Bunk confronts Omar about Tosha's death, how the game has changed, and how the kids glorify him. One of the great bench scenes The Wire always has. urlsnippy.com/T...
+Mr. Perfect Wtf, boy? Who the fuck are you talking to like that? Don't make me wizard my way through your computer screen to slap that 1972 afro off your out of style head
On the restored DVD series, David Simon gives a commentary during this episode saying that both it as well as the earlier episode where Tosha was killed were made because the show's creators became very concerned when seeing that Omar had become too heroic in viewers's eyes, esp. those under 21. Knowing the huge favor and commercialism that anti-heroes have these days, I really had to commend this show for not jumping at the temptation to milk Omar's popularity for constant audience indulgence or marketability. The creators actually cared about the audience's mind and put in effort to question the validity of Omar's honor towards us. Alot of shows today could learn from this (Empire comes to mind for one). This actually also feels similar to that episode from The Sopranos where Carmela meets with a Jewish therapist who calls her out on her enabling and justification of Tony's crimes and blood money which pays for her high lifestyle.
This show had no emmys. None. People behind emmys didn't get the show back then so it's emmy's who don't deserve the wire. They also gave last two seasons of got emmy's so it's not an award you should pay attention to.
Emmy? More like 'Empty'. Oscars and Emmys are no measure of audiovisual merits. They are about how marketable your movie or series is and what kind of a relationship you have with the academy.
That tough boys told young Bunk that he wasnt one of them, to go home. But Snoop told Michael, before dying, that he never was one of them. Thats the difference between then and now, now they don't care about your background or if you are made for the game, you are just a disposable body
Agree 100%. Omar was cool as hell but at the end of the day just a predatory thug who contributed nothing valuable to society. Kids should never idolize someone like him.
Also to note, Bunk had the neighborhood toughs advising him not to get in _"the game."_ But it seems that these days, the neighborhood toughs are practically indoctrinating every young brotha who can walk and talk to get in the game. As seen by Marlo handing out _"free"_ money to the kids through one of his lieutenants Monk. Society really has fallen, as Bunk has said...
If you think omar is predatory thug but Bunk and McNulty aren't, then you too are as brainwashed as the rest of america. You're the reason black dudes get shot and seen as thugs while the police run rampant with impunity. At least Omar got it honest.
@@SelectiveApathy82 If you think omar is predatory thug but Bunk and McNulty aren't, then you too are as brainwashed as the rest of america. You're the reason black dudes get shot and seen as thugs while the police run rampant with impunity. At least Omar got it honest.
@@mrdavidashley6892 Bro nobody's saying that there's no crooked cops who victimize young black and latino men like myself. All they're saying is that kids shouldn't look up to a killer like Omar. How ignorant could you be?
This is my favourite scene of The Wire. Just because in this dialogue you find the main message of the show as it's purest. Often, Omar was shown to be a really charismatic and likeable character, but then here Bunk clearly explains him (and to us) his moral imbiguity and how poisonous is the fact that every 'corner kid' wants to be like him. What The Wire does in this scene is completely smash the idea of the 'gangster hero' character. In this postmodern XXI western society, as Bunk says, fierce individualism has surpassed any sense of community, and now people like Tony Montana, Walter White, or even Pablo Escobar are glorified and seen by many people as role models because they became 'powerful' by themselves at the expense of others. This is The Wire telling us how senseless the world we live on really is, and it is something you do not find in almost any other crime show.
That's true and all, but it isn't Omar's fault. People are frustrated with the system, and men especially with their natural instinct for violence and rebllion, especially against the unjust, are going to look up to characters like Omar and Walter White. These are men who are put into bad circumstances by a system where the real evil villains are all on top, CEOs, bankers, politicians, speculators... The have destroyed everything meaningful in our culture just to make a buck. But Omar doesn't take it laying down. He doesn't allow others to influence him. He acts from his heart. He loves, he's kind, he helps people, and he only Rob's violent drug dealers and only kills killers, people who don't think for themselves and are just going along with everything. He's playing the hand he was dealt, but he's changing the game. That's respectable. Omar isn't to blame. It's the system which is the real evil.
