The Wire: Characters I Should Hate But Don't

You've gotta love the moral grey area of The Wire; the opposite of a black-and-white approach to morality. There's essentially no 100% good and 100% bad character on the show. (Marlo Stanfield, you are the exception)

There are some people that we're made to dislike, yet I really like them. Before I tell you, does anyone know the main person I'm talking about? No? Okay, well, let's get down to business.

SPOILER ALERT! LANGUAGE WARNING!

Stringer Bell: One of the greatest television characters, period. He commits some heinous acts on the show, but damn, when he's about to die, nearly in tears, I felt terrible for him. That was it for B&B Enterprises. Damn, what an end. I must point out that I loved it how both Stringer Bell and Bunny Colvin's last words before their end (in Colvin's case, his job at the time) were "get on with it, motherfucker".

That was brilliant. Even in his last words, Stringer acted like a businessman. He treated the Game, the drug empire as if it was a business, and in the end it didn't pay off. Stringer was going to a community college to learn about economics, businesses, and in Season 3 he was really working to separate himself from the drugs, well, kinda. He had a prosperous future, but the problem was, you can't escape the game. Very few can. It's almost like when you know when Stringer's time is up, you forget about all the terrible things the guy did. The Wire is brilliant at showing BOTH sides of the story. Props. (no pun intended to the one and only Prop Joe, BTW)

Tommy Carcetti: He's kind-of an arsehole. But at the end of the day, I can guarantee that most of the viewers watching "Margin of Error" were rooting for him to beat Royce in the mayoral race. A lot of this could be because that Royce was an even bigger prick, but at the same time, Carcetti did really want to change the city of Baltimore for the better. (I am aware that later on in the series he gets much worse, but as of the time this was written I had no idea)

Brianna Barksdale. Just kidding. She's a terrible mother.

Bodie Broadus: I don't really think we're meant to not like him; he is likable. But I'm sure that there are people who still hate him for playing a part in poor Wallace's murder. Still one of the most chilling, saddest scenes in the show. In fact, sitting here, writing this right now has given me goosebumps. R.I.P.

Anyway, Bodie has done bad things, but he's trying hard. He's a drug dealer; in the real world I don't respect people who do that stuff, but on The Wire; he plays it like he's a real human. It's a business, it's all part of the game; all of those motto's have gradually started to make more sense to Bodie as the show continues. He grew as a character from Season 1 to Season 4; let the memories be.

And that's it for now. Great show, The Wire is. I can't say that enough.

The Wire: Characters I Love to Hate

I love The Wire. I really do. But, there are so many characters that I actually despise on the show, but not in a way where it's unwatchable; rather I love to hate them, and they are necessary for the show. With some characters, there is a justified reason as to why I really don't like them, and others it's a little bit unwarranted. Bear in mind as of the time that I'm writing this, I'm only seen up to Season 4, Episode 6, so there's probably more people I'll grow to hate and people that I'll hate even more (Clay Davis I'm assuming will go down as my most hated person on the show by the end of the series' run.

Let's begin.

SPOILER ALERT! LANGUAGE WARNING!

Clay Davis: Absolute prick of a man. Now I know that Stringer Bell is a bad guy; he committed some heinous acts. But Davis conning him got to me; I was pissed. He's a con artist; and so far he's gotten away with it. That annoys me. I will say, I absolutely love the way he says "shit", the enunciation of the word is perfect. Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70eU840lc38

William Rawls: A complete bully. How can anyone respect this man? Non stop politicking all day, all night. He lets good police work get in the way of personal grudges (just like McNulty occasionally). I can respect that in some aspects he's done a good job, and he is a smart man; but it's really hard to like the guy. David Simon wants you to hate him, clearly.

Snoop: Murderer. She could have a back story later on in the show, but right now, all I see her as being someone who kills because she's told to. Get out of the Game (intentional capital letter), Snoop! Get out before it's too late!

Chris: Same reason as Snoop, except he's worse (as of the episode I was up to at the time). Killing that woman in the shop just hurt. The Game has changed so much since Avon's absence.

Marlo: Arghhhhh. Emotionless P.O.S. He's a great character since he practically isn't one. He's a robot, and I hate his ruthlessness in a sense that so many "good" people are killed because of him. Obviously at the same time I love him since he brings a feeling that no one is going to be able to stop the one and only Marlo Stanfield.

Wee-Bey's Wife: She doesn't even deserve me to call her by name. Getting her young son to start getting packages and dealing drugs instead of going out to get a job herself? What a disgusting, waste of human air. I couldn't believe my ears in Season 4, Episode 6. She lives a cushy life, but then after Brianna Barksdale cuts off their money, she forces the son to work. Go out and work for yourself, you stupid idiot!

Terry D'Agostino: Attractive woman, but she's slimy. She used McNulty once, but luckily he was smart enough to back out. Then with Carcetti I knew something would happen, but luckily he backed out as well. Is it something she's doing wrong? Oh, that's right, these people she's trying to sleep with are practically seen as objects to her! Usually it's the other way wrong unfortunately.

I'll think of more soon, and maybe put out a second part of this. There are more people that I love to hate, I promise.

