Why Slim Charles is the Underrated Best Character of Television's Best Show
Good
morning, evening, and afternoon. I am Reveream, critical commentator of
pop culture content
The Wire, the HBO socio-political saga of
brainchild David Simon, has been heralded by many as being television’s
greatest show for it’s unflinchingly realistic examination of the various
seemingly inescapable systems which arbitrate both the legal and criminal
institutions of society and the overall human condition. The show has been
lauded for it’s wide array of memorably complex characters, all of whom attempt
to find stability in an inextricable web of both bureaucracy and chaos, as well
as the futility of concepts such as honor and justice in a world where survival
and success means the inevitability of corruption.
Perhaps
of all of the show’s most lauded characters, the most famous is Omar Little,
played by Michael K. Williams. In a show of both legal and criminal
bureaucracy, Omar is an almost Ubermenschian figure. A homosexual robber of
drug dealers, Omar operates with a Robin Hood-esque code of honor and a
mythically feared reputation as The Boogeyman of West Baltimore, shown in
various sequences where his mere presence illicit fear and surrender from those
within his vicinity. This honor code and reputation have made him a fan favorite
of many, justifiably giving Willam’s character the same kind of mythic
reputation with audiences that he possessed with his fellow Baltimore citizens.
In a rather shocking moment in the final season, Omar is unexpectedly killed
not in any kind of honorable battle, but instead unwittingly shot by a
capricious child while buying cigarettes. Furthermore, his body is disrespected
by a coroner, and his death is given no mention in the newspaper. Only his myth
is remembered, showcased memorably in Marlo Stanfield’s final scene where Omar
is celebrated as a street demigod. Omar’s death and the apathetic reaction took
many audience members by surprise, and was lauded for it’s defiance of genre
expectations.
I bring
up Omar’s life and death to compare him to another character on the show who is
in many ways the equal and opposite of not only Omar, but the show itself. A
character who, as I will show in this article, manages to defy not only the
show’s pervasive obstruction of systemic
progress, but also manages to defy it’s systemic corruption. A character who
can be argued to be considered the only “winner” of The Wire’s omnipresent chess game. We will examine how he won
whereas others, such as Omar, Bodie, and McNulty, lost, and how he manages to
find the answer to The Wire’s question of “Can you beat the system without it
beating you?”
The
character we will be examining is none other than Charles Anwar Glover,
commonly known as “Slim Charles”, portrayed by Anwar Glover. (Please note that
the middle and last names of “Anwar Glover” were never canonically given to the
character, but are being given here due to the show’s lack of giving the
character any middle or last name, as well as it’s tendency to name characters
based off of their actors, i.e. Felicia Pearson. ). As his Wikipedia article
perfectly summarizes:
“..An enforcer for the Barksdale
Organization and later the top lieutenant of kingpin Proposition Joe Stewart,
he is portrayed as principled, loyal,
and competent throughout his career.
The saga of the Barksdale
Organization and the Stanfield Organization makes up the backbone of The Wire;
of the 30 or so characters connected with these gangs and those of Proposition
Joe and Omar Little, Slim Charles is effectively the "last man standing,"
as by the end of the series most of the others are dead, and all the rest are
incarcerated, neutralized, or have quit. As such, he can be viewed as the only winner in the drug trade plotline,
particularly as in the series finale he progresses, along with Fat Face Rick,
to the leadership of the New Day Co-Op and the
pinnacle of the Baltimore drug trade”
Slim
Charles is the epitome of both honor and professionalism. From his first
appearance, we see him ward off a robbery by Omar, thus immediately cementing
his credentials of competence. From there we see him become one the Barksdale
organization’s top lieutenants, and repeatedly displays both aptitude and
honor. He is quick to notice not only the obvious dangers of Stringer Bell’s
desire to assassinate Clay Davis, but notices the flaws in Stringer’s overall
approach to drug dealing. He is furious at his incompetent subordinates for
performing violence during a well known “Sunday Truce. He also is respectful towards Dennis "Cutty" Wise, and even attempts to take blame for Cutty's mistakes. When Stringer Bell is
killed and Marlo takes blame, Charles wisely advises Avon that they are deep in
war, and must blame Marlo for troop morale. Charles’ competence and honor is
rewarded with the ultimate stroke of luck, as his reconnaissance of Marlo’s
safehouse allows him to avoid the mass arrest and imprisonment of the Barksdale
organization.
We next
see him employed by the New Day Co-Op of Proposition Joe, where he has smoothly
adapted into his role. Again, we see him display competence and honor. He
unsuccessfully tries to advise Bodie to submit to Marlo for his own safety and
warns the Co-Op of Marlo’s ruthlessness. He is clearly disgusted with Marlo’s
devious tactics and petulant mercilessness when forced to work with him, and is
seen trying to avoid interacting with Marlo as much as possible out of distant.
This honor again results in a stroke of luck, when his life is spared by Omar,
due to both being disgusted by Marlo’s torture-murder of Butchie.
After
Proposition Joe is killed by Marlo,
Charles and the other Co-Op members are able to immediately Marlo’s
responsibility for the murder. Charles avoids a promotion from Marlo by
skillfully downplaying his competence as to not seem offensive. After Marlo’s
criminal empire is taken down by the law, Charles and the other Co-Op members
buy the Greek connection from Marlo, making them the most powerful drug lords
in Baltimore, but not before Slim Charles executes Cheese for being so disloyal
towards his own uncle, making Slim Charles the first and perhaps only character
in The Wire to actually deliver proper justice.
