Best show on TV. And the last episode was one of the best I have ever seen. Amazing.

Just my speculation. It looks as if they're wrapping up all the long-standing storylines. Also, given that:

- The case was pretty much a secondary storyline this season (not that there is anything worng with that. I've loved this season as much as the pervious two)
- The cases probably can't get much more complex than this year's case (as far as hoops to jump through in order to hear the conversations needed). I don't know where they can take the casework storyline.

Yes, but , which means in the end they're right back to square-one, as in both previous seasons.

With Avon about to be arrested (presumably) and Stringer dead, all the bigwigs that they're targeting will be done. They won't be back to square one on this case, they'll be done with this case.

Who cares about those cases... I want to see the ongoing stories of Omar and Brother Mouzone.

No, Marlow fills the void, and he has proven that he will negotiate with NO ONE... (paraphrase)

RIM SHOP GUY - The jails and graveyards are filled with young boys who wore that crown!

MARLOW - But they wore it!

Of course there will be a new drug king in Baltimore. I wasn't saying otherwise.

Isn't Prop Joe from Baltimore? And I don't think that they'd have anything on him...

They can always go after the CO-OP Stringer and Prop Joe put together with the other Baltimore dealers. Although right now they don't even know it exists.

The point was that with this case closing, and with this case being just about as complex as cases can be, there isn't anywhere to take the detective work angle. They can always find a new target, but other than a new target, will there be any difference? The cases from the first to the second, and now to the third season got increasingly complex. Where does it go now? How does it get more complex? If it doesn't get any more complex, is it just going to eb the same steps that they went through on this case? Also, every major story arc is being wrapped up.

Look, this is my favorite show on television by far. I don't want it to end, but it just feels like they're bringing the show to a conclusion (of course there will still be drugs in Baltimore, that is irrelevant). Given HBO's track record going out on top or near the top (well, except for Arliss, which was never anywhere near the top), it is a logical theory that this might be the last season.

By the way, I hope I'm wrong. If there is a group of writers that could keep the show on the same level, it is the writers for The Wire.

As much as I would hate to see it go, going out on top is the way to do it.

Amazing episode, cant wait for the finale, although this means that I won't really have anything to look forward to on Sunday evenings anymore...

Cant believe String is gone, didn't know Avon had it in him.

Finally was able to watch this episode. Yet again, another superb episode. I did a double take when I saw Rawls at the gay bar. And another double take when Stringer called information for the Western districts phone number.

The acting is fucking amazing. The writing is top notch.The dialogue is just perfect. Definitely THE best show on television.

Has the show won any Emmy's? If not, why not?

I just checked the Golden Globe website and didn't see anyone from The Wire nominated. That is so sad. This show is so much better than The Sopranos, or, Deadwood, or 24(give me a break on that one. Season 3 was a mess.),or Lost, or, Nip/Tuck. Miles better than those previously mentioned.

Not that I didn't like any of the shows, I do, especially The Sopranos, Lost, and, Nip/Tuck, but The Wire is THE show.

Words fail me on The Wire not being nominated. TV Guide should have one of those "The Best Show You Never Watch" issues.

Great show.Can't wait to watch last Sundays episode.

Oh, and thanks for the heads-up on the season 2 DVD release. I'll be picking that up on the 25th.

To answer your Golden Globe question, this is the first post from the current Wire thread

When Avon asked Stringer what time his meeting was the next day, I had a good feeling what was going to happen. I didn't expect to see those two tho.

It was just business.

Who else would it have been? Stringer was the one that told Omar that his boy was killed by Muzone in a previous season (1?), and when Muzone went to Avon about being disrepected and basically almost being killed by Omar because of what someone in Avon's group had done (stringer), he told Avon that the only way to fix the situation was if he gave up the person who did it. Thus, Avon sold out Stringer to Muzone. Avon had no clue Omar was in on it i'm sure, he just wanted to make things cool with New York, and it was an opportunity to get Stringer out of the way since he was causing him problems. The past two episodes or so we've seen both contemplating getting rid of the other. Stringer was just gonna have Avon taken out of the picture by having the cops bust him..just business, but Avon took it one step further and had him killed, because he's always been the gangster, and thats how they solve problems.

I thought that Avon hinted at having it done internally because him and String were boys.

I don't think there was any evidence that Avon had any malice towards String. They didn't get along, but that was it. Stringer was the one making moves against Avon, even when it turned out that Avon had the right idea about how to deal with Marlowe. The only reason he turned over Stringer was because he couldn't afford to lose the muscle he was getting from NY, and because String brought this upon himself.

