The Wire: Know your minor characters
4 Comments Published by Cardillo on December 4, 2007 at 2:00 PM.
Jan. 6 the best show on television -- 'The Wire' returns. How can I say it any other way? It's without par.
Put it this way -- do you want a show that:
a) features logical, non-forced plot lines.
b) makes it's characters pay for their mistakes.
c) doesn't take the easy way out and wrap up everything in a nice little bow.
d) has intelligent writing, characters and doesn't treat you like a moron.
e) paints a picture of modern day American most don't want to look at.
Or, do you want a show with David Caruso no-liners? Or competing church choirs singing today's hits?
You know how I roll.
We continue the countdown of lesser characters today with one of the best -- Dennis 'Cutty' Wise.
Name: Dennis Wise
Street name: Cutty
Role: Ex-Westside hitter turned, 'the next Angelo Dundee.'
Claim to fame: To say Cutty is old-school might be an insult. He built the school, with mortar...and brawn. In an corner war in the 80s, Cutty clipped a rival then called the police himself. "I just shot a nigger. Come get him." Cutty adhered to the old-school ways of honor and respect, albeit in the drug 'game', that Marlo and other young bucks spit in the face of. A man got to have a code.
Other career highlights: Jails a Jessup for 14 years with 'Cut Buddy' Wee-Bay, doesn't spill any beans. ... Teaches two of the denser Barksdale soldiers -- Sappar and Gerrard -- that a dealer is thieving since he's flashing a Wes Unseld Mitchell & Ness throwback. ... Beds nearly have the Westside single mothers who come past his gym. ... Turns a young hopper, Justin, from a Utz chip snackin' slob, into a fierce young welterweight. .. Gets a load of cash from Avon for his Westside boxing gym, that actually takes off and gets kids off the corner...except Michael Lee.
Career lowlights: Upon returning from Jessep, gets a package and has Fruit work it. Of course, Fruit takes the money and tells Cutty to fuck off (a growing trend on the new streets of West Baltimore.) Fruit actually says the pack was stolen, prompting Cutty to ask for the BPD arrest number. (Old school) ... Doesn't know how to prime a lawnmower. ... Is thoroughly re-buffed by former flame Grace Sampson after getting release from jail. ... While employed as truant officer at Tilhman Middle, catches a bunch of kids simply hurling bottles at a crumbling wall. Cutty is dismayed at the city youth and working a wrangler isn't enough, but when he asks for a better job from Miss Donnelly, he again, is rebuffed.
Defining moment 1: In the early stages of the Barksdale/Stanfield war, organizes a hit with Slim Charles (including a pimp-a-licious all-black hit outfit). Saying nothing of the botched drive-by from Sappar, eventually Slim blasts a kid with an asthma inhaler, leaving Cutty with a 1-v-1 on a prone Fruit, but the old killer couldn't pull the trigger, although he was 'close enough to take off his Kangol and half his dome with it.' Slim thinks he gets in the way of the shot. It leads to Cutty telling Avon that he just can't be a ganster anymore. (Watch the clip.)
Defining moment 2: For all that Cutty is, he isn't too bright. He actually thought his rundown gym could compete with the bling of Marlo's crew. Cutty confronts a torn Michael Lee in front of a Korean grocer...only to end up leg-shot by Monk Metcalf. The upside of the shooting is that a) he helps Bunny Colvin get with Wee-Bay about Namond. b) he earns the charms of the foxy nurse, who thought he was a ganster, but falls for him when Colvin tells how Cutty was shot, "for trying to get a boy off the corner."
Secret abilities: Can curse in Spanish. ... A cold-chillin' dresser. ... Won't train girls to box, he's old-fashioned like that.
Guilty pleasures: "Benson" re-runs. ... Curtis Mayfield tunes. ... Prefers football to televised mayoral debates.
Quotable: "What is this foolishness?" ... "Any of y'all seen Spider? Tell him he needs to come past my gym." ... "I can't vote. ... Move along." ... "Nah man, school's, school." ... "Look at your face! Man, that boy was high as hell and anything can jump off then." ... "The game done changed."
Bottom line: Cutty, unlike most of the characters on 'The Wire' shows some signs of grow and...gasp... a possible happy ending. Yeah, he was shot in the proces, but still.
Cutty is a very interesting character, rare for television, as he's a tried-and-true gangster trying to go straight. It's not a cartoon characterization either, as Cutty truly struggles to walk the straight and narrow path.
Either way, every line from Cutty is pure old-school gold.
Up next: Sgt. Jay Landsman
Put it this way -- do you want a show that:
a) features logical, non-forced plot lines.
b) makes it's characters pay for their mistakes.
c) doesn't take the easy way out and wrap up everything in a nice little bow.
d) has intelligent writing, characters and doesn't treat you like a moron.
e) paints a picture of modern day American most don't want to look at.
Or, do you want a show with David Caruso no-liners? Or competing church choirs singing today's hits?
You know how I roll.
