And then Season 5 happens. Have just finished re-watching the whole series. Some shameful shit right there. Drug wars, territorial disputes, and the assassination of the citys largest drug importer manage to produce a brief inside the metro section that refers only to the slaying of a second-hand appliance store owner. the Los Angeles Police Department? | Although its one of my favorites, the only things in common with "Wire" are forensic psychologists profiling murderous sickos, and helping the police catch 'em. These I would use to show my students when teaching a crime profiling class. The amount of quotables in this show is amazing. Drugs were just an excuse to pursue their passion, because it is clear that wacking people is what they loved. The acting is first rate but a few of the episodes really have huge gaping holes in the plot. Both are similar, and both are very good. The major American cities are in woeful shape and for various reasons we can not or will not stop this slow-moving train. Im interested. I guess Im just ranting about how I fell in love with this show and can never get enough of it. Also liked how micheal played through the all series always looking out for people around him and outsmarting snoop at the end There is a last minute dash to rescue some young woman being held by a psychopath. Well now, its been a week since The Wire s final episode and a certain calm has descended, leaving a little less agita and a little more reflection. And whether that is an accurate critique? And Omar, well I can understand his death, tragic, but it was more realistic than a final bloodfest. I was only introduced to this show in 2014 by a friend in college at Washington State University that let me borrow is DVDs one season at a time, and I bought the DVD box set shortly thereafter. Dont even know where to start, and I dont think I can critique anything about this show because it critiques itself. I was born with scoop mentality and its never left me. Anyway, remember that Colvins 14% were clean numbers (he didnt juke the stats) so 14% is a large increase if you look at it that way. Enter DI Alex Fielding, Simone Lahbib. Not so much as an offhand reference, and that goes not just for the journalists displeased enough with our newspaper tale, but for the larger number of commentators and critics who thought we did swell. It was edgy and gritty, with strong performances from everyone. Such a newspaper was not chronicled onThe Wire. So fuck what I said. Dr. Hill comes up with detail after detail about the perpetrator, without any more explanation of how he did it than Sylvia Browne, psychic, ever gives. It was pretty much written on the wall for us when that one kid didnt run away from Omar. Robson Green is incredibly impressive (and maybe a little bit scary) as eccentric psychological profiler Dr. Tony Hill, and Hermione Morris does a great job as tough DI Carol Jordan, a woman in what is still very much a man's world. Couldnt resist, sorry. You had the ambitious lying dick with no redeemable qualities, the very honorable and honest veteran, some young black guy who covered Bubbles, the villainous senior editors, and a girl who was a good reporter. I gave up due to some of the most annoying characters I have seen written. Because the thing I cant leave alone, the thing that makes me giddy as a schoolgirl is this: Whatever else I am a traitorous apostate to newsprint, the angriest hack in television, a kicker of small dogs you must acknowledge that I am now, also, the newly crowded King of Meta. Additionally though people point to the development of hyper-local news sites as a way of saying that local news isnt dead, these are often little more than blogs or advertising of businesses in the area rather than sustained critiques and investigations. All 24 episodes are great! It was too subtle for me to catch on my first watch, and Im sure a 10 hour binge made it even easier to gloss over. A great newspaper does this routinely on a multitude of issues, across its entire region. I must comment on the general disappointment around season 5 though: I too was bored by the whole Baltimore Sun room and cast. He seems so confident that each person is the perpetrator then half way through the interview says 'no it's not him' very annoying. The people changed but the game remained exactly the same. But youre entitled to enjoy one thing more than another, and youre even entitled to wonder about a filmmakers or writers motivations and standing, whether or not you actually have any evidence of its relevance or not. Maybe you were too close? Web2. Too short. When there is an ensemble cast and crew that work their hardest to put out the best product possible, it makes viewing a very satisfying activity. I really gave this a chance, watching the first two series almost to the end, but it got the better of me: I had the sense of having been there and seen it already. No show has ever, EVER done that. And they covered more ground, and they knew the terrain in a way that they no longer do. Summary: Tony is put under police protection when the area mental health commissioner is brutally murdered. Every single time I watch this show over again, I notice something I never saw before, and get instant gratification for going back again and re-watching it. I was wondering, What does it take to become an officer of I started watching this show in series 1. We certainly expected more attention from the media. I