it’s all in the game.

considering that these are the final episodes of the entire series of “the wire” are on the horizon – i think i’ll wait until the show is over to lay out some thoughts. however, the goings on in this week’s episode required comment… HUGE spoiler below, so if you didn’t see it (and care), avert your eyes and DO NOT scroll down.

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RIP OMAR!

holy hell. my brain is officially fried. omar is really dead? and at the hands of 10 year old kenard? KENARD? the shit talkingest juvenile delinquent chump in all of west baltimore? i’m both shocked and appalled… but perhaps i shouldn’t be.

other major characters who have bitten the dust have done so in dramatic fashion. stringer bell’s notorious death scene was filled with mean stares, cold-blooded dialogue, and drama. the execution of frank sobotka and proposition joe were both carried out by the writers with a great deal of ceremony. in that one sense – the writing didn’t ring true on this show. how much death is truly accompanied by fanfare and long preamble? usually it just happens in a blink. especially violent death.

the death of omar was quick and unexpected. all season the show had been building to a blockbuster confrontation between omar and marlo stansfield’s crew. the chilling poker game robbery scene even foreshadowed future hostilities… remember marlo’s line “wear it in health”? how could you not want to see the two baddest motherfuckers in the land duel after that sequence? omar’s death is perhaps the most realistic for a major character in the series because it came without any closure.

as a fan of the writing on the wire, i wanted a more heroic end for omar’s character, especially considering how much life michael k. williams (the actor who played omar little) put into him. omar was a homosexual man who robs drug dealers at shotgun point, yet has such a deep and honest moral code to his life that he would never use profanity. sorry, but people like that just never get a chance to find life in the detached world of television. props to the actor and the writer for bringing such a memorable person to life, and giving him an empty (yet oddly realistic) death.

so again…RIP to the fictional omar little. and good luck to michael k williams at trying to overcome typecasting for THAT particular role. it’s quite probable you will never again be blessed with such a great character to portray for the rest of your career.

the infamous death scene: