The Wire rewatch: I Went to Hampsterdam and All I Got Were These Lousy Spiderbags

[Castel]

Yeah, that's basically what everyone thinks afaik.

It was outright confirmed in the commentary.

[Summah]

I've never watched any of the wire commentary, I never watch DVD commentary for anything, I tried once (with some movie, don't remember which one) and found it boring. Next week is the last ep of season 4 and then we'll start season 5. I'm still having internet problems, but Comcast is coming next week and will hopefully fix it.

A new day & That's got his own

Overall quite depressing (except the revenge on Walker stands out as funny). Randy, Sherrod, Michael. And what the episodes end up beginning for Dukie and Bodie. Dukie may have been on that track his whole life, but maybe he would have had a chance with continued attention and care.

The politics are all so typically Baltimore, it's kind of hilarious and still a bit depressing.

[Summah]

I've been a week behind for several weeks now because of internet problems. That's better (but still sometimes problematic now), but I really can't see myself catching up. However I might be the only one still actively doing the rewatch, so if there are no objections, instead of constantly being a week behind I suggest pushing it back a week, so next week will be the first couple episodes of season 5.

Final grades

This is the first time I saw this since I watched Deadwood and the first time I caught that Cutty's hospital roommate was watching that. Also never noticed the Attica chant when Bodie took his anger out on the police car before.

Carcetti just becomes more Carcetti-like all the time, ugh. And the major crimes gang is kinda back together. I think Bodie was the only west side drug dealer from the very beginning of the show who wasn't in jail or dead, and now there are none.

Obviously a lot happens, the boys' short term future is at least shown. I can't see anything good for Randy as long as he's in group homes like that. Dukie has been tragedy since the first tine we met him, now it's just more tragic. Namond has the best result obviously. Michael is now a killer. I've been trying to think of what foreshadowing there is that Michael will become a stick up boy like Omar, his ruthlessness could be put to good use by a gang, I think maybe his aloneness and fearlessness are clues, like how he turned down Marlo's money.

I love that Omar has the cojones to sell the stolen heroin back to Prop Joe and that Joe has the cojones to add 50% more to Omar's price when he redistributes it to co-op.

I think for me, the most tragic and memorable thing about this episode is Bubbles. Even though he doesn't know it yet, Landsman really did something amazing for Bubs, especially considering how obsessed with the stats he usually is. I think he's right that Bubbles was punishing himself more than the law could. Of course this is also what turns Bubbles around, but it's still tragic.

[Castel]

I love that Omar has the cojones to sell the stolen heroin back to Prop Joe and that Joe has the cojones to add 50% more to Omar's price when he redistributes it to co-op.

Reminds me of the plot of another David Simon work, The Corner, where everyone keeps doubling the price of a (free) abortion so that, by the time it actually gets to someone that can make it happen they can't afford it and the kid is born.

. I've been trying to think of what foreshadowing there is that Michael will become a stick up boy like Omar, his ruthlessness could be put to good use by a gang, I think maybe his aloneness and fearlessness are clues, like how he turned down Marlo's money.

I don't really think there was any tbh. As you say, his traits let him work as a gang member just fine, which is why they were introduced.

[Talleyrand]

I think Bodie was the only west side drug dealer from the very beginning of the show who wasn't in jail or dead, and now there are none.

I know he went to jail between seasons but surely Poot deserves props for managing to make it out of the game and get a job?

[Summah]

Reminds me of the plot of another David Simon work, The Corner, where everyone keeps doubling the price of a (free) abortion so that, by the time it actually gets to someone that can make it happen they can't afford it and the kid is born.

I have The Corner in my netflix queue, I'm looking forward to finally seeing it.

I know he went to jail between seasons but surely Poot deserves props for managing to make it out of the game and get a job?

Oh definitely, but he wasn't there for all 4 previous seasons like Bodie was.

[The BlackBear]

Just finished watching it for the first time. Looking stuff up I thought Michael was the one who killed Bodie (I think the death that got me the most,) but apparently it was O-Dog.

[RumHam]

Just finished watching it for the first time. Looking stuff up I thought Michael was the one who killed Bodie (I think the death that got me the most,) but apparently it was O-Dog.

I thought the same thing the first time, but they did tell him his first kill shouldn't be someone he knows.

[Mark Antony]

No death got me like Wallace. :(

[Maithanet]

I'm never quite sure what to make of Stringer and Avon's last night together. They both think it's the end (or close) for different reasons, I'm not sure if all that reminiscing is meant as a goodbye or if it's just cold.

Sorry to be posting so terribly out of order, but I had to bring this up. I agree with Mark Antony that this is my favorite scene in the entire show. I go back and forth on whether season 1 or season 4 is the best overall season, but to me Middle Ground is hands down the best episode of the Wire. Sometimes I pull up the rooftop conversation between String and Avon on youtube because it is just that good.

