** The HBO Series "The Wire" Question & Answer Thread **
- Thread starter CoTtOnMoUf
- Start date
dudes like stringer bell don't even appear on my radar. people like yourself seem to get plenty captivated by him though. wonder why?
and for the record, i don't hate stringer bell. i'm just able to clearly see him for what he was. a bumbling mark.
since you've chosen to enter the discussion, why not refute me? after all, it should be simple to offer up a few examples of how stringer bell propelled the barksdale organization forward, correct?
go ahead, stringer jr. talk is cheap.
They had no clue that the pay phones were tapped bro, they were even upset that they had to walk far to where other pay phones were, hindsight is 20/20.
Did you go out for cigarette breaks while the show was on?
The ONLY thing on Avon's agenda when he got out of prison was war with Marlo, he said it several times, "I want my corners!"
It was Stringer who said that war was a bad idea, just look @ the scene I posted.
Avon was with his soldiers tooling up to take out Marlo when the cops rolled up, courtesy of Stringer, WHO DID NOT WANT WAR!!!
Your emotions are clouding your judgement, just like they did Avon's.
"D" had almost turned already, his heart wasn't in the game, and snubbing your uncle behind bars isn't exactly the way to make people think that you're good with doing time.
Avon learned that he couldn't trust Stringer thru Brother, NOT because he had "D" killed, remember that he still tried to talk Brother out of doing it.
Remember also that Brianna came to talk to both of them about McNulty coming to see her, this is when Avon slipped and left Brianna believing that he had something to do with "D's" death.
Avon was already past "D's" death @ this point, and this was AFTER Stringer told him what he did.
Bad-ass kids don't go around shooting people in the head, he was deep in the game and had no redeeming value.
I agree with you that he wasn't like Omar @ all, he was still young, I was just pointing out that from the little that we knew about him, the person he resembled the most was Marlo, they both had a "fuck you" attitude.
Cigarette break time again, Davis not only took money from Stringer but from Mayor Royce and Carcetti AT THE SAME TIME, as well as several members of the City Council and his own constituents, this came out @ his trial and @ discussions between Carcetti and his advisor.
Just how and more importantly, WHY do you think Levy ALREADY knew about him???
Didn't you see that he was cleared of all charges @ the end of his trial in season 5???
He left the new D.A. Bond and the A.D.A. standing on the courthouse steps dumbfounded.
When exactly was he, as you say, booted out of office?
The last time we see him, Lester Freamon surprises him @ a bar and shows him the loan application that he lied on, promising to "give it to the feds" if he doesn't give him info.
He tells him how he bled some drug dealer named "Bell".
When the show ended HE WAS STILL IN OFFICE!!!
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You don't even get the SIGNIFICANCE of that scene ... that was on some godfather/julius cesar/shakespeare works right there
... both of them were pretending to like the other with malice in their hearts and a knife behind their backs .... and it was mostly "we\ this and that" and ended on them toasting to "us" are you really are misunderstanding all this or just trying to be difficult??
string was the #2 ... without the other they couldn't make it ... only reason avon was getting shine cause it was a street gang if they went corporate avon would have been the #2 and string would have been the #1 gangster ... this is also part of the the reason Avon wanted to stay in the street ... the wire is DEEP homie
Yeah, I'm seeing now that you do have an agenda AGAINST Stringer, the fact that Avon WAS distancing himself IS THE POINT!!!
WHY DIDN'T HE SAY ANYTHING THEN???
ANYTHING, JUST ONE WORD???
Once again, nowhere is it even implied that he was a hanger on, EVERYWHERE it is shown and said they were together, up to even when Avon knows he won't see him again, what are their last words to each other...US!!!
Why would I avoid the balcony scene, I pointed out the story about the badminton set, YOU on the other hand would post a scene where Avon already knows that Stringer has betrayed him and you ask why there's no "We" mentioned?
I posted two scenes, one was their fight scene and yet nothing comes out, the other in ok times where again, "we" is not disputed.
