Sunday night, "The Wire" came to a conclusion and that conclusion can best be summed up that the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Bubbles had a happy ending and got clean. But Dukie takes his place.

For the most part, the bad guys won. Rawls got to be state police superintendent. Carcetti got to be governor. Valchek got to be city police commissioner.

Meanwhile, McNulty is out. Freamon is happily retired, making his dollhouse miniatures. Sydnor became the new McNulty. Carver became the new Daniels. The lawyers and developers move on. Marlo walked. The fabulist reporter got his big award and Gus, the saintly city editor, got demoted. Cheese got dropped. Michael becomes the new Omar.

Bunk stayed the Bunk.

And at the end, the game continued. Cheese's last words summed it up: "There ain't no back in the day. Ain't no nostalgia. Just the street and the game."

Great ending to a great show.