once named Omar as one of the 10 reasons they still love TV and his inclusion was much deserved. isn't Williams' first appearance in an HBO series -- close viewers of might remember him as the Boonton man with the chess-playing daughter whom Jackie Jr. took refuge with at the end of Season 3.
That brief appearance though didn't telegraph the range and brilliance of Williams' work as Omar, a warped vision of Robin Hood in the urban environs of Baltimore. Omar is a "rip-and-run artist," robbing from drug dealers to enrich himself and to help others or, as Omar describes himself, he's "just a n----- with a plan," a man who tends to announce his approach to potential victims by cheerfully whistling "The Farmer in the Dell." That aspect of his character would be fascinating enough, but that just scratches the surface.
"It's either play or get played" Omar also happens to be gay, something that wasn't revealed until his second appearance in season 1. On top of that, he frowns upon profanity, chastising his lover Brandon when he swears that, "Nobody wants to hear such dirty words, especially from such a beautiful mouth." He also holds Sundays sacred, choosing not to work and even escorting the woman who raised him to church once a month, a woman who believes Omar makes his living working in the airport cafeteria.
He also takes pride that he "ain't never put no gun on no citizen." With his frequent takedown of the Barksdale crews' stashes, needless to say he earned the wrath of Avon (Wood Harris) and his lieutenant Stringer Bell (Idris Elba), who struck back in season 1 by brutally murdering Brandon and setting the story arc for Omar that ran pretty much for the first three seasons. In season 1, after a failed attempt at clipping Avon, he decided to help the police by being the eyeball witness to the murder of a state's witness ordered by Barksdale.
Though his court appearance didn't happen until Season 2, the scene provided one of the highlights of the entire series as Barksdale's slimeball lawyer Maurice Levy (Michael Kostroff) accused Omar, unapologetic about the way he makes his living, of being a parasite and Omar shot right back that they were two sides of the same coin: "I got the shotgun, you got the briefcase." "Come at the king, you best not miss" It was with a bit of sadness at the end of Season 1 when Omar, knowing he was a marked man, chose to move his operation to New York. Thankfully, David Simon and Ed Burns knew they had a great character in Omar and superb actor in Williams and didn't let him stay away for good.
once named Omar as one of the 10 reasons they still love TV and his inclusion was much deserved.
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