Really? I found the Subotka storyline the most uninteresting of the whole thing. Which isn't really an insult tbf.
Television The Wire
- Thread starter VanNistelrater
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Really? I found the Subotka storyline the most uninteresting of the whole thing. Which isn't really an insult tbf.
It's only been 2 months since I finished it but I think I'm going to watch an episode every few days or so.
Nothing else on TV currently is anywhere near as entertaining.
Nothing else on TV currently is anywhere near as entertaining.
Season 2 in general is very underappreciated. Frankie was one of the best subsidiary characters on the show.
I find it hard to understand why season 2 is so underrated. The level of writing and plot-intertwining is as good as any other season. When I watched The Wire for the 2nd time I started to appreciate it more.
I didn't like it when I first watched it, mainly because it was such a deviation from the first series, and because I missed the characters from the first series. Only when I realised all 5 were different, yet all interlinked, did I appreciate it a lot more.
Season 2 is the best season for me followed by Season 3. The only issue I have with 2nd season is they never followed up on the storyline beyond that other than a token appearance by Nick in season 5 which was disappointing. So many excellent scenes and dialogue in that season.
Season 2 is brillant. Like many I did not like it the first time around as it is too far away from season 1 and its characters. I was happy when things returned to closer to the street-level drug trade in season 3. But after watching everything multiple times, season 2 is a highlight of the whole show. The Frank Sobotka storyline is brillant. He is the king of a kingdom that is about to perish and he is desperately trying to keep it alive, even associating himself with criminals despite being a "good" guy deep inside. In the end it's all in vain as he cannot stop the change of times, ultimately not only losing his kingdom but also his son and at last his life. Proper drama.
Season 2 also has the D'Angelo murder and Stringer's associating with Prop Joe, setting the stage for the B&B split in season 3.
We can see Johnny Fifty, one of the dock workers, among the homeless people in season 5.I think it's a nice hint regarding the fate of the dock workers. I noticed it on my third time viewing or so... But overall, I agree. The whole docks storyline is a little isolated.
Season 2 also has the D'Angelo murder and Stringer's associating with Prop Joe, setting the stage for the B&B split in season 3.
We can see Johnny Fifty, one of the dock workers, among the homeless people in season 5.I think it's a nice hint regarding the fate of the dock workers. I noticed it on my third time viewing or so... But overall, I agree. The whole docks storyline is a little isolated.
Season 2 also has the Omar vs Levy court scene which was brilliant!
Yeah I was annoyed the first time I watched season 2, not because it wasn't good, but just because it was different. I didn't feel like I needed to get to know a whole new set of characters after being so invested in the characters of the first season. Re-watching the series twice since I originally watched it has changed my feelings towards it for sure. Can now just appreciate it for what it is, which is excellent.
Yeah, I think that's the problem for most people the first time they watch it. The show takes a bit to get going, and by the time you really start to enjoy and appreciate it the first season is almost done and you just want more of the same. Instead you get what seems to be a completely fresh start, which is initially a bit disappointing. On second (and third, etc.) viewing you know how the show works, and many people realise that season 2 is brilliant as well.
Seems to be a common theme.
A lot of people watch the Wire for the 'cops chase drug dealers' angle and kind of expect it to be like The Shield or some other more generic cop shows, and don't really expect the social commentary and analysis which kind of comes nakedly to the fore in season two. You can ignore D'Angelo talking about the inventor of the Chicken McNugget getting screwed by his corporate masters as it only takes up a scene, but it becomes harder to do when you have an entire season taken up by the politics of declining union influence and the death of the working class.
Yeah I've always loved season 2. I found the whole port storyline, along with the mystery of the girls in the container to be compelling. I can't really say why, but I think I found it the most entertaining (in a Sopranos kind of way,) of all the seasons. However, the best still has to be season 4. After my latest rematch (which I just completed today,) I realized that season 3 was better than I remembered, and season 5, despite its obvious flaws (the cartoonish villains at the Sun; the serial killer storyline; the overly-tidy resolution of the final episode,) had a tremendous second half. In fact, episodes 7-9 are among the best the show has produced.
What a series. I wonder if we'll ever see another like it. Now I have to figure what to binge next: Sopranos, Deadwood (one final attempt to try and get what the hype is about,) or Boardwalk Empire.
What a series. I wonder if we'll ever see another like it. Now I have to figure what to binge next: Sopranos, Deadwood (one final attempt to try and get what the hype is about,) or Boardwalk Empire.
