Grid Effect

Two days removed from the finale, and no one seems to be all atwitter any more on these here internets. That’s the thing about a finale like this, there are not complaints, no speculation about character destinies, no animus, little discontent and a lot of satisfaction. If you compare that to The Sopranos finale, in which rampant speculation, wild discontent and feelings of betrayal, was about evenly matched with audience contentment, we have little lingering discussion about The Wire’s last episode. Whereas David Chase had people
dissecting and over-estimating the symbolism of his finale weeks later.

We suppose this contrast is related mostly to the discrepancy in size of the two fan bases and the nature in which the episodes ended. When ambiguity is the dominating tone (we didn’t think The Sopranos finale was all that ambiguous, but we could certainly see how it would be interpreted as such), it opens a Pandora’s box of everyone attempting to out guess each other. That isn’t to say we can just assume what the future beholds for each and every character on The Wire. We had some abstraction in the finale, most notably with McNulty and Marlo, but there was enough finality for people to feel almost speechless in a way. I mean, what is there really to say about Dukie or Michael or Carcetti or Gus or anyone we’ve come to admire or disdain now that they are absent from our lives?

Of course not everyone has abstained from voicing an opinion. The two scenes that seemed to have gripped the hearts and minds are, of course, the last we saw of the street (before the seasonal montage): Marlo getting a taste of his old lifestyle and, if however briefly, reclaiming a corner. We weren’t exactly sure how we should interpret this. It certainly looked like he was too impressed with himself to let his old ways die right there. And if he was back in the game permanently come January of 2009 (after the elections and everyone is sworn in), it wouldn’t surprise us.

We wish you were still on the street so Michael could finish you off.

This scene was the first time we’ve ever seen Marlo get his hands dirty and he made quick work of those random corner kids. People had always speculated on how he attained the rank he did and why any of the ruthless killers from Chris all the way down to O-Dog and Michael even bothered taking orders from him. Well, now we all know why. To be honest, it made us wish him dead even more. How does one go from murdering probably well over thirty people to hob-nobbing with local real estate executives and politicians? Have Maury Levy make the transition for you, of course. Now it’s like those murders never took place.

Some have said that Marlo losing his name in the street and no one knowing who he is, is ultimately a greater punishment than death for someone so narcissistic. While we may be inclined to agree, a fate even worse would probably solitary confinement. A fate in which everyone knows who he is, but he isn’t around to bask in it. This really sticks in our craw (though its not supposed to), probably more so than anything else. A man murders dozens of people, then is financially rewarded for it? To think he’ll live out a better life than McNulty is something we can’t even comprehend. Here’s hoping Slim does him in a similar fashion he did Cheese.

Speaking of which, probably the most discussed scene from Sunday night is Slim Charles ending Cheese’s life at the makeshift co-op meeting. You could refer to all these people as unsentimental or hardened or sociopathic, but doesn’t Slim, whose epitomized The Game since his first appearance in season three, dropping Cheese to everyone’s glee yet financial detriment kind of refute that? Then everyone walking away from Cheese’s twitching body then reinforce it? There is so many layers in Simon’s portrayal of the drug trade that an exact interpretation is almost hopeless, It seems like everyone left breathing realizes the nature of their lifestyle and adheres to it accordingly. It’s quite a show when the only semblance of justice is one “legitimate” drug dealer killing a corrupt counterpart and it all seems plausible. One thing we can be certain about, is PETA members will finally feel content with something in pop culture.

On the other side of the aisle, the wake’s in the Wire are always top notch. Cole’s from the third season even got us listening to the Pogues and we probably would have had it on our top five memorable moments, had we actually remembered it, which is sort of like a qualifying round for such a thing. But McNulty’s (and by proxy, Freamon’s), was a nice alteration. Everyone in good spirits, completely unconcerned with what McNulty’s life after policing. Because really, he still has Beadie and is still smart as hell. He’ll obviously find something else to do and live out a productive, hopefully vice free life.

After Beadie, being forced out of the BPD is the best thing that’s ever happened to him in this series. After those two homeless men died as a result of his staged murders, it seemed like McNulty knew it was no longer in his best interest to be a po-lice, despite how remarkably good he is at it. Even Landsman conceded as much.

At the very least, we’re not going to have to write a post clearing up any rumors like we did for The Sopranos. Whether that makes this a more successful finale is a question with a pretty subjective answer. It was almost impossible to end The Sopranos on a definitive point unless they killed Tony, which would have been predictable and, amazingly, somewhat tame. But David Simon, with his bleak world outlook and pessimistic view on all bureaucratic entities, can end a series with the overlying message that while individuals may break the chain of corruption and despair, but the city at large is subjugated to its shortcomings. Quite depressing, so it almost has to be counterbalanced with some positivity to make the series watchable.

Back with a post summarizing the tales of the four boys tomorrow.