HBO's THE WIRE - the best show you've never watched? [SPOILERS INSIDE]

jkylefulton

Preface: I just spent the last week watching all five seasons of THE WIRE, and was completely blown away. I searched for a previous D&D thread for the show, but found nothing. Hopefully, this OP won't suck.

So what's THE WIRE about?
Here's a cut-and-paste intro from the wiki, which is worded much better than I could have done:

The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created, produced, and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002 and ended on March 9, 2008, with 60 episodes airing over the course of its five seasons.

Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. They are, in order: the drug trade, the port, the city bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together.

It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how…whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."

Some links of interest:
The show's official website:
http://www.hbo.com/thewire/

Interview with show creator David Simon, which includes this great quote:

"My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: fuck the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my newspaper life. The average reader, as they meant it, was some suburban white subscriber with two-point-whatever kids and three-point-whatever cars and a dog and a cat and lawn furniture. He knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story-killing burden. Fuck him. Fuck him to hell."

http://www.believermag.com/issues/200708/?read=interview_simon

2006 Slate interviw with Simon, with another great quote that's really the heart of the show:

"Thematically, it's about the very simple idea that, in this Postmodern world of ours, human beings—all of us—are worth less. We're worth less every day, despite the fact that some of us are achieving more and more. It's the triumph of capitalism. Whether you're a corner boy in West Baltimore, or a cop who knows his beat, or an Eastern European brought here for sex, your life is worth less. It's the triumph of capitalism over human value. This country has embraced the idea that this is a viable domestic policy. It is.
It's viable for the few. But I don't live in Westwood, L.A., or on the Upper West Side of New York. I live in Baltimore."

http://www.slate.com/id/2154694/pagenum/all/

Podcast with Bill Simmons and Jason Whitlock discussing THE WIRE - note there are HEAVY SPOILERS in it, so do yourself a favor and don't listen to it until you've watched the show.
http://podloc.andomedia.com/dloadTrack.mp3?prm=2864xhttp://query-origin.andohs.net/8000A6/content-root3.andomedia.com/origin/mp3/espnradio/sportsguy/simmons080304b.mp3

Hey, it's even Barack Obama's favorite show!
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/jan/14/obama-gloves-off/

Anyhow, the show has a lot to say, and it might be the most economical use of screen time I've ever seen - there isn't a useless scene or character. Hell, 'extras' that appear for 20 seconds in season 3 might show up for a 5 minute monologue in season 5, so you can see what's happened to them since. Fully-formed characters, twists right out of a GRRM novel, political drama, crime drama - why aren't YOU watching THE WIRE?

PS - I hope this OP didn't suck too much.

Podly

We didn't have a Wire thread? Oh man, the Wire is the best TV show ever.

Honestly, when

They kill Stringer

Is some of the best drama I've ever encountered.

jkylefulton

There are so many gut punches with this show.

Season 1,2,3,4, and sort of 5 spoilers:

Wallace. D'Angelo. Stringer. Bodie. What McNulty does

Whiniest Man On Earth

I am halfway through Season 4, and I implore you all to MARK WHAT SEASON YOUR SPOILERS ARE FOR. Please?

Podly

After Mycnulty and Bunk do the move at the bar when Bunk acts like a drunken fool so McNulty can swoop in and act like he's saving a girl, my buddy and I did the same thing at a bar. Needless to say... it worked.

iowa

I just started season 4 and want to know if

sergei makes a reappearance?

He was a redeeming factor of what was otherwise a relatively weak season for me.

jkylefulton

iowa wrote: »

I just started season 4 and want to know if

sergei makes a reappearance?

He was a redeeming factor of what was otherwise a relatively weak season for me.

Season 4 / 5 spoiler:

He does.

Podly

Honestly, season two was the weirdest one. It's like they didn't know where they wanted to take the show yet.

Opium

This show is incredible, but I also understand why it gets such low ratings and Emmy snubs. It's because it's so confrontational, and almost too real. People'd rather ignore the issues it tackles than admit to themselves that they exist.

jkylefulton

This is purely speculative, but I think season 2 was meant to prevent the show from being pigeon-holed as a 'black crime' show. It also layed the groundwork for introducing all of the political elements in the later seasons.

iowa

Could someone clarify the end of season 3 for me?

specifically:

Why did Stringer give Colvin the address to Barksdale's stash house?

Whiniest Man On Earth

iowa wrote: »

Could someone clarify the end of season 3 for me?

specifically:

Why did Stringer give Colvin the address to Barksdale's stash house?

