Barksdale crew was more ruthless than the Stanfield crew, in hindsight

[Kid McNamara]

Lil Kevin didn't even work for Marlo.


Avon wasn't killing people over trivial shyt. He mad fukkups in his crew after season 1 too.

Kevin was told to speak to Lex, whether he's a contractor or employee, he didn't follow orders.

Someone already made mention to Avon killing the witnesses and killing the prison inmates. Avon isn't less of a sociopath, he just grew up in a different time and with a separate set of rules. They are both sociopaths. Arguing which is more ruthless is like figuring out which Army generals were more ruthless. Body counts and tactics scale with time, but the idea of a person willingly making the decision to kill and harm for their own gain, does not.

The key here is when Cutty says, "the game has changed," to which Slim Charles responds, "naw, it just got more fierce." Difference between a leader and a soldier is the ability to recognize, adapt to, and exploit this.

Game is the game...always. Marlo isn't anymore ruthless than Barksdale, he just grew up in his own time. He's willing to resort to non-traditional tactics (using girls like Snoop and young kids such as the asthmatic dude) in order to achieve victory. Barksdale and Bell likely had to do the same when they were coming up, just in a different way.

Capitalism is ingenuity, talent, hard work bearing great fortune. It's also a lot of folks left behind.

shyt is a treatise on capitalism and warfare.

 

[tehdamajah]

I always thought that the barcksdale crew were fukkups.
- gettin punkd by omar lots of times
- lots of failed hits

 

[kareem929]

He shot his jumpoff in each tittay!!

 

[Kid McNamara]

He shot his jumpoff in each tittay!!

NOPE. Warranted. She was working for Avon.

 

[gluvnast]

Well I guess we can look at the numbers within a similar time frame - when the two organizations were at their peak. It's been a while since I watched the show so feel free to correct me:

In the very first episode McNulty says the Barksdales "dropped 10 or 12 bodies in as many months". And over the course of S1 they also killed Omar's people, Gant, Wallace, Little Man, that female witness they bribed and Orlando. And they would have also dropped Scar and maybe one of his workers("his boy break, we gonna let em, but if he raise up...") had Omar not intervened.

So within a year + the months S1 covered(let's say maybe 6) the Barksdales have dropped about 18-21 bodies. That's an average of ~1.2 bodies/month.

Now Marlo:
Unless I'm mistaken the time elapsed between the end of S3 - when Marlo hadn't yet started hiding bodies in vacants - and the beginning of season 4 was about a year. And unless I'm mistaken season 4 lasted for more or less a full school year(the end of summer to the beginning of the following summer) so that's what, 9 months?

Now the cops found 22 bodies at the end of S4, but there were also a few that were left on the street. Bodie, the woman in Andre's shop, Michael's first kill and at least one NY drug dealer.

I think Marlo killed a total of 5 NY dealers(mentioned in a discussion with Prop Joe), but we saw Chris and Snoop put 2 of them in a vacant. And they left one on the street. So that leaves 2 unaccounted for, which could go either way.
So 26-28 bodies in 21 months, that's ~1.3 bodies/month.

Now obviously this shyt is not an exact science since the time frames are somewhat speculative, but as we can see the numbers are quite similar.

You negated the total number of bodies they DID find inside the vacants.

 

[K-ZOE]

Marlo would've killed or had that ref killed before the park even emptied. True. I don't see Marlo even allowing 1 of his soldiers to walk away from the game much less come back a few months later to get fronted some G's. For Chris or Snoop he might tho but it would take some tragic shyt to happen to them to make him let them walk away. Like if one of em got paralyzed or something. All that "my heart aint in it no mo' " shyt will get you in a vacant.
But I just can't sit here and say the Barksdales weren't ruthless or even just as ruthless. The ref lived cuz he appropriately shut the fukk up. He knew his life was in danger. Avon was "begging" him to say something wrong. "YOU CAN'T BE LETTIN ANY OLD nikka GET UP IN YOUR FACE. p*ssy". Now the security guard woulda reacted to that comment and ended up the same way he ended up for chasing Marlo for a 25 cent lollipop. Barksdales kill witnesses cooperating or not, kill mufukkas they suspect MAY snitch (Wallace, Little Man, Avon's chick Weebay killed that D took credit for). I don't think they above killing a family over a rumor. Just never happened that we know of. String once said they had to go to war with a few different crews to get control of the Towers. Maybe somebody's mama or kid had to die to get them to fall back?

