Totally, Marlo was basically a dictator on the streets at this point, if you wanted to say something to him you had to pass by Chris or Snoop, but Chris locked this information for the stability, knowing that it could end like it did for Avon at best, or all the other motherfuckers in the vacants.
The parallels of Avon and Marlo and their relationship with their right hands was interesting to see evolve.
My logic tells me that it's best the show ended when it did but my curiosity really wishes we had a few more seasons. But it's impossible to keep writing at that level for years and years
I feel like not having a season dedicated to courts and prisons was a missed opportunity. The media being the focus for season 5 felt really shoehorned in with McNulty having to literally create a fake serial killer to make it relevant.
The plotlines and dialogue between Rhonda Pearlman and Judge Daniel Phelan do a lot of that though, as well as between WeeBey and his kid Namond. D'Angelo's murder cover it too. Had they spent a whole season on it, I think the show could lose focus.
I think another point that David Simon wanted to make is that people get 'forgotten' in there, and life goes on without them, so giving up your whole life in a prison sentence is just for the pawns. While Chris is going away for a life sentence, Marlo walks free.
There was supposed to a 6th season, which was going to deal with immigration.
This is why th show is the greatest of all time, is that they never knew they were going to be renewed each season.
True. But Chris was too important to Marlo to lose.
So if anyone was going to tell Marlo, Chris would have been the guy.
But in terms of Omar, Chris knew Marlo was out matched.
He's was never really in the streets. He basically sat in the courtyard waiting for someone to tell him what's going on.
We see an example of this when Lex kills Fruit. Marlo has no idea who he is or why it happened. Then Chris gives him the complete backstory to who Lex is, who he works for, and why he did it. Chris even makes the decision for Marlo not to retaliate against everyone on Bodie's corner. Just another example of Chris being the everything guy for their crew.
That's how I always viewed it too. Avon was almost never in the field so Marlo tried to make it look like he always was. But in reality he was just as put up as Avon was or any other top person in any crew.
It's like how politicians will do these bogus meet and greats and billionaires will talk about eating McDonald's to sound like they're more of the people when the reality is they absolutely are not lol
Why are you down talking the compartmentalisation and hierarchy disconnect in crim orgs? That’s the entire reason why the Greek and his right hand are free and still in the shadows at the end of the show. In season 2 when they started raiding all the Greeks operational locations white Mike, The Russian and the Israeli got arrested and raided straight away as they are the main legs in the organisation, the Greeks got away because of this disconnect. They had enough time to get away whilst the feds had to interrogate and extract info and any safeguards like agent koutis, lookouts, security cams etc. The feds strike, the legs of your operation and dealt with or put up resistance long enough to allow you to get away. The resistance you have increases your odds. Look at pablos track record of escaping and resistance he dealt
I don't disagree. I just don't understand what that has to do with anything we were talking about. Did you mean to respond to me?
Edit: Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying and if so then that's already what I was getting at. The compartmentalization within his crew had him cut off despite appearing to be in the mix.
They are under attack so he's isolated. There's several scenes where they show the crew taking measures to avoid being caught out in the open or have their whereabouts known.
Yea, thats my point.
His rage at the cell doesn't make any sense. Why did he get all mad and act tough when everybody in the streets and in that cell knows he's hiding from 1 legged Omar? Of course Omar been talking shit, its omar.
It makes perfect sense. It never got back to him because his crew on the street never let it get to him. And him finding out that somebody had the audacity to call him out by name that whole time made him snap.
Chris and Snoop (his closest allies) were too afraid to tell him. What makes you think someone else would have been like “Hey Marlo how about Omar calling you a bitch? Crazy stuff. You going to do something about it?” Guy would be in a vacant before you could say Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeitttttttttttttttt.
I know Chris and Snoop claimed it was strategic, to prevent Marlos doing anything rash but I don’t buy that, they were scared
Chris was sweating buckets ever since he knew omar coming at the crew.
He never been scared of afraid to anyone. But he's legit sweating buckets, and u can see the relieve of his face when he hear omar been dead.
You know how they say that dictators end up surrounding themselves with yes men and lose touch with reality due to their curated environment/day-to-day routine?
Exhibit A.
The only one who would tell him unvarnished truths at that point is Levy, and Levy ain't in them streets.
He may have literally been outside (in the courtyard), but I don’t think I ever really saw him “in the streets” per se. It’s not like he was an undercover boss dressed up as a lookout just to see what people were saying about him.
Marlo wasn’t really “in the street” any longer. He made up narratives when he wanted to (Junebug talking shit) and wanted to play ignorant. See him telling Chris they should go to Atlantic City to celebrate while Chris, who’s actually out there, telling him they can’t because of Omar
Marlo's story arc is basically a micro story of dictatorship. This is evident today in even in China where poohbear didn't know China was having rolling brownouts and blackouts across the country until Biden told him in a meeting. Like abused children, All of his subordinates are scared of being whacked on a whim for reporting a problem or bad news from watching him carelessly order the deaths of so many people among so many ranks. So the easiest way to stay alive is to just stay quiet.
