The Wire - in general

Cafe Society
1

Thoughts on the season so far?

Man, was that a fucking beat down in the last episode that Partlow dished out or what?

Now, I want to see Partlow and Deadwood Dan go at it.

Did we ever get evidence that Michael was molested, or do we just have to take it at face that he wouldn’t lie?

The stuff with Bunny and Namond has been good. Sort of tragic when Bunny took him home, and his own mom called him out for being chicken about going to baby lock up.

The Prez storyline is sort of hokey, but it’s all right. I wonder if they’re setting us up that his students wind up acing the test.

Meanwhile, the bodies keep going into the row houses. There has to be something to come of that when they get discovered.

2

Best show on television - I have been a big fan ever since it first aired. I am really enjoying this season. It has a different tempo than previous seasons, but I like the fact that the writers are expanding the scope of the “players” in “the game” - the emphasis on the four young kids, the educational system, the election of Carcetti as Mayor and the inner workings of local politics, and the like. If one has been following the series from the start, one gets a really good understanding and insight into how all of these “players” are connected and interwoven into the fabric of Baltimore.

I don’t think there’s any direct eveidence, but indirectly, I think most people have made that assumption. I like the fact that the writers of the Wire allows us to make the inference.

Events are moving in that direction - I get HBO on Demand and I’ve seen the next episode. I won’t spoil anything for you, but someone finally does figure it out. As to what actually comes of it, I don’t know. But events are now stating to move pretty quickly.

My guess - Season 5 will deal with trying to bring down Marlo, the drug co-op, the crooked politicians (Davis), and other city bigwigs. Unfortunately, I think the efforts of the “players” involved in this - Daniels, Bunk, Freeman, McNulty, etc. (even Omar, who I think is gunning to take out Marlo - not kill him, but have him sent to jail) will not be entirely successful.

3

I hate to admit but I think The Wire is starting to surpass Deadwood as my favorite show.

It is just flat out amazing.

Michael was definitely molested by Bugs dad. It became clear that someone had. He didn’t want Cutty getting close to him and he doesn’t trust Prez completely because “he’s just too nice.” Partlow (is that Snoop’s partners name?) called Bug’s dad out on it before he beat him to death.

It is a little strange that McNulty has been in only a handful of episodes this season. He’s been a focal character (almost the lead) since it started and now he’s background.

4

Yeah, Michael was definitely syaing “I don’t like Cutty. he’s just too nice. Why’s everyone got to be so nice?” Cutty? Come on.

So, I completely believed it, I was just wondering if we’d been shown it directly. Like eponymous said, its good that they just let us figure it out.

You know that Snoop was a real Baltimore street girl, and the guy who plays Omar just “disvcovered” her one day?

Has it surpassed Deadwood or Sorpanos for me? It’s different. It’s not as blatantly entertaining as those shows. But, it’s more “gripping”, maybe. The acting, the atmosphere, the novel-istic quality of it, the tons of characters, the scope of the drama. . .

A buddy of mine likes to say, “I just forget it’s not real.”

5

I think this is an important point. What I find compelling about the show is the way it adheres to reality - much more so than any other type of similar drama. I think it’s partly due to the nature of the format - each episode runs uninterrupted by commercials - and partly due to the way in which the show is written and acted. The novelistic quality of the show is, I think, unique (I can’t think of any other show that conveys a sense of getting “lost” in the story like one would by reading a good book).

I also think it was smart to use actors who are talented but not well known to the viewing public (prior to there working on this show, of course). It also lends added realism by including non-actors (such as Snoop and the minister - forget his name - but he helped Colvin get his teaching gig at the school with the college professor, and he helped Cutty find work; I understand he was once a former drug dealer in Baltimore in the 70s).

6

It really freaked me out a little when I saw that the actor who plays Carcetti was the villain in Shanghai Knights with Chan and Wilson.
The actor who plays Omar had a role on that show 6 Degress.

Its weird seeing them outside of The Wire.

7

The Wire is my favorite show on television, because it is more than just entertainment. Deadwood is a fantastic show, with great acting, but it’s just not as compelling as The Wire.

Melvin Willians plays the Deacon (not sure if the character has a name). Williams was arrested in his earlier days by Ed Burns, writer for the show and former Baltimore City Po-lice. I thought I remembered something from the one of the specials leading up to this season that the woman who plays Mrs. Donnelly (Tootsie Duvall) was involved in the schools, but I can’t find anything about that.

8

I’ve been saying it’s the best show on tv since about halfway through the first season. It’s the only show that I completely WATCH. I don’t read or play around online when it’s on, and I STILL have to watch every episode at least twice to catch everything. When I recommend it to people I tell them not to bother watching if they’re not going to really pay attention.

I’m also watching it on-Demand, and even though I’m a week ahead I’m dying to find out what happens next.

I’m also amazed by how the four boys have been so compelling and sympathetic. I initially couldn’t stand Namond - or his ass of a mother - because of the way they treated Dukie, but now we’ve seen how Namond’s mother has treated him badly too, and how well he’s done under Bunny’s supervision.

