Again, if you are not caught up on HBO's The Wire, you should stop reading here.  Terrible and Devastating Spoliers Ahead!

For those fans who are caught up, some of whom may have watched last night's episode a week early On Demand (like me), let's agree we've experienced a great loss.

Omar Little, trail-blazing gay stick-up boy, the most honorable thief among thieves, was gunned down last night in a west side convenience store buying a pack of Newports.  The writers have protected Omar for four seasons now, longer than I expected.  I've been sensing Omar's impending death throughout this season, as his grief over Butchie's murder by Marlo Stanfield's crew created an Omar we haven't seen before:  emotionally and physically broken, reckless, so bent on revenge he took himself out of the shadows and onto Stanfield's corners, challenging Marlo to a showdown.

Omar has always lived in the shadows, smoking his cigarettes inside dark corners, conducting street-level surveillance and putting the cops' surveillance efforts to shame (an intentional contrast).  Throughout The Wire, when Omar emerged, it was always with great heralding as corner boys and young pawns ran ahead of him yelling "Omar," "Omar," "It's Omar, y'all." 

He would walk brazenly down the street, secure in his mission to rob a stash house or buy some Honey Nut Cheerios.  His silk robe and long black trench coat would fan out behind him, an obvious nod to the capes worn by superheroes.  In fact, in this season, the writers embellished Omar's superhero-like qualities when they allowed him to jump from a four story balcony during a shoot out with Stanfield's crew.  I don't fault the writers for that flourish, but I also knew it was their way of foreshadowing what was to come.  In direct contrast, the writers gave Omar a harsh and mundane death at the hands of young Kenard (a little punk-a** bully who is merciless, sure to be stone cold muscle for some future king-pin). 

All of us may have wanted more from Omar's death, closer to the back-lit, dramatic high-noon (at night) showdown he had with Brother Mouzone in Season Three.  But it was not meant to be, and as a result, all the more poetic. And, a dramatic death is not characteristic of The Wire's brilliance.  I've had my problems with this season, but the way Omar died is exactly what I expect from The Wire.  Omar and his code died so creator David Simon's overarching message about the cruelties of capitalism could sustain.  The game is about power and money, and when the powerful become more corrupt and dictatorial, it gets even dicier for a man with a code.  

There's always been a tenderness to Omar, which is a great testimony to actor Michael K. Williams' ability to portray a man a gay man with a vulnerable heart combined with the machismo necessary to skillfully outsmart and rob drug-dealers. Omar never put his gun on anyone who wasn't "in the game" and, in fact, he killed rarely.  

In last night's episode, we end up in the newspaper room, where Alma reads Gus crime reports that could be used to fill out the paper. I listen closely because I know it's coming.  Homicide, 34-year old black male, shot in a convenience store.  Gus decides to go with another story and Omar's death goes unreported.  At the end of the show, we're in the morgue and a clerk realizes Omar's body has been incorrectly tagged.  He makes the correction and the final shot is Omar's body bag being zipped up over his face.  Omar remains anonymous in the systems and bureaucracies driving urban life.  But, on the streets, Omar is the stuff of legends.  

Here are some of my favorite Omar moments: 

"Occupation?  I rip and run.  I robs drug dealers."