@@rustyshackelford934 I think we're talking past each other here. I'm not talking about the real people who live in these kinds of neighborhoods. I'm talking about the mostly young men who idolize or relate to these type of characters, like Omar. My point is, the reason people look up to these kinds of characters is typically because they feel disenfranchised in their own lives, and thus seeing someone rebel against the system, seeing someone who has their own, self developed code, it can inspire them. Not necessarily to violence, but it can inspire them to be more of a rebel, and it can feed that seed of discontent within them. And I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing. I'm just saying it is a natural effect of being born in a system which rewards the worst kind of people. And it's also a system which atomizes people and turns them against one another with smart phones and social media and forced diversity. I think it's very telling about why they push the "diversity is our strength" thing while they know that it prevents people from forming unions. And if it prevents people from coming together in the workplace, it isn't difficult to extrapolate that it does the same thing in our communities. I've grown up in am extremely diverse community, and when I walk into these little coffee shops and such that are in the Cuban, Muslim or Vietnamese neighborhoods, they look at me like an intruder, like I don't belong there. Many of these places I've been in, no one speaks English, and they make it clear I'm not welcome there or that they're suspicious o my presence. Now there could be many reasons for this, and I don't mean to ascribe motives to their actions. But what I'm saying is, people of vastly different cultures are less likely to form cohesive communities, and this is a direct result of the power elites will, and it's bad for everyone.
@@rustyshackelford934 I agree. And going back to what you were originally talking about, tribalism can be a good thing (I personally believe that tribal living is closer to the ideal way human beings should be living than any other form of government we have), if instead of using it for division, it was used to encourage individual communities to band together to help on another. It's so completely insane to me how we live, where our friends live in all different parts of the city, and we travel all over the place to get the things we want, but we don't even know our neighbor's name. A lot of this comes out of consumer culture from wanting to shop at the good grocery store, to how we choose our friends and even lovers based on mutual taste in things like sports, movies, videos games,etc. Instead of MAKING friends with those in our own community, we form our teams, or tribes, based upon the brands we like and products we consume, or at best, activities we enjoy. But that's backwards. If we encouraged the good aspects of tribalism, we would learn to be more open minded, to learn to like what our neighbors like, and vice versa. To go into that Muslim hooka lounge and to be welcomed with open arms, while introducing them to your favorite sport. Or whatever. I hope I'm making sense here. People do need to take responsibility for their own community. And oddly, you see more of a sense of community among the poor than you do among any other group. They know what it's like to need to lean on someone else to survive, and so they're always willing to be there for someone in need. I don't know. I don't know what the solution is, other than the cliché, "be the change you want to see in the world."
Society needed to SEE that. Shame so few, including myself, are just seeing it NOW. The Wire will go down as maybe the best TV show done in the early 21st. Maybe top 10 all time.
Because he's guilty of exploiting the weak. His code couldn't erase that guilt and Bunk exposed it, fresh off of Tasha's death, for which he felt appropriately guilty.
Kinda interesting how most thugs would ignore what Bunk is saying, but Omar is too smart, and has too much heart, so he understands it, and it hurts him.
The best about this, is that Butchie gives Omar a lesson about conviction, Butchie knew what Bunk did, eventhough Bunk was right, it was a shame game, so Omar s value as a person would tumble, but Butchie advised him better by, as a person in the game, stop caring what other ppl felt about him and the importance of standing your ground no matter how praise or shame society gives u for being yourself. The Wire did tie that loose end perfectly. But Omar s convictions went south so Butchie s prophecy about Omar s death came fulfilled as we saw later. I would add that once despair sets in someones heart, there s a cloud full of doubts to hell with and then we're sloppy and weak, guaranteed as phuck. All this to say that, what Bunk said is powerful and true, but in reality, very high moral and idealistic, no matter how true it is. And what Butchie says, it's a life saver for ppl who struggle with identity and can't handle being on their own skin and get by in society, and it's far less idealistic than what Bunk said, since society s extremely spiteful and vindictive, so a strong conviction it's a must, while it's also true that better morals come in handy too. Buenos message is all about long term and Butchie s is about the very inmediate day to day.
