The One Demand Idris Elba Had for Stringer Bell's Ending on The Wire

Even almost two decades after The Wire aired its final episode, the show still regularly sits atop lists of the best TV series of all time. The HBO crime saga earned its reputation in part because of the gritty and complicated portrayal of the American War on Drugs as it played out in the city of Baltimore, Maryland—a byproduct of creator David Simon ‘s time as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun . It also became beloved because of its incredible characters, including Stringer Bell, the business-minded second-in-command in drug dealer Avon Barksdale’s empire.

Portrayed by Idris Elba , Bell’s intellectual approach to the drug trade made him an immediate fan favorite. And yet, the demands of realism and of the Greek tragedy approach that Simon took to story meant that Bell had to d