The Wire!

[Tomato]

Well, I finally got around to watching all of S5, and holy sheeeeit. It wasn't a great season, not as good as S2 & S4 (some of my personal favourites) But it set out to do what it did. I've understood another aspect of the city. I loved the whole Newspaper angle. Truly eye opening in how much we don't see/get reported. A person like Proposition Joe, which was controlling the drug trade in Baltimore didn't even get a blurb.

There is so much to discuss. And so many heartbreaking scenes. Michael loss of innocence was too much, he could not remember the piss balloons. I almost wanted to cry. It was just too much along with Dukie.

Also there were some great moments to cheer, Bubs' redemption. Was one of the most heart warming things to have ever seen. Just his whole character arc.

There was just way too much to even gather about this show. I remember seeing the undercover bum and I saw his wedding band and I was like WTF. We all know from Bubs any coke fiend would've sold that long time ago.

 

[Jax]

I plan to watch this show one day, I've heard so much about it but I never had the time for it so far. Maybe this summer

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

 

[sidious618]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

It takes getting used to. Watch the whole season, I think your mind will change.

Anyhow, I love The Wire. Personally, I thought S5 was the best.

 

[Star Wolf]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

This is one show that you shouldn't skip ahead in. It would be like reading a book and just skipping over chapters.

The dock story of season two is the most self contained however some of the best moments of season two will be lost if you don't know the characters of Avon's gang and their motivations from season one.

This show is made for repeated viewings. Anyone hear of a release date for the DVD yet?

 

[Goliath]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

Temis, trust me on this. I had exactly the same reaction that you're having now--and I was a big fan of Homicide: Life on the Street.

I watched the first few episodes of The Wire's first season, and thought, "meh, what's the big deal?" But I kept watching--I figured, "well, I bought the damn DVDs, I might as well watch them"--and by the end of the season, I was hooked.

It really does grow on you.

This show is made for repeated viewings. Anyone hear of a release date for the DVD yet?

Wikipedia says 12 August 2008 in Region 1.

 

[Tomato]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

Temis What shows do you like. I can understand why the Wire isn't for everybody. The wire is not a cop show albeit it is sold as one. The Wire is more a look into a broken city and what things are the way they are. Why cops busting drug dealers don't work, why low income people get into drugs, why people deal drugs to begin with.

Personally I was taken aback when I first watched it. I was totally expecting the Shield. But it is so much more than that. It is a view or insight into parts of the city (in this case Baltimore) that we would have never seen. What motivates these people. Truly amazing.

Another incredible thing about the show is the depth and talent of black actors. I really don't like to bring race into most things but the fact that over 50% of the cast is black and they place characters ranging from cops, to politicians says a lot about how much this show is willing to present a real portrayal of how Baltimore is like. I feel that too often we have a Token minority character in a show here or there.

Another great thing about the show is the symbolism. For example in S3.

Spoiler: S3

When the divide for Barksdale and Bell began to happen. It was amazing how both of them decided to backstab each other. Barksdale with the street mentality sent Omar and Mazone to go after Bell. And Bell being more "civilized" sent the cops after Barksdale.

 

[Sci]

I just started watching S1, and maybe I'm weird but I'm not sure I like it all that much. Should I skip right to S2 and see if that comes off better? Maybe I'm just not into any cop show, regardless of quality. The other seasons tackle different storylines, right?

From what I've been lead to understand, The Wire isn't so much a cop show as it is a show about the City of Baltimore, and the various institutions that make up -- and screw up -- the city.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Temis What shows do you like.

Dexter
Lost
DS9
Heroes
new BSG
Firefly
Entourage
Deadwood
Damages
Big Love
Pushing Daisies
Breaking Bad
Sarah Connor Chronicles
Farscape
Futurama
Band of Brothers

...and even Oz, somewhat (tho it was way over the top and could be silly).

What's bugging me about The Wire is that I don't much care about the characters. If I don't care pretty quickly whether someone - anyone - in the show lives or dies, I can't get into it at all. The two dopey addicts (one of which got put in a coma, the other one ratting out to the cops for vengeance) are the most sympathetic so far. I also kind of like D'Angelo, a naive young kid slowly waking up to what's going on around him. But if any of them died, my response would be a shrug.