As for whether it is meant to be goodbye, I intepret it as both of them not really being willing to accept that it's over. They are half aware of the fact that they came so far, together, and that it was that trust and cooperation that made them great. Without that, both of them are doomed, and they cannot come to grips with that fact. So they reminisce about the glory days, when they were young, hungry, and focused. The game hasn't changed, but they have.

We ain't gotta dream no more, man.

We ain't got a dream no more man.

Brilliant writing, and beautiful acting.

[Talleyrand]

Every time I watch Bodie's death I get stuck with a mix of sadness and amusment/admiration that even in death he's a chess metaphor

[Castel]

I thought the same thing the first time, but they did tell him his first kill shouldn't be someone he knows.

Me too. I'm not sure if I like the actual scene more than my headcanon. Because when I thought it was Michael I thought it was a nice little Marlo moment, where even he skips over the seemingly sensible and kind thing to be as Marlo as possible. On the other hand, when he's not pulling wings off flies he can be pragmatic...until he gets enough power to put the bullet in your head.

[Summah]

Sorry had internet problems again.

More with less & Unconfirmed reports

I'm wondering how this season will go in rewatch. I used to place this season 4th, but season 2 was better in this rewatch than I thought previously, so I'm curious how my views will change here.

McNulty is back to being a self destructive asshole, so ultimately he ends up without much real character growth. The fake serial killer thing is horrible. Yes what Bunk and Freamon said about black (especially young males) deaths being misdemeanor homicides is undoubtedly true, but that is no way to respond to it. Also I think the writers are fixated on his hair (which is not black).

Some good acting from Andre Royo, I always thought he was perhaps a bit underrated, or perhaps overshadowed by people like Idris Elba.

[l2 0 5 5]

Apparently Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) criticized David Simon for his portrayal of Baltimore in The Wire. Well, Simon responded: http://davidsimon.com/the-wire-and-baltimore/

[Maithanet]

Some good acting from Andre Royo, I always thought he was perhaps a bit underrated, or perhaps overshadowed by people like Idris Elba.

I think that overall, Andre Royo put in the best performance of the Wire, and there is a lot of competition for that title. His whole arc is masterful, and his character would be so easy to disregard if it weren't for Royo's abilities.

[RumHam]

I think that overall, Andre Royo put in the best performance of the Wire, and there is a lot of competition for that title. His whole arc is masterful, and his character would be so easy to disregard if it weren't for Royo's abilities.

I'm reading that Difficult Men book. Apparently he really had a hard time playing that role.

Still, Bubbles may have been more than a cliché, but it was a difficult character to play day after day. “My character’s head space was not a pleasant one,” Royo said. “I’d look at Idris? Nothing but bitches outside his trailer. Dom West? Nothing but bitches. Sonja? Dudes and bitches. Me? I’d have junkies out there. They fell in love with Bubbles. I’d go into my trailer and clean my shit off and come out and they’d look at me like, ‘You’re not one of us. Fuck you.’ And then when I had the Bubbles garb back on, it’d be, ‘Hey! What’s up? Welcome back!’ That’s a head trip, man. That shit eats at you.”

By the third season, he said, “I was drinking. I was depressed. I’d look at scripts like, ‘What am I doing today? Getting high or pushing that fucking cart?’”

[Maithanet]

I'm reading that Difficult Men book. Apparently he really had a hard time playing that role.

according to Wikipedia, at one point Royo's portrayal of this character was so convincing that, during filming, he was once approached by a Baltimore resident and given a small package of heroin, with the man saying to the in-character Royo, "Man, you need a fix more than I do." Royo has called this his "street Oscar".

That's pretty great.

[The Wolves]

Just finished watching it for the first time. Looking stuff up I thought Michael was the one who killed Bodie (I think the death that got me the most,) but apparently it was O-Dog.

Marlo was a monster, Avon and his crew wasn't any better either but they didn't go after people because they talked to the cops(not that I remember, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I always preferred Avon and his crew over Marlo and his. I loved The Wire one of my all time favorite scenes was when Cutty told Avon he didn't have the game in him anymore and Avon respected that and let him walk out the life saying "he was a man today" I think Avon is evil in many ways of but he did have a code and honor somewhat unlike Marlo.

[Mark Antony]

Avon had the security lady who lied for D'Angelo in court murdered.

[Talleyrand]

Marlo was a monster, Avon and his crew wasn't any better either but they didn't go after people because they talked to the cops(not that I remember, someone correct me if I'm wrong).

That's why Wallace was killed - and Gant, the guy who testified against D