# The Wire comes to BBC2 (Spoiler free, please)



## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

It's gonna get crap viewing figures cos we've all downloaded/bought it already, haven't we?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7940061.stm



(not really a story, but we haven't had a new Wire thread for _days_)


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## Vintage Paw (Mar 12, 2009)

I'm going to watch it.


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## upsidedownwalrus (Mar 12, 2009)

Outside of Urban, I know relativley few people who know it.

I reckon it will do quite well.


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## Vintage Paw (Mar 12, 2009)

What does this mean?



> All 60 episodes across the show's five seasons will be shown stripped across the week. Transmission dates have yet to be announced.



All 60 eps in one week?


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

belboid said:


> we've all downloaded/bought it already, haven't we?


Nope.

I'll give it a go, since you lot go on about it.


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## marty21 (Mar 12, 2009)

i'll watch it again, even though i have already watched it on dvd


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## marty21 (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Nope.
> 
> I'll give it a go, since you lot go on about it.



i told you it would go to the beeb


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

massively behind the trend again beeb. Still it will hook a few in and I'll be able to tell recent converts that I watched the lot AGES ago and thus confirm my position as the finger on the pulse of the zietgiest


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

marty21 said:


> i told you it would go to the beeb


You did.

It's got Lovejoy in it, right?


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

I am going to watch it as well.


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## electrogirl (Mar 12, 2009)

I have never seen it. I will watch.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

Hopefully they don't stick it on at stupid o'clock like 1 or 2 am.


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## marty21 (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> You did.
> 
> It's got Lovejoy in it, right?



definitely, he's in it, and Morecombe and Wise, Cannon and Ball, and Mike Yarwood 


it's a laughfest


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> What does this mean?


That's got me shrugging too. 

Ive never watched the wire on a weekly episodic format. Does it work that way? 

I hate recaps at the beginning of shows.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

marty21 said:


> definitely, he's in it, and Morecombe and Wise, Cannon and Ball, and Mike Yarwood


They could have saved money by just having Yarwood.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> That's got me shrugging too.
> 
> Ive never watched the wire on a weekly episodic format. Does it work that way?
> 
> I hate recaps at the beginning of shows.



How did you watch it? I done it 2-3 episodes per night. Film stylie.


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 12, 2009)

belboid said:


> It's gonna get crap viewing figures cos we've all downloaded/bought it already, haven't we?
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7940061.stm
> 
> ...



I've never seen it, and know plenty of people who've never watched it...


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## Paulie Tandoori (Mar 12, 2009)

i'll probably try and have a watch to see what all the fuss is.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> How did you watch it? I done it 2-3 episodes per night. Film stylie.



Same.


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## marty21 (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> They could have saved money by just having Yarwood.



he does provide a narrative spine to it


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Kid_Eternity said:


> I've never seen it, and know plenty of people who've never watched it...


Nobody I know in meatspace has seen it.


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## Diamond (Mar 12, 2009)

I wonder if the Beeb will be brave enough to put it on at 9. Knowing bbc2's form it's far more likely that they'll slot it in at 11.20 after newsnight.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Diamond said:


> I wonder if the Beeb will be brave enough to put it on at 9. Knowing bbc2's form it's far more likely that they'll slot it in at 11.20 after newsnight.


In which case, I'll still not see it.

Och well.


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## Griff (Mar 12, 2009)

I might give it a go to see what all the fuss is about an' all.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

I cant help thinking this show will be relegated to the Seinfeld/ Mad Men slot. 

The language, the subject matter, the largely black cast... its all going to alienate the fuck out of a BBC audience.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Diamond said:


> I wonder if the Beeb will be brave enough to put it on at 9. Knowing bbc2's form it's far more likely that they'll slot it in at 11.20 after newsnight.



yup.


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## ringo (Mar 12, 2009)

Reckon it'll be good to see it again, probably pick a few extra things up this time.


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## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

will they censor it as well? bet they do a bit.

It always shocks and annoys me when people havent seen the wire.


I couldn't watch it weekly i can't watch any drama series weekly i want to know things too much.


dave


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> It always shocks and annoys me when people havent seen the wire.




Why?


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> will they censor it as well? bet they do a bit.
> 
> *It always shocks and annoys me when people havent seen the wire.
> *
> ...


I think less of them


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## gosub (Mar 12, 2009)

Does this mean there will actually be a point where people can discuss it without worrying about giving away spoilers


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## Griff (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> It always shocks and annoys me when people havent seen the wire.



