For fans of "The Wire"

Alan Sepinwall, the Star-Ledger TV critic who operates a tremendous blog, is now backtracking to critique Season 2 of "The Wire." He's previously done Season 1, and Seasons 4 and 5 in real time.


http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2009/05/wire-season-2-episode-1-ebb-tide_29.html

 

Awesome. I was waiting for this. He actually backtracked and did Season 1 last summer, with one review written for newbies with no spoilers and one review written for vets with spoilers on how certain things tie in later on. Great stuff.

 

I seriously think that watching "The Wire" is going to help me in law school. The cases are really complex narratives with all sorts of crazy ambiguities, but I have the patience to stay with them until I understand them, and a large part of that comes from watching this show the last year or two and knowing that the payoff is worth the investment.

 

will check em out - the show was incredible. best television I think I've ever seen.

 

I loved reading his Season 1 review recaps, so I'll definitely check out the Season 2 stuff.

My fondness for Season 2 grows everytime I watch it, though I imagine it was a jarring change for viewers actually watching the show in real-time on HBO (I got into it on DVD just after Season 4 completed its run). It's an interesting piece to me in that, at first glance, it's the least-connected from the whole piece as any of the seasons. But on review the stuff with the Greeks, Prop Joe and the Co-Op, poor D'Angelo's end, and the political shenanigans going on with the land on the docks that's eventually flipped for condos (I /think/ these ended up being involved in Clay Davis' and Stringer's Season 3 real-estate dealings, though I'd have to watch again with an eye for it to be sure) becomes a lot more significant. It's a lot of set-up for payoff that sometimes doesn't come until two or three years later. And the theme of it seems even more pointed now, after the real estate crash and with the current state of employment.

 

One of the take-aways from The Wire for me was that it takes a lot of time to explain why things are the way the are - which is why it takes a fictional TV show to tell the story instead of a newspaper or TV station.
Recently watched "The Corner" - really good stuff.

 

I just finished watching Season 5 last month after a non-stop Netflix Wire watchathon with the wife.

Like others, I didn't think Season 5 delivered enough. The whole fake serial killer thing just didn't do it for me. Still, better than 99 percent of the stuff out there.

Loved the series. And I think maybe I saw it too quickly.

I heard about The Corner, thanks for reminding me to add it to my queue.

 

"Generation Kill" is also awesome Simon/Burns fare.

I'm really looking forward to his series about New Orleans.

 

I love Season 2, and think it might be tied with Season 4 for my favorite of the series. I think it really helps you understand that this series is about economics and what individuals feel like they have to do to survive in a society that no longer values people the way it values the dollar. The lack of regard for compassion and human dignity is no more of a problem in West Baltimore than it is in the corporate boardrooms and halls of state government.

The shot at the end of Bad Dreams, where Frank is walking toward Vondas and The Greek, when they happen to get the call from their informant right as they're about to go for his deal, is one of my favorite scenes in the entire series. I think Frank Sobatka is such a great character, and gets overlooked a lot when people sing the praises of this series. We supposed to think of him as this kind of noble figure, doing what he can to save his union, even if it means getting bed with terrible people. But he never really has to weigh the cost of the decisions he's made until those dead girls turn up in the can and Ziggy does what he does. It's such a tragic and beautiful arch, and says so much about the desperation of working class America. I've head so many white people say stuff like "People who deal drugs are just making bad choices and we're all responsible for our own choices, so I don't feel sympathy for them." And it's always interesting to hear their thoughts on Season 2 of The Wire, because there is rarely that echo of "Well, the dockworker guys got what was coming to them." It's like once the racial aspect is removed from the equation, the decision to cast judgement becomes a bit more difficult.

As a lot of the comments point out in that Ebb Tide review, so much of this season is about being fucked over by fate. Every decision has a ripple effect.

All Prologue is also one of the best single episodes in the entire series.

 

Just found out about this really cool "Wire" event next Thursday at Baltimore's Museum of Industry -- they're taking down the exhibit about filmmaking in Maryland, which focused on "The Wire." Going to see if my wife will go with me.

Join us for the closing of the exhibit: Local Scenes on the Silver Screen, featuring HBO's The Wire

An event and silent auction to support the Baltimore Museum of Industry & the Maryland Film Industry Coalition

Thursday, July 30th, 5:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
Baltimore Museum of Industry
1415 Key Highway
Tickets: $45 at the door, $40 in advance, $35 for BMI members and film industry union & guild members. Tickets can be purchased through the museum at 410-727-4808 ext. 105 or ext. 129.

Menu of Events
Drinks on the Patio, 5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Silent Auction begins.

Mingle with film industry members including cast, crew and actors from The Wire; Nina K. Noble, Executive Producer; Actors Jermaine Crawford (Dukie), Anwan Glover (Slim Charles), Michael Kostroff (Lawyer Maury Levy), Corey Parker Robinson (Det. Leander Sydnor), Sonja Sohn (Det. Kima Greggs), Delaney Williams (Sgt. Jay Landsman), S. Robert Morgan (Blind Butchie), Greg Williams (Det. Michael Crutchfield) and more still being confirmed.

Keep the Cameras Rolling, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
From bustling Baltimore to the Bay and beyond, the film industry has long thrived in Maryland. Ed Norris, radio personality and former Wire actor, will moderate a discussion with industry insiders about the current challenge facing the film business in Maryland and what's in store for the future.
The Night is Still Young, 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
• Go on crew-led tours of the exhibit Local Scenes on the Silver Screen
• Bid on auction items:
The Wire Season 4, Episode 1 Script Autographed by 24 actors!
Homicide: Life on the Street Props
Items from The Wire & other MD productions including Homicide: Life on the Street & Tuck Everlasting
A "Wire" set tour by Production Designer - Vince Peranio
Stringer Bells' Wardrobe from his murder scene
The Wire Season 4 Cast Autographed Poster
Set Dressing from The Wire
David Simon Autographed Copy of The Wire Boxed Set
John Water's Autographed Book of screenplays, including Hairspray & Female Trouble
"The Wire: Truth be Told", autographed by David Simon & Rafael Alvarez
David Simon Autographed copy of the book Homicide

 

Stringer Bell's wardrobe is cool but Omar's bathrobe would be awesome!

 

Slim Charles is from down this way in DC and does the Sunday evening show on one of the R&B/pop stations. His little brother in real life got got in a drive-by in Northeast last year.