The Game

Last night was the last episode of The Wire. I can't stop thinking about the show and everything that's happened over the course of 5 seasons. There are spoilers, but I will warn you when they're coming. I deleted a huge chunk of this post after Cary pointed out that what I really want is for people to go watch The Wire.

David Simon has said the real star of The Wire is the city of Baltimore itself. But after watching the last episode last night, and being able to slowly step back and digest it all, it became very clear that the star of the show, is the game.

Baltimore happened to be the court it was played on. The clock runs, the day's game ends, and players that make it that day move on to decide how to improve their game tomorrow. The game in Baltimore might be different from the game in Detroit or another city, with different rules and refs, played on different fields, different players and teams.

This show didn't focus on one player, or one team, or one match. The Wire showed us 5 seasons of the game as its played in Baltimore and introduced us to different teams, players, general managers, rookies. Some teams play each other, other teams don't get a chance to. I'm really running with this analogy. How corny. Or Sheila would say, choerny (she's 2).

*Spoiler here.

Of all the intricately woven stories, the one story that stood out the most to me, is Duquan's. Dukie, breaks my heart. When I begin to think of all the kids who started out like him and ended up less lucky than Bubbles, I get sick to my stomach.

I don't know why Dukie breaks my heart more than Michael or Randy (which by the way, Randy is Cheeses son as it turns out). They're both victims of the game. Dukie quietly let things happen to him, he is so innocent. His smile is so sweet and he has such a pure goodness to him, I wish I could adopt him. The only aggressive thing I can think of that he ever did was politely lie to Mr. Prezbo for money, and that was the dope talking.

Michael was just as much a victim. But when he crossed over and had Bug's daddy killed, and signed a deal with the (devil) Stanfield crew, there's less innocence lost than innocence handed over. What he chose to do took balls (balls that were founded in desperation of avoiding more sexual abuse from Bug's dad). Still every decision is based on a survivalist mentality, weather its passive like Dukie's or aggressive like Mike's. One's not better than the other. It is what it is because of, the game.

*Spoiler end.

Yesterday I started Googling for an illustration or picture to put in my last post about The Wire and came across a ton of other blogs that included posts on The Wire. So here are some of the ones I liked (I hope no one minds that I'm posting links to your blogs and websites, let me know if you do):

http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/03/wire-david-simon-q.html (nice long David Simon interview)
http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/03/the-wire-comes.html (really thorough article)
http://weblogs.variety.com/on_the_air/2008/03/david-simon-not.html
http://jackosjeremiad.blogspot.com/2008/02/my-favorite-wire-character-stringer.html
http://jackosjeremiad.blogspot.com/2008/02/wire-best-tv-show-ever.html
http://antwonomous.blogspot.com/2008/02/wire-talk-whats-in-name.html
http://obit-mag.com/news.php?id=316
http://heavenandhere.wordpress.com/
http://periscopestudio.com/?cat=23
http://www.cultureby.com/trilogy/2004/week38/index.html
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/03/the-wire-goodby.html (today's article)
http://www.newsweek.com/id/120319
http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/03/wire-30-farewell-to-baltimore.html (also very thorough)

The ending stayed true to the game. It showed the current evolution of the game and the players that were now a part of it. It shows that after the show is done, game will continue its cycle.

Many of my favorite players R.I.P, and some continue in new roles:

I just deleted a huge chunk of spoilers. I don't think the following is spoiling anything:

Levy, oy vay. In my humble-ish opinion, he is the biggest villain of all. The worst bad guy. Maybe because we didn't get to know him better, there's less nuance. How can I say he's worse than a Chris or a Webay? I liked those guys, I did not like Levy. But I like that he's in that new burger commercial and only Wire watchers know he's Levy.

Kenard. Fucking Kenard.

Did anyone else see Rawls at the gay bar? wha? huh? I love that, a little peak under the skirt and you never hear anything about it again.

One of my favorite lines: "Shit is like a war, ain't it? Easy to get in, hell to get out." The Bunk
It really hit the spot when I heard it last night. That's all I have to say. I'm not a writer. I've never claimed to be no wordsmith. I hope this post falls on open ears/eyes and everyone goes out and watches The Wire.