I try to get around to a rewatch once a year. I find myself insanely jealous of people embarking on their viewing for the first time.
Television The Wire
- Thread starter VanNistelrater
- Start date
Still haven't got around to watching it yet, I know I'll love it but it just seems like a commitment. Had a mate last year up until 5 in the morning multiple times just absolutely glued to it towards the end.
For everyone who hasn't watched it yet - or anyone who wants to watch it again, Series 1 Episode 1 is on Sky Anytime available to watch, with the rest of the series showing every Friday at 10pm on Sky Atlantic.
If I'm honest the 1st episode bored the pants off of me, but I checked on IMDB and the episode just got an 8.0 rating, with episodes towards the end of the series reaching 9 and above. The only thing that made me watch it all was on the notion that The Wire as a whole, has a higher rating than The Soprano's and Lost, two of my favourite shows ever so I must give it more of a chance.
If I'm honest the 1st episode bored the pants off of me, but I checked on IMDB and the episode just got an 8.0 rating, with episodes towards the end of the series reaching 9 and above. The only thing that made me watch it all was on the notion that The Wire as a whole, has a higher rating than The Soprano's and Lost, two of my favourite shows ever so I must give it more of a chance.
It's a slow burner in season 1 especially, it's in around episode 8 that everything starts to piece together and it's amazing from then on.
Just finished rewatching S3 and starting S4, this show gets better every time I watch it.
Loved this scene:
And this makes me laugh every time:
Loved this scene:
And this makes me laugh every time:
Mouzone was such a gimmicky character.....just so random for the show, that and that Omars spiderman leap.
To be completely honest, it's a show that I appreciate the hell out of more for what I learned from it rather than from how much I enjoyed it while watching. The story is good enough and the characters are brilliant, but the realism and completeness of it all is what puts this show at the top of the list for me. To this day I can have conversations about real-life problems in the context of The Wire and the characters and their actions and the settings and how they all link up together. It's almost a comprehensive guide to everything that's so goddamn frustrating in life all tied up in one five-season package. And that's something I just didn't realize when I first started watching.
Yeah, I didn't like him either. The rest was, at least on the face of it, "real". Mouzone was... from a cheesy movie.
Mouzone always reminded me of Chris Eubank.
Cool, it does sound good the way you describe it, however I just let it slip and haven't seen a few episodes now, chances of me watching the whole series are pretty slim now.
I will watch something though, I want something that I will be absolutely on the edge of my seat and pining for the next episode like I was with Lost- but not Prison Break!
Wasn't he based on a real person or something?
I'm sure you've seen it but 24 is very much like that.
Surprisingly not - I should give it a watch.
I couldn't possibly watch 24. Partially because from what I've heard I don't think I would like it very much, and partially because of Elvis.
Was he really?
Practically everyone on the show is based on a real person or is a combination of several people. In fact one of the coolest experiences I had relating to the show is going through Wikipedia articles about the history of Baltimore and some of its public figures and finding links between real-life figures and their counterparts on The Wire.
Also Homicide (the book that led to the TV show) shows the inspirations for a lot of the characters on the police side.
Yup. There are real Baltimore people in the show as well.
The Deacon who was in from Season 3, who mentored Dennis when he got out of jail, was actually a drug lord in the 80's.
I find The Wire's style of slowly building up to a climax every season more riveting than 24's constant tension, which got boring after 2 seasons.
The one that I always remember (probably because he was in the Homicide book) is Jay Landsman who played Dennis Mello while he himself was being portrayed by Delaney Williams. He was also the inspiration for John Munch from Homicide (the tv show) and Law and Order SVU who also made an appearance on The Wire.
Snoop is the other big one.
Yep, Lil' Melvin. Got quite the shock when watching American Gangster one evening, he was quite the prodigy, apparently.
dude was ripped as hell too
About a year ago I watched the first season of this. Then about 2 episodes of season 2 and just stopped. I think the idea of so many episodes at an hour long each just seemed a big commitment. However in the past few weeks I've watched Seasons 2 to 5. Fantastic show. So many great characters, all superb actors. Omar, Stringer, Bubbles, to name a few, so many other great ones. I was gutted when Stringer died, thought Idris Elba was superb. Thought the serial killer aspect of 5 was a bit weak in places but that's just nit-picking really. Amazing show.
