Moral of the story is...hope.

Pretty much yea.

Hope.... I'm not seeing it anywhere. Did we watch the same show?

I thought the moral was: if you live in Baltimore move somewhere else

What I got from the show, the finale in particular, is that the more things change the more they stay the same. Michael becoming the new Omar, Dookie the new bubbles, slim Charles a new major player

I didn't feel much hopefulness in the show, I think Bubbs, Prezbo and Namond were a few of the only characters to find a better life for themselves. everyone else is dead, locked up or disgraced.

The moral of the story to me was that the city itself is a powerful machine, dwarfing any one character, and no matter how big the waves you make are, ultimately the way of the city prevails. I have no doubt that almost 20 years on Baltimore still has it's Omars, Avons, Levys, Greeks, Kennards and McNultys. Just different men are playing those same roles now, that's all.

There were Avons before Barksdale and now that the government have forcibly removed him from the game and effectively sidelined him there will be Avons ready and willing to take his place.

And so the cycle continues.

That wasn't the moral at all. Certain people make it out but most don't. It's a lot about the failures of the war on drugs and America's neglect of the working-class poor. Also neglect of just the poor in general and the struggling inner-cities.