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So about The Wire...and other Shows worth mentioning...


Free Northman Reborn

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So having finished my Breaking Bad marathon recently, I moved on to binge the first Season of Under the Dome, until I realized it is a mediocre Show that got cancelled after Season 3. (And Hank Schrader was not nearly as satisfying as a villain called Big Jim Renny).

And now with the Walking Dead in hiatus, I finally moved on to this "The Wire" show that everyone around here seems to rave about.

Much to my disappointment I sat back and watched the opening scene of Episode 1, only to deduce that the lead actor appears to be that super annoying British dude who played the bad guy in Johnny English. His face is just so irritating in an inexplicable kind of way.

So anyway, I regretfully stopped the Show right there and am now looking for something else to binge watch.

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The show has an ensemble cast, McNulty is just one of many.  I would say that if anyone is the main character it would be Daniels, since he is at least an important character in all five seasons.  McNulty is probably the main character of season 1 though. 

But he is supposed to be annoying, so it is very silly to give up on the Wire just for that. 

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McNulty, played by Dominic West, is a pretty annoying and cliche character in The Wire, but the show is amazing despite his presence.  In fact, I often thought he was the token white lead/POV to get the green light for a 95% African American TV show.

You gave up too soon.

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So many Shows to catch up on, so little time.

I am now deciding between Justified, Boardwalk Empire, Ray Donovan and Vikings. Haven't watched any of them yet. And then there's this Downtown Abbey that everyone also goes on about, but that seems like something that may not be my cup of tea exactly.

Oh yes, then there's  Rome and Da Vinci's Demons, both of which I'm quite unfamiliar with.

Then again, maybe I'll just stick to something I can quickly get into and watch Star Trek Enterpirse, with the guy from Quantum Leap.

EDIT

For purposes of clarity, I've had babies in the house for the last 4 years or so, and have a lot of catching up to do. I was basically limited to Walking Dead and Game of Thrones as far as series were concerned. Then my wife got me to watch Outlander with her, until that odious last episode which put me off the series.

But now I am emerging from this period of zero free time, and I can start doing some catching up.

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Then there's True Detective and Black Sails also in the mix. I just can't decide.

It really is quite nice to have so many unwatched Shows backed up that I can basically watch from start to finish without having to wait a week between episodes.

I really hope you're referring to season 1, unless you're in the mood for comedy. Season 2 is great for that.

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Did you really need to start a thread to inform everyone that you aren't watching the Wire because you dislike an actor's face?

Frankly, I think it's better to have this thread than the inevitable one that will come if he did watch The Wire.  I've listened to a fundamentalist christian, far right conservative, misogynistic, xenophobic white male discuss The Wire before.  It wasn't pretty.  

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That's weird man. The Wire is one of the best TV shows of our lifetimes. And you quit watching for the conceivably strangest reason. I mean for all the Brother Mouzones I'd rather see this than any other show. 

Frankly, I think it's better to have this thread than the inevitable one that will come if he did watch The Wire.  I've listened to a fundamentalist christian, far right conservative, misogynistic white male discuss The Wire before.  It wasn't pretty.  

Can someone explain to me why The Wire is accused of being partisan, when it is one of the most impartial critical portrayals of urban dysfunctions and realities ? I mean unless earnest portrayals of said realities itself has become partisan now. It was critical towards politicians of on all sides.

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Can someone explain to me why The Wire is accused of being partisan, when it is one of the most impartial critical portrayals of urban dysfunctions and realities ? I mean unless earnest portrayals of said realities itself has become partisan now. It was critical towards politicians of on all sides.

That's the show's genius. David Simon is pretty left, but not all of the writers, producers or actors shared his viewpoint and he allowed them to put the other argument across. So Hamsterdam in Season 3 and the school project in Season 4 are both shown as having positive effects but also really negative ones. They weren't panaceas for society's problems, they were just different approaches with pluses and minuses.

In fact, the key takeaway from the shows is that stats and bureaucracy are harmful, unhelpful and misleading, if not self-defeating, and that's as much a right position as a left one.

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Also, we're all totally fucked. But again, that's a strength of the show. 

I don't know if the Wire is the best thing ever done, but it certainly has some of the best highs of anything out there, and season 4 is my favorite season of anything ever. 

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