This scene made Bunk my favorite character on the show. I initially took him to be a portly comic relief figure at the start, a black Landsman. The way the more serious aspect to his character slowly came to light was great, and Wendell Pierce is fantastic. Along with Bodie, Bunny, and Prezbo, his transformation really moved me.
I think it showed that his attitude toward his job and dealing with murders was just his way of coping with the stress that came with it all. Deep down he cared about the people in the city and wanted the murders to stop.
its ironic that, while the viewer roots for omar in the beginning of the wire, it really ends of being avon that most embodies what Baltimore used to be, while omar represents the decadence and decay taking place in the modern setting of the show. when bunk talks about " bad boys for real....but we had us a community", i could really imagine someone like avon, even though he's a ruthless murderer, taking aside a young kid like bunk and telling him to go home to spare him of a life of violence when he's not cut out for it. The same situation reveals itself when avon lets cutty walk away from the game. Marlo or Stringer or maybe even Omar would not have done the same
Omar's a better person than Avon, and Omar definitely would've let someone in his crew leave the game. I say that Omar's a better person than Avon because Avon was involved in poisoning the heroin supply in prison, which caused a few heroin users in prison to die.
+The Super Star You're right that Omar is a better person than Avon and probably would have let someone leave the game,. Perhaps I made my point clumsily, but I was trying to make the point that the main difference between Avon and Omar is a sense of community. The point bunk is trying to make is that "bad boys" and disenfranchised youths that rebel against society are just a constant truth that will never go away, especially in Baltimore. The only way these people refrain from being an absolute menace to society is that they retain the sense of community that Omar has clearly lost. The real tragedy in this scene is the children that celebrate Omar for his murders. Murder is always going to happen Baltimore, but it's important that it is properly contextualized for the children who are exposed to it, as they will be running the streets in the coming years. Omar is exposing these children to meaningless, rampant death, which is teaching them to grow up without a sense of community just like Omar. You can easily make the case that Omar is a better person than Avon, but I would make the case that Omar has done more damage to Baltimore. Hence "Makes me sick mutha fucka how far we done fell"
a) because he didn't really care about his people, he just used them as tools; b) because he would've seen him as a liability, a week person who will sooner or later be convinced by the cops to snitch (like he saw D'angelo); c) he wasn't trying to "leave the game", he was trying to move up and play it at a higher level.
My favorite line was when he said "didn't realize at the time what they were doing for me". That is so true; it may have made him feel weak at first, but it kept him away from a much more tragic life, and he wouldn't wish Omar's lifestyle on anybody. Bunk was always the one to stay out of trouble because he understood the value of safety and family.
I THINK there COULD be a little thin line of spittle left on his chin, as the camera pans around or changes..might've just been an accident, but if it IS there, and he and the editor just left it, its sort of egg on the face indicting, as well.
This is why this show is such a milestone in the development of long form cinema. 30 hours or so in, we've seen little to no evidence of passionate conviction from Bunk. He just seems like kind of a burned-out alcoholic. Then this happens, and the effect is enormous. Plus Wendell Pierce's performance and that dialogue.
"Make me sick to see how far we done fell" Love this scene of one the best, it is so true how back in the day the other guys looked out for the "school boys", the neighborhoods have totally changed from back in the day. The Wire is such a great show...
