Stringer was actually always my favorite character while he was around. I never hated him.

i finished the wire last month and i hate that i'll never be able to watch it for the first time again

I always thought about Stringer as a deeply tragic character. The smart guy who was born and stuck in the vicious circle of poverty and violence and didn't see the way out except for drug dealing and killing. He didn't belong to street life and didn't belong to so-called civilized life because he just doesn't know how to live and navigate there.

I think it's because of Denny 'Cutty' Wise that you can see Avon is the better man to Stringer. When Cutty wanted out, Avon respected his loyalty enough to let him go; even happily investing some money to help him set up a boxing studio. Do you think Stringer would've let Cutty so easily walk away?

I probably only caught half of what the lovely lady was saying because I got caught up in the nostalgia of The Wire.. Probably time for a re-watch of all 5 seasons

The greatest tv show ever made. An epic saga of monumental proportions.

The Wire has some of the finest casting work that I've ever seen in a TV show, or a movie for that matter. And it's just such a good show!

Stringer's downfall was thinking he was smarter than anyone who came from the street and not knowing when to fall back. His constant obsession with getting Omar and then lying to Brother Mouzon. He was trying to outsmart Brother and Omar over street stuff, but they easily outsmarted him because street stuff wasn't his forte, despite his business acumen. What made Marlo dangerous is he was a combination of Stringer's business smarts and ruthlessness, and Avon's street smarts. None of Avon's codes though.

Do Slim Charles .. the pawn that made it to the other side

This video is like a 40 degree day.

Stringer wasn’t soft and he had some intelligence. He was just slimy and not as smart as he thought he was. Avon knew the game well, his instincts were sharp. Also, as implied, Avon’s off screen network and relationships are vast in New York & Baltimore. Stringer wanted to invest his money legitimately but still make dirty money wholesaling and not getting involved with retail. The direction he was trying to take would have sunk the organization. He wanted to move like he was the connect but he wasn’t. Prop Joe had the connect and the Greeks were the plug. Stringer couldn’t see their foothold was their structure & network, territory, muscle and respect in the streets at that point after they lost their connect in season 1. He thought he could talk Marlo into working with him and the co-op. What he wanted would have made him lose power and put more of it into Prop Joe’s hands. Prop helped create the wedge between Avon & Stringer if you watch closely that was his endgame.

While I agree Stringer Bell was a cold-blood, calculating individual, I can't say I quite hate him. As a viewer, I wanted him dead, sure, but I also sympathized with him. He was an ambitious man who wanted to escape the world he grew up in, by whatever means necessary. There's a part of me that admires that. Marlo Stanfield, on the other hand, is an incredible lesson in irony because he's not only more cold-blooded than Stringer - it really doesn't get any more ruthless and fucking petty than having a working man murdered just for talking back because you stole a goddamn 50-cent lollipop - but he gets the deal of a lifetime where he gets to walk free AND gets to associate with legitimate businessmen through his lawyer. Essentially, Marlo gets the kind of deal Stringer would've LEAPED AT. And Marlo, motherfucker that he is, STILL can't accept this and goes back onto the street to fight a couple random punks just because they don't respect him or even know his name. While Stringer can be an evil son of a bitch, he at least tries to be pragmatic about it and (arguably) has ambitious end goals. Every evil act by Marlo is committed solely for the sake of his name being respected and feared. It's telling that the ONE time on the show Marlo gets genuinely emotional and angry is when he hears Omar openly disrespected him in the street and he didn't know about it. Omar is dead and in the ground, and Marlo STILL can't let that blatant disrespect go. Marlo's the kind of guy who in ancient times could win a war, with his enemies' lands sewn with salt, and still be obsessed with some cook who spat in his food. Marlo is ruthless and efficient like Stringer, but his evil is (in my opinion) worse because of how unbelievably spiteful and petty it is.

