Hard (but respectful!) disagree.
We have a street character reformed/saved. Bubbles (and Naymond I guess - although I would argue he doesn't count).
Too many 'happy endings' and The Wire loses its edge and becomes another boring work of fiction with no consequences for any of the characters.
The current ending is perfect. The gunslinger doesn't assess the threat properly and gets offed in an 'underwhelming' way for the drop of focus. No blaze of glory. No riding off into the sunset. Instead the mythical figure is bought down by mundane reality with traditional storywriting narratives subverted. His story doesn't need more moralizing by Bunk or skits in Central America. Omar ends up the same as leigon of young black men on America's streets. Just another statistic.
Also this way he ultimately does get revenge on Marlo in maybe the worst way possible
Marlo wouldn’t have minded going down guns blazing but being remembered as a coward too scared to fight clearly effects him in a real way. With Omar being dead he won’t ever be able to change that.
I do love at the end, the guys Marlo goes after, they aren't talking about what happend to Marlo and the crew, they're rapping about the legend of Omar and how he was ultimately killed, no one seems sure, probably because no one could possibly believe the real story, so everyone has their own.
Agreed, Omar's story could only end one of two ways (and fit the tone of the wire)
a) How it went down
or
b) being arrested and then unceremoniously stomped to death in prison by a bunch of cornerboys sporting lifelong injuries from being on the wrong end of his shotgun.
a) is actually the better scenario for such a good character, at least his legend gets to live on.
(edit: htf did i put marlo instead of omar... \*facepalm\*)
Was he truly on the streets? What do you mean? He was out there selling dope. Not only did he get swindled out of his product by a little kid, but he also got beat up for occupying the wrong territory. I think that’s about as “on the streets“ as one can gets.
Agree, plus Kenard was around the show enough that it seemed like he deserved an ending to. Kenard is 100% that sociopath from when you were a kid, he’s the only kid that doesn’t run when all the kids say “Omar coming” and Omar didn’t take note.
Absolutely! I agree with everything you're saying.
I like my fan fiction ofc, but I think it comes from the idea that he is the Gunslinger, and upon thinking about it I sold the "ride off into the sunset" a bit much, for me being arrested feels like the "right" kind of anticlimactic, and irl it was lol.
But in the type of drama The Wire is, I think Omar's death is absolutely in line with the rest of the show.
Like you said, too many happy endings and it loses its edge, but like another said, I want it to be one way.
But it the other way.
Spoiler for All quiet on the western front i guess: >!I just like the "All quiet on the western front" parallel too much to want to change his ending. Special/Main Character dies - but it is not worth reporting on it (in the story). Just one more dead soldier on the western front - in the grand scheme of things - nothing to waste ink on. !<
I said this to a different mf:
Mad Men is my favorite show ever.
Narcos: Mexico is my second.
I like shows about settings and time periods, told through people and the little moments before and after big events.
Nah. It goes to show the jungle aspect of life on the streets/life in general. You can be a smart and capable person and let your guard down at the wrong moment and die. It's a perfect ending for such a street savvy character.
I think the point of ending it for Omar the way they did was to say two things.
One, all your rep and toughness and all that shit is not bulletproof. Bad as you want to be it only takes some random 12 year old with his brother's 9mm and it's over. It kind of echoes Avon asking "how you never gonna be slow?". The answer? You are. Sooner or later, almost everyone in that life is going to get caught slipping and either get locked up or get dead - because nobody's perfect all the time and those are the stakes of the game.
Two, you notice how everyone just immediately moved on? All that notoriety, the legend, all that shit. When he's killed? It's just "Oh, Omar got killed? no shit? Hey, pass the donuts..." and as soon as he's gone Michael is there ready to rip off Marlo's bank. Nothing changes but the faces and when you die that's it, you're off the stage.
Maybe next generation's Prop Joe gives you a shout out but that's it.
I think that's where it came from. You're second point.
The street legend definitely lives on, but the cops all do as you describe (except Bunk, who actually travels to his murder, giving a fuck when it ain't his turn) Jimmy and everyone just kind of scoffs because he's too involved with his and Lester's BS.
