Drugs as a Chess Game

In episode three: "The Buys" of the first season of "The Wire," the drug dealer nicknamed "Dee" takes his time to teach a couple members of his drug dealing crew how to play chess because "You can't play no checkers with a chess set." In teaching them to play the game, Dee teaches the two of them the names of the pieces and how they move in a specific way. All of these descriptions are linked to their lives, allowing for an interpretation of their own lives as drug dealers. Starting with the king piece, which he names "the kingpin," and that "the king stays the king". "Everything stays who he is...except for the pawns." Then he proceeds in describing how the pawns can go on to become the queen, which is the most powerful piece in the game. Therefore, if the pawns are smart and do not get killed in the game, they have the ability to become the "top dog" in the game. Once Dee makes this point, one of his crew assumes that once your pawn become this "top dog" that the game ends. Dee makes it clear that the game will continue until the "kingpin" is taken out of the game. This can be compared to their lives. Even if they are "smart ass pawns," the lower dealers can become the top man in the gang next to the leader if they are not killed first. This, however, does not mean the game is over. The dangerous game they play with their lives will continue to be a danger and will continue on until the "kingpin" of the game falls from the game first.