The Wire .......The Greatest Scenes from Television's Greatest Show

So the writers of Tuesday's Paw have just finished a five-month project to watch all 60 episodes of The Wire and both agree that is was the greatest television program of all-time. And because its still so fresh in our mind, today's question is .......what are the ten greatest scenes from television's most perfect program?

Don's List...

Honorable Mention

15) Marlo goes to prison to hook up a connection with the Greeks only to find out that Avon is still a player. Avon’s handling of that meeting is both comical and revealing. It doesn’t matter where he is ......he is still the man. And the Game is the Game. (V)

14) Cutty goes to Avon for cash to furnish his gym ….Avon fills him on the spot, laughing at the paltry amount. (III)

13) Prez mistakenly kills another cop and sees his life upended just after finding his true calling: investigative police work. (III)

12) Michael says goodbye to Bug and Dukie. I still can’t figure out why Dukie’s best option was to live on the streets with a junk man who shoots heroin and owns a broken down horse, but does it matter? This scene just crushes the sole. (V)

11) Michael kills Snoop: Similar in many ways to Marlo killing Prop Joe as there is some poetry involved. She knows she is cooked and spends her last moment checking out her braids in the mirror. When asked about her look, Michael says “you look fine girl” just before he blows her head off. Hard to keep this out of my top-10 but it is a bit redundant with Joe's murder (#4)and it just doesn’t quite make it. (V)

And Top-10

10 ) Cutty exits the game …..with Avon’s blessing …..”he a man today” (III) The show has a few success stories (Carver, Namond), but this is the one that I found most inspiring.

9) Slim Charles, out of the blue, blows Cheese away. There is so much revenge and finality to this scene that it demands inclusion. This killing is for Butchie, who got sold out by Cheese. It’s for Joe, who got sold out for Cheese. And in a way, it’s a “thank you” to Omar who once let Slim off the hook.

8) D’Angelo gets lured to Wee-Bay’s crib and he thinks he is being set up but it turns out that Bay just wants D to take care of his fish. (I) This is just a good scene.

7) Bodie and Poot kill Wallace: Talk about the end of innocence (I) A couple of 15-year olds killing a 14 year-old who is caring for a bunch of eight year-olds.

6) McNulty flips Bodie while they peacefully eat breakfast sandwiches. The kicker for me on this one is where McNulty basically applauds, or at least respects, Bodie for being a loyal soldier, and in doing so, endorses the “game,” as it was played under its previous rules. In a nuthell, this scene explains there is THE game and there is Marlo’s game. One is acceptable and the other is not. (IV)

5) Dukie gives Prez a pen set. (IV)

4) Marlo takes the life of Prop Joe. The poetry that went along with this killing is what gets this scene into my top-10. Here is Marlo, the coldest of cold, comforting Joe as the moment nears. “Just close your eyes Joe ……”

3) “Where’s WALLACE!” ….D’Angelo’s tirade against Stringer is probably the best acted scene in the whole show. I might name my next dog Wallace just so I can yell, "WHERE'S WALLACE?"

2) Randy, seeing his life destroyed, screams at Carver ….”you gonna look after me! You gonna take care of me now ……” Not only is this scene painful at a personal level but it shows just how hopeless the situation is for kids in West Baltimore. The kid is destroyed. Carver is destroyed. That whole damn neighborhood is destroyed.

1) Stringer and Avon, reminiscing about the old times while glancing out over the Inner Harbor, each knowing that they intend to the kill the other in short order. The classic Greek tradgedy set in West Baltimore (III)

Molly's list ...

Honorable Mention

15) Front and Follow (S1)

14) Frank Zbotka walks to his death (S2)

13) Marlo shows some fire in prison: MY NAME IS MY NAME (S5)

12) Dukie gives Prez the desk set (S4)

11) Slim shoots Cheese in the head: That's for Joe (S5)

And Top 10

10) Prop Joe's death. Chilling, which is probably the best way to describe Marlo (who shows heat only twice: in prison, and when he bails on the politician's dinner to mess with the corner boys, just because he can (which reminds me of the line - and I don't know if it's actually said in the show or not, or who says it but I think it might be Omar? - Heavy is the head that wears the crown. Marlo didn't want out of the game so much as he wanted down from the throne.) (S5)

9) Omar in court, with his tie looped around his neck, giving it back to the pay lawyer: I carry the gun, you carry the briefcase but it's all the same (S2)

8) Marlo visits Avon is prison: Avon is not only still in the game, he still loves the game (which is what Marlo lacks - Heavy is the head and all that) and it comes easy to him. Avon knows what he is, and he knows what he's not and he's one of the few characters who seems totally content with his place and his actions. He walks into the room and suddenly we realize how much we missed him. (S5)

7) McNulty in Stringer's apartment: Who the fuck have I been chasing? (S3)

6) The 'fuuccck' crime scene with Bunk and McNulty (S1); never has so much been said with so little, and never are Bunk and McNulty better than with each other

5) McNulty turning Bodie, offering him the breathing space that he was unable to give D'Angelo; Bodie's subsequent death (This is MY corner). (S4)

4) Carver visits Randy in the hospital: You gonna look after me NOW, Sargeant Carver? Huh? (S4)

2) Stringer and Avon on the balcony + Stringer's death; technically two scenes but I can't rank one over the other so I'm letting them do double duty. Brother versus brother is a story that's as old as time but none of that makes Stringer's selling out of Avon any less poignant. To Us, man. And subsequently, Stringer's death ("Get on with it, Motherfu-") brings him right back down to the street he was trying to rise above. (S3)

1) Bodie and Poot shoot Wallace. This is where it all starts for me: the violence, the heartbreak, the chain of command, the orders, the inescapability, the speed, the finality, the loyalty, the lack of dignity, the fear, the game. (S1)