All the shows I listed had at least a few characters I could care about. That's probably the common thread.

Also, the police bureaucracy stuff is killing me! It's just not an interesting topic. I wish it were just about the drug dealers and drug addicts. (Didn't Simon also do The Corner? That was great.)

...or maybe I just don't care about cops & robbers. That list of mine is very short on shows that have cops of any sort as major characters. Dexter's the closest, and that's not at all a "cop show."

 

[Goliath]

^Like I said: stick with it. You won't be sorry.

 

[kalysto]

^ I've just started watching season one myself, up to episode 8, I think. I kept reading everywhere, the writing and quality of the series is up there with Deadwood, which I find a bold freaking statement. It's not there yet, but I am absolutely intrigued.

I agree with you wanting to feel some sort of attachment to the characters. Slowly, but surely though, these guys are worming their way into my heart.

 

[Guy Gardener]

I like it that this show doesn't have a central character or even characters, it's a broad view of the entire theater of Baltimore... A season of the wire is like a single episode of anything else from a story telling perspective.

 

[Tomato]

Temis What shows do you like.

What's bugging me about The Wire is that I don't much care about the characters. If I don't care pretty quickly whether someone - anyone - in the show lives or dies, I can't get into it at all. The two dopey addicts (one of which got put in a coma, the other one ratting out to the cops for vengeance) are the most sympathetic so far. I also kind of like D'Angelo, a naive young kid slowly waking up to what's going on around him. But if any of them died, my response would be a shrug.

Hmm I would say stick with it for another season and see where it takes you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. A reason which the characters may not stand out is how real the Executive Producers are trying to make it. These people need to be believable. Not trying to make excuses up but I would stay until S1.

Another theme of the wire is that the "Good guys" are not necessarily the "Good Guys". Take Bubs for example. He's a drug addict in the eye of society yet he does more good than some of the cops. Say Herc for example. This blending of roles is producers goal of trying to present a real view of baltimore. You may not rise up cheer and clap for each character but you may identify with them all.

The police bureaucracy I guess is a necessary evil to go along with the theme of realism of the show.

I can understand why it isn't for everybody. Like I said I strongly believe nothing like this has ever been done in TV before so we have nothing to compare it or prepare ourseleves for.

 

[J.T.B.]

My wife, and myself to a lesser extent, had a hard time getting into the show. It took only about three or four episodes, though, and we were hooked. Probably the best character ensemble I've ever seen, including "Hill Street Blues," "St. Elsewhere," "The Sopranos" and "Deadwood," which is very high praise from me. It's hard for me to think of not caring about most of the characters. Even some of the ones you think are a-holes, you find yourself sympathizing with.

The police bureaucracy, I think, is some of the most interesting stuff in the show. The theme of the series, to me, seems to be the individual versus the system. The system and its politics are set up so the individual, however good, has to go along with it or lose. Whether it's the good guys or the bad guys, the organization has goals of its own, that may not match the "official" goals. This applies to the police, the gangs, the unions, city hall, the school system.

If the internal politics of the police bothers you, wait till you see Rawls' Comstat meetings in S3. Some of the most uncomfortable scenes in the whole series, criminal acts included!

I thought about getting HBO for the final season, but decided to wait for the DVD. I am now questioning my decision; August seems like a long way away! And I really have to be careful with threads like this, I know S5 deals (also) with the city paper but that's about it and I don't want to know anything else!

--Justin

 

[Goliath]

The theme of the series, to me, seems to be the individual versus the system. The system and its politics are set up so the individual, however good, has to go along with it or lose. Whether it's the good guys or the bad guys, the organization has goals of its own, that may not match the "official" goals. This applies to the police, the gangs, the unions, city hall, the school system.

Yes--exactly.

 

[Tomato]

I thought about getting HBO for the final season, but decided to wait for the DVD. I am now questioning my decision; August seems like a long way away! And I really have to be careful with threads like this, I know S5 deals (also) with the city paper but that's about it and I don't want to know anything else!

