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Those are some great finds. Thanks. Edit: That last one is loving hilarious. For a guy who hated The Wire being called Dickensian (and as a meta-commentary, had the head of the Sun use that phrase), Simon didn't mind trying a Shakespearean aspect. Asbury fucked around with this message at 20:04 on Oct 18, 2014 |
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Oct 18, 2014 15:35
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theCalamity posted:Alan Sepinwall will be hosting The Wire cast reunion tonight at 7:15 PM Eastern. A livestream is provided in the link. This is really cool. If you've got time definitely check it out.
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Oct 19, 2014 02:23
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MrSlam posted:Alright, I get what you're saying. Yes, I'm aware that The Office and Parks and Recreation aren't documentaries. They're filmed like them as part of the style choice. Even in the shows there's no mention of the documentaries being made, but even still the style wouldn't mesh with the drug dealers because who films documentaries where they interview street-level dealers and kingpins? Hey I'm back from vacation! You are absolutely right, now that I re-read, that I misunderstood what you meant by "recast," (i believe you mean "reimagine;" "cast" is a very specific term) but even in that context my point still stands. Also, just because your idea is fake doesn't mean it's above scrutiny. I've been marathoning the various Stargate series the past several months but, although I am a huge fan of SG-1's masterful "bureaucrats try to shut down the Stargate program and the main characters ~go rogue~ to save what they think is important" episodes, I didn't consider it very clever or prudent to liken them to the Baltimore Sun's buyouts/Scott Templeton's false reporting. Well, see ya  fake e: another to the brooklyn nine nine comment
Hard Clumping fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Oct 23, 2014 |
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Oct 21, 2014 23:09
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So I rewatched The Wire season 1 and goddamn it is still loving fantastic. Definitely better on the rewatch since I already know the characters, but I guess I didn't pick up on the various corruption and just how hosed everything was for the unit. loving great and I hope I like season 2 more than I did on my first watch, since it was weird and kind of hard to follow.
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Nov 17, 2014 20:56
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The REAL Goobusters posted:So I rewatched The Wire season 1 and goddamn it is still loving fantastic. Definitely better on the rewatch since I already know the characters, but I guess I didn't pick up on the various corruption and just how hosed everything was for the unit. loving great and I hope I like season 2 more than I did on my first watch, since it was weird and kind of hard to follow. The good news is that you're about to (re)watch the second best season of a television series ever made. The bad news is:  
Jerusalem fucked around with this message at 21:31 on Nov 17, 2014 |
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Nov 17, 2014 21:28
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I've rewatched this show 5 times in as many years and, no matter what, I can't save him. 
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Nov 17, 2014 23:47
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As good as season 4 was, I still think season 2 tops it.
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Nov 17, 2014 23:49
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The first time I watched Season 2, I accidentally watched it out of order and watched the episode where they pulled him out of the water before watching the episode before it. I was a little surprised!
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Nov 17, 2014 23:53
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Jerusalem posted:The good news is that you're about to (re)watch the second best season of a television series ever made.
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Nov 18, 2014 07:18
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Sergeant_Crunch posted:As good as season 4 was, I still think season 2 tops it. I watched it for the first time last year and now I'm watching it again because my girlfriend's never seen it, and I'm interested to see if my line-up changes. As it stands I'd rank the seasons (from best to least) as 3 > 1 > 2 > 4 > 5. With a fairly solid line between 2 and 4; I never really warmed to the last two seasons. I mean, they were great, better than 99% of any other TV, but they didn't quite reach the platinum standard of the first three seasons.
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Nov 18, 2014 10:51
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freebooter posted:I watched it for the first time last year and now I'm watching it again because my girlfriend's never seen it, and I'm interested to see if my line-up changes. As it stands I'd rank the seasons (from best to least) as 3 > 1 > 2 > 4 > 5. With a fairly solid line between 2 and 4; I never really warmed to the last two seasons. I mean, they were great, better than 99% of any other TV, but they didn't quite reach the platinum standard of the first three seasons. To each their own, but 4 was the probably the best season of anything I've ever seen. No show or movie since has gotten such an emotional reaction out of me.