I didn’t even know Idris was British until after the wire was finished. He played the heck out of that role . All of them played the heck out of their roles . Greatest series of all time IMO.

I actually kind of like the cold blooded psychopath. They’re one of my favourite types of characters. Also, Idris did an amazing job.

Never been more emotional watching a character die onscreen than when Stringer was killed. Yeah he took some actions that were messed up and stupid, but as a teen I respected the aspect of his character that was trying to evolve and self actualize despite his background.

I admired Stringer, one of the few clear heads in the series. One of the few characters on modern TV that had a vision to take a system that doesn't work and turn it into something that has far less victims and far more organization.

String was an absolute genius. Every line was a quotable.

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Stringers character to me is the perfect definition of Hypocrisy and Irony. I don’t think Stringer ever held the capacity in either facet to truly succeed. He was a gangster, but a very flawed one, he didn’t see something as ‘little’ as the Sunday truce important, but wanted to take out a politician. Keep in mind this is the same guy that preferred to avoid warfare with Marlo... He wanted to jump into the legit business world, but couldn’t recognize when he was being absolutely finessed out of his money. Keep in mind he actively and knowingly sold bad dope... I could give other examples, but I think he took the wrong approach in both phases of his work.

PLEASE PLEASE Do one on Marlo Stanfield and Chris and Snoop, because I think Chris Partlow is one of the creepiest and evil, machine-like villains ever

I was wondering why this got taken down. Definitely do more Wire vids. Great channel.

After a rewatch of The Wire, I would love to see you guys do a breakdown of Avon Barksdale. He was the "best" of the kingpins. Bad as he was, he actually gave back to the community (giving to Cutty's gym and throwing communal dinners) in ways that Marlo or even Stringer would not. Barksdale was also better at hiring street muscle and had better connections.

I have to admit some poignancy in the idea that had he been born somewhere else or taken a slightly different track he would have ended up a highly successful, if somewhat sociopathic, CEO of a major company on the scale of a Steve Jobs. That always made me a bit sympathetic to his character.

I cried when Bodie died. Def. one of my favorite characters!

I respect Stringer's Pragmatism he's practical he's truly a businessman you can work with. I'd rather work with a businessman than a Avon.

Still Idris Elba's best role and performance to date.

“Stringer Bell is the Queen” This is very true considering what a powerful piece the Queen is but also that line made me do a very deep voiced giggle.

glad to see a youtube channel of this variety finally start analyzing the wire. all the other ones analyze trendy bullshit and ignore the greatest and most important show ever aired.

String was so evil yet such a good character I was somewhat sad when he died. He obviously deserved it, and it was awesome seeing brother and Omar get vengeance, but I was sad he wouldn’t be in the show anymore

The game is rigged, but you cannot lose if you do not play.

"When drugs are good we make money. When drugs are bad we make twice as much."

Please do more videos like on the wire. C;early one of the best shows in TV history but not many people know about it :(

Awesome vid, hope you can do more wire vids, would love to see ones on Avon, Slim Charles, Prop Joe, Marlo, etc. :) (I keep editing this to add characters to the list, but lol there's too many good ones, I guess just do vids on em all! :) )

I actually kinda felt bad for Stringer. He did many horrible things, and needed to be held accountable, but I feel like in a different situation he would've had no problems being a "civilian." Great video of a great character, though. Kudos!

Holy shiet, more! That was some god damn good quality character analysis and a damn good use of montage!

i'm askin, who young leek be?

As a writer, I always find these breakdowns incredibly enlightening.

Great analysis on one of my favourite characters from one of my favourite shows of all-time. I didn't come to hate String as you suggest in the video, and I was sad when he went out. String and Avon were likeable bad guys (same with some of the others, D'Angelo, Cutty, Slim Charles, Prop Joe etc.) which was not the case with their successors, Marlo, Snoop, Chris Partlow etc. who had absolutely no redeeming qualities.

It's been 5 months, we need another one of these please!

