Jackie had every opportunity to succeed: he was handsome, popular with the girls, pre-med at Rutgers and had he shut up and stayed with Meadow he never would have had to have worried about money. Instead he got too big for his own shoes, despite countless warnings from Tony and got himself killed. Zig was a punching bag his whole life.
@Swiatek702 I always thought Double G fucking him over was stupid. The Greeks were making serious money. They left 4mil of heroin on the docks like it was nothing. Granted Double G was just a fence and wouldn't have seen all the drug money but him fucking over Ziggy was short sighted and foolish
ugoodHomeBoy Yeah i think this season is awesome too and i like Ziggy character and nick too and frank sobotka is one of the best character and actor of the whole serie "Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket" . I think its one of the most powerful season but its missinterpreted as bad cuz its on the docks. But its one of the best with season 1.
@@nomongosinthaworld Ziggy just had enuff of being taken advantage of. 1st Frog disrespected, plus ripped him off. Next Cheese disrespected him (in his own neighborhood), robbed him, ripped his $2,000 coat, and then jacked him for his car in broad daylight. Let's not forget how he got embarrassed on the job. Ziggy just had enuff of being disrespected and ripped off and he finally snapped.
from his first scene in season 2 I was like - just waiting for the ep where this guy gets capped. No way someone as brain dead as Ziggy exists in a show mostly about a criminal underworld. So in that sense I was a little surprised, but life in prison is just a step above death for sure.
"And I am not even Greek" ... I have argued elsewhere that he must be Greek because Ziggy's rude phrase triggers him, but maybe he was also incognito on a fake passport despite being a level below "the Greeks"
Why did he pay him half ..??? Also why is Ziggy talking about irrelevant things in Office he keeps talking about broken camera and things that are not relevant
@@Nukie5050 He hadn't reached his breaking point, yet. This particular time, he tried his hardest not to be sloppy, ignorant, and clumsy, and he still got played and regarded with disrespect and no accolade. After that, he snapped. Of course, it would've been kamikaze and suicidal, had he'd have went up against Cheese, whilst snapping.
"out of nowhere" the kid literally took shit from EVERYBODY because they treated him like he was weak,how could they NOT see that coming? you don't fuck with the quiet ones like that because they won't beat your ass they'll sneak you and you'll be in a bodybag before you know what hit you
He wasn’t even strong in this scene, he didn’t have the balls to finish off the witness, and he begins to break down mentally before even leaving the store, confessing right after
@@henryfox6293 he knew he was through at the point lol. He killed a guy broad daylight in a store with cameras. Honestly I think it takes more strength for him to confess and take the punishment
I would not say he was strong. He completely lost his temper and lashed out in the most horrible way ever. That choice he made is what put in behind bars. I am not sure that is strength. I will agree with you on how others don’t see it coming though. Screwing over Ziggy and thinking he was a pushover was a mistake. One day people like that will eventually snap and it will not end well.
Except he didn't "decide to be strong." He let his emotions get the better of him and he lost control, which shows how weak he still is. It's not like he masterminded some sort of plan to get back at the guy who screwed him over. Ziggy was weak from beginning to end.
the build up to this was awesome...Ziggy really was just tired of being pushed around and made fun of...it got him a life sentence and probably years of abuse in prison but he snapped
I love how in America our prison system is essentially slave labor and prison rape is apart of the punishment. I think we should codify it and make it official!
Ziggy wants to be respected. The issue is no one respects Ziggy cause his personality is unpleasant. He was a ticking time bomb. He was doomed to be so angry at the fact no one respects him and eventually lash out at some point. The only way to of saved him was to fix his personality but that would be a difficult challenge.
@@maxwell10206 It would probably be done if Frank spent more time with him instead of dealing with the union. But instead, he acted only when necessary to get him out of trouble, which led to Ziggy's feelings of inadequacy, which became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I didn't like Ziggy, but I understood him. He was a dumb asshole all the way through season 2 but somehow I still felt pity for him. He's definitely one of the more underrated and deceptively complex characters in the show.
