Do yourself a favor and watch this show.
Well, the process of uploading my old files onto the blog as promised proved complicated and I wasn't able to do it. Maybe some other time. So instead, here goes a little something I wrote a while ago on my favorite TV show, HBO's The Wire, hailed by critics as the best show on television and by some as the best television show ever. If you've never seen it, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. The fifth and final season is coming. Catch it while you can. (Well, I guess you can always get it on DVD).
The lineups:
BARKSDALE:
Druglord: Avon Barksdale. King of West Baltimore's drug scene up until the end of Season 3. He put it best: "I'm just a gangsta, I suppose." Ruthless, vengeful, wants his corners. But he's undylingly loyal to his family, even when they don't return the love. Avon understands that blood is thicker than water. Currently in prison.
Underboss: Stringer Bell. A thug in a suit. Wants to legitimize the drug trade. Looks for a peaceful solution to problems first, though he's had more than one liability offed to ensure the safety of the organization. Dead now.
Top Soldier: Wee-bey. Respected on the streets for taking the fall and shielding his crew by confessing to multiple murders, including some he didn't commit, Wee-bey is the perfect soldier (if there is such a thing). His name carries a lot of weight outside of those prison walls. Loves his pet fishes.
Others: D'angelo Barksdale. Crew chief, wanted out the game, snitched out Wee-bey's hiding spot, changed his mind, looking at 20 years, behaving a little dicey, like he could flip at any moment, String had him killed and the death to made look like a suicide. Avon's nephew.
Bodie: Moved up the ranks through the series, killed his friend at Stringer's orders, smart aleck-kid, loyal, never backed down from anyone, down for whatever, went down shooting. R.I.P.
Maurice Levy: Moral-less lawyer
Slim Charles: Took Wee-bey's place. Just like Bey, in a lot of ways. Shares a little wisdom with his boys now and then, would probably make a good boss. Works for Prop Joe, currently.
Poot: Fun to have around. Other than Levy, only person from the first-season Barksdale crew not dead or in jail. Working one of Marlo's corners now.
vs.
STANFIELD:
Druglord: Marlo Stanfield. Even more coldhearted than Avon. Just a stoic, callous S.O.B. Marlo just don't care. About nothing. He's the scariest man on television, bar none. Currently control's the entire West Bodymore drug trade. All of his rivals seem to end up either serving time in a penetentiary or dead in an abondoned building.
Underboss: Chris Partlow. Like String, his boss' best friend and trusted advisor. Unlike String and Avon, he and Marlo are always on the same page. Doing what he does best: having Marlo's back 100% and ...
Top Soldier: Chris/Snoop. ...killing people. Chris and his young female protege Snoop are the most feared prolific Baltimore duo since Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken Jr. They may be a little too violent, though, even for HBO. They kill everything that has a pulse, for Christ's sake. Then they hide the bodies in vacant houses.
Others: Monk. Marlo's friend and lieutinet. Allerted him that Bodie might be snitching. He was. Now he's dead.
Michael. Quiet youngster with a heart who turned to the darkside. One of Marlo's baby-faced killers. *Sigh* He's like 14! Someone save him from this life!
Old Face Andre. Worked as a front for Marlo until he messed up and changed up on a lie Marlo told him to tell. Brought some humor to the show. It's hilarious to see him have a conversation with Marlo. He always looks like he's about to piss his pants. Last seen walking off into the night with Chris and Snoop, about to be shot two-to-three times in the head. Pleaded with them to kill him in his house instead of one of the vacants so that his people could give him a "homegoing."
Verdict: There hasn't been a more lopsided or devestating end to a war since the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Marlo KO'd the Barksdale crew and is now the undisputed champ of B'more. With that said, the Barksdale's were about ten times more likable. At least they have some redeeming qualities; Marlo and company don't have any that I've seen. (Some would say that Marlo's love for his pigeon coop humanizes him, but to me it just makes him seem like more of a psychopath that he cares more for pigeons than he does for human beings). Hopefully, his empire comes crashing down in Season 5.
Winner: Barksdale, in a landslide.