I was always under the impression that:

Barksdale is fucking up the business bad enough through his war with Marlow (sp?) that Avon wants him put away for a while again.

jkylefulton

iowa wrote: »

Could someone clarify the end of season 3 for me?

specifically:

Why did Stringer give Colvin the address to Barksdale's stash house?

Season 3 spoiler

He's trying to end the manufacture (unbeknownst to Avon) gang war that Avon is continuing - it's bad for business.

JohnnyCache

iowa wrote: »

I just started season 4 and want to know if

sergei makes a reappearance?

He was a redeeming factor of what was otherwise a relatively weak season for me.

I have to say, season two grew on me over time. It was such a change in environment and pace from Season one, but it's actually really goddamn interesting. Especially if you're watching on DVD and see it all quickly.

Whiniest Man On Earth

I really liked Season 2, as well. A lot of people really don't, but I thought it was good. The worst one for me, so far, has been the first half of 4. It just doesn't move enough compared to the rest.

jkylefulton

JohnnyCache wrote: »

iowa wrote: »

I just started season 4 and want to know if

sergei makes a reappearance?

He was a redeeming factor of what was otherwise a relatively weak season for me.

I have to say, season two grew on me over time. It was such a change in environment and pace from Season one, but it's actually really goddamn interesting. Especially if you're watching on DVD and see it all quickly.

Yeah, I think watching everything at once has colored my perceptions of the show. If I'd watched this over the course of its five year run, I would have missed a lot of stuff.

JohnnyCache

defrag wrote: »

I really liked Season 2, as well. A lot of people really don't, but I thought it was good. The worst one for me, so far, has been the first half of 4. It just doesn't move enough compared to the rest.

The guys in season 2 really remind me of a lot of people in my life. I could actually see myself

doing what frank s ends up doing.

Whiniest Man On Earth

JohnnyCache wrote: »

defrag wrote: »

I really liked Season 2, as well. A lot of people really don't, but I thought it was good. The worst one for me, so far, has been the first half of 4. It just doesn't move enough compared to the rest.

The guys in season 2 really remind me of a lot of people in my life. I could actually see myself

doing what frank s ends up doing.

Same here. I really hated

His death

an awful lot, though. The timing of the sequence was one of those all-too-convenient things.

Arceus

I've never watched this series but I once heard something about it that intrigued me -- that one of the major thug characters is openly gay? I always thought in those circles every gay person just stayed in the closet out of fear of getting killed off as soon as someone find out? I mean, it doesn't really seem like the most tolerant of cultures. How did that work in the show, exactly?

Bogart

God I love the Wire. I don't think there's been anything like a weak season yet. Season Two

Season two had some of my favourite moments: McNulty gloating about landing all those murders on Rawls desk was hysterical, Beadie Russell learning her way around the job and Freamon and Bunk interviewing the cargo ship's workers are just the first things that spring to mind.

And yeah, Omar, the hardest guy on the streets, is an openly gay man. You'd really have to see him in action to see how many-layered a character he is, but if someone were to rank the coolest moments on the show he'd probably be in about 90% of them. He's glorious.

JohnnyCache

Arceus wrote: »

I've never watched this series but I once heard something about it that intrigued me -- that one of the major thug characters is openly gay? I always thought in those circles every gay person just stayed in the closet out of fear of getting killed off as soon as someone find out? I mean, it doesn't really seem like the most tolerant of cultures. How did that work in the show, exactly?

He's Omar. He's so bad he doesn't have to be afraid of plans that involve his death. He's so bad that whatever he fucks turns to pussy. He's so bad he makes medicine sick.

geckahn

We've definitely talked about the wire before, but maybe not in a dedicated thread.

Anyways. Yes, best show ever made in the history of television.

Best seasons, for me, go: 4,1,2,5,3.

Alistair Hutton

Damn it. I was going to do this very thread in September once the season 5 UK DVD release of the Wire came out. But my thread title was going to be "I have watched all five seasons of The Wire thus I am better than you."

Now I must avoid this thread like the plague in case of dangerous, dangerous spoilers. I must be strong and resist.

