Some of you know that I recently purchased the season one DVD of this show. Well through 6 episodes it kicks all ammounts of ass. This show is right up my alley, thank you for the reccomendation Mr. Doobakus.

 

Very interesting story line so far and it has an extremely deep and talented cast. I really like McNulty as the protagonist. Unlike most 'cop and robber' dramas, this show shows the other side of the law as it goes in depth to the lives of the criminals. I really enjoy that part.

 

Great writing so far. The 'chicken nuggets' discussion, the chess instructions, and McNulty and Bunk going through D'angelo's crime scene using nothing but variations of the word 'f***' was one of the best scenes I've seen in TV.

 

Just awesome.

Some of you know that I recently purchased the season one DVD of this show. Well through 6 episodes it kicks all ammounts of ass. This show is right up my alley, thank you for the reccomendation Mr. Doobakus.

 

Very interesting story line so far and it has an extremely deep and talented cast. I really like McNulty as the protagonist. Unlike most 'cop and robber' dramas, this show shows the other side of the law as it goes in depth to the lives of the criminals. I really enjoy that part.

 

Great writing so far. The 'chicken nuggets' discussion, the chess instructions, and McNulty and Bunk going through D'angelo's crime scene using nothing but variations of the word 'f***' was one of the best scenes I've seen in TV.

 

Just awesome.

 

 

I'm glad you're enjoying it. It just keeps getting better. I don't want to spoil anything.

 

I also love the "f***" scene. It's a great example of good police work, and it also shows the chemistry between McNulty and Bunk, and it does it basically without a word.

Just saw the episode where Kima and Orlando go undercover.

 

Easily the most intense and cliffhanging scene from what I've seen so far.

Yeah, the beginning of the episode after that is pretty intense, as well.

 

Rawls' talk with McNulty stands out in my mind.

You were right about that. They did the opening 15 minutes of that so damn well. Nothing was done to make it over dramatic or fake.

 

McNulty puking in the wastebasket was probably the most prefect reaction he could have had in that situation.

 

Episode 11 is now the best I've seen, can't wait to wrap this bad boy up in the next few days.

Finished Season 1 today.

 

How freaking awesome. I thought I'd be able to put off buying the second season for a while in an effort by me to be more frugal but my god, I'm gonna get it tommorrow I think.

 

I think someone would be hard pressed to find a more amazing piece of dialogue from a television show as Wee-Bey's answer to this:

 

After confessing to half a dozen murders already

 

Lawyer: 'But for murder, you might as well give them what you have because anything you leave out, is outside the deal. If they find out later, they can charge you later.'

 

Wee-Bey: 'F*** it then. For another pit sandwhich and some potato salad I'll go a few more.'

 

:notworthy

Yeah, I love Wee-Bey. I mean, granted he's a killer and all, but he still seems pretty decent for a killer.

 

Unfortunately, he appears very little in Season 2, and not at all in Season 3. I heard from somewhere that he'll be back in Season 4 to some degree.

 

Anyway...I'm glad you liked Season One. I should warn you, though, Season Two takes a very sharp turn in its focus. Drugs and wiretaps and all that fun stuff are still a big part of the story, but, in a way, the drugs are somewhat incidental. The detail will reform and they'll be investigating a local union of longshoremen, and so there will be quite a few new characters for you to get used to. To some people, this was a bit of a turn off. For me, Season 2 is actually my favorite. I think the story is just a wee bit tighter than the first season. "Port in a Storm", the season finale, is often mentioned as the best episode of the series.

 

This isn't to say the Barksdale crew is going away. Stringer Bell, in particular, evolves into perhaps the most interesting character in the series.

 

Anyway, I just thought if you were better prepared for the shift in focus, you'd be less likely to be disappointed.

Interesting, I've read some bits and pieces on season 2, seems intriguing.

 

That shouldn't be a problem. I don't watch things I'm interested in when I'm sleepy, doing something while listening, etc. It gets all my attention.

 

I'm gald you bring up Stringer. This is something that kindof bothered me during the show. He seems like such a stronger 'leader' then Avon did. More of an intimidating person and like he has more of a grip on things. It's almost like I would have liked seeing the two actors switch and have Idris Elba play Avon.

 

Maybe as the show progresses I won't feel like this but Avon doesn't have the look or feel to this intimidating drug lord.

I think they both fit their characters very well. It's impossible for me to remember how I saw the characters at the end of Season One. I can only tell you that both characters, and the relationship between them, evolves over the next two seasons, and I think that by the time you are done catching up with the series, you won't be able to imagine them switching roles.

