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The Wire (don't get excited it's not coming back.)


RumHam

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I've been rewatching this lately. I just finished episode five of season five and I could swear Omar asked another guy "Is this Eddie Cantor?" re: a song on the radio while they were staking out Monk's place. It just seems really random and coincidental since WIlliams would later be on Boardwalk Empire and at one point end up intimidating a fictionalized version of Cantor. 

Another odd thing was hearing Ben Carson mentioned as a role model. Only because he came off as such a weirdo during the republican primaries. 

I think my only other new observation was in season two. When Ziggy made his change from "said" to "begged" on the report of his crime, I used to think that was him being genuinely remorseful. Watching it again I'm pretty sure he was trying to make the report sound cooler. Which is probably sadder. 

Oh also, why did Frank get to keep his hands and face? I get that Serge wasn't there but I thought that was policy. 

Anyway it still holds up as a great show. I realize these observations don't warrant a thread but I couldn't find an open one.

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6 hours ago, RumHam said:

Oh also, why did Frank get to keep his hands and face? I get that Serge wasn't there but I thought that was policy. 

Never realized this but sounds like 3 options:

1. Missed detail by the writers. Possible but the show is so rich in detail that I have doubts.

2. Send a message about ratting on the Greek's organization. Again possible, but doesn't seem like the Greek's style of cloak and dagger operation and tactic.

3. No time. I find this most likely given that the heat that was on the Greek and Vondapolous by then and they were meeting Frank in broad daylight (and were notified last minute of Frank's deal with the police). Frank also fought back based on the body wounds if I recall correctly so that may have complicated their exit plan from the murder scene.

#1 seems highly possible but I'll give credit to he writers and go with #3.

RE: Ben Carson. I grew up in an African American neighborhood in Brooklyn and Carson's autobiography was school reading material. It tells his life of growing up poor in the projects and overcoming adversity (and having faith in God) to become a top pediatrician. My after school program definitely positioned him as a role model given the ability to identify with him from a large amount of low income, inner city youth.

 

 

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18 hours ago, WarGalley said:

3. No time. I find this most likely given that the heat that was on the Greek and Vondapolous by then and they were meeting Frank in broad daylight (and were notified last minute of Frank's deal with the police). Frank also fought back based on the body wounds if I recall correctly so that may have complicated their exit plan from the murder scene.

#1 seems highly possible but I'll give credit to he writers and go with #3.

RE: Ben Carson. I grew up in an African American neighborhood in Brooklyn and Carson's autobiography was school reading material. It tells his life of growing up poor in the projects and overcoming adversity (and having faith in God) to become a top pediatrician. My after school program definitely positioned him as a role model given the ability to identify with him from a large amount of low income, inner city youth.

Yeah, three actually makes the most sense I think. But it's still kinda weird they didn't stuff him in the trunk and dispose of him elsewhere. 

I'd never heard of Carson before the primary season, but that does explain it. I'm assuming his autobiography didn't touch on his odd pyramid beliefs. 

I've only got the finale left and I can't handle watching it now after 5.9. That last conversation between Dukie and Micheal just destroyed me. Fuck this show. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hands down the greatest show ever.  Each time I rewatch I pick up new stuff I had missed before... only problem is the show lingo wears off on me after a binge and so I sometimes find myself spewing the lingo at my friends, which sounds downright odd in Ireland xD

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  • 1 year later...

Didn't want to derail any other threads but, via Reddit, saw this original pitch document for the first season of the Wire by David Simon.

http://kottke.org.s3.amazonaws.com/the-wire/The_Wire_-_Bible.pdf

There are some name changes (Stringy Bell to Stringer Bell, Aaron Barksdale to Avon Barksdale) and some interesting changes. I haven't read it in detail (it's the entire first season so not exactly a short read) but looks like the original intention was for

Spoiler

Kima to die in an ambush at Orlando's and there was no Wallace character from what I can tell.

 

 

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Besides some weird moments in season 5 this show is otherwise flawless and easily the best crafted show I've seen. It never treats viewers like an idiot and showed up a lot of TV storytelling techniques to be shortcuts. I'm thinking how shows info-dump or have people walking down corridors to make a conversation interesting (instead of just having an interesting conversation), the use of "natural" music, etc, etc.

I probably still prefer other shows in terms of sheer entertainment but it still feels like Simon and Co threw down a piece of art that people will watch generations from now and appreciate the craft.

Although the thread title did have me think I'd love it if Simon revisited this in 2028 with a next, next generation vibe where the kids were adults - the adults were grumpier, more powerful/more screwed up and another generation were present. It's not a show that needs another chapter but if Simon ever felt the need to revisit and have something to say (and if he could get the key actors back) it could be something special.

 

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5 minutes ago, red snow said:

Besides some weird moments in season 5 this show is otherwise flawless and easily the best crafted show I've seen. It never treats viewers like an idiot and showed up a lot of TV storytelling techniques to be shortcuts. I'm thinking how shows info-dump or have people walking down corridors to make a conversation interesting (instead of just having an interesting conversation), the use of "natural" music, etc, etc.

I probably still prefer other shows in terms of sheer entertainment but it still feels like Simon and Co threw down a piece of art that people will watch generations from now and appreciate the craft.

Although the thread title did have me think I'd love it if Simon revisited this in 2028 with a next, next generation vibe where the kids were adults - the adults were grumpier, more powerful/more screwed up and another generation were present. It's not a show that needs another chapter but if Simon ever felt the need to revisit and have something to say (and if he could get the key actors back) it could be something special.

 

2028 would be too late.  Virtually all the cops would be retired and the drug dealers would be totally new.  Aside from a couple of characters popping up, it would just be a spinoff.  If you're gonna do this, it would have to be pretty soon; season 5 was filmed in 2007, so you're already 12 years down the road by the time this could get filmed.  It would be realistic to still have some of the main cops like Carver, Greggs, McNulty, Daniels, Bunk, etc.  A lot of the street characters did not survive the show

Spoiler

Particularly the two biggest stars from the Wire: Stringer and Wallace, but also Bodie, Prop Joe, D'Angelo, Snoop, Cheese and of course Omar. 

Of the ones that are left, plenty would most likely either not still be alive (Michael, Dukie, Bubbles) or still be in prison (Avon, Wee Bey, Chris Partlow).  That leaves...not a lot of people.  You could have some people be the next generation with ties to the cast the we know, but that's always hard to pull off convincingly, IMO, and doubly so if the older character is dead. 

The one advantage would be that if you wanted a real revisit season you could look at how Baltimore is changing.  David Simon indicated that if he was going to do season 6, he would want to be covering the growing Latino population in Baltimore, but he and his main writers didn't feel like they knew the subject matter well enough to tackle it, and they couldn't just put the show on hold for a year to learn.  Well, now they'd have all the time they need.  But methinks that Simon and co are happy with the Wire as it is and not dying to revisit things. 

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