Carcetti Was Never a Decent Guy

I watched the show in full not too long ago for the first time and I’ve noticed some pretty big discrepancies between how I perceived some things and how fans seem to. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and there’s lots to be debated and discussed. But, for me there is one aspect of the show that when I see discussed online makes me feel like I watched a different show from everyone else. That would be Carcetti.

I see so many posts here and YouTube comments talking about how sad his fall from grace was. What are you talking about? Yes, he is indeed worse at the end of the show than he was when he was introduced. But from the very first time we see him it is so abundantly clear where his career is going.

Any care he has for real issues is backdropped by his own political ambitions, so much so that I doubt if he cares at all. I mean, “every day I wake up white in a city that ain’t.” Give me a break, man. He practically ignores his doting wife to watch highlights of himself speaking at city council. One of the first things we see him do is scheme to screw over his best friend in the council. I mean, his whole thing is running to be tough on crime and give the police more money. When the hell has that ever worked? Turning down taking money for the schools was definitely his rubicon, but he was always going to cross it.

It would be one thing if he went from a Zohran Mamdani or AOC type and turned into Martin O’Malley. That would be a fall from grace. But he started as Martin O’Malley and continued to be Martin O’Malley, your average machine democrat. There was practically nothing in his character to indicate that he would not lie, cheat, or engage in other political skulduggery for his own interests.

To conclude I am genuinely confused why anyone thought the guy had any grace at all to fall from.