@Poppy Kneegrow well actually it’s called Sympathy as stated with his comment he said he felt pity for Ziggy and mostly characters who we can connect with we feel the most sympathetic when he/she is going through difficult times
I love that the decision making process and the act itself takes place in one minute. It just goes to show how quickly you can fuck up your entire life through a snap judgement.
You can't ignore that Ziggy's character probably would have gotten respect if he had given it, and if he had acted professionally. The entire show, he acts like a fucking child. He's impulsive, rash, informal, disrespectful, etc. He's the kind of guy who would have gotten killed very early in the show had he not been connected.
The guy had no reason to fully pay ziggy. He had a already decided to never partner with ziggy again. I would assume that when a criminal deals with a weaker criminal, they only fully pay if they want to maintain the relationship for the future or if they don’t want a reputation of screwing people over. This guy wasn’t worried about either with ziggy. As someone else stated, it really wasn’t about the money. If he had praised ziggy and paid less than agreed, ziggy would have walked out with a smile.
@@HoustonTom what do you mean by stating "he had no reason"? He agreed the price beforehand, it was his obligation as a "businessman" to pay the price they both agreed on. He got what he deserved for trying to scam Ziggy off his money. Also, his excuse for paying less is pathetic. "The quota has changed" - so what? Market prices are always changing, it's part of the game to take the risk and hope to sell for a bigger profit in the future.
@@matheusmelo6022 Ziggy acted as a real jerk when he and Nicky were discussing business with Glekas, annoying prick so Glekas didn't respect him , but if Nicky was there he would be payed totally. And you're stupid for justifying cold blood murder because Ziggy felt disrespected, he could only threaten him.with a gun to give money and maybe whip him once with a gun. This way he murdered a guy, severely wounded other and fucked up his life totally
@@matheusmelo6022 You realize you're talking about a couple of criminals, right? Neither of them has *any* legitimate claim on the money, since it is all coming from other peoples' stolen property. That's what "he had no reason to fully pay Ziggy" means. The only reason a fence has to give a thief a good price is if he wants more business from the thief. It doesn't matter what was agreed upon. He just misjudged how mentally unstable Ziggy was. In the end, both characters got what they deserved.
This was a culmination of Ziggy of getting eatn' alive by the streets and in life. No excuse to kill a man of course, but this was what he'd been dealing with on the streets. He had no business working with these kind of characters. It just wasn't in him.
Billy William he was the guy people dicked over. He had no power, no friends, no crew. He was physically, emotionally and mentally weak. He was never going to make it in that world.
@ yeah the Greek guy deserves no pity, but neither does Ziggy. He's a boy with an over inflated but fragile ego who refuses to admit he's out of his depth respected by nobody. Consequently the rage in him grows at every slight until he snaps at this point.
@@yamabushi170 Well ok hes out of his depth respected by nobody, but he managed the mercedes business very well. He isn't stupid. He just doesnt have the muscle to threathen people with retaliation. But Gleckas did a misscalculation here..
@DeltroxTv But the cars were already sent to greece. Ziggy can't negociate anymore. He sent the cars trusting gleekas and he got scammed in return. He had no bargaining power anymore.
Both their motivations make sense. For the Greek guy, after finding out that Ziggy brought one of the stolen cars to the front of his business, he understandably values Ziggy's future business much less. For Ziggy, he had an axe to grind after being punked by everyone else and this was the last straw. Of course Ziggy doesn't view himself as the problem.
@@fmgallien Zig's problem was shipping of the cars right away, which gave the Greek the possibility to reduce the price, since his merchandise was already on the way. It was similar to Stringer being rain-made by Clay Davis.
