Maybe not to the extent of losing a friend to "the game", but most of us can relate to seeing our early adolescent friends embark on a path that no longer included us as partakers. As the years go on, we acknowledge it as ....life!
Done lost so many homies to that shit fr bro that shit hurt when your hear they got locked up or knocked off but for kids in the inner city that’s life fr
Facts. I definitely can relate. So many homies I parted ways with due to the paths they chose. That’s what makes this show so great. It’s very relatable and realistic. It happens all the time and like you said…. It’s life
The scene with Duke is heartbreaking. We've all had that moment with a childhood friend or even ourselves when we look up and realize that the innocence of youth has been replaced by the ugliness of the world. Damn.
That's the streets stealing your soul away. Some can maintain. Some Killers would just go up stairs and play Madden and not talk about it. Video Games were always a great way to escape the reality of the streets especially when that friend has a structured home & some good food. It becomes the peace that the youth is looking for.
@@officialonyxobsidian sounds like you should have parented your child better, dude. always ironic how you find parents complaining about their failed children but never take any of the blame themselves as if they didn't improperly raise them to turn out like that lol. its baffling to me.
@Gandalfthegoldenbird how you know they didnt try their best as a parent? U judging ppl you dont know off a comment they made. His son is not your son.
These kids really had it rough, but for some reason Dooks character was the most heartbreaking character of them all to me. He tried so hard to protect and preserve his innocence. In the end, he was simply not strong enough to. Mike, on the other hand, accepted his fate. He knew that “innocence” is what got a lot of kids hurt or worse. Tragic tale all the way til the end for all of “The Corner Boys.”
Dook broke my heart. When he was asking that teacher for money I wS like "Oh no Dookie please tell me u ain't on the shit" then when the show is ending you see him spike up and I was like "Dookie awww man. The FUCK MAN?" Poor kid NEVER had a chance. I know Manu just like him where I am from. Good people just dealt a shit hand in life.
@@1Tev_ disagreed. My interpretation is that even though it was only a short time ago, Michael is simply a completely different person than Duke was desperately trying one last time to connect with. Every ounce of happiness has been replaced with darkness and sadly, the Michael we met at the beginning of the season is gone. But I will say that regardless the interpretation, the show is pure fucking gold.
@@mikeAK89 He didn't have Alzheimer's and lost his memory. He said he didn't remember so Duke wouldn't go looking to hang around him. He's saying I don't remember those days , as in we don't know each other anymore. He also knows Duke is going to be a junkie and liability to him. It's easier to sever ties this way as it protects Duke if they look for Mike. The real sad part is Duke lost the only two friends he had left. Michael and Bug. Mike protected him. Now he's just a wimp living on the streets. Poor Dukie, even tried to get a job like Poot but couldn't get hired.
Mike had to let Duke go. Life just took them on two totally different paths. It’s crazy how the game is an endless cycle. Mike became Omar and Duke became Bubbles. The cycle continues.
Nah Michael done, once he smoked snoop, he knew how fucked up the game was, that he could get smoked just for asking too many questions. He knew it wasn’t for him.
@@TheBNCyo I don’t think you or the dude below you got my point, I didn’t say bro wasn’t built for that life I said it wasn’t for him, and by that I mean he isn’t just a street soldier dude was too smart for his own good which made him a threat.
Funny thing is after Mike put hands on Kenard, Kenard ends up working for Mike the next season. He respected Mike for that. Which is why he didn’t respect Nammond and took his package in the first place. He knew Nammond wasn’t gonna do shit about it
I hated Nammond at first, thought he was just a punk. Turns out he was trying really hard to put on image of something he had no desire to be. Really, season 4 in general was really good. It’s so sad to see how the kids get mixed up in it and end up going such different directions, most through no fault of their own.
@@JakeNaughtFromStateFarm honestly sad. his own mom made him work the block when they had everything they needed already. nammond had clothes video games n allat in his house ..
@@kingkoko8602 They didn't though. Delonda and Nay were supported by the kickbacks Bey received during the Barksdale reign. Once the Barksdales lost, the money stopped coming through. Delonda squandered all the cash hence why Nay was now pressured to hit the corners.
@@318EE_SpanYeah I’m pretty sure you’re right. Just like how suckerpunching somebody is seen as cowardly and shameful in society. It could be seen as more respectful in a twisted way.
I think it means once you've crossed the line, taken a life in cold blood, you realize you can snatch any life. No man is "above" you, because anyone can be killed just as easily.
This scene broke my soul and brought me to tears 😭 😢😢😢 Dookie turned into a young addicted junkie so young and all he wanted to do was go to school and find a job and live right.😢
HY one of my favorites. Bubbles is prolly my favorite just because I thought he was gon die before the end of the show but he ended up finding redemption.
