The Wire Birthday Series: Bodie

Back again.  We just had Snoop’s birthday on the 18th and now it’s Preston “Bodie” Broadus’ (real name JD Williams) birthday today on the 22nd.  Doesn’t bother me in the least bit.  You might know the drill by now with these.  But if not, below are a few of Bodie’s best scenes/my favorite scenes and then a little write up about the character.

SPOILER WARNING: There will for sure be BIG spoilers in these videos so don’t watch if you’ve never seen the show.  Stop scrolling.

Bodie fucking Broadus.  So many good scenes with him because he’s there throughout most of the show.  I picked 9 of them and I’m sure I still missed a couple.  When you watch the The Wire the first time through there’s one character that stands out above the rest: Omar.  He’s the unanimous choice for everyone’s favorite character.  How can you not love a shotgun-toting Robin Hood gangster who also likes dudes?  But then if you watch the show all the way through a second time (which you should.  My advice is to always be watching The Wire no matter how many times you’ve seen it) another character emerges as your favorite, or at least he did with me.  And that’s Bodie.  He’s my favorite character from my favorite show.  The solider on the corner who rises up through the ranks from The Pit then onto the towers then onto Hamsterdam until he’s ultimately pushed onto the shitty corners by Marlo before building one up from scratch.  He’s also sneaky one of the funniest characters that is easiest seen in his scenes with Herc and Carver.

But the best thing about Bodie is he’s always there.  No matter which organization was running West Baltimore, Barksdale or Stanfield, he always carves out his spot and hustles it from sun up to sun down.  He’s the common thread that ties the whole show together.  Always spitting between his teeth and making his corners run like a well-oiled machine.  He’s smart, loyal, has the demeanor of a pit bull and understands his place in the hierarchy (something Poot and Wallace were never able to see) and is 100% content with it.  The scene between him and McNulty eating and talking is one of the best in the entire show.  Hard not to feel for Preston when he says, “I feel old.”  Bodie Broadus, soldier.

PS- The day Bodie got killed was one of the worst days of my life.

Double PS- There’s a common misconception that Micheal kills Bodie.  That’s wrong.  It’s O-Dog who ends up dropping The Wire’s favorite soldier.