Bodie Broadus
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| Preston Broadus | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| First appearance | "The Target" (episode 1.01) |
| Last appearance | "Final Grades"(episode 4.13) |
| Cause/Reason | murdered |
| Statistics | |
| Aliases | Bodie |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 20 |
| Occupation | Crew Chief (Stanfield Organization) |
| Portrayed by | J.D. Williams |
| Created by | David Simon |
Preston "Bodie" Broadus is a fictional character on the HBO drama The Wire played by actor J.D. Williams. Bodie is a Barksdale organization drug dealer who has slowly risen through the ranks over the show's run.
Contents |
[edit] Biography
[edit] Character History
Preston "Bodie" Brodus was still a teenager when he began working with the Barksdales and was 16 in Season One. He was raised by his grandmother after his mother fell into addiction and homelessness, dying when he was a child. He grew up the hard way in Baltimore with an economy that would not support him.
[edit] Season One
Bodie was first seen working under D'Angelo Barksdale in the low rise projects called "The Pit". He was friends with other dealers Poot Carr and Wallace - two other members of D'Angelo's team. When D'Angelo's predecessor Ronnie Mo was arrested it was Bodie who temporarily assumed the responsibility of running things in The Pit. He chafed under D'Angelo's soft style of leadership and often challenged his authority, making their working relationship tense. Bodie took a more physical approach to managing problems in The Pit than D'Angelo did. Bodie instigated the severe beating of drug addict Johnny Weeks; D'Angelo did not take part in the beating.
When the pit's stash was robbed, Bodie made a positive impression on Barksdale second-in-command Stringer Bell. He noticed the name of the stick-up artist, Omar, and was able to describe the van. During the stick-up, D'Angelo had left the pit to buy food; Stringer was disappointed that he did not take responsibility for the resupply that was coming in and was also stolen.
When the Barksdale detail made raids in the low rise projects Bodie resisted being searched and lashed out against detective Patrick Mahone. Mahone was hospitalized and later retired from the injuries Bodie caused him. Bodie received a beating himself from Detectives Kima Greggs, Ellis Carver and Thomas "Herc" Hauk. He was arrested and sentenced to juvenile detention. However, immediately after arriving in the detention facility, he walked out and stole a car.
He was soon back in Baltimore dealing again. He became a personal target of Herc and Carver when they drove out to the facility to interrogate him. They picked him up in The Pit and returned him to juvenile custody. When he defiantly refused to co-operate with Herc and Carver, they gave him a second beating. However, when waiting for prisoner transfer they softened towards him.
Stringer decided to assign the Barksdale organization's lawyer Maurice Levy to try to secure Bodie's release. Levy made a convincing argument that Bodie had absconded while on pain killers and presented evidence that he meant to change his actions. The judge agreed to release Bodie. Herc and Carver were astonished to see him back on the streets and picked him up again, assuming he had absconded a second time. When they learned he had beaten the charges against him they relented and gave him a ride in their car.
Later, Bodie volunteered to murder his erstwhile friend Wallace after Avon decided to eliminate anyone who might be able to say anything to the police. His willingness to do the deed further impressed Stringer. When the moment of truth came, Bodie was not quite ready to murder a friend; it took urging from Poot to push him into going through with the crime.
[edit] Season Two
In Season Two, Stringer began entrusting Bodie with more difficult tasks, such as picking up the Barksdale crew's main supply with new lieutenant Shaun "Shamrock" McGinty. Finding the supply missing, the two stuck to their orders and returned home to give Stringer the bad news. Stringer had them followed by returning soldier Country. He was pleased at Bodie's and Shamrocks' trustworthiness but was concerned about their supply.
Bodie was assigned one of the prized Franklin Terrace Towers to run. Bodie was assisted by a new young dealer named Puddin. Poot was assigned to run the pit and he reported to Bodie. They faced problems with poor quality product because the Barksdales' suppliers severed ties thanks to Avon's arrest. Bodie came up with considered suggestions to work around the problem at Stringer's meetings.
When an independent crew of dealers moved in on the Barksdales' territory, Bodie chased them off with baseball bats. The other crew responded by starting a gunfight which resulted in the accidental death of a child. Stringer ordered Shamrock and Bodie to get rid of any guns they had used, Bodie gathered the weapons and wiped them clean but when he threw them from a bridge they landed on a passing boat. After failing to adequately dispose of the guns, Bodie was picked up and interrogated by detectives Ed Norris and Ray Cole in connection with the crime. They had found the guns but were unable to arrest Bodie due to the lack of prints on the weapons.
Bodie learned a lesson from his mistakes. When ordered by Stringer to welcome "Proposition" Joe Stewart's dealers to the towers, in a deal exchanging territory for product, Bodie obeyed. He started friendly competition to entice buyers away from Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff, Prop Joe's nephew. Despite the amicable relations, Bodie was relieved when Brother Mouzone drove away the East Side dealers.