--Justin

I'll keep in it non S5 spoiler free just for you b/c I am dying to find people who have watched this show. Did anybody notice in S1, I believe episode 2 when MCU where in their office there was this poster talking about waste. It was a nice little parrallelism to another over-arching theme of the Wire about how potential is wasted. Or even how one little thing causes a chain of events.

You see potential wasted from Bubs keen intellect to McNaulty's Po-lice work. But the worst of all is the potential that is wasted from these young hoppers who get chewed up through the system and the drugs. If they aren't dead or in jail it says a lot about what is going on in the streets of America.

Spoiler: S4 - quote

I remember it was Bunk who said, if 300 white people were getting murdered a year in Baltimore the 82nd would've been on every street corner but because they are black we see nothing being done at all.

 

[Star Wolf]

Temis What shows do you like.

What's bugging me about The Wire is that I don't much care about the characters. If I don't care pretty quickly whether someone - anyone - in the show lives or dies, I can't get into it at all. The two dopey addicts (one of which got put in a coma, the other one ratting out to the cops for vengeance) are the most sympathetic so far. I also kind of like D'Angelo, a naive young kid slowly waking up to what's going on around him. But if any of them died, my response would be a shrug.

Hmm I would say stick with it for another season and see where it takes you. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. A reason which the characters may not stand out is how real the Executive Producers are trying to make it. These people need to be believable. Not trying to make excuses up but I would stay until S1.

Another theme of the wire is that the "Good guys" are not necessarily the "Good Guys". Take Bubs for example. He's a drug addict in the eye of society yet he does more good than some of the cops. Say Herc for example. This blending of roles is producers goal of trying to present a real view of baltimore. You may not rise up cheer and clap for each character but you may identify with them all.

The police bureaucracy I guess is a necessary evil to go along with the theme of realism of the show.

I can understand why it isn't for everybody. Like I said I strongly believe nothing like this has ever been done in TV before so we have nothing to compare it or prepare ourseleves for.

If you don't enjoy the story of the police bureaucracy then perhaps you are one of those this show is not for. Besides the police we see the inner workings of the drug gangs, a dying labor union, the city political machine, the middle schools as the make or break point of the 'hoppers' lives and I'm waiting for the DVD to see how a dying newspaper business is worked into the story.

Almost all the characters come off as real to me except the legends that became Omar and Brother Mouzone.

 

[Hugo Rune]

The finest consecutive 5 seasons of TV full stop.

Seasons 3 and 4 are the most profound and perfect pieces of TV drama I've had the joy of watching.

Seasons 1/2/5 come pretty damned close too, but perhaps miss some of the socialogical metaphors and themes which bring 3/4 into shocking, crystalline reality.

What makes the writing and storytelling so beautiful is the reality of it all, the organic nature of it. Stories take seasons to flesh out and conclude. Characters take years to come to grips with their demons. Some, after 5 years, never do.

I've never come across a set of characters I've watched so compulsively. Cheered with, booed at, sat slack-jawed in front of... Yet to those people not connecting with the show in S1, most of them don't really connect until the end of season 1 - which is a little like real life. People are hard to get to know, revealing personality traits months by month (or in this case, season by season). And when you realise the "villains" are as well defined (and in some cases more-so) as the "heroes" you can't help but applaud.

Bubs, Prop Joe, Stringer, Omar, Snoop, Bodie, Marlo, The Greek, Michael, Dukie... never will you find a more interesting set of villians, down-and-outs and vigilantes on the small (or big) screen. Not even The Sopranos comes close IMO.

TV needs more shows like The Wire - low on flash, high on substance.

I eagerly await David Simons and Ed Burns' mini-series on the Iraq war due out on HBO next year.


Hugo - No one wins. One side just loses more slowly

 

[kalysto]

Not sure if it's OK to bring this thread up again, but... I just finished Season 2, and suffice to say, it wasn't enough! Anyone out there know if or when the Season 3-5 DVDs will be released in Australia?

 

[Alidar Jarok]

I watched the first episode of Season 5 and I really liked the newspaper angle (I think having relatives in the media helped there). After that, I decided to watch it from the beginning and I'm only halfway through Season 1. But it's a very cool show, so I'll have to watch more of it.