re: OFFICIAL "The Wire" M/TV Board rewatch thread (current discussion starts ~p. 53)

I always loved when Dee told Bodie and Wallace "why can't this business be like every other business!?!?" And I appreciated the fact that he had respect for the customer, no matter that they were junkies.

No, Dee wasn't built for the game that was being played in Baltimore, no question. And true, if he was anyone other than Avons "baby" nephew, he would have been murdered in a very violent, "let's make an example" kind of way, for his violations and soft heart. But in some places, the game is played in the same manner that D'Angelo Barksdale ideally envisioned. lol if Dee was good at the intrawebz he could have been Dread Pirate Roberts.

I started watching the Wire from the jump in 2002. And I remember thinking during the episode where Bodie and Walllace are playing Checkers with Chess pieces, and Dee was trying to educate them on the chess/dope game analogies, how much I'm in love with this show. It was so cool to kind of see what a tortured soul Dee was. He was a very good dude, relatively bright, had a lot of self pride etc.....but was the epitome of someone being born into a situation where they didn't really have a chance. It makes you absolutely hate his mother. Clearly they had enough $ during his adolescence, that Brianna and Avon could/should have sent him to a private school and kept him out of the system at such a young age. He could have easily been a productive, successful member of society....SPOILERS: and not to get too far ahead, but it was pretty much the same situation that bitch arse Namond was in, with his mom actually wanting that shitty life for her son. Except in my mind, Dee was way more intelligent and likable than Namond bitch arse Brice...... But it was one of the things that made the show great. There's a very human side to this guy who has to carry himself as a monster, making up stories about hits he never did etc. to keep the hoppers thinking he had no problem killing, while we're constantly being reminded that Dee is definitely not a killer. The 1 body he actually dropped, gave him an automatic torturous sense of guilt. It was just nice seeing someone in that world that had to pretend to be a monster when in actuality he's an absolute sweetheart filled with kindness and empathy. But those things never got close to being nurtured.

"Count ain't right they frick you up."

I think a bigger question is why was Dee running a tower anyway. My guess was the Barksdales had to battle to win the towers and killed a lot of people to do it (hence all the bodies McNulty talks about), but probably suffered losses as well and needed bodies to run their operation, and Dee was the next man up. Dee was family, and seemed to do a go job on the business side of things, so of course he got the job. But he probably wasn't ready and it showed with the incident in the towers. We don't see it but through Avon we know Dee did everything wrong: 1) was carrying a gun in the towers (you have muscle for that), 2) got into an incident in a building they control with muscle everywhere, 3) starting getting his butt kicked, and 4) panicked and shot a guy who was probably a dead man anyway for attacking the dealer who ran the towers.

All that said I really like Dee and I think he has the potential to become a big player in the game. But he lacks experience (might be more of an organizational issue, but you gotta be ready to step up when its your turn right?) and he has somewhat of a Utopian view of the game that doesn't always allow him to see things correctly. He does have a lot of positive traits including smarts and loyalty.

quote:

---

He does have a lot of positive traits including smarts and loyalty.

---

He's got too much of a conscience though. His humanity is just a little too big for the drug game that Avon is running.

You see glimpses of it in the bigger players like Avon at his brother's bed side (I'm assuming brother since he told Dee it was Dee's uncle). Dee is so uncomfortable in that scene because the consequences of the game are right there in your face. Avon obviously took him there to try to teach him to tighten things up but I think it has the opposite effect in further stoking Dee's humanity and the lack of comfort he has in the game that others do.

Discussion on that batch starts next Monday. This week it's Ep 5: The Pager and Ep 6: The Wire.

I've been waiting and watching the next round that Saturday or Sunday before the Monday we discuss so I don't get thrown off.

It's hard once you've seen it a few times to not want to discuss ahead but there's some first timers here. And I know what kind of experience it was for my first watch, I definitely don't want to rob them of that.

quote:

---

I don't remember, but did they actually say why Avon's brother was in a coma

---

You didn’t notice the bullet hole in the side of his dome.

quote:

---

this is what could happen if something pops off and we're not ready" kinda thing?

---

I think he was suggestion that it was better to be extra cautious than not. We find this out later when they create the justification for the wire by constantly using the same payphone

I like the foreshadowing of Dee’s night at the restaurant with his scene in season 2 About the Great Gatsby

Before Episodes 5 and 6, I had to give myself a refresher on how pagers work. Embarrassing. Sort of like when Kima said what does it say about us if we can't crack the code these kids are using? That was a great redeeming moment for Prez when he explained about jumping the 5.

I laughed a couple times at McNulty's poor parenting. He had that big argument with his wife over whether he bought beds for the kids. I thought she was just busting his balls until he is drunk in the next scene and putting together beds he clearly just bought. Then he takes the kids into the projects to pick up Omar and take him to the morgue. On a school night.

Episode 5 started the thread of Orlando feeling undervalued by the organization. I still can’t get over that dude’s hair. He was well-cast, he looks exactly like a guy who will never be more than small-time or a front for Avon.

Levy is such a slimeball. I love watching him work. Did he just get some other old woman to stand in as Bodie’s grandmother? It didn't look like the same woman that Herc barged in and talked to a few episodes ago.

That slo-mo walk of Avon's first appearance in low-rises to pay the bounties he promised. That was badass. And Santangelo missed the entire thing because he was taking a piss.

quote:

---

One of my favorite scenes of S1, no question. Dude just rolls up like a boss....because is is THE boss.

---

yeah i started the wire in season 2 so it was hard for me to appreciate who avon was b/c i didn't start the series with this kind of framing