringer Bell's

[1:18:58] legacy lives on through the co-op, and

[1:19:00] Slim Charles is one of the rare winners

[1:19:02] of the show. first appearing in season 3

[1:19:05] as hyd muscle for the bark snails and

[1:19:07] when most of them are sent to jail he

[1:19:09] goes to work for prop Joe as his number

[1:19:11] two. Now what I wanted to discuss today

[1:19:14] is what exactly happens when Avon

[1:19:17] Barkstdale gets out. In chess terms,

[1:19:20] Avon is the king. And a line in season 1

[1:19:23] tells us the king stays the king. And

[1:19:26] many have theorized that Slim Charles,

[1:19:28] the former loyal Barkstdale soldier, is

[1:19:31] keeping the seat warm for Avon, waiting

[1:19:33] for him to return and stepping aside so

[1:19:36] Avon can take his rightful throne. But

[1:19:39] is this actually true? Whether we'd like

[1:19:42] to imagine it or not, is it likely to

[1:19:44] happen or is it a romanticization from

[1:19:47] the Wire fans? Of course, this

[1:19:50] conversation is predicated on when

[1:19:52] exactly Avon is getting out, which is

[1:19:54] never confirmed in the show. I'm not

[1:19:56] going to talk about this too much here.

[1:19:58] I already have an entire video dedicated

[1:20:00] to this, but I theorize that the show

[1:20:03] creators intentionally kept Avon's

[1:20:05] prison sentence length vague in case

[1:20:08] they wanted to use him in future

[1:20:09] seasons. He might only be doing the rest

[1:20:11] of his original seven years, or he might

[1:20:13] be doing 20 years plus, in which case

[1:20:15] when he gets out, he'll be old and most

[1:20:17] of the established gangster characters

[1:20:19] will be dead anyway. It's implied

[1:20:21] through his sister that the Barkstdale

[1:20:23] don't have the cash they used to. So, if

[1:20:26] people who went down to protect Avon

[1:20:28] aren't getting paid, they might start

[1:20:30] flipping to get reduced sentences and

[1:20:32] Avon gets more and more years added onto

[1:20:35] his. But in the case that he gets out

[1:20:38] after a few years, I don't necessarily

[1:20:41] agree that he'll just walk out into

[1:20:43] Westside Baltimore as a king and take

[1:20:45] his seat at the head of the co-op. And I

[1:20:47] think it's naive to think Slim would

[1:20:50] just give up his senior position in the

[1:20:51] co-op to Avon. Look, I know Avon is one

[1:20:55] of the more beloved figures of the wire.

[1:20:57] He has a code. He has some great human

[1:20:59] moments like when he lets Katy go. And

[1:21:02] compared to his successor, Marlo, he is

[1:21:04] way more likable. And the idea that

[1:21:07] after it's all said and done, after all

[1:21:09] the players come and go, the first

[1:21:11] kingpin in the show, the original

[1:21:13] gangster Avon Barkstdale lies in weight

[1:21:16] and returns to take his throne, the king

[1:21:19] stays the king. All of that is great to

[1:21:21] speculate on. I like the idea. But with

[1:21:24] this series showing us the cycles of the

[1:21:26] drug trade, the cynical neverending

[1:21:29] nature of the trade, and the fact that

[1:21:30] the players are just cogs in this great

[1:21:33] machine that is the game, it actually

[1:21:35] goes against the ethos of the show for

[1:21:37] there to be one major player in the drug

[1:21:39] trade to be ever present. In chess, one

[1:21:42] king has to get trapped in the end, as

[1:21:45] Avon was when the cops busted through

[1:21:47] the warehouse in season 3. In reality,

[1:21:50] the king doesn't stay the king, but the

[1:21:52] game stays the game. And it's bigger

[1:21:54] than Avon. The game continues, just with

[1:21:57] different players. Avon's cameo in

[1:22:00] season 5 was a nice callback for fans

[1:22:02] and a way to incorporate him into the

[1:22:04] narrative. But really, his story is

[1:22:06] finished, which is probably why he

[1:22:08] doesn't appear in this season 5 final

[1:22:10] montage. Avon clearly has some kind of

[1:22:13] status in prison up in this [ __ ] here.

