Why Did Nobody Just Shoot Omar in The Streets? | The Wire Explained
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- Опубліковано 11 сер 2022
- Omar Little, played by the late Michael K Williams, is the most iconic character of HBO's The Wire. Omar robs drug dealers and kingpins such as Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, Marlo Stanfield and Proposition Joe. He is a most wanted man. But why did nobody just shoot or kill Omar while he was walking around in the streets?
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The thing you have to remember is that, just because these guys are drug dealers, doesn't mean they're killers. Omar is a killer. He won't hesitate to pull the trigger. Omar is also smart, patient, and precise. He almost always gets the job done. So yeah, you wanna go at Omar, you best not miss
Exactly! Imagine taking a shot and you miss. Shit gonna get real quicc. Them hoppers weren’t prepared for that. Micheal was because he was a trained hitman
well said
lol only dealers in the hood apparently
fear thats why they dont attack, simple as that
Lol we saw what happened to stinkum
The interesting thing about Omar's death is the last scene of that episode. Omar is presented as a larger than life figure on the streets, but when he's in the coroner's office, they place the wrong tag on him and the guy nonchalantly just changes it. The scene suggests that in the eyes of most of society, Omar was truly a nobody. Just another random street dude killed for nothing and no one really cares. This is further depicted when his murder isn't reported in the newspaper because no one cared. But this is where it gets more interesting because he's literally never mentioned again by the police or press but in the streets, he became like a folk hero in which he went out in a blaze of glory against either some guys from a New York crew, the cops, a bunch of random guys or the Pimlico Boys.
In the streets, he was somebody. But to the rest of society, he was nobody.
The streets truly are a different world. The mayor of Baltimore could walk down those streets, and they wouldn't recognize him, nor care about who he is. So it goes both ways.
@@transformersrevenge9 indeed, that's a great point
@@transformersrevenge9 that's is definitely true and good point.
Not sure if you caught it either but in the fifth season, the newspaper is about to run a story on Omar’s death, and instead runs a story about budget reports because they have no idea who Omar actually was. Super sad when you think about it.
Fckin facts
Omar was always very careful. In the entire series, I can think of only three scenes where he is just out walking around (going to buy Honey Nut from the corner store, getting arrested by Officer Walker outside the corner store, and carrying his laundry when he was confronted by Brother Mouzone).
On the other hand, there were several scenes that illustrated how hard it was to track him down. McNulty spent an entire day driving around looking for him (eventually enlisting Bubbles’ help). Avon had those two guys stakeout Omar's grandmothers house, which he said he only visited once a month to take her to church. Mouzone could only find Omar by using Lamar as bait to kidnap his boyfriend.
Recall that Omar didn't want Brandon going to the Greeks to play pinball. That suggests that as legendary as Omar was, he probably did not get out much.
Also, Omar was smart. If he had to go out, he knew which corners and streets to avoid. As dangerous as Baltimore is, it's not like a drug crew is on every block.
And lastly, Omar had a lot of support from the neighborhood. Remember in one of his first scenes, he gives a young female addict a free fix. While the dealers wanted to kill him, I think the neighborhood liked him and they have looked out for him a bit.
This exactly the point u did that
Yeah even at 1 point Stringer tells Avon that every time Omar robs a stash house he goes around giving it away to the neighborhood so they all hide him and won't snitch on him.
I'm not being sarcastic but this was a well thought out and well written comment.
LOL, I have to admit, you're right. He did have a thing for honey nut cheerios and newport cigarettes.
I dont think the neighborhood loved Omar. When you heard "Omar coming" EVERYONE ran off and cleared the streets in fear. That man was no Robin Hood.
“I don’t play cards, but I think these fo’ fives beat a full house”
One of the best lines ever while walking into a kingpin’s poker game
Lol facts
It was such a bad and good line at the same time
"Ay banker cash me out yo"
Boy you got me confused with a man repeats himself
You got me confused with a man who repeats himself.
I believe Omar's death was foreshadowed by the dialogue between him and bunk. Bunk and Omar had a conversation and Bunk was angry that in his day the criminals kept the children away from the game. While the drug dealers of the present drag the children into the game. All players in the game had a part in luring the next generation into the game. So it made sense that the children who will become the next players take out the older players. In the end Omar got taken out by a child who wanted to be him when playing with his friends and Michael the boy who never wanted to be part of the game became the next Omar.
NOOOOOO!!!!!!
The foreshadowing came when he chastised Michael. Michael comes the new Omar, a smart ruthless person with morals. Michael facing forward towards the future and Omar behind him signifying the past!
@@nilevalleyrollin4247 have to disagree with you there, but only partially. While the scene you are talking about can be seen as foreshadowing Michael becoming the new Omar it doesn't foreshadow Omar's death since he was not killed by Michael but by Kenard.