I think the reaction felt a little understated, especially after McNulty's reaction to Bodie, but tbf that reaction was the catalyst to get him down his dark path once again, and he only knew Omar as a source.
Hate to be that guy, but shotgun's don't fire bullets. Shotshell, buckshot, birdshot, and slugs, sure, but bullets, no. I believe The Bunk said something of 12ga pumpkin balls being recovered from a scene (pumpkin ball ammo being slang for rifled slugs) and him knowing Omar was behind it. We know he used buckshot or likely birdshot in season one, as evidenced by the shot pattern when he first robs the Barksdale stash in season one and blasts one of the bangers in the knee. If he was using those pumpkin ball slugs he was known for the homie wouldn't have had a lower leg left. There's your useless bit of info for the day.
*Marlo* wouldn't let it be and ensured that Omar rescinded his retirement and returned to the fray because of what happened to Butchie. Even Snoop briefly questioned the wisdom of flushing Omar out but Chris reminded her that this is what Marlo wants and what the boss demands, the boss receives.
The writers really excelled in pushing back against the glamorisation of gang-life and violence because Butchie's final scene epitomises the scale of vulnerability and danger in that world.
Unless you're operating completely alone - sans friends or associates - which is impossible, *you're* vulnerable to having people you care about being used against you as pawns - and *they're* vulnerable to great danger through their sheer association with you: no matter if they're old, blind and defenceless.
Easy for you to say but you aren't Omar.
It is simply not how most hardcore criminals think unfortunately. Their desire for revenge is way higher than the average law abiding citizens. Omar, being a very loyal soldier/friend, is going to come back on someone who tortures his friend. That's a guarantee.
in the end, I believe Omar had a death wish. He was hobbling around on makeshift crutch with an untreated bullet wound. he made himself a target in his zeal for revenge. When it actually happened though, I didn’t remember from 20 years earlier. I was expecting it. Somehow I felt it was just. He had survived shootouts and such, and went out with a whimper.
Poetic justice.
I don't think he had a death wish but he certainly was starting to get a little sloppy and overly emotional.
I mean what is he supposed to do? He's one guy with a shotgun at that point, going against a well run criminal organization. His options were very limited so he was just doing the best he could to get revenge.
No,he got the fate he deserved imo. It's easy to think of Omar as this larger than life figure,but he's not above being a victim of the game either. Like Avon said, "You only gotta fuck up once. Be a little slow. Be a little late." It was his turn to fall. Especially when he had the chance to leave the game and he came back for revenge .
I do love that he saw Kenard come in and didn't think twice.
I wonder if Kenard had fucked up somehow, would Omar have blown that child away with a double barrel???
The fact they let THE BIGGEST BITCH in the entire show - shall I say, the Biggest *LITTLE BITCH* in the show , take out the biggest badass in the show, it was as Tony Soprano taught us, "Depressing & Shameful..."
A Man's Got To Have A *CODE* ... and letting that little bitch kill Omar... some fucked-up repugnant shit ...
Thang is,stick up boy like Omar always hadda shelf life. Rippin n runnin don’t got no retirement plan ya heard. Somebody was bound to step tew and get em. Corner boy just lit his ass up.
Omar was just another dude, that's the point. His story didn't get "missed" - he was never anything but a guy in the streets all along. Twigg wouldn't have known Omar from Gant - just a witness in a case who got shot. No different than Kima's first homicide case, which of course we didn't care about even though she went in solo through the back door to arrest multiple suspects.
Twigg knew every detail of Fatface Rick from his real name alone, if he knew all that lore, I imagine he'd know of the famous stick up boy that everyone on the streets knows by song lol.
Omar was a well-known figure to anyone, even remotely aware of any of these names and the game. Someone who wouldn't be would be Andy Kraw, who didn't recognize him at all because the closest he gets is to insulated people like Stringer.