[1:22:16] He's what you might call an authority

[1:22:17] figure. But outside of the can, who

[1:22:20] exactly is he really? His heavy hitters

[1:22:23] like Weebe are doing life in prison.

[1:22:25] Most of the Barkstdale organization was

[1:22:27] sent down. Guys like Stringer and Bod

[1:22:30] are dead. Guys like Slim have moved on

[1:22:33] and even Avon's own sister has said

[1:22:35] money has dried up. So what tangible

[1:22:38] power does Avon have to wrestle power

[1:22:41] out of Slim Charles's hands? And why

[1:22:43] would Slim willingly give it up to Avon?

[1:22:46] He hasn't worked with Avon in years. And

[1:22:49] even when he did, he was hired muscle.

[1:22:51] And then he went to work for Avon's

[1:22:53] rival. People like to point to Slim's

[1:22:55] line about not being cut out to be no

[1:22:57] CEO.

[1:22:58] >> Meaning no disrespect, but I ain't cut

[1:23:01] out to be no CEO.

[1:23:03] >> And that might have been the case at the

[1:23:04] time, but that's really more of an

[1:23:06] indication of his intelligence not to

[1:23:08] fly too close to Marlo, lest he get

[1:23:10] burnt. After everything Slim's worked

[1:23:13] for, after how high he's climbed, he's

[1:23:15] just going to say, "There you go, sir."

[1:23:17] and wipe Avon's seat clean. Not a

[1:23:20] chance. That's not how things work. It

[1:23:22] wouldn't even be Slim Sayo. He's not the

[1:23:25] boss of the co-op. There is no boss.

[1:23:27] He's just a senior member. I mean, look

[1:23:29] at the way Bodhi was on his own after

[1:23:30] the Barksdale fell, lucky to be given a

[1:23:33] package by Slim just because he liked

[1:23:35] the young Bach. And there's nothing Avon

[1:23:37] would be able to do about it. In fact,

[1:23:39] he's at a stage where he has more power

[1:23:42] inside prison than he does out of it. He

[1:23:44] was a boss, so to speak, inside the can

[1:23:47] and was able to exert power and

[1:23:48] influence. Slim and the co-op would be

[1:23:51] weary of Avon's methods. The same thing

[1:23:54] that got him locked up in the first

[1:23:55] place, and they wouldn't want him

[1:23:57] anywhere near this setup. Think about

[1:23:59] the old days, they the old days. Sure,

[1:24:02] he'll have respect, but that would only

[1:24:04] get him so far like it did Caty. I can

[1:24:07] see Slim incorporating Avon back into

[1:24:09] the mix, but not thrusting him into a

[1:24:12] position of leadership. They'd probably

[1:24:14] feel Avon out, see what he's still

[1:24:17] capable of and what he wants to do. If

[1:24:20] Avon was willing, he'd still be an asset

[1:24:22] to Westside in terms of business, real

[1:24:24] estate, warfare, connections, all sorts.

