History Awesome / TheWire

* Lester, finally having caught [[ArchEnemy his nemesis Marlo]] by cracking the organization's supply code. Made all the more awesome by how Lester walks by all of the other mooks arrested next to Marlo and stands right in front of him, letting him know that he knows exactly who Marlo is and that he's been watching for awhile. The both of them simply trade cold stares, as befits both characters to a tee.
"Cool Lester Smooth" strikes again.
** The best part? After said stare-down, Lester waves the clock Marlo and his gang had been using as code for distribution, letting him know just exactly where he messed up and how he was caught.

* Lester, finally having caught [[ArchEnemy his nemesis Marlo]] by cracking the organization's supply code. Made all the more awesome by how Lester walks by all of the other mooks arrested next to Marlo and stands right in front of him, letting him know that he knows exactly who Marlo is and that he's been watching for awhile. The both of them simply trade cold stares, as befits both characters to a tee. "Cool Lester Smooth" strikes again.

---> 'Brother Mouzone:' It being your town, I trust you will do it proper.

---> ''Brother Mouzone:'' It being your town, I trust you will do it proper.

** How does Omar bid Mouzone farewell 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]].
*** Made double awesome by the fact that Mouzone gives Omar his beloved Walpther PPK out of a sign of respect and trust. [[WorthyAdversary Mutual respect, to a tee]].
--> "Brother Mouzone:" It being your town, I trust you will do it proper.

* Lester, finally having caught his [[ArchEnemy nemesis]] Marlo by cracking the organization's supply code. Made all the more awesome by how Lester walks by all of the other mooks arrested next to Marlo and stands right in front of him, letting him know that knows exactly who Marlo is and that he's been watching for awhile. The both of them simply enhance cold stares, as befits both characters to a tee. "Cool Lester Smootg" strikes again.

!! In the first season:

!! In the second season:

!! In the third season:

!! In the fourth season:
* Detective Sydnor serving a subpoena to Baltimore Senator Clay Davis to give up information and phone records for the past year. Davis' response? "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f81Tfw60tTs SHHHHEEEEEEEEIIIITTTTTT]]."

!! In the fifth season:
* Underboss Slim Charles shooting fellow gangster Cheese Wagstaff point-blank in head in the final episode, after finding out that Cheese had Slim's boss (Proposition Joe) murdered by Marlo Stanfield. "That was for Joe."

!!In real life:

--> '''The Greek:''' But of course, I'm not even Greek. [[EvilGloating (laughs)]].

-->'''Avon:''' Like businessmen, huh? I'm just a gangster I suppose, and I want my corners.

-->'''Lester:''' Me? I'm just the police.

-->'''Chris:''' "Don't..."\\
-->'''Marlo:''' "Some {{Spiderman}} shit there."

* The montage at the beginning of the tenth episode, which shows off just how much information the team has gathered on their targets, and how they go about gathering it. Set to Johnny Cash's ''I Walk the Line'', and ends with Prez contentedly admiring the by now ''packed'' corkboard and going "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMKjPRPcqw4 Fucking-A!]]" Roll credits.

'''Avon:''' Like businessmen, huh? I'm just a gangster I suppose, and I want my corners.

'''Lester:''' Me? I'm just the police.

* Carcetti's aide - Norman playing the politics and spin in a way that would impress even Malcolm Tucker - ''I'm a devious motherfucker when I get going''

'''Chris:''' "Don't..."\\
'''Marlo:''' "Some {{Spiderman}} shit there."

* After major fan of the show Barack Obama was elected president, he jokingly asked if there was any way for it to come back. David Simon's response? "Do something about all the problems the show talked about, and you've got a deal."
** Also, regarding Barack 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.

->'''Judge Phelan:''' An appeal bond on a conviction of first degree murder? Mr. Levy, get a grip of yourself.
->'''Maurice Levy:''' Your Honor-
->'''Judge Phelan:''' Not only will there be no bond pending sentencing, but as far as I'm concerned, the pre-sentencing report is a mere formality. Mr. Hilton has been found guilty of [[Recap/TheWireS01E01TheTarget killing a state's witness who testified in this very courtroom.]] He did so in cold blood, and for pay. Unless the pre-sentence report indicates that he is, in fact, the Messiah come again, he will very likely be sentenced to life, no parole, by a Baltimore judge who, for once in his life, gets to leave his office feeling that his job actually matters. Mr. Hilton, are you the [[SecondComing second coming]] of our savior?
->'''Bird:''' Excuse me?
->'''Judge Phelan:''' Are you Jesus Christ come back to earth?
->'''Bird:''' (''confused'') Um...
->'''Judge Phelan:''' (''slams gavel'') See you at sentencing.

* 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 a drug runner'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.

* [=McNulty=] goes to a bar, gets totally smashed, and attempts to drive home, while blasting The Pogues' "Transmetropolitan." He crashes his car into a highway beam, gets out, re-calculates his trajectory, and ''redoes his own car crash''. Later in the same night, he manages to pick up a waitress, despite being heavily drunk and with bandages on his hand. He's ''that'' good.

