"The Wire" on HBO

(xp pplains)

I'm okay with Simon going there, these are the strangest times.

Saying his excuse of -a instead of -er was lame. Wasn't really trying to call non-rhotic speakers racist.

tiny bit ironic that hannity hosting a town hall on black issues is the thing that sets off dave's "no, black people, it is i who truly knows what is right for you" voice

xp oh lol that shit just totally went over my head my bad

tbf a not-huge-but-still-too-sizable amount of white trash ppl in the dot (dorchester) and similar neighborhoods here DO think it's fine to use the non-rhotic pronunciation of that word as if they're entitled to it solely bc they've lived in relative proximity to a project, and in the admittedly hipsterish or punkish neighborhoods you've got white ppl ironically saying "fam" like it's their job, so I thought you might've been addressing that sort of shit

it's one of the nastiest & truest moments in gone baby gone of all movies when amy ryan's WT mom says "n***a please"

FWIW I live in allston among the hipsters so I'm probably part of that problem

(the hipster part, not the racism, I'm many things that aren't complimentary but not that)

Finished season three last night this show is the greatest

Just wait, season four is the greatest of the great.

get yer hankies out dmac, season four is some of the most emotionally crushing tv i've ever seen

and i'm including the season of gamesmaster where dexter fletcher took over from dominik diamond in that calculus fyi

Running into Maestro 'Randy' Harrell as he left a movie theater restroom (when he was young enough to still look like Randy) is probably the most star-struck I've ever been in my life.

Fuckin Dexter Fletcher ooof I was not ready for that gutpunch

glad we're on the same page on this

Might ask a mod to put a warning on this shit tbh

I'm also working my way through this show for the first time. Up to episode 3 of season 4 at the moment and not really feeling emotionally crushed so far. Rather, reaching for the Wikipedia plot synopsis and trying to work out who all these people are and whether I've seen them before. OMG it's hard to follow the plot.

So far I would say there are diminishing returns. Season 1 was fantastic, season 2 excellent and season 3 still pretty good but didn't hit earlier heights.

so weird ... I think Season 3 is the best, with 2 and 4 being close, and 1 and 5 being the weakest

Up to episode 3 of season 4 at the moment and not really feeling emotionally crushed so far.

give it a few episodes, no need to rush into sobbing right off the bat

Season 1 was great, season 2 great in a very different way, season 3 great in the same way as season 1

E.R. indoors found season 3 a slog tho

all the seasons are great in different ways, i think - season two is definitely the most audacious in the sudden shift in focus and scope, season three maybe the most satisfying overall in wrapping up the story so far, season four is kinda the beating raw heart of the whole thing, and season five suffers a bit from bringing mcnulty back to the forefront alongside the hectoring newsroom scenes but ties a bow on the whole thing really well at the end

see I kinda see season 3 also being the "beating raw heart" of the whole thing

i can see that too! it's all one giant, brilliantly-told story in the end, and the culmination of stringer bell's story in S3 is one of the greatest elements of the whole thing

E.R. indoors found season 3 a slog tho

didn't realise you were watching with the queen

maybe if Cheese had offed a corgi instead of a pit bull ...

That is the origin of the nomenclature yes

so weird ... I think Season 3 is the best, with 2 and 4 being close, and 1 and 5 being the weakest

― sarahell, Thursday, June 1, 2017 5:54 AM (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yes. give me the corner over the classroom or the caucus, but not by much

all the seasons are great in different ways, i think - season two is definitely the most audacious in the sudden shift in focus and scope, season three maybe the most satisfying overall in wrapping up the story so far, season four is kinda the beating raw heart of the whole thing, and season five suffers a bit from bringing mcnulty back to the forefront alongside the hectoring newsroom scenes but ties a bow on the whole thing really well at the end

― heck i've even been an 'oyster pirate' (bizarro gazzara), Thursday, 1 June 2017 10:01 (one hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is an excellent summary! My opinion did shift quite a bit on the second watch through though - s2 really went up in my estimation, s1 went down (I think mainly because it obviously has to spend a lot of time setting everything up).

season two is such a bracing slap in the face that i think it took a rewatch for me to fully appreciate it

i really love the braveness of basically doubling the size of the cast and throwing viewers back in at the deep end, right after they'd only just worked out how everyone related to everyone else in season one. 'here's a bunch of stevedores and greeks and shit, catch up!'

Season two is the most audacious, but also the one with the hardest task. Season 1 has such a perfect ending, so season two had to reopen it and build a foundation for the show to become a running concern. It's really really slow, the detail is formed even later in season 2 than it is in season 3. But the care pays off in the later season, which really builds on the sturdy foundation season 2 has created.

I always compare it to Homeland season 1, which also told a really self contained story in season one, one that had severe consequences for the people involved. But then, at the end of first episode of season 2, Carrie is back working for the CIA. And the show never really managed to make anything mean anything ever again.

Later in season 2 than it is in season 1, is what I meant to write.

I would never do anything as cruel as to compare The Wire to Homeland.

pull up a chair while i offer a detailed comparison of the wire and the five seasons of mid-90s jerry o'connell vehicle sliders

You can never be too cruel to Homeland, imo.

Mos def.

I like both shows.

lol bg hit us with that comparison!

Longforms on single episodes now? But hey, this one's about Game Day.

https://theundefeated.com/features/the-wire-oral-history-game-day/

That was a great read, ty pp

On the one hand, eye-roll at longforms on single episodes - on the other hand, got any more of those?

yeah that was awesome, thx PP!!

I remember watching The Wire the first time, I had no idea Idris Elba was english and it fully blew my mind when I saw him in stuff afterwards. Like, that dude 100% tricked me! I still am not 100% sure he's not pulling my leg with the whole Englishman thing. *narrows eyes*. I see you Idris. I see you.

sidebar- that oral history made me ish there was a West Wing Weekly-type podcast about The Wire, not just a dopey chatfest with fans who want to aimlessly dissect the whole show, but like a legit thing with a former cast member/s as a host/s, and that talked about each episode & had cast members on as regular guests.

would listen

right? it's such a rich show and deserves the same kind of love imo

Wow, I had no idea Game Day was directed by Milcho Manchevski. Guy directed Before the Rain, won the Golden Lion at Venice and was nominated for an Academy Award. Kinda lol at them going 'he turned out to be a good director'. Agniezka Holland also directed one, iirc. All in all, the visual side of the show is quite underrated, imo.

visually this show was clumsy as fuck

"workmanlike" if I'm being charitable

XP to Fred I think their assurance that this guy was a good director is softening the later reveal that he left at lunchtime and didn't come back cos he couldn't handle tv direction with heavy writer interference

idk i feel that visually the show is workmanlike in the best possible way. I'm struggling to think of moments that seemed clumsy, though it's been a while.

Workmanlike is only a criticism if workmanlike isn't right

the central appeal of the show was in the complex plot mechanics and the character nuances, so a workmanlike visual style that gets out of the way and just shows what happens in a straightforward way was fine.

Shows like Mad Men or Sopranos or Better Call Saul all have a bunch of visually stunning sequences/shots/scenes that stand out, but I can't say the same for the Wire.