The End of The Wire Brings Me Joy and Sorrow

To faithful reader Mehaf, know this: the final episode of The Wire was great. No onion rings, no parallel parking, no Journey song. It was satisfying. And you should stop reading now cuz I'm doing the run down.

Cover up! There was a great scene where the Mayor was told about the whole fake serial killer thing, and they decided to cover it up. Which I was OK with because otherwise Daniels and Rhonda would have been taking the fall and they were actually innocent. Lester and McNulty had to either retire or do B.S. police work. They retired. I hope the scene at the cop bar where they were all celebrating their retirement was the last scene they filmed. Because it would have been a nice send-off for the cast and crew. And that brings me joy.

Prez! Dukie went to the school to see Mr. Prezbo and shook him down for a couple hundred. Damn you, Prez, believing in this kid! Dukie ends up taking the money to his new buddy the junkman and they’re gonna go get high.

McNulty and Daniels had a great silent elevator ride that ended with Daniels saying, "To be continued." LOLZ!

A copycat homeless killer pops up for 2 murders. I totally called that. McNulty employs actual police work to catch the guy, a homeless dude he had met with before. So they can pin the copycat murders on the mentally-unstable dude, and just kind of insinuate that he could have been responsible for them all along.

Meanwhile, at The Sun.... Scott the Lying Liar Who Lies faked a story about an attempted homeless kidnapping he claimed he witnessed. Everyone know it's B.S. – except the stupid Sun boss who lets him run with the story despite the cops' denials and Gus's protests. Gus has all kinds of proof of Scott's fake stories and lies (including Alma retrieving an empty notebook Scott claimed had all his notes in it. Yay Alma!). But, because they're in the running for a Pulitzer, the stupid-ass Sun bosses don't care. They ship Alma off to Carroll County and shut Gus up. Glad I don't live in Baltimore anymore – I would totally be boycotting The Sun due to this show. The one good thing to come out of all this: the scene where McNulty is supposed to take Scott's witness statement about the "attempted kidnapping." McNulty tells Scott that he faked the serial killer and so he knows that Scott has been lying about it too, never received a phone call from the killer, etc. – "You're as full of shit as I am." The look on Scott's face was priceless! Of course, he can't say anything about McNulty lying because it would expose him as a liar.

Lester identified the courthouse leak and all of the drug attorneys (including Levy) that the leak had been tipping off for cash. This leads to a great scene where Rhonda takes this information and blackmails Levy with it. Levy knows the cops had to have been running an illegal wiretap on Marlo, and that the wiretap would never stand up in court. Rhonda says she won't pursue a case against Levy if his clients make the following plea: Chris Partlow gets life without parole for all the murders, Marlo walks and "retires" from the drug trade. Maurice Levy has been the dirtiest of all the characters on this show and gets off scot-free. I'm convinced he's the real villain here. He even gloats to Herc later about how this case will be a big boost to his career since every drug dealer in the city will want to be represented by the guy who got Marlo Stanfield off. HATE!

The final rundown, wherein they actually wrap up the storylines, for better or worse:

Marlo put his drug business on sale for $10 million. He gets in a suit and goes to a party where he is introduced to reputable businessmen by Levy. He bails on the party, heads to the street, almost gets shot, and... well, actually I guess his story is left open a little. You see other people running his drug business, so I'm going to assume in my little world that almost getting shot made Marlo realize he wasn't immortal after all and made him decide to turn legit. Or he just went off into obscurity.

Daniels quit as Commissioner because he refused to juke the stats in the Mayor's favor. He ends up finally using that law degree.

Rhonda is a Judge. Carcetti is elected Governor.

Bunk and Kima are still doing real police work.

Michael has kind of become Omar, robbing money from dealers.

Dukie has kind of become Bubbs, shooting up in the alley with his buddy. Nooooo! Clearly the most heartbreaking part of the show.

Scott wins a Pulitzer. I throw things at my screen.

Kenard gets arrested. I don't care what he was arrested for, I yelled at the screen "Eat that, bitch!" It felt good to see that punk hauled off.

And, in the happiest moment of the show, Bubbs is allowed upstairs to eat with his sister and niece. YAY Bubbs!!! Beautiful scene. Just joyous.

I don't think I left anything out. They sure showed a lot in that final montage. Was it corny how things were all tied up nicely? I personally find that more satisfying than stopping the show in the middle of a Journey song, maybe that's just me.

Can't believe this show is over. *sob*

Wild Wire Weekend Continues *sob*

Again, this is from a couple seasons back.

Oh that Omar - robbing the money from drug dealers but moral enough to pay for his Newports. Silly goose.

Wild Wire Weekend

I'm trying to get through the weekend without dwelling on the fact that Sunday brings the last episode of The Wire. It's not working.