Dude, where is your proof?
You see that they are already on top and that no one talks out of pocket about Stringer, even after the meeting in the funeral parlor, are you now trying to say that on a show that everyone says the writing is so special on, the writers simply forgot to add one line, just one line to even infer upon your line of thinking???
That Stringer has made mistakes, YES, WE ALL acknowledge this, but Avon made mistakes too, and it was a combination of these that lead to BOTH their downfalls.
Think about this one for one minute...
I'll add that while their downfall was already in motion, a catalyst was added...the destruction of the Towers.
You don't even get the SIGNIFICANCE of that scene ... that was on some godfather/julius cesar/shakespeare works right there
are you really are misunderstanding all this or just trying to be difficult??
string was the #2 ... without the other they couldn't make it ... only reason avon was getting shine cause it was a street gang if they went corporate avon would have been the #2 and string would have been the #1 gangster ... this is also part of the the reason Avon wanted to stay in the street ... the wire is DEEP homie
Avon even said himself, "I ain't no suit wearin' businessman like you, I'm just a gangsta I suppose!"
Cran refuses to hear what his ears tell him, I'll just have to agree to disagree.
Back to downloading pussy!!!
You don't even get the SIGNIFICANCE of that scene ... that was on some godfather/julius cesar/shakespeare works right there
COMPLETELY off base. there was NO malice on either part.
stringer bell gave up avon to bunny colvin because (with his limited intelligence) stringer figured that was the best way to remove avon (temporarily) from power, so that he could continue with his own ill conceived plans.
avon barksdale had no malice either. avon was both forlorn and melancholy over the reality that his lifelong friend was going to get got. as DJM pointed out above, avon tried to shield stringer from brother mouzone's retribution, but there was no saving him. the mark had stupidly dug his own grave.
and people accuse me of making inferences.
those "ifs" and "would have been" remarks get no play.
the reality is that stringer bell was riding on the barksdale ticket. and all of stringer bell's many failed "away games" were played on avon's dime.
an agenda? really?
DJM, the above quote are examples of argumentum ad ignorantiam.
correct. it didn't have to be implied, because the overt actions WERE depicted on the screen. avon gave stringer opportunity after opportunity to make good, but stringer FAILED at every turn.
examples:
stringer stupidly instructing them to go after the money during the hit on orlando
stringer stupidly greenlighting the hit on omar with his grandmother on sunday
stringer stupidly disobeying avon's wishes and giving up locations to prop joe
stringer stupidly trying to pit omar against brother mouzone
stringer stupidly acting independently to have d'angelo murdered (even though killing d'angelo can be seen as the correct move, doing it behind his partner's back was wrong)
these are NUMEROUS (and there are plenty more) examples of stringer as the bumbling stooge working AGAINST the barksdale organization. where are the examples of stringer propelling the barksdale organization forward?
crickets. oh that's right, but i have an agenda though.
yes, and an excellent topic to mention.
because it was the loss of the towers that dramatically emphasized the difference in strategies.
and we know from the show whose strategy was PROVEN better (avon's, by way of marlo), and whose was an EPIC failure (stringer's).
and that statement flies in the face of your "we" evidence.
in the scene you posted, a MOCKING avon was clearly demarcating their differences. not so much a "we".
avon was exasperated by stringer's string (no pun intended) of failures (conversation with the developers) and incompetence (inability to follow orders when tasked to deal with marlo), and it showed.
the only thing i refuse to hear are statements that are CONTRARY to what actually was depicted and related in the narrative.
we can agree to disagree.
but 1 thing is certain as a result of this thread and resultant discussions about stringer bell.
i now know and completely understand why DA DON was so successful in duping so many BGOL residents. those same people are apparently easily duped by status and perceived power, and it blinds them to an obvious lack of substance.
the comparisons are STRONG and VALID.
stringer bell was in the mix because he was there. not because he was competent or efficient, but simply because he was there, and he was boys with avon. same with fredo. he was in the mix because he shared the same last name. never demonstrated any acumen for the game.
