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Lugaloco
Jun 29, 2011

Ice to see you!

Just jumping in to ask a question. Other than Prez, does a cop ever actually fire a shot on duty and for its intended purpose in this show? I can't remember any off-hand other than Bunk shooting a mouse or whatever but that doesn't count.

Prez fires his weapon when he, Herc and Carver go do some "field interviews". He also fires his weapon in the office while showing the trigger pull. Of course finally he kills someone who turned out to be an undercover cop. I might be forgetting something but I swear it's only Prez who actually fires his weapon on the job.

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Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

Lugaloco posted:

Just jumping in to ask a question. Other than Prez, does a cop ever actually fire a shot on duty and for its intended purpose in this show? I can't remember any off-hand other than Bunk shooting a mouse or whatever but that doesn't count.

Prez fires his weapon when he, Herc and Carver go do some "field interviews". He also fires his weapon in the office while showing the trigger pull. Of course finally he kills someone who turned out to be an undercover cop. I might be forgetting something but I swear it's only Prez who actually fires his weapon on the job.

I'm pretty sure you're correct. There's a bunch of scenes with cops storming a place with guns drawn but never any shots fired, and we all know what happened to Kima and why she never fired.

ShaneMacGowansTeeth
May 22, 2007



I think this is it... I think this is how it ends

Lugaloco posted:

Just jumping in to ask a question. Other than Prez, does a cop ever actually fire a shot on duty and for its intended purpose in this show? I can't remember any off-hand other than Bunk shooting a mouse or whatever but that doesn't count.

Prez fires his weapon when he, Herc and Carver go do some "field interviews". He also fires his weapon in the office while showing the trigger pull. Of course finally he kills someone who turned out to be an undercover cop. I might be forgetting something but I swear it's only Prez who actually fires his weapon on the job.

I don't think either Herc, Carver or Prez fire their weapons in the tower, but I haven't watched season one in a few months

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


ShaneMacGowansTeeth posted:

I don't think either Herc, Carver or Prez fire their weapons in the tower, but I haven't watched season one in a few months

I think they get shot at, but yeah, I don't think they ever fire their own weapons. Prez hits the kid in the eye with the butt of his gun, but I don't remember if he ever shoots it.

Unzip and Attack
Mar 3, 2008

USPOL May
No they definitely pop off multiple rounds up and at the tower in response to the bottles/objects being thrown at the patrol car. In my most recent re-watch I distinctly remember thinking that there's no way the cops' fire could be directed at actual discernible targets and they are lucky some innocent kid didn't get shot as a result.

Alec Bald Snatch
Sep 12, 2012

by exmarx
Nah, Prez fires one shot into the towers as Herc scrambles under the car and Carver calls for backup.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

comes along bort posted:

Nah, Prez fires one shot into the towers as Herc scrambles under the car and Carver calls for backup.

I suppose with what we learn about Prez in later seasons we can assume its mostly false bravado, but he really does appear to be an arrogant prick for much of the first season. At least until they discover his talent for the paperwork.

gingerberger
Jun 20, 2014

Gotta love my Squirtle Swag

Basebf555 posted:

I suppose with what we learn about Prez in later seasons we can assume its mostly false bravado, but he really does appear to be an arrogant prick for much of the first season. At least until they discover his talent for the paperwork.

ya he's not arrogant, he's actually a just a incompetent teddybear idiot.

LloydDobler
Oct 15, 2005

You shared it with a dick.

I love Prez's character arc which is why season 4 is my favorite. I think he really redeems himself as a human being.

Unzip and Attack
Mar 3, 2008

USPOL May

comes along bort posted:

Nah, Prez fires one shot into the towers as Herc scrambles under the car and Carver calls for backup.

It's not conclusive but this clip shows Prez firing the round followed by 3 identical gun discharge sounds. It's not until the 5th shot that the sound changes which to me suggests that Prez fired at least 4 shots at the towers. Herc and Carver are not shown firing any rounds.

grading essays nude
Oct 24, 2009

so why dont we
put him into a canan
and shoot him into the trolls base where
ever it is and let him kill all of them. its
so perfect that it can't go wrong.

i think its the best plan i
have ever heard in my life
The fact that Prez is the only police character to ever fire a gun is amusing because I know it must have driven the HBO trailer guys insane, particularly in the early seasons. I once saw a trailer they made for season 2 showing Bunk pointing his gun at the camera but it's just him pointing it at a beer bottle during one of the drinking sessions at the tracks.

grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 18:09 on Aug 20, 2014

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!
This show has ruined tv for me. I'm struggling to enjoy anything else and just keep thinking about rewatching it.