I remember my best friend making this turn. Everyone use to ask Me how I could hang around a killer.... but he wasn't that... he was forced into that and I was one of the only people he could be his self around. I was one of the only guys that didn't act tough all the time so he was able to be a kid around me. But he had to be a beast in the street. He's currently doing life in prison smh
Same thing on my end. The only thing was he was my best friend from elementary, middle school, and high school who became a heroin addict like Duke. I remember visiting the family Spring 2002. We both graduated the year before in 2001. I didn't know anything about drugs. However, I ran across him at Easter Pageant at Church, and to say he looked bad would be an understatement. I spent about a week at his house, and I literally watched him sell everything in his house to feed his addiction. Even the air conditioning unit on the outside of his house. Heartbreaking because a few years prior, we were both on the football team and playing in high school playoff games as sophomores on varsity. Long story short, a few weeks after I had returned back to my dorm room from Easter weekend with my family, I get a call from my uncle and my childhood friend was found behind a dope house with a heroin needle in his arm still and a bent spoon right next to him.
If I could only watch this show again for the first time… season 4 was heartbreaking. Probably the greatest of them all. This show was so ahead of its time and still better than anything released since. Shame most of the actors on it never really took off, there was a ton of talent to go around.
@@devanman7920 you came here just to say that? I’m a huge Sopranos fan too. Comparing these two is somewhat like comparing apples to oranges however. Sopranos is more entertaining, but The Wire is more rewarding imo.
The wire is the greatest piece of cinema ever made....so many things from the series stuck with me. Ive watched the entire series from start to finish 3 times and could easily watch it again Just amazing
@@cofusedJames snowfall a top 3 show to me it pushed breaking bad out the 3 spot. 1: the wire 2: the sopranos 3: snowfall And Game of thrones is on its own list it’s so unique
@@MarioMario-nj6kz yeah GOT seasons 1-4 are still legendary, ppl group it up w the end of the show but ignore how great it was in the beginning. half the ppl haven’t even watched it n act like it’s shit just cuz they heard ppl hated the last season.
@@WiredLain_ it really is a shame people forget how good that show was man. I honestly like first 6 seasons and still enjoyed the last 2 people just like to hate
Trauma can legitimately make people forget things. I'm 33 and all i remember from my childhood is my parents arguing and fighting. Literally everything else is a blur.
I think he didn't remember in that moment...marlo pple cus run down any moment he tryna get bug to safety to much on the brain to remember fuckin water balloon fights Lmaooo
@@michaelshelton7196lol bruh did you not pay attention to the subtle details where mike jerks his head because he actually remember what duke was talking about and then he gulps before saying “I don’t”
@fallingstar2155 the head jerk wus a slight surprise that he really didn't remember it wut he wus talkin about...he cud die at any moment and jus sed goodbye to his brother maybe forever...I doubt he cud recall a fuckin water balloon fight smh Lol
@@fallingstar2155 Not trying to be "that guy" but as someone who owns the DVDs and has listened to the directors commentary the scene is meant to play as Mike genuinely not remembering, the solemn look on his face is meant to signify to the audience both Duq and Mike realizing the innocence of their youth is lost and forgotten. At least according to the episode commentary by the shows creators.
@@fallingstar2155yup, I think it's appropriate after that look em in the eye speech by Chris, that Mike couldn't look Duquan in the eye because he was lying.
I think I have run out of reasons why this is the most brilliantly written show of all time! From the cinematography of Chris' eyes in rearview mirror whilst teaching Mike that he can't hide from the pain of taking a life "...look him right in the eyes" Mike beating Kennard in the same way Chris beat his abusive 'father'; telling how he's learnt to release pain. Duq desparately clinging to a childhood memory in the hope that it would extend his friendship with Mike, even though he knew deep down inside their paths had come to an end. The way Mike swallows hard before coldly delivering the killer blow; uttering "I don't" reminiscent of Marlo's coldhearted response to the corner store security officer (officer ~ you act like you don't see me / Marlo ~ "I don't") Demonstrating that at this stage he was still uncomfortable with some of the cold hearted decisions sometimes required to survive on those mean Baltimore streets but understood that some things just needed to be done. And let's not forget, these actors weren't Al Pacino, Denzel or Merryl Streep..lot of them were just kids man! Simply put, BRILLIANT.
@@JohnnyBandicas HBO Max... they just released it on there.. You can subscribe for $9.99 a month. Or you can purchase the DVD box set. I bought it back in 2010 for like 50 dollars.
rewatching this clip has given me new understanding of the scene. I think Mike did remember the piss balloons, but knowing he has to let the part of him go he tells Dookie he dosent remember. the wire was a true masterpiece and should be put in the library of congress if not already .
Ye he remembers but had to be cold so he thinks they not friends anymore they he was last things that made him feel/loved so he had to get rid of him to be stone cold killer
Mike forgot because all his criminal actitivity superceded a water balloon fight and ice cream. Dook remembers accurately because he wasnt active as Mike and it was a highlight of him doing some street stuff which he wasn't use to doing. This is normal in the hood. Ive told people stories they forgot, people told me stories I forgot.