You know, in my opinion, Ziggy is one of the most underrated characters in the show. The reason I say this is because he tried to be something he wasn't by trying to get involved in the game. But when it became clear to him that both his father and cousin have better success in the game than he does, he became pissed not necessarily at them, but at himself for who he is and who he could never be. You can tell from his encounter with Cheese that Ziggy must've experienced ridicule and bullying in his earlier years, and sooner or later, you're going to snap and do something you never thought you were capable of doing. Sometimes I feel exactly like Ziggy
Totally agree with you. Ziggy's personnality is deep. He has planty motivation. Drive around in a sport car, dress classy, be a player. Elevate himself from these shit docks where he has no days because he's too young. Ziggy is a good guy overall, a bit goofy, smart someway. But he has no muscle to back up his plans so he get shitted all over all the time. Like you said, Ziggy experienced being punked a lot of time in his life but this beef with Gleckas was one too much for him to handle after he did everything correctly from his side.
The Greeks' FBI contact called Glekas a mope trying to pass himself off a slick. This scene shows why that description was accurate. Glekas should've been smart enough to realize how short-changing Ziggy could backfire on him -- both because of how volatile a character Ziggy is and because of who he's related to. Not realizing this cost him his life.
great scene. zig fucked up bad, it made me feel for the kid after all the times he got pushed around, he just exploded. also you don't see it in this video but right after he shoots the guys, he goes out to his car and everything becomes all hazy and slow-mo. that was probably the only time throughout all 5 seasons they used effects like that
eddieguererro46 i woulda kept the cars and said fuck off i couldn't sell em but eventually someone would quickly want them maybe at a lower price too but this cat was disrespectful about the situation since they had a set price. lmao but this nigga took the situation to a new level reminds me of a cat from Missouri i know
This is the first of 2 scenes, from The Wire, where my jaw slammed against the floor. A great curveball that you didn't see coming, yet, made perfect sense afterwards. Ziggy was tired of being the punchline. In hindsight, his reaction towards Nick, after the duck died, was a precursor to what happened here.
I allways hated that Ziggy couldn't pull himself together just long enuff to get away. sometimes it's just worth it, the last thing that went thru Greek boy's mind is how much he underestimated Ziggy!! Greek boy died with the full unmistakable reality,"u can't just shit on someone and go on whistling bout your day".
***** for one brief moment, Ziggy got to feel a fleeting taste of being "THE MAN", he shot that A-hole as he crawled begging for his life!! Sorry Buddy while u were busy popping off at the mouth!! your number fell!! see u don't ever know just how fed-up with life a chump" may be until he collapse and snap on yo ass !! Maybe during your HOT stay in HELL , you'll learn not to be stealing a man's money in his face and talking smack at the same time!! that's a cap in waiting !! and it bumps you up to head man-in waiting!!
It's not funny, but the fact that it's so visceral and disturbing is what makes it so great. You're really there in that scene. Makes me sad that this show ever ended..
@@CleFesse "Adeya" is like "go away", "get out of here", although it literally means "see ya" depending on the intonation. "Malakas" ("malaka" in the vocative case) is a "wanker" an "idiot" or a form of address between close friends (believe it or not), something like "man", "dude", "bro". The rest of Glekas' curse words here (pousti, koritsi mou) mean something like "faggot, my girl", and that's what he means by "malaka with dress". It is Greek words, but it's gibberish, it's not an expression any Greek would use. On the other hand, these guys pretend to be Greeks according to the plot of the Wire, so maybe that justifies, in plot, why their Greek is so off overall.
Hmm couldn't Zigg have threatened to not send the cars over until he received the other half of what he's owed. If he was taking 1 of them out for a spin it means he could come and go as he pleased. I don't know, but it seemed like Zigg had all the leverage during that negotiation, but didn't even use it.
+Gellex1990 It doesn't work that way in this life. Ziggy had no weight, couldn't handle himself. and was a total wannabe, This is why he never got paid.