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Nov 19, 2014 14:52
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Each season tries to focus in on a specific area of life, so it's only natural different people get more emotionally invested in different seasons. As someone who's worked in newsrooms, I'll defend season 5 despite its flaws.
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Nov 19, 2014 16:15
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S4 is undoubtedly the consensus peak by longstanding general & critical sentiments, but after that it's a personal crapshoot. Except for S5, that is 
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Nov 19, 2014 17:14
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Season one, which is already pretty great, improves even more after finishing the series. There are some tiny bits of character that go over first-time viewers' heads, but on a second viewing add a lot to the show's overall story. On the other hand, there are some camera techniques (eg Avon's slow-mo walk through The Pit) and some character differences (eg Rawls storming out of his office and shouting "MCNULTY") that are out of sync with the remaining seasons, but those instances are very minor and really don't detract from anything. Every show evolves.
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Nov 19, 2014 18:45
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3Romeo posted:Season one, which is already pretty great, improves even more after finishing the series. There are some tiny bits of character that go over first-time viewers' heads, but on a second viewing add a lot to the show's overall story. The slow mo walk is weird, it's also the only scene (that I'm aware of) with sound effects coming from outside of the scene in that season*. I think it's the DVD commentary(?) that mentions that they explicitly wanted to avoid using music to tell the listener what to feel. So that every sound had to be natural to the scene. Which I think is one of the things that makes the shooting of Kima so emotionally powerful. Without the "emotional" music that every other tv-show had at times like this, it feels like more real life and hits harder. The slow mo walk kinda works though, in that it tells you something about the power of Avon. Especially when you watch it a second time, when you know it's Stinkum (I think) and Stringer following him. But it only works because they didn't use music anywhere else in the season. Not using music to set the mood was the right choice all along, and they hosed up in this scene. It's a storytelling problem for TV overall I guess - use a trick once and it's amazing, use it more than twice and gently caress You I'm bored (switching chanels). *Based on the same DVD commentary and not noticing any other counterexample on my third rewatch or whatever
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Nov 19, 2014 21:40
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I like to think those little flourishes in season 1 were down to an increasingly frantic television executive begging with David Simon to please hold the audience's hand and dumb everything down as much as possible. By season 2 the unique combination of low ratings, critical lauding, and HBO subscriber surveys* told them to just leave the show alone. * I'm fairly certain I read somewhere that HBO discovered that The Wire's small audience were willing to subscribe to HBO purely to watch The Wire, and that if the show was canceled they'd just cancel their subscriptions because it was the only thing they were interested in.
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Nov 19, 2014 22:01
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I think the slow-mo walk thing works, sure it's a bit heavy handed but I think it shows us how the rest of the dudes in the game view their leaders and how the leaders view themselves. It shows Avon as the king walking through his kingdom without fear or doubt.
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Nov 19, 2014 22:14
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Jerusalem posted:
I think at that time there were also at least a few higher ups at HBO that just really thought The Wire was an excellent show and championed it regardless of ratings.
