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pokeyman
Nov 26, 2006

That elephant ate my entire platoon.
Hell yeah, glad you're enjoying it! We love hearing people's takes as they watch the first time, so :justpost: (but don't read too far into the thread or you'll hit spoilers).

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Stare-Out
Mar 11, 2010

Yeah this thread plays very fast and loose with spoilers which makes it a tricky thing for newcomers to the show so if you're posting your first watch be mindful of that and post more than you read I guess.

MrMojok
Jan 27, 2011

Yes. It is well worth it to read this thread in its entirety after you finish the series. But I’d stay out of here until then.

MrBling
Aug 21, 2003

Oozing machismo

Tampa Bae posted:

I had finish a "legendary TV series" on my new year's resolutions this year and it was down to The Wire or The Sopranos. I picked The Wire because it was shorter. Hell of a first season, just finished the second and I've got almost no sympathy for any of the dock workers. They're all just dumb and unlikable in their own ways. Heard Season 3 was the best season so excited to start that tonight!

If I've got to compare it to Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul which are the only two other crime dramas I've seen I'm liking The Wire a lot more by this point in the series so if Season 3 really is that good I'm excited to see how it holds up to the Gus Fring arc in Breaking Bad.

Actually, season 2 is the best season in the show but you'll see that when you do a re-watch. :)

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Season 2 is the secret best season.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


I did come around to season 2 by the end, even on my first watch (how can you not love frank sobotka, even if you don't exactly like him), it was just that initial "wait, what is this show actually about?" speedbump that threw me initially. And then once you know what the show's about, yeah, the second watch is extremely good. But if the OP didn't like it even by the end, then I guess I agree to disagree

Xiahou Dun
Jul 16, 2009

We shall dive down through black abysses... and in that lair of the Deep Ones we shall dwell amidst wonder and glory forever.



Just imagine how much better and happier and healthier Ziggy would’ve been if he could’ve been a theater kid instead.

MyChemicalImbalance
Sep 15, 2007

Keep on smilin'



:unsmith:

Tampa Bae posted:

I've got almost no sympathy for any of the dock workers. They're all just dumb and unlikable in their own ways.

Yeah, and you also think Thatcher was great and that unionization is for mugs, gently caress off.

This was my take on my first season two watch as well, no harm meant my goon

Tampa Bae
Aug 23, 2021

Please, this is all I have

MyChemicalImbalance posted:

Yeah, and you also think Thatcher was great and that unionization is for mugs, gently caress off.

This was my take on my first season two watch as well, no harm meant my goon
no that police chief was the worst character so far, just threw a baby tantrum over next to nothing lol the whole time they were so determined to break the union up I was almost rooting for the dock workers except most of them don't do much

Ziggy was so irredeemably dumb he really was just a theatre kid working a dock job

Barry Foster
Dec 24, 2007

What is going wrong with that one (face is longer than it should be)
Frank Sobotka was valiantly fighting a desperate/doomed rearguard battle against the overwhelming force of capital, on behalf of his family both blood and union

He may not have been perfect, but he didn't have to be to be a genuine working class hero

christmas boots
Oct 15, 2012

To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out
Biscuit Hider
There's an irony that, in trying to protect the union, Frank ends up making a pact with the Greek -- arguably the show's purest embodiment of capitalism

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

Frank is the same as the people protecting the coal industry. Better to move on or get left behind.

Barry Foster
Dec 24, 2007

What is going wrong with that one (face is longer than it should be)

Mu Zeta posted:

Frank is the same as the people protecting the coal industry. Better to move on or get left behind.

Easy for you to say!

awesmoe
Nov 30, 2005

Pillbug

Mu Zeta posted:

Frank is the same as the people protecting the coal industry. Better to move on or get left behind.

they dont facilitate human trafficking i dont think?

frank sobotka (like pretty much everyone else in the show) was more than happy to sacrifice other people to preserve the systems he was comfortable in.

awesmoe fucked around with this message at 00:06 on Jun 25, 2023

HootTheOwl
May 13, 2012

Hootin and shootin

Tampa Bae posted:


Ziggy was so irredeemably dumb he really was just a theatre kid working a dock job

It's ok, he joins the Marines and sorts himself out

MarcusSA
Sep 23, 2007

HootTheOwl posted:

It's ok, he joins the Marines and sorts himself out

drat straight

HootTheOwl
May 13, 2012

Hootin and shootin

MarcusSA posted:

drat straight

It's also how Matteson learned to handle American Failsons

algebra testes
Mar 5, 2011


Lipstick Apathy

MarcusSA posted:

drat straight

At least my mum took me to Nascar.

ilmucche
Mar 16, 2016

I was, in a way, the one who had to leave.

