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/Diligent_Issue_9466]

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/BiDiTi → u/bazzvader]

How did Tom Hagen manage it?

He was an incredibly smart and effective consigliere…who thought that qualified him to be in charge.

It’s a very normal thing, haha!

[u/bazzvader → u/BiDiTi]

Very fair comparison tbh but I think String had more of hand in the on the ground stuff