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Buzzing Over The WireJeffrey Goldberg and David Plotz take readers' questions about HBO's hit urban drama.


Posted Thursday, March 6, 2008, at 4:59 PM ET

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Jeffrey Goldberg: That was one of the most brilliant, minute-long sequences in the whole show. An entire world was contained in that one quick scene.

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Boston: Namond Hater: Please explain why I am so annoyed that Namond is the one kid who got out. Thanks for the lively Wire discussions.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Maybe because he's kind of whiny. Which is what a lot of real kids are.
But my advice to you is to stop being a hata.

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Alexandria, Va.: Am I wrong for thinking Cheese is the most annoying Wire character of all time? McNulty is a close second...

David Plotz: I totally agree. Method Man, who plays Cheese, is a terrible ham, a way too cartoony version of what he should be. It also doesn't make sense that Marlo—who's a smart guy—would trust so much territory to such an untrustworthy, stupid wretch as Cheese.

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Essex: Aside from the newsroom hooey, the most unrealistic scenario this season was Jimmy and Kima's trip to Quantico. The lead detective on a red-ball serial killing is going to make a 5.5-hour round trip to have an agent read a profile to him? I don't think so. That said, the profile and Jimmy Mac's reaction were the comic highlight of the season.

Jeffrey Goldberg: I actually think this was quite realistic. I would recommend you go read Malcolm Gladwell's recent New Yorker expose on the Quantico profilers. It was quite hysterical. I agree with you that that look of recognition on Jimmy's face was priceless, and also proved that Dominic West can, on occasion, act.

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Reston, Va.: Who among The Wire's large cast do you think will best use their Wire notoriety as a launchpad for continued prominent TV and/or film roles? I'd love to see more of Wendell Pierce (Bunk), Anwan Glover (Slim Charles), Chad Coleman (Dennis "Cutty" Wise) and Robert F. Chew (Prop Joe)—not to mention all of the kids from Season 4...

David Plotz: Great question. Lots of them have landed TV gigs—Law Order, and Numb3rs have had a bunch of Wire people. Idris "Stringer Bell" Elba has done a lot. I'm sure Dominic West will get work, because he's a good enough actor, but also great looking. I bet Cedric Daniels, whose name I can't remember, will get work, as will Marlo and Chris Partlow. They're all stupendous actors and good looking. I talked to a Wire producer about the success of some of their nontraditional actors—Snoop or Anwan—and he was very angry that casting agents were only narrowly looking at them for thug-like roles. He thought, rightly, that they should be getting more love.

Jeffrey Goldberg: Well, David, what show do you think is appropriate for Snoop? Dancing With the Stars?
Your general point is well-taken, and I admire your bracing honesty in re: Dominic West's handsomeness. This has been a hobby-horse of mine—not Dominic West's handsomeness—as David well knows, that one of the miraculous aspects of The Wire is its cast of mostly-unknown, mostly-African-American actors. I suggested early in this season that a clever Shakespeare company would hire The Wire cast en masse.

David Plotz: And who would Snoop play in your Shakespearean fantasy? I'd put her down for Lady Macbeth.

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Arlington, Va.: I am a faithful reader of the TV Club—I have been for years, and love the analysis of the show and even how you guys go off on tangents. I have to say—I really was bummed out when the rumored shooting of Omar was true. For some reason I loved that character. And the way he went down (as put in the TV Club because of smoking) still shocked me, even though I had read the rumor. RIP Omar. I'm on my way to Puerto Rico to comfort your Papi Chulo!

Jeffrey Goldberg: Tangents? Who goes on tangents?
Omar's killing was deeply emblematic. I mean, Kennard is Marlo's Marlo, in a way. Omar had a code. Marlo has not much of a code. Kennard is an 11-year-old, and already completely dead inside. In retrospect, it is clear to me that having Omar killed by a child made perfect sense. The Wire is about the collapse of honor, even perverse honor.

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Arlington, Va.: I grew up in Baltimore and I can confirm that every detail is accurate, including Crab Chip and Captain Chesapeake references. But the reason I love the show is that it makes you feel bad for how our cities need help, but you are still glad you watched. Has any other show convicted the viewer as much, yet hooked them as well?

David Plotz: "convicted the viewer"—that's a great phrase! I think there are movies that have done that (The Deer Hunter, perhaps). But I can't think of any other TV show that so effectively combines guilt and addiction.

Jeffrey Goldberg: That is a great phrase. Nothing comes to mind on television. But then again, I try to avoid television. Speaking of which, are there any shows worth watching out there, now that The Wire is gone?

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Washington: Some friends and I have been The Wire fans for years. We were talking the other day about how compelling it is as a portrait of a city. We were thinking how interesting it would be to see a similar treatment of "complicated" cities in other countries like maybe Marseilles, Rio, Shanghai or Lagos. What great in-depth stories you could do ... I wish it could happen. There is only one other similar show—"Da Vinci's Inquest," about Vancouver.

Jeffrey Goldberg: It's been said—I don't know if this is confirmed—that David Simon is turning his attention to New Orleans. Which would be quite something.
The guy is obviously not interested in commercial success, and more power to him.

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Worcester, Mass.: Wonder why that was the only possible fate for Dukie

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Jeffrey Goldberg is a national correspondent for the Atlantic and the author of Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror. David Plotz is Slate's deputy editor and author of The Genius Factory: The Curious History of the Nobel Prize Sperm Bank.
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