Prop Joe

I'm Proposition Joe. You Fuck With Me, I'll Kill Your Whole Family. - The Corner - TWoP Forums:

-Since his first appearance at the basketball game, I've been fascinated by Prop Joe. He's a low-profile kingpin, he's clever as hell, and he can fix your toaster.







Cheese (Prop Joe's nephew)  - Page 2 - The Corner - TWoP Forums:
 -Anifan19: In The Prince, Machiavelli writes that it's better for a leader to be feared than loved, because (paraphrased) duplicitous people will try to take advantage of a leader who's loved, but will be afraid to do so for a feared leader. But being feared and being loved are both better than being hated, which is the worst because everyone is out to get you and they don't fear you enough to refrain from acting. I think this exact scenario plays out in the case of Prop Joe (loved), Marlo (feared), and Cheese (hated). Everyone loved Joe, but Marlo took advantage of him and took him down. Then, when Marlo was king, a lot of people speculated that he had gone too far and that the Co-Op would unite to take him down. But there wasn't even the slightest suggestion in the show that this would take place. Dealers like Fat Face Rick complained, but no one except Omar dreamed of making a move on Marlo -- he was too feared. So then, in the finale, Cheese tried to take over. Cheese sold out his uncle, a scummy thing to do, but Marlo was the one who made the move and got the reputation. Slim wouldn't have dared to touch Cheese while Cheese was under Marlo's protection. But without Marlo, Cheese was just a petty thug who sold out his own kin and was obnoxious to everyone. His idea of being tough is sticking a gun in Fat Face Rick's (fat) face, something Marlo would never dream of doing to the other dealers. He was so universally hated -- without the reputation to back it up -- that he couldn't have stayed in control for long.
 It's great that the drug trade is the only institution that manages to jettison its incompetent leadership in the finale.




5-4: "Transitions" 2008.01.27 - Page 2 - The Wire General Gabbery - TWoP Forums:

-Jamie Hector is off the hook in this role. Marlo is like a cold-blooded reptile. Slithery sociopath. He really gets off on the killing aspect. I got chills when he lulled Joe into death.

-Remember the Season Two conversation between Sergei and Prop Joe (as part of introducing Nick for a sit-down)? Prop Joe mentions that not only is Cheese a problem in that case with Ziggy's car, he mentions he can't discipline his relatives and be able to get together with the family
over Thanksgiving. And, of course that scene ends with the classic, bonechilling line to Nick when he tries to thank Prop Joe for settiing the Ziggy situation straight: "Fool; if it wasn't for Serge here, both you and your cousin would be cadaverous motherfuckers..."

..p3
-In that scene, Joe also mentions that he has numerous relatives working for him. In season three, Drac [appears as] is another nephew. I don't think that Cheese is promoted over Drac, but I might be wrong; I think the "off-brand" person is somebody else. In any case, it is not a continuity error. I
assumed Drac and Cheese are brothers, since both of their mothers are referred to as Joe's sister.


Proposition Joe: The Art of the Deal | The House Next Door | Slant Magazine:
"I got motherfucking nephews and in-laws fucking all my shit up all the time, and it ain't like I can pop a cap in their ass and not hear about it Thanksgiving time."