@@poliscileahguzman6084 as mike ehrmentraut once said "just cause you shot jesse james, doesn't make you jesse james". Kenard, shot omar, but that doesn't make him omar
I think Michael will become the next Marlow with Avon organization smarts & the kid you killed Omar didn't want to be the next Omar . He was a kid in young Mike's crew that kid wanted to be recognized in the hustling / street game
@@glennmartin6688
The "kid" who killed Omar (Kenard) was witnessed by Bunk himself telling the other kids "it's my turn to be Omar" at the scene where Tasha and Tank got dropped. Y'all need to watch the show much more.
The scene with the kids playing in the street arguing over who gets to play as omar shows his reputation.
One of those kids was Kenard too
Its also what made Bunk tell Omar off for being a negative influence on the community, and the way Bunk worded that to Omar definitely got to him.
@@madgavin7568he even stopped killing for awhile until butchie dies ofc
Growning up in Bronx in the 80s and as a teenager in the 90s. The lowest level street guy was known as a "pitcher" back then or the guy who was "pitching". It was usually someone under 18 (sentences were really bad for adults) and they got paid anywhere from $250 to $300 a week. Understand that this was someone on the clock for 12 to 18 hours a day but it never felt like he was working because he ate Chinese food, rolled dice, and hung out with his friends all day; occasionally servicing fiends. They were the worst ones to contend with because they were always trying to get over, one way or another. He didn't carry a gun and even if he did, there is absolutely no way he was getting into a shootout with the Omars of that day. The kid just wanted fresh clothes and food money and to treat his girlfriend every now and then. NOT enforcing some organization's beef.
Lol I always thought Omar was based of someone like Wayne perry it would’ve added a lol more realism than the one man army when u have guys bringing in the money like alpo u can really focus on the hits n know the right time to move around back in them days they were like vampires stood in hotel to hotel in b more I know they got all the abandoned block To hide in
I grew up in the BX in the exact same era as you did. U were correct in most of what you said. As far as the corner boys(pitchers) making only 250-300 a week, it depends on what part of the 90s u talkin about. In the late 90s early 2000s pitchers didn't make much money. But in the late 80s early 90s, those dudes were eating pretty good. Cops weren't raiding corners like they were once Gulianni got into office. So dealers were making insane amounts of money,even to today's standards. Even the dude on the corner back then was making 5-600 a day. The game didn't start getting bad til around the mid 90s. That's when u started to see dudes busting they a$$ for 100-200 a day. Moving a kilo in a day became next to impossible once they created the task forces, and new laws. The entire game went downhill from there. But corner boys back then made more money than alot of the dudes who hold weight today. If u had kilo back then, u were still a nobody. Today these dudes can't even cop a half ounce
@@jonnywick4611the real Omar was the guy in the jail scene with him. One who said “Butchie Sent Us” fun fact
It's very simple. I thought the show explained it in a subtle way. Most people were selling out of necessity. They weren't really committed to killing or dying for someone else's drug money. Also, most people, including drug dealers, don't have a history of firearm proficiency. Why go up against a known killer for money that isn't yours?
Because if you lose that money, you dead.
You can't say 'Omar took it, let me off'.
You pay what you lose, or you leave the whole city, or you die. Thems the breaks.
Agreed, well said and well REASONED..
the show in general is very simple. There isn't a lot to "read through" it was just a great plot that was well executed. This isn't westworld haha.
Yeah, there were dealers, and there was muscle. Omar would have had issues if the muscle was out there. But he always scoped every corner out. He never walked up without a plan. In season 5, he even had the cops arest the muscle, before he moved in on the stash. And even the muscle is divided into two groups. The heavy hitters like Chris and Bey, and boys like Bodie, who held a gun on a nearby car tire. And as we see in season 2, Bodie and the other lower level dealers, were all about spray and pray.
@@bcp5296d i think you need to re-evaluate your concept of complex and simple if you think westworld was more complicated
The only one that can come close to him was a kid. Omar has a code. He didn’t whack anyone who wasn’t in the game. Remember when Michael went to visit Marlo about his step father. And Omar said “he’s just a kid”. Irony to the show was the hoppers was the only one to get close range to him because omar wasn’t worried about them
Nah! We saw him trundling down alleyways and streets, alone, daylight, ill and so on... 🙄
Little did he know Michael was his replacement
He had a scene when he robbed the trap house he was standing there with his back turned waiting for them to drop the bag out the window they could have aired him out in 3 seconds when his back was turned it had to be at least 2-3 poles around
Whack is an Italian word, blacks don’t use that word in Baltimore….
@@onlyjoetee " merc" is the preferred slang
"Because Omar can come back tomorrow. And the next day. And the NEXT day. And I WILL put a bullet in all y'all behind what happen now." One of my favorite lines of the show. I think your assessment that there are too few skilled marksmen among the corner boys to be able to get a head shot on Omar to present much of a threat to Omar, is the most plausible explanation.
Awww man! I know you remember when him an WeeBay went head up twice. Once when he killed Stinkem, and the time he almost had Avon caught up and WeeBay pulled up and pulled out in the nick of time....Excellent plots.