if you object to that statement, then produce some evidence in the form of actions (engineered by stringer) that propelled the barksdale organization forward.
stringer bell betrayed avon in a selfish effort to further his own stupid agenda. fredo sold out michael too.
if you object to that statement, then produce some evidence that refutes it.
was stringer shrewd or intelligent enough to be michael? HELL no.
was stringer man enough to be santino? HELL no. (could you imagine santino getting hemmed up by donette like stringer did?)
was stringer knowledgeable or experienced enough to be tom hagen?
thanks for the prequels. I saw it once awhile back
an agenda? really?
DJM, the above quote are examples of argumentum ad ignorantiam.
correct. it didn't have to be implied, because the overt actions WERE depicted on the screen. avon gave stringer opportunity after opportunity to make good, but stringer FAILED at every turn.
examples:
stringer stupidly instructing them to go after the money during the hit on orlando
stringer stupidly greenlighting the hit on omar with his grandmother on sunday
stringer stupidly disobeying avon's wishes and giving up locations to prop joe
stringer stupidly trying to pit omar against brother mouzone
stringer stupidly acting independently to have d'angelo murdered (even though killing d'angelo can be seen as the correct move, doing it behind his partner's back was wrong)
these are NUMEROUS (and there are plenty more) examples of stringer as the bumbling stooge working AGAINST the barksdale organization. where are the examples of stringer propelling the barksdale organization forward?
crickets. oh that's right, but i have an agenda though.
ALL of these actions were in the present, your point was he was a coat-tail rider, as I said before he was an advisor, NOT A LEADER which is why he made stupid mistakes when left to his own devices.
The fact that he is/was an advisor is shown throughout, and never, ever disputed.
And the proof of moving the Barksdale organization forward?
B&B (Barksdale & Bell) Condominiums.
Which would have taken them OUT of the drug trade and turned them into legit businessmen.
You STILL haven't shown any proof that he came in after the fact, no stint in the army or in jail, Avon and Stringer were tight from childhood to present day,
While this is indeed true, (and Stringer did know this, as he said he had already gone thru this WITH Avon!) what Stringer was trying to show Avon was that they had moved beyond the street corners, beyond having to kill, beyond having to worry about going to jail, in this sense Avon and Marlo were the same, they were BOTH about the streets, Stringer wanted better, it was THIS that led him to make the stupid mistakes that he did, these were mistakes fueled by him wanting to get out PERIOD.
Now this is total inference, but would Stringer be deterred by such thoughts on the come-up?
No.
What you are missing about Stringer's character is that he was showing growth, you saw this in D'Angelo and in Cutty as well.
Stringer wanted out of the day-to-day for BOTH of them, notice that he set Avon up in the apartment with a truck in his name as well as real estate.
This was so BOTH could live the dream, but Avon was STILL about the streets, he didn't want to be a businessman, just like Marlo.
You are STILL referring to the present in which BOTH are now @ the top and are now headed in different directions, your assertion was that Stringer WAS NOT THERE, he was merely a hanger on during Avon's come-up, in the scene about Avon's corners when Stringer says "...know that if you call the shot we @ war, I'm there like I always been!", Avon doesn't look up, doesn't shoot him a glance, doesn't deny that Stringer wasn't there with him all along.
Stringer's actions depict him to be a fuck-up NOW, Avon was demarcating their differences NOW, when Stringer obviously has a different agenda from Avon.
c'mon, really? now you're going to hide behind usage of present/past tense (is a coat tail rider v. was a coat tail rider)?
i used the past tense because the stringer bell character is deceased.
let me point out how seriously flawed your reasoning is. you (and others) are asserting that russell stringer bell, the most repeatedly incompetent and fatally inept member of the barksdale organization for 3 seasons, wasn't always that way.
and some people in this thread have the unmitigated gall to suggest that i have been the party making inferences.
and no, my position does not require inference or speculation as yours does, because avon has provided examples from the past which highlight stringer's lifelong stupidity.
