Revisiting The Wire

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:24 am

I don't need to say what most of you should already know, but god damn this is the greatest piece of television that I've ever seen.

It didn't lose any of its replay value. I'm still on the edge of my seat during some scenes that I already know the outcome too. You definitely catch things or even appreciate them more if you revisit this a few years later.

Still can't believe I slept on this show at first.

dat piff · Post by **dat piff** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:33 am

The Wire is definitely the best show HBO ever put out.. I found it during it's 3rd season when it aired.. Watched that Season then went back and grabbed Season 1 and 2 and watched them.. shit was still perfect.. Sucks they decided to end it, I could have watched season after season of that shit..

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 1:53 pm

excellent show. lots of reply value

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:00 pm

The reason why the second season is one of my favorites is because I watched it again. When you're over the fact that the Wire took a left turn in that season and view it for what is it's excellent.

The third season, which was initially my least favorite season, got better on a second viewing too. The Hamsterdam subplot still bothers me though, but that season has some of the best Stringer and Avon moments.

Seiko Flossberg · Post by **Seiko Flossberg** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:10 pm

^ What bothers you about the Hamsterdam subplot?

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:16 pm

the hamsterdam subplot is fucking great.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:17 pm

Season 3 is my favorite. I loved the Hamsterdam plot too.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:18 pm

i burned an extra hole in these dvds from watching them so much

ALASKA · Post by **ALASKA** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:19 pm

i personally like season 4 the best, but i would say that all 5 seasons are amazing, especially when you look at it as a tail of a decaying american city, and i guess a story that could be told in any number of american cities that were prosperous during the manufacturing boom, but in the years since have not been able to keep up and are horribly run.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:19 pm

Icesickle wrote:The reason why the second season is one of my favorites is because I watched it again. When you're over the fact that the Wire took a left turn in that season and view it for what is it's excellent.

I've watched the entire series several times now and season 2 is still my least favorite by a pretty large margin. I just don't care for the dock characters as much as the the major players from the other seasons. The Sobotka's just aren't that compelling when put up against the rest of the series.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:21 pm

Also for the record, I always flip-flop between season 3 and 4 as my favorite, probably lean more towards 4.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:36 pm

Tommy Bunz wrote:
Icesickle wrote:The reason why the second season is one of my favorites is because I watched it again. When you're over the fact that the Wire took a left turn in that season and view it for what is it's excellent.
I've watched the entire series several times now and season 2 is still my least favorite by a pretty large margin. I just don't care for the dock characters as much as the the major players from the other seasons. The Sobotka's just aren't that compelling when put up against the rest of the series.

They might not be as compelling, but they're easier for a rural suburban longboarder from white trash industrial town Pennsylvania stock to relate to than any other criminal in the series aside from D'Angelo. (Aside from Magneto how many people on here know someone like Wee Bay, Marlo, or Stringer Bell?) I also think it does a great job of showing how easy it is to be lured into a life a crime, that is how it starts with seemingly innocous, albeit illegal, "jobs" like intentionally letting a crate slip by your watch and then snowballs into something more serious as your compromised moral compass just keeps on readjusting itself. Finally, Ziggy's downward spiral is hilariously tragic and McNulty crashing a car to a Pogues song and raiding the whorehouse is

.

Season Four is probably my favorite season overall though.

Blockhead · Post by **Blockhead** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 2:50 pm

i agree with everything tommy has said in this thread.
season 2 was the least interesting to me by far. still dope, but i never feel like re-watching episodes. seasons 3/4 are amazing.

Masked Terror #1 · Post by **Masked Terror #1** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:16 pm

Been watching these for the first time recently, largely due to how fanatical fans of this show are- "best TV ever" etc.

Liked Season 1 OK. There are some great characters- Avon, Stringer, Lester, Bunk, Omar. But the rest are straight from central casting/standard cop show fare at best.

Almost done with Season 2 now. Pretty much think it sucks. The longshoremen characters are just retarded cartoons.

I've heard it picks up again in Season 3, so I'll probably stick with it a little longer.

All in all, I'd say it's a quality cop show. Pretty much on the level with early Law & Order or something along those lines. The how-they-build-a-case element is cool, but there is a lot of run of the mill writing to counterbalance it.