We in here with the mac-10
@@Ihopeyaslipoabannanaclip - "Oh, I thinks not, Tyrell, I thinks not."
Every line of Omars was the best and in a show full of great one liners and quotes, that's saying something. I love when he put Levi back in his box at Birds trial. And to think the DA thought she was wasting her time putting Omar on the stand. There's a video on her of every one of his scenes, I literally watch it at least 3 times a week.
A paid hit would occur in Nola….
Omar says it in the first season plain and simple, when he's talking to Kima and McNulty at their "underground" office, the same time he offers to testify against Bird. He says "Frankly, you been in it as long as me, you do the thing on your name." Everyone knows him on the streets and, as the stories get told, they get bigger and bigger. People think of him as this super powerful, invincible guy, and they treat him as such.
There's also what many have said here in the comments, that most people are not killers, no matter what they may say out on the streets. Actually pulling the trigger on someone is not easy. But everyone knows Omar does it, no problem, so would they want to test it out if they'll be able to do it on him?
As far as there being guns around, Omar also speaks to that in season one, when he's in the car with Kima and McNulty looking for Bird. They say they need to catch Bird with the gun and he says, "He don't pack down here, none of them do. And that's the rule. Now, if you want iron, you gotta go to one of those kids up in the towers." So he knows how things work, and he knows who has guns, and where, because he painstakingly watches his targets for days, as the series shows many times.
Omar's death was nothing short of brilliant in my opinion, it shows exactly how he got away with what he did for so long. He got killed by some kid who just wasn't all that impressed by him, so he wasn't scared.
Kenard realizes Omar is just a person who can be killed when the kids are talking out on the street and Omar comes up behind Michael and tells him to relay to Marlo that he's the one who killed Savino. Kenard is there and, once Omar is gone, he looks with disdain and says, "that's Omar? Damn. Gimpy as a motherf****."
After that, in the episode when Omar dies, he's walking down an alley and the kids there all run saying "It's Omar, yo." The only one that stays is Kenard, torturing a cat, showing he's no longer afraid of Omar and he's comfortable with violence (a psychopath, really). Kenard looks at Omar as he walks away and you can see in his face as he decides to kill him. Kenard then follows Omar and shoots him in the head when he's got his guard down.
Another brilliant thing about Omar's death is that he almost gets buried as some old white guy because of a mistake with the labels on the dead bodies at the morgue. Such an important and influential figure out on the streets, but just a nobody in "mainstream" society, for lack of a better term. Brilliant, like everything in the show.
You got it right on a lot of points: he was always strapped, he made it his business to always know who he was dealing with, he was a leader of a pack of almost lone-wolf types. The one thing you missed is that he didn't just amble about the streets nonchalantly. He made it his business to use abandoned buildings and lesser traveled pathways as he went to and from. And he knew the places to duck behind or into because he knew the rea like the back of his hand. He would often disappear as quickly as he appeared. That's what made him hard to kill. In the scene where he died, he was essentially the lion getting killed coming to the watering hole.
Michael K Williams RIP . A fantastic talent who demanded respect with incredible unforgettable performances. His roles in both The Wire and Boardwalk Empire stole the scenes totally. He will be missed.
Says the ukrnzi
Also - when Omar died he was at the end of a n exhausting solo mission to try and take out Marlo’s crew. I mean my man jumped outta a high rise building like Spider Man and survived. The man lost a lot of people he loved and cared about. He even left to Puerto Rico and got out of the game. But when they tortured Butchy (who was holding all his cash) he came back with a vengeance…..but one man alone can’t defeat an entire army.
Omar is basically a marksman. You don’t wanna try your luck against a marksman.
“You best not miss”
Because that’s how much fear he instilled on the streets. That and plot armor.
Maybe but a little unrealistic I think.
😂👍 this made me laugh
@@DaveSCameron nah, that’s how it works !!
the wire is one of the most realistic shows ever. All of the characters are amalgamations of real people. The writers were literally an ex cop and ex journalist from Baltimore who lived a lot of these stories. It's not "based on a true story." It's based on hundreds of true stories
@@youreallthesame1594right, but “amalgamations of real people” aren’t real people. I think Omar is one of the greatest tv characters ever, but there was definitely a bit of plot armor around him.
“You come at the king, you best not miss” - Omar
Nobody in Baltimore sells bullets that can penetrate his plot armor.
Edit: Some of y'all need to google "plot armor" before replying...
That was the good body armor when this was based it's roughly the same as what a cop would have been using it's nowhere near nowadays
Crazy/nasty wrk 😂😂😂
Yeah but in my experience every hood has an Omar or a Dboe and they last way longer than makes sense... everytime you see em you think how is this guy not dead or in jail...
Kenards got connections with china. Them offbrand bullets work I guess.
EXFUCKINACTLY
Being a Baltimore native....nobody tried him because of code during those eras....names held weight....even just sharing the Last name of certain people was an instant hands off type thing..I agree with a lot of things you said in your vid also....it's very meta seeing the streets I've walked and dangers avoided highlighted through an HBO production..lost friends and family members to drugs..corrupt system and still alive..personally know more of the folks depicted in the Westport/Mt Winas area..