Sam.
Jan 1, 2009

"I thought we had something, Shepard. Something real."
:qq:

wormil posted:

This show has ruined tv for me. I'm struggling to enjoy anything else and just keep thinking about rewatching it.

You're not the only one. I can't help but notice soundtracks and how artificial they are when I watch any film or TV show.

thathonkey
Jul 17, 2012

wormil posted:

This show has ruined tv for me. I'm struggling to enjoy anything else and just keep thinking about rewatching it.

Yeah, well, luckily the show holds interest through basically unlimited rewatchings as far as i can tell

gingerberger
Jun 20, 2014

Gotta love my Squirtle Swag

wormil posted:

This show has ruined tv for me. I'm struggling to enjoy anything else and just keep thinking about rewatching it.

Took me about 6 months to adjust back. Same thing happened when I read game of thrones books, now other books seem simple and transparent.

Barreft
Jul 21, 2014

Finally watched The Wire and binged it in like 4 days. It really is amazing. If I'm going just by how much I enjoyed shows lately I'd rank it 1: BrBa 2: Wire 3: GOT

I absolutely loved Cranston and Paul though so that may have gone into it. In any case they're all loving awesome and need to be seen. Gotta get to the Sopranos soon now.

TryAgainBragg
May 5, 2014

gingerberger posted:

Took me about 6 months to adjust back. Same thing happened when I read game of thrones books, now other books seem simple and transparent.

If you like the thrones books and aren't against a more fantasy based setting, the Malazan: Book of the Fallen series kind of blows ASOIAF out of the water. But back on topic, this show ruins everyone a little a think. Between all the great character arcs and socio-poitical statements any show is going to have to work HARD to top it. The Shield is a somewhat distant second for me with Breaking Bad rounding out the top 3.

wormil
Sep 12, 2002

Hulk will smoke you!

gingerberger posted:

Took me about 6 months to adjust back. Same thing happened when I read game of thrones books, now other books seem simple and transparent.

Hmmm. Sandkings (as published in Omni) helped get me into science fiction when I was a kid and I'm sure I've read other Martin but I haven't read GOT, will put it on my list.

I watched 6 episodes of True Blood but it wasn't doing it for me. Then watched 6 episodes of Rome which I'll finish eventually, good but a little disjointed. But I'm thinking pretty hard about re-watching Sopranos because it's the only thing that might hold my interest right now and I've never seen the unedited series. I think Amazon Prime also has Oz, might check that out.

Beamed
Nov 26, 2010

Then you have a responsibility that no man has ever faced. You have your fear which could become reality, and you have Godzilla, which is reality.


LloydDobler posted:

I love Prez's character arc which is why season 4 is my favorite. I think he really redeems himself as a human being.

This draws back to what another posted observed; a recurring theme in the Wire is that people are never defined by the worst things that they've done. You have Bodie killing Wallace, but becoming one of the most sympathetic characters, Prez and the Beard, the Sobotkas..

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


wormil posted:

Hmmm. Sandkings (as published in Omni) helped get me into science fiction when I was a kid and I'm sure I've read other Martin but I haven't read GOT, will put it on my list.

I watched 6 episodes of True Blood but it wasn't doing it for me. Then watched 6 episodes of Rome which I'll finish eventually, good but a little disjointed. But I'm thinking pretty hard about re-watching Sopranos because it's the only thing that might hold my interest right now and I've never seen the unedited series. I think Amazon Prime also has Oz, might check that out.

Rome is excellent, but it does get a bit disjointed, especially in the second season, because they had planned to make something like 5 seasons, but ended up getting canceled so they had to cram a whole bunch of story into the second season instead. As I understand it, anyway.

It's still excellent, though.

empty baggie
Oct 22, 2003

wormil posted:

Hmmm. Sandkings (as published in Omni) helped get me into science fiction when I was a kid and I'm sure I've read other Martin but I haven't read GOT, will put it on my list.

I watched 6 episodes of True Blood but it wasn't doing it for me. Then watched 6 episodes of Rome which I'll finish eventually, good but a little disjointed. But I'm thinking pretty hard about re-watching Sopranos because it's the only thing that might hold my interest right now and I've never seen the unedited series. I think Amazon Prime also has Oz, might check that out.

If you're looking for a new series and you haven't seen Deadwood, I would highly suggest that. Oz is good, but gets pretty weird and unbelievable at times, especially towards the end of the series. Still, definitely worth a watch.

