Joseph "Proposition Joe" Stewart (often referred to as Prop Joe) is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor Robert F. Chew. Joe is an Eastside drug kingpin who preferred a peaceful solution to business disputes when possible. He was responsible for creating the lucrative New Day Co-Op with Stringer Bell, supplying much of Baltimore with heroin brought into the city by "The Greeks". Joe was a portly and amiable presence, but was often a match in wits for rival drug lords Avon Barksdale and Marlo Stanfield and was able to manipulate most situations to his advantage. His nickname stemmed from his trademark phrase "I've got a proposition for you," going back to his days on the school yard selling test answers. He has the distinction, along with Poot Carr and Wee-Bey Brice, of being one of the few characters from the drug trade to appear in every season and the only drug kingpin to do so.

Biography[link]

Season one[link]

Joe first appears at an annual basketball game, the Eastside Projects' team versus the Westside Projects. Joe plays on Avon Barksdale's pride, goading him into doubling their wager on the outcome, then bringing in a ringer at the last minute to win the game. That same day, he is visited by stick-up-man Omar Little, who gives Joe some of the Barksdale Organization's stolen narcotics in exchange for Barksdale's pager number. Omar uses the information in an unsuccessful attempt on Barksdale's life but Joe's role in Omar's attack is never revealed to Barksdale. Joe later serves as a neutral go-between, organizing a meeting between Barksdale's business partner Stringer Bell and Omar to discuss a truce.

Season two[link]

In season two, Joe's role is expanded, and it is revealed that Joe relies on the Greek's smuggling ring to supply him with Heroin throght the Baltimore ports , joe says that he still has to source his cocaine from New York as the Greeks only deal in Heroin. Joe accommodates Nick Sobotka at the request of Sergei "Serge" Malatov to resolve a dispute over a bad drug deal between Ziggy Sobotka and Joe's nephew and lieutenant Calvin "Cheese" Wagstaff. Out of respect to Malatov, Joe helps the Sobotkas reclaim money that Cheese stole from Ziggy.

Joe's heroin supply is the purest in Baltimore, but he lacks the territory to maximize profits. Due to Avon Barksdale's arrest, the Barksdale Organization is cut off from their Dominican suppliers and is forced to sell weaker heroin. Joe offers Stringer Bell a portion of his product in exchange for the right to deal drugs in some of the Barksdale-controlled towers. Barksdale vehemently rejects the idea, but Bell secretly agrees and Cheese's crew moves in to what was previously Barksdale territory. Barksdale is unaware of Bell's move and brings in Brother Mouzone to protect the towers. Mouzone confronts Cheese and wounds him with a non-fatal gunshot. Joe fears Mouzone's reputation and knows it would be a mistake to attack him directly. Joe sets up a meeting between Bell and Omar Little, and Bell tricks Omar into shooting Mouzone. This elaborate deception achieves the shared goals of Joe and Bell: it drives Mouzone back to New York and forces Barksdale to grudgingly agree to the drugs-for-territory exchange with arch-rival Joe.

Season three[link]

Joe insulates himself against police investigation by maintaining a strict policy of only meeting face to face. His nephew "Drac" is targeted as a potential inroad for an investigation by Lieutenant Cedric Daniels' major crimes unit, due to his propensity to talk business over the phone. Daniels' unit arrests Joe's lieutenant Lavelle Mann in an undercover bust operation, hoping that Drac would be promoted to replace him. However Joe chooses someone more reliable, thwarting the unit's efforts inadvertently. Daniels tips his hand when he arrests Cheese, believing that he had him on tape discussing a murder. Cheese realizes that the tape is of him talking about shooting his pet dog, and the police are forced to release him. He reports the incident to Joe who is thus forewarned about the investigation, and passes the information on to Stringer Bell. The unit moves their investigation away from Joe and onto the more violent Kintel Williamson when they fail to make further progress.

Joe extends the sharing of his supply to many other drug dealers in Baltimore, forming the New Day Co-Op with Bell, Ricardo "Fat-Face Rick" Hendrix and Kintell Williamson, among others. He supplies all of these drug dealers with his package, and they receive a discount for the bulk buying; they also agree to avoid bringing unnecessary police attention by limiting violence. Because of this, Williamson stops killing people, and the police begin investigating a brewing turf war between Avon Barksdale and up-and-coming Marlo Stanfield.