 

I mean, I think Elba could play Avon. But there's no way Wood Harris could play the Stringer role, and that's not a knock on him...it's just, considering where they take the Stringer character, it's hard for me to see him in that role.

Very interesting and pretty much what I assumed.

 

I'll keep posting as I dive through Season 2, hopefully starting tommorrow.

 

Oh one other thing, I can't velieve Poot and Bodie killed Wallace. That was so brutal when he was pleading with them at point blank range.

The Wire Season 4 comments by Matt Roush:

To Red Devil: Yes, critics have been sent the entire season of The Wire, but with a deluge of current summer programming, the ongoing critics' press tour, a shelf full of network pilots to analyze, most everyone is being forced to have to wait until closer to the time that we'll actually be reviewing the show. I can't wait, but unfortunately, I'm going to have to. The few critics here who have dug into the series (I talked to one last night who'd made it through five episodes so far) say it's absolutely brilliant, and the focus this season on four young Baltimore boys in the school system and on the streets may make it more accessible than usual. The good news about having the entire series, as was the case with Showtime's engrossing "Brotherhood," is that I can watch it as if it were a miniseries. "The Wire" is not a show that is seen at its best in hour episodes separated by a week's time. (It's going to play very well On Demand.)

 

Also, for those who watched Rome, you'll be sad to know that the show has been canceled. The second season is set to air January 7. After that, the series is finished.

Yeah, David Simon said he thinks it's their best season yet. The 5th and final season is still up in the air. The HBO head said it depends on how this season is received. If he means how the critics receive it, then there's no reason for concern. If he means ratings, well, this show's not going to suddenly catch in the ratings in its 4th season. It's not a show you can just jump into.

 

Even though HBO seems to be cancelling everything these days, I'd actually be surprised if they didn't let David Simon finish off the series.

 

As far as scheduling news, The Wire technically starts on Sep. 10 at 10 PM (against Sunday Night Football, no less). HBO is moving their Saturday night movie premeires to 8 PM on Sunday during The Wire's run. But here's where things get interesting. HBO is going to put The Wire up on their on demand service 6 days BEFORE the episode airs on the network, so technically, if you wanted to, you could premeire the new season on your own on September 4th.

 

Kind of strange. I feel bad for anyone trying to avoid spoilers.

I'm always getting Avon and Stringer mixed up. Don't know why but after watching the entire first season 3 times I still don't know who is who.

 

Is Avon the "muscle" and Stringer the more educated one?

 

Or is Stringer the "muscle" and Avon the more educated one?

 

I loved the ending to the first season with Omar sticking up that dude in the South Bronx.

 

Hoping to get the second season off of Ebay. As much as I love the show, I'm not gonna pay $90-100 at Bestbuy when I can get it for $60 which includes S&H.

Stringer is the 2nd hand man, Avon runs the show. I guess you would call Stringer the muscle but I'd actually say he is more educated than Avon is.

 

So I've watched through the first 5 episodes of season 2. The first two episodes were extremely slow and I had no idea where they were going with the storylines and I was kindof turned off a bit. Then with the formation of the team and the plot becoming clearer I'm loving where this season can go.

 

This show does an absurdly good job of following so many different storylines and doing them equally well and you never feel like one angle is getting focused on more. I think I'm going to like the plot better as so far we don't know all the details and it's much more mysterious than Season 1's plot was (not that that was a bad thing).

 

I know you said Mabdul that alot of people don't like the change in focus but I think it's awesome. This is a show that really has a deep and rich storyline. It could have possibly picked up and had Avon being released from prison, etc but it's more real time and even though he isn't the main storyline they are still there and their stuff is still happening. Makes it seem more realistic and interesting.

 

BTW, 25, the sets are only 49.95 at Best Buy.

Here is a good, kind-of-long article on the show. I mostly avoided the Season 4 set-up on the last page, but if you want to get a good idea of what it's going to be about, that's the most info I've seen. It says that mild spoilers are included, though, so be warned. Bottom line from the rest of the article, though, is that Season 4 sounds awesome.

 

http://www.nj.com/columns/ledger/sepinwall....xml&coll=1

 

Also, HBO has Season 2 up on On Demand, so I'm going to TRY to watch it all again before its gone, but time is kind of at a premium these days, so we'll see...

I finished Season 2.

 

Easily better than the first Season, imo. That is no disrespect to Season 1 either. The last 4 episodes were so engaging and gripping compared to the first season. I had no idea which way it was going to go down.

 

The writers did such a good job of keeping Stringer, Avon, and Prop Joe's storyline in the background of the main storyline but setting up Season 3 so well. It came out on DVD Tuesday but it's around 60.00+ and I don't know if I can shell that cash out now.

