This shit is starting to inspire a rewatch. Unfortunately I've loaned out my first season to someone I'm trying to hook on the series, but maybe I can start at 2.

QUOTE (Teabag @ Oct 9 2008, 11.45)

Did anybody else get the feeling that Healthcare was being set up as the central theme for Season 5. My reason for thinking this is based on Cuttys stay in hospital, and in the final montage him being seen with the nurse. Does anybody know if this was what David Simon originally planned or was it a bit of a red herring?

Teabag:

SPOILER: seasontransition

No I don't think so. One thing the creators of the Wire have been careful about has been sticking to what they know. One of the two head guys is a long time police officer turned teacher. The other is a long time Baltimore Sun reporter. The reporter spent a year on a Baltimore drug corner to get to know that culture. So we've got the police, the street thugs, the decline the white working class was likely reported on at some point and no doubt was visible to a long time city resident. Obviously the Press for season 5. Failed attempts at reform for season 3. And the failed school systems in season 4.

All things they have covered, have intimate experience with, and could speak with insight, understanding, and authority on. They were definitely averse to dragging the show on indefinitely if they had no major theme to explore and they would not explore themes that they had very little knowledge of. So the healthcare system was probably never a consideration at all. Nor do I see how it could be sufficiently related to the ongoing stories and characters they had already established.

QUOTE (Werthead @ Oct 11 2008, 13.22)

Biggest laugh of the season so far:

SPOILER: Wire II

Bodie goes into the florists, who after a few nods takes him into the special back room with floral displays in the shape of Uzis, Mercedes hood ornaments and machine guns. That totally cracked me up

Heh, I remember that scene. Classic.

SPOILER: spoiler

Bodie was the toughest death for me in the show as well, largely because I never really knew I liked the character until right at the end. He does just grow on you, despite what he's done. And you never see it coming til near the end cause he's just always been a permanent fixture on the show. Rarely the focus, but always there. I was fucking pissed when he went down. Worse than stringer, who I really liked, or any of the others.

And the two scenes with Randy and Carver were IMO the most powerful in the show. The one in the hospital and the one before he goes to the group home. Particularly when Randy tried to let Carver off the hook before he went in. The system had fucked him. He did the right thing and became a target. That took away his home, his foster mother, friends. He had every right to be pissed and resentful. But in the end, he tried to assuage Carver's guilt. Even though he would likely spend his immediate future as a constant victim, he tried to spare one of the guys partially responsible for his situation. (sure Carver tried to fix it and was much less responsible than most, but he still gave the kid to Herc and didn't follow up. Its partially on him and he knows it. His rage at the end was pretty damned sad to watch)

As for season 5, alot of people didn't think it measured up to the previous seasons. Alot of criticisms about their portrayal of the press (some thinking that the creators personal grudges might have played too heavily) and that a storyline or two might have stretched believability. But noone was saying it was outright bad or still wasn't one of the best things on TV. Still, hard to follow that 4th season.

QUOTE (RedEyedGhost @ Dec 27 2008, 20.53)

Currently on sale at Bestbuy for $89.99 ... all 5 seasons

It's backordered, but well worth the wait. And if you have a local store it may be in stock there.

It's also $89.99 at amazon.

Fucking unbelievable price for such a brilliant work.

I pointed that out to my brother. I explained to him that The Wire single-handedly justifies the existence of television and he should get it right fucking now.

QUOTE (Werthead @ Feb 2 2009, 20.52)

The opening moments of Season 5 (the photocopier being used as a fake lie detector) almost had me doing myself an injury. The Bunk is a legend.

Up to episode six and it's clear that a lot of elements had to be cut short due to the shorter running time (events feel a bit more focused, certainly less sprawling than Season 4, and after spending two seasons with him it feels a bit odd to hardly see Cutty any more), but at the same time it's still good. Templeton being a Grade-A arsehole who makes a lot of his shit up out of thin air is quite amusing, but also worrying. He seems to like the idea of being a journalist more than the reality.

I'm having a hard time swallowing the McNulty story. It feels a bit of a step back after the happy and contented McNulty we saw in Season 4 and him falsifying crimes to get funding to go after Marlo just feels like a retarded plan. Even if they got incriminating evidence against Marlo how the hell would they explain it without police authorisation or legal warrants? Levy would tear them apart in court.

I also like the idea of the criminals continuing to change their tactics. Using picture messaging to stay ahead of the wiretaps is a clever touch. Makes me wonder if that's based on real-life tactics.

The fake lie-detector thing was classic and actually based off a real story. Apparently the producer (Ed Burns was the cop right?) claimed they actually used that trick on a suspect once. One of the many real life things over the series that's been included. As for McNulty's latest bit of crackpot, alot of people agreed that it was too over the top even for him. But its definitely worth seeing how it plays out before you totally dismiss it.

The Wire on the BBC

Bah...to watch the Wire again for the first time....damn.