To me, putting it on the level of the Sopranos or calling it the best TV show ever is laughable.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:23 pm

If you didn't think Season 1 was more than just "OK" then I don't know if your thoughts are going to change much. I mean, you definitely should give 3 and 4 a shot.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:29 pm

Masked Terror #1 wrote:All in all, I'd say it's a quality cop show. Pretty much on the level with early Law & Order or something along those lines.

the most immediate/obvious difference between the wire & nearly every other cop show ever is that it has a clear point of view/conscious/social agenda. not to mention the realism.. and even if there's an element of "watch as david simon now takes on the ______", it could never be called predictable or formulaic

season 4 is also my fave season

naturalborn103 · Post by **naturalborn103** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:36 pm

Masked Terror #1 wrote:Pretty much on the level with early Law & Order or something along those lines.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 3:45 pm

everybody is gonna be so mad at mt1

with good cause though, cause he obviously rapes puppies

Brougham33 · Post by **Brougham33** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 4:41 pm

After Breaking Bad finished, I needed something to watch, so right now I'm in the process of rewatching The Wire. I'm near the end of Season 3 right now. Back a year or so ago I might have said I liked Season 1 and 3 the best, but after rewatching it again, I really think Season 2 is equally strong. Especially the early episodes.

Simon described the second season as:

"a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class.ג¦t is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact , raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many."

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:18 pm

Brougham33 wrote:After Breaking Bad finished, I needed something to watch, so right now I'm in the process of rewatching The Wire. I'm near the end of Season 3 right now. Back a year or so ago I might have said I liked Season 1 and 3 the best, but after rewatching it again, I really think Season 2 is equally strong. Especially the early episodes.

I'm about to do another Wire marathon. Season 2 is dope as fuck.

kato · Post by **kato** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:19 pm

Masked Terror #1 wrote:Been watching these for the first time recently, largely due to how fanatical fans of this show are- "best TV ever" etc.

Liked Season 1 OK. There are some great characters- Avon, Stringer, Lester, Bunk, Omar. But the rest are straight from central casting/standard cop show fare at best.

Almost done with Season 2 now. Pretty much think it sucks. The longshoremen characters are just retarded cartoons.

I've heard it picks up again in Season 3, so I'll probably stick with it a little longer.

All in all, I'd say it's a quality cop show. Pretty much on the level with early Law & Order or something along those lines. The how-they-build-a-case element is cool, but there is a lot of run of the mill writing to counterbalance it.

To me, putting it on the level of the Sopranos or calling it the best TV show ever is laughable.

you're a jerk.

YouTube · Post by **Philaflava** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 5:52 pm

I spent the last week watching Seasons 3-5. Now I'll go back to 1 and 2.

As for replay value, I can see myself doing this every few years like the Godfather series.

Y@k Bollocks · Post by **Y@k Bollocks** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:31 pm

It's cool to have contrary views on The Wire.

The hype it gets would put me off too though to be honest. I'm going to rewatch it at some point, have only recently finished season 5 though so not for a while.

I still rate The Sopranos above it, as I prefer tv I don't need to engage my brain for, and something with an element of (black) comedy.

And I can definitely relate to the characters as some of my best friends are coloureds

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:37 pm

Y@k Bollocks wrote: and something with an element of (black) comedy.

tons of shit like this in the wire

if you can't laugh at mcnulty or with omar and bunk i don't know what to tell you

Moolah · Post by **Moolah** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:43 pm

Season 4 is also my favourite.

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:54 pm

drizzle wrote:
Y@k Bollocks wrote: and something with an element of (black) comedy.
tons of shit like this in the wire

if you can't laugh at mcnulty or with omar and bunk i don't know what to tell you

the sopranos is about 100 times more funny tho

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 6:57 pm

^^ not an outlandish opinion by any means but a wild hyperbole none the less

ackbar · Post by **ackbar** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:06 pm

i guess. but it probably is 10 times more funny in all honesty

djjeffresh · Post by **djjeffresh** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:12 pm

seen the first 3 seasons.

season 2 is my least favorite, but still not a BAD season, per se.

love the wire.

intuition · Post by **intuition** » Mon Jul 06, 2009 8:29 pm

still haven't watched this show because i'm scared it won't live up to the hype...(that and a lot of the torrent links i found the first time i tried to dl were janky).