The Wire - Top 50 Characters

As we love to do here at The Quiet Pool Perspective, we have ranked the beloved characters of The Wire.  This was such a big deal that I took to the Poolie voters to help me crown the best of all-time.  So without further ado, here are the Top 50 characters of The Wire as voted on by me, Ttime, Jaydon, Larry, Mags, Cecil, Tyson, and the Bonz.

A list of 50 characters was sent out to all voters, and each person selected his 20 favorites and ranked them in order.  The points next to each person's name were totaled by giving 20 points for a first place vote, 19 for second, and so on.  A complete list of each person's vote is posted at the end.

40.
William Rawls - 0
Theresa D'agostino - 0
The Deacon - 0
Scotty Templeton - 0
Rhonda Pearlman - 0
Major Valchek - 0
Leander Sydnor - 0
Kima Greggs - 0
Jay Landsman - 0
Ervin Burrell - 0
Clarence Royce - 0

39. Beadie Russell - 3

38. Poot Carr - 4

36.
Ziggy Sobotka - 5
Cheese Wagstaff - 5

34.
Spiros Vondopoulos - 7
Gus Haynes - 7

33. Brother Mouzone - 8

32. Wallace - 9

31. Nick Sobotka - 10

30. Maurice Levy - 11

29. Randy Wagstaff - 12

27.
Norman Wilson - 14
Herc Haulk - 14

24.
Tommy Carcetti - 17
Namond Brice - 17
Frank Sobotka - 17

23. Roland Pryzbylewski - 23

22. Cutty Wise - 25

21. Dukie Weems - 30

20. Clay Davis - 34

19. D'Angelo Barksdale - 35

17.
Ellis Carver - 38
Bunny Colvin - 38

15.
Prop Joe Stewart - 45
Bubbles Cousins - 45

13.
Snoop Pearson - 47
Cedric Daniels - 47

12. Wee-Bey Brice - 50

11. Chris Partlow - 53

10. Slim Charles - 65

9. Michael Lee - 70

8. Bodie Broadus - 94

7. Bunk Moreland - 96

6. Avon Barksdale - 99

5. Marlo Stanfield - 100

4. Lester Freamon - 117

3. Omar Little - 123

2. Stringer Bell - 128

1. Jimmy McNulty - 137

The Wire Retrospective - No More B-More

I have been so busy these days with my real life job at Stetson University, weekly television reviews at TV Fanatic, and regular trips to Disney and Universal that I have rarely found time to do much of anything else.

One thing I have had time to do is watch four seasons of The Wire over the course of July and August.  Although it was slow – and difficult for me to get into – over the course of the first two seasons, the show that is renowned for being the best television drama ever kept me coming back for more time and time again during its final three seasons.

After watching the first season way back in the summer of 2010 I had this to say in my blog post:

“After only 13 episodes, I'd put it in my top 10 dramas of all time. I would not be surprised if it jumped into my top five or three by the end of my catch up project, but I don't see it beating out Lost as my favorite all-time show.”

Well I wasn’t very far off in my prediction, because after my marathon session, I would put it in second…behind Lost.  However, shows that have yet to end their runs – like Breaking Bad and Justified – certainly have a chance to knock it from that runner-up perch.

I vaguely remembered a majority of people playing up the fact that season five was markedly worse than three and four, but I think that was more about the fact that three and four are so unbelievably good than five being subpar.  Like serialized series, five is so solid because we’ve grown to know so many of the characters for the four seasons before that, so we jump into their lives so easily (something that was impossible to do with season one, and which is why I didn’t enjoy one to the extent that I did five).

The fact that I loved the McNulty-makes-up-his-own-Baltimore-serial-killer story line didn’t hurt either.  Bunk’s disgust with that idea, Lester’s excitement about it, and Omar’s feud with Marlo certainly added to the excitement of the final season.  Sure, the newspaper stuff wasn’t great at first, but every time Scotty came back with a made-story, I laughed hysterically, and that was a good thing.

Having said all of that, three and four were nearly perfect.  David Simon – and the rest of his writing team’s – ability to weave new characters in and out of the story was never better on display than in these two seasons.  To take a character like Stringer Bell, who seemed so vital to the larger story, and murder him at the end of season three without even allowing McNulty to take him down, was pure genius.

To then take McNulty – for all purposes the lead of the series – and basically sit him on the bench for the entirety of season four?  That takes guts.  And it worked, as season four was my second favorite of all and many others’ favorite of the series.  Not only did they let big players take a seat, but they added new characters so seamlessly.

Prop Joe and Marlo are prime examples of guys who stepped into the series as minor characters, and began playing bigger and bigger roles as things went on – so far as Marlo becoming your primary antagonist in season five (and probably had a top three screen time).  It all seemed so natural too.

The addition of the four students in season four was great, but the fact that two of them basically worked themselves out of the bigger story, and two stayed well within it, by the end of season four was even better.

Season after season, the focus turned from character to character, from location to location, and from story to story.  The Wire was a fantastic story from beginning to end, but it may have been even better at creating awesome characters.  Your favorite might not have been my favorite, nor mine yours, but there were some unforgettable moments of realism in almost every person that was put on screen…that is except for Clay Davis – who became an absolute caricature of himself every time he extended the length of one of his “shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiits.”

As we love to do here at The Quiet Pool Perspective, we have ranked those beloved characters.  This was such a big deal that I took to the Poolie voters to help me crown the best Wire characters of all-time.  So without further ado, jump over to the next post to check out the Top 50 characters of The Wire as voted on by me, Ttime, Jaydon, Larry, Mags, Cecil, Tyson, and the Bonz.