Basically, he tried to have Brother Moussone killed because he didn't want to confront Avon about sharing the towers, which Avon later aquiesed to.

It's sad to say, but all that is probably true. Fuckers out there don't know what's good. I heard the ratings aren't good. The best show on TV has low ratings and yet, Who Wants To Pop My Sister's Cherry and, My Wife Is One Godawful Ugly Skank Bitch And Needs One Fuck Of A Make Over get the sky high ratings. I have lost respect for most TV viewers.

Stringers gone Yeah, I know he was a bad guy, but, Christ, he was one of my favourite characters. Avon needs to get hit for that. Not go back to jail, get gone. Motherfucker!

And what a fuckin cool pre credit opening. Omar is one cool SOB.

I can't wait to see the reaction of McNulty when he hears String's dead. How frustrating it must be to go after a guy for so long and finally getting close to nailing him when, BAM!, he's deader that Hector.

Superb Drama. Brilliant acting.Characters you believe in. Stories that pull you in. AND NO FUCKING AWARDS???????There's just no justice in this world. Yeah, lets nominate 24 for it's great writing, and for creating the most believable character in the history of TV.... Jack's daughter, Kim.

Fuck you Golden Globes.

Tell em why you mad son, tell em why you mad!

I cannot believe they off'ed Stringer. I was just waiting for some way out for dude during the stand off with Omar and Mouzone, but nope. His character will be missed. I personally will miss trying to here him slip into his english accent(he did a great job hidding it btw). If you want to see some more awesome acting by Idris check out the uber-dry UltraViolet series. He has one of the best/most intense scenes I've ever seen in anthing there.

I can totally see 2 more seasons of this show. I would love to see a big war between Marlowe and Avon. That would be some good tv right there.

This show really is deep. The only show I've watched that was as challenging as this was B5. They have nothing in common except not treating their fans like idiots. Something more shows should give a shot.

Avon's handling of the Marlow situation couldn't be more wrong. He started a war he cant finish with someone just as ruthless and calculating as he is. Now because of all the bodies the Police have reopened their case against him. Plus the Co-op is going to vote him out if he doesn't make peace with Marlow ,which he wont do. All over a couple of corners that are useless anyway since Hamsterdam has been in effect.

Prop Joe told String what he had to do. But Stringer's undoing was the fact that he was unwilling to do what Avon was. Namely kill his best friend. Avon had already begun to cut string out of the loop. Mouzone merely presented him an opportunity to kill 2 birds with one stone.

Still Cant believe String's gone

Whoa! I knew that the guy that plays McNulty is English, and, I think the guy that plays the white councilman is Irish, but you're telling me that Stringer's a Brit?

Maybe that's why no-one watching. Too many damn foreigners! It's Un-American!

It wouldn't be that scene with the coffin would it?

Whacked! Another HBO Main Player Meets His End
By LOLA OGUNNAIKE

Ny Times
Published: December 13, 2004

Fans of HBO's hit crime series "The Wire" may have been shocked off their couches last night when one of the show's main characters, the calculating drug dealer Stringer Bell, was gunned down in a gruesome ambush.

But it is unlikely that anyone in the Sunday-night audience was as stunned as Idris Elba, the 32-year-old actor who has brought Stringer to life since "The Wire" began three years ago. "When I first read the script I was like: 'What? No! This isn't supposed to happen,' " Mr. Elba said over dinner at an Upper West Side restaurant. "I was deeply disappointed. It was a surprise, a complete surprise."

It is an unusual move to be sure, but one that has become increasingly common on HBO, a network known for unconventional plot twists and bold, can-you-believe-they-did that? surprises. "The Sopranos" has never been shy about doing away with major characters - Big *****, Ralphie and Adriana were all killed off. "Deadwood," the drama series set in the lawless West, lost its Wild Bill Hickok. And D'Angelo Barksdale, the young drug-dealing character who carried much of the first season of "The Wire," was strangled in a brutal prison scene. Another prominent "Wire" character, Frank Sobotka, ended up with a tag on his toe after being shot in the second season.

