Jimmy McNulty: Giving a #%$@ When It Ain't His Turn

[David T. Cole]

Veteran in-car drinker and policeman.

[Rinaldo]

I chickened out when suggesting the subtitle, unsure whether we said "fuck" in titles of threads around here.

I'm a latecomer to the series, having devoured it on DVD in January 2013. Jimmy (and thus Dominic West's portrayal of him) especially intrigued me, because it didn't hesitate to include some extremely negative elements in someone whose ultimate intentions are usually good. He really goes to some bad places. And at the same time we see his charm and understand why friends would stick by him and women would (however ill-advisedly) fall for him.

[LCanterbury]

I'm an even later-latecomer - finished last night! I found McNulty compelling for similar reasons, Rinaldo. He could have been a caricature (good cop/bad man, uninvolved cop/good man) but the writing and West's portrayal made him impossible to love but equally impossible to hate. As a viewer, I often agreed with McNulty and wanted things to work out professionally and personally for him, but couldn't support the way he went about it.

[Raja]

Speaking of the women, while he had history with ASA Rhonda when he did show up at her house. ..But worst would have to be the waitress at the diner. That just doesn't happen

[Armchair Critic]

One of my favorite scenes is when Jimmy is with the two Russian hookers and Bunk &  Kima walk in on him. When Daniels asks if Jimmy is okay Bunk says "he'll live". Then later when Jimmy writes about it in his report and Ronnie reads it.

[Constantinople]

From the Small Talk thread
 

I am coming down from a 5 day immersion into the world of The Wired.  Excellent show.  But I feel so dirty - a deep down soul sick kind of dirty that will stay with me for a long while.
 
I took an instant dislike to McNulty/West, and by S5 I despised him with the fire of a thousand burning nuns.  But I have enough hate in my heart to spread around to most of the other players in this horrid game of life.  The bright spots were few and far between, and I reveled in them.  The dark spots made me want to KILL, KILL, KILL.
 
I guess I could see myself watching the whole thing again, just to see if my perspective changes, but the thought of looking at West's face anytime soon makes me want to punch it (or cap McNulty's ass, take your pick).  I realize this is illogical, but it is a personal and visceral reaction coming from some deeply seated "issues".  :-)

Makes sense to me.

When you're a self-centered, socially obtuse, arrogant asshole with a huge chip on your shoulder who thinks he's the smartest person in the room, you damn well better know the difference between "then" and "than"

[walnutqueen]

From the Small Talk thread

 

Makes sense to me.

When you're a self-centered, socially obtuse, arrogant asshole with a huge chip on your shoulder who thinks he's the smartest person in the room, you damn well better know the difference between "then" and "than"

 

Oh, dear Gawd did I inadvertently type then VS than?  :-)

 

I am ALWAYS the smartest person in the room, and not just because I live with cats!!!  hee

 

Worst casual sex I ever had was with a guy who had McNulty hair.  He also had sparkly stalagtites hanging from the ceiling of his Dad's converted garage ...

[Constantinople]

Oh, dear Gawd did I inadvertently type then VS than?  :-)

Not at all.

I hope I didn't give that impression.

I was just referring to this scene back in Season 1

 

 

I love it when someone shows McNulty he's not all that.

[SignGuy]

But worst would have to be the waitress at the diner. That just doesn't happen

 

Not to us regular folk, it doesn't. You might have missed it among his countless other faults, but Jimmy McNulty's all kindsa bad-boy handsome.

 

His absence during Season 4 actually made the character's climb back on the wagon more believable for me.