I’ve heard lots of people here and other places talk about the HBO series “The Wire” as one of the best series HBO put out. Now, I love me a good HBO series, and have happily watched The Sopranos, Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Carnivale, Game of Thrones, and others.
Twice now, I’ve tried to get into The Wire, and the first episode is so damn dull that I can’t bring myself to watch another one. The second time we tried to watch was last week, and Mr. Athena and I both looked at each other when it was over and went “Boy, I don’t know if I can sit through another of those.”
It was just… dull.
So tell me about it. Does it get better? When? Should I slog through it or just give up?
I haven’t watched it, but some of my co-workers have mentioned that the first season was awful. But every other season was apparently the best content in the history of television.
From what I remember it takes about 3 or 4 episodes to really get a grip on you. I remember the first series actually being pretty good but I do remember it taking a while to grab me.
It’s my favorite show of all time, but it can be a bit slow. One thing to keep in mind is that it is really just one long story-arc; each episode doesn’t stand on its own very well. Even other story-arc heavy shows are at least somewhat episodic. But The Wire is like a giant novel, and takes some patience and close attention. It might take a while to get into it. Possibly the whole first season.
I was the same way, I tried a couple of times, even watching the first 3-4 episodes. I just could not get through them and just gave up. I can’t say how the rest of it was since I never tried again. I also couldn’t get through Deadwood either. I did however love Six Feet Under.
My initial reaction was similar, but I watch TV series sort of out of the corner of my eye while I work, so I left the disc in. I was pretty much resolved to give up on it but then in whichever was the last episode of the disc there was a “wait, what???” moment that really caught my attention. But, the discs were due back at the library so I gave up at that time.
A few weeks ago I got season one again. I can see why people praise the acting and the writing, and I live in Baltimore so I feel a sense of obligation to love it, but I don’t. On the second pass I did get further along, but I think one of the things that makes so many people love it makes it a poor match for me. There are too many intricacies in the relationships for me to keep it straight in my head.
I don’t think the people who praise it to the rafters are wrong, the way I did when several of my friends were calling The Time Traveler’s Wife the best book ever. The Wire is just not for me.
Also, how I react to a movie, show, or book has a lot to do with how my life is going at the time. When my business, health, and relationships are all rosy I react more positively to entertainment that’s dark. When any or all of those things are on shaky ground I need more escapism. For now I’ll stick to rewatching Frank Capra films. I’m not opposed to giving The Wire another shot in the future. I really should. People here refer to it a lot.
The first season isn’t awful, in fact I think it’s great, but it does seem to start slow. It’s not that there isn’t a lot going on, there is, you just don’t notice a lot of it until you get into the rhythm of the show (at least I didn’t. On repeat watches I see a lot of stuff that I missed the first time).
I was alternately confused and bored for the first couple of episodes, by episode 3 my interest picked up a bit, and by the end of episode 6 I was hooked. I think if the end of episode 6/beginning of 7 don’t grab you, the show just might not be your thing. I know it’s tough to watch that much TV just to see if you’ll like it but The Wire is a good enough show that I think it’s worth taking that chance.
I just finished watching the first series over the course of the last week or so. I enjoyed it a lot. It reminds me a lot of NYPD Blue, especially some of the earlier seasons where the storyline carried through multiple episodes.
A while ago a TV critic rewatched The Wire, and blogged it. Even the second time around the first few episodes were slow. They are setting up a lot of plot threads, all of which will pay off later.
BTW, we are watching Homicide: Life on the Street based on a book by David Simon and also set in Baltimore. Being network TV it doesn’t go as far - the murders get wrapped up much faster than the cases in the Wire, but it is pretty good, and has a similar feel.
To be honest, I never felt that The Wire really picked up. It’s a good show (I’d say not far above decent, but I’d be lynched by a mob of Dopers), but it’s really over hyped as entertainment. It does have some substantial literary merit, however.
If you want an entertaining Drama from HBO, they’ve of course got The Sopranos. If you want a cop style drama that’s ‘gritty’, there’s The Shield.
I think The Wire is the best show ever on television. I’ve watched the whole thing right through four or five times, plus watched a bunch of episodes more than that.
The first time around, though, it took me a good 7 or 8 episodes to really get into it. My wife and i watched the first 3 or 4 and weren’t quite sure what all the fuss was about, but then we watch another 4 and were hooked.
It’s not a show that rewards inattention or multitasking. You need to watch it, otherwise you’ll miss stuff, and then be left floundering two or three episodes down the road when the thing you missed becomes an important part of the plot.
David Simon was once asked if his long, carefully planned story arcs prevented him from snaring the casual viewer for the show, and his response was “Fuck the casual viewer.”
I’m watching the show right now (a few eps into season 4) and watching the first episode was absolutely painful. But even by the second episode I was starting to realize why people praised the show so much. It is a slow show, and it’s one long story with a lot of characters and complexities. I would recommend trying to give it a few more episodes before deciding if it’s for you or not.
It’s a “well known fact” now that you have to give it 4-5 (I say 5) episodes before you’re hooked.
Unfortunately people leave this out of their glowing recommendations, and people new to the series sit down waiting to be blown away out of the gate and it doesn’t happen. Then they just give up.
Give it 5 episodes and THEN you can dislike it, which is ok too
From the high praise on here I started watching the series in January. I’m about halfway through season 3 right now.
It’s a very slow burn. A lot of characters and names to keep track of but well worth it. By the last few episodes of season 1 everything came together and the build was worth it. Things got resolved but others left open for further down the road.
I immediately started season 2 but got bored after 1 episode since I found they were going off in another direction (dock workers) instead of the main storyline.
I took a break for about a week then dove back into it. Season 2 ended up being better than the first. Again it was a slow build up but the payoff at the end of the season was so worth it.
I took a break for about a week again before starting season 3. I think it’s best to do this since the way they present stuff in the first episode of a season almost assumes the viewer has been away for a while and stuff has happened while they were gone.
Season 3 starts off the same way again although they are back on the streets. On episode 7 right now and whilre it’s getting a bit tedious I trust it’s building to some good stuff for the latter half of the season.
I’ve heard season 4 is the best so I’m really looking forward to it.
Since there are so many names and micro storylines to follow my viewing habit has been to read the episode recap on wikipedia after watching to keep everything straight. Councilmen, mayors, senators, police chiefs, etc. Amazing how much stuff slips by me.
I don’t know if we’ll stick with it or not. We’ve got limited TV viewing time, and I’m not sure I want to give up 6 hours to watch something I may or may not get into when I have a backlog of about a thousand shows/movies that I know I will like.
Just the opposite for me. I thought The Shield was awful and couldn’t make it past episode one. The characters were cliches and the misogynistic dialog got old fast. I would, however, recommend Southland, which has four seasons in the can already. We’re playing catch up with it at the moment, but enjoy it quite a bit.
The Wire does hit you with a lot of stuff at once without stopping to explain backstories and jargon. You don’t always see where the different plot and character developments are going until things start to happen. I do think it’s an incredible show and it’s worth giving it some time.
