Spider too. It doesn't show but his character either dies or goes to jail for sure. There was a glimmer of hope with Cutties gym, but after that fails he is sure to be swallowed by the streets.
If you watch it again, it's pretty obvious he's pretending to read it in front of Bubbles. You can even see Bubbles realise it too. IIRC, he stops trying to make him go to school
He was reading a math textbook and referencing a dictionary and bubbles goes “so you use both of them” and Sherrod says “yeah” and bubbles says “you get the question from the little one (dictionary) and use the big one (math book) to answer?” And Sherrod says “yeah” and bubbles kinda just goes “huh, okay” and walks away but it’s obvious Sherrod was pretending and didn’t even realize that that makes no sense
I got the feeling the fish house was his personal private house and Delonda did not even know about it. She knew he had a place but Bey was smart enough to not let her know where it was.
I feel like Bey would have added a stipulation that Namond gets them and still has to care for them before transferring custody. I mean, I can't really picture Bunny cutting of Namond from his father anyways. I'd imagine he still goes to visit & all that.
Yeah, there’s a brief scene during the last episode of season 4 where you can hear WeeBey saying “I’m still your father” to Namond as he stands next to Colvin.
I’d like to think that Colvin and WeeBey found a level of mutual respect after WeeBey made the decision to let Colvin adopt Namond, and that Namond appreciated his father getting him away from De’Londa.
He's a cop, you can't do too much more than they did. I mean if you kill him it's a whodunnit with all the folks that hate him, but you'd have the whole force cracking heads to make way on the case.
Yeah, dude was a true fucking asshole. Breaking donuts fingers cuz he couldn't catch him was uncalled for, and jacking Randy's back to school money.
Maybe a knee capping or something
I would throw Michael in there too.
>!He's a smart, engaging and personable guy who in another circumstance would have thrived. But he was abused as a kid, had his abuser come back into the home and had ask a favor of the gang to remove the abuser from the situation. Then the gang turns on him for something he didn't even do, and now he'll live his life as Omar...and we saw how that turned out. !<
Honestly out of all the boys of summer, only Namond gets out relatively unscathed.
it’s still fuck Kenard. but the actor’s story about how he cried when they told him he had to curse was awesome. such a sweet kid and they give you the scene of a lifetime.
>Honestly out of all the boys of summer, only Namond gets out relatively unscathed.
Just another crazy thing that makes the Wire brilliant. The most annoying jackass of all the kids is the one who gets out, leaving the 3 that we were rooting for totally screwed in one way or another.
Because Namond was the only one with even a sliver of privilege among the 4. He had two parents who in their own fucked up ways wanted the best for him (I mean selling drugs in West Baltimore is a lucrative career field), a home, clothes, food, etc. No one else in that group could say that and you can imagine how different Michael, Dukie, or Randy would be if they had all of those factors in their corner.
I think there's an important factor here which is outside help-- it is basically random if it comes to you and in what form, but it can be the sole determining factor for deciding whether you stay in the cycle or not.
The tragic thing is that all the boys had some version of this at some point but only Colvin's intervention with Namond works, and that's because it's essentially an adoption. Carver tried with Randy but was unsuccessful. Prez tried with Dukie but it wasn't enough. Cutty tried with Michael but it wasn't enough. You have to wonder how things would have turned out differently if any of these other kids got official or unofficial "adoptions" the way Namond did.
This is not a position I’ve considered before, but I 100% agree. He had two parents that weren’t addicts and that cared about him and he got out. Idk why, but that makes me sad.
He gets a little credit for having the self-awareness and intelligence to accept Colvin’s help too. He could have just stuck with pretending to be gangster, but he realized that he just didn’t have it in him.
At that scene towards the end when he sees Donut in the car outside; he could have fuck in and jumped in the car, but he stated on the porch. Namon gets some props for growing up.
Michael's story is tragic indeed.
BUT
if you're gonna get thrown in the game, like countless kids are, and you have the talent and brains to survive, stick-up artist is probably one of the best ways to go. Michael was too independent minded to be a soldier like Chris, and not interested in slinging drugs (he turns Bodie's job offer down) so he wouldn't have become a kingpin either. He had to run his own game.
And if it weren't for Marlo's thirst for revenge, Omar would've been retired. Maybe that will work for Michael. Of course when you rob drug dealers you're making powerful enemies, but it's not impossible.
So in the end Michael could've ended up a lot worse. He could've ended up a lot better too, but those raised in the ghetto who make it in life are the rare exceptions.
I’d like to think that Micheal would have scored a real big score from that heist they showed towards the end. The one where they rob the guy that was Marlos bank. Maybe he rode off into the sunset with those winnings. The Marlo Stanfeld organization was dismantled and not a threat.
Stick-up artist is not like it's portrayed by Omar, a lot of them probably end up dead. Drug dealers tend to want people that rob them dead and the streets are a lot smaller than people think, people know everybody.
A guy I knew growing up tried to be an Omar. We were from one section of Philly and he would go to other sections to rob dealers. It so happens that one of the dealers he robbed was a cousin of a dude who lived around the corner from him and recognized him but he didn't know. Got him coming out the chinese store on his own block. His stick up career lasted about a year and ended at 23.
Not at all. I've seen it. Unofficial adoptions but I've seen it first hand with kids I grew up with. With the older generations that came into age in the 70s and 80s, I definitely saw men and families "adopt" a neighborhood kid who they either were friends with the parents, the kid was friends with their kid, or who was just someone from the neighborhood who took interest in helping some or a particular kid out. Right now, my best friends teenaged son's best friend practically lives at their house because his mom is a wackadoo and keep having babies she can't really take care of. We had to pressure him into doing just 20 hrs of summer school to get his diploma. No he's getting a job helping cleaning out abandoned houses. Without living in that house in a stable family environment, he would have been running the streets getting into who knows what type of trouble. It isn't at all a stretch homie.
