I think Bodie is the most likable, on a human level, of all the characters to me.

That "I can't wait to go to jail" line from the Bodie clip is one of my favorites in the entire series.

God, Rawls was such a dick.

Yeah, Rawls had no redeeming qualities. Bodie is a top 4 or 5 character for me.

went with rawls, who is quite possibly the single biggest asshole in the history of television

i've recently started checking out damages on netflix, and rawls surfaces as season 2's big bad - the corporate america equivalent of his wire character. nobody plays unabashed dickheads like this guy!

You should check out Colton on the current season of Survivor.

Voted for Bodie even if Rawls does have some kissable damn lips.

Two great characters, again.

I know you're supposed to hate Rawls, but as with so many of these, I have to go with the more likable guy. Bodie, easily.

I liked Bodie but Rawls was such an essential element to the show so Rawls.

I see we're voting using a different methodology than yesterday, William:

Bodie is my sleeper to win the whole thing.

When he went down, I felt for him more than any other character.

Not really even if my wording makes it seem so. When you say you think Clay Davis is more important to the show than Bubs because the show is about the failure of institutions, I disagree. Not about it being about the failure of institutions but about Clay Davis being essential to that storyline. You eliminate the Clay Davis character and you still have Royce, Rawls, Burrell, and others and that storyline and message are still effectively communicated. You remove Bubs and you've eliminated a main character who most effectively communicated how a few mistakes could lead to being trapped in the system and cycle of poverty and drug addiction. I think Bubs was more important to the show than Clay but Clay was far more entertaining than Bubs so I voted for him anyway.

Here, I liked the Bodie character although I didn't find him more entertaining than Rawls. He was more likable but that's not the point. It was a better show because Rawls was on it. You remove Rawls and major storylines are weakened. You substitute a garden variety hoodlum for Bodie and I don't think the show really suffers all that much. While I am voting for the more essential character by your definition here, I'm really doing it though because my own enjoyment of the show would be diminished if those storylines were weaker or not included so really I am being consistent. Put another way, I can't really imagine the show without Rawls so how can I imagine enjoying it as much? It's not hard to imagine the show without Bodie or imagine it still being a great show.

not sure I agree with this...

I think you could flip that and more or less say the same thing about Rawls. You put any garden variety asshole/careerist in his position, and it works basically the same way. I think the actor and the writing for Bill Rawls were both great, though.

Bodie isn't just a thug, though. I mean, really, Slim Charles is a thug, pure and simple. That's probably why he wasn't included in this bracket. He was pretty cool, but there's really not much character there. Bodie, on the other hand, had a lot of depth. More than Rawls, I think.

I just don't agree with this. For one, I can't think of anyone else that has played/written a similar character so well. But more to the point, if you were to just substitute an existing character (Burrell, Jay Landsman, or anyone else) into Rawl's place, how much would the show suffer. I think it would suffer a lot. If you were to put another gang member into Bodie's scenes, would it suffer as much? I don't think so. I just didn't find Bodie all that memorable but maybe we just need to agree to disagree.

I tried to make this point in the thread I rebutted you from, but you really do get a sense what perspective people watch this show from by their votes. I know it's hard for dunces like Newman to grasp, but I would think if we had a Marvel Comics bracket he could grasp that fans of The Hulk like him for different reasons than fans of Big Gay Al...or whatever juxtaposition you want to use as an example.

Have you read The Corner by the people who wrote The Wire? Some of the characters on the show are based on real life people from the book. Anyway that book was much less about the institutions and more about the street level people. I just finished reading the book, so I think that's part of the reason I'm finding street level people like Bodie and Bubbles more compelling.

No you're just making assumptions based on a stupid poll and if you want to keep on with the played to death and unfunny you read comics/newman/dunce lines then I'll be happy to regale the board with your continuing inability to get a download to work or burn a CD properly.

Anyways, Bodie wins.