B & B is your single (best?) evidence?
really?
because that is arguably part of the best evidence AGAINST stringer bell. first of all, they were never completed. they were a money pit, not a source of revenue. and your use of future tense clearly indicates that you are using hypothetical to substitute as real proof.
the condominiums were a complete failure, not a measurable success in the slightest. it's no coincidence that the B & B sign is in the background of the shot immediately after omar and brother mouzone execute stringer. the B & B financial albatross was stringer's tombstone.
want more proof? how about direct testimony from stringer bell? in 1 of the clips you referred to earlier (just a gangster, i suppose), listen carefully to stringer bell's explanation of his dream. it is the rambling of a idiot. an ambitious idiot, but a complete idiot nonetheless.
a) the goal of money laundering is to take illegal proceeds and funnel them through legit businesses to hide their origin. the barksdale family knew this (ex. apartment buildings, copy shop, strip club, funeral home, etc). but if you listen to the MORON stringer bell, he wanted to take already clean money and finance the package.
that fool wanted to move money in the opposite direction! listen to him, he said it himself. it's times like these when i agree that many a watcher of "the wire" were either on smoke breaks or stuffing their mouths with cheetos instead of paying attention.
NO.
stringer bell was a simpleton. no doubt stringer bell had ambition. unfortunately for the barksdale organization, stringer bell's intelligence did not match that pie-in-the-sky ambition. stringer bell is the same type of mark that falls for the MLM schemes because they can't recognize a fraud.
stringer bell was trying to sell avon on that stupid shit too, but avon was smart enough to see through the bullshit.
stringer didn't want OUT; he just didn't want to get his hands dirty. stringer bell didn't have the fortitude to make the necessary sacrifices.
going back to the scene you referenced earlier (just a gangster, i suppose) that further illustrates how monumentally STUPID stringer bell was.
b) listen to the laughable (pitiful?) explanation he provides avon. it shows what a tremendously flawed and false understanding he has of both the legit and criminal world. start from where stringer begins "...we finance a package..." and you'll laugh out loud like i did.
apparently stringer bell isn't familiar with the concept of "unexplained wealth". and apparently stringer bell thinks that financiers of criminal conspiracies are exempt from prosecution.
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maybe you need sleep, because now you're starting to make shit up and attribute claims to me that i never made.
if, as you say, my assertion is that stringer bell was a "hanger on", then by definition stringer bell is required to have been there. therefore, i obviously never made a claim that stringer "was not there". stringer bell being there is the reason avon allowed stringer's sorry ass to ride the gravy train.
and i certainly never designated a period of time (which you've categorized into pre-come up v. post-come up) during which stringer bell was a "hanger on".
I think Stringer Bell's BIGGEST mistake was thinking he was smarter than Brother Mouzone.
Sort of like Prop Joe thinking he was smarter than Marlo. Ironic that they both tried to
use Omar (of all people) to solve their problems
Sort of like Prop Joe thinking he was smarter than Marlo. Ironic that they both tried to
use Omar (of all people) to solve their problems
the comparisons are STRONG and VALID.
stringer bell was in the mix because he was there. not because he was competent or efficient, but simply because he was there, and he was boys with avon. same with fredo. he was in the mix because he shared the same last name. never demonstrated any acumen for the game.
if you object to that statement, then produce some evidence in the form of actions (engineered by stringer) that propelled the barksdale organization forward.
stringer bell betrayed avon in a selfish effort to further his own stupid agenda. fredo sold out michael too.
if you object to that statement, then produce some evidence that refutes it.
was stringer shrewd or intelligent enough to be michael? HELL no.
was stringer man enough to be santino? HELL no. (could you imagine santino getting hemmed up by donette like stringer did?)
was stringer knowledgeable or experienced enough to be tom hagen?