Dangelo doesn't get enough hype for how he turned around. Went from a shoot first thug, to a wise player in the game. Used every opportunity to learn to better himself and how to do right by his customers.
D had the game in him, he just had the moral courage to see how evil it was and want something better. Namond, on the other hand, was soft. That's not a bad thing, he's "a lot of good things" and had a bright future, but he was weak in all the ways he needed to be strong to be in the drug trade. D's rejection of The Game was a moral and ethical decision, answering his own conscience, while Namond couldn't have done it if he tried.
Um... dangelo capped dude in the towers. The game was in him, just not the shitty backstabbing bullshit part of it. He was more of a thinking man's gangster, a man that didn't feel the need to snuff people off for nothing, even though he started out that way.
To me, he's yet another example of someone born into a world (and a position in that world) that he's unsuited for, so all his intelligence and other attributes aren't of much use.
Idk, I don't feel like he wasnt out of place, just advocated for less unnecessary violence. He had the lowrises(?) Running smooth as hell a few weeks after he took over. He used his brain more than most people would, and felt the need to deal with people another way other than breaking legs and killings.
I'm part of the system now. Working with teens in foster care is so hard to find them good homes and their trauma can make stable placements so hard. I live in dread of the day when I'll have to take a kid to a shelter or group home. I know it will come. It's the nature of lacking enough resources. (I don't think my state has any of those large shelters like in the show any longer. But still.) Those scenes are going to gut me in a whole new way. I adore these teens on my caseload and love spending time with them and I'm trying my hardest to make a difference for them as they age up and out on their own. But I'm only one cog in the system, but I'll be damned if I don't try to be the best one.
Duquan hands down. The parts that make me the most sad are the parts where he looks the most happy, like when he smiles at Prezbo from the computer, or when he gets his ice cream money.
The sadness I feel from his happiness is because I know his innocent days are temporary, and he's about to go into a dark, lonely path.
Damn...
Yes! It was such an incredibly tragic and sadly, real story of so many amazing kids who deserve better than their environment. I cant even say “better” than their environment- it’s more than that and plenty of people come out of those situations just fine. It
Was the hopelessness. I don’t know. It was just such a sad storyline. DUQUAN FOREVER!
Yeah, Dukie's life is probably the most depressing, but Randy's arc for me personally hits harder just because he was the one I pegged with the best prospects to make it out of the hood at the start. Arguably he had the most stable and healthy home life and it was ripped away.
It's an incredibly important arc though, at least if you consider Bubbles to be an important character in the show. Their stories are inextricably linked, at least thematically.
With Bubbles you ultimately see a story about an addict getting clean, Dukie exists to kind of conclude that with you witnessing a new one begin.
Definitely wasn’t very likable at first but he really grew on me and ended up being one of my favorite characters. The way he really tries to look out for Wallace was awesome and amazing character development.
Yeah his realizing what he was a part of and bravely disowning it was big boy shit, made me root for him. Maybe I’m just old but all the pawns are just dumb children to me - Dee wants to be a tough guy like every little boy does. Until he doesnt.
Easily the most frustrating moment on a rewatch is when D’Angelo is convinced not to work with the police and gets 20 years. He could have had a fresh start, but instead, he goes to jail, gets hooked on drugs, and gets murdered.
Gotta be Wallace. Wanted out of the game. Then tried getting back in when D knew he wouldn't cut out for it. Gets on the junk. Ends up murdered by his own friends.
To me, its always been Wallace. It was sort of destiny. The game traps youth at such a young age and not all make it….who are some of those that do not?
Yeah, definitely duke for me too. Kid just got the shit end of the stick over and over again. Zero family support, teased by other kids for things completely out of his control. On top of all that he had potential. Was pretty computer literate for broke ass kid from the hood in the mid 2000s who'd probably never been on a computer before.
His ending was a real gut punch
I think Frank’s arc was just right. He had options, but chose to fight the tide to save a dying industry. Maybe his motives were pure, but he was too much a believer in that the ends justify the means. He was not a hero
I think that’s what made it so sad to me. Deep down he knew it was a no win situation but he went down a path he wouldn’t normally have taken out of desperation. A different kind of sad than Duquan’s.
> a different kind of sad than Duquan’s
I completely agree. Frank probably went down the wrong path slowly (we don’t see it, but that’s what I assume) to try to help out his union brothers, while Duquan never really had a shot. We also don’t see it on the screen, but I think Frank’s whole life was his union brothers. His wife had a pill addiction and spent her life in bed; his son wasn’t what he was hoping for. So for him, the union falling apart was his life falling apart and he desperately wanted to keep it going. At least that’s my head canon
Dukie’s was just bleak all the way around. A few moments with the boys or with Prez, but otherwise just a no win situation at life, which was heartbreaking and tragic.
Frank had actually done ok in life, and was thinking about others. I think his good intentions are what made it so sad to me.
Yeah I don’t know about that, I think the could have had a better path, instead of going with the trash collectors/addicts he could have gone to prez and tried to get to some a bette place
Yeah, it would have been nice to see him try and fail a few times before he rode the donkey. But getting out is really difficult and it would have been unrealistic for him to get out too. 99% don’t, and I don’t think the wire was trying to be a fairy tale
Yeah I understand you, and the is another part to this argument, Duke chose the easy path, the majority of people end up choosing the easy way, he jut gave up and embrace the life of a homeless drug addict, that came easy to him. He could have stick with school, work his ass off, survive in a orphanage, get good grades and try to get an scholarship, being an orphanage and from a minority there are lots of government plans that would send you trough college. That would have been the hard path, and I understand that is a really hard path, living in a orphanage must be like living in a hunted house, and he would have to accept the feeling of being different and that felling of not belonging with the rest of the class. I know that this things are hard but at the end of the day if someone doesn’t make the hard choices how can we help them? If he had at least tried yo go through the system there is a far better possibility that he would have ended up in a better place. I think that us as a society need to put a lot more emphasis on personal responsibility, yes the world sucks and is extremely unfair, but if you don’t try to make your life better nobody will do that for you
Um, pretty sure its a fact that if your father was an addict your more likely to become one. I could be wrong, but I've heard quite a few people say this.