Now before we examine Slim Charles and his strategy of success, let's first examine some other characters, and the factors that led to their downfall
Avon's Downfall: Family
Avon Barksdale is the first major antagonist of The Wire, the most powerful drug trafficker in West Baltimore. Avon is probably the shrewdest of The Wire's drug kingpins, using a perfect blend of fear, respect, and discretion to operate his empire at maximum effectiveness. He understands the environment he inhabits and how to. Because of this, he is often looked at as the "Kingpiece" in The Wire's game of chess, maintaining his status of power throughout the series, even after he is imprisoned.
Despite Avon's keen intellect of the drug game, his character suffers from one flaw, one that eventually costs him his drug empire. From the beginning of the series, we see that Avon is devoted to his family, and both uses the profits of his empire to sustain his family, as well as recruits family members to be a part of his. He clearly views the drug game as his family business, and this is most evident through his relationships with his sister, Brianna, and his nephew, D' Angelo. Avon uses his drug earnings to provide a life of luxury to his materialistic sister Brianna, who is more than happy to accept his money. Both Avon and Brianna recruit Brianna's son D' Angelo to be part of Avon's empire, with Avon recruiting D' Angelo as a lieutenant, and Brianna browbeating D' Angelo to play his role for the family.
The problem with mixing the loving loyalty of family and the ruthless brutality of the lawless drug business is exhibited by D' Angelo, who despite his incompetence at drug dealing and clearly bright intellect, is forced to be a drug dealer out of loyalty to his mother and uncle. This familial loyalty leads to the downfall of the Barksdale empire, as D' Angelo's incompetent murder of a witness at the beginning of the series incites the police investigation which brings down Barksdale's organization. D' Angelo's familial loyalty is tested further when he is arrested for the murder and offered a deal to snitch in exchange for a reduced sentence, which he is further enticed to do when he discovers that his friend Wallace has been killed. Brianna browbeats D' Angelo not to take the deal, condemning her own son to 10 to 20 years in prison. D' Angelo's depression leads him to heroin addiction and eventually distancing himself from his uncle entirely. Despite D' Angelo's continuous incompetence and his disgust for his family's immoral practices, Avon is still unquestioningly loving towards his nephew, leading him to dismiss the possibility that D' Angelo may snitch on the organization. Stringer Bell however is not willing to take chances and has D' Angelo killed without Avon's knowledge.
After Avon's release, he begins to reclaim his empire, but is troubled by Stringer's approach. Despite this, he still tries to maintain his love for Stringer, until they eventually have a falling out, with Stringer revealing to Avon that he had D' Angelo killed. Even after this, Avon is still loyal to Stringer. When a plan of Stringer's get him targeted for death by the assassin Brother Mouzone and Omar Little, Avon attempts everything he can to convince them not to kill Stringer, even attempting to bribe them. However, he is unsuccessful, and is forced to give up Stringer's location, a betrayal that turns out to have been justified when Avon is later arrested again based on information given by Stringer.
Avon is still able to maintain his status as Kingpin in prison, and still maintains his love for family, as shown when in the final season when Marlo is forced to negotiate with Avon in order to get in contact with a drug connection, and Avon's only request is that Marlo give Brianna $100,000. Avon's loyalty towards his loved ones is partially what makes him such a shrewd drug lord and enjoyable character, but his desire to mix family and business is what leads to his inevitable downfall.
Stringer's Downfall: Business
Whereas Avon's main flaw was his desire to mix family and business, Stringer Bell's main flaw is his desire to mix the drug business with white collar tactics. While Avon is content with running his illegal drug trade in the comfort of Baltimore's ghettos, Stringer, Avon's ambitious second in command, has desires to convert Avon's drug empire into a legitimate enterprise, attempting to establish front businesses and use white collar business tactics to manage Avon's empire as he is in prison. However, Stringer's supposedly intellectual ambitions actually prove to be incompetent, which, alongside D' Angelo's, leads to the downfall of Avon's empire. Stringer's desire to establish a front business with strip club owner, Orlando, but Orlando turns out out to be snitch for the police. Stringer then orders Orlando to be killed, which results in police officer Kima Greggs being shot and thus more law enforcement attention coming down on Avon's empire.
After Avon is arrested, Stringer attempts to use white collar business methods to run Avon's empire, but these tactics prove to be incompatible with the violent drug game and Stringer's own volatile temper, and as such the Barksdale organization loses territory to the up and coming Marlo, whom Stringer attempts to negotiate with rather than fight, leading to Marlo gaining more power. He also goes behind Avon's back to have D' Angelo killed, an act of betrayal that would be Stringer's first but not last.
After being released from prison, Avon is outraged at his organization's decrease in power, and desires to take control, causing a power struggle between the two. Avon clearly demonstrates his superior knowledge of the drug game when Stringer makes the ridiculous request to have a Senator assassinated for scamming him, and Avon retorts that Stringer should have known the risks of white collar crime . Stringer's incompetence, and the revelation that he had D' Angelo killed, eventually leads to a falling out between himself and Avon, which in turn leads to him snitching to the police about Avon, getting Barksdale arrested before he can raid Marlo. Stringer himself is killed however, due to a failed attempt at manipulating Omar Little and Brother Mouzone to kill each other, which leads to both hunting down and killing the helpless Stringer.
Marlo's Downfall: Power Through Coercion
Whereas Avon focused too much on family, and Stringer focused too much on business, Marlo focused too much on power. Marlo Stanfield was the totalitarian kingpin of West Baltimore after the arrest of Avon Barksdale. Marlo was driven by a desire to have an absolute monopoly over Baltimore's drug trade, and the ability to coerce fear and obedience out of anybody he came across. Marlo's desire for absolute power is best expressed by inability to negotiate or compromise with potential allies, preferring to rule with autocracy, and his killing of anybody who opposes, or disrespects him in the slightest way, most notably shoplifting a lollipop just to challenge and later kill the security guard who tried to stop him, as well as his killing of anybody who appears to be a liability, such as Little Kevin, Bodie, and Michael, whom he orders hits on just for the suspicion of snitching.
Perhaps what is most interesting about Marlo's rise to power is his lack of competition, a fact that he is clearly insecure about. He only defeats the Barksdale organization through the incompetence of Stringer Bell, who first tries to negotiate with Marlo instead of recognizing him as an obvious threat, then snitches on Avon, leading to the Barksdale organization getting arrested right as they were about to kill Marlo. He also defeats Proposition Joe, but only because, like Stringer, Prop Joe attempted to negotiate with Marlo rather than recognize the threat, and due to the unscrupulous nature in which Marlo kills Prop Joe, he is unable to take credit, instead lying that Omar killed him, a lie that nobody believes. Omar is in fact the closest thing that Marlo has to competition, which is why Marlo is so desperate to kill Omar and so angered when he discovers that Omar has been threatening him, believing his lack of response has made him look weak.
In perhaps one of the best cases of poetic justice ever written in fiction, Marlo has all of his power and notoriety stripped away from him. After having just secured the Greek Connection, and thus making him the most powerful drug lord in Baltimore, Marlo is forced to abandon the drug game when the police take down his organization. Due to a technicality, Marlo is able to avoid imprisonment and is able to sell the Greek connection for $10 million. However, he is essentially exiled from the drug game, and unlike Stringer, whose lifelong desire was to become a white collar businessman, Marlo is shown to be clearly uncomfortable in the company of the wealthy elite, whose deceptive tactics are far more intricate than Marlo's simple methods of coercion. Marlo then leaves the white collar crowd to go back to the ghetto, but is forced to discover that the recently killed Omar has become a mythic street legend, whereas as his presence in the drug game appears to be a footnote.
Proposition Joe's Downfall: Power Through Persuasion
Unlike Marlo, who desires to rules the streets under a violent autocracy, Prop Joe desires to run the streets through a peaceful oligarchy. Prop Joe is introduced in the first season as the amicable but manipulative Kingpin of East Baltimore, and a friendly rival to Avon Barksdale. After Avon's imprisonment, Prop Joe, Stringer, and Baltimore's other kingpins align to create The New Day Co-Op, an alliance of drug dealers meant to share the same drug supplier, a move hwihc would limit competition, and thus violence, and thus attention from law enforcement.
The Co-Op later become threatened however by the appearance of Marlo, whose desire for a drug monopoly put him at odds with the Co-Op. Despite the clear threat that Marlo presented, both Stringer and Prop Joe attempted to negotiate with Marlo, hoping to mentor him on how to be a better kingpin. This attempt at negotiation proved to be a mistake for both Stringer and Marlo however, Stringer's attempts at diplomacy ended up costing the Barksdale empire valuable territory, whereas Prop Joe's attempts at diplomacy ended up getting him betrayed by his greedy nephew Cheese, who conspired with Marlo to kill Prop Joe so that Marlo could obtain the Greek connection.
Omar's Downfall: Reputation
As stated, Omar is known for his mythical reputation, which cemented him as a legend both within the show's universe and amongst audiences. However, this reputation proved to be both the source of his strength as well as his ultimate weakness. When Omar chooses to rob the up and coming Marlo, Marlo, being the totalitarian that he is, views this as a challenge, and becomes obsessed with killing Omar and overtaking his famous reputation. This ends up leading to Omar's tragic end. Omar is able to retire and moves away from Baltimore to live in happiness. However Marlo and his henchmen kidnap and torture Butchie, Omar's close friend, in order to lure Omar out of hiding. Omar's rage, both towards Marlo and his own internal guilt, leads him down a path of self- destruction.
Omar comes back to Baltimore, hellbent on targeting Marlo. While Marlo attempts to ambush Omar, but Omar makes a daring escape by jumping off the seventh floor balcony of an apartment building, severely injuring his leg. Despite this injury, Omar continues to hunt Marlo and his workers. While police detective Bunk Moreland is skeptical of Omar's revenge quest, Omar promises to only target Marlo and nobody else. Omar breaks this promise, and in my opinion cements his karmic downfall, when he murders the defenseless Savino Bratton in cold blood as Savino exits a store with cigarettes, a foreshadowing to Omar's own death. Omar makes his biggest mistake when he goes to Michael's corner to threaten Omar. The profanity-loving child Kennard, whom in an earlier season was shown idolizing and imitating Omar, notes Omar's limp and brings Omar's mythic reputation into question. This eventually leads to Omar's murder in which Kennard follows Omar into a corner store and shoots him in the head as he buys cigarettes.
It is after Omar dies that we see the true difference between man and myth. Omar the man is wiped away from history, with Bunk and others not truly caring for his death, his body tag being incorrect, and his obituary being omitted from the newspaper. However, Omar the myth is shown to live on in street legend, as shown by Marlo's final scene, where drug dealers embellish Omar's death to fantastical proportions.