watched all five series back to back in less than a month bit of an overdose I guess, but just couldnt stop. It wasnt until maybe the 3rd time that I understood these theme about the newsroom. But there used to be more of them. This series is generally well-scripted and acted. One of the best Crime drama/ Mystery Thriller TV shows ever made, Vivid, believable shows with a charismatic psychologist solving intriguing crimes, Twisted and gory, but I love Robson Green. We did that, too, because hey, to criticize such a newsroom culture did indeed carry those risks in Baltimore. Brought up to believe in hard case police work, her world was turned upside down by Tony's presence. If you like Touching Evil or Monk, this series may be for you. I dunno. The pictures of his cleaned up corners and happy citizens as a result of Hamsterdam would suggest that the drop was much larger than that 14%. Has the city cleaned up. I wish I attended that panel, and heard the insight Im sure you provided. As Tony I been expressing to folk since 2002 Pelecanos, Lehane, Price, Alvarez, Zorzi, the directors, cast, the whole lot. I'm a big fan of good,clever mystery. But what is particularly interesting is, aside from McNulty, many of the white characters in the season engage in almost the same amount and level of corrupted games as their black counterparts, in some cases moreso. Green's vulnerability, intensity and flexibilty in his craft is a complete pleasure. Just depressing the way it wallows in the depravity of the serial killers and hits you over the head with it. While we have been in the longest war in U.S. history we have had to sit through endless sensationalism about: Jeb Bushs crackhead niece Noelle Bush; Terry Schiavo; Tiger Woods; Casey Anthony; Treyvon Martin then George Zimmerman; Michael Brown; and it will never end. If my state of mind can be presumed by this fellow, certainly Im entitled to note his own. Not that your intention with this blog was to do that. 4. Or are you just that pissed and depressed about the world that you cant help but force your misery on your viewers? There is always a player in the on deck circle, even when the final out is being recorded. 6 Apr. Just wished it had a normal (13) episode count. Thank you for telling these stories. Uncovered. McNulty crossing the Rubicon with the fake serial-killer angle brought up an appropriate amount of conflict about the age-old Does the End Justify the Means question, but really, to have BOTH Greggs AND Herc sell him out?! An eccentric psychologist, with zero social skills, and a smart and charming female detective come together in Bradfield, England, to solve cases that no normal policemen could ever. Coming into the series after nearly a decade of being exposed to the general hype and season five criticism, I finished season five feeling just as I would imagine you intended. Ohhh, and the commissioner and Senator Davis, you might as well have been talking about our infamous Marion Barry and his cronies all over the place. When the Wire was first broadcast, in 2002, I decided not to watch it because of the hype. Any criticism you get is unwarranted. I watched The Wire a second time few years later and I loved season 2. Americans are stupid ppl by and larger, they pretty much believe whatever we tell them I started college as a J-student and later moved to English. I certainly read that last post and thought thats angry. The editing becomes more choppy, inserting 1-2 second scenes in the middle of something else. Love The Wire. This feeling of gritty realism was lost on me during the McNulty fake-killer arc. It is for this reason that I think Season 5 is so brilliant. Burns is fuckin awesome. My husband watched this series on HBO, I must of been working. Peace, yo. The fact that my appreciation for every single season changed over time due to rewatching the show over and over, proves how good this series as a whole really is. Maybe enough individuals can make an impactor at least make an impact on more individuals. I also loved Generation Kill. I absolutely love this program so so much! While she tries her best to support her parents, Puleng also hates how theyre not willing to give up on the past. Good series wish could of been another series though! But what can you do? I am glad you landed Naymond softly but Randy getting beat down again in the group home then showing up for a second in season 5 STILL in a group home- couldnt Carver have at least followed through on ONE good intention and taken him out of that system?! . Wire in the Blood vol 2 Sharp Compassion. Yes, that IS the truth for kids all over the DMV (D.C., Maryland, Virginia) but I really wish, David, you could have shown him some compassion as the most innocent among them really deserved some kind of redemption. But it was still damn above all the other things (books, series, movies). I would really appreciate any help What is most unfortunate is that your scathing and accurate critique of Washington D.Cs left armpit (with PG County being its right) and really the entire D.C. area will always be written off as great entertainment and remembered as one of the best shows ever on television. THE BEST FUCKING SERIES I EVER WATCHED! The school system is closest to my heart because I grew up in that sad, irreparable school system and the stories of those kids were the ones I really hoped would resolve better so you knew that in the end, at least SOMEONE in that hood got a real