Still kinda like that with the shool boys and the tough kids.the old always comes back.the tough kids just show them how they ain't hard by picking on them or laughing at them when they pop up trying to fit in.its subtle but it's not at the same time
The gang wars of the era depicted here and earlier were just as violent and deadly as the current ones; as a matter of fact they were considerably more violent and deadly back then. Chicago broke multiple murder records that stand to this day. Where do you think the young generation learned the murder game from? Thin air? Magic? The truth is the “OG’s” in places like Chicago, Baltimore and LA started coercing/paying the younger guys to catch bodies, effectively using them as pawns or fall guys so they could continue to run their criminal enterprises instead of being behind bars. It’s a well documented fact.
@@pugachevskobra5636 You're not wrong, but when it comes to Baltimore things have never been worse. The murder rate is higher today than it was in the 70s/80s/90s. And it's only gotten worse since The Wire came out. At least in Bmore, people kill far more easily nowadays than they used to.
School boys was the ones influenced to be the best of us. Even now in small communities if someone has a chance to go to university to be a teacher or a doctor everyone would chip in something to make them afford. Problem now is that the home and hope of the community is good. Home is where you live, love and feel warm, hope is something to give us belief in tomorrow and people take that away you make up a predators paradise rapists don't get necklaced( South Africans know what I'm talking about), gangster's don't operate at night only and kids they don't get to be kids not once. It's sad
the scenes in this series are so well thought out. the fact that He couldn't swallow bunks words so spat. an the fact that bunk explaining that the children who acted like what bunk perceives to be a monster eventually acted in that way and killed their creator. this show should really be taught in school
I have to commend the writers for not falling into that trap so many writers do where anti heroes are made too heroic in the eyes of the audience and they milk that for all it's worth. This scene brought home that Omar despite not targeting innocent people, his actions still have consequences and he knows this.
The writers of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul almost fell into that trap with Mike Ehrmantraut, the scene where Mike is taken down a peg by Nacho's father was much needed. It wasn't nearly as scathing or as visceral as this scene though.
What Bunk said strikes a cord with me. When I was young I wanted to hang out with the gangsters but luckily they spotted me as a follower and told me to take my sorry ass back home. I can't thank them enough for that!!!
one of the greatest scenes in tv history. its a shame not a lot of people really know about the wire but us that do, know its something a little bit special you dont get too often on tv
That loogie is Omar's worlds' colliding. Omar has a code, and that code is to play the game and leave the citizens alone. But Bunk just showed Omar that playing the game means you aren't leaving the citizens alone de facto, that you are at least causing a lot of grief and glorifying violence to youth. So he isn't really following his own code. This angers Omar, hurts him. And he certainly doesn't like hearing it. Hence the spit.
The world of moral ambiguity. Sometimes, you end up doing the best you can under the circumstances and you still end up hating yourself if you ever really think about it. So you try not to, and that hurts even more. You build your own mental prison cell, one brick at a time.
This is too real for many an "overachiever" growing up in the so-called "hood", inner city, and maybe even the farm. I well remember these words from the OGs in my neighborhood. These two fine actors nailed it. Wendell Pierce as Bunk, masterfully "pierced" Omar's stone cold heart, with the irrefutable dichotomy of growing up in a rough environment. #RIPMKW.
Man, *fuck* the new comment shit. There was a brilliant comment here that analyzed the scene. Back when the community itself was in charge, it was top comment.
Love this scene. Every gang banger has a self destructive part of his soul no matter how loyal he or she is to his gang and Omar is the self destructive part of the community's soul. Bunk gets to Omar here. You can see Omar's pain. It's Omar's contradiction that drives him to be what he is.
What an incredible piece of work The Wire is. It's social documentary and fictional drama rolled into one. Literature on an almost Shakespearean level. Undoubtedly one of the most important and groundbreaking television shows of all time.
