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  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    The Wire is a bit like Game of Thrones in that really appreciating it requires learning the identities of a good dozen people, and also in that the show is not going to hold your hand at all. The show doesn't care about you. Fuck you, says the show.

    Game of Thrones, however, only makes you brave that gauntlet once, during season one. The Wire makes you learn a completely new cast every season.

    The Wire is the Dark Souls of prestige television.

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  • Atlas in ChainsAtlas in Chains Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

  • BurnageBurnage Registered User regular
    Got finished watching Omniscient on Netflix, and it was a neat little low-grade cyberpunky show. Parts of it dragged slightly, but the final episode
    twist completely blindsided me. The entire purpose of the murder was to manipulate the main character into making The System human readable? Jesus.

    If you can put up with some slightly dodgy portrayals of computing it's worth a watch (especially since it's only six episodes). I'm hopeful that it gets renewed because a season two could be really interesting.

  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    The Wire is definitely distratction-free viewing, but I think it only took me 3-4 episodes to get a grasp on the major characters and the show itself. It's long form storytelling, not "crime of the week" which allows it actually explore its themes in depth. The (heavy-handed) chess scene is where I got hooked.

    After Season 1 the learning curve isn't too bad since half the cast stays the same.

  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    Anyone watch Undone on Prime? It looks interesting but I don't know if it's worth the time.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • GnizmoGnizmo Registered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    Anyone watch Undone on Prime? It looks interesting but I don't know if it's worth the time.

    I have and I found it really interesting. It is hard to describe exactly though. It gets very weird routinely, but it never keeps a gimmick around too long. After watching it I feel like I am happy to have watched it, but don't know exactly how to sell someone on it which is odd. I would say try the first episode or two. It will let you know whether or not the show is for you pretty clearly I feel.

  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Tomanta wrote: »
    The Wire is definitely distratction-free viewing, but I think it only took me 3-4 episodes to get a grasp on the major characters and the show itself. It's long form storytelling, not "crime of the week" which allows it actually explore its themes in depth. The (heavy-handed) chess scene is where I got hooked.

    After Season 1 the learning curve isn't too bad since half the cast stays the same.

    If there's any sort of settling in period I'd say it's before they get the wire up. Or when they get the team together. That's when there's a real sense of where this is all going, at least on one level.

  • lwt1973lwt1973 King of Thieves SyndicationRegistered User regular
    Finished S3 of the Wire.
    I knew Stringer wasn't long for this world as usually actors have a three year contract and then a re-up and Idris Elba wasn't going to re-up. He was amazing and I'll miss him on the show. And everything self-destructed in the end with Hamsterdam as I knew it would. At least there were a couple of glimpses of good that happened.

    "He's sulking in his tent like Achilles! It's the Iliad?...from Homer?! READ A BOOK!!" -Handy
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    They weren't complaining about the phone part duder.

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  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    Finished S3 of the Wire.
    I knew Stringer wasn't long for this world as usually actors have a three year contract and then a re-up and Idris Elba wasn't going to re-up. He was amazing and I'll miss him on the show. And everything self-destructed in the end with Hamsterdam as I knew it would. At least there were a couple of glimpses of good that happened.

    Stringer Bell
    In some ways he's the ultimate tragedy of the series. Avon's assessment of him was 100% on point. He's too smart to be a gangster but the "regular" world will never accept him

  • AtaxrxesAtaxrxes Hellnation Cursed EarthRegistered User regular
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    Anyone watch Undone on Prime? It looks interesting but I don't know if it's worth the time.

    It's really, really good and I need them to answer some questions in season 2 very badly.

  • TaramoorTaramoor Storyteller Registered User regular
    EQwi4nNU0AELKc1?format=jpg&name=medium

    That Netflix He-Man series is, uh, they've got quite the cast.

  • TexiKenTexiKen Dammit! That fish really got me!Registered User regular
    As annoyed as I am with Smith still giving his wife and daughter roles even in fucking voice acting, Bill Dauterive as Battle Cat makes me happy

  • DiannaoChongDiannaoChong Registered User regular
    TexiKen wrote: »
    As annoyed as I am with Smith still giving his wife and daughter roles even in fucking voice acting, Bill Dauterive as Battle Cat makes me happy

    I didn't even notice his wife, saw mewes and HQ and went "uh huh."

    The rest of the cast looks great and like they are willing to put money/effort into it? Although I'd accept the argument that Smith's involvement might drag it a bit. I'd love if it were the voltron people and done in that vein.

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  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    Well I guess that's where the whole budget is going

    A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
  • Atlas in ChainsAtlas in Chains Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

  • AnteCantelopeAnteCantelope Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

    I think it only takes 3 episodes to start coming together and let you make up your mind about it. That's about 3 hours into a 60 hour show, only 5%!

  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

    The OP literally stated they had trouble getting into the show as something on in the background.