chance. David-I just finished the entire series in about a week. The first two, "Singing" and "Shadows" are adaptations of author Val McDermid's books; This is a taut British crime drama very much in the "Cracker" mould. There were still good journalists in our make-believe newsroom, and they did some good work just as there are still such souls in Baltimore and every city laboring in similar fashion and to similar result. Its quite apparent that todays 24 hour news cycle is entirely based on sensationalist impact stories. But life isnt like that. The Hunger Games is a four-part film series that is based on the hit trilogy of What a way for a series to go out. Season 5 is tremendous, you have such great payoffs for characters, building on all that came before. The great irony (relative to the final season) is that the criticism being leveled against NCLB and the war on drugs was lost on the real-life media in the very same way that The Wires Baltimore Sun missed those very same things in the show. One last thing though .Duquan. And while I tell everyone who will listen that this is the best show ever made I do feel Season 5 had some hokey yet prominent elements. To me, The Wire was told as an epic novel. Stars Robson Green Mark At least youre not complete sadists. Surprisingly because i'm usually no fan at all of the serial-killer genre nor the kind of grisly imagery that this show always provides. Every time I sit down to watch it again, more and more of the depth reveals itself. I became hooked from the first episode "Mermaids Singing" which is done in 2 parts, with each episode my enthusiasm for the show also grew. In this sense, life-imitates-art just as art-imitates-life. Anyway, for me, its perfect. Ps. Everyone who complanes about season 5 is just mourning. And okay, the city editor, the honorable fellow, the one for whom journalism was an ethos, he got slapped down and thrown to the copy desk. The more honest assessment is that it doesnt matter where I stand, or where Ed Burn stands, or what I think. The plot simply provided context and structure for socio-political criticism. Most commentary has season 4 as the best and has season 5 as the least best. Even though I dont like those gay fags fuckin each other but thats the world we live in so no problems. I have an unanswered question about the ending and it appears as though there is (or should be) a sequel to this? A good newspaper covers its city and acquires not just the quantitative account of a days events, but the qualitative truth and meaning behind those events. The Mermaids Singing: Part 1: Directed by Andrew Grieve. Love your comment. Fielding is a single mother with a son and a cat, yet in the second episode of s4, "Torment", the writers were able to slide her easily into the role that would have been Norris'. Another Silence Of The Lambs/Cracker knock-off, without the storylines, I'm afraid. The shows all involve murder and this is the focus of the plots. Particularly the fat guy in homicide (who pissed me off so much I blocked out the characters name from memory) who would rather jerk off behind his desk to titty mags and suck off the government nipple while the whole city goes up in flames. See if you can purse your lips any tighter or hold your nose any higher. Im nitpicking though I loved seeing the little references to old characters even sourvino being in the final series Top series. The case was based on a wealth of curruption and illegal detective work and the need for self-preservation could easily allow for a deal to be made. The 'genius' Dr, absentminded of course, to fulfill another clich, who comes across as being more in need of professional help than his patients. Having worked (briefly) with troubled inner city kids, I thought my heart would breakand it didduring season 4. You wanna say so on the producers blog, no worries. Missing a storyIm still writingstill kills me. To the people saying he was stupid for returning to Baltimore in the first place: Marlo used the perfect bait. I just binge-watched the last 3 seasons after slowly going through 1 & 2 and I feel regret that I almost missed out on this amazing thing that started basically a decade ago when I was just starting high school. I love game of thrones (but its too quick imo), but The Wire is the best. I HOPE THEY COME OUT WITH MORE SEASONS!! Done very tastefully. The criminals are deeply psychologically twisted, far more so than any person you have ever encountered, even in the newspapers. Liz had sent a distress call to the two medics, and they all make an attempt to flee in an ambulance. The man who plays Tony Hill, the psychologist, is great. Seemed pretty angry to me. It worked, I thought it fell short of the seasons 3, and 4. Robson Green is a great talent, in spite of what his fellow Newcastleian had to say above. The plots, moreover, are taut and well-written. Lowry got it, and tellingly, he used to work for theL.A. Timesbut is now a step or two removed from a metropolitan daily, writing forVariety. I just watched all 5 seasons over the past couple weeks and it was a pleasure. She sends him to chase down Keith and kill him. But if I dont play how can I and everyone else fix the rules? Anyway, thats all. My original ranking was honestly 4-1-3-5-2 with my first watch. Season 2 was the bravest thing ever seen on TV. Could this be a solution to the decline of established local titles like the Sun? 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