The best scene in the whole of the Wire. Omar is the most powerful and sacred character, and he is completely schooled and shown to be hypocritical by Bunk here. A rarity. No other player coulda done this. What a show.
and that right there is the scene that made me put The Wire on another category. it isn't just a great show, it's the best. we see characters dying all the time, but that scene? that's when the very idea of Omar, of what he is and representes, died to me. and man, that shit is just powerful
This is a scene in The Wire. But then again this is the Best Scene and also the most important/impactful scene in the show. Both are Fantastic but Man is Bunk on another level in this scene
Under the circumstances, a lot of us would lose our cool. Because what Bunk said is something a lot of us have wanted to say but either couldn't under the circumstances or would have been pointless to do under the circumstances. How the heck did things get so screwed up in our lifetimes, on our watch? You want to help make a better world than the one you came into, but things just keep seeming to get worse, and you're still here watching them get that way. Nothing you seem to do makes a difference.
I just watched this episode last night, since I'm on season 3 now. This is probably the best scene in season 3 so far. powerful exchange between bunk and omar. I loved Bunk here, and I wasn't crazy about his character to this point. He was more of the fun homie comic relief of the po-lice, but here you understand how sick to death he is of what his city has become. What a show the Wire is!
Lol i love the scene there Omar talks with his uncle Butch... And he goes on to tell the story about this man who was so heartbroken by a woman that he cut three of his fingers off... "All his life, the man kept saying: ...The bitch wasent worth more than a pinky!"
You know, I kinda agree with all you guys a little bit. Thing about The Wire is it's not usually as simple as "trying to do the right thing." Honestly, Bunk doesn't try all that hard. He coasts within the system because he lacks the conviction to do more. This outburst doesn't come from some vague, monolithic righteousness. It comes from one strain of hypocrisy that makes him sick. It's a character moment, not a moral moment, and it's shades of grey at its finest.
"Make me sick to see how far we done fell" Love this scene of one the best, it is so true how back in the day the other guys looked out for the "school boys", the neighborhoods have totally changed from back in the day.
You can't see it too well in this vid, but if you own The Wire or have it on a streaming site you'll notice right when Bunk starts to walk away a tear dropping down Omar's cheek
like every protagonist on The Wire, Bunk's morality is sometimes ambiguous, but this is perhaps the most compelling and heartbreaking speech of the entire series.
I don't believe this, The Wire isn't a show of all-time scenes, it's a show where every scene is an all-time highlight. This entire series from start to finish is fantastic.
any scene from the wire is better than the most of the tv shows. Just amazing About Michael K. Williams...what is left to say, I think and really hope we enjoy his performances for many many years. He is the reason I started watching Boardwalk Empire and and he is catching me again
Looking back at this scene with Bunk and Omar reminds of the home dinner scene in the movie, Scarface, where Tony's mother berates him for the negative effects that his criminal actions leave on the Cuban community. In the end, he contributes to the killing rates and worsens the name, image, and lives of his people.
I like how Michael K Williams snaps his fingers when he's trying to think of the phrase "cost of doing business things". Just adds a slight bit of realism and depth to the scene.
This scene is just incredible. Probably the only scene that left a distaste in my mouth for Omar. I lost tons of respect for him the moment he spit. This show deserves tons more recognition.
I viewed his spitting as him metaphorically choking on Bunk's words. The truth was too bitter and he couldn't swallow them so he had to spit them out. Deep down, Omar knew his "all in the game" code was bullshit but he couldn't admit it openly so he had to reject Bunk to avoid cognitive dissonance.
@@beans0708you put that very well, when Omar spit I thought of it as him spitting on himself in a way. Sort of spitting on the actions he has committed. The close up on his teary eyes makes me think he resents himself because the children on the corner imitate him.
Terrific scene, but like so many in the Wire, it takes three seasons worth of details to understand what is happening. Any scene with Michael K. Williams and Wendell Pierce is gold.
This scene proves a few things. Hard Times and Hard Men can still reach inside of you and pull you up my your heart. Omar knew he messed up with his crew and Family. Bunk gave him the right kind of Grown folks talk about everything is about choices and the results of those choices.
Every brother and sister, in every high school and every college, should see this scene, at the very least, and the entire series, at the very most. "How far, WE done, fell!!!"