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Nov 19, 2014 22:21
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UFOTofuTacoCat posted:I think the slow-mo walk thing works, sure it's a bit heavy handed but I think it shows us how the rest of the dudes in the game view their leaders and how the leaders view themselves. It shows Avon as the king walking through his kingdom without fear or doubt. It really does work in the context of the first season and the year that it aired.* The show had a lot to say its freshman year, but it didn't have any thematic coherence--the first season was about showing a realistic police case instead of showing eg the death of the working class or the meat grinder of the inner-city school system. There were small scenes that had some resonance, like the chess game or Wallace trying to show that girl how to do a word problem, but that first season was a cop show--more nuanced than anything similar for sure, but still a cop show. Avon walking tall through The Pit, if atonal to later work, wasn't exactly terrible. I've bitched about those scenes in this thread before (they have a lack of subtlety compared to what came later in the show), but on its own merits, and not measured by anything that followed, that first season was pretty loving outstanding. If those two scenes I linked make you go back and watch the first season again, I don't apologize. *I'm gonna continue to rock the footnotes here and add: not to make you feel old or anything, but it was 2002. Asbury fucked around with this message at 02:00 on Nov 20, 2014 |
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Nov 20, 2014 01:54
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Ainsley McTree posted:The first time I watched Season 2, I accidentally watched it out of order and watched the episode where they pulled him out of the water before watching the episode before it. gently caress Sergeant_Crunch posted:As good as season 4 was, I still think season 2 tops it. Season 2 was my least favorite the first time watching, I think because it's not as tied up in the drug game on the streets and the docks were just a little less sexy. After a couple rewatches though I think Id say 3>4=1=2>>5. I flip flop on which of 1, 2, 4 I like a ton. I also think the slomo walk is super bad rear end.
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Nov 20, 2014 09:41
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Slo-mo walk is the best scene. Played completely straight, and it cracks me up every time.
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Nov 20, 2014 13:26
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I've only seen each season once, but I find it impossible to put series 2 next to the others and compare/evaluate it. It's such a different beast. In a lot of ways it feels like the main plot was filler to take up the time Avon spent in prison, but it was still a great plot in its own right. It definitely has the slowest, most gruelling start to any of the seasons though.
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Nov 20, 2014 19:29
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I highly recommend that you go through the series again if you ever have a chance.
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Nov 20, 2014 19:34
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Steve2911 posted:I've only seen each season once, but I find it impossible to put series 2 next to the others and compare/evaluate it. It's such a different beast. In a lot of ways it feels like the main plot was filler to take up the time Avon spent in prison, but it was still a great plot in its own right. It definitely has the slowest, most gruelling start to any of the seasons though. I think most people in the thread would totally understand why you felt that way, but there is a very good chance that if you watch it again you'll feel a lot differently about it.
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Nov 20, 2014 20:11
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Season 2 is secretly the best season.
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Nov 20, 2014 20:26
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No secret about it, it's just not readily apparent the first time around.
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Nov 20, 2014 20:51
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I dig 2 more than 4, but that's because I'm a white dude who grew up in a lower-middle-class blue-collar household. Easier for me to empathize since I don't have any real experience teaching (or being a student) at an inner-city school. So I think 2's the best, but the strange thing is, 3 is my favorite. I enjoy watching it more than any of the other seasons. I think that's probably because there's so much Avon and Stringer. Not to go on about it, but there are scenes in 2 that hew so close to the truth of a working class life that they're painful for me to watch. Nick's dad playing the bets, it reminded me of my old man and his dreams of winning the lottery. Or the guys in the union, like Horse, they could've fit right in the Teamsters Local 20, which I was a part of for a while. These days I'm an over-educated guy working a white-collar job and doing pretty well for myself, and watching season 2 really reminds me of the way poo poo used to be. I'm glad I got out of it, but it still kinda hurts to watch. I know a lot of people that still live lives like that. Asbury fucked around with this message at 01:24 on Nov 21, 2014 |
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Nov 21, 2014 01:12
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3Romeo posted:but the strange thing is, 3 is my favorite. I enjoy watching it more than any of the other seasons. I think that's probably because there's so much Avon and Stringer. This a thousand times. I don't know if I'm just too enamored with Stringer/Avon or if it's actually as awesome as I think, but I think the dynamics and eventual breakdown between those too is just sooo good. I feel like 3 is actually the hardest season for me to give a synopsis of because in my mind it's just the Stringer/Avon season. Every other season I could give you a 5 minute plot synopsis without thinking, season 3 I could remember if I tried, but on instinct I'd say it's Stringer/Avon with a legalizing drugs B story even though I know that's not true.