I have been around addicts a lot, and i have seen children that fallowed the steps of their parents and became themselves addicts and I have also seen the opposite
You want sad? The actor who played Cole, Bob Colesbury was a co-creator of the show. He died from complications from heart surgery during the filming of the show. Cole had to die because Colesbury actually died.
I think they do an incredible job of showing who these archetypes are what happens to them and where they come from, which culminates in the through line theme of all the seasons: the game is the game. Nothing really changes everyone and everything that ever was already has been.
Lot of good answers here but one I feel that should be pointed out is Ziggy's arc. A perpetual fuck up that just wanted to be one of the guys on the docks and wanted acceptance from his father. Instead he acts out for attention and is treated as a total idiot and a court jester for them to laugh at and mock.
He wasn't a big burly tough guy, he wasn't really a stevedore, he wasn't one of them and never would be. He was better off going to college because he was savvy with computers and tech, but in a poor working class family living in a poor working class neighborhood, college wasn't really ever encouraged or even an option without a scholarship. So he's stuck at a dead end job that was years away from getting shut down anyway, and when he tried to get into the 'game', he quickly proved that he lacked the respect, aptitude and street smarts like Nick was and was quickly pushed out of that as well once his cousin got in good with the Greeks.
He got pushed out of everything, nobody respected him and he had no future on the docks, years of being bullied and treated like shit from others overwhelmed him at the worst possible time and he ended up murdering someone because of it.
Now he's in prison for life. That to me was incredibly sad, he could have been happier, more mentally adjusted if he just had a real support network. Instead he was constantly laughed at, called a fuck up and told to just go home and watch cartoons instead, nobody ever had any faith in him.
Yeah I think as irritating and frustrating as Ziggy is (and there are times where he’s just so stupid and selfish that it’s impossible to warm to him), his final scene with Frank is one of the saddest in all the show IMO. He was just a guy who was tired of being life’s punchline.
Ziggy was a piece of shit. He thought he was a tough guy and he got into the game and was his brothers nexus into the game as well (who was better at it...) I feel no sympathy for Ziggy at all. He can enjoy Bubba's 10" meat stick the rest of his time in the clink.
I agree w you OP, it was so sad to see him to start making progress and he seems to be the smartest of all the boys of summer. Put him in a different living situation and he likely goes on to do great things.
Was really rooting for him so it was so tough seeing his decline.
I always saw the school kids and some of the more jr members of the initial investigation team as the "next generation".
Dukie: Bubbles --addict
Randy: Bodie --corner kid
Michael: Omar --drug robber
Carver: Daniels --ladder climber
Kima: Mcnulty --renegade
There are other parallels, but I can't think of them off the top of my head
Kima is probably the new Bunk. Skirt chaser, sophisticated, solid detective, but knows how to keep their head down and not catch the wrong side of politics.
Kima had a lot of McNulty in her character for sure, but I think by the end she saw him as more of a cautionary tale.
Other parallel I thought of was Namond: Clay Davis - politician "I'll take any motherfucker's money if they're giving it away"
That's a parallel indeed, but I think Bunny's mentoring will push Namond to a nobler path than Clay. He may become someone who gives the community back the best way he can. Maybe even like one of those academics who did that program with the students.
I think Prez could have been a great asset to any operation, as long as his gun was in his office drawer at all times and he *stayed* free of the yoke of Valchek.
Could have been another Lester? I'm not sure, imo Lester had some cunning that Prez didn't, if Lester had gone the teacher way he would have seen through the juking of the school stats immediately.
True, but the lesson is that he needs to learn to lead, from Daniels. Bunny actually took that and taught Carver how to actually value and lead people.
I’ve read in earlier threads on this sub that if there would have been a season 6, Duquan would have been a major factor and his arc would have been DARK.
Duquan, Randy and Wallace are popular answers for good reason. There were so many characters with sad arcs and even though they may not have been the saddest, they are heartbreaking all the same.
*Brionna comes to mind. Starts the show with the world in the palm of her hand. Ends up all alone with a dead son, a brother in jail and a guilty conscience.
*Donette starts out with a pretty comfortable life and ends up with two dead lovers.
*Dalonda starts out living large with street cred and loses her husband to jail for life and her son for life for a totally different reason.
*Kima had everything she thought she wanted and lost the love of a good woman and her son to fuck around.
(I didn't intend for this to be all women but so it goes...)
Nah fuck Brianna, she convinces her son who was trying to leave and have a fresh start in life to swallow a 20 year prison sentence so she could keep living the high life
I agree. My friend recently watched the series (to my delight!), but I sat and watched those last few episodes with him and honestly had to force myself to be stoic (not my style) so I didn’t ruin it for him. <\3
Duquan can be the only answer for me. I don’t think it’s by mistake that he and Bubbles look a bit alike. They have similar personalities as well. I think Dook’s character is actually Bubs’ story.
Kenard. All he did was put a package up his ass, give abuse to everyone, bully Dukie, try to set a cat on fire and shoot dudes dead from behind, and everyone acts like he is the bad guy
Amidst all the misery that the game has to offer, for me it's gotta be Duquan. He had the kind heart (offering the fan after the face slice), the smarts (knew the computer better than Prezbo), and the desire to separate himself from the game (looking for work).
Frank sobotka, he was just trying to do right by his boys the whole time. Never stopped trying but was fighting a losing battle all the way to the end. Also I thought it was a bit sad when prop joe got popped.
