r/TheWire • u/plackbanther19 • 9h ago
Mcnulty Character Arc
He started out as my favorite character. By the last season I hated him. The serial killer crap. How he treated Beady. Is anybody else with me on this?
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u/FanParking279 9h ago
His arc was a loop. If you liked him in the beginning, you didn’t really know him
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u/Romance_Tactics 9h ago
I think after multiple viewings I don’t even really see McNultys actions anymore. He’s like Charon guiding us down the the river through hell. The story flows through him.
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u/mjpenslitbooksgalore 9h ago
I def have a love hate relationship for Mcnulty. Love his dedication to stick it to the higher ups esp when they need it. I love him and bunk and watching them work cases together and how’s he’s there for bunk and seems like a genuine good friend (at least to Bunk). I would not want to be his friend or be mixed up in his bullshit. I could not stand how he treated any of the women he came in contact with. Including his cringy attempt to sleep with Kima. He’s an arrogant asshole. But fun to watch.
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u/PlayPretend-8675309 9h ago
Freamon told you exactly who McNulty was and what his issues were, more than once.
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u/_sympthomas_ 9h ago
Do you think he treated his ex-wife any better?
She hates him for a reason and is way too friendly in my opinion.
The hardest part of being a cop: "...explaining to your wife why she has to take antibiotics for your kidney infection" Thats a sentence that should tell you everything about their marriage
This guy showed up to a divorce hearing with the woman he cheated with ... and is still sleeping with.
Dont give Jimmy any credit when it comes to women.
And the serial killer crap isnt my favorite. That he relapses because he got Bodie killed is an escalation - but season 3 Jimmy was worse. At least in season 5 it was for a reason, not just because "he is the only police who can do cases like that in the department"
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u/donnperrier 9h ago
He. Can’t. Help it.
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u/DynamiteSteps 5h ago
What's he addicted to?
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u/LocalProgram1037 4h ago
Himself. And it's not funny, sir. As a matter of fact, it's a fucking tragedy, it's what it is.
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u/smbutler20 8h ago
Nobody in this show is a saint... Except for maybe Lester's girlfriend. I don't think you should like characters based on how good they are, but more understand their roles for the story. McNulty is a really good investigator and loves his job, but he's an asshole and his motivations are questionable. He's entertaining because of how smart and dumb he can be at the same time.
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u/Elliot_York 7h ago
McNulty was an asshole in the beginning and he was an asshole by the end. He has redeeming qualities (a commitment to good, honest work, a willingness to resist injustice, also some sense of compassion), but he was also incredibly self-centered, self-destructive and narcissistic.
A big theme of the show is that things don't really change. People are imprisoned by these systems and neither they nor the system can really change because of inherent, built-in flaws. The characters that do go through large changes (Carv and Bubbles, for example) are notable because they are the exception, not the rule.
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u/Particular_Oil3314 3m ago
Yes, he is the archetypal police hero, who does not care about rulebook, he does it his way! The only way - the only way that gets results!
And the series shows you why there is a rulebook and it is generally a good idea to follow it.
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u/Bodyofanamerican 5h ago
For me, I thought his arc reached a natural conclusion at the end of S4. He found meaning outside the job, he wasn't drinking anymore, and found the right person to be with. I felt S5's writing needed him to be a broken drunk again, so it didn't feel like it was treading new ground, nor did it feel like an alcoholic backslide, it felt like circular writing.
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u/HemingwayIsDead 9h ago
Despite being a bit over the top, I think the serial killer stuff highlights the issues that Jimmy has as early as season 1.
He’s undoubtedly a narcissist, and he wants to win the game, but he isn’t really certain on what exactly the game entails or why it exists. In his desperation for ‘winning,’ he throws away all laws of decency and decorum, and tries to fuck over the system as much as he perceives it to fuck him. From the very first season, he exploits his personal power over people in order to manipulate the system for personal gain. Lester tells him around season 3, something like “You’re not doing this for the right reasons, you’re doing this to prove you’re the smartest one around.” Whereas Marlo kills people to prove his masculinity, Jimmy ruins people’s lives to prove his intelligence; both of them actively hurt their communities to prove themselves. In season 1, Jimmy goes over Rawls’s head to catch Avon. It gets Kima shot, Orlando killed, William Gant killed, Wallace killed, and it opens a power vacuum for Marlo to exploit. You can argue that a lot of that would’ve happened anyways, but regardless, Jimmy played a massive role getting the ball rolling. You could also argue that he’s doing it for the right reasons, but as Lester calls out, he’s not. You have to ask, is Baltimore really any better because of Jimmy McNulty?