Joe and the rest of the Co-Op object to the police attention the war creates, as it interferes with their business. Joe meets with Stanfield's advisor Vinson to try to negotiate a settlement, but Stanfield is unwilling to back out of the war, believing that Barksdale is weak. Joe gives Bell an ultimatum - end the war or he will be thrown out of the Co-Op. The ultimatum is defused when Bell is murdered, and Barksdale is arrested, leaving Joe with complete control of the Co-Op.^[1]

Season four[link]

Joe recruits former Barksdale Organization soldier Slim Charles as his lieutenant to supply the independent dealers that have arisen to replace the Barksdale organization in Western Baltimore. However, problems arise; Marlo Stanfield has taken control of much of the Barksdales' prime territory, and the New York drug organizations are taking over territory in Eastern Baltimore. The Co-Op votes to negotiate with Stanfield and recruit him to strike back against the New York drug dealers.

Joe contacts Stanfield, who turns down his first offer. Joe manipulates Omar Little again, inducing him to rob a card game which Stanfield attends, by pretending that he wanted to make amends for his involvement in the Stringer Bell/Brother Mouzone incident. After Omar robs the card game, Joe offers Stanfield another meeting and claims he could protect him against such surprises in the future. Joe also explains that he has contacts within the Baltimore police department and courts. Joe routinely shares information about police activity with other Co-Op members. Although much of his information is actually public record, Joe is also aware of the case against Kintel Williamson that was suspended and inconclusive. Stanfield agrees to work with the Co-Op. With Stanfield's help, the New York dealers are driven out of Baltimore. Joe also offers Stanfield advice on how to deal with a police surveillance camera, discovers the identity of the unit investigating Stanfield and tries to encourage Stanfield's transition into being less violent and more business-minded.

Stanfield frames Omar for murder and plans to have him killed while in prison. Omar escapes the charges and plots revenge on Stanfield. Omar forces Joe (at gunpoint) to agree to betray Stanfield, but Omar ultimately double-crosses Joe and steals an entire Co-Op shipment as it is delivered. The Co-Op decides that Joe should cover the expense of replacing it, and Joe threatens to cut them off from his supplier, forcing them to back down. Omar returns to sell the shipment back to Joe for 20 cents on the dollar; Joe, ever the opportunist, informs the Co-Op that the price is 30 cents on the dollar, allowing Joe to recoup some of the losses from the theft.

Stanfield is perturbed by the robbery and suspects that Cheese, who was responsible for collecting the shipment, was involved. To protect his nephew Joe is forced to reveal his suppliers' identity and arrange for Stanfield to meet with Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos. At the end of the season, Joe and the rest of the New Day Co-Op resume business as usual, but have put a bounty on Omar's head.^[2]

Season five[link]

The fifth season opens over a year later. Joe's advice has allowed Marlo Stanfield to successfully avoid prosecution despite an ongoing major case unit investigation. Joe finds that he is losing territory in the redevelopment and gentrification of Eastern Baltimore and proposes a division of new territory in Baltimore County to compensate the East side drug dealers. Stanfield objects and then sows the seed of dissent in Joe's organization by suggesting that Joe should allow Joe's lieutenants to manage the new territory.^[3][4]

Stanfield approaches Joe for assistance with money laundering and obtaining literally clean bills. Joe claims that he is happy to help and puts Stanfield in touch with several of his contacts. Joe uses a pastor with charitable organizations abroad to launder money - he makes "donations" to the charity and then receives 90% of his funds back as cashier's cheques. Joe introduces Stanfield to a pastor who can provide the same service. But privately Joe describes "civilizing" Stanfield as an ongoing uphill struggle. Stanfield is concerned about having his money in foreign banks and Joe helps him to obtain a passport to visit the bank. Stanfield also requests clean bills from Joe and is accommodated. Joe is unaware that Stanfield is using the money to pay tribute to The Greek and is plotting to usurp his supply connection. Stanfield also hopes to get revenge on the now retired Omar Little while Joe is happy to have escaped further involvement. Stanfield offers a bounty on anyone connected to Omar but Joe does not reveal Omar's connection to Butchie. However, Cheese betrays Joe for the reward and Stanfield has his enforcers murder Butchie.^[5][6]

Joe fears reprisal from Omar and decides to leave town. He arranges for Slim Charles to watch Cheese closely as he suspects his betrayal. Joe arranges flowers for Butchie's funeral both as a gesture to his friend and to signal to Omar his innocence in the murder. Cheese has created a feud with Co-Op kingpin Hungry Man over the new county territory and Joe publicly reprimands his nephew. Stanfield gets the agreement of The Greek that he will consider him an insurance policy if Joe is unable to continue to handle their supply. Stanfield then seizes on Cheese's feud with Hungry Man to convince him to betray Joe. Cheese gives Joe up as he is packing to leave town. Stanfield corners Joe in his home, and Joe correctly guesses that Cheese betrayed him. Stanfield rejects Joe's final proposition of disappearing quietly, and has Chris Partlow shoot Joe while he watches.^[7]

Joe went to school at Dunbar High School with former Police Commissioner Ervin Burrell. Prop Joe says this to Herc who is working for Maury Levy at the time.

