I was going to post about how much I hate HBO On Demand and how I think it's ruining America. Sunday night, my favorite show killed off everyone's favorite character. Omar, who has wondered around Baltimore dodging death for five seasons now finally got one to the head after ignoring the presence of an 11 year old hopper in a West Baltimore convenience store. He always did have a weak spot for kids. The first time we see him in season 5, he's handing out candy to the youngins on some Caribbean island (PR?) far removed from the game. But not far enough.
Earlier this season, before I realized what was going on with HBO On Demand, I wondered over to my favorite Wire blog. I sort of scanned the page to make sure there were no spoilers, but because I hadn't paid close attention to the episode numbering before I realized they were talking about an episode I hadn't seen, I saw one word. Butchie. And I knew. I knew something was going to happen to Butchie and I had to keep this terrible secret to myself until Sunday night. Instead of looking forward to watching the show that week, I just dreaded it.
Similarly this week, coworkers started buzzing about what a BIG episode this was and how mad they were. Well, since the last time we saw Omar he spontaneously and sloppily decided to end Savino's run as Baltimore drug muscle and since that decision seemed the sloppiest thing we've ever seen Omar do, I think I knew this week would be the end of him. When Terry Gross interviewed Michael K. Williams on Fresh Air, in response to Omar's future, he replied "It's Baltimore baby!"
I think Omar was everyone's favorite character because he was the least believable and that is precisely why he had to die. The streets are no place for a romantic. Omar shouts that "Marlo Stansfield is not a man for this town!" but I would argue that he is a man for this time. And if there is one thing I've learned about Baltimore in the year we've been here, this place is teeming with Kenards. I also liked the banality of Omar's death. I think the hoppers raiding his pockets, his failing to make the paper, and the almost mix-up at the coroners office all served to underscore Beadie's speach to McNulty about what the lucky people get when they die. Some people have argued that the coroner at least knew who Omar was and corrected the tags because of that. I think that the coroner recognized that the other white dude wasn't the victim of a gunshot to the head and reversed that tags and smiled a little because of the obvious error.
On a slightly brighter note, HBO has announced that the last (the last!) episode of The Wire will not air ON Demand until after the regular broadcast. And also for the record, while I enjoyed Omar immensely, my favorite character is the Bunk.
Ironically, Omar seemed like the least believable character in the series, but is actually based on real individuals...
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/theguide/archives/tv_and_radio/2005/01/totally_wired.html
Posted by: addicted | April 18, 2010 at 06:22 AM