TV Club

Week 8: If The Wire Doesn’t Give Bunk a Victory, I’m Canceling HBO

Dear David,

I think what we’re learning here is that you are a cynic, whereas I am the candidate of both hope and change. And if you choose me as your nominee, I will pick Gus Haynes as my running mate.

To be fair, I’ve had editors, especially early in my career, who mesmerized me the way Gus mesmerizes David Simon. But then I realized that most of them were narcissistic shitbags. But maybe that’s just my experience.

You haven’t convinced me on Carcetti—I believe the man still wants to do good, which is why he’s so interesting as a character, in a way that his predecessor in office wasn’t. But you’ve half-convinced me on Marlo. I see your point—Marlo needs to be left standing in order to make a very important point about the futility of the drug war, among other things. And if The Wire doesn’t give Bunk a victory, then I’m canceling HBO. Unless The Wire has become just irretrievably dark, I can’t imagine a situation in which Chris escapes Bunk’s DNA evidence, and since there’s no escape, there’s little chance Chris will overthrow Marlo before Bunk closes in. Of course, Chris could knock off Marlo and then Bunk could knock off Chris, but then it’s a happy ending, and I don’t imagine we’ll be having one of those. Of course, if McNulty is allowed to die in a pool of his own vomit, or if Lester accidentally overdoses on dollhouse glue, or Bubbles becomes a heartless schmuck, then I suppose the show could safely kill off Marlo without anyone accusing David Simon of staging a cheap morality play.

Did you notice, by the way, that I said you might be right about something?

Jeff