Omar's life and death show the benefits and risks of having a larger-than-life reputation. While Omar's mythic status makes him feared on the streets of Baltimore, it also gets him challenged by those who would like to seize his title, who will ruthlessly take advantage of anything they see as weakness, including his loved ones, and while his reputation may take fantastically mythic proportions, it also means that the immortality of his myth will make the actual facts and values of his real life irrelevant.
Bodie's Downfall: Inability To Reject The System
Bodie Broadus is one of The Wire's most beloved and tragic characters. Bodie has seemingly devoted his life to dealing drugs on street corners, despite the many opportunities he has to either advance or abandon the lifestyle. Bodie is often known as "The Pawn" of The Wire's chess game, due to his lack of ambition to do anything besides hustling on corners. While Bodie is shown to be competent at his profession, defending his corners from several rival gangs, as well as unquestioningly loyal to his superiors, even killing his close friend Wallace without hesitation when ordered. However Bodie's inability to reject his current system of living and adapt to the ever changing circumstances ends up leading to his eventual tragic downfall.
Bodie works as the competent lieutenant of the Barksdale organization until Avon's second arrest and the rise of Marlo. After Avon's arrest, Bodie works as an independent drug dealer, receiving his supply from Slim Charles and the Co-op. However Marlo coerces Bodie into working for him, and despite intial resistance, Bodie has no choice but submit.
When Marlo has Bodie's worker Little Kevin killed, Bodie becomes angered and kicks a police car in a fit of rage, feeling himself responsible for Little Kevin's death. He is arrested and talked to by detective Jimmy McNulty, While Bodie refuses to talk about his old Barksdale crew, he is willing to help McNulty take down Marlo.
However, Marlo's lieutenant sees Bodie with McNulty, and Marlo orders Bodie's execution.
Bodie dies in a suicidal last stand on the street corner he devoted his life to, getting into a brief shootout before being ambushed from behind and shot in the head, with the movements of his killers being noted by audiences to be reminiscent of Chess Knights, helping to cement Bodie's status as the ultimate pawn. Bodie is survived only by his loyal best friend Poot, whom, in the completely opposite fate as Bodie, manages to leave the drug game for good,
McNulty's Downfall: Inability To Respect The System
Detective Jimmy McNulty is arguably the main character of The Wire. He is noted for his tenacious detective work, willingness to bend the rules to catch criminals, and his alcoholism. Jimmy is motivated by a desire to prove himself as the ultimate detective no matter what the cost, but this desire ends up leading to his ultimate downfall.
Jimmy spends the first season of the Wire teaming up with Lester Freamon and a small group of other detectives to set up a complex wire tapping operation against the Barksdale organization. While he is incredibly skilled at his job, his willingness to bypass legal bureaucracy makes him a thorn to his higher ups. After Avon's second arrest, McNulty retires from detective work and becomes a patrolman, quitting his drinking and achieving a more balanced and peaceful life.
However, after the death of Bodie Broadus, McNulty is filled with both rage and guilt, and re enters detective work in order to take down Marlo, a move that would prove to be his ultimate self-destruction. When it is revealed that the police force do not have the necessary funds to investigate Marlo, McNulty comes up with an audacious plan, using the corpses of homeless people to fake the existence of a serial killer to scare the federal government into providing Baltimore's police with more funding. While this ploy does get McNulty the funds needed to investigate and eventually take down Marlo's empire, it comes at the ultimate cost, as his deception is discovered, and he is exiled from the police department.
While McNulty is a brilliant detective, his inability to respect the legal system and willingness to bypass it's obstructive bureaucracy proves to be both his ultimate asset and liability.
Scrutinizing the Success of Slim Charles:
What makes Slim Charles such a truly remarkable character is how he manages to avoid the pitfalls that all of the other characters fall for. Perhaps the key to Slim's success is his ability to be competent without being ambitious and to be honorable without being soft. Let's examine:
Laconic Yet Outspoken
Slim Charles is not the series most prominent character nor does he have the most amount of screentime or dialogue. Despite this he gives some of the wisest lessons The Wire has to teach in single sentences. As Shakespeare has stated, brevity is the soul of wit, and this is true of all of Slim Charles' dialogue. Whether he is advising Stringer, Avon, or Bodie, his constant wisdom, whether the character follow it or ignore it, is poetry to the ears and food for the brain.
Honorable Yet Ruthless
Slim Charles is shown to have a consistent code of honor throughout the series, being angered at his subordinates for shooting at Omar's grandmother during the Sunday Truce, helping out and advising Bodie, and being disgusted with Marlo's torture of Butchie and Cheese's betrayal of Prop Joe. However, despite Slim's honor, he is still a ruthless soldier who will kill without hesitation or remorse, as shown by his murder of teenage Stansfield soldiers and his execution of Cheese. As such, Slim both respects the ruthless system he is a part of and is willing to take part in it's brutality, but rejects the unnecessary bloodshed of treachery and innocent collateral damage.
Complacent Yet Ambitious
Slim Charles knows exactly what his role is and he never tries to supersede it, never arguing with his superiors besides the incompetent Stringer. Like Bodie, he is complacent with his role in the street game. However, unlike Bodie, Slim is smart enough to know when to adapt and advance, as shown by his recruitment to the New Day Co Op after the downfall of the Barksdales, which gives him protection from Marlo, whereas Bodie's independent status eventually makes him Marlo's subordinate.
