Top 50 Character of The Wire 50-46

#50
Donut

How He Fit: One of the many kids introduced in season 4, Donut had a love for jacking some of the hottest vehicles around and showing them off to his friends. Like most of the other project kids however, his future does not seem particularly bright.

What I Liked: Donut was really a minor character, but the kid had a charm to him. It would not surprise me if he was one of the many actors that the crew simply plucked from the streets of Baltimore. Like all of the kids from season 4, I felt an instant connection to Donut because the show had built up 3 seasons worth of how hard conditions are going to be for them. In the early going, I found him a little bit of a pest and cared more about the core four; most of the other kids were generally not into illegal activities. Later on I realized that while he may have been a bit of a brat, he was essentially just a kid who loved to collect and play with some toys, his conditions bringing him to a point where carjacking seemed the simplest and most efficient way to do so. In addition, instead of a simple arrest and maybe even something that might prevent any more auto-theft, we have Officer Walker projecting his reign of anger unto poor Donut and showing one of the many reasons police officer are not talked to by those living in the streets of Baltimore.

Best Moment: Opening up Prez’s car. Although he was a thief and proved he would steal teachers’ cars without a second of thought, he also was just a genuinely nice kid.

#49
Malik “Poot” Carr

How He Fit: One of the many characters introduced from the Pit in the first season, Poot’s defining characteristic was mostly his desire for women and all the goodies that entails. His biggest claim in the series is being the only original Barksdale soldier who actually makes it out of the game. His most notable scene is likely the slaying of Wallace, which I will discuss in the next paragraph.

What I Liked: Never a massive favourite to be honest, but 50 is a big number, even for a show as deep in quality as The Wire. Still, he is part of one of the series’ most heartbreaking moments and unlike the first watch through the series where I hated him for shooting Wallace, the second time it seemed he was doing it out of sympathy for an old friend, both of whom are trapped in the game with no other options. The acting of all three in that scene is phenomenal, and in one of the few times Poot has to show emotion, his face tells you everything he is going through in that moment. I also had to put him on here simply because he was able to actually make it out alive and not in jail. Who would have thought that would happen at the beginning of the series? Then again, that’s life in West Baltimore, and that’s The Wire.

Best Moment: “Does the chair know we gonna look like some punk-ass bitches?”

#48
Calvin “Cheese” Wagstaff

How He Fit: From fairly small beginnings in season 2 as a dealer in Prop Joe’s east side crew this character developed as the seasons went allow, popping up every now and again and usually with a bigger role every season (including a darkly hilarious run-in with a “dawg” in season 3). Of course I remember him most for his betrayal of season 5 of his uncle to Marlo, arguably one of the most despicable acts committed during the series, which says a lot on a show like this.

What I Liked: I’ve read complaints of Method Man’s acting in the show, but I think they are totally unfounded. He is able to play an admittedly fairly simple character very convincingly and like most other characters on the show gains much of his strength from his realism. I can picture running into this guy on a corner of East Baltimore. I even felt some sympathy for the guy with the whole dog incident, when he showed some heartbreaking emotion for his old canine friend, but for the most part Cheese represented a different shade of the “Marlo generation” of gangsters who will betray and backstab anyone for a buck (although a possible interesting discussion is how true this really is; do guys like Marlo and Cheese really represent the current/future drug kingpin?). His death at the hand of Slim Charles is one of the most satisfying ends in a show notorious for being very unpredictable in who will succeed in "the game” and who will not. He also had one of the best street names on the show.

Best Moment: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfsQaeIYWoY

Bunk’s impression never fails to make me laugh.

#47
Butchie

How He Fit: Butchie mostly acts as the bank for a few drug dealers and mentor to Omar while operating a bar at the same time. He almost seems to be the equivalent of a Mafia made man so when Marlo decides to take him out we see how horribly the game has been corrupted.

What I Liked: Seriously, how could you not like this guy? A blind old man who deals a few drugs on the side, has lots of wise council, and has many cool conversations with Omar. I find no complaints. For the most part he is on this list for the final reason; he and Omar have some great scenes together, such as Omar’s guilt trip following Tasha’s death, and his opinions on the Barksdale conflict. It was always little scenes like this that really made the show something special. Butchie was one character I was certain would be fine by the end of the series. After all, he did nothing really to piss off anyone (except maybe those hot shots) and seemed content with his minimal involvement in the drug trade. Fuck you, Marlo and Cheese.

Best Moment: I was going to say his death, because it is one of the hardest scenes to watch on the entire show, but he deserves better than that. So I’ll go with this one, Butchie explaining how the difference between East and West goes back to one man: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9jeN_OziBo

#46
Mayor Clarence Royce

How He Fit: The king of the city for a while, Royce showed how badly things can get in the corrupt world of politics, surrounding himself with cronies like Clay Davis and Burrell. Despite all of the mistake that he did and the fact that a lot of his policies helped keep the city the way it is, I kind of felt for the guy in that it seemed like there wasn’t much else he could do. This was not my initial reaction true, but after a second rewatch and seeing Carcetti head down the same path where everyone stays at the status quo.

What I Liked: As mentioned I could relate to the guy on a human level who got trapped in a corrupt world, even if it was a different way that those like D’Angelo and Frank Sobotka got caught up in. Namely that Royce does not have to deal with the same consequences, being in the political sphere. He’s free to support Clay Davis and continue to feed into the problem that is killing Baltimore. Royce comes across a little arrogant at times, but no more than the average political characters on the show. Royce is also one of the few who seems open to keeping the Hamsterdam project open, in the face of overwhelming opposition and something which led to his loss in the mayoral election. In the end, Royce is like many others in the series, caught in a position where he becomes trapped by the system. On the other hand, him getting a blowjob led to Herc getting his stripes, so that definitely brings him down a few notches in my like category. Speaking of which…

Best Moment: The whole way that incident is handled is one of the best for both humour and for showing politcally absurbity that the show created.