Unzip and Attack
Mar 3, 2008

USPOL May
I'll throw out True Detective as well - I think it's the best TV since The Wire. For me, Breaking Bad was really good, but not Great. For the poster saying they were thinking about The Sopranos, do yourself a favor and start today. The modern TV golden age we're experiencing is largely due to The Sopranos achieving such popular acclaim and like The Wire, it gets better with every re-watch.

stev
Jan 22, 2013

Please be excited.



Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who digs Boardwalk Empire. It never seems to get mentioned in the great TV show discussions, and it's HBOs biggest current drama other than Game of Thrones.

Okonner
Dec 11, 2008

by exmarx

Steve2911 posted:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who digs Boardwalk Empire. It never seems to get mentioned in the great TV show discussions, and it's HBOs biggest current drama other than Game of Thrones.

Too many Buscemi sex scenes.

grilldos
Mar 27, 2004

BUST A LOAF
IN THIS
YEAST CONFECTION
Grimey Drawer

Unzip and Attack posted:

I'll throw out True Detective as well - I think it's the best TV since The Wire. For me, Breaking Bad was really good, but not Great. For the poster saying they were thinking about The Sopranos, do yourself a favor and start today. The modern TV golden age we're experiencing is largely due to The Sopranos achieving such popular acclaim and like The Wire, it gets better with every re-watch.

The Wire, True Detective, Breaking Bad, The Sopranos, Mad Men: shows attentive people with critical eyes and a hard on for character development, theme exploration, and continuity will appreciate.

Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

Steve2911 posted:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who digs Boardwalk Empire. It never seems to get mentioned in the great TV show discussions, and it's HBOs biggest current drama other than Game of Thrones.

I love Boardwalk Empire and especially how the storyline has developed through the seasons, though I do wonder if they might have peaked early with a villain like Gyp Rosetti in season 3.

Grumpwagon
May 6, 2007
I am a giant assfuck who needs to harden the fuck up.

Steve2911 posted:

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person who digs Boardwalk Empire. It never seems to get mentioned in the great TV show discussions, and it's HBOs biggest current drama other than Game of Thrones.

I love BE, but I wouldn't call it great. It's consistently quite good.

grading essays nude
Oct 24, 2009

so why dont we
put him into a canan
and shoot him into the trolls base where
ever it is and let him kill all of them. its
so perfect that it can't go wrong.

i think its the best plan i
have ever heard in my life

Jerusalem posted:

I love Boardwalk Empire and especially how the storyline has developed through the seasons, though I do wonder if they might have peaked early with a villain like Gyp Rosetti in season 3.

I loved Rosetti but Dr. Narcisse is a better character overall I think, particularly since his presence has allowed Chalky to finally be used in a central role. Peak Boardwalk was probably season 2 though.

Not sure if Boardwalk belongs in the Great Shows Canon or whatever, but it's close and definitely quite underrated.

I've watched most of the "Great shows" by this point and I think my ranking is 1. The Wire (I highly doubt this will ever change, as I've yet to see a show matching its overall ambition), 2. Breaking Bad (I'm still absolutely amazed at how consistent it was from day one, I think most people are hard pressed to even find a bad episode, let alone arcs or seasons), 3. Sopranos (the historian in me does this partially because of how groundbreaking it was, though parts of the later seasons are the main reason it gets dragged down. Probably should have ended a season or two sooner.)

It's hard to compare The Wire to any other show though because of the whole "televised novel" format. To me, it's the most distinctive thing about the show. Probably the closest thing in terms of details, amount of characters, and complicated, intensely serialized plot is Game of Thrones. Even then though, somebody who had never watched Thrones could tune in to a random episode and might be entertained, at least, by some cool sword fights or something (I've never heard of a casual viewer like this but maybe it's possible). Same with Sopranos, where most episodes have self contained stories even when there's larger arcs going on. My point here isn't to launch into a pointless "best show ever" discussion (though admittedly I did that in the previous paragraph) I just find it interesting how most people recommend the other great shows to people who watched The Wire, since none of them are really THAT much like it. That's just an observation, not criticism.

grading essays nude fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Aug 21, 2014

Finndo
Dec 27, 2005

Title Text goes here.
Was just discussing this with someone else. BE is uneven and, god bless him, Steve Buscemi is too much of a quirky character actor to pull off being the center of a show like this. They would have had a better chance at greatness if the show were about Michael Pitt replacing Buscemi as boss. They also, in my view, didn't properly/fully utilize Chalky or Richard Harrow. There are some great characters (Harrow, Agent Van Alden, the FBI guy who is now in Ray Donovan, Gyp, etc.) and some great scenes, but overall the show is just good, not great.

