I've read that some people think that killing D'Angelo was a bad move, or even Wallace's death. Stringer is one of my favorite characters and the only moment that I wanted to punch him so bad, was not when he showed how cold blooded he was, I didn't give a fuck about that, but when he was scammed with promises of gold, metaphorically. How the fuck a person so smart like Stringer fell for that shit? It's like a fucking tech support scam, you could see it from miles away.
I think The Wire is a top 5 television show all time. Up there with Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, Game of Thrones and fuck it....Law and Order. There, I said it.
I feel like she’s about to get done like how stringer bell got worked got Clay Davis...
In season 1, when McNulty and Daniels arrest Avon Barksdale, why did they leave Stringer Bell? I think I missed something.
Edit: Thanks everyone for helping me understand better
It would have changed the plot a lot more than it seems because Omar would be linked to the crime scene through DNA evidence
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Faced with the threat of being cut off from the New York Supply by the Co-Op unless he can stop the Barksdale-Stanfield War and its violence, Stringer opts to inform the Baltimore police department on Avon. He gives Major Colvin the address of Avon's base of operations and tells Colvin that there's a whole arsenal of weapons located there, and if the police were to raid it; they could get Avon on a parole violation for associating with known criminals and being around illegal weapons.
The problem with this plan is that Stringer Bell is too short-sighted to realize that Marlo Stanfield is a real threat to their organization, and he has to be eliminated if they are ever going to find peace. Avon realized that Marlo was a clear threat to everyone, but lacked proper muscle to engage against Marlo's more ruthless and deadly soldiers. Stringer thought he could keep talking to Marlo and eventually convince him to join forces with the rest of the co-op members, whereas Avon knew Marlo ain't about cooperation.
This is the fatal flaw in Stringer's plan. By having the police arrest Avon and send him back to prison, he did not realize that with Avon most, if not all, of the Barksdale Organization's soldiers would be going to prison with him. Even if Stringer had not been killed by Omar and Mouzone, he would have nothing left anyway. Most of the Barksdale drug dealers were in Hamsterdam and would be arrested when it collapsed, and Stringer would've had no muscle to take and keep drug corners; especially from Marlo and Chris Partlow. He would've had to quit the game and go back to college.
Stringer's plan was never going to work.
I'm re-watching the show and man, Stringer is just mean.
Now I know that these guys are gangsters and organized criminals, but Stringer is just pathological. He shows no mercy, no humor, no sympathy throughout the show. I really disliked him watching the show the second time around.
Avon cares about his family, does stuff for the community and even paid for Cuttys gym. Marlow used to give out money to the kids on the block for treats. Weebay despite being a mass murderer cares about his son and gives him to Colvin.
Stringer treated everyone like shit and only cared about himself.. No humor, no charity etc. Very demanding and unreasonable.
I used to think stringer was a piece of shit for a multitude of reasons. Ordering the hit on Wallace and having D’Angelo killed infuriated me. Then I lost even more respect for him when he started going behind Avon’s back. Considering how long they ran the west side of Baltimore for, it felt wrong for stringer to double cross the man he calls his brother. On top of this, stringer always liked to think he was the smartest in the room, until his naivety got the better of him.
All of this said, it wasn’t until a rewatch that I started to see things through stringer’s eyes. With some exceptions, a lot of stringers actions felt justified. Anybody he deemed a liability had to be taken care of. Wallace already spilled some dirt and was at risk of becoming an informant. D’angelo had already spilled some dirt and was at risk of cooperating to lighten his sentence. Stringer knew that it was not worth keeping them alive.
As to going behind Avon’s back, Stringer had different visions for the drug empire. He wanted to legitimize the drug trade and make it into a functioning market place. No gangs, no violence, just business. Aside from failing to take out Marlo sooner, Stringer tried his best to keep the peace and convince Avon to pursue a life of wealth and legitimacy. He definitely made some foolish decisions (clay davis), but he thought beyond just selling drugs and controlling territory. He wanted to make money and create a system where everyone else could too.
As cocky as he was, stringer was a tragic character that I gained a lot of respect for. In his final moments, he didn’t cower in fear, he died with dignity.
Marlo disposed of bodies in the vacants but Stringer Bell owned a literal funeral home, he could have just come there after hours and cremated his victims and no one would be able to find the bodies. Was there a reason he didn't do this?
I am watching The Wire again. In Avon's world, Stringer is a fuck up. In fact (I need to get my thoughts on it) he is the Ziggy of that world.
In S1, he fucks up majorly by thinking he could keep the 30k that Orlando was going to use for a buy without ever thinking how Orlanado could get that kind of money.
In S2, he is sleeping with Dee's wife, another No in his organization.
At the beginning he tried to implement valuable knowledge on the streets. This seemed smart but in hindsight a somewhat stupid idea considering the lack of knowledge of his audience on pretty much anything other than the streets. As Avon multiple times pointed out, Stringer wanted to be a business man amongst gangsters and a gangster amongst business men (tried to have a senator whacked lol). Nevertheless Idris did a splendid job.
