The Wire Appreciation Thread

[TheSqauredCircleMessiah]

So, the General TV thread has all these posts about people watching "The Wire," let's keep all under one roof.

Personally, I think "The Wire" is the greatest television series in history. The stories, characters, character development, acting...all of it.

Here's a few FAQ's for new watchers that I usually see

I'm watching Season 1 and the first episode is moving slow, does it get better?

Yes, a thousand times yes. The first few episodes move a little slow, because they introduce a lot of characters and set up the exposition for really the entire series. IE...The Baltimore Police Department is fucked up, drugs and violence overrun the city of Baltimore and nobody in a position of power cares, Jimmy McNulty is an asshole that only cares about himself, the Barksdales run everything.

There are so many characters, it's hard to keep track of them. Who are important?

These are the characters you need to keep track of.

• Det. Jimmy McNulty, Homicide Detective. McNulty is the series main protagonist. He's "natural police" that after seeing D'Angelo Barksdale beat a murder, he spills to a judge that the Barksdale organization has taken over West Baltimore and killed about a dozen people.
  
• Stringer Bell, Underboss: Barksdale Drug Organization. He is the season's main antagonist. He runs the day-to-day operations for the Barksdales, keeping Avon Barksdale away from the drugs and guns.
  
• Avon Barksdale, Head of the Barksdale Drug Organization. He is the drug "kingpin" of West Baltimore. He controls all the major real estate in the Baltimore drug trade
  
• D'Angelo Barksdale. In the pilot, he is first introduced as the cousin than nephew of Avon. In the pilot, he is on trial for murder and that trial indirectly leads to the investigation of season 1.
  
• Det. William "Bunk" Moreland, Homicide Detective. He's McNulty's partner and best friend. He is also "natural police," but is not the asshole that McNulty is and will not intentionally piss off his commanding officers like McNulty will and stays within the chain of command.
  
• Det. Shakima Greggs, Narcotics Detective. A young, good drug investigator that has good instincts and shows the makings of being "natural police."
  
• Dets. Ellis Carver (black guy) and Thomas "Herc" Hauk (white guys), Narcotics Detectives. Kima's partners that epitomize what is wrong with the Baltimore PD, they are more concerned with busting heads and quick arrests, rather making good cases.
  
• Lt. Cedric Daniels, Narcotics Division. Greggs, Carver and Hauk's supervisor, a "company" man that follows orders strictly and is more concerned with making rank rather than making good cases.
  
• Maj. Bill Rawls, Homicide Division. Head of the Homicide Division. Like Daniels, is a strict "company" man that only cares about his unit's clearance rate rather than getting good cases. He HATES McNulty, because McNulty always goes outside the chain of command.
  
• Ervin Burrell, Deputy Commissioner for Operations. He's the one always referred to as "The Deputy." Second-in-command overall behind the Commissioner in the Police Department, runs the day-to-day operations of the department. He gets an earful from the Judge that McNulty leaks the info to. Tries to put together a meaningless detail, with a few minor arrests to appease the judge.
  
• Sgt. Jay Landsman, Homicide Division. McNulty and Bunk's immediate supervisor, does the bidding of Bill Rawls. Only cares about stats and his squad's clearance rate. A fat guy who constantly looks at porn in thee Homicide bullpen.
  
• Lester Freamon, Pawn Shop Unit. Another cop that doesn't seem like much early on, rarely speaks and just carves out dollhouse miniature furniture
  
• Roland Pryzbylewski. A incompetent cop sent to the Barksdale detail. Only has a job because his father-in-law is a Major in the BPD
  
• Maj. Stan Valchek, Southeastern District. Prez's father-in-law. Another incompetent cop but has moved up the ranks because he can politic well, has pull with City Hall and his section of Baltimore is the last area of Baltimore that is still controlled by white people.
  
• Preston "Bodie" Broadus, Malik "Poot" Carr and Wallace. All young, street-level drug dealers that actually sell the drugs and receive the money. Often called "hoppers." Hoppers are the ones usually arrested because they commit the actual crimes and are often offered immunity for cooperation.
  
• Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice, Marquis "Bird" Hilton, Wintell "Little Man" Royce, Savino Bratton: The major enforcers and muscle in the Barksdale organization
  
• Omar Little, Stick Up Boy. Exclusively robs drug dealers.
  
• Bubbles. A drug addict that is a paid informant of Greggs.
  

That's all I have for now, so discuss away.

Edited August 17, 2012 by TheSqauredCircleMessiah

[fr34k]

Personally, I think "The Wire" is the greatest television series in history.

(Y)

[Your Mom]

This might motivate me to drag my review thread out of the grave. I was doing it in hope that more people would start watching it like I was then I gave up on it

[C-MIL]

I started watching it after your reviews.

There are a LOT of characters though.

[Johnny Drama]

Love this show it is probably the best TV show I have ever watched so many great characters. Lester is awesome

[GoGo Yubari]

Generic post where GoGo reaffirms that he thinks The Wire is the best TV show like he has a billion times now.

[King Ellis]

I am a hipster watch along guy caus we all did this when it aired on UK free tv for the first time!

It is lovely though. I will say that I saw a few people saying they didn't like season 2 but I rather enjoyed it!

[GoGo Yubari]

I think season 2 is super-underrated. "AND SUDDENLY THE DOCKS" is jarring but the conclusion for that storyline is great.

[Toe]

For me, I started to enjoy Season 2 right as it ended. I thought it really got interesting when Ziggy...

...went crazy and everything went to shit for the Dockers.

[Johnny Drama]

I wasn't big on Season 2 at first but gave it a recent re-watch and have found a new love for it. Ziggy was one messed up kid

The duck dies

[Toe]

It's such a great show. I have 4 episodes left to watch. So far, season 5 has been fun although...

...it seems McNulty has gone too far, creating the fake serial killer. I wonder how this is going to shake out.

[Josh]

I'm all for a general thread, but listing all the characters seems unnecessary. They are definitely hard to keep up with at first, but I find the series helps you understand what you truly need to know, when you need to know it.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I love Season Two. The first episode is dull - but it is introducing you to a whole new set of characters and setting up their storylines; but after that it's immense. Frank Sabotka is a wonderful character and I agree that the ending of that season's main storyline is arresting.

[Skummy]

Season 2 is fantastic; it's jarring that you've suddenly got a completely different set of characters to any other series, and the general mood is quite different, but when you realise that the show as a whole makes a lot more sense when you see the drug trade, and its effects, from all angles, you couldn't not[/i have had season 2. It has some great characters in too, some it's a pity didn't show up again after. The story with The Greek is superb, and it's the series that has Omar's trial, isn't it? That's the greatest.

[Johnny Drama]

Yeah its season 2 when Omar testifies in the Bird case it is hilarious when he shuts the lawyer up.

[Ruki]

Season 2 is great because it it stars EWB's very own Grifter

[fr34k]

There's definitely one question missing in this thread:

WHERE THE FUCK IS WALLACE?

[Josh]

That dude does look like Grifter.

Since I finished the series, I've been looking up any supplemental material I can find. We apparently just passed the 10th anniversary of the show's debut, so Maxim did a special article, detailing an oral history of the series. It's surprisingly list-of-hot-random-women-free. Good read. I'm not sure how much of it is already common knowledge, but I learned a lot.

[probablyoliver]

I'm only at mid point of season 2 but Stringer Bell is already my second most hated villain of all time ever because holy shit I want to break that guys legs.

Him and Walter White. God damned Hitlers.

[Ruki]

Seriously? Stringer is amazing. So is Walter White. You are wrong.