grading essays nude
Oct 24, 2009

so why dont we
put him into a canan
and shoot him into the trolls base where
ever it is and let him kill all of them. its
so perfect that it can't go wrong.

i think its the best plan i
have ever heard in my life

Finndo posted:

Was just discussing this with someone else. BE is uneven and, god bless him, Steve Buscemi is too much of a quirky character actor to pull off being the center of a show like this. They would have had a better chance at greatness if the show were about Michael Pitt replacing Buscemi as boss. They also, in my view, didn't properly/fully utilize Chalky or Richard Harrow. There are some great characters (Harrow, Agent Van Alden, the FBI guy who is now in Ray Donovan, Gyp, etc.) and some great scenes, but overall the show is just good, not great.

One of the quirks of Boardwalk is that Buscemi is probably the least interesting character in the show. There's just too many great characters - I mean, Lucky Luciano basically invented the modern Mafia as we know it (not in the shows timeline mind you) but half the time he shows up I forget it's him. But yeah, I agree overall, it's just short of greatness. I personally think the main reason is because they rely more on spectacle and violence to resolve/introduce conflict. Very entertaining, just not all that deep.

Re: properly utilizing other characters, I think that's why I liked season 4, introducing Narcisse finally gave Chalky some good stuff to do. With Richard Harrow though he was my favorite character but I think they actually OVER-utilized him. Terence Winter said as much after his death, after they used him to single handedly kill most of Gyp Rosetti's crew they realized they'd basically made him into a superpowered plot device and it couldn't continue. This relates to my point on spectacle and BE - Harrow's massacre at the whorehouse is one of the most memorable and awesome sequences in the show, but I can't really recall any purely dramatic scenes that stick out.

Stare-Out
Mar 11, 2010

The Wire, Six Feet Under and The Sopranos are and always will be my Holy HBO Drama Trinity, in that order. Didn't care one bit for GoT, Deadwood was good but ended abruptly which sucked. OZ is alright but indeed goes off the rails towards the end and True Detective is decent I guess if tough to appreciate at times. Boardwalk Empire kicks rear end though.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Stare-Out posted:

Deadwood was good but ended abruptly which sucked.

That's true, but in fairness, it wasn't really their fault, it just got canceled...

...because each episode apparently cost like millions of dollars to produce, which I guess was technically sort of their fault, but that's also part of what made the show so good!

Hedera Helix
Sep 2, 2011

The laws of the fiesta mean nothing!
I couldn't get into Deadwood. It seemed like a show that tried to go for a :airquote:dark and mature:airquote: take on the Western, but failed to give us characters that were likeable in any way. Unlike series like The Wire, or Game of Thrones, nobody seemed like they were having any fun, or that they enjoyed anything. Instead, it was an endless parade of people being miserable, angry, and backstabby. What's more, I had heard a (possibly inaccurate?) spoiler that the reason Swearengen was so ruthless was because he had been raped as a child, which is the kind of thing you'd see in poorly-written fanfiction.

Also the modern cursing came across as completely artificial.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Hedera Helix posted:

I couldn't get into Deadwood. It seemed like a show that tried to go for a :airquote:dark and mature:airquote: take on the Western, but failed to give us characters that were likeable in any way. Unlike series like The Wire, or Game of Thrones, nobody seemed like they were having any fun, or that they enjoyed anything. Instead, it was an endless parade of people being miserable, angry, and backstabby.

Well, that's what life is sometimes: one vile loving task after another :colbert:

quote:


Also the modern cursing came across as completely artificial.

I read somewhere that the reason they went for modern cursing instead of period-appropriate cursing is because historical cursing would just sound whimsical and hilarious to a modern viewer. Instead, they decided to go with language that conveyed the same meaning as the original swearing was supposed to.

Asbury
Mar 23, 2007
Probation
Can't post for 6 years!
Hair Elf

Hedera Helix posted:

I couldn't get into Deadwood. It seemed like a show that tried to go for a :airquote:dark and mature:airquote: take on the Western, but failed to give us characters that were likeable in any way. Unlike series like The Wire, or Game of Thrones, nobody seemed like they were having any fun, or that they enjoyed anything. Instead, it was an endless parade of people being miserable, angry, and backstabby. What's more, I had heard a (possibly inaccurate?) spoiler that the reason Swearengen was so ruthless was because he had been raped as a child, which is the kind of thing you'd see in poorly-written fanfiction.