Stringer was shrud enough to grow the business while von was in jail, did he not? He had the nigga set up in a condo and a Navigator in his own name because "they were making so much straight money that they could carry shyt like that in the open" Remember Stringer saying that? They were what Freemon and McNultry feard... THE BANK!!! But Avon was too short sighted to see it. All he had to do was post up and let the money continue to flow but he wanted to fight over some corners that didn't matter. And he wasa getting his ass kicked by Marlo in the war.
You say that Stringer wasn't ruthless enough to be Michael. NIETHER WAS AVON!! MICHAEL KILLED IS BROTHER, AVON COULDN'T/WOULDN'T DO HIS OWN NEPHEW WHO WAS WEAK AND HE KNEW! I know that some guy that looked like Stringer must have fukked you or beat you up as a kid and it made you hate his character to the point you want him to be the most incompetant dude on the show but he wasn't.
Yeah he snitched on Avon, Like he said..."it's just business" Avon was getting in the way of business. Avon on the other hand left his boy, childhood friend, to get got by his arch enemy, the man who stole from him and a dude from out of town. If he was really a baller and ruthless he would have turned that shyt around and got both of them instead of letting his boy get got.
um, no, stringer bell did not grow the business. stringer bell undermined the barksdale organization while avon was in jail. and not coincidentally, stringer bell also set in motion the deeds that would ultimately lead to his own demise at the hands of brother mouzone (and omar).
something which avon avoided HIS ENTIRE LIFE (purposely didn't have a driver license, had a picture removed from county records), stringer bell was stupid enough to do: create a paper trail on avon barksdale.
you dudes that fall for the flash make me laugh every time: listing a DEMERIT as a CREDIT.
at a condo and a navigator.you cats that fall for fiction are funny. you and the other stringer bells are the simps that fall for the MLM mumbo-jumbo.
look up "unexplained wealth". IRS doesn't make cases based off that? FBI doesn't investigate criminal structuring? citing this only demonstrates your (and stringer bell's) ignorance of how the game works at high levels.
lester freamon was anxious to shut down the barksdale organization before it took another step up the ladder because then it would be outside BPD jurisdiction, NOT because the barksdale organization would've been untouchable to all law enforcement.
you drank ALL the kool-aid. think on it a minute. you are fully endorsing a plan outlined by an moron. his flash (suits, money, automobiles) has persuaded you IN SPITE OF his demonstrated incompetence and numerous failures.
stringer bell got sold a bill of goods by the developers and clay davis, and thought that it would make him more wealthy off easy money. sound like the same shit the MLM people offer, don't it?
and just like the MLM indoctrinated, when you call them on it, they resort to sophistry because their actual FACT based knowledge of how the plan works is nil.
@ you being too obtuse to see the difference.FACT: michael killed fredo because fredo fingered him for assassination.
FACT: d'angelo never fingered avon for assassination.
FACT: d'angelo never even officially rolled on avon.
FACT: stringer bell greenlighted d'angelo because he was a nervous bitch who allowed his emotions to dominate his actions.
oh, OK. then let's see.
i know that some guy that looks like stringer bell must be your current boyfriend and that's why you want to cape up for him IN SPITE OF the numerous valid examples i have provided which demonstrate his numerous flaws.
right. you just put yourself on an island with this one.
even the other fam who may disagree with me about stringer bell's qualifications can now can see from this example that you are incapable of discussing the wire.
um, no, stringer bell did not grow the business. stringer bell undermined the barksdale organization while avon was in jail. and not coincidentally, stringer bell also set in motion the deeds that would ultimately lead to his own demise at the hands of brother mouzone (and omar).
something which avon avoided HIS ENTIRE LIFE (purposely didn't have a driver license, had a picture removed from county records), stringer bell was stupid enough to do: create a paper trail on avon barksdale.
you dudes that fall for the flash make me laugh every time: listing a DEMERIT as a CREDIT.
you cats that fall for fiction are funny. you and the other stringer bells are the simps that fall for the MLM mumbo-jumbo.
