Viewed as an allegory for the increasingly transparent political and economic processes in the information age, HBO's The Wire clearly presents the motives and actions of all its characters for viewer scrutiny. Rife with carefully examined subplots from elected officials down to the homeless informants and teenage dealers on the Baltimore streets, The Wire's dramatic tension is derived not from curious speculation (like in labrynthine plotted shows such as Lost, where nothing is simple or clear) but from the grim anticipation of knowing exactly what is happening.
This blunt and forthright form of storytelling is perhaps best exemplified in the story arc of shotgun toting stickup boy Omar Little (Michael K. Williams). Loosely based on the real exploits of Baltimore stickup boy Donnie Andrews and others , Omar, elegant and charismatic, robs drug dealers. While he does occasionally let some of his profits slip back to the needy in his community, he's no Robin Hood and banks most of what he takes, viewing his work as a profession like any other. In one memorable scene he is excoriated by a self righteous defense attorney for preying on the misguided and disadvantaged youth who work in the Baltimore drug trade; Omar narrows his eyes and retorts "Just like you, man. I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase."Omar might not harbor any romantic illusions about his role in society, but he exhibits a strong sense of the unwritten rules that govern his work and that of his drug dealing colleagues. When angry dealers murder and brutally disfigure his lover Brandon early in the series, Omar takes the excessive nature of the crime personally and he escalates the focus and intensity of his own work. By turns sensitive and unapologetically violent, he has an affection for Greek mythology, whistling "Farmer in the Dell," frequent and emphatic use of the phrase "true indeed," and unlike nearly every other character on the show, never cusses.
