Finished Season One a few days ago, taught it was brilliant, only problem was the quality I downloaded, I am so use to things in HD.
Television The Wire
- Thread starter VanNistelrater
- Start date
Was given The WIre by my friend over a month ago but have only since watched two episodes. Enjoyed them but for some reason never watched them one after another like I did other shows. Will need to start watching it again.
yeah it doesn't have edge-of-your-seat cliffhangers like most primetime series, so requires a bit of patience.
in one of the dvd extras some guy talked about The Wire not winning an Emmy award and said something like "Forget an Emmy Award... the wire should get a nobel prize for literature!"
And looking back after watching all 5 seasons, you realize it really is more a visual novel than a TV show
Coles wake. What a great fecking scene. The Pogues are brilliant.
Awards are for assholes, but this really should be recognized in some capacity and should be made compulsory viewing.
Just finished season two and am really enjoying it.
Season 1 was excellent while I thought season 2 was very good but a lot slower moving. Stringer in season 1 I thought was just awesome and was sort of the one running things in terms of Avon listening to his advise, but turns out he really is just Avon's bitch. The killing of D was a bit unnecessary but never really warmed to him, I liked Wallace however.
Hopefully there are still plenty of good episodes to come.
Hopefully there are still plenty of good episodes to come.
Loving Omar in this, a mean mofo!
Great series let down by a relatively poor 5th season.
Season 5 was definitely my least favourite but I wouldn't go anywhere near as far as to say the series was let down by it.
I thought Season 5 was awful really. The storylines were far less credible.
It didn't ruin the season but I thought the writers let themselves down peddling such crap about papers and Pulitzers.
Season 4 was the best by far.
It didn't ruin the season but I thought the writers let themselves down peddling such crap about papers and Pulitzers.
Season 4 was the best by far.
Agreed. Season 4 was 10/10. Season 1 & 3 were 8/10, Season 2 & 5 were 6/10.
I reckon the kids in series 4 were much better actors than the adults by and large.
Season 2 was hugely underrated, most people didn't seem to like it but I thought it was a pretty crucial aspect to Baltimore. Season 5 was probably my least favourite but that didn't stop me watching the episodes back to back.
Season 2 just had too many bad actors, that dickhead kid being the worst of them.
Season 2 was excellent in it's own right, just didn't really seem like it tied in very well to the other seasons. Would have been better as a standalone series, I think.
Season 5 was the weakest, IMO - mainly due to the ridiculousness of the McNulty storyline.
Season 5 was the weakest, IMO - mainly due to the ridiculousness of the McNulty storyline.
Ridiculously harsh ratings from what IMO is best TV series ever...
Season 1- 9.5/10
Season 2 - 8.5/10
Season 3 - 9.5/10
Season 4- 9/10
Season 5- 7/10
Season 1- 9.5/10
Season 2 - 8.5/10
Season 3 - 9.5/10
Season 4- 9/10
Season 5- 7/10
It's probably the best cop show ever, but I'd say it's clearly a notch or two below The Sopranos, for example. Season 4 was brilliantly done though and probably on a par with The Sopranos I reckon.
On each re-watch season 2 becomes better and better for me. Season 5 becomes worse.
Yeah, what were they thinking with that plot? The worst bit was how out of character Lester was made to be.
I think McNulty is actually the main thing that holds the show back from being the best ever, he's the worst actor of the main characters.
I echo the comments that Season 2 is very underrated.
People used to ask me who my favourite Wire character was and I always said Sobotka, and they'd look at me funny.
People used to ask me who my favourite Wire character was and I always said Sobotka, and they'd look at me funny.
Why must people always compare the 2? He says it's the best show ever so you immeditately bring up The Sopranos.
It's basically 50/50 on which people think is the best ever so give the thing a rest. More repetitive than Messi v Ronaldo debates.
If someone states their opinion on the best show ever it's pretty much expected that you would reply with your opinion on what is the best show.
I was happy to discuss The Wire on its own terms, but when someone brings up the claim of 'best show ever' then that makes it a comparative discussion.
Have you guys read that this series takes place in the same Universe as the X-files and the reason they can't never get the FBI to cooperate was because they were busy dealing with an alien invasion and what not?
It's not total bullshit because the link is there. It's all down to Richard Belzer's character, detective Munc. He played him in Homicide: Life on the Streets and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Homicide takes place in Baltimore and has the same writer and co-creator as The Wire, David Simon. Munch makes and appearance in The Wire in one episode. And he does so as well in X-Files regarding the alien thing.
