Again, if you are not caught up on HBO's The Wire, you should stop reading here.  Terrible and Devastating Spoliers Ahead!

For those fans who are caught up, some of whom may have watched last night's episode a week early On Demand (like me), let's agree we've experienced a great loss.

Omar Little, trail-blazing gay stick-up boy, the most honorable thief among thieves, was gunned down last night in a west side convenience store buying a pack of Newports.  The writers have protected Omar for four seasons now, longer than I expected.  I've been sensing Omar's impending death throughout this season, as his grief over Butchie's murder by Marlo Stanfield's crew created an Omar we haven't seen before:  emotionally and physically broken, reckless, so bent on revenge he took himself out of the shadows and onto Stanfield's corners, challenging Marlo to a showdown.

Omar has always lived in the shadows, smoking his cigarettes inside dark corners, conducting street-level surveillance and putting the cops' surveillance efforts to shame (an intentional contrast).  Throughout The Wire, when Omar emerged, it was always with great heralding as corner boys and young pawns ran ahead of him yelling "Omar," "Omar," "It's Omar, y'all."