For the finale of the first season of The Wire, I decided to make my own creative assignment here. One thing i noticed while watching this amazing episode was the wide variety of color use throughout the various scenes. Actually, if one looks closely, one can see important use of all the colors of the rainbow.

Red:

This episode shows us that the Barksdale organization includes more family than we previously knew. Brianna Barksdale, D’Angelo’s mother, discusses important matters with leaders Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. Seems that she maintains some authority and power of her own.
Orange:

These two images highlighting D’Angelo and Wee-bey in their jail i=uniforms also illustrates another contrast. The look of remorse on D’Angelo as he talks about Wallace, and the look of cold indifference as Wee-bey describes his various murders. Two characters with two very different moral compasses in the same situation.

Yellow:

This one is a bit of a stretch, but I couldn’t help but adore the lighting in this scene, and the soft golden glow that results. Here Lt. Daniels confronts Carver on his spying, and gives him a lesson on his future in the police force.

Green:

This scene shows a lot of greens, from the background to the bench, to even the money. The beautiful emerald park was a scene to symbolize Bubble’s path to staying clean from drugs. However, the dirty green of the money sadly illustrates that in the end, temptation and addiction won over.

Blue:

The blues of the water, uniforms, and boat as McNulty is “exiled” to the marine unit of the police.

Purple:

The purple signs of the funeral home that are to be the new home base for the Barksdale organization. Here again we can also see the sharp red of Brianna’s dress.

 

Bonus- Black and White:

Not really “colors” per se, but I like how much Avon and Stringer stand out in their white clothes in the darkness of the parking garage.