[1:24:27] And he could come in handy. Maybe the

[1:24:29] co-op are pulling their hair out in

[1:24:31] frustration because they keep getting

[1:24:33] robbed by an adult Michael with a

[1:24:35] shotgun and they use Avon to organize

[1:24:37] security, but the co-op would not be

[1:24:40] obliged to indulge Avon. Slim isn't that

[1:24:43] much of a sentimental [ __ ] They

[1:24:45] had a working relationship and both knew

[1:24:47] it. The game is the game. Avon's

[1:24:50] organization got taken out and he went

[1:24:52] to jail. End of story. If he does get

[1:24:54] out and still wants to be part of the

[1:24:56] game, I think he'd swallow his pride and

[1:24:58] accept the co-op was the way of doing

[1:25:00] things now and would accept a mid-tier

[1:25:03] position. And to be honest, he'd

[1:25:05] probably be okay with it, accepting he

[1:25:07] had his time on the throne and he still

[1:25:08] commands respect. Heck, by the time he

[1:25:11] gets out, Slim Child might be dead. So

[1:25:14] to the guys who actually knew Aan

[1:25:16] Barkdale and the guys running the show

[1:25:18] now might be younger guys who are aware

[1:25:20] of his rep but have no allegiance to

[1:25:22] him. Look how Bodi treated Cati when he

[1:25:25] came to him and Slim Charles. It doesn't

[1:25:27] matter what Cuddi did years ago to earn

[1:25:30] a rep. The here and now is more

[1:25:32] important. It actually linked to a much

[1:25:34] bigger thing which we can discuss in

[1:25:36] another video about these gangsters and

[1:25:39] in the Sopranos too basically being

[1:25:41] duped into thinking that when they go to

[1:25:43] prison when they do decades in the can

[1:25:46] for their families they'll come out and

[1:25:48] be treated like kings and retake their

[1:25:50] seats on the throne and all sorts when

[1:25:53] that isn't the case at all. Would Avon

[1:25:56] even want it? Maybe Avon's changed and

[1:25:59] actually sees the co-op is the way

[1:26:00] forward. Maybe he's achieved everything

[1:26:02] he wanted to in the game and wants to

[1:26:04] live quietly. Maybe he's transformed and

[1:26:06] The Wire season 6 goes full circle by

[1:26:09] giving Avon a redemption arc where he

[1:26:11] leaves the gangster lifestyle and tells

[1:26:13] his story to a TV crew who are creating

[1:26:15] a show called The Wire just like how the

[1:26:18] guy who Avon is based off did in real

[1:26:20] life. Wouldn't that be something? The

[1:26:23] point I'm making is that Avon may have

[1:26:25] changed and become a different person by

[1:26:27] the time he got out. They could give him

[1:26:28] a completely new story line. And quite

[1:26:31] frankly, having him come back and trying

[1:26:33] to take over has already been done.

[1:26:36] Perhaps Avon becomes like one of the

[1:26:38] older head guys, an adviser like Butie

[1:26:40] or the guy at Marlo's rim shop.

[1:26:42] Semi-retired, his voice important,

[1:26:45] connected, making some money here and

[1:26:47] there getting his cut, but not really at

[1:26:49] the forefront of things. If the game is

[1:26:51] truly all Avon knows, he could still be

[1:26:53] a part of it as a respected old-timer.

[1:26:56] But the days of him being a boss are

[1:26:58] realistically gone. In fact, if he

[1:27:01] himself is unable to deal with this

[1:27:03] fact, he could end up like guys like

[1:27:05] Richie Appal and the Sopranos, angry

[1:27:07] that the world has moved on without him

[1:27:08] and frustrated, feeling like he hasn't

[1:27:10] been given his dues, a relic causing

[1:27:13] problems for everyone, and eventually he

[1:27:15] is popped. I don't quite see that. I

[1:27:18] mean, even in Avon's prison meeting with

[1:27:20] Marlo, he seems to possess a mindset

[1:27:22] that the game is above and beyond

[1:27:24] everyone and everybody's just a player

[1:27:26] in this game. In fact, the deacon, whose

[1:27:29] life Avon is based on, reformed and

[1:27:32] became a churchgoing man trying to make

[1:27:34] things better in society, much like how

[1:27:37] Michael became Ma and Dookie became

[1:27:39] Bubbles. Maybe the inclusion of the man

[1:27:42] Avon is based off in this show is

[1:27:45] actually the wise way of telling us what

[1:27:47] happens to Avon Barkdale. But I know I'm

[1:27:49] making a stretch here. If Avon did truly

[1:27:52] want to become king again, he'd have to

[1:27:54] take the crown by force. And that pretty

[1:27:56] much means starting over because there's

[1:27:59] nothing to come home to. using

[1:28:01] resources. He has his rep, real estate,

[1:28:04] money to hire guns, his connection to

[1:28:07] New York, maybe some youngans who

[1:28:09] idolize him, joining his crew. Maybe he

[1:28:12] gets lucky and gets a few really

[1:28:14] competent soldiers. But it would involve

[1:28:16] having to start over, rebuilding and

[1:28:18] clawing his way back to the top, corner

[1:28:21] by corner. And he'd probably die doing

[1:28:23] it, which wouldn't be a problem for him.