 

[gluvnast]

I always thought that the barcksdale crew were fukkups.
- gettin punkd by omar lots of times
- lots of failed hits

Omar, not only dodge the hit made by Marlo, he also completely destroyed Marlo's street rep to the point they don't forgot about him.

 

[tehdamajah]

Omar, not only dodge the hit made by Marlo, he also completely destroyed Marlo's street rep to the point they don't forgot about him.

Omar took avons stash like every epidsode
killed stinkum and string
ratted out the guy from onyx
shot bay in the leg
at least marlos ppl could find omar and try to kill him
i mean this guy

and his sidekick were stupid as fukk
and that other guy taking notes at those co ops

 

[gluvnast]

Omar took avons stash like every epidsode
killed stinkum and string
ratted out the guy from onyx
shot bay in the leg
at least marlos ppl could find omar and try to kill him
i mean this guy

and his sidekick were stupid as fukk

Omar punked Marlo right in his face with the classic "These 4-5's beat a full house" line. Punked him out of his RING, in fact.

Out of all of those so-called stash steals he pulled from Avon, Omar made the biggest most successful pull from MARLO that was so big that Omar went into retirement and was chilling in the islands.

Marlo had to kill Butchie just for Omar to even return and still failed in achieving to get Omar. Omar, in Marlo's own words was on some "Spider-Man shyt".

You talk about kills, Omar killed Manny and Savino WHILE CRIPPLED. He even got Michael inspired to be just LIKE him by the end of the season

He poisoned Marlo's name so much in the streets that even Chris was ashamed to tell Marlo the truth.

In the end, Omar pretty much DESTROYED Marlo's legendary status....kids were still talking about the glory days when it was Avon vs. Omar thou.

 

[tehdamajah]

yea but marlo was not dead or in jail in the end so...

 

[gluvnast]

yea but marlo was not dead or in jail in the end so...

Marlo was the type of person in which death or even prison means nothing. The ONLY concern he ever had and wanted was his rep and legacy. Hence the final scene of him when two men was reminiscing about the glory days of Avon vs. Omar and Marlo stepped up on some "what about me" type shyt, only to discover these dudes didn't careless about who he was. Marlo saw that irony. He got what Stringer was dreaming to get, but failed in getting what Avon already secured. Avon's name and rep is forever secured, no matter if it's in prison OR on the streets. Even when Avon organized that meeting with Marlo, Marlo had to acknowledge that kind of respect Avon had.

 

[tehdamajah]

 

[VBM]

Either crew could have used Sergei

 

[Food Mane]

Avon loved the west Baltimore dope game, Stringer loved money, and Marlo loved power.

Avon, like Omar, lived by an internal code and set of rules. Stringer and Marlo didn't have that.

That said, we didn't get to see the Barksdales rise to power. I imagine some fairly vicious shyt occurred.

 

[gluvnast]

Avon loved the west Baltimore dope game, Stringer loved money, and Marlo loved power.

Avon, like Omar, lived by an internal code and set of rules. Stringer and Marlo didn't have that.

That said, we didn't get to see the Barksdales rise to power. I imagine some fairly vicious shyt occurred.

Avon could of careless about the dope game, even when they were struggling HARD in season two, Avon was more concern about the Barksdale control than joining a co-op with those Eastside n*ggaz. Avon loved the CODE of the streets. That's I will agree with you about him and Omar. They grew up with the concept of being it "all in the game".