 

Easily my 2nd favorite show on TV.

I'm almost done my rewatch of Season 2. I'll never get Season 3 done on time for the new season, but that's alright.

 

Season 2 has my favorite scene of the entire series. It's basically at the midpoint of the season...Levy interrogating Omar. When Omar points out to the jury that Levy is as much a part of the game as he is, Levy's reaction is priceless. Levy might be the biggest scumsucker of them all in this show, but the portrayal is pitch-perfect.

 

Anyway, I've read in a few places that Season 4 is magnificent, with at least a couple of critics proclaiming it the best thing on TV ever. Here's the latest rave, from the NY Post's critic:

 

The shows are so powerful - so well-written, acted, filmed and edited - that the experience of watching them has left me a complete wreck.

 

I am so blown away by this show that I will go out on a limb here to declare that these 13 episodes just might comprise the single finest piece of work ever produced for American TV.

 

 

I can't wait for the premiere.

Thanks for bumping this reminded me to post my thoughts after completing season 3.

 

The first thing I noticed right off the bat compared to seasons 1 and 2 was the pace of the show felt to me to be much quicker then the previous two. Probably has alot to do with most of the characters being already established. Season 3 to me had the most going on with distinct different storylines for the Major Case Unit, the Western District, Omar, the Barksdale crew, Stringer's behind the scenes work, and what I absolutely loved in this season was the storyline of Tommy Carcetti, the inner workings of the mayor's office, and all the politics that really got introduced in this season.

 

Carcetti is an absolutely awesome character to me and unlike the past two seasons I thought that the parts with Burrell and Rawls were the least interesting but I really liked the 'behind the scenes' look that we got this year. Extremely interesting. I can't wait to see Carcetti's campaign in season 4.

 

The Wire's biggest strength to me is the way that it overlaps, weaves and continues it's past storylines into the next season. The way Avon's return was handled and the inner strife between he and Stringer was awesome and they had some of the most powerful scenes of the season together. Stringer's downfall was realistic and well done and like it has always been with this show, nothing is done for 'shock' value.

 

Things that make season 3 my least favorite of the 3 was that I thought 'Hamsterdam' was a little too over the top and the ammount of time it went undetected was ridiculous and to me the only time this show has really deviated from portraying reality (however I really enjoyed Major Colvin and that it gave Carver and expanded role). I also wasn't a big fan of Dennis Wise's storyline and it almost felt like a 'commercial' compared to everything else. Maybe his storyline will carry into Season 4 because after Season 3 it seemed pointless.

 

This season was fantastic like all the others but it ranks third for me, which isn't a bad thing and I'd rank them:

 

1. Season 2

2. Season 1

3. Season 3

 

Few things in television I may ever see will compare to the 'stretch run' Season 2 had in it's last 4-5 episodes which were quite possibly the most engaging tv I've witnessed.

 

I think the set up for Season 4 is going to take a bit of time to develop with the way that Season 3 had to be wrapped up considering that David Simon didn't know the status of the show and had to give it a kindof 'ending' after the season. I read that Prez is going to become a school teacher, and I think that is an awesome choice as the focus will turn to public education.

 

It's sad to me how HBO has handled this wonderful show. The fact that it may have to take a grassroots effort to get a season 5 and complete the story arc Simon has mapped out is terrible. This series deserves a broader audience and HBO's promotion, time slot and such when it started created a snowball like effect with viewership. I'm just happy it's gotten this far.

First off, I agree with your rankings of the seasons. Season 3, while great TV by any reasonable definition, was a cut below the first two seasons. It was still probably my favorite thing on that year...when you're starting from such heights, it's easy to drop a little.

 

I'm different from you, though, in that the Hamsterdam subplot was probably my favorite part of the season. And I enjoyed Cutty's (or Dennis, if you prefer) storyline as well. As for Hamsterdam, I thought it was brilliant look at an alternative strategy to deal with our nation's drug problem, and if we lived in world where politics wasn't just about scoring points, I would think the Hamsterdam strategy would deserve some serious consideration. The show portrayed all angles of the Hamsterdam situation, the highs and lows, and in an honest way, I think. For me it was fascinating to watch unfold.