It's this sort of evangelism that comes from people who watch it that makes me so suspicious of it.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Why?



I keep pimping the show to my mates _because it aint like normal tele_. It's (as has been said loads) like a book really, episodes as chapters rather than self contained stories with overarching storylines to link them.

After much hectoring (from me) Ginger Matt's gyal bought him series one boxset and now he is entranced and acknowledges me as a God of TV Show recommendations.


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## kyser_soze (Mar 12, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> What does this mean?
> 
> 
> 
> All 60 eps in one week?



Hmm, I hope it doesn't mean what I think it means - Monday=S1, Tuesday S2, Weds S3 and so on...


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I keep pimping the show to my mates _because it aint like normal tele_.


It was the "shocks and annoys" thing that I was asking about.


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## boing! (Mar 12, 2009)

I've never watched it. In fact I don't know anyone irl who has. 

I am intrigued by the amount of hype it receives on here though. Although it does sound like they're going to show it all in one week? How is that going to work, or have I read it wrong.  I have better things to do with an entire week than watch tv...


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## Kid_Eternity (Mar 12, 2009)

There's only 60 episodes and it's five seasons long?!


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## electrogirl (Mar 12, 2009)

boing! said:


> I've never watched it. In fact I don't know anyone irl who has.
> 
> I am intrigued by the amount of hype it receives on here though. Although it does sound like they're going to show it all in one week? How is that going to work, or have I read it wrong.  I have better things to do with an entire week than watch tv...



I don't. 

I just have other telly to fit in.


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## kyser_soze (Mar 12, 2009)

Kid_Eternity said:


> There's only 60 episodes and it's five seasons long?!



Yes, altho each ep is actually 60 mins, not 40, so each season is the equiv of 18 'normal' length US TV shows.



> I am intrigued by the amount of hype it receives on here though. Although it does sound like they're going to show it all in one week? How is that going to work, or have I read it wrong.






			
				me said:
			
		

> Hmm, I hope it doesn't mean what I think it means - Monday=S1, Tuesday S2, Weds S3 and so on...


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

boing! said:


> I have better things to do with an entire week than watch tv...


But there in lies the point, very few people have had to sit down at a time appointed by a tv scheduler to watch the Wire. 

We've mostly seen it on DVD/ torrents, and that way it slips into our lives *when * we have the time. And not the other way around.


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## Paulie Tandoori (Mar 12, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> Yes, altho each ep is actually 60 mins, not 40, so each season is the equiv of 18 'normal' length US TV shows.


if each episode is 60 mins and there are 12 episodes per season, then there's no way that they could show a season in one evening is there?


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> We've mostly seen it on DVD/ torrents


I'm willing to put money on the proposition that only a small minority of people watch torrents, or have even heard of torrents.


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## D'wards (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> the largely black cast... its all going to alienate the fuck out of a BBC audience.



nah - they repeated the shit out of Fresh Ponce of Bel Air, remember - was on the 6pm slot for at least 10 years


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## D'wards (Mar 12, 2009)

I reckon they're gonna show it one episode every night.

Would not hurt if they showed it one a week normal stylee tho - its not dated at all.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Dated?  Why, when did it start?


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

D'wards said:


> nah - they repeated the shit out of Fresh Ponce of Bel Air, remember - was on the 6pm slot for at least 10 years


Will wasnt supposed to be an accurate depication of Philly yoot though was he?!


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Dated?  Why, when did it start?



2000, iirc.


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## poului (Mar 12, 2009)

*op'okl?opio99*

I'm not sure these people deserve this second chance. They've been given all the time in the world to check it out, if they missed it then they should go without the Wire in their life. It's their loss, after all.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Will wasnt supposed to be an accurate depication of Philly yoot though was he?!



You mean thats not how it is?


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

BLATANTLY on at 12.15am, Wednesday, double header.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> 2000, iirc.


Really?  It's 9 years old?


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Really?  It's 9 years old?



Yeh.

It could be 2001. But it is definitely around then.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> You mean thats not how it is?


Similar. 
Afterall, a couple of guys who were up to no good, did start making trouble in his neighbourhood. That's Bodie and Poot right there. I blame social promotion. And the drug corners


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> I'm not sure these people deserve this second chance. They've been given all the time in the world to check it out, if they missed it then they should go without the Wire in their life. It's their loss, after all.




Seriously?  