Production[link]

Actor Robert F. Chew appeared in David Simon's previous series Homicide: Life on the Street, in the three part episode "Blood Ties", playing Wilkie Collins, a drug kingpin who hates violence. Collins provides the police with key information about which drug dealer was shooting at them so that the police would not interfere with his business. Collins and his wife are subsequently murdered by the Mahoney drug cartel for his betrayal. His young son witnesses their deaths and helps the police arrest their murderer. Chew also had a small role in Simon's HBO mini-series The Corner in which he played a shoe salesman.

References[link]

Russell "Stringer" Bell is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire, played by English actor Idris Elba. Bell served as drug kingpin Avon Barksdale's second in command, assuming direct control of the Barksdale Organization during Avon's imprisonment. Bell attends economics classes at Baltimore City Community College and maintains a personal library, including a copy of Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations. He attempts to legitimize the Barksdale Organization by investing in housing properties and buying influence from politicians.

An intelligent planner and businessman in the drug-filled underworld of Baltimore, Bell is a close adviser to Barksdale and handles the economic decisions for the Barksdale crew. He is keen for the Barksdale outfit to act in a businesslike and professional manner, rather than appearing as mere thugs and gangsters and he often tries to temper Barksdale's bloodthirsty nature. Though not as vengeful as Barksdale, Bell is ruthless and completely devoted to his work, eliminating threats to the Barksdale Organization as soon as they appear.

Though he commits a number of heinous acts throughout the show, Stringer's positive attributes - intelligence, ambition, a desire to see less violence on the streets if only for the sake of profit - have received much acclaim. In more symbolic terms, Stringer's ambitions can be seen as a mirror of capitalism played out in the urban underclass.

Biography[link]

Stringer was born September 17, 1969, and grew up in the West Baltimore projects alongside childhood friends Avon Barksdale and Wee-Bey Brice.

Season one[link]

Stringer is first seen attending the trial of Avon's nephew and lieutenant, D'Angelo Barksdale, for the murder of rival drug dealer "Pooh" Blanchard. Avon has tasked Stringer with ensuring that D'Angelo is acquitted. To this end, Stringer has enforcers Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice, Anton "Stinkum" Artis, and Savino intimidate and bribe witnesses over the course of the trial. When D'Angelo was released, Avon has Stringer demote him to running the operation in the low-rise projects known as "the pit."

Stringer then had his hands full dealing with Omar Little's crew, after they stole some of Barksdale's stash from the pit. Stringer visited D'Angelo to instruct him about checking his organization for an informant who may have been giving Omar information. Avon ordered contract killings on Omar and all of his crew. Avon also tasked Stringer with assisting Stinkum in taking over new territory for the organization.

Stringer took Stinkum to survey his new territory with some additional muscle in the form of Wee-Bey and Marquis "Bird" Hilton. While there, Stringer received word from D'Angelo that two of his crew, Wallace and Poot, had spotted Omar's boyfriend Brandon at an arcade. Stringer drove to meet the young drug dealers at the arcade bringing the three enforcers with him. He had them abduct Brandon using handcuffs and posing as police officers. They tortured Brandon to death trying to discover Omar's whereabouts. They then mutilated his corpse and displayed it in the low rises as Avon had instructed. Omar responded to the brutal slaying by striking back at Stinkum and Wee-Bey as they made their move on the new territory, killing Stinkum and wounding Wee-Bey.

With this escalation of the conflict, Stringer tried to persuade Avon to offer Omar a truce. His plan was to let Omar grow complacent, then kill him when he let his guard down. Avon initially brushed this suggestion aside, but after Omar nearly killed him, he agreed with Stringer's advice. Stringer also persuaded Avon to give up his pager so that he could act as a buffer between Avon and the rest of their operation.