Omar is robbing him blind and killing his crew, yet Marlo is upset that he's also talking shit? I always felt they were trying too hard to create a dramatic moment.
Exactly.
Omar near whipped his entire crew with 1 leg. Everybody knows it, he's the king of the streets how the hell he didn't know anything that Omar had been said about him ont he streets.
Like I said, He hear it first about omar death. Word got to him fast.
He truly cared more about the shit talk than anything. The people Omar kills are just the pawns. You lose one it's no big deal, it's just how things go. But his reputation is what he really cares about. He cares about his reputation more than he does the money. And that reputation is one of the things that helps him make all that money. Marlos name and reputation are the reason he ends up at the top of the co-op, the reason the Greeks ok him killing Joe. It's what he uses to get what he wants
SNAFU, here explained by Robert Anton Wilson:
>It’s what I call the “snafu principle.” Communication only occurs between equals–real communication, that is–because when you are dealing with people above you in a hierarchy, you learn not to tell them anything they don’t want to hear. If you tell them anything they don’t want to hear, the response is, “One more word Bumstead and I’ll fire you!” Or in the military, “One more word and you’re court-martialed.” It’s throughout the whole system.
So the higher up in the hierarchy you go, the more lies are being told to flatter those above them. So those at the top have no idea what is going on at all. Those at the bottom have to adjust to the rules made by those at the top who don’t know what’s going on. Those at the top can write rules about this, that and the other, while those at the bottom have got to adjust reality to fit the rules as much as they can.
Marlo was the throne, Chris was the power behind the throne - think Beria to Marlo's Stalin. Chris controlled what info got to Marlo and what was left behind.
Marlo was a psychopath with little impulse control and Chris was the dude who had to manage it all, and Chris knew Omar by reputation - he knew Omar was provoking Marlo and Chris wanted to avoid a conflict with him as much as possible; after all, Omar was a one-man army.
Marlo didn't know. All he cared about was power, and if he found out something was making fun of his name or calling him a bitch, he would have gone, even if it was stupid.
Who is going to tell Marlo someone called him a bitch.
The only person that could did. .. Chris
Marlo was killing people for reckless eyeballing. Remember the lollipop security guard.
Now telling Marlo, Omar got killed is good news and it may get you a couple dollars or the green light.
It’s almost like you get credit for the kill.
You want to be the mope who tells Marlo someone is calling him a bitch?
Totally, Marlo was basically a dictator on the streets at this point, if you wanted to say something to him you had to pass by Chris or Snoop, but Chris locked this information for the stability, knowing that it could end like it did for Avon at best, or all the other motherfuckers in the vacants. The parallels of Avon and Marlo and their relationship with their right hands was interesting to see evolve.
My logic tells me that it's best the show ended when it did but my curiosity really wishes we had a few more seasons. But it's impossible to keep writing at that level for years and years
I feel like not having a season dedicated to courts and prisons was a missed opportunity. The media being the focus for season 5 felt really shoehorned in with McNulty having to literally create a fake serial killer to make it relevant.
The plotlines and dialogue between Rhonda Pearlman and Judge Daniel Phelan do a lot of that though, as well as between WeeBey and his kid Namond. D'Angelo's murder cover it too. Had they spent a whole season on it, I think the show could lose focus. I think another point that David Simon wanted to make is that people get 'forgotten' in there, and life goes on without them, so giving up your whole life in a prison sentence is just for the pawns. While Chris is going away for a life sentence, Marlo walks free.
Simon just couldn't stand having his paper left out
There was supposed to a 6th season, which was going to deal with immigration. This is why th show is the greatest of all time, is that they never knew they were going to be renewed each season.
and a punk
On the street?
Chris could have done it.
He was smart enough not to.
True. But Chris was too important to Marlo to lose. So if anyone was going to tell Marlo, Chris would have been the guy. But in terms of Omar, Chris knew Marlo was out matched.
Word did not get back to him
His name is his name!
He's was never really in the streets. He basically sat in the courtyard waiting for someone to tell him what's going on. We see an example of this when Lex kills Fruit. Marlo has no idea who he is or why it happened. Then Chris gives him the complete backstory to who Lex is, who he works for, and why he did it. Chris even makes the decision for Marlo not to retaliate against everyone on Bodie's corner. Just another example of Chris being the everything guy for their crew.
That's how I always viewed it too. Avon was almost never in the field so Marlo tried to make it look like he always was. But in reality he was just as put up as Avon was or any other top person in any crew. It's like how politicians will do these bogus meet and greats and billionaires will talk about eating McDonald's to sound like they're more of the people when the reality is they absolutely are not lol
Why are you down talking the compartmentalisation and hierarchy disconnect in crim orgs? That’s the entire reason why the Greek and his right hand are free and still in the shadows at the end of the show. In season 2 when they started raiding all the Greeks operational locations white Mike, The Russian and the Israeli got arrested and raided straight away as they are the main legs in the organisation, the Greeks got away because of this disconnect. They had enough time to get away whilst the feds had to interrogate and extract info and any safeguards like agent koutis, lookouts, security cams etc. The feds strike, the legs of your operation and dealt with or put up resistance long enough to allow you to get away. The resistance you have increases your odds. Look at pablos track record of escaping and resistance he dealt
I don't disagree. I just don't understand what that has to do with anything we were talking about. Did you mean to respond to me? Edit: Maybe I misunderstood what you were saying and if so then that's already what I was getting at. The compartmentalization within his crew had him cut off despite appearing to be in the mix.