The Wire Season One- I Bought It Off Wee-Bey

I will start with a bit of a non-spoilery review of the first season of The Wire, so that if there is anyone out there that is behind me in watching this series, they can be encouraged to get out and do so. I will then go into a more detailed analysis for those who have already seen the show and therefore are better at the tv game than I am.

The first season of The Wire is a very good 13 episodes of television. The story telling of David Simon and his crew is emaculate. The way the entire season plays out from beginning to end is extremely well done and I have very little complaints after finishing the season (well maybe more than I thought when I wrote this paragraph).

Having said that, when comparing it to what I've heard, it's not that great. The Wire is known, by the majority of critics and enthusiastic television fans alike, as the best drama in tv history. The first season didn't prove to be that for me. Like I said, the story telling is great, but it may lack in a couple other areas.

For all of its grit and raw stylings, it doesn't hold a candle to some of my other favorite shows in the ways of pure entertainment. It may be just my personal preference, but I need more excitement. In the way that Lost or Chuck portrays a sequence, I gets me more intrigued. Sure The Wire's atmosphere makes it much more realistic, but real isn't always as entertaining.

Again, don't get me wrong. This was still a fantastic watch. For all of the reviews that I'ver read or heard that say The Wire is the best show of all time, they're all coming after the whole series was over (or right before the final season anyway). Even when Larry and Mags were watching the first couple of seasons in college, they didn't rant and rave about it like they did of Lost or even 24. My feeling is that the series as a whole might be better than each individual season. Also maybe the first season isn't as good as later seasons (heard the third is fantastic).

After only 13 episodes, I'd put it in my top 10 dramas of all time. I would not be surprised if it jumped into my top five or three by the end of my catch up project, but I don't see it beating out Lost as my favorite all time show.

Spoiler alert...Below are some thoughts on the first season of The Wire. So watch the 13 episode season, fashion some dollhouse furniture and sell it, then read what I had to say.

D'Angelo Barksdale- "Where the f*ck is Wallace?!?!"

There are some great, layered characters in this first season. Between McNulty, Daniels, D'Angelo, etc. you have so many dudes that go through great character arcs in a quick 13 ep season.

McNulty- The dude is all about taking down these drug lords for months and months. He's risking his career. He's losing his family. Then when he feels he is responsible for getting Greggs shot, he shuts down. He doesn't care about it anymore. It takes Major Rawles getting all up in his grill before he accepts that it wasn't his fault. Even after that he doesn't seem into it anymore. He comes back at the end to tie up the loose ends, but he sure isn't the same man anymore.

Daniels- This was a guy that we first met wanting to go by the book, and bide his time until he made his way up the police ladder. He didn't care about this ridiculous case against Barksdale that he was forced to control. Slowly but surely, he figured out that taking down these dudes was what 'real police' was all about. By the end of this season, he was convincing the others to keep on it, without any pushing from McNulty.

D'Angelo- A kid that "grew up in the game." He kept doing his thing, trying to prove himself to the higher ups in the organization. All the while wavering like he wasn't sure if this was actually what he wanted to be doing. He wanted Wallace to get out, and when he almost took that deal with the cops, he wanted to get out too. By the end of this thing, family was thicker than a good life, and the kid took his 20 year sentence for his family. Just crazy.

Having said all that, as good as these characters are, I wish they were more engaging. There's no one in this cast that is even half as interesting as Walter White or Jesse Pinkman of Breaking Bad. The only one that came close for me was Avon Barksdale, and that may only be because I'm imagining him as Motar from Above the Rim.

As we take a look at the quote I pulled to lead this section...D'Angelo screams "Where the f*ck is Wallace?!?!" while he stares at the great Stringer Bell through the prison glass. I love this for two reasons. One: it was the moment that I thought D'Angelo was really ready to flip, disown his family, and turn in the whole crew. Two: I was almost just as upset about Wallace as D'Angelo was.

Wallace, played by current Friday Night Lights star Michael B. Jordan, might have been my favorite dude on the show. This kid was in the game, but he might have been the best person in the season. I'm including every single cop, attorney, politician and civilian. Wallace was a great kid, stuck in a game he didn't want to be a part of. When he first handed out the juice boxes to those little kids, I ate it up. Of course they had to go and mirk this kid. He was too good to leave around. Just extremely sad.

But as exhilerating and emotional the moments were just before and after Wallace's murder were, you know what could have made them better? How about some score? Yes, yes, I'm sure the purists love the fact that there is absolutely no score on The Wire. All the critics that have been bagging on ABC recently for their new pilot No Ordinary Family having score that, like the rest of their shows, "tells you when to feel this or that" must love The Wire.

Again the non-score, and non-music of The Wire adds to its realism, but maybe could have been enhanced by a good score. If you're gonna sit there and tell me that Michael Giacchino's score on Lost didn't make it that much better, then you're crazy. How about John Williams ability to make a scene excel through music? It's a part of some of the best shows and movies for a reason. Maybe it wouldn't have worked in the case of The Wire, but it's worth thinking about.

What makes this non-score/no music thing even more interesting is that Simon's next project, Treme, is so inherently based on the music of the show. After watching Treme, T-time pointed out that he can't imagine music was that big a part of The Wire and therefore he was impressed by Simon's versatility. After realizing that there is hardly any music in The Wire, I'm sure everyone should be that much more impressed.

There is plenty that I didn't get to, but I hate reading long reviews, so I really don't like to write long ones either. As I finish up here, I'd like to reiterate that I loved this first season of The Wire. It's so much easier to pick out the stuff that you didn't like about a show, than write about the stuff that worked. So there you have it. I'm looking forward to four more seasons. As the fall is just around the corner, I'm not sure when I'll get to them, but believe me I will.

And I'll leave you with the words of Stinger Bell..."Nicely played."