Opium

Question: Something has been weighing on me regarding the Emmys ignoring The Wire in years past, but the most recent nominations just confirmed in my eyes. I can't help but compare the treatment of Mad Men to that of The Wire. I love Mad Men, and now that The Wire has finished its run, it's easily the best show still on TV. However, it is rather curious how it took them no time to embrace Mad Men, yet they had no trouble ignoring one of the most acclaimed shows in TV history for five years. Both shows are low-rated cable dramas that received massive critical buzz. One could even reasonably claim that The Wire had an industry advantage — it was on a network with more credibility and even had more viewers than Mad Men, as impossible as that may seem. One has to conclude that what made the academy acknowledge one show and not another is a matter of content (or at least perception of content), and when you go there, you go into territory that is considerably ugly. You have to start considering things like the characters on Mad Men are rich, dapper and affluent white people, while The Wire has a cast that is 60 to 70 percent black, many of the impoverished, criminal or just plain unsavory variety. Maybe I'm being way off base here, but this seems like an elephant in the room situation. The bottom line is that when your kind (critics) called attention to Mad Men, they stood up and immediately took notice in a way that they never came close to for The Wire. It seems like there are exceptions to most of the other conventional theories. Damages and Lost put to bed the "plot's too complex" theory, and Lost seems a pretty significant exception to the "not filmed in NY or LA" theory. So what factor do you think made the Academy respond to the buzz of Mad Men with, "Hey, I better get to watching that," but respond to the buzz of The Wire with, "Eh, it's not for me"? Can it really be dismissed as a coincidence that the most ignored great show of all time is also one of the most prominently black shows of all time? — Andrew

Matt Roush: You make some excellent and provocative points here. For me, there's no question that The Wire and Mad Men are both masterpieces, but there's also no question that one creates a much more inviting world than the other. Mad Men is evocative and mysterious and has plenty to say about the sexism and racism of the early '60s, but it's also gorgeous (not gritty, despite the smoke) and witty (as opposed to profane). And while it does have a dark and cynical side, it's much more seductive and nowhere near as bleak and unsparing in tone as The Wire. It's not entirely a matter of race and class, although you'd have to be blind not to consider these as factors, but more an issue of what might be perceived as entertainment value, as shallow as that sounds. And when it comes to honoring great work, it really is a condemnation of the myopia inherent in the Emmy process that The Wire faced such resistance from the membership through its entire run.

Mithrandir86

This is obligatory:

Stuff White People Like #85: The Wire

Opium

Mithrandir86 wrote: »

This is obligatory:

Stuff White People Like #85: The Wire

Very true. I have a British friend who is whiter and Britisher than you can imagine (you knowthe type, as pale and British as, say, prince William) who loves The Wire and wants to become a drug dealer in Baltimore even though he would get killed off day 1. We always make fun of him for that.

Me Too!

I just started watching this from the beginning today
Holy shit
This show is nothing short of amazing
I love McNulty and Omar
Especially what Omar decides to do halfway through the first season

Gigaton

This show is fucking brilliant and it's a crime against logic and humanity that it didn't gain the popularity that it deserves. The "what white people like" link was funny, since honestly the reason many people had an aversion was because the cast was so extremely diverse.
Let's be honest, most of TV watching America would rather see shows about six random white people in a negro-less New York.

Season 4 and 5 were my definite favorites. Just how in your face the political issues were presented and some of the saddening character fates in the series finale. Six Feet Under, The Wire, Sopranos, Deadwood,...etc.
I am HBO's bitch.

Dublo7

Just started Season 5 yesterday. Probably my new best ever show, along with Six Feet Under.

tallgeeze

Mithrandir86 wrote: »

This is obligatory:

Stuff White People Like #85: The Wire

never heard of this site, but it's hilarious.

If you attempt to talk about an episode they have not seen yet, they will scream and cover their ears. In white culture, giving away information about a film or TV series is considered as rude as spitting on your mothers grave. It is an unforgivable offense.

I watched most of season 1, but then I moved out of my parent's house, thus losing the HBO.

Gafoto

Dublo7 wrote: »

Just started Season 5 yesterday. Probably my new best ever show, along with Six Feet Under.

Season 5 just about makes you hate every single character. It ends like it should've though.

Dublo7

Gafoto wrote: »

Dublo7 wrote: »

Just started Season 5 yesterday. Probably my new best ever show, along with Six Feet Under.

Season 5 just about makes you hate every single character. It ends like it should've though.

McNulte is fucking up again. God damnit.

BlueBaron

except his personal/love life is working

Griffu

I'm not sure what I think of The Wire. On hand: fantastic acting and characters. On the other hand, it constantly leaves me with blue balls.

I'm at the end of season 3, and it seems like the story has been an exercise in frustration. There's barely a single push by the cops that doesn't get quashed somehow. It's either leaked, sabotaged, snitched, or some superior officer kills it for self-serving reasons. If no that, its useless lead after useless lead and eventually the bad dudes get away anyway.