[1:28:26] After all, the game is the game, and the

[1:28:28] streets is all Avon knows. Perhaps Avon

[1:28:31] gets out and sees Slim Charles and

[1:28:33] fat-faced Rick as pretenders, imposters

[1:28:36] sitting on his throne, and he launches

[1:28:38] himself into a war against everybody.

[1:28:41] So, what do you think? Do you see Avon

[1:28:43] getting out and wanting the crown? Do

[1:28:46] you see Rick and Charles giving it to

[1:28:47] him? As fans of the show know, The Wire

[1:28:50] is incredibly detailed and always seems

[1:28:52] to contain something new you missed upon

[1:28:54] rewatches. There's so much detail in the

[1:28:57] show. So many hidden Easter eggs, so

[1:29:00] many butterfly effects, a lot of

[1:29:02] symbolism imagery mirroring

[1:29:04] allegorories, and so much more. Just the

[1:29:06] plot in of itself is so dense that it

[1:29:08] often takes rewatches just to work out

[1:29:10] what is fundamentally going on in the

[1:29:12] show. There's so many characters, so

[1:29:13] many different story lines, but it all

[1:29:15] comes together to create something

[1:29:17] poetic and beautiful. As one character

[1:29:20] says, all the pieces matter. I've

[1:29:23] covered many of the intricate and hidden

[1:29:25] details of the show on my channel in

[1:29:27] both my normal videos and especially my

[1:29:29] YouTube shorts. So, be sure to check

[1:29:31] them out and subscribe to the channel

[1:29:32] for more. Some of these details include

[1:29:35] the chess symbolism in the death of

[1:29:36] Bodhi, the fact that the only cop ever

[1:29:38] to fire a gun in the show is Presbali

[1:29:41] and that one of the dock workers from

[1:29:43] season 2, Johnny 50, is one of the

[1:29:45] homeless people in season 5. Today, I

[1:29:48] want to take a look at the traveling

[1:29:50] ring of season 4. If you remember, the

[1:29:53] character Old-Faced Andre has a nicel

[1:29:55] lookinging ring which Marlo brings

[1:29:57] attention to in a meeting between him

[1:29:59] and Andre where they discuss Andre

[1:30:01] getting robbed by Omar. It's quite

[1:30:03] interesting that this ring travels

[1:30:05] around quite a bit going from owner to

[1:30:07] owner until you could make the argument

[1:30:09] things come full circle. Andre is the

[1:30:12] initial owner of the ring. Where he got

[1:30:15] it from, who knows? Maybe it has been in

[1:30:17] the family as Andre says, but Marlo eyes

[1:30:19] it up. And whether he just wants to

[1:30:21] assert power over Andre, whether as

[1:30:23] punishment for getting robbed or just

[1:30:25] maybe because he likes it as a symbol of

[1:30:27] power, Marlo takes the ring off a

[1:30:30] reluctant old face. Later, Proposition

[1:30:33] Joe entices to rob a card game that

[1:30:36] Marlo is taking part in. One where he

[1:30:38] actually wins after many attempts at

[1:30:40] trying. His joy, however, is immediately

[1:30:43] cut short when bursts in and robs the

[1:30:45] game. Marlo draws attention to himself

[1:30:47] by declaring the money as his, to which

[1:30:50] replies by saying, "Money ain't got no

[1:30:52] owners, only spenders." Which really

[1:30:54] acts as a great summary for the story of

[1:30:56] the traveling ring. Anyway, takes a

[1:30:59] fancy to Marlo's ring, taking it for

[1:31:01] himself so he can wear it in health.

