The Wire - Detective Leander Sydnor - What was the point?

Question

You'd be hard pressed to find a bigger fan of 'The Wire' than me. The writing was superlative; amongst the very best ever.

Having said that, I always struggled with Detective Leander Sydnor's character. I mean really, what was the point? I'm sure that Corey Parker Robinson loved being on the show (and I'm sure that he loved the paycheck and royalties that came with it), but for me, Sydnor's character did absolutely nothing to advance the plot of the show!

My Question:

• Can anyone explain the character motivation behind Detective Leander Sydnor's character?

Answer 1

I agree that the character does not have a well defined stance or feel like many of the other cast. I see him as a comrade to the crew, helping and digging in with the rest. Near the end he becomes more and more stronger on his views of justice. I also think that at the end of the series the analogy is made between the beginning of the Wire with McNulty+Judge and Sydnor+Judge. The character had a long, slow evolution, maybe some sort of a learning curve in the shadow of the other characters but he ended at a place where you feel as a viewer some sort of continuation is happening.

Answer 2

Sydnor, as you see in the final episode, turns into McNulty.

Sydnor was meant to be seen as Jimmy McNulty.

Remember the final episode showed the "origin".

Michael -> The new Omar
Dukwon -> The new Bubbles
Sydnor -> The new McNulty
Carver -> Any middle management (Burell etc...)
Kima -> the new Daniels (I'm not totally sure about this, but that's how I see it)