History Awesome / TheWire

-->'''Vinson:''' "You're just a kid"\\

'''Marlo:''' "Some Franchise/{{Spiderman}} shit there."

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaysD0qByUo The arrest of Avon Barksdale]], brains beat brawn, ''The Wire'' in a nutshell.

** It goes even further than that. Avon clearly demonstrates that he holds a lot of power in the prison, in no certain terms insults Marlo by explaining his his coup and telling him it’s impossible without his help as Sergei seems to be working with or under Avon. He then tells Marlo that in order for an actual meet to be set up, Marlo has to pay Avon 100 grand funneled through his sister. In short, Avon insulted and blackmailed Marlo in a single scene and is practically untouchable due to his position and power in prison, meaning Marlo can’t even attempt a retaliation.

* More of a [[Heartwarming/TheWire Moment of Heartwarming]], but damn if this troper didn't pump their fist when Wee-Bey allows Colvin to adopt his son Namond as a way of sparing his son of his own fate in prison (or worse).

[[folder:Meta]]
* After major fan of the show UsefulNotes/BarackObama was elected president, he jokingly asked if there was any way for it to come back. Creator/DavidSimon's response? "Do something about all the problems the show talked about, and you've got a deal."
** Also, regarding Obama being a fan of the show, as President a few years later he went down to the shooting of a film called ''Film/RedTails'', about an all black squad of fighter pilots in WWII. While on the set he spotted Andre Royo, who played the relatively minor role of a mechanic for the squad. Upon seeing Royo, Obama's face lit up and he immediately asked "Is that my man Bubs?" Also turned into something of a heartwarming moment, as Royo related that he never got to take his mother down the red carpet, but because of Obama's fandom, Royo did get to take her to the White House.
* The fact that Creator/MichaelKWilliams got the part of Omar after ''one audition''.
[[/folder]]

* [[TemptingFate Right after Donut's finished bragging that the police will never catch him for stealing that car earlier]], Carver casually strolls into the kids' hangout spot, addresses them by name, and warns them to never so much as look at someone else's car again. Awesome not just for effortlessly intimidating a bunch of normally defiant hoodlums, but for showcasing Carver's growth from the DumbMuscle he began the show as.

* Chris delivering a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown to Michael's pedophile step-dad.
* Prez defending Randy from the lethal side effects of Bunk and Lester's investigation.

* [=McNulty=] [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulnessrevealing to Templeton that he was behind the whole serial killer fabrication]], and that they're both stuck with the lie now. Combined with a HannibalLecture. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The only difference is, I know why I did it. Fuck if I can figure out what it gets you in the end."]]

* [=McNulty=] revealing to Templeton that he was behind the whole serial killer fabrication, and that they're both stuck with the lie now. Combined with a HannibalLecture. [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech "The only difference is, I know why I did it. Fuck if I can figure out what it gets you in the end."]]

* Carver firing Colicchio and then ignoring his comment about him being a "rat".

* The audience is led to believe that Lester Freamon (introduced in the second episode of the series) is a useless detective who spends all his time painting miniature furniture. Then, with little provocation, he goes and manages to find a surviving picture of Avon Barksdale, the drug kingpin so elusive that none of the other team members can find out what he looks like. Then, a few episodes later, he '''smashes Bird's face in with a full bottle of alcohol'''. [[spoiler:He almost singlehandedly cracks three out of the five big cases in the series. By the end of the final episode, he's walked away with a fat pension, cleared at least twenty murders during his final investigation, and ''has a former stripper for a girlfriend''.]] Lester Freamon is the man.

* Another moment for D'Angelo is at the end, when after [[spoiler:Wallace's murder at the hands of Bodie and Poot on the orders of his uncle and Bell]], he is visited by Stringer Bell and Levy. The moment comes because, for once, one of the most sympathetic drug dealers finally talks back to his vicious superiors: [[spoiler: "WHERE THE FUCK IS WALLACE?!"]]

** Rawls taking a grief stricken [=McNulty=] aside in "The Hunt" to tell him that [[spoiler: Kima's shooting]] wasn't his fault, stressing that they hate each other and Rawls would be the "first son of a bitch to say so", if it was Jimmy's fault. After a season of MeanBoss, Rawls finally shows why he belongs where he is.