As Avon grew increasingly suspicious that the police were watching him, Stringer took precautions to smoke out informants and to counter wiretaps. He instructed D'Angelo to withhold pay from his subordinates for several weeks; the ones who weren't asking for money at the end of that time were the ones who were being paid as informants. However, no informants were found. To foil wiretaps, Stringer insisted on phone discipline, asking D'Angelo's crew to remove nearby payphones and to walk longer distances to other phones instead.

When it came time for Avon to clean house, Stringer ordered the murder of Wallace, who had been a key witness in the killing of Omar's boyfriend. Stringer tried to find out about Wallace's whereabouts from D'Angelo but D'Angelo realized his friend was in danger and only told Stringer that Wallace had left their business. Stringer turned to Bodie Broadus, D'Angelo's second in the pit operation and learned that Wallace had returned to working for D'Angelo. Stringer asked Bodie to murder Wallace. He also had the witness he had bribed in D'Angelo's trial, Nakeesha Lyles, killed. Stringer assumed command of the Barksdale crew when Avon was arrested at the end of season one. D'Angelo was also arrested and when he learned of the murder of his friend Wallace he blamed Stringer, driving a wedge between the two. Stringer rewarded Bodie's loyalty by promoting him to run their operation at the 221 tower.

Season two[link]

During season two, Stringer faces a serious problem when the Barksdales' usual supplier, a Dominican named Roberto, becomes the focus of a DEA investigation. The New York-based Dominican syndicate ends its partnership with the Barksdales, suspecting Avon of informing on them in exchange for a lighter prison sentence. Avon is unable to find alternative suppliers despite having connections in Philadelphia and Atlanta. With the Barksdales' operation mortally threatened, Stringer grows desperate.

Stringer becomes concerned with D'Angelo's increasingly hostile attitude towards his uncle, fearful that he may turn against the Barksdales. He secretly becomes involved with D'Angelo's ex-girlfriend, Donette, using the relationship to keep an eye on him. When D'Angelo cuts himself off from the rest of his family, Stringer takes out a hit through a connection in Washington. Stringer's connection has his cousin strangle D'Angelo in prison and stage the death as a suicide. Stringer stresses the need to keep Avon from knowing about his role in D'Angelo's murder.

Avon's trust in Stringer becomes strained when he secretly agrees to share Barksdale territory with Proposition Joe in exchange for Joe's higher-quality heroin, an idea which Avon vehemently opposes. When Avon hires legendary New York enforcer Brother Mouzone to chase Joe's dealers out of the Barksdale towers, Stringer maneuvers carefully to preserve his alliance with Joe behind Avon's back; he manages to do so by tricking Omar into shooting Mouzone by blaming him for Brandon's death. After Mouzone returns to New York, Avon grudgingly agrees to Stringer's proposal. However, the two are no longer as close as they had been before.

Season three[link]

Stringer utilizes more businesslike strategies as he continues running the Barksdale empire. He obtains legitimate business fronts for the Barksdale organization, forms a retail co-op with Proposition Joe and other rival dealers, and runs meetings with his underlings according to Robert's Rules of Order. Stringer was also shown to have made several donations to consultants and politicians, including the corrupt state senator Clay Davis, in order to facilitate the development of a condominium complex.

When Avon is released from prison, he is uninterested in Stringer's efforts to reform the Barksdale organization. While Stringer wants to use the organization's profits to make legitimate business investments, Avon is determined to wage war against the fledgling drug lord Marlo Stanfield. As Avon's war against Marlo spirals out of control, Stringer finds himself in danger of being cut off from the co-op's heroin supply. In Stringer's view, this would make any victory over Marlo worthless, as street corners generate no money without drugs to sell on them.

Avon accuses Stringer of lacking the toughness necessary for their business, leading an angered Stringer to reassert his attitude by revealing that he had ordered D'Angelo's death. Stringer tells Avon that he chose to have D'Angelo killed because Avon himself would be unable to order the death of his own nephew, even if he knew that D'Angelo would eventually flip. Stringer's relationship with Avon is irreparably damaged by this revelation. While Avon eventually seems to come to terms with Stringer's confession, things were not the same between the two afterwards.

Stringer's inroads into real estate are hamstrung by the nuances of a legitimate business world that he doesn't fully understand, with his condominium project being repeatedly delayed by bureaucratic obstacles. Stringer is frustrated by what he perceives to be inexcusable foot-dragging that would not be tolerated in the drug world. Worse, Stringer bribes Davis to connect his organization with federal housing grants, only to learn that Davis had fabricated his federal contact and pocketed the money. Enraged, Stringer instructs Slim Charles to assassinate Davis, an order that is immediately rebuffed by Avon.

