Bubbles Cousins Narrowly Avoids "The Bug" on 'The Wire' — But What Does That Mean, Exactly?

On HBO's The Wire, fans watch tensions rise between the Baltimore Police Department and a drug dealing organization run by the Barksdale family as the American crime drama sees Detective Jimmy McNulty take center stage. The five-season show started in 2002 and ran until 2008.

In the first season, fans are introduced the character Bubbles, a well known West Side drug addict. He acts as an informant for the police. He's a reoccurring character who gets tested to see whether he has "the bug," but the show is relatively lowkey and vague about what exactly that means.

Reginald Cousins, also known as Bubbles, ends up taking an HIV test, but the characters on the show just refer to it as "the bug," a slang word for the disease. Unfortunately, HIV and AIDS often comes with stigma and slang words were often, especially in 2002, used as a way to more discreetly discuss the disease in a less alarming way.

Bubbles knows that he shared needles with Johnny Weeks who tested positive for HIV. As a result, he attempts to make the responsible move and get tested, too. His results come back negative, but that still doesn't sit right with Bubbles. He ends up angry with himself, not feeling deserving of the good news. He spends a substantial amount of time trying to remedy things he did while doped up and overcome his addiction.

It can be a bit confusing when the characters discuss Bubbles's bug because there is another "bug" on the show. This time, it isn't a reference to a disease or medical circumstance. Instead, there is a character who goes by Bug on the show. Aaron Manigault, nicknamed Bug, is the maternal half-brother of Michael Lee.

While he shares a nickname with the disease, Bug is not related to the HIV storyline that Bubbles deals with. Instead, he's more wrapped up in Michael's personal growth plot where he lives with his older brother who works hard to making a safe home for Bug and his friend Dukie.

It doesn't look like there is much hope for a reboot of The Wire. In fact, one of the actors, Jamie Hector, is opposed to bringing it back. "When something is left on a great note and... you try to recreate it again — the mindset, the timing, the era, the people — everything has changed," he told the Daily Mail.

According to Jamie, the show would look extremely different in today's world. One of the ways it would take a turn, he points out, is with the way technology would impact the show. He explained that tech would give the police help in solving the crimes and going through with certain sting operations. If the show did come back, it would need to be mindful of these changes.