QUOTE (SwordoftheMorning @ Apr 2 2009, 12.52)

It is quite amusing to see so many getting into the meat of this show, then making predictions and assumptions based on what they've come to expect from so all the other shows about cop's, crime, gangsta's, etc. I can remember the original Wire aficinados like Relic, Yags, Aggie and myself doing the exact same thing over the first coupla seasons until we realized ....... well

Heh, I remember doing much the same thing when I first got the Wire on DVD. Probably evidence of it in past Wire threads. And yes, I was completely, utterly WRONG.

QUOTE (Calibandar @ Apr 1 2009, 13.18)

Yes, but though I haven't done it yet I have a feeling this show is very re-watchable.

Oh it definitely is. And you do notice alot more the second time around. Especially the first season cause you spent quite a while trying to figure out who all the characters were. After you already know them, you're looking for quirks or traits you may have missed the first time around. But nothing compares to that first awe-struck viewing. The burning need to pump in 'just one more DVD' as you see the sun coming up and know you got to work in a few hours. Seeing all those scenes that I won't mention here (for fear of spoilers) for the first time. It was a damned good time.

QUOTE (Maltaran @ Apr 3 2009, 12.41)

I'm watching it for the first time on DVD, and I just got to the end of season four last night. I had a sudden thought regarding the name of Prop Joe's nephew Cheese.

SPOILER: Cheese

One of my favorite moments of season 5 was when Slim Charles kills Cheese. Damn that lazy, disloyal fucker deserved it. Giving his big 'I'm taking over' speech, than BAM, right in the head. Loved the almost total non-reaction after the fact. Nobody liked that fucker. And the short guy was hilarious. "This sentimental motherfucker just cost us money"

If you haven't watched season 5 yet, don't read this spoiler.

QUOTE (Yagathai @ Apr 3 2009, 14.03)

Seriously. The only show I've been more consistently wrong about has been Galactica, and even then only just.

And even than, only because the writers made it a habit of randomly pulling shit out of their asses when convenient, entirely ignoring previous foundation, not laying any at all, or trying to ram it into molds it clearly wasn't intended for. There is no sin in getting BSG wrong because its not like the writers had the faintest clue of where it was going or what to do with the shit they splashed on screen. And that's the extent of my BSG bashing hijack.

QUOTE (serMountainGoat @ Apr 8 2009, 11.12)

I was absolutely cracking up to the scene where McNulty and Bunk were doing their investigation into the girl D'Angelo shot and the only dialogue uttered is "fuck", "fuck it", "mother fucker", "ah fuck" all the while with the site caretaker looking on. I thought for a moment that at the end of the scene when the find the bullet casing outside the caretaker would say "mother fucker" just to try and join in and the two cops would give him a dark look as if to say "how dare you use such foul language"

That scene was utterly hilarious. Probably my personal favorite from season 1.

I'm afraid to discuss things for fear of spoiling, so I'll just browse and vicariously share in your joy and amazement.

Criticism of season five rang forth wthiout media influence, on thousands of boards and hundreds of blogs well before the media sounded off. It wasn't just that the spotlight was suddenly being shown on the media, the shit that season 5 caught came well before that. And honestly, I'm always suspect of self-interested criticism or response. The media's response because they were the target, and the Wire's response because their creator had some serious, built in grudges to carry out.

No matter which way you dice it, it was a weaker season. I think that's something that lovers and haters can come to terms with. Nothing approaches season 4. Was it the weakest of all the seasons? I think so. Well before any media account. It starts on a weak premise. No matter how well it works out, the McNulty storyline simply stretches credulity whether you buy it or not. Its tough to swallow even though they integrate it well enough later. And the jabs at the reporters, it just comes off as petty, small, and not nearly as thoughtful and well told as nearly anything else on the show. Again, this is not media talking. I thought this long before media or anyone else (that I read anyway) weighed in. I find the show accusations that their 5th season was marked down due to their chosen target to be weak and petty in themselves.

It just didn't measure up for a variety of reasons.

Too drunk toi respond further.

QUOTE (The Pita Enigma @ Apr 21 2009, 05.09)

I've never seen anybody from the Wire in anything else... It's actually been pretty disappointing.

They're around. I've caught a few.

Bubbles had a 1/2 episode spot on the Terminator series.
Daniels is a main cast member on the Fox (I think) show Fringe.
Herc played the 5th buddy Dom on Entourage for a few episodes.
Both Bubbles and Marlo had brief spots on Heroes.
Ziggy in Generation Kill.

Also see others from time to time, but those are the ones from the shows I watch/watched.

Most of them are still doing TV bit work, episode here or there in various series's. But a few of them seem to have found regular shows or small roles in films. Always nice when you spot one. Same goes for Deadwood and West Wing alums, I love those guys in anything.

I just realized (had to check) that The Wire never once received an Emmy nomination. I knew it'd never won one, which is a travesty in itself, but not a single nomination? What a fucking joke. If you ever needed absolute indisputable evidence of the total irrelevance of awards show, this is it.