This ain't a spoiler for the final season, Mehaf. It's just a great scene from last year. I'm pretty sure this was the first time we met Snoop. Snoop is awesome and funny. I remember watching this and saying, "Is that a chick?" Why, yes, it is.

Reason No. 57659 Why The Wire Is Awesome

Senator Clay Mother-effing Davis. Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiit. This is classic Clay Davis (and not from this season, Mehaf). Beware the swears!

The Glory That Is The Wire

OMG, one episode left. How sad. And this was one of those excellent almost-wrapping-it-up shows.

RAID! Raid on the re-supply! The raid results in the arrest of just about every main bad guy (including Marlo) plus a $16 million drug bust. Marlo and his peoples suspect that Michael is the "source of information" in the charging documents (the source actually being a front for the illegal wiretap). Michael figured out Snoop is about to kill him, so he gets there first and blows her away. RIP Snoop. That girl always made me laugh.

Unfortunately, now Michael is on the run. He drops Bug off with their Aunt in the suburbs and drops Dukie off with homeless druggies. Great. Dukie is the New Bubbs. I was yelling at Dukie to call Prez. And in the preview, we do finally see Prez, but it doesn't look like things end well between them. Or at least not how I want to see them end - with Dukie and Prez living together happily ever after.

The Sun is entering Scott into Pulitzer competition and I want to freaking light the paper on fire. BOO! Gus was busy catching Scott in Lie Number 757 where he quoted someone as saying Daniels stabbed Burrell in the back. And also Lie Number 658 where he got the homeless vet's story wrong (Gus tracked down the vet's buddy at Walter Reed).

Lester got some info out of Clay Davis - follow the lawyers. He says Levy has someone at the courthouse. It would be nice if they could bring down this scumbag Levy.

In the end, Kima goes to see Daniels and tells him McNulty is making up the homeless serial killer. Daniels shares with Rhonda and they confirm that Marlo's cell phone is the one that McNulty claimed belonged to the serial killer. McNulty is so dead. Lester is so dead. Marlo's going to be victorious.

To end on two positive notes, YAY BUNNY AND NAMOND and YAY BUBBLES! How great to see Namond on a debate team with proud Bunny looking on. And Bubbs celebrated his sober anniversary and finally shared about Sherrod with the group. A nice reminder that a couple people have gotten out of this mess.

Goddamn this heartbreaking show!

R.I.P. Omar Little

Due to the lack of respect shown to Omar Little by The Baltimore Sun and the Office of the Medical Examiner, I will write my own obituary. I'll call it a Faux-bituary. Clever, no?

To put it succinctly, Omar was THE MAN. For years he haunted the streets of Baltimore, a local legend, a cautionary tale to street kids. He lived by a strict code, never robbing, killing, or otherwise harming people who were not involved in the drug trade. After a particularly large score, Omar retired with his boyfriend, Renaldo.

Brought out of retirement by the Marlo Stanfield-ordered murder of long-time friend and advisor Blind Butchie, he returned to Baltimore seeking revenge against Marlo. Before he could even really begin his murderous mission, Omar was shot in the head in a corner store by foul-mouthed, punk-ass, 11-year-old, Kenard, who turned out to be a really good shot.

Omar is survived by his boyfriend, Renaldo, who we can only hope will avenge his murder. R.I.P. Omar, may your legend live on.

The Wire Gives Me a Frowny Face

I'll leave the reason for last. It's just too depressing for me to deal with right now.

Overtime and rental cars for everyone! The Department has all kinds of money for McNulty's McFake McSerial Killer. McNulty and Kima travel to the FBI to get the profile on the killer. And LOL the profile fit McNulty to a tee! Can't hold relationships, high-functioning alcoholic, trouble with authority. Those FBI profilers know their S. McNulty gets another attack of conscience when he sees how hard Kima is working on investigating the serial killer, so he tells her the truth. McNulty also tells Beadie the truth. Well, that's not smart cuz they're both pretty honest chicks and I don't think they're going to go along with this for long.

Bunk gets the DNA back from Michael's step-dad's crime scene and it's a match to Chris Partlow. He wants to arrest Chris, but this would upset the Marlo investigation. He gives McNulty a couple days. Surveillance of Marlo's peoples leads to the conclusion that the clock pictures they are sending back and forth correspond to a map grid, so now they know where they will be heading once they intercept those pictures.

The homeless veteran Scott interviewed came to The Sun to complain about inaccuracies in the story. Of course Scott swears he told the truth. You know, I wish Scott could get shot in the head. Later Gus calls Scott out on an obvious fake quote from the mayor's speech/candlelight vigil. Scott basically says F You and tells on him like a little bitch, but Gus stands his ground. He is clearly over Scott and it's just a matter of time til he has the evidence he needs that he's been fabricating stories (hopefully!).