🙏🏽
Facts this new generation don't give a Damn about no street cred, code or names... that why it makes sense that a little kid smoked him.
I appreciate your comment a LOT and would love to hear more.
Been wanting to hear more about what Real bmore thought of the show, no disrespect to the British guy
Noone tried him in the streets for 1 reason. The script.
Baltimore is weak asf. Come to Wyoming!
It's hard to kill someone whose moves are unpredictable.
I'm from Baltimore and just finished season 1. It's awesome seeing how much people love the show and are still making videos about it.
The things that happen in the show have stoped or is wtill going on?
@@danielcantiego9374 Baltimore is worse than ever. Just yesterday there was a quintuple shooting outside of popeyes on some teenagers. A lot of kids killing kids these days and all politicians are corrupt and as bad as the ones they complain about. Tourism is dropping too because even the harbor and fed hill are getting their share of violence. The politicans allow extortion and murder.
@@danielcantiego9374 30 murders last month
Go to Baltimore and find out. It's far worse than it was before.
He was and still is my friend and my brother I miss him we used to sit and talk and dream big rest in peace Mike
Sorry for your loss.
I'm sorry the brother took himself out. You buy drugs from a dealer, you literally don't really know what you're getting. You hope you'll get high, but you're the bottom of the supply chain. There were scenes in season one where both Avon and Stronger alluded to that detail, and fentanyl is proving it in real life. What your drug of choice is being made what it is cut with is something most users never worry about, but dang if that chicken can't come home to roost with a vengeance. His death was as senseless as a drive by in Disneyland, but unfortunately it was always a possibility. So we lost Michael Williams early, and it didn't have to happen. The drug trade took another life, and no one pulled a trigger. All that potential that we were just starting to see snuffed out as casually as a cigarette. Which kind of shows the ultimate futility of drugs where living is concerned. How many have we lost, how many more will be lost, and when will it stop?
To quote The Usual Suspects: "How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?"
Kind of ironic considering that is exactly what happened.
"Burdensome" in the last vid and
"unseemly shit" in this one.
When you throw the little darts like that, it lets me know not only have you paid full attention to every minor detail, you have a strong grasp on the context and tone of the of the writing. It's been a real pleasure watching your take on what I can only assume is a foreign culture for you. I appreciate your work. 🙏👍
No doubt!
R.I.P. Michael K. Williams.
It was beautifully anti-climactic the way Omar was killed. And honestly the arc of Omar was a bit of seductive manipulation by the writers. They give you Omar with all his humor and what not to make the audience like him then brutally rip him away from you with a random murder at the hands of a little kid even. Exactly how people die in this life he lived. All this code stuff of his meant nothing in the end.
Probably because the production was coming to an end things became uncharacteristically clumsy.
The scene later on at the news desk where they have to decide which story to run to fill the last part of the page and they decide to go with some fire somewhere (or whatever it was, I forgot) instead of Omar's killing. I was like, damn! That guy was one of the most interesting characters I'd ever seen, but in the end he's just another statistic. Sad but true I guess.
His code did mean something tf are you talking about
Actually pretty realistic too. Bad asses like Omar always seem to die in the most random ways. Hit by a bus, fall out a window, shot by their baby mama, stabbed by a jealous side piece...it's always something you DIDN'T expect.
The code still meant everything. It was never supposed to be an invincibility cloak that ensured he wouldn’t be killed. It was how he approached his life/the game that allowed him to have a sense of morality in an immoral world. It allowed him to walk around with his head high among, the players and civilians alike. He even received the respect among the police as a result of having a moral code. In his death, his code is what will be remembered by those when they think back on Omar Little. Give it a rewatch my friend.
I can just imagine Stringer hiring snipers.
But, again he can't put snipers on every stash. And the fact that Omar is smart enough to sniff out a sniper.
This some Assassination-type shit.
“ You come at the king, you best not miss” - Omar Little
The answer is leverage. In every situation where Omar is around people who might want to do him harm, he always has enough leverage that they can't do anything to him
The dude who played Donnie the big guy with Omar when he was in county jail is one of the people Omar’s based on
What's interesting is that Omar was what Marlo wanted to become, not the way he worked but the reputation he carried.
Marlo's final scene kind of emphasises this even more, as Omar had been dead for a few episodes. Marlo is walking down the street after he's left a party that Levy had invited him too, he hears some corner boys talking about Omar, telling these exaggerated and made up stories of how he died.
Marlo walks up and says "The fuck you lookin' at?"
Corner boy: "You, nigga!"
Marlo: "You know who I am?"
Corner boy: "Nigga you know who I am?!"
This shows that Marlo doesn't have the reputation, nor the respect that he wanted as the 'king' of Baltimore where as Omar who had been dead a while at this point, was still being talked about like some mythical urban legend. I have a suspicion that if they hadn't been talking about Omar and had been talking about a movie or something, Marlo wouldn't have walked over there.
