THE WIRE FINALE: WE LOVE, WE HATE

It's over. And can I just say, good work. Since there is no more Wire to come, here's a rundown of what was good and bad about the last ever episode. I'm not going to sit and go through it scene by scene, but this is what I remember:

First, the mayor's sidekick, Norman, was classic in that office at the beginning.
Carcetti ended up being a piece of shit, which is disappointing. There should have been some scene where Daniels marches down into his office and tells him what a two-faced typical politician he'd become. Maybe it would have shaken Carcetti up and he would have agreed to let Daniels do his job, as initially promised. Seeing the lady lawyer as a judge and Daniels as a lawyer felt lame and forced. But seeing them crown Valcheck commissioner was priceless.



In better news: Eat it, Cheese! After that blah blah blah speech about the game, he gets his card pulled by that tall raspy-voiced dude. Perfect ending to Cheese, and I'm glad that Raspy was the trigger man. I've always liked him. RIP Prop Joe.



The young'uns provided some of the best and worst of the finale. Without a doubt, Michael going Omar on that old guy was one of the best surprises of the show. When we first met Michael, he seemed like he would make it out. Quiet, strong, confident. But I suppose he had to look out for his family however he could. I guess when you've got nothing left to lose, you end up Omaring (new term coined). Either that, or you end up as the saddest, but probably truest part of the wrap-up. Young Dookie borrowing money from Mr. P and then, yeah, shooting up. We hate to see it. Kid just got eaten up by the streets.

I loved seeing Chris in the yard with Wee-Bay. Wee-Bay is to Avon as Chris is to Marlo. And now they're pals. Nice.

On the other side of the law, we got a perfect parting scene from Kima and Bunk. Kima at the scene, doing her job as Bunk strolls up. She tells him to watch his step, which prompts a barely comprehensible, cigar-muffled tirade. Classic Bunk.

Daniels fought a good fight; his scene in the elevator with McNulty was nice until he left and uttered that awful, scene-ruining "to be continued..." I wanted to see McNulty get strung up. In the end they celebrate him, which I thought was a total waste of film. You need to punish idiots for doing idiot things, otherwise other idiots will think it's okay.

There was one glaring omission, and I'm sure they did this on purpose, but Scott needed to eat some serious humble pie. McNulty served him up a little dish, but what we really needed was for Gus to jam a whole pie into Scott's terrible, lie-spitting mouth. Drag him through the streets, let the people throw stones. He's a despicable character and I can guarantee that Wire fans the world over were aching for Scott to get his. Gus did what he could, I guess.

And no Clay Davis? Shiiiiiiiiiiiiit.

Here, in its entirety, is the final six minutes. Watching Scott take that awards makes me furious, but seeing Bubs at dinner warms my heart. Love and hate...



So long, Wire.