"One of the themes of the show is that raw, unencumbered capitalism is not good for anyone," said David Simon, creator and mastermind of "The Wire." "You may get a short run, you may get a long run, but the drug trade is the only thing that's eternal." As a reporter for The Baltimore Sun, Mr. Simon covered the narcotics beat for 15 years. He was the author of the book on which the NBC series "Homicide" was based, as well as co-author of "The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood," an account of a West Baltimore community dominated by an open-air drug market. "The Corner" became an acclaimed mini-series on HBO in 2000.

Mr. Simon said the blueprint for Stringer's death was created two years ago. That the drug dealer became a must-watch figure is of little consequence, he said. "Holding on to a character and then twisting the story to serve the character?" he said. "There's no gratification in that for anyone. We're not doing a soap opera here."

Set in the crime-infested streets of Baltimore, "The Wire" centers on a band of big-time drug dealers and the motley crew of cops who are determined to bring them down. Stringer, the refined, upwardly mobile consigliere to the decidedly gangster Avon Barksdale, was intent on becoming a legitimate businessman. He favored starched shirts and understated Italian suits and studied macroeconomics at a community college. In one episode, he ran a meeting with his army of pushers according to Robert's Rules of Order.

Mr. Elba, who is far more sensitive than the stoic Stringer, said his last day of work was particularly emotional. Michael K. Williams, who plays Omar Devone Little, the gay, shotgun-toting thug who blasts away Stringer, said: "There were a lot of wet eyes on the set. I just had to keep telling myself that Idris is alive and he has a bright future ahead of him."

Fans of the show may be surprised to learn that Mr. Elba is not African American. The only child of a mother from Ghana and father from Sierre Leone, Mr. Elba was born and brought up in Hackney, a working-class borough of London. It is a fact he reluctantly shares with fans, preferring instead to use his American accent when talking with those who request autographs. "Wherever I go the real hard-core dudes come up to me and confide in me," said Mr. Elba, who over the years has been approached by dozens of drug dealers identifying with Stringer. "I almost feel guilty turning around and saying: 'Hello, mate. My name's Idris and I'm from London.' " Mr. Elba burst into an exaggerated version of his cockney accent. "I don't want to break the illusion."

It was in an effort to impress an older woman at his all-boys junior high school that Mr. Elba discovered acting. "Ms. McPhee," the actor said wistfully. "Not only was she a great drama teacher, but I had a crush on her." Emboldened by Ms. McPhee, who encouraged him to pursue theater, Mr. Elba enrolled in acting school. He moved to the United States years ago and quickly made it his mission to master an American accent. "No point in being here if I couldn't do that," Mr. Elba said.

While his peers bussed tables and tended bar, Mr. Elba worked as a D.J. at Manhattan nightspots like Madame X to pay his bills. After being passed over for a supporting role in the buppie romantic comedy "Brown Sugar," Mr. Elba landed his part on "The Wire."

Despite now being out of a steady gig, Mr. Elba has managed to remain busy.

In recent months, he has become quite a man about town, hopping from soiree to soiree. "Apparently Puffy is a huge fan of the show and he called me personally and invited me to his birthday party the other day," Mr. Elba said, referring to the music mogul Sean Combs. "Puffy is huge in England." When not hobnobbing with the hip-hop cognoscenti, Mr. Elba continues to D.J. at New York City lounges under the moniker "Big Driis the Londoner." The self-professed "music nerd" called D.J.-ing his first love. Late one recent evening, Mr. Elba headed to Bombay Palace, an Indian restaurant in Midtown, where he played tracks ranging in flavor from garage to old school R&B. Though there were few in attendance, Mr. Elba, happily in his own world, did not seem to notice.

His next project is the HBO movie "Sometimes in April," about the Rwandan genocide. It is scheduled to be shown in March.

In the film, Mr. Elba plays a Hutu soldier married to a Tutsi wife. Their family is torn apart by the 1994 genocide that claimed more than 800,000 lives. A majority of the film's crew were native Rwandans, and Mr. Elba's eyes filled with tears when he recounted their stories.

"My driver's whole family was murdered right before his eyes and he had to pretend like he was dead," Mr. Elba said. "These people were hacked to death with machetes. Everyone knew this was happening and nobody did anything. It's for the sake of these people that I'm proud to be associated with this film."

Mr. Elba moves to more lighthearted fare in the movie "Johnny Was," an action thriller about an Irish freedom fighter who flees to England in search of a new life. He won't have to do much research for this effort, which is scheduled to be released next year. "I'm playing another drug dealer, but this time," Mr. Alba said with a chuckle, "he has a British accent."

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/13/ar...gin&oref=login