The Wire was one of the most cyclical shows in the history of television. Each season ended with a montage illustrating how, no matter what police work had been done, no matter who won the election, no matter who had been murdered or was off to jail, things pretty much stayed the same. When someone left the game, a new person stepped in to take their place. The writers showed this in overt ways—Michael holding a shotgun like Omar, Dukie on a path to become the next Bubbles—but they reached this notion in more subtle ways, too. When they first met each other in Season 1, Bunk told Omar, "A man must have a code." Years later, during Season 4, Omar turned the line right back on Bunk, accusing him of knowingly letting a murderer walk free.

And yet for all its well-deserved acclaim, even The Wire often used tautologies as a crutch. A tautology, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is "a needless repetition of an idea, statement, or word." It's usually done for dramatic effect. On occasion, the show used tautologies brilliantly. Spiros, the ringleader of the foreign drug operation, took comfort in his "many names, many passports," and at one point flatly told Nick Sobotka, "My name is not my name." As Marlo made his gradual climb to become Baltimore's biggest kingpin, he more than once proclaimed, "My name is my name!" But the device can also be used to merely fill the air. We all know people who lazily rely on phrases like "It is what it is," to end a discussion or debate. It's frustrating! Below is a supercut of the show's many tautologies, for better or worse:

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[H/T: Slate

John Hendrickson Deputy Editor John Hendrickson is the Deputy Editor of Esquire.com, where he oversees the site's 24/7 news operation as well as all politics coverage.

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