I haven’t watched it in ages, though I’ve listened to a podcast recently while bored at work that’s been rewatching it - something they point out is that Stringer is way dumber than he seems upon first watch, he’s essentially a mildly intelligent middle manager who has convinced himself that he’s way smarter than everyone around him. Also had forgotten that the episode after his iconic “comes at the king you best not miss” line, Omar fucks up his attempt at killing Avon.

Basically I think the show gets both overrated and underrated in retrospect. It got all this hype about being this super gritty and real show, that told you about what was really going on with cops and criminals and the way things work. And it definitely explores issues that no other show was doing, but it’s also a TV show written by TV writers who want to put out an entertaining product, and has some characters who are there to provide entertainment far more than to provide a view of street-level reality. I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I just think it can be off-putting for some people coming to it with all this hype, seeing Omar and Brother Mouzone and the whole Shakespearian drama of Avon and Stringer, next to some legitimately harrowing scenes of human degradation.