So Marlo wanted Dookie 💩?
You're right but here's the one thing that I'll add. Omar was outside and niggas in the hood knew what he looked like. I think Marlo's organization had fear, but they feared Chris and Snoop, which by extention was Marlo. I think niggas in the hood feared Chris and Snoop just as much as Omar.
Marlo didn't want to be a jacker & Omar was murdered on the last episode of the 5th season I thought
@King K. Rool if you say so I thought he died on the 10th episode
Marlo didn't want to jack drug dealers, he wanted to kill or have Omar killed because he was messing with marlo money& business
I think they showed why a couple of times in the series. Especially when they killed Buchie the blind man. He came after everyone sneaking up behind them like a mugger. Even got to Slim Charles who was very careful and levelheaded but let him live. Had leverage on Prop Joe for setting Marlo up at the card game getting robbed. While everyone was busy worrying about the cops selling on the streets, turf wars, and worried about getting scammed by crackheads like bubbles. Omar only worried about the next person to sneak up on a rob. A Batman figure and gained a reputation of being feared.
6:48 people forget that Snoop is actually a very accurate shot. She has been shown to hit people accurately from a distance.
Indeed, most notably that “fuck the West Coast” scene.
Facts Snupe and Chris were grim reapers
"Creep through your block, fuck a glock I step, through ya neighborhood armed with nothing but a rep" Jay Z
Your channel is dope af. I love the topics you cover. Thank you!
What I value so much about The Wire is that it doesn't become cynical when it's being realistic. It does show bad people getting defeated, it does show them winning, it shows mundane everyday struggles, but it also shows that our lives are often driven by legends. Like the legend of Omar.
Im that regard, I wasn't all that displeased about McNulty's season 5 game: He created a legend to fix a problem. And it worked, because realistic people are susceptible to unrealistic shit ^^
I remember season 2 he said he'd been robbing dealers for 9 years. That shit is crazy
Omar might be the best character on TV, ever. What an amazing television show.
as someone who lives and was raised in maryland the real life omar did have people shooked like that he’s actually still alive today
Omar doesn’t just “walk around”. They tried several times, and failed. A little kid finally did him in because he wasn’t expecting that.
Based on the majority of Omar's attacks he always had a crew. So most people would think if Omar is outside then there are others surroundin the area, as usual. So if I was a dealer and saw him I'd be worried if there's someone at the back, maybe someone holding a worker, etc. I can only think of 3 times he worked alone
I’m from Baltimore and I have a cousin that jumped off the Howards St., Bridge and survived
The answer lies in a phrase uttered in one of the episodes: "If you come for the king, you'd best not miss..."
As said, he was based on actual guys who robbed Baltimore drug dealers for years, but I'm assuming they kept as low a profile as possible.
Yeah I do not think they robbed drug dealers showing there actual face.
I love how you cover the best shows in movies. Nothing but the best!!
Starred in the wire, sopranos and boardwalk empire. Legend
Omar mainly targeted to the lower-level corner boys who didn't carry weapons. The corner boys had a system one person, handles the money, one person handle the drugs, and guns placed in nearby hiding spots. Omar took advantage of this and always got the drop on them.
Some people that don't know me or the cats I ran with think I'm crazy or full of it, but when I was in the streets I wasn't cut out for retail or anything like that and was more into the beef/soldier skill set so me and a tight crew of homies and family that were also active in the Nation did just this, stick up d-boys and rob rich people's houses.
Sometimes the show was accurate, others were definitely a little iffy, and on a few occasions stuff that seemed unlikely was based on real events.
Security and planning are absolutely huge. Ya gotta understand that once ya step into that career you're no longer safe, your people ain't safe, and ya can't move like ya used to. I been outta the streets for some years now but I moved regularly back then up and down the East Coast after where I started out just got too hot. And I'm still mad cautious when I visit home cause it's plenty of mfs who'd love to do me dirty regardless of who I am today.
Ya really do have to sit on locations for a while, maybe even buying product a few times to force their hand on a re-up or money movement, have a crash dummy fake an argument to see what's to security, etc. It's not usually no elaborate scheme, do your homework and kick the door or grab a store guy or runner at the best time and hope for the best, but ya wanna know what you're walking into. Usually you're aiming for a time when their heavy on cash cause it's more profitable. The more of it's in dope or rock the more ya lose passing it off to someone that does do retail.
But there's most definitely been many Omar's that came and went. They either lost their life or got locked up most of the time but a few lived to tell the tale and that's most definitely where legends come from. Comes with any lifestyle with a high rate of premature death and/or incarceration.
I think the reason they didn't move on him was complicated. I'm sure a lot just weren't holding like that or weren't confident in their skills. I'm sure it was well known that Omar could shoot and I'm sure there was mad stories where somebody did try something and got Mike Miked, or worse, and nobody wants to be that guy. But I also think that a lotta the kids respected dude, and he was kind of a Robin Hood character so some plenty probably actually had love for dude. He wasn't robbing most people so why would they make a move? They probably also didn't want somebody coming back on em.