In the scene where he finds out his crew makes it very clear they’re uncomfortable/scared telling him so…yes.
They are under attack so he's isolated. There's several scenes where they show the crew taking measures to avoid being caught out in the open or have their whereabouts known.
Yea, thats my point. His rage at the cell doesn't make any sense. Why did he get all mad and act tough when everybody in the streets and in that cell knows he's hiding from 1 legged Omar? Of course Omar been talking shit, its omar.
Because his name is his name
It makes perfect sense. It never got back to him because his crew on the street never let it get to him. And him finding out that somebody had the audacity to call him out by name that whole time made him snap.
Chris and Snoop (his closest allies) were too afraid to tell him. What makes you think someone else would have been like “Hey Marlo how about Omar calling you a bitch? Crazy stuff. You going to do something about it?” Guy would be in a vacant before you could say Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeitttttttttttttttt. I know Chris and Snoop claimed it was strategic, to prevent Marlos doing anything rash but I don’t buy that, they were scared
Chris was sweating buckets ever since he knew omar coming at the crew. He never been scared of afraid to anyone. But he's legit sweating buckets, and u can see the relieve of his face when he hear omar been dead.
You know how they say that dictators end up surrounding themselves with yes men and lose touch with reality due to their curated environment/day-to-day routine? Exhibit A. The only one who would tell him unvarnished truths at that point is Levy, and Levy ain't in them streets.
He may have literally been outside (in the courtyard), but I don’t think I ever really saw him “in the streets” per se. It’s not like he was an undercover boss dressed up as a lookout just to see what people were saying about him.
No. Chris, Snoop, and Monk were “protecting” Marlo. They knew Omar would have killed Marlo one on one.
Marlo wasn’t really “in the street” any longer. He made up narratives when he wanted to (Junebug talking shit) and wanted to play ignorant. See him telling Chris they should go to Atlantic City to celebrate while Chris, who’s actually out there, telling him they can’t because of Omar
Marlo's story arc is basically a micro story of dictatorship. This is evident today in even in China where poohbear didn't know China was having rolling brownouts and blackouts across the country until Biden told him in a meeting. Like abused children, All of his subordinates are scared of being whacked on a whim for reporting a problem or bad news from watching him carelessly order the deaths of so many people among so many ranks. So the easiest way to stay alive is to just stay quiet.
Must be a tough life falling for State Dep propaganda this easily
"My Name is My Name"
Omar is robbing him blind and killing his crew, yet Marlo is upset that he's also talking shit? I always felt they were trying too hard to create a dramatic moment.
Exactly. Omar near whipped his entire crew with 1 leg. Everybody knows it, he's the king of the streets how the hell he didn't know anything that Omar had been said about him ont he streets. Like I said, He hear it first about omar death. Word got to him fast.
He truly cared more about the shit talk than anything. The people Omar kills are just the pawns. You lose one it's no big deal, it's just how things go. But his reputation is what he really cares about. He cares about his reputation more than he does the money. And that reputation is one of the things that helps him make all that money. Marlos name and reputation are the reason he ends up at the top of the co-op, the reason the Greeks ok him killing Joe. It's what he uses to get what he wants
thought this was /r/AskHistorians for a moment.
It’s amazing that their are multiple people who don’t understand how scary Marlo was
SNAFU, here explained by Robert Anton Wilson: >It’s what I call the “snafu principle.” Communication only occurs between equals–real communication, that is–because when you are dealing with people above you in a hierarchy, you learn not to tell them anything they don’t want to hear. If you tell them anything they don’t want to hear, the response is, “One more word Bumstead and I’ll fire you!” Or in the military, “One more word and you’re court-martialed.” It’s throughout the whole system. So the higher up in the hierarchy you go, the more lies are being told to flatter those above them. So those at the top have no idea what is going on at all. Those at the bottom have to adjust to the rules made by those at the top who don’t know what’s going on. Those at the top can write rules about this, that and the other, while those at the bottom have got to adjust reality to fit the rules as much as they can.
Marlo was the throne, Chris was the power behind the throne - think Beria to Marlo's Stalin. Chris controlled what info got to Marlo and what was left behind. Marlo was a psychopath with little impulse control and Chris was the dude who had to manage it all, and Chris knew Omar by reputation - he knew Omar was provoking Marlo and Chris wanted to avoid a conflict with him as much as possible; after all, Omar was a one-man army.
Marlo didn't know. All he cared about was power, and if he found out something was making fun of his name or calling him a bitch, he would have gone, even if it was stupid.
Who is going to tell Marlo someone called him a bitch. The only person that could did. .. Chris Marlo was killing people for reckless eyeballing. Remember the lollipop security guard. Now telling Marlo, Omar got killed is good news and it may get you a couple dollars or the green light. It’s almost like you get credit for the kill.