I totally agree, although I think The Shield deserves better than to be labelled a generic cop show. It isn't as good as The Wire (very shows are,) but it was fantastic in its own right.
Well, more generic - which compared to the Wire it probably is - but I agree it's pretty good, although with some big flaws like the central character not really being likable and peaking way too early in the pilot.
This is very true, The Port storyline reminded me very much of The Sopranos.
I'm not sure if anything will beat Season 3 and Season 4 for me, think thats the most gripping TV i've ever seen.
Question about season 4
When Marlo goes to talk to Sergei in prison but instead finds Avon, did anyone else notice that the actor playing Avon had developed a bit of a lisp since his last appearance? It sounds almost like he chipped a tooth or has a swollen lip or something. Am I completely off my rocker or does anyone else hear it?
So not really a question about the Wire. Hope Avon's lisp has cleared up.
When Marlo goes to talk to Sergei in prison but instead finds Avon, did anyone else notice that the actor playing Avon had developed a bit of a lisp since his last appearance? It sounds almost like he chipped a tooth or has a swollen lip or something. Am I completely off my rocker or does anyone else hear it?
So not really a question about the Wire. Hope Avon's lisp has cleared up.
Didn't notice it to be honest (it was actually in season 5.) There's some debate about that scene as to whether Avon was being pathetic (and sucking up to Marlo,) or whether he was trying to exert some small measure of power and control over Marlo (which perhaps, in and of itself, is a bit pathetic.) I wish we had seen a bit more of Avon over the last 2 seasons. That being said, I think Marlo was a fantastic character.
Season 5, my mistake. His voice definitely sounds different in that scene compared to in previous seasons. The way he says "visiting list" sounds mad lispy, yo.
And yeah that scene seemed a bit like a cop out to me. It was obviously important to the plot that Marlo got the connect, but unless I'm underestimating Avon's hatred for East Side folk I don't see why that would be reason enough, considering Marlo played a key role in his demise.
Avon Barkthdale
He got 100k and the brief satisfaction of having some measure of control over Marlo from behind prison bars, if only for a moment.
On the topic, a lot Avon's feats were sort of swept under the carpet a little. As much as I loved String, it was pretty cool to see Avon correctly predict that Stringer would have no place in the business side of the world, and also show his intelligence by referencing The Day of The Jackal when he puts Stringer in his place about the Clay Davis assassination.
$100,000 for essentially the same thing Marlo sold for $10 million at the end of the series? In fact Avon could easily have gone to Prop Joe and extorted more money from him in exchange for not giving the conect to Marlo.
I don't see how he doesn't "have control" by NOT allowing Marlo to see Sergei either. If Marlo wants the connect he has to go through Sergei, if Avon says no then he can't get the connect. That's the control, surely.
Yeah I get what you're saying, especially that 100k was really peanuts for the connect. I just think Avon enjoyed showing Marlo his status on the inside ("up in this bitch I'm what you call an authority figure"), but ultimately wanted to get paid. Fecking over Prop Joe was just a bonus.
Yeah, I guess to me it just seemed like they wanted to have Avon pop up again in the 5th season and show how interconnected everything is.
The Avon/Prop Joe relationship was interesting too wasn't it. Joe was at Avon's "homecoming" party being chummy. Then at the basketball game Avon obviously says he'll light Joe up if he ever shows his face in the West side again. Prop Joe tells Omar that "they talk now and then"... so I have no idea if the East/West side thing is really such a big deal for Avon when it comes to Joe, or whether they were just business rivals. But if anything, I'd have thought Avon would have sided with Joe over Marlo, especially since Joe and Avon were from the "old school" compared to Marlo.
The Avon/Prop Joe relationship was interesting too wasn't it. Joe was at Avon's "homecoming" party being chummy. Then at the basketball game Avon obviously says he'll light Joe up if he ever shows his face in the West side again. Prop Joe tells Omar that "they talk now and then"... so I have no idea if the East/West side thing is really such a big deal for Avon when it comes to Joe, or whether they were just business rivals. But if anything, I'd have thought Avon would have sided with Joe over Marlo, especially since Joe and Avon were from the "old school" compared to Marlo.
He was also sharp when it came to Brother Mouzone.
- Instantly reprimanded Stringer for asking Mouzone about who shot him. Shows again Avon being a little more street wise than Stringer.
