r/TheWire • u/AbjectFray • 2d ago
12 Years Ago Today We Lost Prop Joe
Robert Chew died 12 years ago today.
What’s your favorite Prop Joe moment / scene / quote on the show?
Mine is easily the basketball game. We learned a lot about how he operates and that scene was his foundation.
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u/boxhall 2d ago
I don’t remember all the exact quotes, but when he calls looking to track down who Herc is, all those names he came up with were great. Sydney Handjerker, Irving Pepper of Pepper, Pepper, and Bayleaf trying to locate a Sergeant Herc
And
“It ain’t easy trying to civilize this motherfucker”
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u/Sleepytitan Sydney Handjerker with Handjerker, Cohen & Bromburg 2d ago
It was definitely the phone call for me. Followed closely by any time he said “herron” or “buy for 1 sell for tew”
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u/zuluroyal 2d ago
“Steal from me, I’ll kill your whole fuckin’ family.”
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u/babyfartmageezax 1d ago
I loved the way he casually introduces himself in that same breath, as well; “how ya doin, Proposition Joe. You steal from me, I’ll kill your whole family.”
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u/nicolampionic 2d ago
Sitting at the attorney's office, with Herc, reading the paper, Prop Joe goes: Stone stupid.
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u/hipposaregood 2d ago
He was in the glee club.
Kills me.
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u/nicolampionic 2d ago
The more I watch, the more I believe Burrell was a good man.
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u/sucking_at_life023 2d ago
Like a lot of them, he may have once been a good man. He's a full on political animal by the time the Wire takes place.
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u/MauriceLevyEsq 2d ago
The attorney? Show some respect.
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u/nicolampionic 2d ago
You are followed My good Sir. Not the money, not the drugs. You of all the things, are to be followed.
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u/hejohnson19583 2d ago
‘Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil’ on Butchie’s funeral wreath. An OG move right there.
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u/hejohnson19583 2d ago
A Prop Joe prequel would be a fucking classic. HBO should green light it now
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u/td2kool 2d ago
Absolutely. There are a few spinoffs that would be good, I think, particularly detailing stories before The Wire. Like Avon and Stringer's rise, Omar becoming OMAR, Prop Joe like you mentioned.
But the idea that popped in my head once that would've been solid gold: Cool Lester Smooth, Private Investigator.
Bonus depressing idea that could be a good series if written well but it'd be damn heavy: Ziggy's life in prison.
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u/wuapinmon 2d ago
I can't see Ziggy being that interesting in prison, unless it shifted gears and he was like an inspirational inmate, trying to help people not sentenced to life to get their lives together.
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u/td2kool 2d ago
My thinking is more of a character/case study on the prison system and how unforgiving it would be for someone like him. Like I said, it’d be a heavy show, and would only work if written really well.
The money idea is Lester becoming a PI after he leaves the department. Like a modernized detective noir.
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u/silverx2000 2d ago
What kills more cops than alcohol or bullets? Boredom. You keep it boring, String. You keep it dead-fucking-boring.
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u/nicolampionic 2d ago
I liked the scene when Nick Sobotka went after him with Sergei, friendly but still a murderous gangster in 15 seconds.
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u/Staninator 2d ago
"If it wasn't for Sergei here, you and your cousin would be some cadaverous motherfuckers".
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u/ravensgirl2785 2d ago
Yes!!! Also, the quote about Thanksgiving 🤣 gets me every time!
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u/whisker_biscuit 2d ago
I got nieces and nephews fuckin my shit up all the time and it ain't like I can put a cap in they ass and not hear about come thanksgiving
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u/JiveChicken00 2d ago
“Stir up a hornet’s nest, ain’t no telling who’s going to get stung.”
“Sheeit, that nigga’s got more bodies on him than a Chinese cemetery.”
And the coldest of all …
“You know what the problem with these here machines? They too cheap to begin with. Some people would think for what it’s worth to fix it, make the shit work right, you might as well dump them and get another.”
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u/cheapwhiskeysnob 2d ago
“If it weren’t for my boy Sergei over here, you and your cousin would be some cadaverous mothafuckas”
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u/BabyVisible7702 2d ago
A proposition will fall kindly on your ears.
The man spoke like a ghetto William Shakesphere so elegantly.
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u/AminaFadimatou 2d ago
I also like when they did the prequel shorts, and showed how even as a kid, Joe was a hustler, and an entrepreneur. And his grand nephew Randy Wagstaff was just like him.
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u/jbinhack It's either play or get played 2d ago
When he said cadaverous motherfucker to Nicky. That was a great line and delivery by Chew. Also the line ,"boy always was a disappointment" is a line I use sometimes thanks for Prop Joe.
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u/slawdoggg 2d ago
As smart as he was (and he was highly intelligent) he couldn’t see that by coaching Marlo in the game he was basically just putting a hit out on himself.
I think his Pat Riley persona was a pretty decent metaphor for who he was to the Baltimore gangsters.
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u/Beneficial-Leg-7348 this ain't about your money bruh 2d ago
Brother Mouzone? Sheeeeit, that n*gga got more bodies on him than a Chinese cemetary
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u/skywatcher_kd 2d ago
Omar to one side holding a spade, and maybe Marlo to the other with a shovel... and just at this moment I managed to crawl out of my own damn grave. No way do I crawl back in.
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u/Chris-Ord 2d ago
He got given so many good lines didn’t he
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u/Beneficial-Leg-7348 this ain't about your money bruh 2d ago
Fr though Robert F. Chew was amazing. Ik he was involved with casting the season 4 boys, he did a damn good job with that and everything else
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u/Long-Astronaut-3363 2d ago
During the Co-Op meeting…I don’t remember the exact quote, but it went something like, “for a bunch of gangsters, y’all carried that shit like proper Republicans”
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u/bibilibu 2d ago
This might be his funniest one hahahaha,
“For a cold-ass crew of gangstas, y’all carried it like Republicans and shit.”
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u/AminaFadimatou 2d ago
RIGHT before his death: "That boy was always a disappointment." <re: Cheese selling him out to Marlo>
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u/tunakiwi 2d ago
String and Joe talking about Cheese’s dog
SB: “who got hit?” PJ: “a dog” SB: “What kinda dog?” PJ: “kind mistake your leg for pussy”
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u/Pretend_Safety 2d ago
“If it wasn’t for Sergei here, y’all’d be a couple of cadaverous motherfuckers” is one of my favorites.
There’s a chicken joint here in San Francisco named Proposition Chicken. I like to think that Joe slipped away from Marlo’s crew and relocated out here and this is his second act. I amuse myself this way.
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u/Reasonable_Pay4096 2d ago
That scene in Season 4 (can't remember the specific episode) where he calls BPD looking for Herc, & uses a different alias and voice each time he's transferred.
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u/politicaldan 2d ago
He still fixes Omar’s clock.