Top 50 Characters of The Wire 15-11

#15
Randy Wagstaff

How He Fit: Arguably the most heartbreaking character on the entire show (a list that is fairly large, I will admit). Randy was actually possibly my least favourite of the four at the beginning of season 4, but it did not take very long for him to win me over with his adorable smiles and clever business-like strategy (in something that seriously made me wonder about Stringer’s childhood and if he at any time may have been this innocent). As I mentioned his relationship with Carver is one of my favourites of the series, and seeing them be torn away was just horrific to watch.

What I Liked: The storyline of the kids in season 4 is many people’s favourite storyline of the series (I would put it right up there with Hamsterdam and the Stringer/Avon conflict for my favourite), and a lot of that was thanks to the acting of the four kids. All so often in the entertainment industry there are kids who I wonder how they made it into the cast of a movie or show (and then I realize that it is probably because their parents are rich and in California), but it still amazes me how pitch-perfect all of the kids were, and Randy is no exception. This is definitely an entry where I have to admit I don’t know much to say, because just thinking about his storyline makes me want to go and cry in a dark corner of the world. Although Michael and Dukie will be higher on the list, I don’t think anyone’s storyline affected me more than Randy.

Top 5 Moments:

5. Suggestion of the piss balloons.

4. Stealing all of the hall passes. This is a bit of a personal moment because I did this in public school.

3. His re-appearance in season 5, obviously completely changed from the smiling happy-go-lucky kid just to survive.

2. “You gonna look out for me Sgt. Carver? You got my back, huh?”

1. “You tried. Thanks.” Actually made me cry. The fact that he could still say that after everything he did and everything he must’ve known was to come showed how big of a heart he had.

#14
Mayor Thomas Carcetti

How He Fit: Without a doubt Carcetti is the hardest character in the show for me to pin down. Starting off as a bit of a sleazebag politician, he also showed some signs of actually wanting to improve some aspects of the city (particularly the police department) that we for two seasons had seen how broken they are. After this initial uncertainly, he seems to gain a bit more in the wanting to improve the city category in his run for mayor, which despite his frustrations seemed optimistic and managed to actually get the city along with him (Obama parallels anyone?). After a few good deeds he finds himself stuck in a system unable to change, and ends up no better than Royce. If the mayor can’t change the condition of the city, who the hell can?

What I Liked: The ambiguity that I mentioned. There were so many points, particularly in his big perfectly worded speeches, where I wondered how much of what he was saying was sincerity and how much was pandering for votes (and of course, he shifts more to the latter as the series goes on). Someone smarter than me (might’ve been Alan Sepinwall, whose Wire recaps are awesome for those who haven’t read them) said that the most amazing thing about the series wasn’t that it made us care for cops or criminals or addicts or dockworkers, but that it made us care about politicians. Indeed, with people like Clay Davis and Nerese Campbell it shows many who are pretty despicable, but I never would have imagined at the beginning of season 3 that I would actually grow to care about this white guy’s struggles to become mayor, nor my severe disappointment when he failed to follow through. By the end of the series I was kind of amazed that I did not hate him (a reaction I’ve heard from many) after he completely sold his soul and all of his principles to become governor; but I couldn’t. I know he could’ve taken the money at the end of season 4, but for the most part he was just another pawn, and one of the most cynical (yet true) aspects of The Wire.

Top 5 Moments:

5. Messing around with Burrell at the beginning of season 3. Even though he seemed like a scumbag, anyone giving Burrell a hard time was always going to give me a smile.

4. Epic speech at the end of season 3. He nearly had me pumping my fist even though I realize that the point was speeches and rhetoric are not the key to winning the war on drugs.

3. Losing it in the car over a tuna sub and letting everything he hates about running for mayor come out. Hilarious.

2. Finding out about the fake serial killer in the final episode. Watching him come to terms with it is fantastic. Also hilarious.

1. His reaction to finding out he won. Can’t really put down why I loved this moment so much, but it’s probably one of my favourite minor moments of the series.

#13
Duquan “Dukie” Weems

How He Fit: Pretty much custom built to break hearts, I was impressed that he never came across that way and always seemed like a true character. It is of course a sad commentary that someone like him can ever exist in his conditions, and Dukie was definitely there as a part of the group to represent those who have absolutely no hope. With Randy and Michael, there was at least a chance had things gone differently that they could have made it out. Dukie was pretty much doomed.

What I Liked: It’s hard to talk about any of the main boys of season 4 without mentioning the other three, but I will say that even on his own Dukie completely hooked me from the start. Even though the other three required some development to really get me invested in them, how can you not feel badly for a kid who lives with a bunch a drug users, also smells, and gets picked on constantly? His relationship with Michael (my favourite of the four) never failed and every scene with the two of them had me completely hooked. Once again the performance was fantastic and I totally believed that this really was a kid from the streets. His progress in school was so heart-warming which makes his eventual fall into the drug world all the more tragic. Of course, him shooting up is arguably the most heartbreaking shot in the entire series, and had me hoping that someday, like Bubbles, he will be able to make it out. I now need to stop writing about this character because it depresses me way too much.

