THE WIRE

February 20, 2008 by Katherine Coble

major spoiler after the jump. do not click through if you haven’t seen episode 8 of Season 5 of the Wire. Seriously. Just don’t.

Y’all.

They killed OMAR. Kennard shot Omar in the back of the head.

I kid you not I had chills and tears. Omar.

Man.

Posted in Monkey Wash Donkey Rinse | 7 Comments

7 Responses

on February 21, 2008 at 5:03 am | Reply RENTON

While I was expecting he wouldn’t survive the season, I never expected it to happen this way.

Wow.

(sniff)
on February 21, 2008 at 7:18 am | Reply Sarcastro

Bloglines does not respect your “after the jump”.

You suck.
Bloglines sucks.
Kennard sucks.

This is probably my punishment for the whole, “Dumbledore dies on page 678” uproar.
on February 21, 2008 at 10:35 am | Reply nm

That’s how the gunslinger always dies, Kat. Shot by the scared kid. You had to know that Omar was the gunslinger, didn’t you? He wore that duster, and he used a shotgun (c’mon, a shotgun!), and he was a myth, but not a gangster-myth. It was right, and fitting. I think the writers did him honor by having him die that way. Even the way no one but Bunk even seemed to be aware of what his death meant, and they almost had the body bag go out with the wrong name on it, seemed right to me.

On the other hand, I ended up in tears of joy for Bubbles and Dukie. Every tiny step Bubbles takes back towards other people gives me hope for the human condition. And maybe he’ll be able to tell that reporter about Sherrod, and someone will see the article about it and feel sorry for him and offer him a little job. And while I can’t see anything wonderful happening for Dukie (what the kid needs is to go back to school so he can get a full scholarship to college somewhere), it’s nice to see him making an effort.
on February 21, 2008 at 4:47 pm | Reply Katherine Coble

Man, Sarcastro, I’m sorry. I do suck mightily. Or your karma does. One or the other. ;-p

nm, I know that he’s the gunslinger and I knew the odds of his buying lead were greater than not. Of course I had hoped and prayed he would end up like Doc Holliday–dying in his bed. Failing that I had hoped for a better shoot-out than the one at Monk’s apartment.

I cannot lie, though, that I felt him being in danger the entire time he was in front of the stash house and started to breathe easy once he was in the bodega. Then—bam. Kennard. I hate Kennard. He sets cats on fire–the little prick.

My blood ran cold when the shot rang out and I gasped. My husband looked at me and said “so are you gonna watch the rest of the show?” My love for Omar is deep and strong. I was surprised that his death affected me more than Bodie’s and as much as D’Angelo’s.

I didn’t cry until they were having the meet at the paper and “34 year old man shot in a bodega” didn’t even rate an inch in the news. I actually said, out loud, “He’s OMAR!!!”
on February 21, 2008 at 5:57 pm | Reply nm

Yeah, the buildup/release of tension/then, bam! was brilliantly done. And, of course, I was constantly scared the rest of the hour (my husband, too: he’s normally very calm watching stuff, but he thought Sydnor was going to be killed when he stopped the car to check his map). Just brilliant suspense.

As you know, though, I’ve always felt that the survival thus far of both Omar and Bubbles was completely implausible. I couldn’t see how Simon would let both of them live out the final season, and as you also know, I so much want Bubbles to make it that I’ve been preparing myself for Omar to catch a bullet. I was disconcerted by the almost casualness of it all, but actually, the scene at the paper made me feel a little better. Is that perverse of me? Omar was a legend, but only in his own little cops and robbers world. I felt that showing how unknown he was outside it helped make his death more real. They didn’t bother giving that framing to anyone else, not even D’Angelo.
on February 21, 2008 at 9:06 pm | Reply sadcox

NONONONONO!!!!

Damn you Google Reader for not catching the –more–!!!!

I was just catching up on my feeds and next was watch The Wire. I don’t know what is worse–knowing that Omar is dead or knowing that he’s going to die.

😦
on February 26, 2008 at 11:27 am | Reply nm

Nice interview with Michael K. Williams:

http://www.afterelton.com/people/2008/2/michaelkwilliams?page=0%2C0