Sorta a spoiler for Jamie Hector's character Spoiler I just realized that Sean Suiter was a real person that he is portraying so I guess I know his outcome now. I watched the HBO doc about him a few months ago and it just clicked that I recognized his name on the show. They even have the picture of him in the opening. It will be interesting to see how the show handles that part.
I’ve seen 3 then looked up Bernthal’s character I need to get this show out of my system as I’m going to Baltimore a few times this summer. It may never will, this shit is absolutely fucking insane
I didn't realize I recognized that name until now. Damn, that's going to be really interesting to see.
I started reading the book. This show could pretty much be a documentary. I’m not learning much new because it’s all in the show.
I read the book between episodes 4/5, it helped with names and structure but, otherwise, Simon and company are bringing the story to life on screen incredibly faithfully and excellently. It’s just outstanding storytelling in a way a lot of book adaptations are not
I’ve contemplated buying the book, but wondered if I needed to get it or not. You guys have basically answered that question for me.
Spoiler Within the first few minutes of the documentary it seemed fairly obvious that he was murdered by another cop/detective. I didn't really like that the creators of the documentary wouldn't just make a point to show that it looked like it went down that way. Hopefully the writers on this show don't try to dance around the situation.
Really want to watch the Navalny doc but after watching the 5 episodes this week plus the school shooting, way too much Bernthal may be over the top but still think he killed it. Need over the top for someone that bold.
God damn Baltimore is fucked. The more I think about it, Baltimore is the real life Gotham City. Corruption at every single level. They just don't have Batman.
helluva final ep if it weren't actually based on true stories, it'd feel over the top really love the editing of the hire of the new police chief and then showing he resigned 4 months later immediately followed by the mayor also getting got unreal
Baltimore is not unique. The right bitches about lack of support the police get. Yet they ignore the cops literally refuse to do their jobs at any whiff of accountability while their budgets get pushed up every year.
The Slow Hustle is on HBO Max, as well. It’s a doc that basically explains everything that went down in the final episode.
I looked it up and it is. She did a good job with it I thought. She must be doing more directing than acting now because I haven't seen her in much since the Wire.
The documentary seemed to lean more towards the idea that he was murdered. I was surprised the show seemed to indicate that it was suicide(that was how I interpreted it at least). I figured they would have went in the direction of murder since that's an even uglier depiction of the Baltimore PD.
Simon has said that based on the evidence he thinks it's a suicide. But he wanted it to be up for interpretation because there isn't any concrete evidence.
I didn't really understand the confusion on that part... wouldn't it have been evident from the bullet that it came from his gun if it was suicide?
You would think the blood spatter and all that would indicate so. I think the BPD ruled it a homicide and an independent investigation ruled it a suicide. So sounds like the BPD wanted to keep his name clean.
Of course they did, his family’s death benefits depend on that finding: life insurance, pension, etc.
Rewatched the finale today. Truly an amazingly acted and directed show, and truly fucked up police officers.
Spoiler I’ve struggled to come up with any way that it’d be anything other than suicide. There’s literally no evidence of another person being there or another weapon.
Here’s what Simon said to Vulture recently about the Suiter portrayal: Spoiler Simon: For the death of Sean Suiter, we imposed a rigor on ourselves where we only showed you what could be seen. Do I have an opinion? Yes. In the writers’ room we came to the conclusion that he had killed himself, and I think the evidence is profoundly weighted towards that. But we don’t show you the independent review a year later, or the autopsy, or the ballistics. We don’t go to every piece of evidence to convince you. We have to leave you in some place where people are still going to argue about it. I don’t think they should, but they will. And that was George’s idea, that we should just show the known in the moment. Was there debate about it? The episode quickly cuts to explanatory text, making it clear that the independent review concluded it was a suicide but that some people are still uncertain. Simon: There was a debate about whether the cops at the scene should note two things profoundly indicative of a suicide. Those things were probably determined that night, but we did it right in the moment where they’re carrying the body. If you thought he was fighting for his life or for control of his gun against an assassin, how is he still holding his radio, and it’s under him when he falls? And the gun is underneath him; the gun fell with him. Right away, the detectives had very grave doubts that there was an assailant. For us, it was like, is it a bridge too far to introduce that much evidence? In the immediate aftermath of this cop being shot, it may not have been that cogent. In reality, it was chaos. We’re threading the needle between so many ethical [choices]. Can we provide that much guidance for the viewer? How much was known in the end?
When Suiter was looking at his family pictures and shit before that all went down, it led me down the suicide path (similar to Lefty’s character in Donnie Brasco….not suicide of course, but knew what was coming) Same with his general movements before going into the alley
agreed I think he was doing the same but trying to stage it so it looked he got shot and his family would be taken care of while killed on duty
I didn’t feel like they built up enough guilt or shame in the show to lead to that moment. Seemed really rushed, happened in the course of half an episode? He goes from being told he’s possibly a suspect to killing himself like two scenes later. Enjoyed the show of course, just felt they could have done that part better.
I don't think he had guilt or shame. Because unlike every other member of the BPD portrayed in this show, Sean Suiter was actually good po-lice. You could see the disdain he held for Gondo in that scene in the parking garage. Same with his coldness toward Wayne when he strolls into the homicide division after that big bust early in the show. He went out of his way to NOT be like them. The "am I going to lose my job over this" line is what the real life Sean asked the feds when they approached him about being interviewed any testifying. He actually cared about the job for what it was in a department full of people who didn't. The show portrayed just how much Suiter valued being a good detective and murder po-lice -- talking with the man with the Impala outside of his home, appreciating Dukie actually doing real, by the book, chain of command evidence investigation, and the frustration he showed at Marla Daniels character barely letting him into her home because of the lack of trust in other beat cops. Hell, he came home that one night and was so encouraged that for a day at least, Suiter had put down a murder and had been able to do the job he wanted to do. I think what Simon and them tried to show is Suiter realizing that the stench of Wayne Jenkins and the GTTF was so toxic to anyone remotely connected to him, and how even good po-lice get caught up in the mix of bad cops and corruption when it's so widespread. It was either testify, admit complicity and lose his job, or refuse to testify, face punishment and lose his job. Either one of those resolutions ended with him losing what he valued most, and it led to desperation and tragedy.
I definitely think Suiter did something shady(not anything close to as bad as the other guys) if it was in fact a suicide. I don't think he would have killed himself if he thought he wasn't going to get charged with something. His plan was terribly thought out if he killed himself to keep his pension though.
It could have been he always suspected that Wayne planted that evidence in the incident with the wreck and he felt guilty. Once he knew for sure the guilt became too much.
It could be that. The show also seemed to make a point to not show whether or not Suiter took the money that Jenkins handed him in the car after one of the busts.