Coming To Terms.

Before I begin to amaze you with the Irrelevant To Real Life thought stream I usually dole out, a warning of sorts. This blog contains spoilers in regards to the excellent television series The Wire. If you have not watched the series, but intend to, you should stop reading the entry right about now. If you would like to continue for a few sentences, that's fine, but things are going to heat up quick and I wanted you to be prepared. If you have already watched the entire series, then feel free to continue on and live a life of religious fulfillment. Points if you know from whence the end to that sentence came. Now, onward.

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There comes a time in everyone's life when one must come to grips (or terms, if we want to keep the title of this blog in the loop) with the idea and reality of death. Death comes in many forms. There are violent deaths, death from disease, natural causes, and my favorite - auto-erotic asphyxiation. People die every day, and we have all been touched by the death of a loved one at some time or another.

Sometimes these deaths are very hard to deal with, and other times we are so removed from the subject that we can be seen as callous. Why don't you care, someone asks you with rage in their soul and a poppy seed in their teeth. Truth is, most of us do care, but there has to be a point where you can turn yourself off a bit in order to get through life. I mean, if we all reacted to every death with the same emotional intensity, then I would never be able to get the maintenance guy to fix my stepdaughter's closet.

And that's hard enough as it is.

So, death is a serious issue. We can be aloof, but the truth remains - we are going to die. Someone who loves us will mourn, someone who respects us will whisper, "I really respected him" at our funeral, possibly to the most attractive other mourner. Death should not be treated lightly - as I seem to be doing here - as it comes for us all. Death is the great unifier.

Keeping all of this in mind, I have been affected intensely by death. This happened just yesterday, when I witnessed Omar Little being shot in the back of the head. And by a young kid, of all people!! Are you kidding me?? One of the most incredibly engaging and badass characters in telematic history, and you allow him to be popped by some little punk who likes to torture animals? Shame on you.

What? Telematic? You know, like cinematic. No, I'm not using the term correctly, but you're still with me, right? So shut up then.

When I saw Omar get shot, I was alone in my bed, clad only in boxers - the best way to watch The Wire, I've found. I immediately muttered something I refuse to repost here, as it contains strong language and adult situations. Mild nudity. At first, I was very disappointed in how it all went down. Here you have the aforementioned badass, on the hunt for the drug dealer who had a good friend of his murdered. This is long after getting revenge on another drug dealer for viciously murdering his gay lover.

This is Omar at his finest. Hunting, methodically taking apart a drug organization all by his lonesome. Tracking these thugs down one by one and generally making every scene in which he appears awesome. So I was annoyed at the death. It was so quick and easy, it felt to me like a total cop-out. Like the ending to the Sopranos. They took the most intense story-line of the season and ended it without any sense of payoff whatsoever.

This is what I thought at first.

Later that day, I was coming to terms (HA!! HE SAID IT!!!) with what had happened. Okay, I said, I see how it is. This show is grounded in real life. In real life, it is absurd to think that one man can roam the streets of Baltimore, killing people and robbing drug dealers by himself, announcing his presence by whistling when he's out and about, and not become a victim himself. These drug dealers have large entourages, all of them armed and dangerous. It is dumb to think that he can just stroll as he sees fit and not receive his comeuppance. Also, his death gave the detectives working the main drug dealer something more to go on in linking Cheese to Marlo. So in effect, he may have gained his revenge posthumously. Add to that, he had recently been allowed to survive a 5 story fall off of a balcony during an apartment shootout. The man cannot be invincible. Having the young kid suddenly shoot him in the back of the head while he was buying cigarettes keeps him from being taken out by Marlo and his crew, therefore robbing them of the satisfaction. It would have been much more painful to see Snoop be the killer. So, as I said, it would be dumb to assume he can get his revenge and roll off into the sunset.

Now, the day after, I say Let Us Be Dumb. We have already been exposed to several other deaths, some of characters we grow to like. In almost all of these instances, they are killed quickly and without fanfare. Examples? Okay.

De'Angelo Barksdale. He is a sympathetic character most of the way through. He is killed when strangled from behind in prison.

Orlando. He is mostly a worthless character, but still, you felt bad for him because you knew he was over his head. Killed quickly in a set up.

Bodie. You hated him in the first season, but by the time he is killed, you enjoy seeing him whenever he pops up. Especially when spitting or jawing with the cops - primarily McNulty or Carver. How does he go out? Shot in the back of the head. Boom, done.

Frank Sobotka. Walking one day, floating in the harbor the next. This one is not as much a complaint, as it was done very well - going from episode to episode. It still remains an unsatisfying death, though.

The only really good death we received was Stringer Bell. Running from both Brother Mouzone and Omar? You know that is not going to end well.

So with these quick and easy deaths, why can't Omar win? Why can't he wade through Marlo's crew like naked chicks through pudding? Why can't he come face to face with Marlo after opening Snoop's chest with his shotgun? Why can't the anti-hero win?

You know, I am also okay with his having to die. Why not, though, in a blaze of glory? Maybe he doesn't get to Marlo, but maybe he takes out Snoop and Chris on the way. Maybe Michael is the one who kills Omar like he did Bodie, but only after Omar rips through a fortified row-house like Wolverine ripped through the X-Mansion.

I am officially back to feeling as if Omar's death was a cop-out. The writers looked at each other and said, "Let's be real here. Omar has to die. He can't do this. It's unrealistic."

As unrealistic as McNulty creating a fake serial killer? As unrealistic as a guy such as Bunk getting as many extra-curricular women as he did? Every season seems to end the same, essentially. The main story-line wraps up - mostly - and we get a montage of scenes, basically showing that things don't change in the long run. The dealers still run the corners, the cops still make half-assed attempts to stop them. The main characters keep plodding along, even when they know they are fighting a losing battle.

Now, don't get me wrong. I love this show. I think The Wire is easily one of the best television series I have ever watched. The acting is great, the cinematography (telematography?) is great, and the stories are great. Almost every character evokes the exact reaction they are going for from the viewer. You love McNulty, but hate him for how he acts. You see Herc as mainly comic relief, but feel for him when he gets in over his head. You just straight up HATE Levy and Clay Davis, even though you smile a bit when Clay gives his patented "Shiiiiiiiiiit."

The Wire is a superb show. WAS a superb show, and it should have been able to continue.

Still, I cannot shake being highly steamed, miffed, and nettled by the cheap death of Omar. He deserved better, even if he deserved to die.

R.I.P. Omar Little. The cheese stands alone.