SubJeff on 21/8/2009 at 14:52

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If you can make an exception for Seinfeld you can make and exception for The Wire.

I understand why you may not like US crime shows. I'll watch CSI and CSI Maimi but nothing else (I dislike most of them and hate a few) and I don't watch them regularly. I accept that they are just turn your brain off entertainment with not much to them.

The Wire.

Is completely different.

Not only is it completely different but it is, and I've said this before, the best TV series, bar none, that I have ever, ever seen. I'll wager that many people on this board will say the same and when lots of people (and I've heard this all over the place) are saying something is the best thing they have seen you should at least give it a go. If you haven't seen it you need to. You won't be disappointed. Trust us.

SubJeff on 21/8/2009 at 16:16

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To be fair I understand a dislike of "reality" TV.

Muzman on 21/8/2009 at 19:26

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Given the latter's desperate attempt to copy American crime (see also Rush), and merely lumping The Wire in with "American crime TV", we must conclude you haven't really watched very much of any of it.
Midsomer must be one of the few places that rivals Mt Thomas for crime rate, however.

Incidentally, what's wrong with season 4? That's one of the most powerful seasons, probably the climactic season in many ways as it deals with generational change (with some overlap with 5). It's the season that tells you what it's all really about.

Rug Burn Junky on 21/8/2009 at 20:15

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I've watched through the whole series 3 times, the second and third times in spaces of less than two to three weeks.
The odd thing to me about the series is that the first time you go through it, each season feels like a bit of a let down to some extent. Because they transition to such new environments, it takes a while to become accustomed to the new surroundings (or, in the case of the 3rd season, because they went back to seemingly familiar ground of the first season). The second time through is far more rewarding, because you pick up so much more, and on that time through, every season seems more brilliant than the last.

But looking back, season 4 is the one that really got me. Like I said earlier, it's just heartbreaking, more so once you know how things turn out in season 5. When you go back to that first episode and the water fight, it brings it home with such clarity what those kids all lost.

Even more than that, it adds dimension to Bodie, Wallace and Poot. We see the same evolution with those three that we see with Michael, Dookie, etc., but we never see them as "kids," instead picking up their stories just a half beat later after they start on the corner. When you see the season 4 kids come to the end of their storylines, and see how they parallel the previous generation, you can add that innocent time to your conception of Bodie and Poot, and it makes their stories that much more fleshed out. It's almost a secondary character development, and it's brilliant.

And Scots, you're at exactly the right spot in the series that you have to rewatch the (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1HUlTKvDUI) Bodie chess scene again. It absolutely enhances his last conversation with McNulty in season 4, and when you keep in mind this scene, that whole little thread of drawing out Bodie's thoughts is so subtle, brilliant, and poignant.

And yeah, as far as characters go, at various points, you can't help but love most of them (Stringer and Omar high on the list) but at the end of the day, it's Bodie FTW.

Oh, and while I'm here, personal interactions with the Wire:

A) Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) used to DJ at a little club I'd go to called Ludlow Bar, I had no idea who he was, obviously, but there's little doubt I would have crossed paths with him, since it was my favorite hang-out during my first year of law school. Ludlow closed a couple of years ago, but was reborn as The Dark Room, which was where Scots, Stitch, Faf and I spent a glorious night drinking at the TTLGNYC meet in june.

B) A friend of mine actually knows Andre Royo, and managed to get an amazing T-shirt for one of our other friend's wives, which says "Property of Bubbles" Fuckin' classic.

C) Another good friend of mine is from Bawlmer, and when he was home for the holidays a couple of years ago, he saw a church group singing christmas carols. One of the guys singing, and you couldn't miss him he said, was Prop Joe.

Andarthiel on 22/8/2009 at 00:54

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Well that can go either way. Popularity doesn't always mean quality. Look at Halo for example, huge fanbase but the game itself sucks. And similarly certain books, music, shows, games etc. that have a cult following can be quite decent.



Why did you have to bring up that horrible old picture.:tsktsk:
I should really update that.