Top Five Characters from The Wire
The Wire premiered 19 years ago today. On the greatest show of all-time’s birthday, let’s dive into some of the greatest characters creator David Simon brought to us. It’s not easy. What may be fascinating about discussing the show’s “best” characters is that every character holds a believable depth, humanity, realism, and style. We’ll still break it down in celebration of a show that is vital for anyone to watch. Due to it being a portrayal, an extremely realistic one, of real life, and America, it’s relevance is the greatest in TV history. Here are some characters that helped contribute to a show that displayed eye-opening, grim and unfortunate realities.
BODIE
J.D. Williams’ performance as Bodie was after a few seasons one that riveted every fan. Furthermore, his story arc was one that was vital to the show’s themes of portraying reality and what happens in America pursuing money from crime. His homie Poot got a job at a shoe store. Bodie stayed in the game and faced dark consequences as a young man.
CUTTY
Chad L. Coleman’s Cutty is a soldier. He goes to prison for being soldier on the Baltimore streets, he gets out, and survives the odds. He also gets out of the game, similar to Poot. He becomes a youth boxing coach and makes a positive difference in his community. It’s a story that transcends the darkness and provides hope despite all odds.
SLIM CHARLES
Slim Charles doesn’t leave the game. Slim Charles somehow survives the whole show, with style. By the end of the show, you realize how relevant of a character Slim Charles is, despite having less screen time than most. Also, Anwan Glover is the epitome of cool.
LESTER FREAMON
He’s the coolest Lester ever. He’s a rebel within the police system. He wants to do the right thing and seemingly he’s aware that the police structure is not exactly set up to do so. This also describes McNulty but there’s social significance in that Lester is a black man buried in the pawn shop unit, in a racist system. You have to do something to survive in America. Clarke Peters’ role as Lester brought him plenty of work in the film industry the past decade between John Wick, Da 5 Bloods, and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. He deserves it, indubitably.
ELLIS CARVER
Seth Gilliam’s Carver is someone who is both enticed by propaganda and a police system he believes in to begin with. Slowly he witnesses ways in which the system corrupts, where we see his close friend corrupted in the system. We also see multiple other circumstances via Carver where the system displays morally absent flaws as well as some of the shows better dramatic moments.
Surprised by our character selection? That says a lot about the show, doesn’t it?