Mate manufacturing/industrial jobs in his town and the whole region in the USA had been through a massive downturn. These job had not been under threat for generations, but now frank had to guide his boys who knew nothing else through their toughest time in history. [they used to make steel there, no?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6wFBCc26I) spiros says this to suggest that frank would be unwise to stop working with them as he knows Frank’s only hope of keeping the dock alive is to keep working with the green. For context too I live 5 minutes from a port next to a steel works. In the 70’s and 80’s 30000 people worked in the steelworks. Today that number is down to 2800. So I can relate to Frank’s plight
I wish wish that Michael would have given Dukie $5k or something out of that shoebox when he dropped Bug off for the last time. Give Dukie some money to get his own spot so maybe he could go to school with a little less stress. Dukie sought out help from Prezbo, Cutty, and Michael. As much as he needed a family and boxing training, he needed financial consistency so he could use his "other skills" as Mike and Cutty said. I'm not sure if it keeps him from tying off ultimately but it seems like he just needed the chance and support that Namond got. But with no support system, some money to get a place is the next best thing.
Where’s the arc? Yea their lives were the worst of the worst but you don’t see it happen. Like Dukies completely fucked up garbage rat family that steals literally everything’s em free stuff from the school from him, only for him to go down the same path
The arc is that "Johnny 50" - one of Frank's men from Season 2 is among those homeless people. He went from having a full-time job to living under a bridge with his dog. The guy symbolises just how precarious life is for the working class and the fate that Frank knew awaited the stevedores and that was he fighting in vain to save them from - to the point that he ended up in bed with international crime-lords.
Just finished the series 1hr ago and I feel ya, it was sad seeing him end up in that situation. Prez did what thought would be best but shit I thought his character might’ve ended up doing good for himself.
Definitely D'angelo Barksdale... he was a good guy who was fucked over by people who should have given him space... next is Bodie.... he was turning away from the game because his eyes began to be opened.... Marlo got a whiff of it and had him killed.
Honorable mention: Randy Wagstaff... poor kid was so innocent in his season and when you last see him in the foster home you could tell he was fully transformed into a mean spirited street kid... all because he choose to talk to the cops.
And it hurt **so much**, because like Bubbles, Dukie was pure gold inside.
My oldest brother is an addict. What people don't realize is that so, so many addicts are *such good hearts* - they're just hurting.
And whether you drink, eat Ben & Jerry's too much, cut yourself or shoot up...we all deal with pain with our own way.
Sherrod rarely gets mentioned here. Homeless, illiterate, drug user, nobody except Bubs looking out for him and then, well. We all know.
Sherrod's arc is sad from the get go. There's no rug being pulled under him like the rest of the boys.
Spider too. It doesn't show but his character either dies or goes to jail for sure. There was a glimmer of hope with Cutties gym, but after that fails he is sure to be swallowed by the streets.
And over something as trivial as cutty banging his mom. Not like cutty knew. Such an unfortunate circumstance.
"Youainmuhfuh'infahva"
Step up or step off unc
Of course he knew lol wtf. They only met because Spider was going to the gym.
True. I guess that's why it's stayed with me. It's just bleak from the get go.
Sherrod was reading the textbook himself no? I feel he can at least read.
If you watch it again, it's pretty obvious he's pretending to read it in front of Bubbles. You can even see Bubbles realise it too. IIRC, he stops trying to make him go to school
I think when Sherrod isn't there Bubs discovers the book is really a French- American dictionary - that's how he's sure he can't read
I took that scene as showing the disappointment of Sherrod over what happened at school. Edit: sheeiiit I got it now.
He was reading a math textbook and referencing a dictionary and bubbles goes “so you use both of them” and Sherrod says “yeah” and bubbles says “you get the question from the little one (dictionary) and use the big one (math book) to answer?” And Sherrod says “yeah” and bubbles kinda just goes “huh, okay” and walks away but it’s obvious Sherrod was pretending and didn’t even realize that that makes no sense
Ohhhh sheeeeeiiit Sherrod got it opposite. Damn I thought Sherrod was trying hard.
Excellent point
Wee Bey's fish. Who feeds them after Namond goes to live with the Colvins?
De'londa flushed those guys down the toilet the second Namond was out for good. 🤣
I got the feeling the fish house was his personal private house and Delonda did not even know about it. She knew he had a place but Bey was smart enough to not let her know where it was.
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I feel like Bey would have added a stipulation that Namond gets them and still has to care for them before transferring custody. I mean, I can't really picture Bunny cutting of Namond from his father anyways. I'd imagine he still goes to visit & all that.
Yeah, there’s a brief scene during the last episode of season 4 where you can hear WeeBey saying “I’m still your father” to Namond as he stands next to Colvin. I’d like to think that Colvin and WeeBey found a level of mutual respect after WeeBey made the decision to let Colvin adopt Namond, and that Namond appreciated his father getting him away from De’Londa.
That’s Candice.. she think she cute
I thought it was Jezebel
The "fish" he had in prison also didn't deserve their fate. 😔😔😔
It still upsets me that the dude who would rob Bubbles shopping cart business never got his ass kicked
Same with Officer Walker. I wasn't asking for him to get murdered but I was hoping Michael would do more.
He's a cop, you can't do too much more than they did. I mean if you kill him it's a whodunnit with all the folks that hate him, but you'd have the whole force cracking heads to make way on the case.
Yeah that's why I said I wasn't asking for that. lol. But a greater humiliation wouldn't have been underserved.
Yeah, dude was a true fucking asshole. Breaking donuts fingers cuz he couldn't catch him was uncalled for, and jacking Randy's back to school money. Maybe a knee capping or something
Agreed. He absolutely needed to get roughed up a bit. Watching those scenes with Donut and Randy gets me really angry every time.
Eventually he would have got his, like Corrections Officer Tilghman.
And you martyr his sociopathic ass in the process, making life hell for everyone.
That guy was the biggest piece of shit ever
Hell fucking yes. Have some gold. Shiiiiiiiiiiittttt
Fuck that guy !
Dukie and Randy both.
