The Wire (HBO) TV Show • Page 14

Rewatching this for the first time with my wife who has never seen it before. Very excited to get back into this show!

 

S2 now might be my favorite. Finished my rewatch of it a couple months ago and can’t stop thinking about it. It’s a very powerful arc the sobatkas. It’s also a lot more resonating with me having worked for a great company for almost ten years to then have that company sell. Then all of its workers in free fall and not sure what the future holds. It’s very minuscule compared to the interworkings of the Baltimore port system but I see its similarities. Nico’s dad talking about how his union folded and he was forced out. Frank always trying to hold his union together etc

Then on top of that the bridge collapse in Baltimore the other day had me thinking about s2 all over again.

 

Season 2 is fantastic and is always overlooked. One of my favorite seasons.

 

Season Two is great but it is also the second-wprst season. It can be a little on the nose and it takes so long to undo the plot separation of the unit.

 

I listened to a comedy rewatch podcast awhile ago where they did The Wire season 2. They were very big on saying the weak link of the season was Pablo Schreiber's performance as Nicky Sobotka , which they thought was community theatre tier acting, and especially stood out whenever he was onscreen with the great Chris Bauer. Honestly kind of agree. Love the season, but if I dislike anything about it it's that.

 

Bad acting is a pretty big part of The Wire. There are the big characters everyone loves and then a lot of amateurs. The detective played by the actual former mayor delivers his lines like he is reading his lines for the first time.

 

They talk about that in the pod too, that the bad acting with thick Baltimore accents from the small side characters give it a feeling of authenticity (the vice principal in season 4 or Bunny's second in command in season 3 for example) but when it's a major character who you know is a professional actor is different.

 

Bunny's second in command is the real Jay Landsman. He's fine the first few seasons but he probably couldn't do more than that.

 

Two is solid.

 

Finished my series re watch and enjoyed s5 way more than I remembered. The serial killer plot and Omar’s death always kinda frustrated me. Though I enjoyed them and understand what they were going for this time through. I think though the writers strike and the shortened season definitely shows still. I also just don’t like what they did with Jimmy. He had a lot of interesting character development from s1-4. To just have him revert back to his old ways still is maddening. Other than that I really enjoyed the finale esp. It was really cool seeing Bubbles recovery, the shots of all the places we’ve spent time in over the series and Cheese’s death always felt kinda odd to end things on. However now that I rewatched s5 it’s actually a really good death to end the series on especially coming from Slim.

 

“That was for Joe.”

 

This sentimental motherfucker just cost us money

 

My whole appreciation for the show increased on rewatch. Def think everyone should watch this at least twice in their lifetimes.

 

Every rewatch I do I pick up on some nuance I never picked up on before

Like It didn't click for me until my 3rd of 4th time watching that Bodie's digust over what Marlo's crew did to Lil Kev in season 4 (which eventually leads to his death) was because Bodie feels guilt that he did nearly the same exact thing to Wallace in season 1. They put the subtext out there, but they never actually say it.

 

Thinking about it, Bodie might have a pitch perfect character arc from beginning to end.

 

they all do. I get the frustration with McNulty going back to his old self in s5 but, also, there's a LOT of foreshadowing that precedes that, including being nearly nonexistent in s4 (and Bodie's death).

 

It’s funny you say this because not only is it subtly laid out BUT I didn’t pick up on it until this rewatch that Poot and him literally have that conversation in s4. How it was different to Poot/Bodie versus Wallace.

 

Also loved this part in s5 that I forgot about how Davis tells Lester about bleeding Stringer for money lol

 

McNulty's arc was effectively over at the end of season three. Losing Rhonda, the scene where Lester dresses him down, and the feeling of being used by the political aide leads him to make changes to his life. He realizes that he is never going to be fulfilled by the job and that it is never going to change to the point where he is getting the commendations and rewards he thinks he deserves, so he makes it work with Beadie. Reverting back to that old character in season five is just lazy. Dominic West felt the character arc was wrapping up and had asked for a reduced role in season four, but they obviously blew that up.

 

It is funny how dark the ending is despite highlighting a few personal wins. Fat Face Rick and Slim Charles don't have the ego or the desire to dominate like their predecessors, so they will probably keep the murders down and truly cooperate, which will lead to less investigations. On top of that you have some of the slimiest people becoming the new mayor and commissioner and the gangs really got everything they could want. Carver and Sydnor as the new Daniels and McNulty will never get a detail with that much freedom.