After seeing the cast chase Stringer for 3 seasons, then just as they finally get enough on him... it's a bit frustrating. I wonder if this is supposed to be the point, that crime pays, working as a cop sucks, and here's the ugly face of crime... but the series seems too well done to boil down to something that pedestrian. I wonder if I'm missing something sometimes.

For those of you who have watched til the end, do we actually get any sort of cathartic... or even conclusive ending? Or is that pretty much how The Wire goes?

Bad Kitty

Griffu wrote: »

I'm not sure what I think of The Wire. On hand: fantastic acting and characters. On the other hand, it constantly leaves me with blue balls.

I'm at the end of season 3, and it seems like the story has been an exercise in frustration. There's barely a single push by the cops that doesn't get quashed somehow. It's either leaked, sabotaged, snitched, or some superior officer kills it for self-serving reasons. If no that, its useless lead after useless lead and eventually the bad dudes get away anyway.

After seeing the cast chase Stringer for 3 seasons, then just as they finally get enough on him... it's a bit frustrating. I wonder if this is supposed to be the point, that crime pays, working as a cop sucks, and here's the ugly face of crime... but the series seems too well done to boil down to something that pedestrian. I wonder if I'm missing something sometimes.

For those of you who have watched til the end, do we actually get any sort of cathartic... or even conclusive ending? Or is that pretty much how The Wire goes?

Thematic (non-plot) Spoilers:

Institutional failure. The one constant and obvious theme is that an individual, no matter how noble or good, succumbs to and is defeated by the institution that person is a part of. Moreover, the institution is self-preserving to the detriment of individuals. So over the course of five seasons we explore the failures of: police practices and the drug trade (season 1); the economy and the unions (season 2); politics and the war on drugs (season 3); the public school system (season 4); journalism (season 5).

There are minor triumphs for the various characters, but always know in the end that the institution wins and it's broken as hell.

RUNN1NGMAN

Bad Kitty wrote: »

Griffu wrote: »

I'm not sure what I think of The Wire. On hand: fantastic acting and characters. On the other hand, it constantly leaves me with blue balls.

I'm at the end of season 3, and it seems like the story has been an exercise in frustration. There's barely a single push by the cops that doesn't get quashed somehow. It's either leaked, sabotaged, snitched, or some superior officer kills it for self-serving reasons. If no that, its useless lead after useless lead and eventually the bad dudes get away anyway.

After seeing the cast chase Stringer for 3 seasons, then just as they finally get enough on him... it's a bit frustrating. I wonder if this is supposed to be the point, that crime pays, working as a cop sucks, and here's the ugly face of crime... but the series seems too well done to boil down to something that pedestrian. I wonder if I'm missing something sometimes.

For those of you who have watched til the end, do we actually get any sort of cathartic... or even conclusive ending? Or is that pretty much how The Wire goes?

Thematic (non-plot) Spoilers:

Institutional failure. The one constant and obvious theme is that an individual, no matter how noble or good, succumbs to and is defeated by the institution that person is a part of. Moreover, the institution is self-preserving to the detriment of individuals. So over the course of five seasons we explore the failures of: police practices and the drug trade (season 1); the economy and the unions (season 2); politics and the war on drugs (season 3); the public school system (season 4); journalism (season 5).

There are minor triumphs for the various characters, but always know in the end that the institution wins and it's broken as hell.

It also really helps to know David Simon's background, and read some of the articles he's written for various publications since The Wire started airing. The various plots may leave you dissatisfied, but that's the point.

Thirith

I'm one of the people who, after being confused during the first episode, very much took to season 2. Frank Sobotka's scene at the end of the penultimate episode pretty much broke my heart. Only season 4 got to me more.

Season 5 was a bit of a letdown, but only because the rest of the series was so freaking good. I loved the two main storylines in season 3: Hamsterdam and Avon Barksdale/Stringer. I don't think they get enough love.

Fatboy Roberts

"You see that bowlegged motherfucker? You see him? I made him walk like that."

Thirith

One other thing that isn't acknowledged nearly often enough: how funny the show is at times. There's so much humour coming out of the characters. Yes, it's grim. Yes, it's often depressing. But bits like the photocopier lie detector? Comedy gold.

Diarmuid

Fatboy Roberts wrote: »

"You see that bowlegged motherfucker? You see him? I made him walk like that."

:^:


The Bunk is so awesome.

Crayon

If you haven't watched this show you've done yourself a huge disservice.