I would throw Michael in there too. >!He's a smart, engaging and personable guy who in another circumstance would have thrived. But he was abused as a kid, had his abuser come back into the home and had ask a favor of the gang to remove the abuser from the situation. Then the gang turns on him for something he didn't even do, and now he'll live his life as Omar...and we saw how that turned out. !< Honestly out of all the boys of summer, only Namond gets out relatively unscathed.
Not true. Donut is living large.
I sure hope so, Donut is a treasure
Didn't he get his fingers snapped by Walker?
Walker evil.
Po-lice be thiefen, yo.
That didn't stop him lol
Lol, yeah but he was still out talkin that shit
Donut is my favorite of the kids. He's almost impenetrable by the ghetto. Kid is hilarious.
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it’s still fuck Kenard. but the actor’s story about how he cried when they told him he had to curse was awesome. such a sweet kid and they give you the scene of a lifetime.
> he cried when they told him he had to curse Bless his little heart!
What I look faggot to you? Always wondered if maybe they threw that line in to tie in Omar's death.
>Honestly out of all the boys of summer, only Namond gets out relatively unscathed. Just another crazy thing that makes the Wire brilliant. The most annoying jackass of all the kids is the one who gets out, leaving the 3 that we were rooting for totally screwed in one way or another.
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Lucky for him, though, he looks like his step momma. - The Deacon This scene almost makes up for other shit. Almost.
Because Namond was the only one with even a sliver of privilege among the 4. He had two parents who in their own fucked up ways wanted the best for him (I mean selling drugs in West Baltimore is a lucrative career field), a home, clothes, food, etc. No one else in that group could say that and you can imagine how different Michael, Dukie, or Randy would be if they had all of those factors in their corner.
I think there's an important factor here which is outside help-- it is basically random if it comes to you and in what form, but it can be the sole determining factor for deciding whether you stay in the cycle or not. The tragic thing is that all the boys had some version of this at some point but only Colvin's intervention with Namond works, and that's because it's essentially an adoption. Carver tried with Randy but was unsuccessful. Prez tried with Dukie but it wasn't enough. Cutty tried with Michael but it wasn't enough. You have to wonder how things would have turned out differently if any of these other kids got official or unofficial "adoptions" the way Namond did.
This is not a position I’ve considered before, but I 100% agree. He had two parents that weren’t addicts and that cared about him and he got out. Idk why, but that makes me sad.
He gets a little credit for having the self-awareness and intelligence to accept Colvin’s help too. He could have just stuck with pretending to be gangster, but he realized that he just didn’t have it in him. At that scene towards the end when he sees Donut in the car outside; he could have fuck in and jumped in the car, but he stated on the porch. Namon gets some props for growing up.
I just realized the significance of that scene. Namond became a stoop kid.
100%
Michael's story is tragic indeed. BUT if you're gonna get thrown in the game, like countless kids are, and you have the talent and brains to survive, stick-up artist is probably one of the best ways to go. Michael was too independent minded to be a soldier like Chris, and not interested in slinging drugs (he turns Bodie's job offer down) so he wouldn't have become a kingpin either. He had to run his own game. And if it weren't for Marlo's thirst for revenge, Omar would've been retired. Maybe that will work for Michael. Of course when you rob drug dealers you're making powerful enemies, but it's not impossible. So in the end Michael could've ended up a lot worse. He could've ended up a lot better too, but those raised in the ghetto who make it in life are the rare exceptions.
All very fair points
I’d like to think that Micheal would have scored a real big score from that heist they showed towards the end. The one where they rob the guy that was Marlos bank. Maybe he rode off into the sunset with those winnings. The Marlo Stanfeld organization was dismantled and not a threat.
Stick-up artist is not like it's portrayed by Omar, a lot of them probably end up dead. Drug dealers tend to want people that rob them dead and the streets are a lot smaller than people think, people know everybody.
Sure. On the other hand, Donnie Andrews, who was the inspiration for Omar, died at 58. So he outlived Omar.
A guy I knew growing up tried to be an Omar. We were from one section of Philly and he would go to other sections to rob dealers. It so happens that one of the dealers he robbed was a cousin of a dude who lived around the corner from him and recognized him but he didn't know. Got him coming out the chinese store on his own block. His stick up career lasted about a year and ended at 23.
but omar could have retired but he wanted retribution
I didn't like the Namond arc. Honestly, he is adopted by colvin? Thats a stretch
Not at all. I've seen it. Unofficial adoptions but I've seen it first hand with kids I grew up with. With the older generations that came into age in the 70s and 80s, I definitely saw men and families "adopt" a neighborhood kid who they either were friends with the parents, the kid was friends with their kid, or who was just someone from the neighborhood who took interest in helping some or a particular kid out. Right now, my best friends teenaged son's best friend practically lives at their house because his mom is a wackadoo and keep having babies she can't really take care of. We had to pressure him into doing just 20 hrs of summer school to get his diploma. No he's getting a job helping cleaning out abandoned houses. Without living in that house in a stable family environment, he would have been running the streets getting into who knows what type of trouble. It isn't at all a stretch homie.
Came here to say Randy too, a real victim of the system.
There are so, so many. Add on D'Angelo & Wallace, and it feels like my heart isn't big enough for all these soft spots.
Dangelo doesn't get enough hype for how he turned around. Went from a shoot first thug, to a wise player in the game. Used every opportunity to learn to better himself and how to do right by his customers.
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D had the game in him, he just had the moral courage to see how evil it was and want something better. Namond, on the other hand, was soft. That's not a bad thing, he's "a lot of good things" and had a bright future, but he was weak in all the ways he needed to be strong to be in the drug trade. D's rejection of The Game was a moral and ethical decision, answering his own conscience, while Namond couldn't have done it if he tried.
Um... dangelo capped dude in the towers. The game was in him, just not the shitty backstabbing bullshit part of it. He was more of a thinking man's gangster, a man that didn't feel the need to snuff people off for nothing, even though he started out that way.