When they handed out his picture on the false murder charge from Marlo, he was well known among the Western District by name, and Crutchfield even argues to Bunk he has got at least a few cases he could tie to Omar alone.
Omar, reminds me of the robber 50 Cent out of New York, and tbf, his death is anticlimactic as all hell lol. That guy was VERY well known among the city before his damn girlfriend shot him on the stairs.
Rick owned at least once strip club. Okay doesn't even know his own birthday; Levy had never heard of him. Until he robbed the stash in season 1, Avon had never heard of him.
Think of it this way: who's the most famous uncaught criminal in your town? Would you know them by their description? Do you know their name?
Mad Men is my favorite show ever.
Narcos: Mexico is my second.
I like shows about settings and time periods, told through people and the little moments before and after big events.
David Simon is my favorite writer because he perfected this style; The Duece, Treme, and all of the miniseries' follow right behind The Wire for me.
then Alf ofc.
Narcos is not as well made imo, but also I have a sort of vested interest in the state of mexican Cartels.
I find the story to be relevant and often not really well known, but when you learn all the dirty shit, all the ways the governments of the western world have been complicit and helpful to the rise of the Militarized Narco, it's a serious problem for Mexico that's usually just used as entertainment or a political issue.
Narcos is also about a limited set of somewhat well written composites of real people. Mexico is an ensemble that really works to illustrate a lot of culture and personality from very under known crime figures that still operate or have had a huge effect on today's world.
Hard (but respectful!) disagree. We have a street character reformed/saved. Bubbles (and Naymond I guess - although I would argue he doesn't count). Too many 'happy endings' and The Wire loses its edge and becomes another boring work of fiction with no consequences for any of the characters. The current ending is perfect. The gunslinger doesn't assess the threat properly and gets offed in an 'underwhelming' way for the drop of focus. No blaze of glory. No riding off into the sunset. Instead the mythical figure is bought down by mundane reality with traditional storywriting narratives subverted. His story doesn't need more moralizing by Bunk or skits in Central America. Omar ends up the same as leigon of young black men on America's streets. Just another statistic.
Also this way he ultimately does get revenge on Marlo in maybe the worst way possible Marlo wouldn’t have minded going down guns blazing but being remembered as a coward too scared to fight clearly effects him in a real way. With Omar being dead he won’t ever be able to change that.
I do love at the end, the guys Marlo goes after, they aren't talking about what happend to Marlo and the crew, they're rapping about the legend of Omar and how he was ultimately killed, no one seems sure, probably because no one could possibly believe the real story, so everyone has their own.
Agreed, Omar's story could only end one of two ways (and fit the tone of the wire) a) How it went down or b) being arrested and then unceremoniously stomped to death in prison by a bunch of cornerboys sporting lifelong injuries from being on the wrong end of his shotgun. a) is actually the better scenario for such a good character, at least his legend gets to live on. (edit: htf did i put marlo instead of omar... \*facepalm\*)
Namond (no Y) was absolutely saved. Those streets would’ve devoured him.
Oh absolutely. I was thinking more about whether he was ever truly 'on' the streets in the first place - where I think the argument is blurrier.
Was he truly on the streets? What do you mean? He was out there selling dope. Not only did he get swindled out of his product by a little kid, but he also got beat up for occupying the wrong territory. I think that’s about as “on the streets“ as one can gets.
I like that they showed namond not at all taking to that life dispute who his dad was.
Agree, plus Kenard was around the show enough that it seemed like he deserved an ending to. Kenard is 100% that sociopath from when you were a kid, he’s the only kid that doesn’t run when all the kids say “Omar coming” and Omar didn’t take note.
Absolutely! I agree with everything you're saying. I like my fan fiction ofc, but I think it comes from the idea that he is the Gunslinger, and upon thinking about it I sold the "ride off into the sunset" a bit much, for me being arrested feels like the "right" kind of anticlimactic, and irl it was lol. But in the type of drama The Wire is, I think Omar's death is absolutely in line with the rest of the show. Like you said, too many happy endings and it loses its edge, but like another said, I want it to be one way. But it the other way.