[1:31:03] Later, after is set up for a murder

[1:31:05] charge by Marlo and Chris and Andre, Ma

[1:31:08] finds himself arrested by Officer

[1:31:10] Walker, Walker's proven himself to be a

[1:31:12] degenerate cop and perhaps the most

[1:31:14] unlikable character in the show,

[1:31:16] compounded by the fact that he takes the

[1:31:18] ring off Omar before having him thrown

[1:31:20] in the van. Then we see the Boys of

[1:31:23] Summer set Walker up, messing with his

[1:31:25] car and then throwing paint all over

[1:31:27] him. Before they throw the paint,

[1:31:28] however, Michael seizes on the

[1:31:30] opportunity to snatch the ring off

[1:31:32] Walker. And then Marlo arrives at

[1:31:35] Michael's home with Chris and Snoop.

[1:31:37] Noticing the ring around Michael's neck,

[1:31:39] surely realizing it's the same ring took

[1:31:42] off him. Instead of launching himself at

[1:31:44] Michael, screeching, "My precious," he

[1:31:46] questions where Michael got it, to which

[1:31:48] he replies, "took it from a nigga."

[1:31:50] Which is pretty much what every

[1:31:51] character in this chain did. Michael

[1:31:53] asks Marlo if he wants it, but he tells

[1:31:56] him to keep it. And as far as I can

[1:31:57] remember, this is the last time the ring

[1:31:59] is ever bought up. So that means the

[1:32:01] ring went from Andre to Marlo to Omar to

[1:32:04] Walker and finally to Michael. Pretty

[1:32:06] cool. And it's likely the purpose of the

[1:32:08] constant traveling of the ring aside

[1:32:10] from being an Easter egg is that the

[1:32:12] ring is used to show how temporary power

[1:32:15] is on the streets of Baltimore. If the

[1:32:18] ring represents power or it is a

[1:32:20] representation of the representation of

[1:32:22] power, this little series of events

[1:32:25] shows how hollow and empty that power

[1:32:27] really is that it is transient and can

[1:32:30] be taken away at any time. Look at all

[1:32:32] the characters in the show who have held

[1:32:34] power whether it be Avon, Stringer,

[1:32:37] Burell Rules Roy Marlo Prop Joe

[1:32:41] Daniels, and look at how that power

[1:32:43] comes and goes. Harking back to Omar's

[1:32:45] line about money having no owners, only

[1:32:47] spenders, replace the word money with

[1:32:49] power or this ring, and the quote fits

[1:32:52] perfectly. Everyone who has the ring,

[1:32:54] aside from Michael, is robbed for it.

[1:32:56] And we can assume that somewhere down

[1:32:58] the line, the same will probably happen

[1:33:00] to Michael, too. It also shows that

[1:33:02] nothing really changes over time in this

[1:33:05] cynical world of The Wire, where things

[1:33:07] work in circles. characters assume the

[1:33:10] roles of other characters and replace

[1:33:12] them, filling in their empty shoes once

[1:33:14] they're out of the game. The most

[1:33:16] striking example is, of course, Michael

[1:33:19] replacing Omar as the stickup man of

[1:33:21] Baltimore. Even the scene where he takes

[1:33:22] it officer Walker is reminiscent of Omar

[1:33:26] taking it off Marlo. Marlo and Walker

[1:33:28] are similar in that they have no regard

[1:33:30] for others around them. They are cold

[1:33:32] people. Marlo's day is ruined by Omar's

[1:33:35] robbery and he takes the robbery

[1:33:36] personally. Similarly, Walker's day is

[1:33:39] ruined and he takes the assault

[1:33:40] personally instead of acknowledging it's

[1:33:42] all part of the game and he is as much

[1:33:44] of a fault for it as the kids are. And

[1:33:46] subsequently, the cops start coming down

[1:33:48] hard on the streets. Power dynamics

[1:33:51] shift so rapidly in the show. The crown

[1:33:53] is only worn briefly before someone else

[1:33:56] comes and takes the king's place. You

[1:33:58] can go from being a player to being

[1:34:00] played. All in the game, yo. It could

[1:34:02] also be a call out to Frank Sabotka's

[1:34:04] line from season 2 where he says, "We

[1:34:06] used to make [ __ ] build [ __ ] Now we

[1:34:09] just put our hand in the next guy's

[1:34:10] pocket." That's pretty much what's going

[1:34:12] on here with the life cycle of the ring.