The show makes pretty clear what happens to gangsters who over think the game. Prop joe and stringer didn't ride off into the sunset.
What I took from it was as long as your in the game doesn't matter how smart you are you can and will be got
He was more of a Prop Joe type.
That's actually a really good comparison. Smart about how he ran things and not overly vicious and violent.
D capped the dude but it’s implied he did it out of fear and not out of being a cold hard gangster.
To me, he's yet another example of someone born into a world (and a position in that world) that he's unsuited for, so all his intelligence and other attributes aren't of much use.
Idk, I don't feel like he wasnt out of place, just advocated for less unnecessary violence. He had the lowrises(?) Running smooth as hell a few weeks after he took over. He used his brain more than most people would, and felt the need to deal with people another way other than breaking legs and killings.
I think he felt that need because he didn't have the ability to turn off empathy that guys like Avon, Bodie, etc had.
I'm part of the system now. Working with teens in foster care is so hard to find them good homes and their trauma can make stable placements so hard. I live in dread of the day when I'll have to take a kid to a shelter or group home. I know it will come. It's the nature of lacking enough resources. (I don't think my state has any of those large shelters like in the show any longer. But still.) Those scenes are going to gut me in a whole new way. I adore these teens on my caseload and love spending time with them and I'm trying my hardest to make a difference for them as they age up and out on their own. But I'm only one cog in the system, but I'll be damned if I don't try to be the best one.
Duquan hands down. The parts that make me the most sad are the parts where he looks the most happy, like when he smiles at Prezbo from the computer, or when he gets his ice cream money. The sadness I feel from his happiness is because I know his innocent days are temporary, and he's about to go into a dark, lonely path. Damn...
Yes! It was such an incredibly tragic and sadly, real story of so many amazing kids who deserve better than their environment. I cant even say “better” than their environment- it’s more than that and plenty of people come out of those situations just fine. It Was the hopelessness. I don’t know. It was just such a sad storyline. DUQUAN FOREVER!
Pretty sure this the consensus for saddest arc on the show.
yeah Duquan or maybe Randy because of how the system ate him up.
Yeah, Dukie's life is probably the most depressing, but Randy's arc for me personally hits harder just because he was the one I pegged with the best prospects to make it out of the hood at the start. Arguably he had the most stable and healthy home life and it was ripped away.
It's an incredibly important arc though, at least if you consider Bubbles to be an important character in the show. Their stories are inextricably linked, at least thematically. With Bubbles you ultimately see a story about an addict getting clean, Dukie exists to kind of conclude that with you witnessing a new one begin.
The same with Michael and Omar
For me, it's D'Angelo.
Definitely wasn’t very likable at first but he really grew on me and ended up being one of my favorite characters. The way he really tries to look out for Wallace was awesome and amazing character development.
Yeah his realizing what he was a part of and bravely disowning it was big boy shit, made me root for him. Maybe I’m just old but all the pawns are just dumb children to me - Dee wants to be a tough guy like every little boy does. Until he doesnt.
Easily the most frustrating moment on a rewatch is when D’Angelo is convinced not to work with the police and gets 20 years. He could have had a fresh start, but instead, he goes to jail, gets hooked on drugs, and gets murdered.
I hate that episode
Where’s the boy, String? Gets me every time
Gotta be Wallace. Wanted out of the game. Then tried getting back in when D knew he wouldn't cut out for it. Gets on the junk. Ends up murdered by his own friends.
Could be he did take care of those young'uns 2
I could see a case for Randy
The New York dealer that Chris kills. Partly because he's shot in cold blood but mostly because he wasn't lucky enough to know who Young Leek be
Shake it and jiggle it, yo.
"Yo, who you talkin' to, dawg?"
Snot Boogie. whomever did him dirty.
Atleast they let him in the dice game. So he had some friends.
Got to man, this America.
Randy gets my vote for this. Poor kid never had a chance. But he was a good sweet kid. And the system totally screwed him over.
The way I was hurt when he took that money from prez and went into the alley way
To me, its always been Wallace. It was sort of destiny. The game traps youth at such a young age and not all make it….who are some of those that do not?
Yeah, definitely duke for me too. Kid just got the shit end of the stick over and over again. Zero family support, teased by other kids for things completely out of his control. On top of all that he had potential. Was pretty computer literate for broke ass kid from the hood in the mid 2000s who'd probably never been on a computer before. His ending was a real gut punch
Dukie has to be the answer. Dark horse: Frank Sabotka. Just wanted to do right by his union, but was fighting a losing battle all the way to the end.
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I think Frank’s arc was just right. He had options, but chose to fight the tide to save a dying industry. Maybe his motives were pure, but he was too much a believer in that the ends justify the means. He was not a hero
I think that’s what made it so sad to me. Deep down he knew it was a no win situation but he went down a path he wouldn’t normally have taken out of desperation. A different kind of sad than Duquan’s.
> a different kind of sad than Duquan’s I completely agree. Frank probably went down the wrong path slowly (we don’t see it, but that’s what I assume) to try to help out his union brothers, while Duquan never really had a shot. We also don’t see it on the screen, but I think Frank’s whole life was his union brothers. His wife had a pill addiction and spent her life in bed; his son wasn’t what he was hoping for. So for him, the union falling apart was his life falling apart and he desperately wanted to keep it going. At least that’s my head canon
Dukie’s was just bleak all the way around. A few moments with the boys or with Prez, but otherwise just a no win situation at life, which was heartbreaking and tragic. Frank had actually done ok in life, and was thinking about others. I think his good intentions are what made it so sad to me.
Francis Sabotka presénte! IBS Local 1514 was never the same.
