The Wire: A question and a comment.... No spoilers, I promise.

I don't think we're saying they have to be exactly the same, Boobie, just that the four kids might be trying to represent something about previous characters. I mean, Simon said the whole point of the season is: Where do the Avons, Marlos, D'Angelos, Stringers and Wee-Bays come from?

Dookie and D'Angelo could be similar even though D'Angelo didn't grow up borderline homeless and smelling like urine simply because they show small acts of kindness in a brutal world.

That said, he could be Bubbles too.

Jason, I was aware of the Wee-Bay/Namond thing, and now that I think about it more, they're both always cracking jokes and making fun of people, but Wee-Bay just seems so brutal and ruthless (like when he killed that woman while he was banging her in season one, then rolled her body up in a carpet) and to me, Namond seems like a pampered wuss. I guess you can turn into a big-time cold blooded hitter over time, but I wonder if something won't happen to Namond this season that will make him much harder.

 

Double Down

Marlo and Chris are small-timers. They're ruthless and their reign will be short. Their rise to power was a product of Avon's incarceration and Avon's unwillingness to listen to Stringer. Lester Freamon would've busted up Marlo's sloppy crew quickly....

 

What was the name of the "brothers" who Avon and Stringer overthrew to wear the crown? I remember some talk of them during season one when they were hinting at how Avon and Stringer rose to power and took the terrace towers from them. Now that I think about it, seems like Marlo and Chris could be kind of like them, opportunists who rose to power almost by accident after Melvin Williams (the greatest Baltimore kingpin ever) was put in prison by Ed Burns, Simon's writing partner.

 

More privileged background? What show are you watching? You're looking at a momentary snapshot. This kid knows hard times and he and his mama will experience them again. Plus you're looking at a 14-year-old boy who is being instructed by his mother and father to get out on them corners and go to work. What hood you from? Working a corner at 13 or 14 is hard times and not a life of privilege last I checked. And most guys packing guns and killing people at random are wusses.

Avon was probably more enthusiastic about the "game?" Avon and Michael only want to play the "game" when they're in control.

 

Randy Wagstaff
Having lost his mother to the streets at a young age and having never known his father, reputedly an eastside corner boy who later became a major drug trafficker, Randy grew up in group homes under the supervision of Maryland's Department of Social Services.

That sounds like it could be Cheese.


http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/


has anyone else watched episode 5 yet?

 

Perhaps privilege was a bad word choice. But I don't think Wee-Bey grew up wearing $200 throwbacks or playing X-Box. Namond's got some rough stuff ahead of him, for sure. But I think he's got more options than his dad did, even if his dad doesn't think so. That's the shame of it all -- he's going to end up in the game even though he has so much more to offer.

And I don't buy the idea about Avon only wanting to play the game when he's in control. He said it over and over -- ever since he was a kid, he wanted to hear his "name ring out." I just don't get that sense from Michael. Like Avon, he's a boxer, and like Avon, he's got great street sense, but I'm not sure he shares the same ambitions yet.

Look, I think your comparisons were great. I was just nit-picking a little bit. And unlike Lupy and Scoop, I'm willing to be proven wrong.

 

I made the Michael/Avon connection after they showed Avons boxing picture at the gym, I think that was the same episode that Michael refused the handout from Marlo.

And I'd have to say Dookie represents Bubbles.

 

The Rafer brothers.

 

Dedo

I need to tone down my disagreement. No need for either of us to be on the defensive.... I just feel like I'm in tune with what David Simon is trying to do because I've seen the Barksdale crew firsthand. I have first cousins who make the Barksdales look like the Partridge family. Playing Xbox and wearing Air Jordans or Throwbacks doesn't mean you have more options. It might just mean you have stupid parents. With his parents, Namond has almost no options. None. Well, he has one. He can get out on them corners.

 

Jason,

Fair points, all. One of the many, many reasons why this show is so great is that it has a huge heart, even while being so damn heartbreaking. So many of those kids just don't have a chance.

 

That's a great summation of one of the biggest things I love about this show. Wallace is the number one example of this for me. That scene is season one was pretty damn gut-wrenching.

 

Boobie

Dookie is definitely Bubbles. He knows all kinds of odd stuff like Bubbles.