Never thought I'd see "frank sobotka was the villain" as a take but here we are

Tampa Bae
Aug 23, 2021

Please, this is all I have

ilmucche posted:

Never thought I'd see "frank sobotka was the villain" as a take but here we are
Sobotka wasn't that bad considering everyone else in season 2. The ultimate bad guy for me was Valchek, The Greek, Stringer, and that FBI high up I forgot the name of. Sabotka falls in with D for me as a good dude in the wrong place at the wrong time

Omar is Omar, I'm starting to feel sympathy for Aavon but Bubs, Lester, and Beadie are like the only three people who don't feel totally broken to me yet but there's still time. I'm coming into this series after Breaking Bad so I expect almost nobody to come out clean in the end

christmas boots
Oct 15, 2012

To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out
Biscuit Hider

Mu Zeta posted:

Frank is the same as the people protecting the coal industry. Better to move on or get left behind.

If there's anything the wire teaches us, it's that everything happens because of your own individual choices and it's your fault for not making better ones.

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

I mean yeah it's best not to get involved with the Greek to save a dying way of life. Frank had more choices so I didn't see it as much of a tragedy as the kids in season 4.

V-Men
Aug 15, 2001

Don't it make your dick bust concrete to be in the same room with two noble, selfless public servants.

algebra testes posted:

At least my mum took me to Nascar.

Ray, your dad's a truck driver?

awesmoe posted:

they dont facilitate human trafficking i dont think?

frank sobotka (like pretty much everyone else in the show) was more than happy to sacrifice other people to preserve the systems he was comfortable in.

Frank was only ever game to sacrifice the property of businesses. When he learned about the human trafficking he was genuinely outraged but also realized he was an accessory to 14 murders and a whole host of other crimes.

Once Vondas taunts him with other stuff they're smuggling in he realizes he's out of his element but knows he needs them to save his union.

V-Men fucked around with this message at 10:31 on Jun 25, 2023

Orange Devil
Sep 30, 2010

christmas boots posted:

There's an irony that, in trying to protect the union, Frank ends up making a pact with the Greek -- arguably the show's purest embodiment of capitalism

In the absence of class consciousness and revolutionary activity, all labour can hope for is playing one capitalist off the other.

It's not an irony.

zenguitarman
Apr 6, 2009

Come on, lemme see ya shake your tail feather


James Ransone is so good in Generation Kill. Underrated series imo.

armpit_enjoyer
Jan 25, 2023

my god. it's full of posts

awesmoe posted:

they dont facilitate human trafficking i dont think?

all coal miners do is dig tunnels. Think, OP, think!

DJ_Mindboggler
Nov 21, 2013

Tampa Bae posted:

Sobotka wasn't that bad considering everyone else in season 2. The ultimate bad guy for me was Valchek, The Greek, Stringer, and that FBI high up I forgot the name of. Sabotka falls in with D for me as a good dude in the wrong place at the wrong time

Omar is Omar, I'm starting to feel sympathy for Aavon but Bubs, Lester, and Beadie are like the only three people who don't feel totally broken to me yet but there's still time. I'm coming into this series after Breaking Bad so I expect almost nobody to come out clean in the end

Eh, Sobotka still signs off on human trafficking (he just wants to be informed of it in the future so he can take extra precautions). Not to mention having no problems with the drugs/weapons trade that he also helps facilitate.

And that's not even mentioning the all of the various petty theft, but that's pretty insignificant to being a willing participant in the slave trade.

DJ_Mindboggler fucked around with this message at 20:26 on Jun 27, 2023

V-Men
Aug 15, 2001

Don't it make your dick bust concrete to be in the same room with two noble, selfless public servants.
I don't think Frank knows about the drugs. The precursor chemicals are all done by Nicky.

CeeJee
Dec 4, 2001
Oven Wrangler

V-Men posted:

I don't think Frank knows about the drugs. The precursor chemicals are all done by Nicky.

His whole 'How Dare You Accuse Me, I Have SISTERS!' speech is complete bullshit though.

Count Roland
Oct 6, 2013

CeeJee posted:

His whole 'How Dare You Accuse Me, I Have SISTERS!' speech is complete bullshit though.

Didn't Frank say no more girls? Or was it just no more dead girls?

E: I wish there was a Frinkiac equivalent for this show

Count Roland fucked around with this message at 13:00 on Jun 29, 2023

withak
Jan 15, 2003


Fun Shoe
He says he needs to know if there is anything alive in the cans going forward.

Bird in a Blender
Nov 17, 2005

Just hoping everyone has fun.

V-Men posted:

I don't think Frank knows about the drugs. The precursor chemicals are all done by Nicky.

