Bodie – A true soldier on the wire

Character role: Bodie (legally Preston Broadus) is a distributor at The Wire who is initially in the Avon Barksdale organization. Bodie was #2 in the pit under D Barksdale and subsequently went independent.

Bodie was raised by his grandmother and first entered the game at age 13, at which point he began working with the people of Barksdale.

He lives by the code of a soldier in the game and in that he has a sense of honor. He follows Stringer and Avon’s instructions (even harsh ones directed at his friends), doesn’t rattle and works hard trying to slowly go from a pawn to a queen (chess reference).

He’s smart – he managed to claim a trap to evade prison time near the end of season 1 – and he’s got a lot of pride and heart – he decided not to leave his corner even when Chris Partlow and Snoop Pearson (World’s Coldest Killers ). series) are facing him. As Jimmy McNulty says, he is a “real soldier.”

Played by: J.D. Williams

Seasons: Bodie is in seasons 1 – 4.

Best scene: In the first season, Wallace and Bodie play checkers with pieces from a chess set and D teaches them how to play chess. He tosses the different game pieces like players in the game, and Bodie, who seems to understand how chess works, tells D’Angelo, “Okay, so if I go to the other end, I win.” referring to the potential of a pawn to become a powerful queen (or in this case, for Bodie to become a Stringer). It’s clear that Bodie wants to make something of his own, but sadly for him, the drug game is much more like how D describes it, “the pawns, man, in the game, they get covered up fast.”

My favorite quote: “I feel old. I’ve been there since I was 13. I never botched a count, I never stole a package, I never blew a whistle I wasn’t told to. But what come back?… This game is rigged, I know how those little bastards on the chessboard.” Here is the real Bodie. He is a soldier, loyal to his people and willing to do what must be done; but unfortunately, it’s like D’Angelo says: pawns don’t get very far without promoting.

Foil or Enemy: Bodie’s friend Wallace. Bodie’s tougher personality, older spirit (some might even say maturity), and ready-to-do whatever it takes mentality are counterbalanced by Wallace’s youth, boyish face, moral dilemmas with his occupation and his lack of firmness when it comes to playing the drug game.

Critical analysis: (see analysis above)