‘The Wire’ Week: Top Ten Characters

We are just one day away from the tenth anniversary of the series finale of The Wire, so “The Wire Week” has two more list-of-ten installments remaining. Today, we’re going over the top ten characters from the show. There are many great characters from The Wire, so a lot of them will be left off this list. Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!

 

10. Bunny Colvin

Howard “Bunny” Colvin didn’t make his first appearance in The Wire until toward the end of Season 2, but he had a huge impact on both individuals and the city of Baltimore as a whole. While it was probably stupid to “legalize” drugs—and he paid for it—Colvin had the best interest of the city at heart. Getting fired eventually landed him at the school, where he did make a difference for kids—particularly Namon Brice, who he adopted with the blessing of Wee-Bey. Also, Bunny got the tip from Stringer Bell that put Avon Barksdale away for the rest of the series.

 

9. Bunk Moreland

Based on former Baltimore detective Oscar “The Bunk” Requer, Bunk Moreland is just classic. Despite being a super-sarcastic, cigar-loving detective that loves to drink, Bunk was one of the finest detectives in all of Baltimore. His reactions to Sergeant Jay Landsman, Jimmy McNulty (particularly during Season 5), and basically anyone else that he disagreed with were always hilarious. Bunk’s lecture to Omar (“makes me sick…how far we done fell”) brilliantly displayed that he’s a good man that hated to see the city in its condition.

 

8. Tommy Carcetti

The game of politics was a part of The Wire from the beginning, but the introduction of politician Tommy Carcetti at the start of Season 3 gave an excellent look at actual politicians playing politics. While ambitious and sometimes selfish and arrogant, Carcetti really wanted to help Baltimore, even if it seemed idealistic at times. The eventual mayor of the city wasn’t really a fan of having to appease everyone because it prevented him from actually getting everything he wanted done. He was a genuine enough person to get elected governor at the end of the series, which was cool to see, but Carcetti’s best moment was probably when he won the primary over Mayor Royce—basically locking up the position.

 

7. Bodie Braudus

From the start of the series, Bodie Braudus was in “the game” as a lower-level dealer in the Barksdale organization. He grew up in it and was basically swallowed up like everyone else, but Bodie was all the way in (unlike his friends Wallace and D’Angelo). The loyalty and commitment of Bodie allowed him to rise in the organization, and eventually, he was a bit of a last-man-standing for the Barksdales. Although he was a drug dealer, Bodie had a good heart, as was shown in Season 4 when he was cool to McNulty—and uncool when Marlo, Partlow, and Snoop were dropping bodies like it was nothing. Ultimately, you have to respect Bodie for standing strong on his corner, even if it meant his demise.

 

6. Jimmy McNulty

It doesn’t get much more arrogant than detective Jimmy McNulty, who was probably hated by half the people he knew in the series. As Lester Freamon told him in a contentious argument at one point (and as others told him as well), Jimmy has a tendency to destroy everything in his path. You have to give him credit for being determined, though, as he really wanted to bring down Stringer Bell, and later Marlo Stanfield, and had some fun doing it. While faking a serial killer to get money into homicide (and to eventually get manpower to go after Marlo) is hard to get past, McNulty did try to get his life together and do right.

 

5. Lester Freamon

When Lester Freamon was introduced, he was in some ways an older version of McNulty in that he ruffled the wrong feathers and ended up in the Pawnshop unit, forced to create miniature dollhouse furniture to pass the time. So while at first he might have seemed like he would be no help to the special unit put together by Daniels, he would show there weren’t many better policemen than him. In the final season, McNulty clearly started the faking of a serial killer without any help, but Freamon become a true accomplice as he was pretty much as obsessed with getting on the wire and taking down the big-time drug dealers as McNulty was. There might not have been a more integral member to the special unit throughout the series, and Freamon was also both a cool and wise customer, which made him likable.

 

4. Marlo Stanfield

At first and really for most of the time from his introduction in the first episode of Season 3, Marlo Stanfield might have seemed like someone that clearly had a lot of domain in Baltimore—but he didn’t really get his hands dirty. He was smart, ambitious, and cold-blooded, but his right-hand man Chris Partlow handled everything, and it almost seemed like Marlo was mostly talk. However, in the penultimate episode of The Wire, Marlo was incredulous when he found out his name was on the streets, saying he’ll step to Omar or whoever else runs their mouth about him—and he clearly meant it. Then in the finale, Marlo had no desire for the “legitimate” business, instead heading right back for the streets and taking down a couple of guys on the corner—basically because he could. Marlo elevated himself to a high enough level that he could be smart and not directly handle physical business himself. But make no mistake, he was a true gangster.

 

3. Avon Barskdale

Avon Barksdale was also a true gangster, and he was the drug kingpin of Baltimore. Avon was so filthy rich from his dealing that he could basically buy whatever he wanted (and his wealth was displayed when he gave Cutty $10,000 for a gym like it was $10), but he still wanted his corners: “I’m just a gangster, I suppose. And I want my corners.” The long-time leader of the Barksdale Organization was also a funny character, as displayed throughout the series from the basketball game against the Eastside to him having an Xbox in jail and basically running the joint. Avon also made the ultimate “business decision” when he gave the go ahead to Brother Mouzone and Omar to kill his closest friend and partner, Stringer Bell.

 

2. Stringer Bell

As the second-in-command to Avon Barksdale in the Barksdale Organization, Stringer Bell had to take control while Avon did his time for much of the early part of the series. Stringer decided to do things his own way, attempting to run the drug dealing operation without making loud moves that could come back to bury them and instead focusing on the actual product. You have to respect Bell for attempting to go to college to learn and better himself and attempting to bring that to everyone in the organization, but it was a tough task to get everyone on board. Despite running his drug meetings like a board room and wanting to put the gangster stuff aside, Stringer was still ruthless and calculating, as displayed by his order to have D’Angelo Barksdale killed and his willingness to murder Senator Clay Davis for playing him. Before his death, Stringer did get some good things rolling with the co-op, but he unfortunately didn’t live long enough to get B&B Enterprises into legitimacy.

 

1. Omar Little

Omar Little was an iconic character that throughout the entire series was on the opposite side against whoever the biggest drug kingpin in the city was: first, the Barksdale Organization; then, Marlo Stanfield. He was a fearless stick-up man, but he robbed the “bad guys” that were dealing drugs and really didn’t terrorize everyday people just minding their own business. The courtroom scene in Season 2 when Omar put Barksdale lawyer Maurice J. Levy in his place explained the situation, as while Levy used the briefcase as his weapon, Omar used the shotgun. Omar’s numerous quotes, to his trademark whistle, to the emotion he showed when the Barksdale Organization and Marlo took out people he loved all made Omar a superb character. And perhaps more than Avon, Marlo, or anyone else in the series, Omar’s name rang through the streets of Baltimore, but his shocking death toward the end of the series showed he was basically nothing outside the streets.