The Wire

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Well, while I do feel that The Wire was an ambitious, well-written show on the whole, it was still never a favorite of mine due to it being kind of low energy in general, and I felt that all the hyperbolic praise that it's been showered with over the years has lead some to turn a blind eye to its missteps, like the way that the out of place "This is America" line in its very first scene feels like bit of forced, grandiose, Nolan-esque "themespeak", which was pretty odd for a show that tended to avoid that otherwise.

I've always looked at that scene as being humor or something that someone in the ghetto might say out of being lost for words.



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Well, while I do feel that The Wire was an ambitious, well-written show on the whole, it was still never a favorite of mine due to it being kind of low energy in general, and I felt that all the hyperbolic praise that it's been showered with over the years has lead some to turn a blind eye to its missteps, like the way that the out of place "This is America" line in its very first scene feels like bit of forced, grandiose, Nolan-esque "themespeak", which was pretty odd for a show that tended to avoid that otherwise.
This is kind of what I'm wondering about. Which side of this will I come down on, once I finish the series? Because, frankly, all the praise serves to simply put the bar as high as possible. How can it ever match half the hype I've read over the years?

Also, this first season is now twenty years old. Twenty. Let that sink in.



Well, while I do feel that The Wire was an ambitious, well-written show on the whole, it was still never a favorite of mine due to it being kind of low energy in general, and I felt that all the hyperbolic praise that it's been showered with over the years has lead some to turn a blind eye to its missteps, like the way that the out of place "This is America" line in its very first scene feels like bit of forced, grandiose, Nolan-esque "themespeak", which was pretty odd for a show that tended to avoid that otherwise.
I understand your point, but apparently the story was based on a real story that David Simon heard during his times riding with cops around Baltimore.

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It might be my favorite as well. And Frank Subotnik (I think that's his name) is one of my favorite characters. Although, I do kind of love most of the seasons fairly equally (the last season being the weakest....but still good...just needed to be longer in order the flesh things out better)
Yeah, the actor playing Frank is always good in everything he does. I also loved his useless son Ziggy & really felt for him being locked up. This was a great rôle for James Ransone. “Ziggy, get your d**k out of my computer!”
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Yeah, the actor playing Frank is always good in everything he does. I also loved his useless son Ziggy & really felt for him being locked up. This was a great rôle for James Ransone. I just loved this season. “Ziggy, get your d**k out of my computer!”

yeah that scene of watching him smoking cigarrettes and crying in his car



WARNING: "Reveals dramatic event in plot" spoilers below

after shooting that (turkish?) fellow in his business and the innocent employee for ripping ziggy off on stolen cars





really is pretty striking, upsetting, realistic. The troubled dynamic between him and his (cousin? can't remember...) is a pretty fundamental part of that season. I personally think all of the seasons are great in their own way, the first season with the barksdales continuing in season 2 was also really amazing to me.


Damn, i getting an urge to watch the whole thing a 4th time now that we're talking about it! Nah, i'll let it wait, that way it will have maximum effect: it will also be my 4th time for the sopranos.



really is pretty striking, upsetting, realistic. The troubled dynamic between him and his (cousin? can't remember...) is a pretty fundamental part of that season. I personally think all of the seasons are great in their own way, the first season with the barksdales continuing in season 2 was also really amazing to me.


Damn, i getting an urge to watch the whole thing a 4th time now that we're talking about it! Nah, i'll let it wait, that way it will have maximum effect: it will also be my 4th time for the sopranos.
Do you mean his brother? The Pablo Schreiber character?

Same as you: watched the show + The Sopranos 3 times each.

Loved Stringer Bell & his sidekick. So many hilarious scenes too. When Snoop went to buy a nail gun from Home Depot & almost scared the cashier to death.



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Do you mean his brother? The Pablo Schreiber character?

Same as you: watched the show + The Sopranos 3 times each.

Loved Stringer Bell & his sidekick. So many hilarious scenes too. When Snoop went to buy a nail gun from Home Depot & almost scared the cashier to death.

Yeah, I couldn't if he was the brother, friend, or cousin.



Yeah, the actor playing Frank is always good in everything he does. I also loved his useless son Ziggy & really felt for him being locked up. This was a great rôle for James Ransone. “Ziggy, get your d**k out of my computer!”

It shocks me how consistently people will cite Ziggy as being one of the worst characters. I think both the character and the actor are fantastic in this. Ziggy is a hopelessly tragic figure, no matter how much he might be responsible for his own unravelling. Easily the most underrated on the show.



It shocks me how consistently people will cite Ziggy as being one of the worst characters. I think both the character and the actor are fantastic in this. Ziggy is a hopelessly tragic figure, no matter how much he might be responsible for his own unravelling. Easily the most underrated on the show.
Agreed. Do you remember the very slight reference that his mother might possibly be drug-dependent? Just a hint, but it was there.

One of the funniest scenes was Ziggy with his duck in the bar.