- When Mouzone tells Avon that Stringer tried to have him hit, Avon mumbles about "that Proposition Joe package" so he put 2+2 together quite quickly and gave Stringer up as a result (I assume Avon would have tried harder to in his words "fix" things between Stringer and Brother Mouzone if he hadn't found out that Stringer had been disloyal by putting a hit on Mouzone in the first place).
A bit of a weakness of season 5, in my opinion. The whole connected theme ran throughout the series, but it seemed like it was a little too explicit in the last season (and way over the top in the finale, when Sydnor became McNulty, Dukie became Bubbles and Michael became Omar.)
My take on it was that Avon didn't particularly have hard feelings towards Marlo ('the game is the game' etc.,) but enjoyed taking one last opportunity to hold some leverage over him (and get paid at the same time, however nominal the fee might be.)
I was thinking about it: another dodgy aspect of that season was Marlo giving his cell number to Levy, with Herc present. Given what Marlo knew about Herc's past (and the resentment over the camera,) I found it a bit hard to believe that the ultra-cautious Marlo would risk exposing himself like that, a risk that did in fact come back to haunt him.
I think that scene kind of symbolised D'angelo's story in season 1 about the King remaining the King even in defeat. His sister also needed money too.
The real question is, would Marlo have been able to bypass Avon?
Season 2 had a significant storyline (probably the most significant) make no mistake, but it was kind of boring - even after watching it more than once.
The Sobotka's weren't as interesting as the others, it felt like another tv show altogether.
Would you have continued watching if the show had started with the Sobotka's and the Union?
The Sobotka's weren't as interesting as the others, it felt like another tv show altogether.
Would you have continued watching if the show had started with the Sobotka's and the Union?
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I would have considered it, I got a Soprano's vibe from them overall. But I wouldn't have immediately gone back to watch it, I probably would go back after there were at least a few other seasons.
Perhaps I'm deluded but I'm reasonably educated and I watch, breathe and live a LOT of TV and films, buy magazines, read books etc and consider myself a bit of a 'buff' but i just don't get the love of The Wire...thought it was decent (4th series was very good) but overall I just don't get the hype - compared to The West Wing, The Sopranos and Breaking Bad I don't think it comes close.
It seems to be an unpopular opinion bit no matter how much I try, I just can't comprehend it
It seems to be an unpopular opinion bit no matter how much I try, I just can't comprehend it
Each to their own I suppose. For me I judge shows on my urge the watch another episode straight away after finishing one, the wire had me up until all hours during the summer months when I was off school
I see Michael stars in the new Adele video.
Saw it and immediately wanted to start The Wire again
Saw it and immediately wanted to start The Wire again
You find that with the Wire, I find that with Breaking bad.
While I was watching Breaking Bad all I got from it was that every situation was just so incredibly contrived and improbable that I found myself unable to suspend my disbelief and get into the show, it was just one farce after another and just didn't find it entertaining in the slightest.
Annoying and charmless characters, unrealistic reactions to situations, ludicrous set ups, I thought it was garbage.
But that's just how people are, I watched the Wire when the only way to watch it was to import the DVD box sets from the states (same as the shield) and there was nothing else like it at the time.
I suppose if you came to it 3 or 4 years after it first aired or was available then you probably wouldn't appreciate it as much.
Took me a while to get in to it, but the characters and sub plots just stayed with me even when I would be doing something else, it just grips you before you know it and you're hooked. I watched season 3 & 4 in two days, then did it again.
Maybe the hype made you think it was going to be better than it was? I felt that way about The Sopranos, great TV show but cant really say it hooked me in.
Anyways in echoing what others have said I'm going to re-watch the series again.
How the hell did Michael end up in Adele's video?
Bodie stars in the "Ghetto Gospel" clip from 2pac's song by the way.
Bodie stars in the "Ghetto Gospel" clip from 2pac's song by the way.
Finished the entire series in a week. Absolutely brilliant. Brilliant. Best TV show I have ever watched, shades Sopranos for me. Man, I wish I could somehow erase it from memory and watch it all over again. Might just be the first show I rewatch all the way through.
The sheer number of amazingly written and developed characters is mind boggling. Really is. Let alone the main stars, even the 2nd and 3rd tier characters are developed perfectly. Amazing.
I'll take a month or 2 to freshen up and start it again from episode 1. Cracking TV.
I have it as a bi-annual rewatch cycle