Breaking Bad: Walter White - Grey Matter and His Motivation

Walter White, one of the main "protagonists" of AMC's Breaking Bad was born in 1959. He studied at Caltech with Elliot Schwartz, where he was a chemist specialising and crystallography. In the year 1985, Walt's groundbreaking research regarding photon radiography contributed to a project that was awarded the Nobel Prize. Walter then went on to co-found Gray Matter Technologies with Elliot. At this time, Walt was dating his lab assistant, Gretchen. For currently unknown reasons, Walt suddenly left Gretchen during a vacation with her family; he left his research behind and sold his share of the company to Elliot for a measly $5,000 USD. Gretchen eventually married Elliot, and Grey Matter Technologies became a highly successful company using Walter's Research. He secretly feels like his work was stolen from him, and he blames Elliot and Gretchen (in some ways justifiably) for a lot in his life.

Walter White then worked in Application Labs and also worked in a chemical lab near Los Alamos. Once he met Skyler, they moved to Albuquerque to work for Sandia Laboratories. He eventually went on to become a chemistry teacher at JP Wynne High School. Oh, and then, he made meth after being completely dissatisfied with what he had become in life.

This article will discuss the reasoning as to why Walter White wanted so much to continue creating methamphetamine even after money was no longer an issue. Before watching Buyout, I believed that Gray Matter would play a huge part into the evolution of Walter. In the Season 5 episode "buyout", Walter talks to Jesse about why he does what he does. He shares the story about how he sold his stake in the company for a $5000, and that it's all he has left in his life since his marriage went south.

Listening to Walter pour his heart out to Jesse; giving his final pitch and explanation was beautiful, but it showcased the embarrassment and regret he has for leaving Grey Matter. HIS ideas, HIS creations, and he barely has anything to show for it. In Season 1 of Breaking Bad, we're introduced to Mr. White as a chemistry teacher. Shit pay, worse conditions; would YOU want to be a chemistry teacher?

Part of it could be greed. Walter wants money. But what he really wants more is credit for his work. His Crystal Meth is 99% pure. In real life, and in the show, that can't be matched by anyone except possibly Jesse if he continued to synthesise. Walt said himself he's not in the "meth business or the money business", rather he's in the "empire business". He idolised Gus in a way, before realising he had to be taken down. Gus had it all covered, and Walt wanted to be like that. Of course we know that just can't and won't happen, but he can sure try.

We see in the flashback in Season 3 where Skyler and Walt are looking to buy a house. We see Walter being pushed around by Skyler to buy the house, and he adds that this house could be a "starter home". How did that turn out? It's not just that. Walter is constantly pushed around by Skyler early in the series. I'm not one of the fans that thinks Skyler is the worst person on the show, but damn, I hate the way she WAS a complete bitch to Walter early in the show. People need to look back and see how trapped Walter was. It's because of these reasons, that Walter loves the CONTROL of making meth and being in charge. He wants control, and he got it.

Sure, it completely screwed up his marriage and cost the lives of many, but hey, he got what he wanted. Kind of.

The Wire: Victims & The Police Force

The following contains spoilers up until Season 3, Episode 8. It's advised that new viewers do not read further.

Crime is inevitable; especially in Baltimore. Police work is police work, and there are some spectacular police officers (pronounced as Poh-lease by many of the Baltimorians) and lieutenants that try to keep the murders down. But chain-of-command suggests that many of these "officers" and  people in charge really don't care about the victims or any people. Most do it s a job, rather than to serve the people.

There are numerous scenes in The Wire that showcase the grey area of morality that the show boasts exceptionally. Are the criminals as bad as one would suggest? Do the police actually care about the people they claim to protect?

Let's discuss examples of how victims of crime play into the politics of the police department as well as the mayor's office themselves. I'll use Season 2 as an example. 13 dead women are found in a storage unit in the Baltimore port; another one is floating in the docks. This is a tragic injustice, as these women were expected to prostitute their worth when they made in to America. Unfortunately due to one of them acting out, a foreign man killed her and then to keep the other 13 quiet, he suffocated them. Now, once information had surfaced about the dead women, no department wanted to deal with the murders. Chief Commissioner Bill Rawls wanted nothing to do with it; he claimed the crime didn't happen on Baltimore soil despite knowing nothing. Think about this; there were 14 people killed for practically no reason, and people don't want the murders on their plate. Yes, this would be a damn hard case to solve, no doubt, but there people are humans. They're human beings, they don't deserve to be tossed aside as nothing. But as evidenced in the show, many victims to the characters themselves are seen as statistics.

Detective James "Jimmy" McNulty, the loudmouth cop currently stuck on the docks due to a demotion at the start of Season 2, as able to find out privately that the crime took place on Baltimore Soil; and thus that is enough information to make Rawls be responsible for the case of the murders. McNulty essentially only does this to give the crime to Bill Rawls, since they have a burning hatred for one-another. One could argue that he did care about the victims, but not as much as he cared about inconveniencing the Chief Commissioner. Eventually Rawls gave the case to Daniels and then was able to set up a Major Case Unit, with members from the original crew back in Season 1, but it was all on the pretense of pissing off someone higher up in the chain-of-command.

