Television Problems with The Wire

[Pancake Sprawl]

Maybe, maybe not. If we were talking about really “professional” organized criminals sure, but these gangbangers in the projects are not that. There’s a scene in I think the second or third episode of season 3 where there’s a big shoot out being members of the Barksdale crew and Marlo’s crew. No one ends up getting shot except and 8 year old bystander killed in his own home by a stray bullet. I think it was likely a pretty accurate representation of the marksman skills in the hood.

yeah but you don't need to be a marksman to kill someone if you really want to kill them. there was a guy who was robbing drug dealers where i live and all the drug dealers did was pay his friend to walk into his house and shoot him in the back of the head with a .22 point blank while he was watching tv.

 

[Law Talkin’ Guy]

yeah but you don't need to be a marksman to kill someone if you really want to kill them. there was a guy who was robbing drug dealers where i live and all the drug dealers did was pay his friend to walk into his house and shoot him in the back of the head with a .22 point blank while he was watching tv.

That’s pretty descriptive. Were you the friend?

 

[AGGAMEMNON66]

IMO that was also major plot armor lol... one of those guys had a knife but they both turn and take off running as soon as Marlo takes one swing?

Another thing about Marlo is we know he has no problem lying and taking credit for hits he had zero involvement in (Stringer's death). He also would have been 6 feet under if the cops didn't bust Avon just as Slim was calling to get the go-ahead

imo opinion it was showing that Marlo couldn’t change -he was what he was. He was going to die in the streets. He wasn’t Stringer who actually wanted out.


I already pointed out Avon had the drop on him. Anybody can get got, kind of the point. Marlo didn’t get to where he was by being weak or a punk. The people who surrounded him spoke volumes on that. You’re missing a lot of nuance with the show imo.. especially when reading your take on what Prop Joe was attempting with Marlo. That went way above your head if your OP isn’t a troll job

 

[HHJ]

imo opinion it was showing that Marlo couldn’t change -he was what he was. He was going to die in the streets. He wasn’t Stringer who actually wanted out.


I already pointed out Avon had the drop on him. Anybody can get got, kind of the point. Marlo didn’t get to where he was by being weak or a punk. The people who surrounded him spoke volumes on that. You’re missing a lot of nuance with the show imo.. especially when reading your take on what Prop Joe was attempting with Marlo. That went way above your head if your OP isn’t a troll job

Marlo cared more about status and dominance than he did about money. He goes after those drug dealers at the end and they were talking about Omar like a mythical figure, who attained a legendary status he will never ever have and they didn't have any idea who he was.

You saw how angry he was when he found out people were talking about him on the streets and how Omar punked him. "My name is my name!!"

But in the end Omar is the one they remember, not him.

 

[AGGAMEMNON66]

Marlo cared more about status and dominance than he did about money. He goes after those drug dealers at the end and they were talking about Omar like a mythical figure, who attained a legendary status he will never ever have and they didn't have any idea who he was.

You saw how angry he was when he found out people were talking about him on the streets and how Omar punked him. "My name is my name!!"

But in the end Omar is the one they remember, not him.

I agree with most of this but I’d add that there was a good reason Marlo cared about status -it wasn’t simply his ego, there’s more depth to it than that. Marlo understood that ones reputation meant everything in the game. You can’t get anywhere in the streets with a bad rep so he made sure to cut every snake off at the head.


Him having the security guard killed is a great example of this. He’s sending a message to his own people -his driver, Snoop, Chris.. not one ounce of disrespect will be tolerated. Cross me and I’ll leave you where I find you type shit.


Speaking of Marlo and how he handles things.. something that most people never bring up, it’s a small moment but it has huge implications.. in one of his final co-op meetings he tests Slim Charles by asking him how he feels about a decision that’s made.. and if you’ve watched the show to it’s conclusion, and you see (and more importantly understand) Slims response you can go back and understand why that small scene has such huge implications. It’s one of the things I really loved about how Marlo is written.


Prop Joe knew exactly what Marlo was but Marlo was able to outmaneuver him because Joe had desertion in his ranks and Marlo sniffed it out. There was no ‘Cheese’ in his ranks, and he made sure of that.