The Wire [question(s)]...

[Kryton]

So how did Omar get away with his robberies, maimings and murders for so long? I know he has his reputation to protect him somewhat on the street and he was smarter than most and he avoided routines, but his reputation also came with the cost of him using his signature shotgun during most robberies and I think it may have been Bunk who mentioned that some shotgun shells found at crime scenes could easily be placed to Omar.

Also his reputation would only go so far in the police force. Pretty sure every cop in Baltimore would have heard about him in some ways. But what protected him on the street, wouldn't make him immune to getting caught with hard forensic evidence from a murder scene, right?.

So what gives? Were the police really just turning a blind eye, knowing that the likes of Omar are not the highest priority since he only kills dealers/gangsters, never 'civilians'... But even so, even with the disregard a lot of the cops gave to poor black communities, he was involved in numerous mass shootings, some of which tore up neighbourhoods and even if he's love-able as some kind of romanticised latter day Robin Hood, he's still a dangerous, active and violent criminal in the eyes of the law.

Was he really smart enough to just slip through the cracks every time, or did the police really give him some leeway?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

He goes to prison at one point, doesn't he?

[mothman]

Good questions. I always wondered where Omar's bed-down location(s?) were and how he managed to appear and disappear without the corner boys' lookouts ever seeing where he came from/went to. Suspect it's partly due to them not trying very hard (at anything) but if you're resorting to just shouting "Omar!" when he's already bearing down your street headed towards your corner, it's too little (no pun intended!), too late.

[bgmnts]

Omar was just absolutely fearless and hard as nails.

Tends to give you that invincible effect.

[Kryton]

More questions: Brother Mouzone? Still note sure if I find him at all believable. From my understanding, his character is not really based on anyone at all. Maybe his whole point is to 'stand out' since he's from NY rather than Baltimore. But that doesn't make much sense either since him standing out would just draw major attention to him in most situation, especially around the towers or corners. And for a guy who has 'more bodies than a Chinese graveyard'. I just find him a bit outlandish and not someone I could imagine lasting long on the nastier corners.

Sure he has confidence and he's smart, sure... But for a guy so smart he just draws attention to himself too much.

Or am I missing the point? Maybe the whole point of his attire and mannerisms is to make people underestimate him, like he did with Cheese?

His character annoys me. He's cool of course, but I'd love to know if he was genuinely based on someone.

[Kryton]

Omar was just absolutely fearless and hard as nails.

Tends to give you that invincible effect.

Yeah true. But on that note, that only worked in the ghetto. The cops didn't give a damn about reputation. If they saw Omar walking down an alley with a shotgun, whistling... Or for every crime scene the detectives had to clean up, how come nobody said 'hmm maybe we really SHOULD do something about this mass murderer'.

He goes to prison at one point, doesn't he?

Yep. Funnily enough for a murder he didn't commit. It's when Chris frames him and kills that delivery lady in the shop.

[Sin Agog]

Because the Communist police force don't arrest the gays.

[thraxx]

Hey yo what up bird?

[The Culture Bunker]

Pretty sure every cop in Baltimore would have heard about him in some ways.

At the start of the show, I don't think any of the police characters have a clue about Omar until Bubbles mentions him.

[Sin Agog]

More questions: Brother Mouzone? Still note sure if I find him at all believable. From my understanding, his character is not really based on anyone at all. Maybe his whole point is to 'stand out' since he's from NY rather than Baltimore. But that doesn't make much sense either since him standing out would just draw major attention to him in most situation, especially around the towers or corners. And for a guy who has 'more bodies than a Chinese graveyard'. I just find him a bit outlandish and not someone I could imagine lasting long on the nastier corners.

Sure he has confidence and he's smart, sure... But for a guy so smart he just draws attention to himself too much.

Or am I missing the point? Maybe the whole point of his attire and mannerisms is to make people underestimate him, like he did with Cheese?

His character annoys me. He's cool of course, but I'd love to know if he was genuinely based on someone.

He always reminded me of this guy from Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ltmoh5_d5mk), except he's killed a bunch of people.