Stringer plans to regain control of the Barksdale organization by sending Avon back to prison, betraying the location of his safehouse to Baltimore Police major Howard "Bunny" Colvin. However, Stringer is simultaneously betrayed by Avon when Brother Mouzone confronted him about Stringer's plot to engineer a conflict between Mouzone and Omar Little. Mouzone told Avon that he knew Stringer had intentionally fed Omar misinformation and that he held Avon responsible for Stringer's actions, threatening to use his connections to cut off the Barksdale organization's supply of drugs from New York. In an effort to avoid a war with Mouzone, Avon reluctantly gave him information about Stringer's whereabouts.

Shortly after Avon's meeting with Brother Mouzone, Avon and Stringer enjoyed one last drink together at Avon's harborside condominium, reminiscing about the past and acting as if their old friendship was intact, despite each man having betrayed the other. The next day Omar and Brother Mouzone tracked Stringer to his development site, killed his bodyguard, and, after a tense confrontation, killed him.

With Stringer dead and Avon imprisoned along with most of his men, the Barksdale organization crumbled. Slim Charles became de facto leader of what remained of the Barksdale crew, which he merged with Proposition Joe's drug operations. Marlo Stanfield became the new power in West Baltimore by default.

After Stringer's death, Detective McNulty and the police searched his apartment. The apartment was extremely clean, stylishly furnished and tastefully decorated. Far from any expectations of a drug kingpin, his bookshelf included a copy of The Wealth of Nations. McNulty was amazed at how little he truly knew about Stringer, despite having spent three years building a case against him.

Legacy[link]

In the season five episode "Late Editions," Clay Davis, while describing to Lester Freamon how drug money is routed from the kingpins to state and city politicians through their lawyers, mentions how he conned a fellow named "Bell" into giving him a great deal of money because Davis had convinced him that he would be able to use his connections to push his development forward quickly. As Davis laughs about how he conned Stringer, Freamon's eyes light up in recognition.^[1][2]

Origins[link]

Stringer's name is a composite of two real Baltimore drug lords, Stringer Reed and Roland Bell.^[3] His story bears many similarities to the life of Kenneth A. Jackson—specifically, his crossover from the illegal drug trade to legitimate business ownership and political contributions.

References[link]

Slim Charles is a fictional character in the HBO drama The Wire, played by Anwan Glover. An enforcer for the Barksdale Organization and later the top lieutenant of kingpin Proposition Joe Stewart, he is one of the few positive characters in the show's universe, portrayed as principled, loyal, and competent throughout his career.

The saga of the Barksdale Organization and the Stanfield Organization makes up the backbone of The Wire; of the 30 or so characters connected with these gangs and those of Proposition Joe and Omar Little, Slim Charles is effectively the "last man standing," as by the end of the series most of the others are dead, and all the rest are incarcerated, neutralized, or have quit. As such, he can be viewed as the only winner in the drug trade plotline, particularly as in the series finale he progresses, along with the much less significant Fat Face Rick, to the leadership of the New Day Co-Op and the pinnacle of the Baltimore drugs trade.

Character storyline[link]

Season 3[link]

Slim Charles is hired as "muscle" by Stringer Bell, who is acting boss of the Barksdale Organization following the arrests of Avon Barksdale and several of the organization's original enforcers. Slim is first seen at the Barksdale strategy meeting following the demolition of the high rise projects. Shortly after, Omar Little attempts to rob a stash house that is under Slim's charge. Omar detains three of its guards, but is surprised by Slim Charles and three others, who recover the drugs in a firefight that leaves Tosha and Tank dead. When Avon is released, Slim Charles is the only person he consults when the kingpin decides to go to war with Marlo Stanfield. On Avon's orders, Slim Charles puts together a team to strike against Marlo's subordinates. The team is headed by the experienced trio of Cutty, Country and Slim Charles, but on the opening day of hostilities Country is killed and Cutty quits, leaving Slim as the unquestioned Barksdale chief enforcer in the war. Although Charles proves himself a capable and loyal soldier on many occasions, the support he gathers around himself is not up to the task. He is involved at an organizational level with the assassinations of Marlo and Omar, although he has a hands-on role in neither of the plans. When the operation against Marlo backfires and Avon is wounded, Charles brings a surgeon to the warehouse where the Barksdales regroup. Meanwhile, when Gerard and Sapper sight Omar and phone Charles to confirm that he wants them to kill him even though it is a Sunday morning, he does not answer the phone - Gerrard dismissively says that Charles must be sleeping in. However, after this operation too is botched, Charles angrily reproves the pair before sending them to see Avon Barksdale himself. Near the end of the war, he is taken aback by Stringer's demand that he must kill Senator Clay Davis, protesting that "...murder ain't no thing, but this here's some assassination shit." Shown up as a gangster without the political sensitivity of even Slim Charles, Stringer storms off and is caught in a fatal ambush set up by Omar and Brother Mouzone.