  • GnizmoGnizmo Registered User regular
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

    The OP literally stated they had trouble getting into the show as something on in the background.

    If that is directed at me then no, I did not. I said the show didn't capture my attention. As in I was watching and then just started day dreaming, or absent mindedly fixing a snack and realized oh the show is still on I guess. It very much is a large ask to push through 8 hour of TV that is less entertaining than staring at my fish tank.

  • CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    edited February 2020
    Gnizmo wrote: »
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

    The OP literally stated they had trouble getting into the show as something on in the background.

    If that is directed at me then no, I did not. I said the show didn't capture my attention. As in I was watching and then just started day dreaming, or absent mindedly fixing a snack and realized oh the show is still on I guess. It very much is a large ask to push through 8 hour of TV that is less entertaining than staring at my fish tank.

    I mean, it may just not be for you if you find what you've seen less entertaining than fish.

    That said, it took me, I think, 3 tries to get into The Wire. The first two times were basically what you described. I think the 3rd time I was sick or something and just laid on the couch staring at it. By the 3rd or 4th episode I was hooked.

    It's a show that's more about the personalities than any of the things that are happening. I don't really remember many details of the plot or even many individual scenes outside the ones that get meme'd all the time but I can remember the attitudes, if that makes any sense. If you're looking for taut drama or tight plotting The Wire isn't really that. It's watching these characters all bounce off one another.

    CptHamilton on
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  • LanlaornLanlaorn Registered User regular
    The Wire is great from the first minute, if nothing else it immediately establishes itself as a very well executed police procedural and then very quickly showcases its incredible storytelling and deep characters.

  • eMoandereMoander Registered User regular
    Locke&Key episode 6 -> oh my god these people are just too stupid to live
    The whole thing with Sam getting the keys was just so contrived. Kinsey and Bode have all the time in the world to scout upstairs and then hide the Head key, but a) don't think to hide any of the other keys, and b) don't think to use the fucking music key and just tell him to put the gun down. Then he gets knocked on the ground dropping the gun TWICE and nobody thinks hey maybe we should pick that up before he does. And then when Mom finally gets the gun and is pointing it at him, she suddenly decides to randomly get distracted by a door that was sitting there for the past 5 minutes and of course now Sam is free again.
    I did 'like' the several fake-outs on the rules of what Well Lady can do, which just highlights how stupid these people are thinking they understand everything based on so little information.
    Also, that cave was nowhere near flooding and the distance Kinsey climbed to get to that door there is no way the tide would go up that high. But that one I can forgive as just failure to illustrate the background correctly as opposed to characters with literal brain damage.

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  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    I actually think the wire takes a while to pull you in on the first season. Lots of characters, takes a while to really start figuring wtf is up with most of them, some of them suck and leave eventually, the procedural stuff takes a while to kick into gear and there's not much of an obvious story arc at first. Also really key details are just randomly dropped into conversations and you don't actually know how important they are until rewatches or if you're watching really closely.

    On rewatch s1 starts out great, sure, but when I was first getting into it the first half of season 1 really didn't grab me at all. I was in by the end of the season for sure, but it took a while to get there.

    A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    Gnizmo wrote: »
    8 to 10 hours in before I can tell if I should keep going? Jesus...

    I know, actually watching something instead of fucking about on a phone is a pretty huge ask these days.

    That's extremely condescending. I don't know many activities that you need to complete to 77% before you can tell if you are enjoying yourself. Calling something "the best show of all time" seems like it should probably display that kind of quality earlier.

    The OP literally stated they had trouble getting into the show as something on in the background.

    If that is directed at me then no, I did not. I said the show didn't capture my attention. As in I was watching and then just started day dreaming, or absent mindedly fixing a snack and realized oh the show is still on I guess. It very much is a large ask to push through 8 hour of TV that is less entertaining than staring at my fish tank.

    Ok well this is just getting kind of silly now
    Gnizmo wrote: »
    So I am going to risk starting a whole thing here. I feel it is important to state I am not trying to start a whole thing, but I understand entirely what the initial reaction to my very real question will be. I just ask that after the initial shock has worn off that people try to engage in good faith.

    When does the Wire start getting good? Or just generally get engaging? I have tried to watch it a couple times but it completely failed to grab me every time. I start losing focus usually part way through an episode and if I am not careful will not even notice as I do other stuff with it as white noise in the background while several episodes go by. It is obviously not a watch it in the background show, but I cannot even manage to pay attention through one episode.

    I get the impression it's a slow paced show which I am entirely fine with. I tend to thrive on characters, and character interaction. None of the characters struck me as interesting. They all seem like miserable piles of miserable that I want to fail. There was not one character I remember thinking I would be happy if that one managed to not get completely fucked over. Is that the shows thing? It feels like it might be which is one reason I have avoided going down this road. It doesn't fully explain why I can't engage in this show, but maybe it is because I can't find anything redeeming in anyone.