[mothman]

I think Brother Mouzone is most commonly agreed to be the weakest link in the series, the one really glaring unlikely element.

[rjd2]

I think Brother Mouzone is most commonly agreed to be the weakest link in the series, the one really glaring unlikely element.

I dunno. He is bad, but Scott Templeton for me was worse. A very one dimensional character and a really average actor also.

[Sin Agog]

I think Brother Mouzone is most commonly agreed to be the weakest link in the series, the one really glaring unlikely element.

Um, McNulty spiriting up a fake serial killer in season 5?

(I hate my douchey use of the um there, but I'm too lazy to reword it).

[Urinal Cake]

 I don't think Omar killed that many people to begin with.

Further criminals won't snitch to police, also it's an admission of failure and loss of street rep. Police are too occupied with solving the easier crimes/more deserving victims.

Mouzone is an anarochism in the 2000s but not in the 70s and 80s when Simon  was a crime reporter when Nation of Islam was a lot more prevalent and militant.

[Mister Six]

So how did Omar get away with his robberies, maimings and murders for so long? I know he has his reputation to protect him somewhat on the street and he was smarter than most and he avoided routines, but his reputation also came with the cost of him using his signature shotgun during most robberies and I think it may have been Bunk who mentioned that some shotgun shells found at crime scenes could easily be placed to Omar.

He only robs dealers, so who cares? He's an apex predator and police are concerned with protecting the sheep, not the wolves.

But even so, even with the disregard a lot of the cops gave to poor black communities, he was involved in numerous mass shootings, some of which tore up neighbourhoods

I think the events of The Wire are supposed to be unusual from Omar's point of view - he was mostly knocking over lone dealers in the Eastern District (which is where his first hit or two in the first season take place) and it was only when he encroached on the better-organised Barksdale crew in the Western that he got some serious pushback.

And I don't know if it's really fair to call him a "mass murderer". Part of his MO is to either outwit or overwhelm his victims so that he doesn't actually have to fire any shots. That's how most of his attacks go down outside of his assassination attempts on the Barksdale crew bosses. When he kills a man in cold blood in season five, it's supposed to signal his desperation and the depths to which he has sunk.

Also as pointed out above, part of the point of the first season is that the cops are hugely ignorant of a lot of what goes on. Most of them don't even know about the Barksdale operation, much less Omar. Even then he's mostly known for being the brother of No-Heart Anthony.

[mothman]

I dunno. He is bad, but Scott Templeton for me was worse. A very one dimensional character and a really average actor also.

Um, McNulty spiriting up a fake serial killer in season 5?

Now you mention it, I realise I tend to almost ignore that season 5 really happened.

[a duncandisorderly]

"fuuuuuuuuuck!"

you got to that one yet?

[jobotic]

It's getting to the time when I want to watch this all again, despite having seen it a million times. I don't feel myself looking forward to McNulty's drinking and womanising again though...seems kind of hackneyed and tedious. I like him when he's doing police work though, apart from in season 5.

[sevendaughters]

Omar is a credible material witness in series 2 which buys him a LOT of love and blind eyes with the people who might want to chase him.

the Brother Mouzone stuff is completely whack though. even his sidekick seems straight out of a comedy show.

don't hate s5 as much as most. given how much we're ruled by utter grifters who make shit up with a callow and easily-cowed media on their tail, i bet it stands up way more.

[sevendaughters]

i would also say that The Wire is a realism and not reality and we can see that in the way in drops into allegorical mode at the end of s5 with all the younger characters becoming the new versions of old characters (Michael -> Omar, Dukie -> Bubs, Ronda -> that judge dude, etc.) so I can totally stand the odd Brother Mouzone or kindly stripper with a heart who falls in love with a cuddly officer.

[greenman]

i would also say that The Wire is a realism and not reality and we can see that in the way in drops into allegorical mode at the end of s5 with all the younger characters becoming the new versions of old characters (Michael -> Omar, Dukie -> Bubs, Ronda -> that judge dude, etc.) so I can totally stand the odd Brother Mouzone or kindly stripper with a heart who falls in love with a cuddly officer.