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Nov 21, 2014 01:57
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I agree with that, but no way are the drug zones a B-story. I also think 3 is the best and it's mostly because it charts this fantastic, escalating story of a police captain actually trying something novel and new (probably the only time that happens anywhere in the show) to tackle the slow decay of Baltimore. Bunny Colvin is my favourite character in the series based on this one season. Which is not to detract from the implosion of the Barksdale organisation, which pays off a lot of storylines that had been developing since season 3. As with any series - TV, movies, books, whatever - the later editions can have something of an advantage over the earlier ones, because you've spent so much time with and become so invested in these characters. I know when I first watched season 1 - and I think a lot of people think this - I thought Stringer was way more capable and commanding than Avon and I was baffled to why Avon was in charge, until you find out he inherited it. It's satisfying to see that finally come to a head in season 3, especially as you realise that Avon is smarter than he seems and Stringer isn't as smart as he seems.
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Nov 21, 2014 11:31
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TheRationalRedditor posted:S4 is undoubtedly the consensus peak by longstanding general & critical sentiments, but after that it's a personal crapshoot. Except for S5, that is Yeah basically. For me season 4 stands above the rest by quite a long way. The law enforcement & newspaper room sides of season 5 are pretty terrible for the most part but the conclusions of kids from S4 and bubbles' storylines make it worth watching.
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Nov 21, 2014 11:39
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The scene where Avon and Stringer reminisce on the balcony for the last time is one of my favorites of the entire series. They both pretend they're just being nostalgic when they both know they are really secretly saying goodbye. It's just so perfect.
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Nov 24, 2014 03:16
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I immediately liked season 2 after being sort of underwhelmed by season 1. The other seasons were fine television, but 2 was where the show peaked for me. I feel like Baltimore itself became a character in that season and it made the whole thing feel a lot more epic and visceral, which is impressive given that we were dealing with working class Joe's.
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Nov 24, 2014 03:46
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grilldos posted:Each season tries to focus in on a specific area of life, so it's only natural different people get more emotionally invested in different seasons. As someone who's worked in newsrooms, I'll defend season 5 despite its flaws. I mean "flaws" are just relative. Season 5 is still amazing TV better then the vast majority of TV, and I don't think it needs defending all that much. I was never bothered by anything except some aspects of the newsroom plot.
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Nov 24, 2014 16:33
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Randy's last name is Wagstaff. Was it ever explained if he was related to Cheese (and Prop Joe)? Another dumb question: Why do the homicide detectives have to wear suits while the others don't?
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Dec 1, 2014 18:42
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Gargamel Gibson posted:Randy's last name is Wagstaff. Was it ever explained if he was related to Cheese (and Prop Joe)? Nice catch on Randy's last name. I've never noticed a relation to Cheese or Prop Joe and the Wire Wiki has this to say: quote:Although he shares the same last name as "Cheese" Wagstaff, it is unclear if he is related to the older Lieutenant. By following that family tree he would then be related to "Prop Joe" who although is often frustrated by his family, seems to take care of them throughout the series. As for homicide wearing suites, my amateur research tells me that the detective dress code is usually classified as "plain clothes" so they could wear a polo shirt or a suit and tie. A suit would command more respect and look more professional so it would seem to be advantageous to look awesome in a suit. I would assume the others don't wear suits because the their dress code let's them try to blend in for undercover work or because it's a special detail?
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Dec 1, 2014 18:54
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According to David Simon, he was going to be Cheese's son, but it never actually made it into the show. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/showtracker/2008/03/the-wire-david.html
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Dec 1, 2014 19:51
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Gargamel Gibson posted:Why do the homicide detectives have to wear suits while the others don't? Well, The Bunk is strictly a suit and tie motherfucker, so maybe everyone else is just trying to keep up.
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Dec 1, 2014 20:33
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Murder police demand respect of both street poo poo and the fed. The suit is the first step.
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Dec 2, 2014 01:52
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bentacos posted:Well, The Bunk is strictly a suit and tie motherfucker, so maybe everyone else is just trying to keep up. IIRC Bunk starts wearing track pants and his old lacrosse team hoody the minute he gets briefly assigned to the detail in Season 2.
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Dec 2, 2014 20:29
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