10 shocking deaths from ‘The Wire’

David Simon’s The Wire revolves around the drug scene of Baltimore and how drug lords and narcotics departments operate in the area. The show is filled with intriguing characters but the show is also often known for the way it kills some characters in a surprising way. One thing that stands out for The Wire is how realistically it presents the death of its characters.

Throughout the five seasons, the viewers get to see a microcosm of the US’s war on drugs through opposing forces in Baltimore. From Stringer Bell to Bodie, here is a list of some of the most impactful characters that faced a sudden and surprising demise.

Viewers can go through this list of tragic character endings to recap some of the great characters from The Wire.

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Stringer Bell, Omar Little, and eight other shocking deaths from The Wire

10) Bodie

Still from the show The Wire (Image via HBO)

A disciplined dealer meets an unfair death in the end. Bodie, played by J.D. Williams, remained loyal to the Barksdale Organisation even when things weren’t going the right way. However, towards the end of season 4, his principles became the reason for his downfall.

Chris and Snoop come to his corner but his loyalty towards his territory kills him. Bodie put up a brave fight but eventually was taken aback by a sudden move from O-Dog. As O-Dog attacked from behind, the viewers lost Bodie who was a kind character but just at the wrong place.

9) Stringer Bell

One of the smartest characters of the show, Stinger Bell (Idris Elba), always knew how to tackle the moves of the enemies. However, two of his enemies joined hands to corner Stringer at a time when he wasn’t expecting them.

In season 3, episode Middle Ground, Omar and Brother Mouzone trap Stringer at a building he was working on. With both men coming from opposite sides, he had no way to escape. Although Stringer had avoided danger before, he was finally killed by this unexpected team-up.

8) Joe

Still from the show The Wire (Image via Netflix)

Joe was almost a permanent character in The Wire. In some way or the other, Joe was present in each season of the show. Fans of the show were shocked to see Joe pass away suddenly from the show.

As he was so popular, it seemed unlikely that he would be killed eventually. Joe unknowingly set up for his own demise because of his double-dealing habits. Eventually, towards season 5, Marlo couldn’t trust Joe anymore, so he made Chris assassinate Joe.

7) Frank Sobotka

Ziggy gets himself in trouble in season 2 of the show, and his dad, Frank, tries his level best to save him from going down the wrong path. Eventually, Frank decides to put Ziggy’s well-being over his passion for docks.

Meanwhile, the Greek got wrongly tipped about Frank that he had started working as a police informant. The viewers then get to see a horribly mutilated corpse of Frank at the start of the season finale episode.

6) D’Angelo Barksdale

D’Angelo Barksdale, played by Larry Gilliard Jr. in the show, was the nephew of Avon and a lieutenant in his drug-dealing organization, which controls most of the trade in West Baltimore. Things changed for him when his conscience got in the way of his criminal activities.

Stringer gets worried that D’Angelo will inform the gang. Stringer’s fear eventually gets to him, and he hires a contract killer to strangle him to death in prison and make it look like a suicide.

5) Glekas

One of the most unfortunate and sudden deaths happens to the character of Glekas. Ziggy had enough of everyone demeaning him for everything so the day when Ziggy finally stands up he does something very shocking for all the fans of the show.

In season 2, episode 10, Storm Warnings, when Ziggy gets furious about Glekas laughing off his protests, he kills him in the heat of the moment, only to regret it later. Ziggy’s guilt kills him, and he turns himself in.

4) Wallace

Wallace, played by a 16-year-old Michael B. Jordan, is one of the early unfortunate deaths we get to see in the show. Wallace’s story is used as a tool by the creators of the show to depict the aspect of how hard it is to get out of the cycle of drugs once you get used to it.

Much like D’Angelo, Wallace also faces the struggle of conscience eventually. He goes to the police after the guilt of what he had become but on Stringer’s orders, Bodie and Poot kill their son and viewers get to see a very shocking death in the first season itself.

3) Snoop

Snoop was a haunting character in the show. She was a sharp killer who used to know about the opponent’s next move and kill them instead.

However, things turn upside down during the penultimate episode when Michael figures out Snoop’s plan to kill him and kills her with the weapon at the shoot location. Snoop calmly accepts her fate and makes a terrifying experience for the viewers to watch.

2) Sherrod

One of the most tragic death sequences happens when Bubbles tries to outsmart an enemy but accidentally kills one of his own. Bubbles tries to end his cycle of bullying once and for all.

He managed to replace the drugs he had to pass to the drug dealer with sodium cyanide. However, unfortunately, Bubbles never gets a hold of the cyanide, but Sherrod does, and he dies as soon as he consumes the cyanide.

1) Omar Little

Omar Little played by Micheal K. Williams in The Wire is one of the most evil characters of the show. For the entire run of the show, Omar managed to steal drugs from his rivals.

Omar even managed to escape to Puerto Rico but eventually got killed by a 10-year-old kid at a convenience store. Omar, being absolutely clever all the time, gets killed in an unglorified way, which is one of the most shocking deaths for the fans of the show.

These were some of the shocking deaths from The Wire that shook a lot of its fans. Viewers can go through this list to recap how they lost some of the most significant characters of the show.

About the author

Aakash Mishra is an entertainment and timeless listicle writer at Sportskeeda. He holds a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism, which laid the foundation for his passion for cinema and content creation. With over 2 years of experience, he has contributed to various media outlets such as Scrbblr, Republic, Zee5, and IndiaTimes.

His fascination with movies and the art of merging visual and written mediums drives his work, hoping to create a film himself one day. In his free time, Aakash enjoys researching folk music and exploring music trivia. His favorite artist is Amit Trivedi with whom he would love to talk about Indian music and the unique fusion he brings to the genre.

If he could, Aakash would like to be a part of the show Succession. But he would rather play the role of a bouncer and watch all the actors perform together.

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Edited by Divya Singh