I thought to myself watching the first couple of Omar scenes, "Every time he's on screen I'm so tense thinking he's gonna get his head blown off." Well I'm a colossal jinx because he did!!! NOOOOOO! It was funny how all the street kids knew who Omar was but the cops didn't (when Omar tipped them off to criminals on the corner). Once the corner was cleared he got the stash of drugs and money and threw them in the storm drain, again announcing that he was calling Marlo out into the street.

Tragically (I guess tragically - I mean, he's a murderer and all, but he was still awesome), Omar was shot in the head in the grocery store - by that little foul-mouthed kid from Michael's corner. HOLY S I'm bitter! I stood up and screamed.

Omar gets no respect in death, he's just another thug after all, as first there is no room in the newspaper for a story on his murder, and then they put the wrong name on his body in the morgue. Zip up body bag, fade to black. DAMN!

I want Marlo dead. I want Scott dead. I want Omar's boyfriend to avenge his death!

The Wire: Fake Serial Killer Phone Call Frenzy

McNulty fakes a Baltimore accent and scrambles his voice and places a call to the reporter as the fake serial killer. He also sends a picture of the homeless guy he "kidnapped" last week. Now they've got a tap on the Marlo picture phone messages, but it's some kind of code - pictures of clocks showing various times.

As McNulty says, "This shit's bigger than I ever thought it would be." The FBI is getting involved and he's getting a ton of extra money for the case. Word spreads quickly that he's giving away a lot of that money and overtime, and it's snatched up pretty quickly. Bunk is through with this B.S. - loved his constant eye-rolling and sighing.

Not too much of the corners this week - Omar shot one of Marlo's boys and told Michael's corner to get word to Marlo that he wants to see him in the street.

Clay Davis went on trial and won due to his defense - the money he took from his non-profit organization was actually given to his constituents who asked him for various things, and it was easier to do that from his personal bank account. He gave an impassioned, slick speech in the courtroom and got applause inside and out. He's one gregarious SOB.

The Wire: Me Love the Bad Guys

I love me some Omar. Is that wrong? I mean, he's a murderous thief, but he is so freaking cool. I have a thing for bad boys - Sylar, Marlo, Omar. Yes, I like Marlo too even though my greatest wish is that Omar shoots him in the face. That man is just cool as ice.

Omar was injured by his Batman/Spider-man (depending on if you ask me or Marlo) leap, but he's still a damn badass. He steals some of Marlo's money and then burns it, telling Marlo's boy that it's not about the money this time. He's calling Marlo out and he's right - Marlo is too much of a bitch to face Omar in the street. Please let's have a Wild West-style face-off with these two! (As long as it ends with Omar victorious.) Marlo tells the co-op that Omar killed Prop Joe, but they don't seem to be buying it.

That part of the show would be my favorite plot line, followed by the Baltimore Sun stuff and then McNulty's Mess. McNulty's grand plan is seriously f-ed up. First, he can't get any freshly dead homeless to mess with, because by the time he shows up to the scene half the department is already there. He made the homeless murders so high-profile he can't get to the bodies first. Also, the wiretaps on Marlo aren't picking anything up, because he's sending pictures through his cell phone, not making calls. When McNulty said "We can't make another murder" I swear to god I said to the TV, "You can if you kill them yourself." And I thought that's what he had in mind.

Instead, he kidnaps a homeless dude with the intent of sending the Sun a cell phone picture of him from "the killer", thereby getting permission to tap into Marlo's cell phone pictures. Good lord, that's convoluted. McNulty looked like he felt guilty about taking the homeless guy to a Virginia shelter, but really the guy is better off than being on the street in Baltimore, and at least he didn't kill him like I thought he was going to!

As for the Sun stuff, Gus asked the Lying Liar Reporter to follow-up on some complaints about one of his stories. I hope he's setting him up - he has to know he's a liar!!!!

The Wire: Lying Liars Who Lie

I can't decide how I feel about this fake serial killer plot. It's totally over-the-top and ridiculous, and I can't believe that McNulty (not to mention Lester) would actually do it, but then again McNulty is a drunk and it did provide some funny moments this week. That a-hole lying journalist said he got a phone call from the "serial killer." The scene where he's telling McNulty about the call was classic. Then McNulty is all, "Yeah, the police got a call from him too." Oh good lord! They both know the other dude is lying and yet they keep burying themselves in BS. Great stuff.

Herc is my hero, for stealing Omar's cell phone number and giving it to the cops. Nice. Lester gets a wire tap, but I'm pretty sure the first communication was a text - not sure if he can track those.

