The Wire

[A-Tex Devil]

Just got done watching the penultimate episode of The Wire tonight. Got a little dusty in my living room, gotta admit. I know Mal watches it. Anyone else been catching this season? It's taken some criticism, but it's ending strong as expected...

[xenic]

Just got done watching the penultimate episode of The Wire tonight. Got a little dusty in my living room, gotta admit. I know Mal watches it. Anyone else been catching this season? It's taken some criticism, but it's ending strong as expected...

I saw the first 4 seasons, all of which were excellent. I haven't seen any of season 5 yet. I'm looking forward to it coming out on DVD.

[Mal]

A-Tex, I'm two episodes behind you - I usually watch on Sunday night and resist the On Demand option. Haven't caught Episode 7 yet (Oscars with the wife), although a buddy of mine let slip a massive spoiler, which bummed me out.

I think the season's been coming together the last couple episodes...[Spoliers ahead if you're not yet into Season 5]...I've been a little put off by the McNulty/Freamon exercise in windmill tilting at the probable expense of their careers, just because it doesn't jibe with Lester's character for me. And the task of both cleaning up old story lines as much as possible (it's impossible, really, but I think Simon wants to move the ball forward on all the lines he's put out there, to show the whole machine working at once), while at the same time introducing and fleshing out the media theme, all in just 10 episodes, has made things seem much more rushed than usual. Instead of taking time to really get to know the newspaper and its people, we've been given really just two characters, one of whom is two-dimensional, and the purpose of the Sun seems to be as a stand-in for the NYT, with the homeless murderer crusade a stand-in for Iraq (remember the tagline for the first episode this year? "The bigger the lie, the more they believe."). For 99.9% of television shows, I'd find that brilliant, but it's a little too inorganic for The Wire.

My expectations are way too high, though. I still love watching every week.

[A-Tex Devil]

Possible Spoilers but trying not to......

It took me a while to warm up to McNulty and Freamon's game in that it seemed to over the top for a show grounded in so much realism, but they've handled it well by not glorifying it and showing all the bad things it is creating too from wasting good police time to feeding a Jayson Blair wannabe.

She'll never get another acting job, I don't think, but Felicia Pearson has been a real find for this show. Stephen King called her the most fearsome female villain in the history of TV (or something like that). Her lines are great and the delivery is awesome. The opening scene of season 4 is classic.

I'm going to miss this show, but it's going out on top. Without saying too much, episode 9 which is On Demand right now is possibly the best episode ever. I won't spoil it by naming characters or context, but the final scene, which was simply a conversation, no action, floored me in a way that no movie or TV show really has. George Pelecanos can really write those penultimate episodes and just rip your heart out.

Mal --- have you seen this past sunday night's episode yet? NO early on demand for the finale so I have to wait 2 weeks. :mad:

[Clipsfan]

We've mentioned the show off and on and there is a small core of viewers on this board. I'm one of those who really enjoys it and will be sad when it finally ends.

As for Felicia Pearson, she does a good job as Snoop, but you're right that she probably won't get many more roles. She's basically just playing herself/

[Mal]

That was awesome. There were five or six amazing moments - now I'm just sad that it's so close to over.

Let the spoilers fly - DO NOT read beyond here if you're not up to speed:

Definitely loved that final scene, A-Tex, but the one where Michael drops off Bug was even more heartbreaking for me. It got a little dusty in our living room during Bubbles's speech, too. Freamon and Clay Davis at the bar was absolute classic Wire stuff. Bring us Season 6 - The Legal Profession! I was so gratified to see Namond doing well, too. That whole vignette seemed a little out of place, like a wink and a nod to fans to give us a wrap-up for Bunny and Namond, but I appreciated it nonetheless. In this bleakest of all shows, I'm somewhat glad that Simon and Co. decided to give us at least a couple happy endings. Or so it would appear.

But the most powerful moment in the whole hour for me was Marlo's tirade in the holding cell. Dang. So, he does have emotions.

[MrBisonDevil]

The Wire is my favorite show of all time and it is the most realistic show on television (at least from the view of the streets). I enjoy lending the DVDs to friends and getting them hooked. Too bad there will not be a 6th Season.

If you like The Wire, you might want to check out The Corner. This is a book by Ed Burns & David Simon that was made into an Emmy winning HBO mini-series in 2000. It’s kind of a precursor to The Wire. It focuses on one West Baltimore family (parents are addicts and son becomes a corner boy). True story.

Additionally, I just finished Snoop’s memoir: Grace Under Midnight. It’s goes a little deeper into her life. It’s a decent and quick read.

I will keep an eye on Ed Burns & David Simon. Hopefully, they will come up with another engrossing story about the gritty Chesapeake Bay area (my surrogate home). I wish Burns & Simon can produce something soon. I’m about to go through withdraw.