Loyal Yet Adaptable
Whether it's Avon Barksdale or Prop Joe, Slim is unquestioningly loyal to whomever his employer is at the time. As shown by his dislike of Marlo, he also knows who to be loyal to. However, as shown by his quick transition from Avon to Joe, who was Avon's rival, Slim has no problem changing sides when it is clear that one side has become obsolete.
Competent Yet Humble
Slim Charles is an incredibly competent gangster knows the drug trafficking business well, as shown by his correct assessment of how Stringer's business model was incompatible with the drug game, as well as quickly assessing what the true cause of Prop Joe's death. However what truly cements his skill is his knowledge of what he isn't able to do. He knows his limits and when and when not to ask questions and take risks, as best shown when he rejects Stringer's plan of assassinating Senator Clay Davis. Unlike Omar or Marlo, Slim doesn't try to create a mythic larger-than-life reputation for himself. The Greek, the mysterious and powerful drug supplier of Baltimore, famously stated that his most useful asset was his anonymity, and it appears that Slim is a firm believer in that ideology, always acting as an efficient competent professional and never doing anything boisterous to jeopardize his current mission.
Fearless Yet Pragmatic
Like any true soldier, Slim is willing to die at a moment's notice. He knows that the drug game is a game of life and death and will lay down his life without hesitation if the situation calls for it, but that doesn't mean that he is suicidally reckless. This most notably seen when he is ambushed by Omar. Omar is prepared to kill him, believing he was involved in Butchie's death. While Slim does calmly explain the situation to Omar and even state that he would be willing to help Omar, he is neither reckless nor helpless, willing to take the bullet without flinching if Omar wished to kill him. He doesn't antagonize Omar, but he doesn't beg for his life either. He is the perfect soldier, fearless in the face of death.
Slim Charles: The Most Powerful Drug Lord In Baltimore
In Season 1's famous chess scene, D' Angelo states that while a pawn can never become a King, they can make it across the board and become a Queen, who is the most powerful piece on the board. With Fat Face Rick as the new kingpin of Baltimore and in possession of the Greek Connection, Baltimore's most lucrative drug supplier, and Slim Charles as Rick's head enforcer, that would technically make Slim the most powerful person in Baltimore's drug trade. This is an absolutely impressive feat from his start in Season 3 as a mere Barksdale lieutenant. What is notable about his ride to power is that it is not one that he sought, but rather one that he earned through patience, competence, loyalty, and humility. I think that everybody can learn a little something from Slim Charles and his philosophy of life, and if we do, we can become the kings and queens of our own chessboard.
What do you think? Is Slim Charles the best character on The Wire? Is The Wire the best show ever? You judge, you decide, like comment, and subscribe
Now before we examine Slim Charles and his strategy of success, let's first examine some other characters, and the factors that led to their downfall
Avon's Downfall: Family
Avon Barksdale is the first major antagonist of The Wire, the most powerful drug trafficker in West Baltimore. Avon is probably the shrewdest of The Wire's drug kingpins, using a perfect blend of fear, respect, and discretion to operate his empire at maximum effectiveness. He understands the environment he inhabits and how to. Because of this, he is often looked at as the "Kingpiece" in The Wire's game of chess, maintaining his status of power throughout the series, even after he is imprisoned.
Despite Avon's keen intellect of the drug game, his character suffers from one flaw, one that eventually costs him his drug empire. From the beginning of the series, we see that Avon is devoted to his family, and both uses the profits of his empire to sustain his family, as well as recruits family members to be a part of his. He clearly views the drug game as his family business, and this is most evident through his relationships with his sister, Brianna, and his nephew, D' Angelo. Avon uses his drug earnings to provide a life of luxury to his materialistic sister Brianna, who is more than happy to accept his money. Both Avon and Brianna recruit Brianna's son D' Angelo to be part of Avon's empire, with Avon recruiting D' Angelo as a lieutenant, and Brianna browbeating D' Angelo to play his role for the family.
The problem with mixing the loving loyalty of family and the ruthless brutality of the lawless drug business is exhibited by D' Angelo, who despite his incompetence at drug dealing and clearly bright intellect, is forced to be a drug dealer out of loyalty to his mother and uncle. This familial loyalty leads to the downfall of the Barksdale empire, as D' Angelo's incompetent murder of a witness at the beginning of the series incites the police investigation which brings down Barksdale's organization. D' Angelo's familial loyalty is tested further when he is arrested for the murder and offered a deal to snitch in exchange for a reduced sentence, which he is further enticed to do when he discovers that his friend Wallace has been killed. Brianna browbeats D' Angelo not to take the deal, condemning her own son to 10 to 20 years in prison. D' Angelo's depression leads him to heroin addiction and eventually distancing himself from his uncle entirely. Despite D' Angelo's continuous incompetence and his disgust for his family's immoral practices, Avon is still unquestioningly loving towards his nephew, leading him to dismiss the possibility that D' Angelo may snitch on the organization. Stringer Bell however is not willing to take chances and has D' Angelo killed without Avon's knowledge.
After Avon's release, he begins to reclaim his empire, but is troubled by Stringer's approach. Despite this, he still tries to maintain his love for Stringer, until they eventually have a falling out, with Stringer revealing to Avon that he had D' Angelo killed. Even after this, Avon is still loyal to Stringer. When a plan of Stringer's get him targeted for death by the assassin Brother Mouzone and Omar Little, Avon attempts everything he can to convince them not to kill Stringer, even attempting to bribe them. However, he is unsuccessful, and is forced to give up Stringer's location, a betrayal that turns out to have been justified when Avon is later arrested again based on information given by Stringer.