I believe we’re supposed to know that Michael was molested, but they’re probably not going to come right out and say it. And I think that he went to Marlo/Chris to take care of the problem to protect his little brother as much as himself. Of course, now that he’s indebted to them, I’m interested to see what happens with Randy, as Michael has already shown himself to be loyal. I don’t know if Marlo will just let that be, especially when the police start finding the bodies in the vacants.

I love the character of McNulty, but I don’t think they needed him as much this season. He’s a beat cop, so he’s not very involved in the other storylines. And I love that he and Beadie are fairly settled down together. That’s as close to a happy ending as you could expect for him.

It’s also interesting that since they’ve been apart, Carver has become a better cop but Herc has just failed at every turn. Of course, Carver has been able to go to Daniels for help, whereas Herc is working under that jackass that broke up the band.

I’ve rambled enough, but I love this show so much.

9

Just discovered the show a while back, and it is amazing. Having taught in an urban district, in a school with sinking test scores, I can tell you that the school scenario is really well done. We were required to teach reading and math in timed blocks, regardless of what the kids needed, or their level of engagement with the material.

Man, I hope they do a marathon so I can catch the start of the season. I can follow what’s going on more or less but I’d like to know more about the backstory.

10

I’ve said it before, but IMHO The Wire is the best show on television, ever, bar none. I have a relative visiting this week and she wanted to watch CSI or one of the other network crime dramas (I can’t tell them apart). It was just so contrived and sterile and unbelievable I could barely stand it. Interestingly, Larry Gilliard Jr. (D’Angelo) and Deirdre Lovejoy (ASA Pearlman) had guest roles on that episode!

I may be in the minority here, and maybe I’m being naive, but I don’t think that Bug’s father molested Michael, and I’m not sure anyone else did, either. I think the guy just threatened Michael’s ability to take care of Bug, and that Michael allowed Chris to infer abuse to get his help. I suppose that molestation is a reasonable explanation for a lot of Michael’s behavior and personality, but I’m just not convinced. (It’s pretty clear that Chris Partlow was abused, though, isn’t it?) Now I’m worried about how Michael will repay his debt to Marlo. It won’t be nice.

BTW, have you caught the very brief smile Michael flashes once in a great while? Compared to his usual scowl, it’s like a blinding ray of light. He did it when his brother said “Word that” in agreement with something someone said a couple of episodes back, and I’ve seen it a couple other times.

Since we haven’t had a Wire thread in a couple of weeks, I’ll mention a couple of plot points I’ve been thinking about.

I was kind of surprised that Carcetti was so politically inept as to confront Burrell directly the way he did last week. And he stumbled through the first cabinet meeting, too. It was as though he’d never met the council president before and had no idea that she was Royce’s protege. (Of course, we had never met her, and didn’t know, but they could have introduced her without making Tommy look so clueless.)

It looks like Herk has fucked up for the last time. It was pretty funny that Bubbs would set him up like that, but I’m a worried about what Herk may do to him in revenge for screwing up his career. Between Herk and the stickup guy, I’m afraid Bubbs may not survive this season.

I’m just praying for the day that Clay Davis gets his comeuppance. Talk about villains you love to hate! He’s the slimiest bad guy I’ve ever seen. But knowing The Wire, at the end of the show’s final season all of our favorite characters may be dead, in jail, or exiled to working harbor duty, but I’ll wager Davis will still be happily taking bribes.

I’ve been reading through Wikipedia’s detailed entries on The Wire, especially the List of Characters. I’m looking forward, probably after this season is done, to watching the first three seasons over again on DVD. I’ve learned about a lot of the minor characters that I hadn’t completely distinguished, and little plot points that I’ve missed.

11

Does anyone have info on the show’s title song? This season has a different version with much younger singers - seems like a great tie-in with the theme that the season is about the kids in the neighborhood. Thoughts?

12

Wikipedia knows everything.

13

I don’t think it’s unreasonable with regards to Michael. We don’t really know one way or the other, which I think is a strength of the show. The viewer knows there is some kind of background information that hasn’t been revealed (and may never be revealed), but like reading a good novel, the writers allow the reader (viewer) make certain inferences that are keeping with the story. In a sense, it allows the reader (viewer) to become part of the storyline - the absorbing nature that all good novels (and shows like The Wire) induce.

I think Bubs will be OK - I worry about him more from the guy who constantly attacks him. And what I think is interesting about Herc is that, given the right leadership and guidance, he’d be a decent cop. He seemed to do fairly well when Daniels, McNulty, Freeman, Kima, and Carver, and he were all working together in Major Crimes. Granted, he needed to be supervised closely to be effective - but this season without the leadership and guidance provided by the others, he’s out of his element.

I think his screw-up with the minister may lead to him getting shit-canned, but I think he could be saved if Daniels (and/or Carver, Freeman, and others) supervise him more closely. I honestly think he’s finally learned his lesson, and I think he’ll be more amenable to learning from his betters (I’m thinking along the lines where Carver was in a similar circumstance - he messed-up with Daniels - and Carver learned from the experience and become a better cop). That’s my hope for Herc, but who knows. He may survive to continue his idiotic ways.