Ransone really made the part though. We don’t see this actor enough.



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It shocks me how consistently people will cite Ziggy as being one of the worst characters. I think both the character and the actor are fantastic in this. Ziggy is a hopelessly tragic figure, no matter how much he might be responsible for his own unravelling. Easily the most underrated on the show.

Lol, I know the reason why they say that though: he really does fit the role as "the idiot", like his brother, frank, and coworkers see him as...I'm watching him and thinking "don't do that ziggy, 🤣 put it back in your pants!", but that's just me enjoying the show. The only character who actually offended me was stringer bell, and...


WARNING: "reveals dramatic scene" spoilers below

Watching him getting gunned down was very satisfying to me, especially that interruption, "well! Go ahead and --"



But of course he was still great and a necessary part of the plot, I guess I just didn't like his treachery. I would never cancel him! An unrecognizably British actor...



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Finished season 1 today. Moving right on to season 2. Pretty sure it'll finally stick. Am curious where season 2 will take me, though, since that first season could have been the end of the show (despite being a fairly ironic one in many ways). Do you guys suppose they ended the season that way due to OTHER shows being rudely canceled here and there (I'm looking at you, Carnivale, Deadwood, and Rome!), leaving viewers really annoyed and upset with HBO?



Agreed. Do you remember the very slight reference that his mother might possibly be drug-dependent? Just a hint, but it was there.

One of the funniest scenes was Ziggy with his duck in the bar.

Ransone really made the part though. We don’t see this actor enough.
Not sure if you've seen it, but he was great in Generation Kill.



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Finished season 1 today. Moving right on to season 2. Pretty sure it'll finally stick. Am curious where season 2 will take me, though, since that first season could have been the end of the show (despite being a fairly ironic one in many ways). Do you guys suppose they ended the season that way due to OTHER shows being rudely canceled here and there (I'm looking at you, Carnivale, Deadwood, and Rome!), leaving viewers really annoyed and upset with HBO?

Nope, David Simon made it pretty clear that they were given the freedom, from HBO, to make the show at whatever pace they saw fit. The interview/panel is on the box set which is part of the reason i bought it.



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Nope, David Simon made it pretty clear that they were given the freedom, from HBO, to make the show at whatever pace they saw fit. The interview/panel is on the box set which is part of the reason i bought it.
Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that, based on how season 1 ended. Felt like it could have ended without the typical uproar of a show getting canceled mid-storyline.

Season 2 so far (2 episodes in) = feels very different, almost scattered and less focused here at the beginning.



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Wow, I wouldn't have guessed that, based on how season 1 ended. Felt like it could have ended without the typical uproar of a show getting canceled mid-storyline.

Season 2 so far (2 episodes in) = feels very different, almost scattered and less focused here at the beginning.

different strokes for different folks, for example i thought "Come and See" was good but very overrated. Enjoy your educational screening of The Wire! If you haven't watched The Sopranos, I'd recommend that, i like it at least as much and it's a very different show.



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different strokes for different folks, for example i thought "Come and See" was good but very overrated. Enjoy your educational screening of The Wire! If you haven't watched The Sopranos, I'd recommend that, i like it at least as much and it's a very different show.
I rewatch The Sopranos at least once a year. I love a whole bunch of other HBO series and do rewatches of those too (Deadwood, Carnivale, Six Feet Under, to name a few).



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I rewatch The Sopranos at least once a year. I love a whole bunch of other HBO series and do rewatches of those too (Deadwood, Carnivale, Six Feet Under, to name a few).

your mentions of Carnivale have intrigued me and i'm going to watch it for sure.



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your mentions of Carnivale have intrigued me and i'm going to watch it for sure.
Just be aware that it was abruptly canceled at the end of season 2, so the series ending is not satisfying. In fact, I've often said that the final series episode could have ended about five minutes earlier than it did, and it would have felt like a proper ending. That last five minutes was to allow room for another season, which they never got.



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I second Carnivale. It's old, but great weirdness. And I will double-down on what Austruck said re: the last 5-minute ending. Once you get near the end, and something happens that feels like closure? Just hit the stop button and pretend there's not an addition 3-7 minutes of runtime. You will never thank us for this, because if you correctly heed our warnings, you will never know why you should. I can live with that knowing your experience will have been with closure, whereas AU, me, and perhaps millions of other viewers still to this day live in anxiety having only been teased of another season doorway that we were never allowed passage through.


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CringeFest's Avatar
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I second Carnivale. It's old, but great weirdness. And I will double-down on what Austruck said re: the last 5-minute ending. Once you get near the end, and something happens that feels like closure? Just hit the stop button and pretend there's not an addition 3-7 minutes of runtime. You will never thank us for this, because if you correctly heed our warnings, you will never know why you should. I can live with that knowing your experience will have been with closure, whereas AU, me, and perhaps millions of other viewers still to this day live in anxiety having only been teased of another season doorway that we were never allowed passage through.


I'm really not joking.

you are not joking but that's still really funny