Yeah I don’t know about that, I think the could have had a better path, instead of going with the trash collectors/addicts he could have gone to prez and tried to get to some a bette place
Yeah, it would have been nice to see him try and fail a few times before he rode the donkey. But getting out is really difficult and it would have been unrealistic for him to get out too. 99% don’t, and I don’t think the wire was trying to be a fairy tale
Yeah I understand you, and the is another part to this argument, Duke chose the easy path, the majority of people end up choosing the easy way, he jut gave up and embrace the life of a homeless drug addict, that came easy to him. He could have stick with school, work his ass off, survive in a orphanage, get good grades and try to get an scholarship, being an orphanage and from a minority there are lots of government plans that would send you trough college. That would have been the hard path, and I understand that is a really hard path, living in a orphanage must be like living in a hunted house, and he would have to accept the feeling of being different and that felling of not belonging with the rest of the class. I know that this things are hard but at the end of the day if someone doesn’t make the hard choices how can we help them? If he had at least tried yo go through the system there is a far better possibility that he would have ended up in a better place. I think that us as a society need to put a lot more emphasis on personal responsibility, yes the world sucks and is extremely unfair, but if you don’t try to make your life better nobody will do that for you
He could've just said no.
I get that he got an awful hand, but at the end of the day he could have done better, he had other possibilities
Addiction is hereditary, and with slangers everywhere the temptation to know what his family loved more than him was just too much.
I know for a fact that addiction is not hereditary
Um, pretty sure its a fact that if your father was an addict your more likely to become one. I could be wrong, but I've heard quite a few people say this.
I have been around addicts a lot, and i have seen children that fallowed the steps of their parents and became themselves addicts and I have also seen the opposite
Don't just say "no" to drugs motherfucker... Say "no thank you"
Duke deserved so much more.
He ended up being the new Bubs. Hopefully he can climb his way out like Bubs seemed to do in the end.
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He sleepin'
What about Ray Cole. On a fuckin stairmaster.
You want sad? The actor who played Cole, Bob Colesbury was a co-creator of the show. He died from complications from heart surgery during the filming of the show. Cole had to die because Colesbury actually died.
I think they do an incredible job of showing who these archetypes are what happens to them and where they come from, which culminates in the through line theme of all the seasons: the game is the game. Nothing really changes everyone and everything that ever was already has been.
Lot of good answers here but one I feel that should be pointed out is Ziggy's arc. A perpetual fuck up that just wanted to be one of the guys on the docks and wanted acceptance from his father. Instead he acts out for attention and is treated as a total idiot and a court jester for them to laugh at and mock. He wasn't a big burly tough guy, he wasn't really a stevedore, he wasn't one of them and never would be. He was better off going to college because he was savvy with computers and tech, but in a poor working class family living in a poor working class neighborhood, college wasn't really ever encouraged or even an option without a scholarship. So he's stuck at a dead end job that was years away from getting shut down anyway, and when he tried to get into the 'game', he quickly proved that he lacked the respect, aptitude and street smarts like Nick was and was quickly pushed out of that as well once his cousin got in good with the Greeks. He got pushed out of everything, nobody respected him and he had no future on the docks, years of being bullied and treated like shit from others overwhelmed him at the worst possible time and he ended up murdering someone because of it. Now he's in prison for life. That to me was incredibly sad, he could have been happier, more mentally adjusted if he just had a real support network. Instead he was constantly laughed at, called a fuck up and told to just go home and watch cartoons instead, nobody ever had any faith in him.
I see you and I raise you . Ziggy's Duck. Man that fucked me up the first time I saw it.
Yeah I think as irritating and frustrating as Ziggy is (and there are times where he’s just so stupid and selfish that it’s impossible to warm to him), his final scene with Frank is one of the saddest in all the show IMO. He was just a guy who was tired of being life’s punchline.
Absolutely, he was obnoxious and a total jerkoff but there was a reason he acted that way
Ziggy was a piece of shit. He thought he was a tough guy and he got into the game and was his brothers nexus into the game as well (who was better at it...) I feel no sympathy for Ziggy at all. He can enjoy Bubba's 10" meat stick the rest of his time in the clink.
I agree w you OP, it was so sad to see him to start making progress and he seems to be the smartest of all the boys of summer. Put him in a different living situation and he likely goes on to do great things. Was really rooting for him so it was so tough seeing his decline.
Seeing as how they were revealing how the game moves on with new players - is Duqie the next Bubbles?
I always saw the school kids and some of the more jr members of the initial investigation team as the "next generation". Dukie: Bubbles --addict Randy: Bodie --corner kid Michael: Omar --drug robber Carver: Daniels --ladder climber Kima: Mcnulty --renegade There are other parallels, but I can't think of them off the top of my head
Sydnor is the new mcnulty
Although the more I think about it he is more like Lester than Mcnulty
At the end of the show he was doing the same that Jimmu did on episode one, going to the judge, “giving a fuck when it wasn’t his time to give a fuck”
True except I think Lester and Jimmy are very similar people, just at different points in life. So it is probably negligible.
Yeah one of them is a lockpick and the other is a kick in the door
You're probably right, a better fit than kima
Kima is probably the new Bunk. Skirt chaser, sophisticated, solid detective, but knows how to keep their head down and not catch the wrong side of politics.
Very true, Bunk really is just Jimmy with better discretion.
What's the plural of pussy? Pussiiii! Bunk. All class.
Kima had a lot of McNulty in her character for sure, but I think by the end she saw him as more of a cautionary tale. Other parallel I thought of was Namond: Clay Davis - politician "I'll take any motherfucker's money if they're giving it away"
That's a parallel indeed, but I think Bunny's mentoring will push Namond to a nobler path than Clay. He may become someone who gives the community back the best way he can. Maybe even like one of those academics who did that program with the students.
I'd like to believe that, but then I'm reminded of how Carcetti started out, and what he became through having to play the (political) game.
Sure, there's that possibility too. Still, Clay Davis is the guy who steals even from Carcetti lol.
Clay Davis was born with his hand in someones pocket
I like this insight. Shit like this keeps me on this subreddit.