Also the modern cursing came across as completely artificial.

It took me a long time to get into Deadwood, but once I did, I was hooked. And I know it's heresy in this thread, but I think it's better than The Wire in many ways. Or, to put it better, I think it completes the story The Wire tells. Deadwood is about the way people coalesce around symbols and create society, while The Wire is about the decay of both those things. Both shows stand alone, but looking at relationships between them--the same way you might look at inter-textual relationships between novels--gives you a whole new perspective.

In regards to the swearing, there was an interview with Milch where he mentions they tried to have era-specific curse words but everyone came off like Yosemite Sam, so they elected to keep the modern language in to achieve the same effect. I don't know how far along you got in the series, but in season 2 (and especially in season 3) the language takes on a Shakespearean tilt (a lot of it is in iambic pentameter), and it gains a perverse kind of poetry.

Also, the spoiler you mentioned is a lie. He was never raped, but he did have a violent upbringing (full of physical, not sexual, abuse), and he perpetuates the cycle of violence. (Another theme similar to Simon's work.) I actually just finished my yearly rewatch of Deadwood, and I really suggest you give it another go. When you play the parallel game--that is, when looking for analogs between Deadwood's characters and The Wire's--you'll start to see a ton of similarities. Milch and Simon were both talking about the same thing, but they came at it in two different directions.

Asbury fucked around with this message at 03:02 on Aug 22, 2014

Barreft
Jul 21, 2014

If Cranston wasn't in Breaking Bad, The Wire would definitely be #1 for me. But goddamn he is so good and one minute you love him, another you hate him. The Wire is definitely better in most aspects, but in pure enjoyment, seeing Walter White do all his crazy things and gently caress ups just pushed it past the Wire for me.

The Wire definitely felt sooo real, and I loved it for that. 2nd best show I've ever seen.

e: VERY CLOSE second.

Barreft fucked around with this message at 03:39 on Aug 22, 2014

Hedera Helix
Sep 2, 2011

The laws of the fiesta mean nothing!

3Romeo posted:

It took me a long time to get into Deadwood, but once I did, I was hooked. And I know it's heresy in this thread, but I think it's better than The Wire in many ways. Or, to put it better, I think it completes the story The Wire tells. Deadwood is about the way people coalesce around symbols and create society, while The Wire is about the decay of both those things. Both shows stand alone, but looking at relationships between them--the same way you might look at inter-textual relationships between novels--gives you a whole new perspective.

In regards to the swearing, there was an interview with Milch where he mentions they tried to have era-specific curse words but everyone came off like Yosemite Sam, so they elected to keep the modern language in to achieve the same effect. I don't know how far along you got in the series, but in season 2 (and especially in season 3) the language takes on a Shakespearean tilt (a lot of it is in iambic pentameter), and it gains a perverse kind of poetry.

Also, the spoiler you mentioned is a lie. He was never raped, but he did have a violent upbringing (full of physical, not sexual, abuse), and he perpetuates the cycle of violence. (Another theme similar to Simon's work.) I actually just finished my yearly rewatch of Deadwood, and I really suggest you give it another go. When you play the parallel game--that is, when looking for analogs between Deadwood's characters and The Wire's--you'll start to see a ton of similarities. Milch and Simon were both talking about the same thing, but they came at it in two different directions.

Ah, ok. I didn't actually make it that far- I dropped it midway through the fifth episode- but the way you describe it makes it sound like there's a lot more going on than appeared on the surface. I also need to have words with the people who recommended it to me originally, to find out where exactly they got that interpretation of Swearengen-at-the-orphanage from. :crossarms:

Alec Bald Snatch
Sep 12, 2012

by exmarx
Yeah Deadwood benefits from repeat viewing because the dialogue is dense as poo poo.

Naylenas
Sep 11, 2003

I was out of my head so it was out of my hands


I've just started watching Deadwood for the second time and it definitely coalesces much better upon rewatch. Especially the earlier episodes where you don't know anyone's name and you might not understand characters' motivation. It really is interesting how the show brings you outside of the 21st century mindset and can make you wish that Bullock had just popped McCall in the back of the head instead of bringing him to justice in Yankton

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Jerusalem
May 20, 2004

Would you be my new best friends?

From memory the first few episodes of Deadwood also take place within the span of roughly a week? Once they started spacing out the time it felt like the characters had had time to grow into their places in the community, while to begin with only Swearengen really feels like an established presence.

Those who disagree suck cock by choice.

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