Coming Down to "The Wire"

The final season of HBO's dramatic tour de force The Wire is coming to a close. This next episode will be the last and Sunday's installment was truly bittersweet. Michael, the young assassin recruited from the local junior high school and played to perfection by Tristan Wilds, was responsible for the death of one of the series' most memorable characters.

Spoilers and analysis after the jump.

This week Michael shot Snoop.

This happened as Snoop was driving Michael into what would have been an ambush and his death.  Marlo Stanfield ordered Michael's death after the police seized millions of dollars worth of heroin, arrested the principals of his drug gang, and, a murder warrant was served on Chris—Marlo's top enforcer—for the murder of Michael's stepfather(?).  Michael never "snitched" to the police, and, suspected Snoop was about to kill him. "Why? What did I do?" he asked as  he placed the gun to Snoop's head.

Snoop's answer was defiant. "'Cause you hold yourself apart, are too quiet and ask too many questions, like 'why people have to get shot of they didn't do anything wrong.'  You don't just do what you're told. You can never be one of us."

That answer explains why Snoop—the hardcore killer who willingly and needlessly murdered so many innocent people—was killed and Michael walked away.

Snoop was never one of our favorite characters, but, she did make history as television's first unapologetic, black, butch, cross-dressing lesbian. The Wire presented many more gay characters than all of the broadcast networks combined—these were mostly black gay characters, which was remarkable—and after Omar's death last week only Detective Kima Greggs remains the last black LGBT character on the series.

Stay tuned.

You May Have Missed ...
The End of Omar on "The Wire" [R20]
Michael K. Williams: Omar's Sexuality is "Fearless" [R20]
Obama: Omar is "Black, Gay, Fascinating" Character [R20]
Michael K. Williams and Being Gay on "The Wire" [R20]
Deb Price on Blacks LGBTs and Obama [R20]
All Up in Omar's Game [Popnography]
The Parts You Can't Make Up [Popnography]
Best Gay Sex Scenes on TV [After Elton]

Comments

[Shabaka]

Pfewww...Thanks for clearing that up,Rod. I actually thought last Sunday was the last we'd see of this groundbreaking show. And for some reason I wasn't aware that Kima was actually a lesbian. Great post. Looking forward to watching the final episode.

[seanndc]

Some how, I'm thinking we're going to learn that Marlo is DL or gay in the final episode. There's all this evidence building up to this from his having people murdered because they called him a dick sucker.

[Dex123ter]

"The Wire" is one of my favorite shows, ever. I wished that I didn't have to end, but it must.

But Snoop went out in a good way, she knew it was coming.

[worst_1_yet]

Anyone remember the one (and only) scene that showed of Rawls (the commissioner) in a gay bar in season 3? Wonder if they'll revisit that or just leave it hanging. I think Snoop was not totally unlikable. A few times they showed her looking surprised/hurt when Chris got too brutal beating Michael's father and later Butchie. She just it with a bullet and gets it over with...No need to beat somebody bloody.

[belasco]

Hey, Rod, not to bring up an old topic/debate, but many thanks for the care with the spoiler-free heading this time around. I was one of those that got unintentionally spoiled by the Omar-obit. In this day of DVRing, and Tivoing, it's not unreasonable that someone may not have seen an episode yet just because it aired a few days prior. Again, thanks for your consideration. Love the blog, by the way!

[IsleZeus]

I just saw this b*tch playing Snoop on BETJ's My Two Cents, and she said something to the effect that she was ok with relationships involving two females or a female and a male, but she has a problem with two men together. After which, Stacey Ann Chin said "don't get all homophobic now"

I was shocked I tell ya! Shocked! I mean she's so butch she's like a homophobic str8 man now? What The F*ck!

[FANTA FOFANA]

MICHEAL(TRISTAN WILDS) BETTER NOT DO THE NASTY WITH OMAR OR I'M GONNA HAVE A TEDDY ATTACK. IT'LL BE HARD BUT TRISTAN I'LL STILL LOVE YOU.