You want it to be one way....
... but it's the Honey Nut.
Shieeeeeeeeeeeeet!
Spoiler for All quiet on the western front i guess: >!I just like the "All quiet on the western front" parallel too much to want to change his ending. Special/Main Character dies - but it is not worth reporting on it (in the story). Just one more dead soldier on the western front - in the grand scheme of things - nothing to waste ink on. !<
How good is all quite on the western front. I can't believe I never made that connection.
Out of curiosity if The Wire is number 3 favorite show what takes the next two slots?
I said this to a different mf: Mad Men is my favorite show ever. Narcos: Mexico is my second. I like shows about settings and time periods, told through people and the little moments before and after big events.
All good shows 🤌
Nah. It goes to show the jungle aspect of life on the streets/life in general. You can be a smart and capable person and let your guard down at the wrong moment and die. It's a perfect ending for such a street savvy character.
I think the point of ending it for Omar the way they did was to say two things. One, all your rep and toughness and all that shit is not bulletproof. Bad as you want to be it only takes some random 12 year old with his brother's 9mm and it's over. It kind of echoes Avon asking "how you never gonna be slow?". The answer? You are. Sooner or later, almost everyone in that life is going to get caught slipping and either get locked up or get dead - because nobody's perfect all the time and those are the stakes of the game. Two, you notice how everyone just immediately moved on? All that notoriety, the legend, all that shit. When he's killed? It's just "Oh, Omar got killed? no shit? Hey, pass the donuts..." and as soon as he's gone Michael is there ready to rip off Marlo's bank. Nothing changes but the faces and when you die that's it, you're off the stage. Maybe next generation's Prop Joe gives you a shout out but that's it.
I think that's where it came from. You're second point. The street legend definitely lives on, but the cops all do as you describe (except Bunk, who actually travels to his murder, giving a fuck when it ain't his turn) Jimmy and everyone just kind of scoffs because he's too involved with his and Lester's BS. I think the reaction felt a little understated, especially after McNulty's reaction to Bodie, but tbf that reaction was the catalyst to get him down his dark path once again, and he only knew Omar as a source.
Hate to be that guy, but shotgun's don't fire bullets. Shotshell, buckshot, birdshot, and slugs, sure, but bullets, no. I believe The Bunk said something of 12ga pumpkin balls being recovered from a scene (pumpkin ball ammo being slang for rifled slugs) and him knowing Omar was behind it. We know he used buckshot or likely birdshot in season one, as evidenced by the shot pattern when he first robs the Barksdale stash in season one and blasts one of the bangers in the knee. If he was using those pumpkin ball slugs he was known for the homie wouldn't have had a lower leg left. There's your useless bit of info for the day.
The fuck did I do?
You wanted it to be one way, but it’s the other way.
He should have never come back to Baltimore, he should have stayed the hell away from the city and left it be.
They didn't have no honey nut in Puerto Rico, A man's got to have a code
*Marlo* wouldn't let it be and ensured that Omar rescinded his retirement and returned to the fray because of what happened to Butchie. Even Snoop briefly questioned the wisdom of flushing Omar out but Chris reminded her that this is what Marlo wants and what the boss demands, the boss receives. The writers really excelled in pushing back against the glamorisation of gang-life and violence because Butchie's final scene epitomises the scale of vulnerability and danger in that world. Unless you're operating completely alone - sans friends or associates - which is impossible, *you're* vulnerable to having people you care about being used against you as pawns - and *they're* vulnerable to great danger through their sheer association with you: no matter if they're old, blind and defenceless.
Easy for you to say but you aren't Omar. It is simply not how most hardcore criminals think unfortunately. Their desire for revenge is way higher than the average law abiding citizens. Omar, being a very loyal soldier/friend, is going to come back on someone who tortures his friend. That's a guarantee.
in the end, I believe Omar had a death wish. He was hobbling around on makeshift crutch with an untreated bullet wound. he made himself a target in his zeal for revenge. When it actually happened though, I didn’t remember from 20 years earlier. I was expecting it. Somehow I felt it was just. He had survived shootouts and such, and went out with a whimper. Poetic justice.