[1:34:15] It's interesting that Marlo notices the

[1:34:17] ring on Michael, but doesn't ask for

[1:34:19] elaboration as to where he got it. He

[1:34:22] surely knows it's the same one that took

[1:34:24] off him. So, does he think Michael

[1:34:26] managed to get the drop on and stole the

[1:34:28] ring from him? unlikely as Marlo was

[1:34:31] hunting and he would have surely heard

[1:34:33] if Omar was found and robbed by a kid

[1:34:36] working under him. And as he was hunting

[1:34:38] him, you'd think he'd press Michael on

[1:34:40] where exactly he got it. Or maybe for

[1:34:43] Marlo to show so much interest in the

[1:34:45] ring, he'd have to eventually admit that

[1:34:47] he was robbed for it, showing weakness,

[1:34:49] and perhaps this is why he didn't press

[1:34:51] Michael on the matter. Or maybe he was

[1:34:53] afraid that Michael would reply back in

[1:34:55] the black speech of mortal. I guess it's

[1:34:58] more likely that Marlo figured lost the

[1:35:00] ring somewhere down the line and Michael

[1:35:02] took it off whoever had it at the time.

[1:35:05] The look exchanged between him and Chris

[1:35:08] and the fact that Marlo allows Michael

[1:35:10] to keep the ring is perhaps a showcase

[1:35:12] that Marlo knows this pup is the real

[1:35:15] deal that he is gaining a level of

[1:35:17] respect for him as a competent corner

[1:35:19] boy with potential for more. It's a

[1:35:22] strong indicator that Marlo knows that

[1:35:24] Michael is built differently. Even his

[1:35:26] answer is short, simple, and vague in a

[1:35:28] manner that Marlo would have given an

[1:35:30] answer. He didn't need to brag that he

[1:35:32] took it off a cop. Although maybe Marlo

[1:35:34] did think Michael took it off, and

[1:35:36] Michael's stature in his eyes instantly

[1:35:38] took a rise. Michael also chose to wear

[1:35:40] the ring around his neck instead of

[1:35:42] flash it around on his hand. He offered

[1:35:44] it to Marlo, showing it had no

[1:35:46] sentimental value for him. went to

[1:35:48] Marlo. Ironically, the ring represents

[1:35:50] his entire beef with M. Perhaps if we go

[1:35:54] for the idea that Marlo does think the

[1:35:56] ring was taken off. This helps build the

[1:35:59] myth of Michael that word goes around

[1:36:01] that he got the drop on. And it's one of

[1:36:04] the many things that people are not

[1:36:05] quite sure true or not true about him.