look up "unexplained wealth". IRS doesn't make cases based off that? FBI doesn't investigate criminal structuring? citing this only demonstrates your (and stringer bell's) ignorance of how the game works at high levels.
lester freamon was anxious to shut down the barksdale organization before it took another step up the ladder because then it would be outside BPD jurisdiction, NOT because the barksdale organization would've been untouchable to all law enforcement.
you drank ALL the kool-aid. think on it a minute. you are fully endorsing a plan outlined by an moron. his flash (suits, money, automobiles) has persuaded you IN SPITE OF his demonstrated incompetence and numerous failures.
stringer bell got sold a bill of goods by the developers and clay davis, and thought that it would make him more wealthy off easy money. sound like the same shit the MLM people offer, don't it?
and just like the MLM indoctrinated, when you call them on it, they resort to sophistry because their actual FACT based knowledge of how the plan works is nil.
FACT: michael killed fredo because fredo fingered him for assassination.
FACT: d'angelo never fingered avon for assassination.
FACT: d'angelo never even officially rolled on avon.
FACT: stringer bell greenlighted d'angelo because he was a nervous bitch who allowed his emotions to dominate his actions.
oh, OK. then let's see.
i know that some guy that looks like stringer bell must be your current boyfriend and that's why you want to cape up for him IN SPITE OF the numerous valid examples i have provided which demonstrate his numerous flaws.
right. you just put yourself on an island with this one.
even the other fam who may disagree with me about stringer bell's qualifications can now can see from this example that you are incapable of discussing the wire.
even YOU said that killing D was probably a smart move now you talk against it?
Stringer killing D makes him a nervous bitch but if it were anyone else Avon wouldn't have let him go that long...
c'mon dude
did i really say that? really?here is my quote:
(even though killing d'angelo can be seen as the correct move, doing it behind his partner's back was wrong)
and for additional comments i made about decision to greenlight d'angelo, here is a link to an earlier post in this thread: http://www.bgol.us/board/showpost.php?p=9442599&postcount=368
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keep the towers? stringer made the deal AND gave up HALF the towers.
that's your problem, isn't it? you're so enamored of stringer that you can't see that he stepped outside his paygrade.
stringer had to listen to avon; avon did not have to listen to stringer. avon was the shot caller, stringer strayed out of his lane.
you say stringer wouldn't have been in the position he was in, but you ignore that stringer shouldn't have tried to step into a position he clearly wasn't qualifed for to begin with.
sigh.
you trot this bullshit again after i refuted it several pages ago?
profits grew, yes. profits grew compared to a time when they had no product. OF COURSE they grew over what they had been immediately before. did they grow over what they had been a year before?
right. dudes on here with no business experience trying to discuss profit.
and again, as far as the turf v. product argument goes, for the 1,000,000th time, marlo proved which was more important. both components important, but turf wins out. we know this from the show, and we know this from REAL WORLD experience.
does mcdonalds have 1 restaurant, or a string of franchises?
right. doesn't matter if they make the best (subjective) fast food product. it matters that they have dozens of locations to sling that shit throughout your neighborhood.
stringer and you both need remedial business classes.
you obviously didn't watch the show. or were stuffing your face with cheetos.
remember that omar was ready to squash beef and dead the matter? but who sparked his ire and bloodlust?
that's right. dumb ass stringer bell with the greenlight on omar while with his grandmother on church sunday.
as for "out thought", that notion is completely laughable.
if you watched the show, you'd know that EVERY time avon issued an order regarding omar and marlo, there was stringer bell with the "let me talk to him" bullshit. instead of executing orders from the boss, stringer bell wanted to interject with his worthless 2 cents. if you watched the show, you'd know that it was stringer's repeated incessant foot-dragging that countermanded avon's orders and hindered progress.
keep the towers? stringer made the deal AND gave up HALF the towers.
that's your problem, isn't it? you're so enamored of stringer that you can't see that he stepped outside his paygrade.
stringer had to listen to avon; avon did not have to listen to stringer. avon was the shot caller, stringer strayed out of his lane.