Indeed, I think its an excellent mix of enough realism to sell the drama whilst having characters/plots that are obviously pushing rather beyond that. Really I think its more a tragic Dickensian kind of story than it is an attempt at absolute reality.

[Endicott]

... using his signature shotgun during most robberies and I think it may have been Bunk who mentioned that some shotgun shells found at crime scenes could easily be placed to Omar.

Most other bits covered, but here I'd ask, are you sure? I've seen it a few times and I don't remember Bunk saying that. Also I think Omar was probably savvy enough to change that shotgun from time to time. Unlike say, Bird.

One thing that comes out of The Wire (it comes out of Simon's books more but heyho) is that forensic evidence is hard to come by and often overlooked. So none of this seems unlikely to me.

[Utter Shit]

Brother Mouzone is really stupid, yep. The Omar stuff can at least be explained away if you really need it to be, for all the reasons already discussed.

With regard to season 5 - the journalism stuff is not interesting and the serial killer angle is of course rubbish, but I still think there's a lot of great stuff in there. Bodie's death is the biggest heartbreaker of the whole show for me, the development of Michael into the new Omar is beautifully handled as well. Chris and Snoop being cool as shit, Marlo's ascent to power and sharp descent...so much about season 5 is brilliant, it's a shame that the main thrust was so bad.

[Endicott]

Bodie died in S4.

don't hate s5 as much as most. given how much we're ruled by utter grifters who make shit up with a callow and easily-cowed media on their tail, i bet it stands up way more.

Yeah, I'm another one who rates 5 higher than most. Least good season, I call it.

[Utter Shit]

Bodie died in S4.

Thank you for this, it confirms my suspicion that I need to rewatch the whole series again.

[Chollis]

Hey yo what up bird?

Y'all ain't got no honey nut?

[colacentral]

Brother Mouzone is really stupid, yep. The Omar stuff can at least be explained away if you really need it to be, for all the reasons already discussed.

With regard to season 5 - the journalism stuff is not interesting and the serial killer angle is of course rubbish, but I still think there's a lot of great stuff in there. Bodie's death is the biggest heartbreaker of the whole show for me, the development of Michael into the new Omar is beautifully handled as well. Chris and Snoop being cool as shit, Marlo's ascent to power and sharp descent...so much about season 5 is brilliant, it's a shame that the main thrust was so bad.

Alot of what you mention about s5 is in s4 though, but much, much better (e.g. the Marlo, Chris & Snoop stuff). S4 is a masterpiece; perfect TV, equal parts funny, terrifying and grim. Which makes the s5 dropoff that much harder.

Part of the problem is how many good characters are dead by that point. Bodie for one, like you say, who I think represents the last real resistance to Marlo and the last shred of a more realistic, less comic book street dealer character in the show.

Having said that, on one of the DVDs or something I heard Simon say that if they got a season 6 it would have involved the influx of hispanic people into Baltimore, with Omar's cabbie mate being the first seeds of it. I'd loved to have seen that over the news room.

[Endicott]

Thank you for this, it confirms my suspicion that I need to rewatch the whole series again.

My pleasure! You really should, it's like a good book, the more times you read/watch it the more you get from it.

[Endicott]

Oddly enough I think the journalism stuff is interesting, and as for McNulty, I think you can easily see this as a result of Bodie's death. He only comes back into the homicide dept to catch Bodies's killers, and then the rug gets pulled out from under him. It's in character. Anyway I like the interactions, how Freamon is interested for exactly the same reasons, with him being sick of not having enough resources, and how Sydnor gets sucked in, and how Bunk and Greggs are simply appalled.

But yes, it ain't a masterpiece, so it's noticable coming after S4, which really, really is a masterpiece.

[Utter Shit]

My pleasure! You really should, it's like a good book, the more times you read/watch it the more you get from it.

Oh yeah don't you worry about that, I think I've watched it through four or five times in total.