Bubs doesn't have the hivvie. Thank god for small miracles. Omar = Batman. He had a great shoot-out with Marlo's people, thankfully didn't appear to be shot, leaped off the balcony and -- what? -- freaking disappeared! And we got Clay Davis to give us another "sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet" which is always good - this one lasted 5 seconds (I rewound it a couple times)!

The Wire

I just don't have it in me to write too much about last night's episode. Either because I'm still sick, because I feel like not much happened, or because I didn't fully understand what happened. It was a bit of filler. Of course, filler on The Wire is 100 times better than a good episode of, say, Grey's Anatomy, but still. Lots of stuff happened, yet nothing did. It felt like lots of things were coming into place for the rest of the season. Hey, maybe that's why the episode was called "Transitions." OK, so those writers know what they're doing after all!

McNulty was a prick to his girlfriend. His fake serial killer thing is getting pretty outlandish, with the dentures to - what? leave bite marks on the dead bodies? I guess the main thing was, R.I.P. Prop Joe. I was definitely sad to see him go. I always loved that fat F. Marlo had him killed, in I guess the nicest way possible, and he seemed to enjoy watching it happen.

Omar's back in B-more, and I couldn't be happier. It actually makes me giddy to see him walking the streets in his bulletproof vest! Omar had the Line of the Night: "I'm gonna work them. Sweet Jesus, I'm gonna work them." Do it, Omar!

The Wire

This show was amazing, per usual. McNulty has truly lost his mind, falsifying evidence and reports all over the place to make it look like there's a homeless-killing serial killer on the loose, tying red ribbons around his victims' wrists. It's a good guy trying to do the right thing the wrong way and that can't end well on The Wire. Still, no one cares about this killer; if you’re from the wrong zip code, nobody cares if you die. McNulty confides in Lester and Lester of all people agrees with his tactics! And offers suggestions to feed the lie and sensationalize the killer! No Lester!

It was nice to see Michael, Dukie, and Bug actually act like the kids they are and take a day to go to Six Flags. I think Michael proved a kid can have some fun and still keep a handle on his corner.

It was funny to see Ashy Larry (a fave from Chappelle's Show) make an appearance, testifying at Senator Clay's grand jury.

Finally, Marlo, Snoop, and Chris hunted down Omar's people trying to get to Omar. Omar and his hot-ass boyfriend are living in some nice oceanside place, but news of the murder of his man blind Butchie gets to him. And just like that, Omar is gonna get sucked back into the game. Let him have his vengeance!

The Wire Ain't Aruba, Bitch

The feds won't continue the investigation of the rowhouse murders - purely because of political BS. So McNulty freaking takes the body of a bum who died of natural/drug causes and beats it up so that it looks like he was murdered. His plan is to make it look like there's a serial killer in Baltimore, presumably so they can get funding to continue their investigation of Marlo.

That idiot at the paper who faked that story about the crippled kid on Opening Day pisses me off. Hate him! In true Wire fashion, he'll probably win in the end.

And Avon's back! Marlo visits jail to try to get a Russian guy to get the Greeks to take out his drug rivals. And Avon's there to be the go-between. Yay Avon!

Also, I watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles last night. All I can say is...Eh. I don't know how you can keep a weekly show going when it seems like it's gonna be the same running-from-Terminators-and-the-FBI plot. Plus I don't understand what the point of time traveling from 1999 to 2007 was. So they can be the same age as in Terminator 2 but in present day? Whatever. I'll watch at least a couple more before I give up.

The Wire is Freaking Flawless

Goddamn, The Wire is so great, and just gets better each year. (It didn't air in 2007, or it would have been No. 2 on my Top TV list.)

It started out with some LOL comedy, with Bunk making a perp think he was being strapped to a lie detector. When it was really a freaking copier that would print out "true" and "false." God that was good.

Looks like everyone from last season is back, even the kids. (No Omar yet though, here's hoping...) Plus they added the Baltimore Sun story so there are lots of new characters, but they all have been worked into the story really well so far. The number of people and storylines that this show follows is staggering, and yet the pace is perfect! I think it's because we don't have to take commercial breaks and the stories can just flow into one another. Whatever it is, it's unparalleled in television.

My favorite dirty kid from last season, Dukie, is in a My Two Dads situation with Michael, raising Michael's brother, Bug. Michael wants to take Duke off the corner and have him be a stay-at-home "dad".

Marlo is still kick-ass, and he's meeting with Prop Joe and the rest of the co-op. I love the idea that all these drug dealers get together in a conference room at the Holiday Inn to talk business.

The stories have been set up so well, it's a bummer that there are only 9 left. I'm going to try my best not to count them down.