"Da world going one way, day people going the other yo" how deep is that line ?

YES!! So glad you guys are doing more videos about The Wire, you guys freaking rock

Stringers mistake was he was logical and always looked at the risks but he neglected to acknowledge that while he is logical, the people he was dealing with weren't and he shouldn't have assumed that he could predict their actions. Because while logic has it's benefits, being spontaneous or unpredictable isn't one. Regardless, he was one of the best part of the show, in fact I felt that the wire went down hill with Marlo as he was a marry sue of sorts.

Wonderful job editing and Narrating. You guys pointed out things about the character I didn’t notice.

I confess I emphasized with Stringer when it seemed he was remaking the business in the third season, as you point out shades of Michael Corleone. Plus he always seemed a misfit, who if born on the other side of the tracks, would have been extremely successful, so there always seemed something tragic about him.

HOLY SHITE... Great breakdown for String. One of the most complex and interesting characters I've ever seen in a show.

I know this is very late but I like these Wire analyses. You all should bring them back. Marlo would be a good character to break down as well.

I’m curious on your take on Marlo. There is one scene in season 5 I believe where with all his cold blooded-ness and savvy, Marlo becomes aware he’s still no where near the King

3d season theme was 'reform' and we learn that the drug trade won't take reform, all in the game. i love the wire, and it's still relevant in 2018, check out the Deuce it's of similar kaliber imo.

When I watched the show, I kept thinking that a guy like Stringer out of the hood would like be a hedge-fund manager or own a construction company or something. Business was in his blood. He was hedged in.

that was great. The show is still so powerfull that I got choked up just by that short clip of D'Angelo screaming about Wallace

Man. I'm rewatching this masterpiece and it only gets better, deeper and more tragic. Best serialized work of art in recent years

Just finished the series and all the character reviews y’all have done for the series. Loved it all keep up the great work

Oh man. This video alone has me ready to watch the Wire again (for like the 7th time)!! God I love that show and can't wait to watch the other videos about it.

OMAR NEXT

I watched this in my late teens 2 decades ago, I love EVERY character in the show, on both sides of the law!

I feel like I'm now feeling what the people that has watched the wire since it aired for the first time felt. Nostalgia or something like that. This show is the best show ever made period.

I love how this video goes to such lengths to suggest that Stringer's brutal, coldblooded Capitalist mindset is only an issue in the violent business of drug dealing, as though the same Capitalist 'it's just business' mindset doesn't lead to incidental deaths and suffering in a kalaidescope of contexts across the world. Acceptable losses. What Stringer gets is what Bezos is owed.

I used to like Stringer alot, he was one of my favourite characters of the show! But after re-watching the whole show i started to hate him. Especially from season 2 and onwards. Every decision he made was bad for the Barksdale organization. - Killing Wallace - Killing D'Angelo - Banging his wife - Giving some of the towers to prop Joe - Trying to talk to Marlo instead of killing him - Getting into business with Clay Davis and Any Kraychzick - Sending Omar to kill Brother Mouzone So many decisions where wrong by him. He was the reason of the downfall of the Barksdale organization

You made the decision to explain all the subtexts in the writing extremely literally and put it on youtube. Grats.

I have watch all 5 seasons 10 times!! Just can't get enough of this powerful and best TV series of all time.

luv the wire eps!

“What I tell you about playing those away games?”

I’m just finding your channel and I’m digging your videos. Thank you.

Perfect timing for this post. Glad I subscribed.

I cried when they killed Wallace. That broke my heart.

Wire is my favorite show of all time and hope there is many more videos to come.

One of my favorite character of all time

Fantastic breakdown of Stringer. Can't wait for more :)

I wasn't made to play the son.

I'm surprised that you guys did anything on The Wire considering it was one of the most underrated shows from the HBO catalog. Plus you make it look really good, I thought they didnt record the show in HD. Great video. I can't wait for that Omar video though!

