Ok, with that out of the way, let me just say that I am absolutely DEVASTATED that Omar Little, the almost-mythic stickup man played by Michael Kenneth Williams, was killed off on last night's episode of "The Wire."
Omar was one of the show's most complicated and interesting characters -- a man who robbed drug dealers and killed criminals who got in his way, but refused to kill innocent citizens, and sometimes helped the police. Oh, and he was gay. Talk about a complex guy.
Throughout the series' run, Omar was treated almost like a Western anti-hero. Who else was man enough to take down the brilliant criminal henchman Stringer Bell, or to survive a series of attempts on his life?
Even in a series filled with sympathetic criminals, Omar stood out. He was a legend on the streets, and even earned the respect of some police officers, including the no-nonsense Bunk Moreland.
Though "The Wire" is known for its bleakness, I never thought Omar would be killed off. Indeed, I thought the series would end with him taking out the psychopathic drug kingpin Marlo, or at least Marlo's henchmen, Chris and Snoop.
To have Omar die the way he did, at the hands of a sociopathic little boy (whom we earlier saw in the process of lighting a cat on fire) was nothing less than a shock. Even sadder, his death is brushed off by mainstream society. His murder didn't even merit a brief in the Baltimore Sun police log, and is body is almost mis-catalogued when a morgue worker improperly labels it.
As always, "The Wire" never fails to shock and, even though I'm upset at the loss of this iconic character, I applaud the show's bravery and commitment to its own grim ideals.