This week on The Wire another fantastic, key character is killed off drawing comparisons to legendary gunman Billy the Kid.
R.I.P. Omar Little.
Omar died with a bullet to the head at the hands of a unimportant corner boy. An uneventful, unspectacular death which was somehow fitting given the way the world of The Wire works. There are no real winners and everyone on the street has no illusions that they'll survive.
Omar was one of the best, most intriguing and exceptional characters on The Wire. An outlaw who roamed the streets of Baltimore armed with a shotgun and a code. He killed only those who deserved it and robbed the drug dealers to provide for himself. In a way he cleaned up the streets with a special blend of vigilante justice.
It didn't occur to me until the morgue scene at the end of this episode, but this season Omar's story arc had an interesting parallel to the life of legendary outlaw Billy the Kid. Billy began his killing spree after the death of his boss John Tunstall in the Lincoln County Wars. The killing of John Tunstall was brutal and deliberate just like that of Omar's friend and confident Butchie. Billy then joined with others in hunting down and killing everyone associated with killing Tunstall. Omar began hunting down Marlo and everyone associated with the death of Butchie. Billy was once surrounded in a house by his enemies and escaped by the skin of his teeth. Omar was surrounded by Marlo's crew and survived by jumping out a high-rise apartment window. And in the end, Billy the Kid was shot by surprise, by Sheriff Pat Garrett who was hiding in the room he walked into. Omar was killed by youngin' Kenard as he waited at a corner store for cigarettes. Uneventful, unspectacular deaths of two outlaws. Neither went down in a blaze of glory.
Omar I mourn your characters death - and I'm sure I'm not the only one. What's worse, there are only 2 episodes left.
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Could you stop posting spoilers? Please ? Those of us who have invested hours of our lives in this series would really like to keep these plot twists a surprise. At least give us a warning first... Spoiler alert
I thought another nice touch was in the newsroom when Gus asked Alma what she had for Metro - a fire and a black man shot in a grocery store - and Gus told her to write up the fire. For all of Omar's fame on the streets of Baltimore, he didn't even rate a column inch in The Sun.
BUT, in another great touch, seeing the guy in the morgue recognize that they had the wrong tag on Omar tells you that at least within a couple of strata of the city, he was renowned.
DUDE! Bad form putting a spoiler in the title! Not all of us are caught up...
Sorry but the episode aired Sunday. I held off 3 days before posting.
Come ON!
DO NOT PUT THE SPOILER IN THE TITLE. What the fuck is wrong with you.
Title: SPOILER ALERT!!
Body of post:
Get a clue. That way I can avoid reading the post by simply reading the title.
I've enjoyed this blog, but this is enough to make me stop reading. Bye!
Howard
Dear readers
We've strapped baierman to an inclined table and thoroughly waterboarded him to ensure spoiler-free reporting in the future.
Thankyou
That was water? Tasted like Vermouth.
I hereby reserve the right to continue to spoil everyone's wire and misuse "scene" and "seen" at will.
sorry but this episode happened 2 weeks ago.. snoop gets shot dead in the next one
This is the single "hackiest" moment in television history. The words "anti-climactic" have reached new heights. Omar was standing in a position to where he should have seen the boy approaching him in his peripheral vision. Plus Omar saw the little kid twice before so he would have made him. And what is the kid a freakin' ninja? How did he sneak up on one of the the smartest, most cautious character in television history? Chalk it up to "shock value" as the writer's obviously had no cards left up their sleeves. And apparantely dwindling talent as the only really good season of the Wire was the second.