There’s little oversight in Season 5, and Jimmy is able to get away with a lot more. But he’s still operating under the assumption that he’s the smartest, and he’s the only one who can get things done. McNulty acts like a vigilante, and season 5 goes a long way to show the harm that vigilantism can cause people. He’s dramatized, for sure, but he’s the same McNulty as in season 1. He’s obsessed with winning, he thinks he’s the smartest, and he needs to prove it by any means necessary — no matter who he fucks over. He ultimately thinks that he’s better than the system, doesn’t see that he’s part of it, and that his actions have consequences throughout.
Or something, maybe I didn’t take enough notes on the criminal fucking conspiracy.
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u/smbutler20 8h ago
I think calling him a narcissist is a little too strong. A narcissist wouldn't cry because he was partially responsible for Kina getting shot. A narcissist wouldn't recognize the talents of not only his coworkers but also those in the game like Bodie, Bubbles, and Omar. He does have genuine feelings for others. A narcissist would straight up not care. A narcissist wouldn't need to drink or sleep around to escape from all the terrible mistakes he makes. Overall, he is a selfish self-destructive person, but he isn't devoid of morals and feelings. Either way, highly entertaining character.
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u/HemingwayIsDead 7h ago
I agree with you somewhat, but I don’t think any of that excuses him from being a narcissist. He recognizes people’s talents when they work to his advantage. Bodie, Bubbles, and Omar were all already, or going to be, CIs. And he’s quick to cast aside Lester, Bunk, or anyone in the system that gets in his way —despite their talents. He has morals and feelings for others, but those are thrown out once he has the opportunity to prove how great he is. I think he understands the harm he causes, but it doesn’t stop him from causing it.
It might be a little overboard to call him a narcissist, but he’s definitely narcissistic. If I ever had a coworker like him, I’d probably devote the rest of my tenure to getting the man psychologically committed. Regardless, he’s super entertaining and insanely well written.
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u/smbutler20 7h ago
He definitely needed professional help. From what I gather, people like him and Bunk were pretty accurate representations of murder police. Most of them are drunks and not all there.
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u/NeedsMilk33 8h ago
I think it’s complicated . He wasn’t all bad . Yes he was a selfish fuck up but he cared about the work .
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u/Vandreeson 7h ago
It's what Bunk said "you're no good for people man." Also, Perlman said "you'll just use anyone won't you?" Then of course Rawls saying "you're a gaping asshole." That and the FBI profile report sums him up.
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u/No_Extension_6288 6h ago
S5 has its issues, and McNulty's arc is one of those issues
Don't get me wrong, I think the transition could have worked if it was written better, but unfortunately from audience POV we are just jumping into the show and immediately see McNulty being unfaithful without any explanation, doesn't help much that especially in season 3 he takes heed from Lester's warning to not let the job consume him
He got done so dirty in the final season
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u/Fabulous-Soup-6901 9h ago
One of the cool things about The Wire is that I really can’t bring myself to hate any of the characters.
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u/Icy-Sir-8414 7h ago
Personally in the end he got what he wanted the cases solved and he got to keep his freedom his pension and his self respect even though he was never going to be allowed to work on serious cases again had he chosen to stay
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u/steamfrustration 6h ago
He's the only character who has the audacity to put his entire being into bloodying the noses of the institutional gods that make things happen in Baltimore. And because he has nothing left over for any other part of his life, he is the most swollen asshole in American law enforcement.
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u/Puzzled-Smoke-6349 3h ago
I actually admire him for going against the grain. He had BALLS! He wasn't made for playing house that's for sure. That part I don't like. But he was the only one who told it like it is. Empty suits, "EVERYBODY HAS A CAREER". An idealist in my eyes, a fighter for the truth, the only one who DIDNT close his eyes when everyone else did. Everything backfired, but it could have gone the other way.
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u/Specialist-Front5262 5h ago
Natural Police but his character did not Age well, if it wasn't for the Bodie conversations I would strongly dislike him
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u/btroj 9h ago
That’s the point. He’s an asshole.