you say stringer wouldn't have been in the position he was in, but you ignore that stringer shouldn't have tried to step into a position he clearly wasn't qualifed for to begin with.
sigh.
you trot this bullshit again after i refuted it several pages ago?
profits grew, yes. profits grew compared to a time when they had no product. OF COURSE they grew over what they had been immediately before. did they grow over what they had been a year before?
right. dudes on here with no business experience trying to discuss profit.
and again, as far as the turf v. product argument goes, for the 1,000,000th time, marlo proved which was more important. both components important, but turf wins out. we know this from the show, and we know this from REAL WORLD experience.
does mcdonalds have 1 restaurant, or a string of franchises?
right. doesn't matter if they make the best (subjective) fast food product. it matters that they have dozens of locations to sling that shit throughout your neighborhood.
stringer and you both need remedial business classes.
They gave up half the towers but made more money asshole. That was my whole fukking point! That was the point tha Stringer was trying to make to the guys in the funeral parlor and to Avon. IT'S NOT ABOUT TERRITORY!.
*sigh*
look if cranrab thinks future hall of famer, two time defending NBA title champion and #6 on the all time scoring list at 32 years old, kobe bryant is not only a flat out BUM but deserves no respect ... how do you figure you can get him to change his opinion about a fictional character?
*sigh*
look if cranrab thinks future hall of famer, two time defending NBA title champion and #6 on the all time scoring list at 32 years old, kobe bryant is not only a flat out BUM but deserves no respect ... how do you figure you can get him to change his opinion about a fictional character?
YOU KNOW, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! i AM ASHAMED OF MYSELF FOR GETTING SUCKED BACK INTO A CONVERSATION WITH HIM.
all this Stringer talk made me whip out my DVD set...Good shit
Season 3 is definitely not checkers. And if it wasn't for KIMA
(and Bubbles) this case woud not have been broken
Season 3 is definitely not checkers. And if it wasn't for KIMA
(and Bubbles) this case woud not have been broken
I was referring to before Avon going to jail vs after, Avon started seeing the differences between him and Stringer AFTER he went to jail, everything that I'm referring to as far as "We" is concerned is all BEFORE Avon went to jail, everything that you are referring to is AFTER he got out.
Stringer was @ the point of realizing what he thought @ the time was both their dreams, they had enough money to realize this and he had already made the necessary moves to make them legit.
let me point out how seriously flawed your reasoning is. you (and others) are asserting that russell stringer bell, the most repeatedly incompetent and fatally inept member of the barksdale organization for 3 seasons, wasn't always that way.
and some people in this thread have the unmitigated gall to suggest that i have been the party making inferences.
and no, my position does not require inference or speculation as yours does, because avon has provided examples from the past which highlight stringer's lifelong stupidity.
B & B is your single (best?) evidence?
really?
because that is arguably part of the best evidence AGAINST stringer bell. first of all, they were never completed. they were a money pit, not a source of revenue. and your use of future tense clearly indicates that you are using hypothetical to substitute as real proof.
the condominiums were a complete failure, not a measurable success in the slightest. it's no coincidence that the B & B sign is in the background of the shot immediately after omar and brother mouzone execute stringer. the B & B financial albatross was stringer's tombstone.
Wrong.
They were a dream not realized.
They were being built, just not on the timeline that Stringer wanted, this is the case more than 70% of the time OF ALL CONSTRUCTION, have you ever had work done on your own house and was it finished on time?
You need to revisit the last episode, season one where Lester is explaining to the Feds what the Barksdale organization was doing with the real estate they had.
Not only did they have the condominiums for which Stringer DID want to see fed money but Clay was gaming him for, they also owned real estate that the city was going to purchase from them @ a significant profit.
Remember the paper the Lester pulled from the garbage?
It showed that 250 million dollars was going to be invested for a new empowerment zone in the city.
This is the property that Stringer bought, LONG BEFORE THE ANNOUNCEMENT, since he had inside info from Clay Davis.
