"The Wire's greatest story was the rise and fall of Stringer Bell, and nothing's matched it since," writes Ross. And I agree with him. The final episodes of Season three remain the most remarkable hours of television I've ever seen -- nothing's even close. Season's four and five are both worthy -- four more so than five, I'd say -- but they feel like spin-offs, and the sheer weight of the show's sprawling cast of characters kept us from getting the close studies that made the denouement Season three so searing. But the last episode of Season five had a callback that I missed until I watched it again last night. When Clay Davis is confessing to Freamon, he talks about how hard it is to "go deep" on the dealers, because the lawyers keep them all for themselves. But this one time, he says, I got this kid called "Bell..." Reminded me of this great scene:
And, so long as I'm posting Wire YouTubes, Stringer's forays into macroeconomics remain some of my favorite moments on television, ever:
