This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
Grimace: Removed the "Magnificent Bastard" entry about Rawls and changed it to "Da Chief" because, well, Rawls isn't quite at that level.
Removed the Detective Drama link because it doesn't really fit the description given in that write-up.
Crazyrabbits: Removed the description of the show having only had two minor scenes in courtrooms during the five seasons. There have been several scenes involving courtrooms and sentencing. In addition to the two scenes mentioned in the deleted entry, the following incidents have happened: D'Angelo's sentencing from the pilot episode, Omar's testimony against Bird Hilton, the first-season and third-season ending montages both featured sequences showing Avon Barksdale and members of his crew being tried for their crimes, Clay Davis' trial in the final season, etc.
Fast Eddie: Cool. There is a bigger The Wire geek than me on the Internet. Just ... cool.
Janitor: Fardles. Someone turned the clear breakdown of the seasons into a huge wall of text. I'll try to fix it. //Later: Really depressing, how this good article went astray. I'll come back to it later.
Crazyrabbits: Good plan. I had edited the changed article, but didn't know whether the original summary was better or not.
Mens Rea: Up to what point should we be spoiler-tagging plot twists?
Amitai: All of them.
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Crazyrabbits: Regarding the comment to my "Moral Event Horizon" entry about Wee-Bay. Someone wrote this:
"Was this really a moral event horizon? Doubtless it was a horrible act, but isn't a Moral Event Horizon supposed to mean something that puts the character committing the act unambiguously beyond redemption? This is clearly not the case for Wee-Bey, since he arguably redeems himself by allowing his son to escape the streets by living with Colvin."
Normally I would have dropped it, but the writers flip-flopped on the way they wrote the character throughout the show. Wee-Bay is arrested at the end of the first season, and (in what could be considered a darkly comedic scene) confesses to more murders in exchange for a pork sandwich and some fries, showing that (in addition to not selling out his crew) he doesn't really value the death of anyone as something to be concerned about. Then you've got multiple scenes where the audience is supposed to either laugh at or pity Wee-Bay because he owns a variety of tropical fish (hell, the audience is supposed to empathize with him when a prison guard breaks his aquarium).
The issue of him "letting go" of Namond does nothing to address the fact that he never owns up or takes responsibility for the heinous act he committed, and he will take part in prison dealings and various other plots for the rest of his life (see his involvement in Avon's plan that killed thirteen inmates with spiked drugs in the second season).
Essentially, the poster is implying that the life of one person (in this case, the prostitute Wee-Bay unknowingly killed, then wrapped up and threw in a dumpster) is "worth less" than his son, simply because one has a possible chance of leaving the streets. I don't see it that way, and I don't believe that Wee-Bay redeems himself for a murder just by letting his son go live with another family.
Johnny E: Well, it is hard to see how covering up an accidental drug overdose is more evil an act than deliberately murdering people. I disagree that Wee-Bey ever does anything redemptive, but I also don't think this particular act really counts as a Moral Event Horizon in the context of the show.
Duckay: As a rule, it's hard to apply the words Moral Event Horizon to anyone on The Wire; there are few (if any) characters who are just truly evil with no redeeming qualities. Often, a character will do something horrible, and people will respond by assuming they will never have sympathy for that character again, and then something will happen and it won't seem so bad, or they'll Pet the Dog in a way that wins people over, or something. Essentially, characters are flawed - often deeply - but still human, with good points to go with the bad. The only character I would say crossed the Moral Event Horizon is Stringer Bell, but I think that's really subjective; most people would disagree.