Daniels explains this to the feds, but they want to give Avon and Stringer a pass to get Clay Davis, but make no mistake, THE LAND THEY HAD WAS GOING TO MAKE THEM MONEY!!!!!
You would be the only person I know that would consider owning real estate a bad thing.
want more proof? how about direct testimony from stringer bell? in 1 of the clips you referred to earlier (just a gangster, i suppose), listen carefully to stringer bell's explanation of his dream. it is the rambling of a idiot. an ambitious idiot, but a complete idiot nonetheless.
a) the goal of money laundering is to take illegal proceeds and funnel them through legit businesses to hide their origin. the barksdale family knew this (ex. apartment buildings, copy shop, strip club, funeral home, etc). but if you listen to the MORON stringer bell, he wanted to take already clean money and finance the package.
that fool wanted to move money in the opposite direction! listen to him, he said it himself. it's times like these when i agree that many a watcher of "the wire" were either on smoke breaks or stuffing their mouths with cheetos instead of paying attention.
???
Stringer was talking about putting themselves in the same position as the Greeks, not having to worry about retail and the day-to-day, only making money off the package.
Avon LIKED the retail side, this was where he derived his power, he wasn't a "businessman", he was a drug kingpin and just like Marlo, he was addicted to "the game."
Stringer DID get his hands dirty, but he was done with that life.
Stringer ordered the hit on Wallace.
Stringer ordered the hit on Little Man.
Stringer ordered the hit on D'Angelo.
And yes he was quite familiar with the concept of "unexplained wealth", this was why when he set Avon up with the condo and the truck, it was with legit money.
You point out that Avon had previously had no paper trail, how did that work out for him???
Did the cops figure out who he was?
Did they arrest him?
Did he spend time behind bars?
Just one more question, did Stringer spend any time behind bars?
Stringer was definitely the fall guy, remember that this was a TV show, but he became the fall guy BECAUSE he and Avon split on what their dreams/futures were going to be, when their futures were the same they BOTH rose to the top.
For Stringer to be as incompetent as you say, there's no way they would have been running the towers, remember that even in The Godfather everything was already in place when they kept trying to spoon feed Fredo.
Stringer was there side by side with Avon from when they were kids.
I will still point out that if Stringer was a hanger on as you say, why didn't anyone in the Barksdale organization move against him, say something about him or even think about dissing him?
Fredo was shit on and punked @ every turn, because that's what he was.
Also, the money that Stringer had Wee-Bay and Little Man take didn't affect anything, it was Little Man's fuck-up shooting Griggs, Avon said this himself.
The remedy was simple and was what Stringer did, he burned the money.
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watching episode 11 here is something to consider:
By stopping the "hit" on Clay Davis, Avon basically kept Bell from
making a HUGE mistake that would've gotten him locked up for LIFE
and MAYBE even the death penalty....
Stringer Bell pays Avon back by getting him arrested red handed
By stopping the "hit" on Clay Davis, Avon basically kept Bell from
making a HUGE mistake that would've gotten him locked up for LIFE
and MAYBE even the death penalty....
Stringer Bell pays Avon back by getting him arrested red handed
Stringer and Avon probably would have been more effective and enjoyed more "job" satisfaction in each others roles.
Stringer at the head primarily focused on the big picture and staying out of street level beef.
Avon as #2 running the day to day operation and staying closer to the streets. He was a soldier at heart and would have been good handling the soldiers/ muscle while String pushed them forward.
Stringer at the head primarily focused on the big picture and staying out of street level beef.
Avon as #2 running the day to day operation and staying closer to the streets. He was a soldier at heart and would have been good handling the soldiers/ muscle while String pushed them forward.
Avon was right in stopping String from making that move but I doubt it was gonna get String locked up. It woulda sacrificed Slim, their best muscle which wasn't a smart risk. Slim would do the time.
Avon got String killed. They betrayed each other in the end...
any chance of HBO returning this hit show?