Top 5 Moments:

5. “It’s a serial killer who only kills other serial killers.” I love Dexter, but that line was funny.

4. “How do you get from here to the rest of the world?” Also a great scene for Cutty.

3. Saying goodbye to Michael, and reminiscing about the old piss balloon days.

2. Blowing the fan on the girl who just slashed the other girl’s face. Such a small act of compassion that is just beautiful.

1. Going to ask Prez for money to get his own place and go back to school. Heartbreaking because of what we know it’s really for (and Prez seems to as well).

#12
Marlo Stanfield

How He Fit: Beginning by climbing up the ladder of the rug trade through sheer brute force and stubborn-headedness, Marlo began as kind of a parallel for what I imagined Avon’s rise to be like. However if it wasn’t clear in season 3 by season 4 he made his true colours known as a completely detestable psychopath who is only bent on having his name ring out and wearing the crown. I mentioned before that characters like Levy and Davis are the true villains of the show, and while their greed and two-faced natures allow the drug trade to flourish and prevent police from doing their job, they also never killed people just for talking back and put dozens of dead bodies in vacant row homes.

What I Liked: Marlo was a character who, for my first watch of the series (in addition to completely disliking as a human being), I always thought was an above average character that was only competently acted. I felt that he was simply another “silent but psycho” gangster that had been done before. However, his scene is the jail near the end of season 5 completely redeemed his character for me and made my first re-watch a completely different experience in watching his character. For with that one outburst I was able to see how contained both the actor and the character were keeping themselves, with that heated insecurity buried deep beneath the coldly indifferent exterior. I also liked how different Marlo seemed around Chris and Snoop (especially the former) and how in those moments (as well as his scenes with his pigeons) we could see that their was a faint glimpse of humanity in there. Some may consider him too one-note, but I was amazed how vastly he improved for me as a character the second time around, and I always wonder how he got to be the way he was. I still hate his guts, though.

Top 5 Moments:

5. Stealing Herc’s camera. “Camera’s are kind of like pigeons. Sometimes they come back, sometimes not.” Just fucking with Herc in general made him slightly more endearing to me.

4. Shooting Devone even after he survived the intended set-ep. First time he proved how much of a bastard he could be.

3. “You want it to be one way, but it’s the other way.” Chilling, and one of the best lines of the series.

2. Taking the corner back in the final episode. At least he proved that he wasn’t all talk, and that his heart lay with the street.

1. Aforementioned freak-out. “My name is my name!”

#11
Howard "Bunny" Colvin

How He Fit: Following possibly the greatest representation of evil and what’s wrong with the world on The Wire, we have arguably its most admirable character. Beginning as one of the major focuses of “reform” in season 3, Colvin ended up being much more, in that he was one of the greatest examples of a force for good being pushed down by the system that he is in (beaten by only one character, who I’m sure you can all guess). Between his Hamsterdam project and his other experiment in season 4 with the kids Colvin was able to think outside the box, which according to Simon and the show is becoming a quality that is not looked kindly upon in modern-day America.

What I Liked: Bunny is impossible to dislike. If you do, you are an inhuman monster. Despite his noble and admirable character he never felt unrealistic in the morally grey world of The Wire, and I still wonder how much of that was the writing and how much was the acting (of course, as with most cases in this show, it was probably both). Instead of being someone who clearly sees the problems of the Western District and the Baltimore Police Department as a whole completely, Colvin simply wants to save his district and try to put a dent in the decay of parts of his city. Of course this being The Wire, neither succeed at all, but his two attempts are two are my favourite stories of the entire show, as well as two of the most touching. As naïve and idealistic as it may sound, if more government and police officials were like this man there wouldn’t be such a public distrust/fear and the world would be a better place.

Top 5 Moments:

5. His cemetery meet-up with Stringer. Two reformers about to be taken down by their respective institutions.

4. To Namond about his nickname: “If you tell anyone, I’ll cut your balls off. Don’t think I won’t do it.”

3. Taking the kids out for dinner. His hope and then crushing defeat when they realize that it’s not their world is disappointing.

2. The paper bag speech. A brilliant conceit as to why the war on drugs is fundamentally flawed in its basic core.

1. His speech to Carver that sets that character off on his own new personal journey. It is almost a little too on the nose since it is an explicit depiction of why the war on drugs doesn’t work that the creators/writers obviously believe, but it is said with such passion and performed so well (not to mention that it is completely true) that I adore it.