Thing is though, most stash spots are well armed. There was plenty of times that we had incredibly close calls, I was hit in the chest a point blank range and I hadn't been vested up I'd have been dead, there was times that they shot at us as we were leaving from the windows above (that's a horrific situation), they'd come through and shoot up the block afterwards, it didn't help that we were always ripping off other Nations but they'd have shot regardless.
Stay safe man
Damn what a story bro I legit read the whole thing glad you made it out
We've got the real life Omar here
Omar always scoop the situations first with his vans. He knows who are packing and who are not. The ones packing light wouldn’t go against his shotgun
Thorough and accurate analysis. Great video.
You pretty much nailed it. Minimum wage guys aren't eager to put themselves out and risk their lives And that's the glory of legends, they get away with a lot sheerly in reputation, their victims can rely on it to follow the safe route.
I have known both sides from my misspent youth and later because my straight job shoved me right into the middle. Enough rep and you can get away with an illogical level of behavior. At my last job the locals believed I was something I wasn't; that allowed me to walk with impunity at any hour in the roughest part of my city. In fact, some would volunteer as backup for me, they wanted to be associated with me for the cred.
Life is strange.
Rigghhhtt.. 🙄
@@jimirsayssponsor5844 It's believable. When you walk into a bad area people stare at you and are real curious but if you show no fear, even though you're afraid, they're less likely to mess with you in the beginning. It's a game, really. Obviously risky and the longer you play this game the worse the odds are. They're not stupid they catch on eventually. I was buying meth between 1 and 4 in the morning from shadier areas in CA and yeah to pretend you belong there helps. I parked as close to my dealer's place as possible to avoid that shit but I still sometimes saw weird or scary individuals or groups of people.
Have you seen the matrix trilogy ? I was in the same situation with the main character a few years ago.
What did you do
@@okbro3524 I grew up in Chicago and Cicero. The most legit thing I did was steal cars as a repo agent using skills I somehow had a sudden "knack" for.
As an adult I moved to Salinas where I lived in a contested Norteno neighborhood and worked in Chinatown (the city's skid row and drug bazaar) for 12 years.
edit: No harm in these. I was an after-work regular at a Dunkin Donuts, met and talked to other regulars often. A "private investigator" struck up a conversation, he offered me $50/night (decent money in the mid-80s) for two hours work each night to just sit near a business and note what time the last people left, what they looked like, what they drove. I did six nights then he called it off, I never saw him again. After that I ran into a couple more "PIs" and some "insurance investigators," same type of work. Two different people also asked me to sit in my car and if their employee's car took off and flashed headlights to block the street behind them and stage a breakdown (easy to do in my rusty old Nova). I also grew up with guys in Cicero who became hoods and got to meet some of their business friends at parties, hangouts, and casual card games. People talk when alcohol and weed get involved if they know you grew up in town and that one of theirs invited you.
"a telling off from your supervisor". 😂
Excellent series, EXCELLENT VIDEO.
They explain it in the show. He gives out a lot of the money and gpacks that he takes. Can't get close to him without a bunch of people calling out the move
There is a difference in being a killer and killing someone
Knowledge of Omar both among the cops and underworld fluctuates wildly throughout the series.
“How do you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?’” Verbal Kint
I thought he was Jackie Jr's Goomah
You’re Exposing your knights.
Mr X
Plus, its poetic how Michael becomes the new Omar, dookie the new bubbles, and I bet kenard comes out of juvie and becomes the new marlo. Imagine his rep for killing such an epic character.
To be accurate if Omar is walking around it's because he's researched and knows that area. Omar was a master at prep and strategy. If he's walking around he already knows he can walk around otherwise he wouldn't be walking around.
Love your analysis
"Power doesn't come from being able to destroy your enemy. It comes from being able to destroy their will to fight" OMAR COMIN! OMAR COMIN!
When your presence and reputation instills that kind of fear and respect? Very few if any will try you under any circumstances
I disagree on the anticlimactic part, Omars death went to show that eventually everyone gets got, the fact it was a small child meant that Omar was unguarded in that moment, because how could it ever be a small child, it also went to show that they bring younger and younger people into the game. I thought it worked well as a lesson to the audience.
Omar stayed strapped. He finally let his guard down, likely due to fatigue and injury, when Kenard got him. Before that, he stayed dangerous. He only moved around in “friendly” places and constantly had his guard up. He actually came out of several shootouts alive also. He was definitely not an easy win
I just always figured that he's known as being so calculating that if someone sees him just strolling, they figure there is no way it's just that simple. They figure Omar has eyes on him or some trick up his sleeve.