** Hell, his EstablishingCharacterMoment - he and his crew casually staking out a Barksdale stash house and noting how sloppy they are. Then, later on they rob it with precision efficiency (Brandon accidentally giving away Omar's name notwithstanding). This is the first time we see Omar in action and he doesn't disappoint.

* Detectives Jimmy [=McNulty=] and Bunk Moreland investigate a crime scene that's about a year old, and find a key piece of evidence within minutes. All while saying nothing but the word "fuck" and variations thereof. It also forces the audience to pay attention to what they're doing since there's no {{Expospeak}} to help them out. Pretty much David Simon saying to the viewers: "If you can't follow this scene, this really isn't the show for you."
* Omar Little's immortal line: "Lesson here, 'Bey. You come at the king, you best not miss." Later in the season, he calmly walks through Baltimore housing projects, knowing that Avon Barksdale has taken a hit out on him. While everyone runs away screaming "Omar coming!", he goes up to a stash house, calmly dismisses the threats of the dealers inside (who claim they have machine guns), and likens himself to the Big Bad Wolf, threatening to come every day to blow their door down unless they give up their drug shipment. They throw the shipment down without a single word.

* Avon Barksdale outwitting three armed units chasing after him in vehicles, then driving past the unit commander's car while ''wagging his finger at them''.
* Kima, Daniels, and Landsman beat Barksdale enforcer Bird Hilton into a pulp. Aside from the fact that this is the only time in the series when ''Daniels'', of all people, beats a criminal up, it teaches viewers one very important lesson: you do ''not'' talk to Kima Greggs like that.
* 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 the only 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 a drug runner'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.

** He shows his leadership and clears the overcrowded crime scene in seconds, giving the primary investigators room to work. He also deducts quickly what happened (the first policeman who does it, in fact)

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Er0V_85aPU Daniels standing tall before Burrell and Clay Davis]], dodging Davis slime attempts to downplay the drug money intercepted to his driver, ignoring the insults and rant of the Senator and just adressing his actual boss : "Anything else, Deputy Burrell?"

* [=McNulty=] mapping a tide flow chart at the Baltimore Marine Unit office to prove that a floater found in a local bay is tied to the murders of thirteen dead prostitutes in a container at a shipping depot. Awesome only because [=McNulty=] is not doing this for his moral conscience. He does this to ''screw over his former commanding officer and the Baltimore Police Department''. Win.
* Not exactly her ''crowning'' moment of awesome, but certainly a deeply satisfying one: Shakima Greggs walks up to a frat boy dancing on some bimbo's car and holding up traffic and tells him to get his ass down. When he responds with, "Fuck you, lady!" she takes him out at the knees, slams him on the ground, and says, "Ain't no lady." And to the bimbo, "Bitch, move it or lose it."

* Omar Little perjures himself for fun and profit at [[spoiler:Bird Hilton's trial. Bird is on trial for the murder of a state's witness, and Omar is taking him down for his role in the torture and murder of Brandon, Omar's boyfriend. 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.
* Roland Prezbylewski punching his father-in-law (Major Valchek) in the face when he threatens to shut down the Baltimore Major Crime Unit's case. It gets all the more rewarding during rewatches, once the viewer has had the chance to discover the full extent of Valchek's [[SmugSmiler charming personality]].
* The way Daniels gets Prez off the hook is pretty neat, first he makes everyone present write on it, including the FBI and the word "shitbird", then he goes to Valchek and tells that he could probably make the BPD guys lie and ignore the insult, but he can't do nothing about the Feds. Valchek forgets about a harsh punishment and ends the matter with with a childish one. The smile on Cedric's face says it all. Daniels has become quite the smooth operator.
* [=McNulty=] of all people is sent in undercover to confirm that a hotel suite is actually a high-class brothel owned by a smuggling ring (''"Takes a whore to catch a whore"''- Kima). He's told to give the signal for the police to start raiding the suite only after he's been set up with a hooker. [=McNulty=] elects to wait until two hookers have already started a threesome with him before giving the signal. Later, in the official paperwork, he actually writes down in what happened half-honestly, claiming "There was two of them, I was outnumbered!" Three Seasons later, other cops who've never even met [=McNulty=] are still talking about it.

* Judge Phalen gets one in this season during Bird's trial. Bird's slimeball lawyer requests bail for Bird until sentencing, even though he has just been found guilty of killing a state witness in cold blood. The judge announces that unless Bird is the second coming of the Messiah, he is getting life without parole. After asking Bird if he is indeed "Jesus Christ come again," Phalen denies bail.
* Brother Mouzone being a complete and utter professional, even when shooting Cheese in the shoulder as a warning. As Cheese and his gang bail, he says with a completely chipper demeanour, "Good day to you, sir."

* Bunny Colvin's "Paper bag" Speech, or his telling Rawls "Get on with it, motherfucker" when Rawls is firing him. Pretty much anything with Bunny Colvin.

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* Omar could've done a lot of damage in the military. This is no more evident when he layed down a trap for Bubbles using a scrapped radiator.

* Omar could've done a lot of damage in the military. This is no more evident when he layed down a trap for Bubbles using a scrapped radiator.

* D'Angelo Barksdale teaches the rules of chess to Bodie Broadus and Wallace. That's it.