Ziggy has no leverage over them at all. They don't respect him. They don't care about him and only put up with him because it's for a convenient quick buck. If Ziggy threatens to not send the cars there...they're just not going to do business with him lol. Ziggy probably knows this on some level which is why he took the money in the first place.
Ziggy got whooped constantly lol. First cheese then maui now this greek dude. I guess enough was enough. But ziggy brought most of his problems on himself. Too goofy, disrespectful, no common sense and talked too much. I had no sympathy for him when he got locked up. He was mad at Nick for not letting him handle the business but Nick knew his cousin was too immature as evidence in this scene. He shoulda just been happy to have been getting paid. The wire was pure genuis.
I'm surprised you didn't keep the end in when he gets back in the car, starts the engine then goes to light a cigarette and drive away only to finally realized what he just did, starts crying, shaking and then turns the car off and waits for the police to arrive. James Ransome was perfect in his portrayal of Ziggy.
"You know malaka yes, now you know malaka with dress" Gleekus got bars, if he wouldve chosen the path of a battle rapper instead he mightve been alive today. 💯
@@sundarpichai940 i was thinking the irony was ziggy was screwing over the greek, saying they were s classes, but the greek paid underpaid him at the same time lmao, maybe
What you said is so true, it got me thinking of Omar when he first met Marlo while robbing him at that card game, Marlo told him "This isn't over" and instead of killing Marlo right there and eliminating the threat he just lets it slide.
@@hopoff9968He let him live more so because bodies bring the heat. Omar knows people are gonna come for him regardless. Plus you know how he love running with the wolves. Omar's mistake was being too hot for a whiff of Marlo, being careless and the not healing up. But yeah his code and shit doesn't really work in the street either way.
Wasn't that stupid. Bit excentric and naive maybe. But he pulled the mercedes business very well but Gleckas wasn't straight with him. It was the drop too much in Ziggy's life who prolly got bullied a lot. Very well designed character. Very human and just trying to make his way, but everybody takes him for a fool. It could have been Cheese or Maui that were killed by Ziggy but it ended up on Gleckas because he took him for a fool way beyond reasonnable. It was a time to shine for Ziggy, and he got crooked again.
@Skyler723 Yeah somewhat. But Ziggy isn't about money or stuff like that. But i agree he's dealt a short hand. Because on a legit way, he has little hours work and very few perspective. (doesn't seem to efficient too) And on the drug trade way, he got played many times and have very few success aswell. He's kinda cornered to behave like he did somehow, like you said. Gleekas just abuse his position. Ziggy got no way to retaliate. He cannot go to Vondas, he doesn't have the connect to him, and he's off book with Niko on this. His act is just a pure act of despair and anger at the same time. They leave him no issue. Either he walks away and let Gleckas go away with it, either he does something crazy like this, there is no middle ground. If it was about money. He would have shot Gleckas and his worker fast and clean, took the money in the drawer, and would have went on a run. But he didn't and stayed to get caught. Just knew he was fucked and fucked up another time.
Ziggy’s last scene on the show explains a lot. Mom lost in drugs/booze. Dad (Sobotka) more interested in his job than his family. Think about how other union workers don’t mind beating up and embarrassing their boss’ son. Still ziggy was a man and responsible for his own actions.
There's a line from a Motorhead song, "If you don't know how to live, the world will be unkind." Ziggy is like DeAngelo or Dookie. He could never really make it in his own world, and can't even be a gangster. When life keeps dealing him 2-9 offsuit, what can he really do?
no he's not? D'angelo was a gangster through and through but didn't want the lifestyle. Ziggy wasn't a gangster but did want the lifestyle. If anything, Ziggy is the antithesis to D'angelo.
Samuel Hong nah man. Ziggy didn’t want the lifestyle. Ziggy wanted to be loved and admired and respected and thought that he could get those things by being a gangster. That’s what makes his character to so tragic.