I found myself not quite getting it until about a third into season two.
After that I was hooked as feck... Glad I persisted.
Repeat viewings are soooo good too <3 I've had four full viewings and a couple of isolated viewings of certain seasons... I get chills regularly every time.
The overdose scene in the prison being one that made me feel that this show hadn't quite risen to its full height yet
After that I was hooked as feck... Glad I persisted.
Repeat viewings are soooo good too <3 I've had four full viewings and a couple of isolated viewings of certain seasons... I get chills regularly every time.
I find myself banging on about this in every thread related to TV shows but for me, The Shield is the way to go for this. Not as clever as The Wire, or as accomplished as Breaking Bad, but in terms of addictiveness, hardcore story lines, great characters and all round compulsive viewing, it is very hard to beat.
Season 3 was the best for me, the show was never the same after Stringer though imo.
Season 5 was disappointing by comparison, the serial killer storyline seems like such a jump-the-shark moment, I mean when it was just McNutty it was quasi believable, he's always one decision away from total disaster but Lester? can't see it.
It's probably the only way it could have ended, I could have watched a few more seasons though, the ending of the series was probably the most honest and realistic I think I've ever seen, even though it was such a soul crushingly downer ending.
The faces have changed on the pieces sure, but the game is still the game.
Season 5 was disappointing by comparison, the serial killer storyline seems like such a jump-the-shark moment, I mean when it was just McNutty it was quasi believable, he's always one decision away from total disaster but Lester? can't see it.
It's probably the only way it could have ended, I could have watched a few more seasons though, the ending of the series was probably the most honest and realistic I think I've ever seen, even though it was such a soul crushingly downer ending.
The faces have changed on the pieces sure, but the game is still the game.
5 definitely the weakest, thats kind of universally accepted now I guess, under development because it was randomly cut from 12 to 10 episodes, serial killer story line wasn't great, and the journalist angle wasn't all that good either though comes in with the underdeveloped part because it could of been better. Mind you, I've never actually rewatched season 5, and it's been like 4 years now, maybe it's a grower.
I prefer 2 and 4 to 1 and 3 though, all 4 are great, but with the schools and working man angles, they explored things I hadn't seen in TV before, as fantastic as 1 and 3, they still followed a lot of common traditions in this kind of thing, but just deeper than usual.
I prefer 2 and 4 to 1 and 3 though, all 4 are great, but with the schools and working man angles, they explored things I hadn't seen in TV before, as fantastic as 1 and 3, they still followed a lot of common traditions in this kind of thing, but just deeper than usual.
4 is the greatest season of television ever made.
Would you recommend to start from season 1 or jump around and start with s4?
Start at season 1 without doubt
Part of me is dead inside thinking someone in the world may have done this.
Season 4 is depressing as well as touching. Possibly the best season till now.
Season 4 is the best.
Season 4 is the best season of TV ever created. It's faultless.
I've been rewatching these and I agree that season 4 is fantastic. Season 5 is a drop off but not quite as bad as I'd remembered from last time around. The serial killer thing is pretty daft but McNulty was always a bit of a head case and you can kind of accept that Lester's desperation had reached tipping point, he really wanted to get Ashley Young.
We have tried starting this and we are really struggling to get into it. I think we have watched 4 or 5 episodes of series 1 and it is very ordinary so far.
You need to have patience with it, Wibble, it's not a fast paced show filled with action, it's a slow burner. Give it time and reap the rewards.
It's a slow burner, keep with it & you'll be rewarded.
Yeah stick with it. It's not your typical TV show.
Ah Wibble, how I envy you. That's how I felt when I first saw it, right about where you were. I was thinking there really has to be more to this, or at least a faster pace. I now wish I could forget the whole thing and go back to it, the turning point from where it becomes something you have to endure to finish, to something you can't bare to leave, is amazing.
I'll keep going then. The missus isn't keen.