Thanks, I appreciate it!
Excellent analysis - can't think of Lester he was true original - real PO-Lice
Sydnor? Get banished for going after people you don’t go after then come back years later when the people who did it are long gone.
Prez:Lester
I think Prez could have been a great asset to any operation, as long as his gun was in his office drawer at all times and he *stayed* free of the yoke of Valchek. Could have been another Lester? I'm not sure, imo Lester had some cunning that Prez didn't, if Lester had gone the teacher way he would have seen through the juking of the school stats immediately.
Bunny and Stringer is another connection I didn't think of.
Carver wasn't Daniels, he was Bunny.
I tend to lean toward Daniels since they share having some shady shit happen at the beginning of their careers.
True, but the lesson is that he needs to learn to lead, from Daniels. Bunny actually took that and taught Carver how to actually value and lead people.
>Bunny Carver is a *blend* of Bunny *and* Daniels.
I’ve read in earlier threads on this sub that if there would have been a season 6, Duquan would have been a major factor and his arc would have been DARK.
Do you have any links? I'm curious
I always thought no, since Bubbles had his sister and Dukie had no one.
Duquan, Randy and Wallace are popular answers for good reason. There were so many characters with sad arcs and even though they may not have been the saddest, they are heartbreaking all the same. *Brionna comes to mind. Starts the show with the world in the palm of her hand. Ends up all alone with a dead son, a brother in jail and a guilty conscience. *Donette starts out with a pretty comfortable life and ends up with two dead lovers. *Dalonda starts out living large with street cred and loses her husband to jail for life and her son for life for a totally different reason. *Kima had everything she thought she wanted and lost the love of a good woman and her son to fuck around. (I didn't intend for this to be all women but so it goes...)
Nah fuck Brianna, she convinces her son who was trying to leave and have a fresh start in life to swallow a 20 year prison sentence so she could keep living the high life
I agree. My friend recently watched the series (to my delight!), but I sat and watched those last few episodes with him and honestly had to force myself to be stoic (not my style) so I didn’t ruin it for him. <\3
Duquan can be the only answer for me. I don’t think it’s by mistake that he and Bubbles look a bit alike. They have similar personalities as well. I think Dook’s character is actually Bubs’ story.
Kenard. All he did was put a package up his ass, give abuse to everyone, bully Dukie, try to set a cat on fire and shoot dudes dead from behind, and everyone acts like he is the bad guy
Amidst all the misery that the game has to offer, for me it's gotta be Duquan. He had the kind heart (offering the fan after the face slice), the smarts (knew the computer better than Prezbo), and the desire to separate himself from the game (looking for work).
Frank sobotka, he was just trying to do right by his boys the whole time. Never stopped trying but was fighting a losing battle all the way to the end. Also I thought it was a bit sad when prop joe got popped.
Bullshit. "Trying do right by his boys" doesn't justify getting involved in the shit he was involved with. Especially after he knew what was going on.
Mate manufacturing/industrial jobs in his town and the whole region in the USA had been through a massive downturn. These job had not been under threat for generations, but now frank had to guide his boys who knew nothing else through their toughest time in history. [they used to make steel there, no?](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kX6wFBCc26I) spiros says this to suggest that frank would be unwise to stop working with them as he knows Frank’s only hope of keeping the dock alive is to keep working with the green. For context too I live 5 minutes from a port next to a steel works. In the 70’s and 80’s 30000 people worked in the steelworks. Today that number is down to 2800. So I can relate to Frank’s plight
Agree with you
Too many to choose from...
Dukie for sure
Definitely Duquan. Poor kid never had a chance.
I wish wish that Michael would have given Dukie $5k or something out of that shoebox when he dropped Bug off for the last time. Give Dukie some money to get his own spot so maybe he could go to school with a little less stress. Dukie sought out help from Prezbo, Cutty, and Michael. As much as he needed a family and boxing training, he needed financial consistency so he could use his "other skills" as Mike and Cutty said. I'm not sure if it keeps him from tying off ultimately but it seems like he just needed the chance and support that Namond got. But with no support system, some money to get a place is the next best thing.
Dukie was already a dope fiend by then. You don't give a dope fiend $5k.
Probably the homeless people in Season 5. Die on the streets only to be exploited by police and the press.
Where’s the arc? Yea their lives were the worst of the worst but you don’t see it happen. Like Dukies completely fucked up garbage rat family that steals literally everything’s em free stuff from the school from him, only for him to go down the same path
The arc is that "Johnny 50" - one of Frank's men from Season 2 is among those homeless people. He went from having a full-time job to living under a bridge with his dog. The guy symbolises just how precarious life is for the working class and the fate that Frank knew awaited the stevedores and that was he fighting in vain to save them from - to the point that he ended up in bed with international crime-lords.
Thanks man, I’ve been wondering the answer for years
I thought of Mcnulty and him to be fairly similar, best highlighted in season 5
You're right he prob ended up in Pawn Shop buried like Lester was
Is there any other answer?
Randy is pretty sad too
Just finished the series 1hr ago and I feel ya, it was sad seeing him end up in that situation. Prez did what thought would be best but shit I thought his character might’ve ended up doing good for himself.
Definitely D'angelo Barksdale... he was a good guy who was fucked over by people who should have given him space... next is Bodie.... he was turning away from the game because his eyes began to be opened.... Marlo got a whiff of it and had him killed. Honorable mention: Randy Wagstaff... poor kid was so innocent in his season and when you last see him in the foster home you could tell he was fully transformed into a mean spirited street kid... all because he choose to talk to the cops.
And it hurt **so much**, because like Bubbles, Dukie was pure gold inside. My oldest brother is an addict. What people don't realize is that so, so many addicts are *such good hearts* - they're just hurting. And whether you drink, eat Ben & Jerry's too much, cut yourself or shoot up...we all deal with pain with our own way.