Television The Wire

Season 5's focus, and the general arc and purposes of it's main characters is perfectly right, it's only the specifics of McNulty's actions that rankle. The proof of The Wire's supremecy is that those specifics would pass unquestioned, perhaps even lauded in any of the other shows mentioned in this thread.
 
I didn't find Season 5 awful or bad, it just paled a bit compared to the earlier 4 seasons.

I especially loved the story arc of Bubbles and Prez. Thought it would be Dookie who gets to have a chance at a better future but seeing him taking a syringe in the final montage really does it for me.



What I don't understand is what happens to McNulty after he leaves the BPD. We only see him taking the homeless guy back to the homeless shelter.
 
I was thinking something similar to Gates and Elgin at the end of Three Kings, lending some authenticity to Hollywood depictions of crime. Surely the obvious choice for any American looking to start a new life is to head for Hollywood?
 
What I don't understand is what happens to McNulty after he leaves the BPD. We only see him taking the homeless guy back to the homeless shelter.


Well I think the point is that he's done fecking himself up, so it'll probably be some random boring job.
 
Season 5's focus, and the general arc and purposes of it's main characters is perfectly right, it's only the specifics of McNulty's actions that rankle. The proof of The Wire's supremecy is that those specifics would pass unquestioned, perhaps even lauded in any of the other shows mentioned in this thread.
Mos Def.
 
Mockney said:
it's only the specifics of McNulty's actions that rankle.

I remember reading something a while back that said the whole 'Hamsterdam' plot, as implausible as it seemed, was loosely based on the real actions of an actual major in some city in the midwest. I wonder if McNulty's Season 5 plot had any basis in real life?
 
I was thinking something similar to Gates and Elgin at the end of Three Kings, lending some authenticity to Hollywood depictions of crime. Surely the obvious choice for any American looking to start a new life is to head for Hollywood?
Haven't seen Three Kings so will have to take your word on it.
 
The Hamsterdam plot was based on something real, yeah, and it was possibly more implausible than the serial killer stuff in S5, it was just delivered in a far more feasible way.

I don't think S5 was helped by being cut back to ten episodes, you could tell they had to cut out stuff and rush things a bit. It was originally written as 13 episodes but HBO fecked them over a bit.
 
I can't split season 3 or 4. After that it's 2 > 1 > 5 for me

A good discussion would be top 5 or top 10 scenes but I'd need a few days to figure that out. Maybe even need another full re-watch.
 
Love this scene. I could listen to Clay Davis talking all day long.

 
I've been meaning to re-watch this for a while so I think I'll wait for this now. The only thing I didn't enjoy about it first time round was the quality.

Just started watching The Shield on @Sylar's recommendation amongst other people. I'm only a few episodes in but it just seems like a shit version of The Wire so far. Most shows struggle when I'm comparing them to The Wire, but The Shield seems to more than most as it's set in a similar time and location. I should have watched The Wire last so it didn't have this affect on every other show for me :(
 
Im surprised by that, not to derail this thread, but Shield is different from Wire. Probably more happens per episode in terms of action and its gets right into the story and tone with the ending of the first episode.
 
Finished season 5 last week. Gutted when it finished, I kinda ruined it to begin with by watching seasons 1,2 & 3 pretty much back to back and got a tad bored. Excellent show though.
It doesn't knock Sopranos off the number 1 spot for me though
 
Im surprised by that, not to derail this thread, but Shield is different from Wire. Probably more happens per episode in terms of action and its gets right into the story and tone with the ending of the first episode.
To be fair I'm not far into Shield and The Wire took quite a while to get me hooked. Most shows do for me. Perhaps Shield will do the same.
 
Not too fussed about the HD release to be honest. It's fine the way it is.

It thought it was shot with the 4:3 aspect ratio in mind anyway so surprised they've even remastered it.
 
Finally I can get round to watching it now it's not in 4:3 aspect ratio.

I got used to the aspect ratio really quickly, surprised people care about that. Also, didn't they shoot it in 4:3? Meaning instead of widening by adding on the sides, they'll cut the top and bottom of the original picture?
 
I watched episode one a few months back, forgot all about it and ended up watching Sons of Anarchy. I'm half way through season six. :nervous: Don't know if I can take anything too heavy at the moment. A lot of people talk about the depressing realness of The Wire. Is it really that depressing?
 
I watched episode one a few months back, forgot all about it and ended up watching Sons of Anarchy. I'm half way through season six. :nervous: Don't know if I can take anything too heavy at the moment. A lot of people talk about the depressing realness of The Wire. Is it really that depressing?

Not at all imo, the show is even stuffed with (small) funny scenes. But then again I'm an unempathetic asshole, so it might affect other people differently.
 
Not at all imo, the show is even stuffed with (small) funny scenes. But then again I'm an unempathetic asshole, so it might affect other people differently.

The 'feck' scene when they're investigating the house/crime-scene is great.

And pretty much any time Clay Davis opened his mouth it was humorous too.
 
A lot of people talk about the depressing realness of The Wire. Is it really that depressing?

Depends what you find depressing. The subject matter is incredibly grim, that's true. But for me, a show like Two and a Half Men is about as depressing as you get. The Wire is such high quality, and deals with the issues at hand in such a satisfying manner, that it's rarely anything less than gripping, and certainly never depressing.
 
Depends what you find depressing. The subject matter is incredibly grim, that's true. But for me, a show like Two and a Half Men is about as depressing as you get. The Wire is such high quality, and deals with the issues at hand in such a satisfying manner, that it's rarely anything less than gripping, and certainly never depressing.
I agree with this.

@DatIrishFella just watch it, trust all the people in this thread that you will absolutely not regret it.

The only downside is nothing else you ever watch will be as good.
 
You could definitely say some scenes are a little depressing but that isn't remotely how I would describe the overall tone of The Wire. There's plenty of uplifting, funny and cathartic moments in every season.

I've been meaning to re-watch this for a while so I think I'll wait for this now. The only thing I didn't enjoy about it first time round was the quality.

Just started watching The Shield on @Sylar's recommendation amongst other people. I'm only a few episodes in but it just seems like a shit version of The Wire so far. Most shows struggle when I'm comparing them to The Wire, but The Shield seems to more than most as it's set in a similar time and location. I should have watched The Wire last so it didn't have this affect on every other show for me :(

It's a shit version of The Wire in the sense that it's a completely unrealistic, overly dramatic, (tediously) all-action cop show, but in fairness it isn't really trying to be anything like The Wire. It's supposed to be an adrenaline pumping thrill ride with a blurred line between good and evil type thing, and it does that pretty well.
 
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