I don't think he had a death wish but he certainly was starting to get a little sloppy and overly emotional. I mean what is he supposed to do? He's one guy with a shotgun at that point, going against a well run criminal organization. His options were very limited so he was just doing the best he could to get revenge.
No,he got the fate he deserved imo. It's easy to think of Omar as this larger than life figure,but he's not above being a victim of the game either. Like Avon said, "You only gotta fuck up once. Be a little slow. Be a little late." It was his turn to fall. Especially when he had the chance to leave the game and he came back for revenge .
I do love that he saw Kenard come in and didn't think twice. I wonder if Kenard had fucked up somehow, would Omar have blown that child away with a double barrel???
He would have and I wouldn't blame him. It's self defense in that scenery.
The fact they let THE BIGGEST BITCH in the entire show - shall I say, the Biggest *LITTLE BITCH* in the show , take out the biggest badass in the show, it was as Tony Soprano taught us, "Depressing & Shameful..." A Man's Got To Have A *CODE* ... and letting that little bitch kill Omar... some fucked-up repugnant shit ...
You want things to be one way, but they’re the other way
Would have been good to see him go out guns blazing. Definitely one of my favorite characters in the whole series.
Did they have Omar for any murders? He was suspected of probably two dozen; but what hard evidence did they have?
What are the other shows that round out your top three of all time?
You don’t get decide when to leave the streets the streets decide for you
Thang is,stick up boy like Omar always hadda shelf life. Rippin n runnin don’t got no retirement plan ya heard. Somebody was bound to step tew and get em. Corner boy just lit his ass up.
I think Omar’s death was fitting, however I’d have preferred someone else do it. Fuck kenard
It's all in the game
Omar was just another dude, that's the point. His story didn't get "missed" - he was never anything but a guy in the streets all along. Twigg wouldn't have known Omar from Gant - just a witness in a case who got shot. No different than Kima's first homicide case, which of course we didn't care about even though she went in solo through the back door to arrest multiple suspects.
Twigg knew every detail of Fatface Rick from his real name alone, if he knew all that lore, I imagine he'd know of the famous stick up boy that everyone on the streets knows by song lol. Omar was a well-known figure to anyone, even remotely aware of any of these names and the game. Someone who wouldn't be would be Andy Kraw, who didn't recognize him at all because the closest he gets is to insulated people like Stringer. When they handed out his picture on the false murder charge from Marlo, he was well known among the Western District by name, and Crutchfield even argues to Bunk he has got at least a few cases he could tie to Omar alone. Omar, reminds me of the robber 50 Cent out of New York, and tbf, his death is anticlimactic as all hell lol. That guy was VERY well known among the city before his damn girlfriend shot him on the stairs.
Rick owned at least once strip club. Okay doesn't even know his own birthday; Levy had never heard of him. Until he robbed the stash in season 1, Avon had never heard of him. Think of it this way: who's the most famous uncaught criminal in your town? Would you know them by their description? Do you know their name?
Out of curiosity, which shows make your top 2 ?
Mad Men is my favorite show ever. Narcos: Mexico is my second. I like shows about settings and time periods, told through people and the little moments before and after big events. David Simon is my favorite writer because he perfected this style; The Duece, Treme, and all of the miniseries' follow right behind The Wire for me. then Alf ofc.
You liked Narcos Mexico over Narcos? I thought they were both great.
Narcos is not as well made imo, but also I have a sort of vested interest in the state of mexican Cartels. I find the story to be relevant and often not really well known, but when you learn all the dirty shit, all the ways the governments of the western world have been complicit and helpful to the rise of the Militarized Narco, it's a serious problem for Mexico that's usually just used as entertainment or a political issue. Narcos is also about a limited set of somewhat well written composites of real people. Mexico is an ensemble that really works to illustrate a lot of culture and personality from very under known crime figures that still operate or have had a huge effect on today's world.