A scene in Season 3 has Terry D'Agostino almost banking on another murder so they have more political points to use against the current mayor. It's sickening in a way; as I've said before: victims are thrown aside.

The Wire is a brilliant show; you probably know that if you're reading it, but moments in the show that regard victims sometimes make me cringe at the realism of the people; how it's always about THEIR agenda; and it's not about being good police.

Crime Drama: Cable vs. Free To Air

Television is arguably the most popular medium of entertainment. What one can watch on TV however, depends how many options they have. Free To Air TV in the United States gives viewers roughly five options; five channels to choose from: CBS, FOX, ABC, CW and NBC. Cable TV however, is a completely different animal. It would be difficult to list every channel that one has access to by paying for a subscription to a provider.

In regards to Crime Dramas, the flagship networks of both Cable and Free TV put on classic, memorable series for viewers to enjoy. But there are significant differences between the overall vibe and style of shows on their respective networks.

The shows that I will be analysing today and four of my favourite programs in the genre, two from Free TV, two from Cable. One of the cable shows used to air on the spectacular network, HBO, while the second show is currently airing on AMC (American Movies Channel). The other two shows are from CBS, oh and by the way, this is in no way intentional that I'm mentioning crime dramas that just so happen to be on the network full of procedural; A quote from Tobias Funke from Arrested Development goes well here:

Michael: The prosecution is not a TV show. It’s clearly somebody in the D.A.’s office trying to get you to flip. These guys will bend the law to enforce the law.

Tobias: Tell me that’s not a CBS franchise.

Anyways, let's talk about the four shows I've chosen. NCIS and Hawaii Five-0 are in CBS' corner, and The Wire and Breaking Bad in HBO and AMC's corner respectively. I'm gonna say right off the bat that the cable shows are considerably better than the CBS shows, and with good reason.
Firstly, it's integral to talk about the presentation of each show. The Wire is just about the most realistic looking (and feeling) drama I have ever seen in my life. It's astounding how complicated and intricate the stories are like. The program runs for the full 60 minutes, and the cases are not solved in one episode. There is not a clear line of good and bad, as you'll quickly notice how inconsiderate the police are and apathetic they are to real people, both innocent and guilty. That's not to say that the "villains" aren't bad; Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell are calculating, cruel; they will stop at nothing to maintain their position at the top of West Baltimore's drug trade. But despite that, they do feel real, and they're smart. The problem with many Free To Air shows is that the "bad guys" are simply seen as one-dimensional. Rarely do they actually make you feel for them. What The Wire does is it shows the viewer their side of the story; their rationalisations for what they do. The dealers aren't one dimensional at all. They have emotions, they have stories; they're not just the foils for Baltimore's Police Department.

It's very similar in Breaking Bad, where you can actually see the perspective of the arguably "bad guy". Also with that show, is that it is able to slowly turn a good person (Walter White) into a calculating, greedy man (Heisenberg). The development of the main and recurring characters on the show is astounding; the amount of detail poured into back story, foreshadowing and location is only currently rivaled by The Wire, and perhaps a few more shows I've never seen like Game of Thrones and The Soprano's.

The NCIS series and Hawaii Five-0 aren't terrible. There is character development, plot driven stories, but it doesn't push the envelope as much as Breaking Bad and the Wire do.
Swearing is a large aspect of The Wire. Watch this: (viewer discretion advised)

Yeah. An entire scene full of different variations of a single expletive. The characters are always swearing. The Wire could NEVER be on regular TV. No way. The censor would literally go off every thirty seconds. That's not a joke. However, the swearing is not there to seem cool and extreme, it's used in a realistic way. Breaking Bad tones it down a bit, but the swearing has an effect. Kids, adults-they all swear and there's nothing stopping that. Is it realistic when a murderer kills victims and the NCIS crew say "damn!"? Not really. If I was in their position, I'd be spewing out expletives. Censorship and Political Correctness reign over Free To Air networks, and sometimes they embrace it (See: Faux News).

Other differences include violence and action. NCIS is full of action and a bit of politics, while Hawaii Five-0 has frequent action almost just for the sake of it. The Cable shows however, feature a lot of gruesome violence, but it's done in a completely different way. On CBS Police Procedural in general, people are basically treated like dolls. They're thrown away and disregarded eventually. The body count on those shows is quite a feat; and it's one of my fundamental problems with Free To Air TV in general. Breaking Bad is full of some crazy violence (people squashed, stabbings, heads blown off), but it's done in a way where it's actually 100% necessary for the plot to move forward. When a character dies, it's very important, even if they have very little significance to the story. The Wire is set in Baltimore, Maryland; most Americans know what I'm talking about here. I mean, it's Baltimore. The drug war takes many lives, but it's a big deal for the characters. These people may be seen as completely insignificant to some of the police, but for you, the viewer, death is treated like a big deal. Flash over to Hawaii Five-0 and everyone gets shot and dies. Not much else to it.

Part 2 of this analysis will be forthcoming in a few weeks; I hope you enjoyed my analysis; there's a heck of a lot to discuss here.