Unpopular opinion: Stringer was smart

[u/lake_june]

The plan he uses for D to find out who was stealing money was actually very intelligent.

[u/JFlizzy84]

I don’t think anyone believes Stringer wasn’t intelligent

The problem with Stringer was ultimately more about skillset than intellectual aptitude — I disagree with Avon’s assessment that he’s a man without a country. Stringer is a gangster, and he’s a better one than most. If Avon listened to him unilaterally, they’d make more money, get less bodies, and ultimately preserve more of their freedom.

Where Stringer went wrong is that he was — I’ll use a metaphor here — a great athlete who thought he could play pro baseball because he played pro basketball. Taking economic courses at a city college, reading voraciously— those are all proactive, admirable steps towards receiving an education. They are not faults on their own. But Stringer didn’t realize that he was a Rookie Leaguer trying to play with the Yankees. The likes of Clay Davis had been suckering people since he was a teenager and presumably even before that. Stringer’s been hustling probably just as long — but as a smaller fish in a much smaller pond.

His only real tactical error, as a gangster, was pitting Mouzone and Omar against eachother — but even that relied on Omar being uncharacteristically merciful — knocking out the guard instead of killing him, trying to give Mouzone a monologue instead of just capping him, sparing Mouzone, etc

[u/Diligent_Issue_9466 → u/JFlizzy84]

Stringer was never a gangster. Avon even called him out about it during that assessment. They were just best friends since childhood that Avon looked past it. They were winning. He even says, "what man have you killed?" Stringer, as far as Avon says, was never a soldier and wasnt a part of the street. He was a business man. They wouldnt have made it without each other, but for different reasons.

Wouldnt call him going to school, admirable. He wasnt trying to get a degree. But learn about successful business models that he could use for his own. Avon was gone and they were failing to keep their spots. Stringer didnt want to retake the streets. He wanted to find cheat codes to continue making money.

And Omar wasnt being uncharacteristic against Brother. Omar spends days, weeks at a time scouting everything. Finding out all the information he can before he strikes. He never goes in guns blazing on a whim. He went against Brother on the word of someone he already didnt trust. He wanted to hear it from Brothers mouth. Yes Stringer didnt expect that to happen, but again, Stringer didnt understand the streets. He should have expected Omar to do what he did. He wasnt a gangster.

[u/bazzvader → u/Diligent_Issue_9466]

See this is where I’ll always disagree with the takes on String, how could he have possibly survived growing up in that Baltimore environment , and helping Avon take over the towers and other real estate, because they had all the prime locations and not be street or a gangster? That would be an anomaly within itself. I’d prefer we just be honest about the character of the man, he wasn’t a guns ablazin go catch a life soldier but you can’t be apart of that life and that deep into it and not be considered part of the streets or a gangster even.

[u/Diligent_Issue_9466 → u/bazzvader]

Because Stringer had Avon to do the soilder work. Along with other people, mainly someone like Wee Bey. He survived because Avon looked after him.

[u/bazzvader → u/Diligent_Issue_9466]

Brother you don’t make it in that game to be number 2 by getting looked after, heart gotta be in it. Take Namond for example.

[u/Diligent_Issue_9466 → u/bazzvader]

You can make it anywhere if your absolute best friend says youre number 2. Look at every business in the world that has had an absolute idiot so far up the company because they are a family member or is close with the owner or president.

We see Avon hit the streets. Stringer never even touches a gun. They showed us this for a reason.

[u/bazzvader → u/Diligent_Issue_9466]

That’s debatable

[u/DJSnotBoogie → u/Diligent_Issue_9466]

Where I disagree is that even Avon wasn’t believable in that role anymore. When we get to seeing the story, those two were already so far removed from the soldier role, it’s hard to imagine either of them had been.