It's not total bullshit because the link is there. It's all down to Richard Belzer's character, detective Munc. He played him in Homicide: Life on the Streets and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. Homicide takes place in Baltimore and has the same writer and co-creator as The Wire, David Simon. Munch makes and appearance in The Wire in one episode. And he does so as well in X-Files regarding the alien thing.
Season 2 was brilliant, I think most viewers weren't ready for the change in scene and topic, having already become familiar with the Barksdale crew, cops and drug dealer organizations. Season 2 made the Wire much bigger than that. It tackled the loss of blue collar jobs in Baltimore, lobbying and bribery, human trafficking and prostitution, drug smuggling, in addition to the already existing theme of police-drug dealer interaction. And it did this with a smooth transition. The acting quality never took away from the underlying story, and in most cases enhanced it.
Only season 4 surpasses this one for me. I can say with confidence that few moments in television reached the heights that season 4 did, ever.
I hate the way the Wire has made other good series look shit to me now.
Only season 4 surpasses this one for me. I can say with confidence that few moments in television reached the heights that season 4 did, ever.
I hate the way the Wire has made other good series look shit to me now.
I don't recall them mentioning any other shows though, do you?
Every thread about either show is full of comparisons between them now because people just can't accept that other people prefer one over the other. You just had to quote him and go "actually no, the Sopranos is better"
I disagree with basically everything you've said regarding The Wire and I could write an essay of the flaws and shit characters I've seen in The Sopranos but it's so pointless to do so because then someone will come along who prefers the Sopranos and go diss the Wire instead and an endless, stupid cycle will ensue.
Can't they be discussed on their own terms anymore?
He said he thought The Wire is the best, I replied The Sopranos is better. I don't see the problem?
There are plenty of flawed characters in The Sopranos as well, though I think the main characters are generally better acted than in The Wire (with the notable exception of Meadow Soprano who is a bit shit).
I think there are some fantastic characters in The Wire though: Lester is great up until they ruined him in the last series, Stringer Bell is brilliant, Bubbles is great, Clay Davis is well done, and pretty much all the teenagers in series 4 are amazing.
Yes, the plot in season 2 was good. I think what let it down for me wasn't the change of emphasis/subject but the way some of the focal characters were acted.
I thought Ziggy was totally unbelievable as a character and I couldn't buy into his troubles at all, and Nick was just bland and unconvincing.
Because it's been a recurring theme in the 16 pages of this thread from the very start. I just see no need to compare them, they're both magnificent but people will always have preference towards one or the other, and in many ways they're very different shows that shouldn't be put against each other in terms of "which is the best ever".
I mean you could actually endlessly compare and debate over the 2, probably be best to create a Wire v Sopranos thread much like Ronaldo v Messi rather than ruin their singular threads.
The fact that the 'dickhead kid' clearly annoyed you shows that's he's acted his role very well. In the end he just comes across as just ridiculously naive and actually makes you feel a little sorry for him, well I did anyway.
I also agree that Sobotka was a terrific character.
It wasn't his character that annoyed me, it was his shit over-acting.
I agree entirely, I thought season 2 was great.
Season 5 was the worst of the lot but season 2 was good. Sobotka's were very good additions.
Class show, feckin loved it. Got the boxset off the missus for Christmas & couldnt put it down - feckin cellotape was strong as feck
I watched Season 1 in December and have finally got round to watching Season 2 (finished on Monday).
Will probably start watching Season 3 this weekend
Will probably start watching Season 3 this weekend
I watched Season 1 in December and have finally got round to watching Season 2 (finished on Monday).
Will probably start watching Season 3 this weekend
3 and 4 are absolute crackers, you're in for a treat.
I really enjoyed S2, it was a pretty long gap between both seasons so it took me a few episodes to remember who everyone was.
I was pretty sad when they murdered Dee
Just finished watching the last episode, and I'm just here to echo the sentiments of most of the thread really. Best TV I've watched without a doubt. Although Season 5 was a bit rushed, and I'd liked to have seen different conclusions for a few characters. Nonetheless, I wish I could re-watch this all over again, with my memory of it erased! The characters were just incredible!
I have only watched it once, but was Rawls ever in a gay bar? Where were they going with that? The amount of time that guy said cock was amazing.
As everyone has said, just a brilliant TV show. Nothing else I've seen has been able to match it.
Ive watched this three times over already but I've gotta do a 4th run through at some point next year, it's ridiculous how it blows everything else away.
I might be in for another rewatch soon. Every viewing feels a bit different somehow and you discover and realise new stuff everytime.