[1:36:09] Just like how there are many legends

[1:36:10] about whether he really did jump out of

[1:36:13] that building, whether he really did

[1:36:14] have commando squads with him, and the

[1:36:17] numerous rumors as to how he died. And

[1:36:19] even a man like Marlo is buying into

[1:36:22] Mike's legend, not quite knowing where

[1:36:24] this boy's seeding is, just how good he

[1:36:27] can get, which ironically leads him to

[1:36:29] put out a hit on him in season 5 when he

[1:36:32] thinks he might be snitching. Another

[1:36:33] mistake from Marlo thinking Michael did

[1:36:35] something he didn't. He was always

[1:36:37] asking too many questions. As Snoop

[1:36:39] says, he was too different. In other

[1:36:41] words, he was a leader in of himself, a

[1:36:43] potential eventual challenger to Marlo

[1:36:45] in the long term. So, I thought you

[1:36:48] might find this interesting. The ring,

[1:36:50] which goes through dealers and kingpins

[1:36:52] and robbers and police and even school

[1:36:54] kids. What do you make of The Ring? The

[1:36:57] show is not one for theatrics. In fact,

[1:37:00] quite astonishingly, for a show about

[1:37:02] cops, the police only fire their guns

[1:37:05] three times throughout the show, and

[1:37:07] each time it's the same character, and

[1:37:09] each time it's a blunder. It's also a

[1:37:12] show with some really unsettling, dark

[1:37:15] scenes that stay with you, in part due

[1:37:17] to their rawness and the knowledge that

[1:37:20] events like this are happening

[1:37:21] throughout the world. Examples include

[1:37:24] Chris Partllo murdering an innocent

[1:37:26] delivery woman in cold blood. The sweet

[1:37:29] Randy being failed by the system and

[1:37:31] condemned to a life of trauma and

[1:37:33] violence. A lawyer like Levy supposedly

[1:37:36] an upstanding member of society advising

[1:37:38] Stringer and Avon that they should kill

[1:37:40] people in their own crew who could

[1:37:42] testify against them. Dookie abandoned

[1:37:45] by all becoming a junkie. A police

[1:37:48] officer breaking the fingers of a child.

[1:37:50] bubbles constantly being beaten and

[1:37:52] harassed, the death of Wallace, a school

[1:37:54] student slashing another with a razor

[1:37:56] blade, a stray bullet during a gunfight

[1:37:59] ending a child's life, and so much more.

[1:38:02] Today, I wanted to discuss one such

[1:38:04] moment, one that I don't really see

[1:38:06] talked about, but in hindsight really

[1:38:09] does come off as one of the most low-key

[1:38:11] grim moments in the show. Oldface Andre

[1:38:14] is a Westside convenience store owner

[1:38:17] whose place serves as a stash house for

[1:38:19] the crime boss Marlo Stanfield. He gets

[1:38:22] into debt with Marlo after the stash is

[1:38:24] robbed by Omar. When Omar later robs

[1:38:26] Marlo himself, Marlo has Chris kill a

[1:38:29] delivery woman, telling Andre to blame

[1:38:31] it on. This of course puts Andre in a

[1:38:34] difficult position as he fears that

[1:38:37] might kill him as revenge. But the

[1:38:38] alternative is Marlo killing him. So he

[1:38:41] goes ahead with it. Eventually, Andre is

[1:38:44] pressured by the bunk to go back on his

[1:38:46] original statement. And as such, Andre

[1:38:48] is in immediate danger from Marlo, and

[1:38:50] he goes to East Side to Proposition Joe

[1:38:53] to ask for help. Now, Andre isn't

[1:38:55] exactly a sympathetic character. There's

[1:38:58] just something a bit pathetic about the

[1:39:00] guy, like his transparent and obvious

[1:39:02] analogy about a NASDAQ and fluctuations

[1:39:05] in the global economy and all that,

[1:39:06] which Mara doesn't buy for a second.

[1:39:09] He's just a bit weasel-like and

[1:39:10] unlikable, but there isn't a real clear

[1:39:12] reason why. I mean, the guy is in the

[1:39:14] game by being a Marlo stash house, but

[1:39:16] for all we know, he could have been

[1:39:18] forced into it. And for the most part,

[1:39:20] he seems to be a lowkey and chill guy

[1:39:22] who gets caught up in a tornado of

[1:39:24] events when he's robbed. But he's really

[1:39:27] quite dumb, showing up to a meet with

[1:39:29] Marlo, wearing a nice ring and necklace.

[1:39:31] He is a sheep running with the wolves,

[1:39:34] out of his element, with nothing to

[1:39:36] offer a man like Marlo. a pawn on the

[1:39:38] chessboard getting pushed around by more

[1:39:40] powerful players. And his stupidity is

[1:39:43] emphasized when it becomes apparent his

[1:39:45] idea of running away is just going to

[1:39:48] the other side of town. I mean, your

[1:39:49] life is at stake. Why not take a bus out

[1:39:51] of town? But like most characters stuck

[1:39:54] in Baltimore like Bod and Wallace, he

[1:39:56] seems unable to truly escape to his

[1:39:59] detriment. This episode is called Know