The Wire

[DFF]

I enjoyed the first episode. It kind of had the 'This isn't bad and has the potential to be so much more feel' without in itself being anything special at all.

And McNulty seems the coolest character, by some way.

Oh, and who was the dude who looked like Wayne Rooney?

[Skummy]

Indeed....what I think really shows the strength of the script is that even though you know what's happening, as you're seeing it from the criminal's perspective as much as from the cop's, and because of that there are very few genuine "mysteries", you still find yourself really hoping that the cops solve the case - whereas in most crime shows, the only reason you want to see the case solved is because you've been trying to figure it out yourself, in The Wire it's because you feel a genuine empathy with the characters.

While I've never had a problem with understanding what people are talking about in the show, or getting used to language or anything (except shitbird, the one word in this show that will always baffle me) I always had a nightmare of a time remembering characters' names. Half of the corner boys I never remember what the hell they're called, and most of the lesser police characters. It took me until about the end of Series 3 before I learned Sydnor's name, and I just had to wiki it now to make sure I got it right - it didn't help that practically every time he was addressed along with other cops it would be Daniels saying "McNulty...Greggs....Detective", as if he were the Wire equivalent of a Star Trek red-shirt anyway.

[-A-]

I'm not sure who you mean. Was it one of the two cops who work with the female officer and miss the second gun? If so that's Herc.

The fact that you managed to get more than 20 minutes into the show means you're probably going to like it. Nobody thinks it's the greatest thing ever after the first couple of episodes.

EDIT: Yeah, I was pretty much the same though many of my friends (that I've cajoled into watching the programme) had trouble with it. The only character I had real trouble with was Snoop - looking back on it I think I missed about half of her dialogue but because it's The Wire it didn't really matter.

Edited March 30, 2009 by -A-

[Skummy]

The only character I had real trouble with was Snoop - looking back on it I think I missed about half of her dialogue but because it's The Wire it didn't really matter.

Oh God, I'd forgotten Snoop. I love her, but there were a few points where I had to stop and think "hang on, what was that?" for the first couple of episodes. Didn't help that I spent even longer than that trying to figure out what gender she was >_>

[-A-]

I didn't even question the fact that she was a 14 year old boy until one of the other characters specifically said 'she' or something. She's also clearly the black Boomhauer.

Edited March 31, 2009 by -A-

[Farmer Reil]

I had it on in the background but wasn't paying much attention to be honest. Will catch it on iPlayer before tomorrows episode though.

It is ON iPlayer, right? I know the first season of Heroes wasn't due to issues that basically boiled down to "it's American".

[Cactus Drags]

I started watching the first series last year, but ran out of space on my computer and gave up, started again tonight, and it's quality. Ad seemed to get a bit bored with it, but I think the first couple of episodes are a bit of a drag while everything gets set up. I love the dialogue and the writing in general, like the juxtaposition of that D guy basically being in the same situation as McNulty.

Also, MONEY BE GREEN

Edited March 31, 2009 by Major Dragsy

[King Ellis]

I had it on in the background but wasn't paying much attention to be honest. Will catch it on iPlayer before tomorrows episode though.

It is ON iPlayer, right? I know the first season of Heroes wasn't due to issues that basically boiled down to "it's American".

lol, no.

[-A-]

If you look for illegal methods the files you get are absolutely amazing. I've since bought the DVDs and the torrent you get is pretty much exactly the same quality and the files are only something like 180MB for each 60+ minute episode, it's extraordinary.

[GoGo Yubari]

Also, MONEY BE GREEN

Hamilton, he wasn't no president.

And yeah, the thing about The Wire is that it takes a couple episodes to adjust to the way things work on the show. That's definitely how it was for me; I thought the first couple episodes were okay and all but nothing amazing but by the end of the first season I was madly in love with the show.

[-A-]

Does anyone else have an exact moment when they fell in love with the show (without spoilers)? I remember it clearly because it was such a surprise to me. I'm ridiculously cynical when it comes to TV and I was totally hooked by episode 6/7, the moment with

Spoiler: Click here to view

Bubbles at the AA meeting with Waylon. I'm not sentimental, dammit. I swear

Edited March 31, 2009 by -A-

[GoGo Yubari]

We should probably spoiler tag that kind of discussion given the nature of this thread. For me, it was;

Spoiler: Click here to view

Omar killing Stinkum, shooting Wee-Bey, and then delivering the immortal line that's my custom text now. That was his Crowning Moment of Awesome and the moment where I was like "oh my god, shit just got real."

[Lord Nibbler]

Oh, and who was the dude who looked like Wayne Rooney?

Here's a list of characters, and the Premiership footballers they look like. Although Ashley Young and Anderson (I would have gone with Benoit Assou-Ekotto) don't turn up until season 3.

[Pesci]

Watched the first episode to see what all the fuss was about and it was pretty decent. Very much doubt I'll be able to catch it every night though, so I'll see if I can manage the first few episodes and download the rest sometime when I'm not ridiculously busy.

Edited March 31, 2009 by Pesci

[King Ellis]

There are too many blacks on this show, I am confused? Where are the white people? Racism :no:

[-A-]

That's actually one of the biggest reasons the show got terrible ratings in the US, apparently. The creator said something like 'when 60-70% of your cast is African-American a certain percentage of the audience just tunes out.' Turns out I love the blacks.

[Timmoru Suzuki]

I really enjoyed it, especially for a first episode. Assuming I haven't fallen victim to sleep deprivation, I'll tune in again tonight certainly.

Is it "over" now? As in are there no more episodes to be made? I know there's 5 seasons so far, just wondering if there's more planned.

[-A-]

It's almost definitely finished, I think. It's not because of how it ended though, it's because of how the creators have described it ('we told all the story we wanted to' etc.) I think the ratings were declining as well and they've moved on to Generation Kill. David Simon, the creator of The Wire, is supposed to be making a new show based on the rebuilding of New Orleans (or something similar) which sounds like it could be similar to this, though.

Edited March 31, 2009 by -A-

[Skummy]

Hey guys, do you reckon that the chess game might have been an analogy as to the inner workings of an illegal drug organisation?!

[-A-]

I actually didn't like that scene as much as some other people did. In any other programme I'd think the writer was trying to be profound and communicate some serious statement to the viewers. The more I got to know The Wire, the more I thought it was something D'Angelo thought was profound even though it was crude.