Ah, to relive that first time feeling. Yeah, that scene broke my heart. But I enjoyed seeing how things change after that character's absence and on rewatches was really left wondering whether his way of doing things would've survived the changing reality on the street. It isn't a cheap act, there are good narrative outcomes...
I love the show so much because even though that character's departure left a hole, there are so many other well-written, compelling characters that I never felt like it impacted the enjoyability of the show.
Dude that plays Bubbles (2nd best character after Omar) has a story where he was in the middle of shooting and was in character, a proper junkie came up to him and handed him some vials and said 'you need this more than I do'.
The show is, apparently, very very realistic and portrays those snippets of street life very accurately.
It helps where a good chunk of the cast are ex criminals and cops.