Avon is still able to maintain his status as Kingpin in prison, and still maintains his love for family, as shown when in the final season when Marlo is forced to negotiate with Avon in order to get in contact with a drug connection, and Avon's only request is that Marlo give Brianna $100,000. Avon's loyalty towards his loved ones is partially what makes him such a shrewd drug lord and enjoyable character, but his desire to mix family and business is what leads to his inevitable downfall.
Stringer's Downfall: Business
Whereas Avon's main flaw was his desire to mix family and business, Stringer Bell's main flaw is his desire to mix the drug business with white collar tactics. While Avon is content with running his illegal drug trade in the comfort of Baltimore's ghettos, Stringer, Avon's ambitious second in command, has desires to convert Avon's drug empire into a legitimate enterprise, attempting to establish front businesses and use white collar business tactics to manage Avon's empire as he is in prison. However, Stringer's supposedly intellectual ambitions actually prove to be incompetent, which, alongside D' Angelo's, leads to the downfall of Avon's empire. Stringer's desire to establish a front business with strip club owner, Orlando, but Orlando turns out out to be snitch for the police. Stringer then orders Orlando to be killed, which results in police officer Kima Greggs being shot and thus more law enforcement attention coming down on Avon's empire.
After Avon is arrested, Stringer attempts to use white collar business methods to run Avon's empire, but these tactics prove to be incompatible with the violent drug game and Stringer's own volatile temper, and as such the Barksdale organization loses territory to the up and coming Marlo, whom Stringer attempts to negotiate with rather than fight, leading to Marlo gaining more power. He also goes behind Avon's back to have D' Angelo killed, an act of betrayal that would be Stringer's first but not last.
After being released from prison, Avon is outraged at his organization's decrease in power, and desires to take control, causing a power struggle between the two. Avon clearly demonstrates his superior knowledge of the drug game when Stringer makes the ridiculous request to have a Senator assassinated for scamming him, and Avon retorts that Stringer should have known the risks of white collar crime . Stringer's incompetence, and the revelation that he had D' Angelo killed, eventually leads to a falling out between himself and Avon, which in turn leads to him snitching to the police about Avon, getting Barksdale arrested before he can raid Marlo. Stringer himself is killed however, due to a failed attempt at manipulating Omar Little and Brother Mouzone to kill each other, which leads to both hunting down and killing the helpless Stringer.
Marlo's Downfall: Power Through Coercion
Whereas Avon focused too much on family, and Stringer focused too much on business, Marlo focused too much on power. Marlo Stanfield was the totalitarian kingpin of West Baltimore after the arrest of Avon Barksdale. Marlo was driven by a desire to have an absolute monopoly over Baltimore's drug trade, and the ability to coerce fear and obedience out of anybody he came across. Marlo's desire for absolute power is best expressed by inability to negotiate or compromise with potential allies, preferring to rule with autocracy, and his killing of anybody who opposes, or disrespects him in the slightest way, most notably shoplifting a lollipop just to challenge and later kill the security guard who tried to stop him, as well as his killing of anybody who appears to be a liability, such as Little Kevin, Bodie, and Michael, whom he orders hits on just for the suspicion of snitching.
Perhaps what is most interesting about Marlo's rise to power is his lack of competition, a fact that he is clearly insecure about. He only defeats the Barksdale organization through the incompetence of Stringer Bell, who first tries to negotiate with Marlo instead of recognizing him as an obvious threat, then snitches on Avon, leading to the Barksdale organization getting arrested right as they were about to kill Marlo. He also defeats Proposition Joe, but only because, like Stringer, Prop Joe attempted to negotiate with Marlo rather than recognize the threat, and due to the unscrupulous nature in which Marlo kills Prop Joe, he is unable to take credit, instead lying that Omar killed him, a lie that nobody believes. Omar is in fact the closest thing that Marlo has to competition, which is why Marlo is so desperate to kill Omar and so angered when he discovers that Omar has been threatening him, believing his lack of response has made him look weak.
In perhaps one of the best cases of poetic justice ever written in fiction, Marlo has all of his power and notoriety stripped away from him. After having just secured the Greek Connection, and thus making him the most powerful drug lord in Baltimore, Marlo is forced to abandon the drug game when the police take down his organization. Due to a technicality, Marlo is able to avoid imprisonment and is able to sell the Greek connection for $10 million. However, he is essentially exiled from the drug game, and unlike Stringer, whose lifelong desire was to become a white collar businessman, Marlo is shown to be clearly uncomfortable in the company of the wealthy elite, whose deceptive tactics are far more intricate than Marlo's simple methods of coercion. Marlo then leaves the white collar crowd to go back to the ghetto, but is forced to discover that the recently killed Omar has become a mythic street legend, whereas as his presence in the drug game appears to be a footnote.
Proposition Joe's Downfall: Power Through Persuasion
Unlike Marlo, who desires to rules the streets under a violent autocracy, Prop Joe desires to run the streets through a peaceful oligarchy. Prop Joe is introduced in the first season as the amicable but manipulative Kingpin of East Baltimore, and a friendly rival to Avon Barksdale. After Avon's imprisonment, Prop Joe, Stringer, and Baltimore's other kingpins align to create The New Day Co-Op, an alliance of drug dealers meant to share the same drug supplier, a move hwihc would limit competition, and thus violence, and thus attention from law enforcement.
