Did anyone else find it interesting that when Cheese gave his final speech about how "there ain't no nostalgia" he talked about how Prop Joe had his time and Marlo had his time but he never mentioned Avon Barksdale at all (even though Cheese was involved with Stringer in the founding of the Co-op that still endured)? I just found it an interesting emphasis on the point that regardless of how powerful you become on the street, once your time's up your name won't even ring out a couple of years later. History in the game lasts less than a generation.

I don't think it's that weird. I believe Cheese's words were, "When it was Joe, I was with Joe. When it was Marlo, I was with Marlo...." He was with Joe back when Barksdale was running the show, and when Joe and Stringer had a partnership. He never really worked for Barksdale, so he never considered that in his "nostalgia."

"When it was Joe, I was with Joe. When it was Marlo, I was with Marlo...."

And when he was dead, he was dead. The camera lingers on the corpse until it stops twitching and is left alone in the field, a statement like the one on Omar, who suddenly went from being a legend to a nobody in the morgue. Ain't no nostalgia.

I think the point of that scene was that there WAS nostalgia on the street. It was a rare moment on "The Wire" that portrayed the street as having some redeming qualities.

In that scene, even the street rejects Cheese & his heartless, unloyal and totally self serving philosophy.

"That was for Joe" says Slim Charles, and the rest of the dealers seem satisfied with that.

"Sentimental motherfucker!"

That was an off-the-couch moment for me. Who isn't a fan of Slim Charles?

Nostalgia exists on "The Wire's" streets. When Marlo went back to the street in his suit, you hear in the background tall tales of Omar taking out a group of armed men. Also, remember that hilarious funeral floral represnentation of the towers in season three? If that's not sentimental, I don't know what is.

I didn't think it was weird, just thought it was interesting. But Cheese's execution was an off-the-couch moment for me too.

On a different note, I think that Slim Charles will end up becoming a much less thuggish drug lord than Marlo or Cheese. I thought in season 3 that he was the one who understood needing to find a comfortable balance between Stringer's approach and Avon's approach...Slim Charles isn't going to be the type to build condos, but he's also not going to be one to light up a street corner when it will do more damage to business than it's worth.

I think Slim will be much like Prop Joe in his approach.

Barksdales owned the West Side business, Prop Joe the East. Check the first two seasons. That's why Cheese never mentions him, because the two never worked together. Stanfield took over the West Side, and only got control of the East when he killed Prop Joe.