I've raised 3 sons. This show is still an accurate depiction of what "coming of age" looks like for many of our boys. They live lives with dynamics, rules, codes and real-time events most of us don't have a clue about. Even when they're trying to "get out" and walk a straight(er) path - they gotta worry about their peers, the feds, society-at-large and the streets in general & hardly anybody hears them. Heartbreaking. We need more compassion, less judgment.
I mean they could just finish high school, get a job or take advantage of scholarships/diversity quotas but they fall for peer pressure to want to be gang bangers like their favorite walking stereotype rappers. Stop listening to that garbage that brainwashes our youth to be losers and watch the community do a 180 when morals and work ethic are instilled. Also need to get that family unit back together instead of dead beat dads or moms using kids for a paycheck.
The scene between Duke and Mike in the car was the one that sealed the deal for both of them as characters. Best day of Dukes life and Mike didn’t remember it all.
Ima be honest, aside from McNulty and Stringer I really thought the actor that blew up from The Wire was gonna be the kid that played Mike. Definitely did not expect it to be the kid that played Wallace lmao
Mike was always my favorite. He didn’t want anything from anyone. Duquan broke my heart. Mike was becoming the next Omar, duquan the next bubbles. It is hard to believe this was a show. I know I felt the pain and desperation thru the screen.
Mike was not pretending that he couldn’t remember the balloon episode. For him, what happened just a year ago seems like ages. His childhood was lot. Now he was a broken teenage murderer without a way out of the “game.”
Real life.. every characters role played out the real scenario of how most outcomes are growing up in these harsh inner cities with no resources.. Mike will always be my favorite character the kid had so much heart and understood his position the whole time.. it’s terrible because he was fighting against it trying to really go down the right path understanding that school was the best route.. only to confront the real facts of the situation at hand.. the wire will always be a classic 💯
I'd always thought Michael absolutely couldn't remember the incident with the piss balloons, but when I introduced the Wire to the missus, she said it was a bit more ambiguous- maybe Michael did remember, but that was a different him, another Michael, before his rebirth as a haunted, cold killer and he needed Dukie to know this- that he was too far gone to stick by him. I thought it was an awesome take: maybe Michael was scripted as to not remember the incident, but I do like the ambiguous take.
I never watched this show when it was out but man that scene brought a tear at the end me and a friend had a talk like that years ago I was headed down the wrong path… and genuinely didn’t recall something from our younger days and we both had that realization…. I’m a changed man now but yeah this got me
This so sad because of the accuracy. Trauma effects the memory and obviously all of the characters on the show have had their fair share of trauma. Plus the lost of friendship. In this scene, you knew they were never going to go back to the way it was. I regularly talk to only a handful of the ppl I grew up with. It’s sad how life effects ppl you love and it can ruin relationships.
Dukes story is seriously one of the most heartbreaking in the series. Its too bad Bubbles wasnt around to help him keep his head on straight. I think he woulda been a better friend than donkey junkman
When you're a boy, you think the future is going to be great and beautiful. Then you grow up and realize that its just a jungle. Mike adapted to it. He became a hunter.
After what his dad or stepdad did to him he only seen 2 pathways being a victim or a predictor, he had to get rid of the last things he loved to be the real g
I wonder if Mike really doesn't remember because his world has gotten so much heavier, or if he just says he doesn't remember because he know's what's happening and he has to break ties.
That’s it. He knows on his path that he has to let go and show no emotion. He became a man at that point, but on the wrong path. He knew it and accepted it. He didn’t allow himself to dip back into his innocence because his new world can’t have it.
Deep scene. I always took this scene to show the trauma of Michael’s life stripped away any memory of being a child. Sort of like PTSD or the suppression a rape victim uses to cope. Saddest scene of the series.
He remembered duk knows he did mike know he headed down a path duk can’t follow it’s not in him I had to distance myself from a few people that got into the streets heavy around this age I know the feeling
What’s crazy to me is I thought Mike would go on to be the big actor in Hollywood after his role in the wire Never thought that Wallace ( Michael B Jordan ) would go on to be him ..
Poor Duq never had a chance once Mike was out of his life. Mike was the only person who ever loved him. Prezbo cared but Mike loved him like a brother and that's why he made him leave. Afraid he would get killed. But he left him to an even worse fate
It’s crazy how life can take friends on completely different paths ruining a good friendship but sometimes friends grow apart that’s how life can be. Mike outgrew all of his friends and you seen it in the last couple seasons. If Dukie was built like Mike they would of still been hanging but the fact Duke ain’t good at nothing, using a gun, fighting, selling drugs like the street life wasn’t in duke.
This edit got me thinking that Mike really didn't remember because he had been thru so much shit since then. When i first watched tho i thought he did but just lied to get dukie out the car lol