The Co-Op later become threatened however by the appearance of Marlo, whose desire for a drug monopoly put him at odds with the Co-Op. Despite the clear threat that Marlo presented, both Stringer and Prop Joe attempted to negotiate with Marlo, hoping to mentor him on how to be a better kingpin. This attempt at negotiation proved to be a mistake for both Stringer and Marlo however, Stringer's attempts at diplomacy ended up costing the Barksdale empire valuable territory, whereas Prop Joe's attempts at diplomacy ended up getting him betrayed by his greedy nephew Cheese, who conspired with Marlo to kill Prop Joe so that Marlo could obtain the Greek connection.
Omar's Downfall: Reputation
As stated, Omar is known for his mythical reputation, which cemented him as a legend both within the show's universe and amongst audiences. However, this reputation proved to be both the source of his strength as well as his ultimate weakness. When Omar chooses to rob the up and coming Marlo, Marlo, being the totalitarian that he is, views this as a challenge, and becomes obsessed with killing Omar and overtaking his famous reputation. This ends up leading to Omar's tragic end. Omar is able to retire and moves away from Baltimore to live in happiness. However Marlo and his henchmen kidnap and torture Butchie, Omar's close friend, in order to lure Omar out of hiding. Omar's rage, both towards Marlo and his own internal guilt, leads him down a path of self- destruction.
Omar comes back to Baltimore, hellbent on targeting Marlo. While Marlo attempts to ambush Omar, but Omar makes a daring escape by jumping off the seventh floor balcony of an apartment building, severely injuring his leg. Despite this injury, Omar continues to hunt Marlo and his workers. While police detective Bunk Moreland is skeptical of Omar's revenge quest, Omar promises to only target Marlo and nobody else. Omar breaks this promise, and in my opinion cements his karmic downfall, when he murders the defenseless Savino Bratton in cold blood as Savino exits a store with cigarettes, a foreshadowing to Omar's own death. Omar makes his biggest mistake when he goes to Michael's corner to threaten Omar. The profanity-loving child Kennard, whom in an earlier season was shown idolizing and imitating Omar, notes Omar's limp and brings Omar's mythic reputation into question. This eventually leads to Omar's murder in which Kennard follows Omar into a corner store and shoots him in the head as he buys cigarettes.
It is after Omar dies that we see the true difference between man and myth. Omar the man is wiped away from history, with Bunk and others not truly caring for his death, his body tag being incorrect, and his obituary being omitted from the newspaper. However, Omar the myth is shown to live on in street legend, as shown by Marlo's final scene, where drug dealers embellish Omar's death to fantastical proportions.
Omar's life and death show the benefits and risks of having a larger-than-life reputation. While Omar's mythic status makes him feared on the streets of Baltimore, it also gets him challenged by those who would like to seize his title, who will ruthlessly take advantage of anything they see as weakness, including his loved ones, and while his reputation may take fantastically mythic proportions, it also means that the immortality of his myth will make the actual facts and values of his real life irrelevant.
Bodie's Downfall: Inability To Reject The System
Bodie Broadus is one of The Wire's most beloved and tragic characters. Bodie has seemingly devoted his life to dealing drugs on street corners, despite the many opportunities he has to either advance or abandon the lifestyle. Bodie is often known as "The Pawn" of The Wire's chess game, due to his lack of ambition to do anything besides hustling on corners. While Bodie is shown to be competent at his profession, defending his corners from several rival gangs, as well as unquestioningly loyal to his superiors, even killing his close friend Wallace without hesitation when ordered. However Bodie's inability to reject his current system of living and adapt to the ever changing circumstances ends up leading to his eventual tragic downfall.
Bodie works as the competent lieutenant of the Barksdale organization until Avon's second arrest and the rise of Marlo. After Avon's arrest, Bodie works as an independent drug dealer, receiving his supply from Slim Charles and the Co-op. However Marlo coerces Bodie into working for him, and despite intial resistance, Bodie has no choice but submit.
When Marlo has Bodie's worker Little Kevin killed, Bodie becomes angered and kicks a police car in a fit of rage, feeling himself responsible for Little Kevin's death. He is arrested and talked to by detective Jimmy McNulty, While Bodie refuses to talk about his old Barksdale crew, he is willing to help McNulty take down Marlo.
However, Marlo's lieutenant sees Bodie with McNulty, and Marlo orders Bodie's execution.
Bodie dies in a suicidal last stand on the street corner he devoted his life to, getting into a brief shootout before being ambushed from behind and shot in the head, with the movements of his killers being noted by audiences to be reminiscent of Chess Knights, helping to cement Bodie's status as the ultimate pawn. Bodie is survived only by his loyal best friend Poot, whom, in the completely opposite fate as Bodie, manages to leave the drug game for good,
McNulty's Downfall: Inability To Respect The System
Detective Jimmy McNulty is arguably the main character of The Wire. He is noted for his tenacious detective work, willingness to bend the rules to catch criminals, and his alcoholism. Jimmy is motivated by a desire to prove himself as the ultimate detective no matter what the cost, but this desire ends up leading to his ultimate downfall.