 

As for Cutty, my memory isn't as fresh on Season 3, but I think I can see why you considered his storyline pointless. Having read The Corner, which was written by David Simon, I can tell you that one of his biggest fascinations is in the forces that either push kids into the game or pull them out. A lot of these kids are making life-altering decisions before they hit 10 years old. Some of them will get pulled into the world of drugs, and in all likelihood, they'll either be in jail or dead by the time they turn 20. Meanwhile, some of them will turn away from that world and go on to become productive citizens. What makes one group of kids enter the drug world? What makes the other group shun that world? The Cutty storyline was just a look at how one person can, in fact, make a difference for some of these kids, by helping to add to the forces that pull kids away from the game. It's almost like Newtonian physics. You have so much push, and so much pull, and whichever side is stronger in the end, that's the side that claims the kid. Maybe that whole storyline was out of place in Season 3, but that very push and pull is exactly what Season 4 is about, so in a way, that storyline was The Wire doing something you mentioned upthread, which is setting the way for the season to come.

 

As for HBO's promotion of the show...I think they were a bit weak coming out of the gate before Season One. I had barely heard of the show when it premiered. After that, though, they've been a lot more aggressive...I've read a lot of testimonials from people who have caught on to the show only in the last few months as The Wire's been OnDemand. I also know of a lot of people who have gotten into it from the DVDs. HBO also showed an hour long special on the show just this past week. So, I think they're doing what they can, but for the most part that ship has probably sailed. I do think it will get a 5th and final season because the critical reaction to this season has been off the charts. HBO will lose a piece of what makes them HBO if they cut and run now. I also think the show will continue to gain a following via word of mouth and DVD sales over the years, so all is not lost.

 

OK, I really should be studying...I can't believe I just wrote all that.

I'm glad you did I enjoy reading and discussing stuff like this and your recommendation along with a personal friend of mine are the reasons I picked up and started to watch this masterpiece.

 

Do you know if all/most of the cast is returing for Season 4? Bunk (who I love) didn't get much play as the series came down the stretch and I'm curious as to how they are going to fit in he and others into a storyline next year even though as we've seen after 36 episodes Simon probably won't have any trouble with that.

I'm not exactly sure who's back. I'm almost positive that Bunk and most of the policefolk will be back, though to what extent it's hard to say. I read that McNulty basically just has a few cameos until the season's final episode...I think he doesn't even appear in 5-6 episodes. But most of the people will be back in some capacity. I think Wood Harris (Avon) is out altogether, but he's the only one that I know of.

Well, I just got home and the season premiere is sitting on my OnDemand...but I'm thinking 3:42 AM is not the best time to crack this baby open. I'm just thrilled this day has arrived. I'm probably gonna watch the opening scene just as a teaser.

 

In any case, for you fans out there, here's a YouTube clip that was kind of funny the first time, but somehow manages to get funnier every time I watch it.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgiGVhhXLak

The news was announced yesterday that The Wire has been renewed for its 5th and final season. Said news pleased me very much and was greeted with a fist pump.

So I finally watched the season premiere after having it on my DVR for almost a week.

 

Absolutely fantastic premiere. I love the way they handled all of the cast in their new roles, McNulty in the Western is going to be great, Daniels as Major, Prez as a a new teacher, Herc working security for the Mayor, Lester and Kima continuing on the wire.

 

The execution that Snoop and Chris carried out had to be the most brutal thing I've seen on the show even more so then Wallace's death (although that was probably more intense emotionally and in the storyline obviously).

 

I'm absolutely fascinated with campaigns so like I said after I saw season 3, I'm absolutely looking forward to Carcetti's campaign over the last month before the election. I see that they've picked up yet another character actor from HBO in Reg E. Carthy as Norman Wilson (Carthy was in Oz and a bunch of other bit parts in movies I've seen).

 

The theme music this season is the best since season 1 to me.

 

This season is going to be fantastic and just as it's built over the first three seasons, this season seems to be intertwining the most storylines the any of the previous.

Yeah, this season's going to be amazing. I'm already very interested in the storyline of the 4 kids. That piss balloons strategy was rather ill-conceived, though. I can't wait til this season begins to pick up steam...no show builds momentum like The Wire.

 

I'll probably watch Ep 2 before I go to sleep tonight. I've had it available since Monday, but I noticed The Corner was also OnDemand, but only until the end of Sunday, so I've been rushing to fit that in over this past week. It's good, but probably better if you haven't read the book and have never seen The Wire. There are so many actors from The Wire in that miniseries, though. It's kind of distracting. Imagine Lester Freamon, and Cedric and Marla Daniels playing junkies. And Freamon is playing the junkie to end all junkies, a real soldier. The guy who plays Detective Sydnor is instead a young street dealer. Prop Joe has a 2 second role as a shoe salesman. Sergeant Landsman has about 2 lines as a junkyard worker. It's a mindtrip.