    Edit: For clarity I am not trying to say the show is terrible either. I avoid rating shows in absolutes whenever possible. Either you like a show or you don't. Objectivity doesn't exist, and if it did would be a dumb thing to apply to entertainment. I just wonder if the show picks up steam in a way I have missed.

    And since apparently this is now A Thing I'd also point out that at no point did I accuse you or anyone else in the thread of pissing around on their phone instead of watching something. That said in my experience it's by far the most common cause of people *cough*myroommates*cough* saying they weren't into or didn't like a show or film because it wasn't interesting enough.

    If Atlas in Chains led you to believe I was speaking about you specifically in my reply to them then I apologize for not being clear enough.

    To be absolutely clear I wasn't talking about you. I was speaking in general. It was also mostly meant as a joke born out of my exasperating experiences of trying to watch things with my roommates but forgetting a :P can be make a pretty big difference sometimes.

  • Atlas in ChainsAtlas in Chains Registered User regular
    If Atlas in Chains led you to believe I was speaking about you specifically in my reply to them then I apologize for not being clear enough.

    I was going to make a scathing post about blaming me for your missing tact, but I decided to give it some time and checked NetFlix for something new instead.

    I foundTo All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. I didn't even know there was a sequel in the works, but I watched it without delay. HappylilElf, let's never break each others' heart, promise? Lara Jean is 1 hour and 36 minutes of delightful, no need for a phone or a feeling out period. These flicks are where my heart lives now.

  • HappylilElfHappylilElf Registered User regular
    edited February 2020
    If Atlas in Chains led you to believe I was speaking about you specifically in my reply to them then I apologize for not being clear enough.

    I was going to make a scathing post about blaming me for your missing tact, but I decided to give it some time and checked NetFlix for something new instead.

    I foundTo All the Boys: P.S. I Still Love You. I didn't even know there was a sequel in the works, but I watched it without delay. HappylilElf, let's never break each others' heart, promise? Lara Jean is 1 hour and 36 minutes of delightful, no need for a phone or a feeling out period. These flicks are where my heart lives now.

    Well, shit. That was supposed to read "If Atlas in Chains' reply to my snark"

    There's no hard feelings. I wasn't trying to blame you, just emphasis that the reply in question was unrelated to what I was trying to say to Gnizmo. Definitely coulda worded that better, or just not totally fucked up what I was saying, but I was a little heated and trying to reply while also doing something else so that's 100% my bad because I totally agree how it would read that way >_<

    HappylilElf on
  • SatanIsMyMotorSatanIsMyMotor Fuck Warren Ellis Registered User regular
    edited February 2020
    lwt1973 wrote: »
    Finished S3 of the Wire.
    I knew Stringer wasn't long for this world as usually actors have a three year contract and then a re-up and Idris Elba wasn't going to re-up. He was amazing and I'll miss him on the show. And everything self-destructed in the end with Hamsterdam as I knew it would. At least there were a couple of glimpses of good that happened.

    Stringer Bell
    In some ways he's the ultimate tragedy of the series. Avon's assessment of him was 100% on point. He's too smart to be a gangster but the "regular" world will never accept him

    "Mother fucker are you sitting here taking notes on a criminal conspiracy?!"

    edit: I'll add that it took me two goes to get into The Wire. I bounced off of it the first time I tried. I found it really boring and, frankly, kind of hard to understand what a lot of the characters were even saying.

    About a year after bouncing off of it the first time I went back and tried again. I sat down and watched, I believe, four episodes right in a row. The show really clicked for me when I fully understood the business/operation Avon was running. From there the language/vocabulary really began to click for me and from then on I was hooked.

    SatanIsMyMotor on
  • joshofalltradesjoshofalltrades Class Traitor Smoke-filled roomRegistered User regular
    @Gnizmo

    I know exactly how you feel. The first 3 times I tried to watch The Wire I bounced off of it hard. I didn’t understand any of the characters or their motivations and it just seemed like a cop vs. drug dealers show, which are a dime a dozen.

    It’s a lot to ask someone to watch an entire season of a show before it starts clicking, but when I finally made up my mind to do just that, it clicked more than any other show ever has for me. Usually I can tell within the first 3 episodes if a show will do that, but The Wire took longer, and when it finally did, I binged the whole thing in like 3 days.

    I would say watch the whole first season, if you have the willpower. It’s not even the best season of the show, but it reveals itself over the course of, what, 10 episodes? To be far deeper and far more than cops vs. drug dealers through that season. If you watch the whole season and still don’t get it, it might just not be for you.

    Again, I know that’s a big ask. But it’s totally worth it if you can make it click for you. And the best part is that once it does click, you can go back and watch those episodes again with a deeper understanding of the universe and what’s going on, and really appreciate what you missed. I think I’ve watched The Wire like 7 times now and every time I come away with something new.