Jimmy spends the first season of the Wire teaming up with Lester Freamon and a small group of other detectives to set up a complex wire tapping operation against the Barksdale organization. While he is incredibly skilled at his job, his willingness to bypass legal bureaucracy makes him a thorn to his higher ups. After Avon's second arrest, McNulty retires from detective work and becomes a patrolman, quitting his drinking and achieving a more balanced and peaceful life.
However, after the death of Bodie Broadus, McNulty is filled with both rage and guilt, and re enters detective work in order to take down Marlo, a move that would prove to be his ultimate self-destruction. When it is revealed that the police force do not have the necessary funds to investigate Marlo, McNulty comes up with an audacious plan, using the corpses of homeless people to fake the existence of a serial killer to scare the federal government into providing Baltimore's police with more funding. While this ploy does get McNulty the funds needed to investigate and eventually take down Marlo's empire, it comes at the ultimate cost, as his deception is discovered, and he is exiled from the police department.
While McNulty is a brilliant detective, his inability to respect the legal system and willingness to bypass it's obstructive bureaucracy proves to be both his ultimate asset and liability.
Scrutinizing the Success of Slim Charles:
What makes Slim Charles such a truly remarkable character is how he manages to avoid the pitfalls that all of the other characters fall for. Perhaps the key to Slim's success is his ability to be competent without being ambitious and to be honorable without being soft. Let's examine:
Laconic Yet Outspoken
Slim Charles is not the series most prominent character nor does he have the most amount of screentime or dialogue. Despite this he gives some of the wisest lessons The Wire has to teach in single sentences. As Shakespeare has stated, brevity is the soul of wit, and this is true of all of Slim Charles' dialogue. Whether he is advising Stringer, Avon, or Bodie, his constant wisdom, whether the character follow it or ignore it, is poetry to the ears and food for the brain.
Honorable Yet Ruthless
Slim Charles is shown to have a consistent code of honor throughout the series, being angered at his subordinates for shooting at Omar's grandmother during the Sunday Truce, helping out and advising Bodie, and being disgusted with Marlo's torture of Butchie and Cheese's betrayal of Prop Joe. However, despite Slim's honor, he is still a ruthless soldier who will kill without hesitation or remorse, as shown by his murder of teenage Stansfield soldiers and his execution of Cheese. As such, Slim both respects the ruthless system he is a part of and is willing to take part in it's brutality, but rejects the unnecessary bloodshed of treachery and innocent collateral damage.
Complacent Yet Ambitious
Slim Charles knows exactly what his role is and he never tries to supersede it, never arguing with his superiors besides the incompetent Stringer. Like Bodie, he is complacent with his role in the street game. However, unlike Bodie, Slim is smart enough to know when to adapt and advance, as shown by his recruitment to the New Day Co Op after the downfall of the Barksdales, which gives him protection from Marlo, whereas Bodie's independent status eventually makes him Marlo's subordinate.
Loyal Yet Adaptable
Whether it's Avon Barksdale or Prop Joe, Slim is unquestioningly loyal to whomever his employer is at the time. As shown by his dislike of Marlo, he also knows who to be loyal to. However, as shown by his quick transition from Avon to Joe, who was Avon's rival, Slim has no problem changing sides when it is clear that one side has become obsolete.
Competent Yet Humble
Slim Charles is an incredibly competent gangster knows the drug trafficking business well, as shown by his correct assessment of how Stringer's business model was incompatible with the drug game, as well as quickly assessing what the true cause of Prop Joe's death. However what truly cements his skill is his knowledge of what he isn't able to do. He knows his limits and when and when not to ask questions and take risks, as best shown when he rejects Stringer's plan of assassinating Senator Clay Davis. Unlike Omar or Marlo, Slim doesn't try to create a mythic larger-than-life reputation for himself. The Greek, the mysterious and powerful drug supplier of Baltimore, famously stated that his most useful asset was his anonymity, and it appears that Slim is a firm believer in that ideology, always acting as an efficient competent professional and never doing anything boisterous to jeopardize his current mission.
Fearless Yet Pragmatic
Like any true soldier, Slim is willing to die at a moment's notice. He knows that the drug game is a game of life and death and will lay down his life without hesitation if the situation calls for it, but that doesn't mean that he is suicidally reckless. This most notably seen when he is ambushed by Omar. Omar is prepared to kill him, believing he was involved in Butchie's death. While Slim does calmly explain the situation to Omar and even state that he would be willing to help Omar, he is neither reckless nor helpless, willing to take the bullet without flinching if Omar wished to kill him. He doesn't antagonize Omar, but he doesn't beg for his life either. He is the perfect soldier, fearless in the face of death.
Slim Charles: The Most Powerful Drug Lord In Baltimore
In Season 1's famous chess scene, D' Angelo states that while a pawn can never become a King, they can make it across the board and become a Queen, who is the most powerful piece on the board. With Fat Face Rick as the new kingpin of Baltimore and in possession of the Greek Connection, Baltimore's most lucrative drug supplier, and Slim Charles as Rick's head enforcer, that would technically make Slim the most powerful person in Baltimore's drug trade. This is an absolutely impressive feat from his start in Season 3 as a mere Barksdale lieutenant. What is notable about his ride to power is that it is not one that he sought, but rather one that he earned through patience, competence, loyalty, and humility. I think that everybody can learn a little something from Slim Charles and his philosophy of life, and if we do, we can become the kings and queens of our own chessboard.
What do you think? Is Slim Charles the best character on The Wire? Is The Wire the best show ever? You judge, you decide, like comment, and subscribe
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