The precursor chemicals sure, but didn't he know they were shipping in heroin and coke on the containers? Isn't that what the whole deal was from the get go with The Greek?

Count Roland
Oct 6, 2013

Bird in a Blender posted:

The precursor chemicals sure, but didn't he know they were shipping in heroin and coke on the containers? Isn't that what the whole deal was from the get go with The Greek?

I think Frank didn't ask such questions

V-Men
Aug 15, 2001

Don't it make your dick bust concrete to be in the same room with two noble, selfless public servants.

Bird in a Blender posted:

The precursor chemicals sure, but didn't he know they were shipping in heroin and coke on the containers? Isn't that what the whole deal was from the get go with The Greek?

I think that's why the Greeks cut a side deal with Nicky to bring stuff in. I think the deal with Frank was just boosting containers so they could sell the merchandise from the contained in some stores like Glikas's.

Ainsley McTree
Feb 19, 2004


Count Roland posted:

I think Frank didn't ask such questions

This was my recollection too. Doesn’t spiros say something like “now you want to know?” when frank confronts him about the women?

Count Roland
Oct 6, 2013

V-Men posted:

I think that's why the Greeks cut a side deal with Nicky to bring stuff in. I think the deal with Frank was just boosting containers so they could sell the merchandise from the contained in some stores like Glikas's.

This is odd though isn't it. The Greek clearly isn't making most of his money from stolen cars. The drugs has got to be a very large part of his business if he's supplying a large portion of Baltimore.

So before he reached out to Nick, what was he doing for the drugs?

Although, the Greek said himself that the chemicals were produced right there in Baltimore, so he doesn't necessarily need a port connection in order to get the stuff.

Bird in a Blender
Nov 17, 2005

Just hoping everyone has fun.

Count Roland posted:

I think Frank didn't ask such questions

Yea, I suppose this is correct. Maybe Frank just assumed it was stolen goods, or knew it was a little bit of both drugs and stolen goods, but just really didn't want to know.

christmas boots
Oct 15, 2012

To these sing-alongs 🎤of siren 🧜🏻‍♀️songs
To oohs😮 to ahhs😱 to 👏big👏applause👏
With all of my 😡anger I scream🤬 and shout📢
🇺🇸America🦅, I love you 🥰but you're freaking 💦me 😳out
Biscuit Hider

Count Roland posted:

This is odd though isn't it. The Greek clearly isn't making most of his money from stolen cars. The drugs has got to be a very large part of his business if he's supplying a large portion of Baltimore.

So before he reached out to Nick, what was he doing for the drugs?

Although, the Greek said himself that the chemicals were produced right there in Baltimore, so he doesn't necessarily need a port connection in order to get the stuff.

Honestly, I think it was as much about trying to establish a connection with Nicky as anything. He's a connection to the docks that isn't as high up as Frank, but he's morally flexible in a way that Frank isn't, and he's competent and dependable. There might be other ways to get it done, but it's nice to have that in your back pocket.

GABA ghoul
Oct 29, 2011

Count Roland posted:

This is odd though isn't it. The Greek clearly isn't making most of his money from stolen cars. The drugs has got to be a very large part of his business if he's supplying a large portion of Baltimore.

So before he reached out to Nick, what was he doing for the drugs?

Although, the Greek said himself that the chemicals were produced right there in Baltimore, so he doesn't necessarily need a port connection in order to get the stuff.

I don't think the drugs actually belong to the Greeks. They are smuggling them for the Columbians(?) into Baltimore and then they get paid a fixed fee in cash and processed drugs for this service.

There is that one scene where Eton and Spiros talk about the Columbians trying to shortchange them and in response they let the FBI counter terrorism unit find one of the containers full of drugs. It's an absolutely enormous load that is intended to be distributed across the east coast. The Greeks are way too small to handle these quantities.

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Bird in a Blender
Nov 17, 2005

Just hoping everyone has fun.

GABA ghoul posted:

I don't think the drugs actually belong to the Greeks. They are smuggling them for the Columbians(?) into Baltimore and then they get paid a fixed fee in cash and processed drugs for this service.

There is that one scene where Eton and Spiros talk about the Columbians trying to shortchange them and in response they let the FBI counter terrorism unit find one of the containers full of drugs. It's an absolutely enormous load that is intended to be distributed across the east coast. The Greeks are way too small to handle these quantities.

I don't know if we can say that if with any sort of certainty. The size of their operation is always a little bit of a mystery. Who knows who else they have working for them, especially considering they disappear after S2, only to reappear a year or two later doing the same poo poo they were doing before with brand new people. If all they're doing is moving trucks across the country, it really doesn't take that many people.

Unload at the dock, separate out the various shipments, load back on truck and off you go. They're just wholesaling.

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