Its just crazy it was a little kid that took him out
For most of the show, you could see where Omar's careful and tactical approach allowed him to get away with what seemed like crazy shit. In that scene with the dude talking about having a Mack 10, most of the crew was out watching the basketball game, and I'm sure Omar was aware of that beforehand. Most of the time he goes after small fry that won't be a threat - the Barksdales didn't even know who he was at the start of the show. Not to mention his plans don't always work out, like when he got shot going after Avon, or when he went too far hitting up a heavily armed Barksdale stash and Tosha got killed.
Where the "plot armour" starts to show up is in the fifth season, when Omar is limping around on one leg and still wrecking Marlo's organisation singlehandedly. He was basically warping around the city like Link without anyone seeing him until the last minute.
Fair enough, except it was that limping around that got him killed when Kenard saw him and thought he was weak.
@@randomyoutuber8227 True, but that kind of underlines the implausibility of what was happening before.
I think the foolishness with Omar started by season three. He was already the most popular character on the show and the writers took liberty it's that.
@@JayJackson1981 Can't agree there. Season 3 was when Omar got too wrapped up in his Barksdale vendetta and got Tosha killed. After that, he didn't really do much of anything until he and Brother Mouzone teamed up to take out Stringer, and that was entirely driven by Mouzone. Even when the Barksdales shot his grandma's church hat, he really didn't have a plan to get back at them until Mouzone tracked him down.
great stuff as usual.
Very good analysis.
Yeah I have to agree. Omar picks his battles and studies his victims. He is always on guard, like when he notices Walker and stashes his gun, he notices but dismisses Kenard when he enters the shop. The scene where he goes to buy the cheerios starts with him jolting awake and immediately going for his gun at the sound of a noise.
When he gets into shootouts it doesn't go so great for him. He ambushes Stinkum and gets in a shootout with Weebay. Omar gives his "Come the king" speech, and leaves. The next shootout when he tries to ambush Avon, Omar gets shot. When Omar and his crew spring the trap where Tosha dies, there are a lot of bullets flying, but only one instance of friendly fire, and one of Stringers crew goes down. When Omar gets ambushed in Monks condo, he has to do some spiderman shit to make it out.
How can you shoot the devil in the back? What if you miss?
Other than Slim & Michael Omar was my favorite character. ☑️
your analysis is always so compelling. after i hear you, i nearly always just accept your view. i should give you better but i just don't have it
They did, that's how he died
Omar among other things he had on the show was a pretty good head on his shoulders. He calculated what he did and wasn't prone to making many mistakes. If you crossed him, you were done. He also took off many dudes, robbed some critical crews and killed a few while he was at it. He was a straight G and would smoke someone in a heartbeat but he wasn't rash, very patient and he had a certain code he lived by. In so many ways it made sense that some little peanut was the one to get him because everyone else was afraid to come near him. When Omar hit the streets people actually ran from the man. Remember in the Godather, Luca Brazi was a man who basically dared people to kill him, and he struck fear in the mafia.. in many ways that breeds more fear in people than them willing to kill him. He was one of those rare natural forces ...yeah he was going to get killed at some point but...were you willing to do it...??..lol. Gotta give it you CR, your content and thoughts on my favorite shows, movies and books are mad critical bro!
A yo Lessen here CineRanter…You come at The King..You best NOT MISS!
Blew my mind. When he robbed the stash house in the projects during season 1, i don’t understand how they just didn’t let off a barrage at him.
Was always a nagging question in the back of my mind how Omar could just supposedly walk around freely and up to the dealers and rob them. Three things mentioned here explain it perfectly. One is that the corner boys aren't armed, this could wind up in constant shoot ups as the one time when Bodie's crew strapped up and had a fire fight that wound up shutting down all the drug operations in the city. Two is seeing it from the hoppers perspective, that and along with the exaggerated reputation that Omar had, anyone would be scared shitless to take this one man army down and who knows if he's alone. And the third reason being, that yes, life is stranger than fiction, the most bold operators are the most successful, many fall along the way, but the few that survive would be the Omars, Barksdales and Stanfields who all have larger than life stories.
Simple: and I can do this without watching the video: why would you have the heart to kill a man that goes head up with the drug dealers? He’s the top of the food chain. Love him or hate him, you respect him and secretly hope that he could be the robinhood of the hood.
Ya answer is off if you watch the show the answer is right in ya face.. streets is about reputation! Omar had a name in the streets therefore people are least likey to try you when you have a rep! “My name is my name”!
No-one else could have killed a legend like Omar. Was there anybody that could have stood up to him? No, there wasn't. His death had to be by someone completely unexpected, out of the blue, I think.
The fear of a legend will stop many people from trying to snatch the crown.
I will not coment on all of your the wire videos, or from other series, but you are one of the few that deserve a spot on this platform!
Is this show worth buying HBO+?
Yup. And then graduate to the sopranos to really get settled into the fall time. Sopranos is best to watch mid fall I feel.
worth? SHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT
Does a bear shit in the woods?
HBO has some good content that you can't get anywhere else. The Wire, Band of Brothers, Sopranos, Game of Thrones to name a few. Also, if you're into DC comics, they pretty much have everything - animated movies included. Overall, it's worth buying.