    Lastly, the thing that really helped me was reading Alan Sepinwall’s episode reviews after each episode. It isn’t hand-holdy per se but it does kind of help you understand the characters a bit more and the subtext of their words and actions. He has both spoiler-free and spoilery reviews up and I can’t recommend reading the spoiler-free reviews enough. It’s seriously the #1 thing that helped me finally get why everybody said it was the best show ever made.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Oh man, Sabrina S3.

    (Vague spoilers for the first couple of episodes)
    I am totally down for The Lovecraftian Adventures of Teenage Grim Reaper: The Musical

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Oh man, Sabrina S3.

    (Vague spoilers for the first couple of episodes)
    I am totally down for The Lovecraftian Adventures of Teenage Grim Reaper: The Musical

    I've been catching up on this series since I found out it got two more seasons and this show has become maximum 90s-era WB cheese and I'm kinda into it right now. It just needs a cameo from Bruce Campbell.

  • LostNinjaLostNinja Registered User regular
    Watched episode 3 of The Witcher last night after not really touching the show in a month and for the first time all series I finally felt like I understood what was happening.

    I’ve also decided that I need to watch this show with subtitles. I don’t know if it’s bad audio, or me just struggling with the unfamiliar names and locations (never interact e with any of the other Witcher media) but For some reason I had found myself rewinding this show a lot more than usual after missing things. There also doesn’t appear to be a lot of exposition to help build the world out either.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    I threw on subtitles for a couple earlier episodes of Witcher, and it really helped me get straight on names and places. It'll probably be my default behavior on any new fantasy shows I watch.

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • TofystedethTofystedeth Registered User regular
    I've basically never not had subs or captions when it was an option since kindergarten.

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  • Rhesus PositiveRhesus Positive GNU Terry Pratchett Registered User regular
    Shows should have an option to display everybody's names above their head like in a MMORPG

    Amazon's trivia thingy that pops up when you pause is sort of useful for that

    [Muffled sounds of gorilla violence]
  • LostNinjaLostNinja Registered User regular
    edited February 2020
    Shows should have an option to display everybody's names above their head like in a MMORPG

    Amazon's trivia thingy that pops up when you pause is sort of useful for that

    Given the problem I have remembering names in general I’d be okay if this was a standard life thing too. Come on AR, you have the ability to make this happen!

    LostNinja on
  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    I threw on subtitles for a couple earlier episodes of Witcher, and it really helped me get straight on names and places. It'll probably be my default behavior on any new fantasy shows I watch.

    The only word you really need to hear is cavills fuck

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    Shows should have an option to display everybody's names above their head like in a MMORPG

    Amazon's trivia thingy that pops up when you pause is sort of useful for that

    Honestly, if Dark were on Amazon instead of Netflix, I might have made it more than four episodes. Great show, but I had a bitch of a time keeping straight the 153 pasty, dark haired dudes across 3 different timelines.

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • DonnictonDonnicton Registered User regular
    LostNinja wrote: »
    Shows should have an option to display everybody's names above their head like in a MMORPG

    Amazon's trivia thingy that pops up when you pause is sort of useful for that

    Given the problem I have remembering names in general I’d be okay if this was a standard life thing too. Come on AR, you have the ability to make this happen!

    You need an AR device just to remember my name? Blocked.

    97228c11f80ed81812597f126d058f31.jpg

  • wanderingwandering Russia state-affiliated media Registered User regular
    Finished part 3 of Sabrina.

    Random thoughts:

    1. God Devil damn my mind was blown when I realized Aunt Zelda is played by Éowyn

    2. I am pro musical numbers, as always

    3. Theo remains the one character who feels like a real teenager to me, in a sea of, like, TV Teens

    4. For the credits couldn't they have figured out a better illustration for Theo than him on the basketball team, since him joining the team was kinda random, and also the series basically forgot about it as soon as it happened
    5. I like how every single character who dies gets resurrected no matter what....except Harvey's brother. LMAO sure sucks to be you Harvey

    6. I appreciate that the devil becomes both hot and naked

    7. I feel like it was a cop-out to make the devil a bad guy. Give me a series about a good Lucifer and bad heavenly God. I bet there's some good fiction about that. God is a real dick in the Bible, and super overpowered, it'd be easy to make Lucifer a sympathetic underdog!

    8. Bookstore owner is prime husbando material, good job snagging him Aunt Hilda

    Anyway overall, I dunno, it's a solid series. I feel its Buffy the Vampire Slayer except without all the super-great standout episodes like Hush, etc. Basically a whole series of the Buffy B-side pretty-fun-I-guess episodes like the one where Xander gets ensnared by a sex demon teacher

This discussion has been closed.