We continue the countdown of lesser characters today with one of the best -- Dennis 'Cutty' Wise.
Name: Dennis Wise
Street name: Cutty
Role: Ex-Westside hitter turned, 'the next Angelo Dundee.'
Claim to fame: To say Cutty is old-school might be an insult. He built the school, with mortar...and brawn. In an corner war in the 80s, Cutty clipped a rival then called the police himself. "I just shot a nigger. Come get him." Cutty adhered to the old-school ways of honor and respect, albeit in the drug 'game', that Marlo and other young bucks spit in the face of. A man got to have a code.
Other career highlights: Jails a Jessup for 14 years with 'Cut Buddy' Wee-Bay, doesn't spill any beans. ... Teaches two of the denser Barksdale soldiers -- Sappar and Gerrard -- that a dealer is thieving since he's flashing a Wes Unseld Mitchell & Ness throwback. ... Beds nearly have the Westside single mothers who come past his gym. ... Turns a young hopper, Justin, from a Utz chip snackin' slob, into a fierce young welterweight. .. Gets a load of cash from Avon for his Westside boxing gym, that actually takes off and gets kids off the corner...except Michael Lee.
Career lowlights: Upon returning from Jessep, gets a package and has Fruit work it. Of course, Fruit takes the money and tells Cutty to fuck off (a growing trend on the new streets of West Baltimore.) Fruit actually says the pack was stolen, prompting Cutty to ask for the BPD arrest number. (Old school) ... Doesn't know how to prime a lawnmower. ... Is thoroughly re-buffed by former flame Grace Sampson after getting release from jail. ... While employed as truant officer at Tilhman Middle, catches a bunch of kids simply hurling bottles at a crumbling wall. Cutty is dismayed at the city youth and working a wrangler isn't enough, but when he asks for a better job from Miss Donnelly, he again, is rebuffed.
Defining moment 1: In the early stages of the Barksdale/Stanfield war, organizes a hit with Slim Charles (including a pimp-a-licious all-black hit outfit). Saying nothing of the botched drive-by from Sappar, eventually Slim blasts a kid with an asthma inhaler, leaving Cutty with a 1-v-1 on a prone Fruit, but the old killer couldn't pull the trigger, although he was 'close enough to take off his Kangol and half his dome with it.' Slim thinks he gets in the way of the shot. It leads to Cutty telling Avon that he just can't be a ganster anymore. (Watch the clip.)
Defining moment 2: For all that Cutty is, he isn't too bright. He actually thought his rundown gym could compete with the bling of Marlo's crew. Cutty confronts a torn Michael Lee in front of a Korean grocer...only to end up leg-shot by Monk Metcalf. The upside of the shooting is that a) he helps Bunny Colvin get with Wee-Bay about Namond. b) he earns the charms of the foxy nurse, who thought he was a ganster, but falls for him when Colvin tells how Cutty was shot, "for trying to get a boy off the corner."
Secret abilities: Can curse in Spanish. ... A cold-chillin' dresser. ... Won't train girls to box, he's old-fashioned like that.
Guilty pleasures: "Benson" re-runs. ... Curtis Mayfield tunes. ... Prefers football to televised mayoral debates.
Quotable: "What is this foolishness?" ... "Any of y'all seen Spider? Tell him he needs to come past my gym." ... "I can't vote. ... Move along." ... "Nah man, school's, school." ... "Look at your face! Man, that boy was high as hell and anything can jump off then." ... "The game done changed."
Bottom line: Cutty, unlike most of the characters on 'The Wire' shows some signs of grow and...gasp... a possible happy ending. Yeah, he was shot in the proces, but still.
Cutty is a very interesting character, rare for television, as he's a tried-and-true gangster trying to go straight. It's not a cartoon characterization either, as Cutty truly struggles to walk the straight and narrow path.
Either way, every line from Cutty is pure old-school gold.
Up next: Sgt. Jay Landsman
Labels: HBO, television, The Wire
Maybe you have seen this, but at the bottom of this page there are some links to prequels of certain characters' backstories:
http://www.amazon.com/Wire-Complete-Fourth-Season/dp/B000QXDJLI
nice stuff. I dig Cutty. I always feel like something AWFUL is going to happen to him, though.
This might sound off-base, but I've been re-watching season 4 in prep for season 5 and I've noticed something unusual about Cutty. I recalled when he was trying to "save" Michael from the street, Michael told him to back off and made a homophobic comment. In watching his interactions with Spider and Michael early on in season 4 (including his big "in prison a long time" disclaimer), it seems like there is some ambiguity as to whether he is merely "hitting it and quitting it" with the ladies in the boys' families or if he is actually grooming the boys themselves for relationships. It is tough to tell, and maybe that is something that will be explored in Season 5. (is Cutty on the DL or not.. hmmmm)
Nice summary. Not enough of Cutty in Season 5. What is this foolishness about Cutty's ambiguous sexuality? Please. He is all man.
Career Lowlights: "Doesn't know how to prime a lawnmower." ahahaha