The sopranos gave us the suburbs, and the wire gives us the urban game. Two of the most epic series ever made.

Marlo mastered what Stringer wanted. Marlo listens and is a sponge of everyone he comes in contact with he just keeps a poker face

please do more wire analogy videos. these are great and a great insight to characters and the show itself

Stringer and Bunny Colvin tried to change the game but you don't change the game the game changes you.

Nice! It made me want to watch the series again

Stringer’s character parallels Gus Fring from Breaking Bad.

Love it! This series is great.

Man, I totally forgot that there are so many popular & familiar faces from The Wire.

This channel is amazing,the videos are so on point and interesting,hope to see a video on Michael Lee,always thought that his story was interesting!

Stringer is one of the most loved and admired characters in the show

Stringer was a real textbook psychopath, while the rest were mainly a product of their environment, that goes for criminals, police, and politicians in the show. It's like if they deliberately checked all the boxes in his personality traits. If he had been born in a different place, he probably would have been a General, a Lawyer, or a CEO. Sadly Avon was correct, he had too much street in him to make it in the big leagues, and too little to see the reality of the game.

Great video! I like The Wire because it put a human face on the "War on Drugs" and showed how for little good and manly bad the effects it had on both sides of it. For how much I didn't like Stringer Bell, I HATED Marlow Standfield. String had people killed because of the coldness he applied to the game. Marlow killed because he was a Psychopath who, I truly think, just because he could. Marlow enjoyed the fact he could. Do ones on: Omar, Bodee, Chris and Michael.

THIS VIDEO NEEDS MORE VIEWS. PERFECT BREAKDOWN OF Stringers part In THE GAME

I Love the wire. I love it so much I even love listening to people talk about it. Great video, I also see the mcnulty video, hopefully you make more. Maybe a Marlo, Avon, or even herc and carver, whatever you do, just keep em coming :)

You definitely need to a video on Marlow. That character is terrifying.

Great analysis. Please do some more ;)

Excellent analysis of a fascinating character (and an unparalleled series). Thank you. I’ve subscribed.

Man these are great... please keep doing more characters from The Wire... would love to see Avon, and some of the characters that you could never really put a finger on like Michael or Chris

PLS do more Wire vids. Great channel. Great vid

Hey, Yo OMAR COMING

Stinger Bell was just the passage way to Marlo, Chris and Snoop. Best line in all of television... it doesn't matter what we call heroin if the shit is strong we gonna sell it... if the shit is weak we are going to sell twice as much...

Without a doubt Stringer Bell with my favorite character on the show always enjoyed how professional calm cool and collected he was. If Avon had followed his lead the Empire would have grown enormous

6:06 Actually that was Avon's call not Stringer.

Do a video on Colvin

learned a lot about different types of people in this video! extremely informative

Correction, Avon said he wanted Brandon displayed like that. It's the scene when they were playing basketball and they were talking about Omar. He says, "you know how people go hunting and they have a deer displayed on the hood of the car."(Might not be exact quote) So in return, Brandon was displayed on the hood of the car.

"It's a cold word bodie. World is goin one way, people anotha yo!"

Avon was only half right. Stringer may not have been directly killing anyone, but he didn't have any problem whatsoever with violence. Apart from everything else, he was there when they tortured and murdered Brandon and he didn't seem to be losing any sleep over it. In a lot of ways he was even colder than Avon. Ironically enough, Stringer's cold, precise logic went out the window when he found out that he wasn't "smart enough" (or at least self-aware enough) for the legit world. The fact that he was still planning to go through with the hit on Clay Davis after Avon explained what a dumb idea it was still blows my mind. Hard to criticise Avon for going to war with a rival crew when you're plotting to hit a state senator because he hurt your feelings...

I'll always remember the scene String and Avon walking slow mo in the Pitt

we need more channels like ScreenPrism! Thank you for your great content