Shiiii -iiit - you’re probably right. :slight_smile:

Oh, and I’ll have to say that I really like the character Norman, Carcetti’s right-hand man in the election and the running of the Mayor’s office. He’s had some great scenes and dialog.

14

The theme they’re using this year is great. I was surprised to learn it wasn’t real pros.

The credits are excellent in themselves. I love the clip where they show the two green(?) lollipops slipping into the grey hoodie pocket, and then the cut to the two red dice against the grey concrete background.

I’m sort of worried that Bubbs won’t make it through the year either.

15

This is one of my big fears. They killed off Stringer Bell because they had to serve the story, not the character. Bubbles is a junkie and an informant - and even though he’s a great, sympathetic character, how realistic is it that he’ll survive 4, much less 5 seasons?

I doubt Herc will kill him - I’m more worried about the guy that’s been robbing him. And the heroin. And Sherrod - now that the kid is using and whatever else he’s doing, he’s a big danger to Bubs.

I feel like they bought him some time by killing off Johnny, the young junkie he used to “school.” It was obvious that the 2 of them couldn’t both survive forever, so having Johnny die in Hamsterdam served the story well. He was less of a survivor than Bubs, so him dying first seemed realistic. It also reminded us that there’s not a long life expectancy for those guys. So while Johnny dying was sad, I think Bubs dying will be heartbreaking. I’m trying to prepare myself for it because it seems inevitable.

16

When you watch the show, you never once think there is a script.
It seems like you are actually there as events unfold.
I can’t think of any other television series that has so totally immersed me into a location and characters.
The Wire is simply brilliantly written, perfectly acted, and filmed in a style that is totally original and realistic.
If anyone reading this has never seen The Wire, find it and start by watching season one…it takes a little adjustment on the viewer’s part to just let the story unfold at its own pace, and in its own style. Don’t worry if you don’t understand every word, or remember every character right off the bat…by osmosis, you will begin to “fit in”, and The Wire will take you places you have never dreamed you would go.

One of the all time best series on television.

17

I think it’s the other way around: red lollipops and green dice, but I hadn’t made that connection.

I noticed a series of “spinning” shots later in the sequence: a spinner hub cap, a playground merry-go-round, a little kid playing with a tire in an alley, and drugs being stashed with a spare tire. (I may be missing one more shot in there.) BTW, that last one, with the drugs in the car, is one of the only shots in the whole opening sequence that we haven’t actually seen in a episode yet. I keep wondering about it.

Dammit, I meant to use “Shiiii-iiit” in my post and forgot. :smack:

You’re right about Norman. He’s a hoot, and much savvier in many ways than Carcetti. I loved how he was joking with Tommy about whether he’d vote for him.

Should we start a pool for who’s going to get killed in this series? Looking back at the previous seasons’ fatalities, I’m going to guess that it’ll be Michael. Like D’Angelo, Frank Sobotka, and Stringer, each was stuck in a mess but was trying in some way to do the right thing. Michael is the closest parallel to those three, IMO. His death would certainly be the most poignant, since we’ve become more involved with him than Randy or Dukie, and Namond doesn’t have his moral depth.

The other likely candidate is Bubbs. He certainly fits the pattern of the previous fatalities. Maybe the boys will be spared and Bubbs will die for their sins.

Will anyone on the other side get it? So far, the only deaths on the side of the law have been relatively minor characters (the first one was a producer, also) who were killed off because the actors playing them died. It may be time for one of them now. I certainly wouldn’t mind seeing Clay Davis get hit by a bus, but it won’t happen. Shiiiiii-iiit!

And I’m still dying to see Rawls get outed!

As an aside, I just want to mention that I think Frank Sobotka, in season 2, was one of the great tragic figures of modern literature. (Yes, like other observers, I think The Wire rises to the level of literature.) Although he appeared to be just a corrupt union official, in fact almost nothing he did was for his own benefit. He engaged in bribery and condoned smuggling for the sake of his union brothers, while getting almost nothing out of it himself. He kept a slush fund to help dockworkers who were injured or in trouble, but didn’t let his own son off the hook. And he walked knowingly, I think, into his own death. Great stuff.

18

I’ve noticed the spinning sequences, too. If I’m not mis-remembering, there’s a guy buying a pack of smokes at a liquor store that has one of those spinning things built into the plexiglass divider. Stuff like that is the kind of details that I don’t think they’d get if they were filming in LA.

Maybe Randy gets killed. That would be sad, but I could see it.

They all know he’s a snitch.

They drew a parallel this week between him getting snubbed and Bubbles getting snubbed. Could they take out both snitches?

Earlier this season, one of the kids was wearing a t-shirt that looked like a “No Parking Here” sign, but it read “No Snitching Here”. Of course, Baltimore was well known as the origin of the “Stop Snitching” video that became infamous a couple years back.

19

Right. I knew there was another shot. That’s when Omar is robbing Andre’s drugs, but pays for a pack of Salems in the process.

The only reason I don’t think it’s him is that they’ve made it obvious something’s going to happen to him in the previews. And the previews often tend to misdirect us.