Yes
Honestly I felt it WAS just plot armor. This guy was walking around, broad daylight, robbing dealers repeatedly. Now sometimes, yes, he was stealthy and/or waited for a good opportunity, but there were several scenes, like the one shown in the video, where he literally has his back turned to the dealers he's robbing in the middle of a robbery. That's absurd. The cops knew what was going on too. I don't think you're going to have a hard time claiming self defense against a guy who was known to rob drug dealers...assuming it even made it to trial.
He also spread a lot of money round his hood
He's based on a real life robber/killer. The character was actually played down a little bit, to aid believability.
U will have a hard time claiming self defense if u are a known drug dealer/k!ller with prior convictions which many already have even the teens. So them getting away with it isnt that plausible though thats not what they were worried about. As for him being out in the open during day time. People who say this do yall even sh00t guns? Do u realize how hard it is to hit a person anywhere on there body from a distance? Plus omar had a vest on and there not marksmen. If they sh0t ag him missed or he was just able to sh00t back it would be over for em. Most (if not all) of the corner dudes were outclassed by omar when it came to sh00ting. So why would they even try unless its a sure thing?
@@Morgue12free a group. but yes they blendet the action of 4 guys in one... so they had to tone it down a littel. wich does not make the singel events not besed on reality but, lets say the actions in the video are 50/50s so 4 can do more of them and dont die
Absurd? Lol people do this shit in real life almost exactly like he did he, yall mf just be running your mouth
A man's reputation go a long way.
I was under the impression that Omar had plenty of bodies on his resume. Enough that it's understood he's not to be trifled with unless it was a sure thing.
This was an easy one…. Because if they missed…Omar would Know who to go after
Snipe him tho?
@@DaveSCameron true ... But I always find it wild The second he put his guard down to buy a pack of cigarettes a kid shoots him in the back of the head
Best part about this character. He never used a curse word.
didnt he say he was an n word with a plan?
Very well done.
There are people cops, stick up artists, hustlers, they might not be able to read a book but it’s like the indigenous trackers in old western movies where they can taste a speck of dirt and instantly knows where his target is. Some people are so in tune with their environment, so in sync with it, they don’t need a weather man to know which way the wind blows. Omar is also the type to be self taught in the psychology of people in that world. An ability to read and access who he is dealing with in their eyes. His nonchalant demeanor and audacity builds the legend and he is known and feared before he even gets to the stash
spoiler alert: they did
Why just kill the best character in your show
Because it's Baltimore, gentlemen. The gods will not save you.
Before there was Ghost, Power, BMF etc series The Wire kinda laid the foundation...📌
With The Corner.
RIP Michael Kenneth Williams AKA Omar from The Wire.
The real Omar wasn’t even gay
@@shivahuggins1276 the old church guy is one of the real Omar's
@@shivahuggins1276 oh then it was the huge dude that helped omar in prison, either way there was one guy who was a real omar
@@shivahuggins1276 I know, I just knew one of the Omar's was in the show
@@shivahuggins1276 haha the size of that dude in a shootout in a tight room it's a wonder they only got him in the head
Omar is the Ragnar Ludbrook of Baltimore. I think he was created as such a character, and the fact he could walk around like this is more speaking to the Mythos of the amalgam.
Omar (like Ragnar) is not one person, but is a collection of stories about larger than life characters. With Ragnar it is simply due to the time past. So many deeds were attributed to this character over the years, that were likely other people. It is believed that Ragnar never even existed in the first place and is a way of remembering these deeds through time. remembering one name is easier than remembering 10 or 20, neverminded the countless that go to make up the Ragnar Lubrook Mythos.
I think Omar is the Creators own Ragnar, and because of this he is able to walk around without being touched. Ofc he also wrote in the unceremonious Death of the character to show what life is really like on the streets, and no matter how big your story is, you will die by the same sword you life by.
PS: Ludbrook is the proper name of the character. Lothbrook is a mistake, and was based on the phonetic sounding of how the name is pronounced.
It's fear and respect that his actions instilled on the streets which is mainly his reputation which is why no one dared to go against it.
Great description. the only thing that I would like to add is that there were ambushes and assassination attempts set up for Omar. And they failed, eventhough Omar's crew took sustained casualties. Omar was alone at the end when he was killed. The only reason Omar was killed was that he returned to Baltimore from his retirement in Puerto Rico to avenge the killing of his close friend.
Omar is a gargantuan character in all of TV history, but the heart of The Wire is Bubbles
I would say Omar or McNulty
@@souschef4489 it definitely wasn’t McNulty
@@it.was.written he was the major focus of the show.
@@souschef4489 I wouldn’t say he was the major focus, there was no main character in the show. And although I love Jimmy and yes he was probably the closest to a main character there could be on this show, he wasn’t the heart of the show. It’s very rare that the “heart” of any show is its main character.
Baltimore was!? the heart of the show