* Omar Little perjures himself for fun and profit at [[spoiler:Bird's trial, as Bird is charged with the Gant killing and Omar is taking him down for his role in Brandon's death. In the process, Omar explains what he does for a living in no uncertain terms ("I robs drug dealers"), takes evil lawyer Levy down several pegs, and makes silly faces at Bird.]] Omar is the man.

* When Brother Mouzone and Omar Little (a BadassBookworm and BadassLongcoat, respectively) team up in the last two episodes of the season. They have a MexicanStandoff and then [[spoiler:team up to kill Stringer Bell, who was responsible for killing Omar's boyfriend in the first season and then, in the second season, duping Omar into thinking that it was ''Brother Mouzone'' who had done it as a means of [[LetsYouAndHimFight attempting to get rid of both men]]. To his credit, Stringer himself almost has his own crowning moment when finally forced to face his own imminent demise, eventually resigning himself to his fate and yelling at the two to get on with it before he's shot to death]].

* Rawls of all people gets several after Kima is shot. The man is capable of actual police work:

** He tells a grief-stricken [=McNulty=] that it wasn't his fault, stressing that they hate each other and he would be leading the charge if he thought [=McNulty=] actually was responsible.

* Rawls taking [=McNulty=] aside in "The Hunt" to tell him that [[spoiler: Kima's shooting]] wasn't his fault. After a season of BadBoss, Rawls finally shows why he belongs where he is.

** Omar driving two dealers to flee in an alley where Brandon and John ambush them. As a further establishing moment, [[TheDreaded he didn't he have his gun showing yet before they started running in terror]].

** Omar driving two dealers to flee in an alley where Brandon and John ambush them.

*** Made double awesome by how Omar bids Mouzone farewell, even after the latter tortured his partner and lover. Think of how he treats Brandon's torturers/murderers in S1. This time? [[WorthyAdversary He WINKS at Mouzone]].

'''Omar:''' Just like you, man. I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?.

* [=McNulty=] informs D'Angelo's mother, who had insisted D take twenty years in jail rather than turn evidence for the cops and cost [=McNulty=] the whole case in season one, of his investigation into D'Angelo's death... long after he informed D'Angelo's girlfriend about it. She asks why he didn't come to her first: "Honestly? I wanted to talk to someone who cared about the kid."

-->Somewhere back in the beginning of time, this district had itself a civic dilemma of epic proportions. The city council had just passed a law that forbade alcoholic consumption in public areas; on the streets and on the corners. But the corner is, it was and it always will be the poorman's lounge. It's where a man wants to be on a hot summer's night. It's cheaper than a bar. Catch a nice breeze and watch the girls go on by. But the law is the law so what are the western cops gonna do? They arrest every dude for tipping back a High Life, there'd be no time for any other kind of police work. And if they look the other way, they open themselves up to all kinds of flaunting, all kinds of disrespect. Now, this is before my time but somewhere back in the 50's or the 60's, there was a moment of goddamn genius by some nameless smokehound who comes out the Cut-Rate one day and on his way to the corner he slips that just bought pint of elderberry into a paper bag. A great moment of civic compromise. That small wrinkled ass paper bag allowed the corner boys to have their drink in peace and gave us permission to go and do police work. The kind of police work that's actually worth the effort, that's actually worth taking a bullet for. Dozerman got shot last night buying three vials. Three. There has never been a paper bag for drugs. Until now.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QG_jBGIIFWw B&B strategic conflict]]. The businessman vs the gangster. A terrific example of [[http://thecrankysociologists.com/2013/04/07/the-wire-and-robert-mertons-strain-theory/ Merton's Strain Theory]]

* More of a [[Heartwarming/TheWire Moment of Heartwarming]], but damn if this troper didn't pump their fist when Wee-Bey allows Colvin to adopt his son Naymond as a way of sparing his son of his own fate in prison (or worse).
* Bubbles getting his revenge on both Herc(For not responding to his calls to die with "the Fiend" like he promised resulting in Bubbles getting a beatdown both times) and the reverend(for ignoring him after leaving the church) by calling up Herc and giving him the license plate of the reverend's car and then lies to him and tells him it's one of Marlo's people, Herc ends up humiliating the reverend after pulling him over which leads to a chain of events that leads to Herc getting kicked off the force.
* Daniels getting the MCU back up and running and successfully convincing Rawls into sending police into the vacant buildings to pull out all of Marlo's murder victims by reasoning that Royce will carry all the blame for the new bodies if it's done before the new year(That way it can be blamed on former mayor Royce instead of current mayor Carcetti and the city as a whole comes off looking better).