Ziggy was born into it, saw how everyone came to his father, his father always had extra money for his guys. Ziggy wanted that, but he was a loser. Everything he touched turned to shit including animal endangerment.
this is, by far, the best season of the show. full of awesome characters and with a script so fucking complex... ziggy is one of the best characters of the show. In fact, all the sobotka family are great. So fucking sad storie :'(
Ziggy got disrespected for the last time. 20% was the deal not 10%. The Zig was already jealous/pissed because Nicky saved his ass on those packages he fucked up and that Nicky successfully worked those packages out from the chemical swap/deal with Spiros and Eton and reupping with White Mike. Had Frog in check as well after Frog ripped The Zig off on a G-pack. Zig wanted to do something successful on his own without Nicky's help or being labeled or treated as a joke. Watching season 2 over again recently I got Zigs character and motivation. He just wanted to do something successful on his own. Respect was the main goal. Money was the least of it. Double G deserved what he got in the game. Gave Zig half of what was agreed to then tried to smooth it over nonchalantly. I don't know why Zig didn't say well I guess the deal is over but then again Zig was stuck between a rock and a hard place with stolen Benz with no registration. Just my humble opinion.
he couldn't back out because the cars he sold were being shipped. what GG did wrong in fucking with ziggy wasn't just because zigg was insecure, but he also had absolutely zero impulse control
very sad. the greek beat him up so politely. who else has ever taken a light beating followed by having an envelope of cash gently placed in their coat pocket?
This show..... I’ve watched it one time for the full run and I can’t stop coming back. It’s not the acting, it’s not the setting, it’s not the script, it’s the entire package. Ziggy’s character arc couldn’t have played out better than it did.
To be fair, the Greek should have paid him what he said he would. It was a deal. He tried to punk Ziggy thinking he didn't have the muscle to do anything about it, but Ziggy was always crazy.
Yep, he didn't think Ziggy had retaliation options. It's like an easy play for Gleckas. He misscalculated. That's why he looks so horrified when Ziggy is about to finish him. He wouldn't have imagined he would end killed by this kid.
Ziggy is one of the best designed character in the entire serie. Goof and smart at the same time. He just likes people and like to make fun out of himself and to make people laugh. But you can see aswell in tense situation around money problems, that he has a good heart and care for people from the docks. Gleckas punked him and took him for a fool, and it was one time too much for Ziggy who managed the mercedes business quite succesfully. It ended it up that way, because Ziggy had this borderline personnality, and couldn't see any other way to trade with the world no more. Incredible narration there.
Can we talk about the camera work leading up to the climax? So perfect those moments where you just see the car and then you dont hear but see Ziggy and then he commits to his anger.
Ziggy played this all wrong. When he saw the pay was off - he should taken, smiled and then kindly remind GG that because of Ziggy’s connection to the docks that GG ripping him off for 10% may have long term ramifications in regards to future business with those missing cans. If GG didn’t fix it - Ziggy could have made it really difficult for GG to get his future deliveries. Then the Greek would chime in, remind GG that 10% wasn’t worth the hassle and then Ziggy would have gotten paid and more respect.
Ziggy needed a book and a different crowd. Being a small and fragile person ain’t nothing to be ashamed about, just means you got to learn other ways to get by. He could of been quiet and easily ignored by egotistical men while building a life he could control, hell even be envied and respected by the ‘tough’ guys for choosing a more stable life.
You hit the nail on the head. Ziggy just talked wayyy too fuckin' much, thought he was being cute when dealing with international smugglers, etc... "Oh hi, you must be The Greek" LMAO
Ziggy should serve as a cautionary tale. In life, self-awareness is super important, but if you’re living a life on the street, it’s paramount. Ziggy thought of himself as Michael, but everybody else saw him as Fredo. Other characters in The Wire who had that same penchant for being brash and loud suffered the same fate; Cheese and Lil Kevin being the only ones I can think of off the top of my head.
The containers were shipped to Greece. He only has one more mercedes he has to bring back asap. I don't think Ziggy is in a position to think about options there. He's just mad to have been played once more.