Slim Charles consoles Avon after Stringer's death. When Avon tells Charles that he has lost heart for the war and that Stanfield was not responsible for the crime, Charles, now the organization's second-in-command, reminds him that they are in a war with no way to back down, and they must blame Stanfield in order to rally their troops. Shortly after, Slim Charles sees another opportunity to kill Stanfield when he finds him at Vinson's rimshop with little protection. He phones Avon, who gathers weapons and soldiers at a stash house and is promptly arrested, along with most of his men, in a police raid. Slim Charles escapes arrest and prosecution because he is still waiting outside the rimshop at the time of the raid.

Season 4[link]

As Season four commences, Slim has become de facto head of the gutted Barksdale organization, being one of the very few remaining Barksdale loyalists not jailed or dead. Slim strengthens the organization's relationship with Proposition Joe, who takes Charles under his wing and supplies his lieutenant Bodie Broadus and the remaining Barksdale drug dealers with narcotics. With this product as a firm foundation, Bodie builds a successful operation, until Marlo effortlessly threatens the helpless Bodie to work for him or be killed. This is the culmination of a series of events that make the nervous Co-Op keen to deal with the problem of Marlo, and they decide to negotiate with him. Charles loses the organization that he inherited from Avon, and he subsequently becomes one of Joe's lieutenants. When Joe's first meeting fails to convince Marlo it is Charles who approaches Chris Partlow to arrange a second sit down. In between his responsibilities as the East side's head enforcer, Charles still independently visits Bodie and Poot Carr as a confidant. As a gift to Marlo when an alliance is agreed upon, Joe orders Charles to betray Old Face Andre and hand him over to Marlo for execution. Later on, however, it is implied that Charles does not approve of Marlo's murderous enforcement. He never says so directly, but it can be surmised by his reaction to the death of Little Kevin.^[1] He is concerned enough by the crime to tell Bodie that his friend has been executed; Bodie's subsequent crusade against Marlo quickly gets him killed, leaving Slim as one of the last Barksdale survivors.

Season 5[link]

Slim Charles is now Proposition Joe's most trusted lieutenant, and, upon the release of Savino Bratton, one of two remaining active survivors of the Barksdale Organization while the other is Poot, who has left the drug trade after Bodie's death. When Butchie is killed, Omar comes back to town and the first person he comes after is Slim, but lets him go when Slim, clearly expecting to die but wishing to save his boss, convinces him that Proposition Joe had nothing to do with it. After Joe is killed, Marlo dissolves the Co-Op and takes charge as sole leader of Baltimore's kingpins, with Joe's nephew Cheese as his new lieutenant. Slim suspects that Marlo and Cheese were responsible for Joe's death and disapproves of the way they now conduct business, staying discreetly out of their way. He refuses Marlo's offer to make him take the lead in the deceased Hungry Man's territory in Baltimore County.

In the series finale, with the end of the Stanfield Organization, Slim and Cheese are among the remaining drug lords who band together to buy the connection to Baltimore's best drug suppliers, the Greeks, from Marlo, a connection which Marlo stole from Proposition Joe before murdering him. As the kingpins gather to discuss business, Cheese loses his temper and draws his gun on Rick to reassert control of the meeting. Cheese then hypocritically yells about loyalty and his leadership, and does not notice Slim drawing his gun and silently firing a shot into Cheese's head that ends both his rant and his life; Slim's action is so sudden that no one notices it until Cheese's dead body crumples to the street. When the Co-Op realize what he has done, Slim simply says, "That was for Joe." The other members' immediate reactions are coldly dispassionate: Clinton "Shorty" Buise criticizes Slim because now they have to pay more money to make up for the lack of Cheese's bid. Slim is thus shown to be standing up for values of decency and loyalty in a world where Cheese believed they have no place. In the ending montage, it is shown that Slim and Fat Face Rick are representing the new Co-Op to the Greeks.

References[link]