[edit] Season Three
The Franklin towers were demolished and Avon was released from prison. With the loss of their territory, Bodie was forced to push operations back out onto the street. Western District commander Howard "Bunny" Colvin tried to deal with this spread of the drug problem by offering tolerant zones where dealers would go unpunished. Bodie worked in one such zone nicknamed "Hamsterdam". This brought him back into contact with Herc and Carver, now working in the Western District drug enforcement unit. On one occasion, Detectives McNulty and Greggs made a traffic stop on Bodie's car, and discover narcotics in his possession. When the detectives begin to arrest Bodie, he protests that he was transporting the drugs for sale in the safe-zone of Hamsterdam, and therefore in compliance with Major Colvin's directive. After consulting with Carver, McNulty is made vaguely aware of the Hamsterdam situation, and Bodie is released without being arrested.
Stringer proposed that the Barksdale organization supply their high-quality product to other dealers to avoid territory struggles. Bodie was entrusted with approaching Marlo "Black" Stanfield, who refused the offer immediately.
The Barksdale organization became embroiled in a turf war with Marlo's crew. Although Bodie's crew were badly beaten by some of Marlo's people, Bodie himself escaped. The escalating murder rate brought further police attention. Avon was arrested, Stringer was murdered and their gang were scattered, but Bodie again escaped imprisonment, this time by claiming "entrapment" with regards to the aforementioned traffic stop made by Detective McNulty just outside of Hamsterdam.[1]
[edit] Season Four
The Barksdale crew has been decimated by the war with Marlo Stanfield and the arrests made by the Major Crimes Unit. Bodie continues to deal on the street, having taken charge of a less-desirable corner in the Western District now that Marlo holds all of the prime territory. He employs Namond Brice as a runner out of respect for his father's reputation. Bodie is unimpressed with Namond's attitude and allows him to swap his job with his friend Michael Lee for a time. Michael is a far more effective runner and Bodie is impressed with his work. He tries to convince him to stay with his crew after school begins and even offers Michael hours of work that will fit around school, but Michael declines.
Bodie's second-in-command Lex has a rivalry with Stanfield dealer known as Fruit over a girl named Patrice. Patrice is the mother of Lex's child but has been seeing Fruit for some time. Lex confesses to Bodie that he plans to kill Fruit. Bodie warns him against doing so because Fruit works for Marlo. Nevertheless, Lex murders Fruit and, in turn, is killed by Marlo's people.
Bodie also works with two overweight drug dealers named Little Kevin and Reesy. Little Kevin previously had betrayed Lex to Marlo's people, primarily out of fear, arranging for Lex to be ambushed. Bodie continues to have dealings with Detective Carver and Officer McNulty because his operation falls in their jurisdiction. Carver hopes to cultivate Bodie as an informant and maintains a working knowledge of his crew and a humorously formal relationship with him. Carver puts Bunk Moreland, the lead investigator of Fruit's murder, in touch with Bodie when Lex disappears and Bodie promises to call if he sees him, knowing that he is unlikely to see Lex again.
Bodie is supplied by ex-Barksdale enforcer Slim Charles, now working on behalf of Proposition Joe. Bodie expresses a desire to strike back against Marlo but he is warned agaist doing so by Slim Charles. Slim Charles' quality product allows Bodie to build his out of the way corner up into a busy drug market. Marlo notices his success and offers Bodie an ultimatum - let Marlo's operation take over the corner or stay but work Marlo's package. Bodie lets Slim Charles know about his problem and tells him that without the high-quality product his profits will drop. Initially, Bodie is determined not to back down in the face of pressure from Marlo. However, he is later forced to concede and begins selling drugs provided by Marlo.
In the season four finale, Bodie was arrested when he lost his temper and kicked in the windows of a patrol car after his former employee Lil Kevin's body was discovered in one of the vacant buildings. He was released on the recommendation of Officer McNulty, who convinced Bodie to give him information against Marlo. As Bodie left the courthouse, he was seen getting into McNulty's car by Monk, one of Marlo's lieutenants. Monk reported this to Marlo, who ordered Chris and Snoop to take Bodie out. Later that night, Chris and Snoop set up an ambush on Bodie, and as Bodie tried to drive them off by shooting at them another member of Marlo's gang, O-Dog, came out of the shadows and shot Bodie twice in the head, killing him.[2]
[edit] Critical response and analysis
The character is named after real life Baltimore resident Nathan "Bodie" Barksdale.[3] Salon described Bodie's evolution on the show as watching him grow up.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Org Chart - The Street. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-25.
- ^ HBO (2006). Episode 50 Synopsis. HBO.com. Retrieved on 2006-12-12.
- ^ Jesse Walker (2006). Localist television. Reactionary Radicals. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.
- ^ Dan Kois (2004). Everything you were afraid to ask about "The Wire". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.