It's that kind of talk that turns me against this show.  Not everyone torrents, or buys DVDs on the say-so of internet people.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Seriously?
> 
> It's that kind of talk that turns me against this show.  Not everyone torrents, or buys DVDs on the say-so of internet people.


Actually the boyfriend feels the same way.  He refuses to watch it on account of me having inducted all of our friends into the cult of Bunk and Bell. 

Makes me feel cold towards him at times.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.


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## 8den (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Yeh.
> 
> It could be 2001. But it is definitely around then.



Aired June 2002. Episode 1 made several references to FBI/Dept of Homeland Security, post 9/11.


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## poului (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Seriously?
> 
> It's that kind of talk that turns me against this show.  Not everyone torrents, or buys DVDs on the say-so of internet people.




It was a tad more than the "say-so of internet people" though wasn't it?

Seriously don't bother. Who do you think you are to even envisage yourself a worthy addition to our elite club?


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

8den said:


> Aired June 2002. Episode 1 made several references to FBI/Dept of Homeland Security, post 9/11.



I checked since I posted that, you are right.

It has been a while since I watched it from series1.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

mother_fucker_.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> It was a tad more than the "say-so of internet people" though wasn't it?
> 
> Seriously don't bother. Who do you think you are to even envisage yourself a worthy addition to our elite club?


Now see that barely concealed contempt coursing through you- I have to endure that every time I look at my beloved.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> mother_fucker_.



The fuck did I do?


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## poului (Mar 12, 2009)

*i87on87ol*

You just don't cut it, danny la rouge.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> It was a tad more than the "say-so of internet people" though wasn't it?


Well I first heard of it on here, in the last year.  Nobody I've asked about it in real life has ever heard of it.  Not even my sister, and she is the only person I know who downloads TV shows off the internet.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> You just don't cut it, danny la rouge.


No, I don't suppose I do.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

How have people never heard of it?  It's fucking everywhere!  I know some real stupid dickhead wankers who love it now and it burns me up inside.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

If it will encourage you D-Red, the series as a whole serves as a critique of modern US institutions and as a damning indictment of the circular nature of w/c poverty.


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## poului (Mar 12, 2009)

*i689n8ohil*

Not applying any reverse psychology in the slightest....


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Sadken said:


> How have people never heard of it?


By not reading "Torrent Nerd Weekly".


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> By not reading "Torrent Nerd Weekly".



Oh boy, did you ever get me there!


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> If it will encourage you D-Red, the series as a whole serves as a critique of modern US institutions and as a damning indictment of the circular nature of w/c poverty.


And gunz, dont forget the gunz. 

And space ships.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> Not applying any reverse psychology in the slightest....


See, I started the thread thinking I'd give it a go, but now I'm thinking "fuck that elitist pish".


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> And gunz, dont forget the gunz.
> 
> And space ships.



Tittys.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> And gunz, dont forget the gunz.
> 
> And space ships.



And oiled up bikini clad lesbian catfights.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

_My_ man!


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## poului (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> See, I started the thread thinking I'd give it a go, but now I'm thinking "fuck that elitist pish".




Sure you are.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Sadken said:


> Oh boy, did you ever get me there!


The point is, most people are not torrent users.  It is a minority sport.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

poului said:


> Sure you are.


I am.  I'm like that, you see.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> And oiled up bikini clad lesbian catfights.



Naked smooth-skinned, glowing lesbians at that!


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## Griff (Mar 12, 2009)

This thread makes me seriously _not_ want to watch it.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> The point is, most people are not torrent users.  It is a minority sport.



But I've seen about 1000 articles in the Guardian, plus references on tv and other articles.  It's even been reviewed favourably in Heat, that most elitest of elite rags.


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## electrogirl (Mar 12, 2009)

I reckon alot of people have heard of it, less people have watched it, and quite a few people haven't heard of it at all.


Thanks then.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Naked smooth-skinned, glowing lesbians at that!



I like that edit.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Love that scene!  Its hot. 

Actually the Wire does a nice line in comedy sex scenes.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Love that scene!  Its hot.
> 
> Actually the Wire does a nice line in comedy sex scenes.



Yes.


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## Sadken (Mar 12, 2009)

The Wire has Omar.  You need this character in your life, so you can do his whistle.  He's one of the best characters in anything ever - books, films, comics, WWF - anything.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Yes.



Wire Sex is just another inconsequential reason why I love the show. 

NYPD fr'instance, always took great care to light Jimmy Smit's love scenes to make him look muscled and Adonis-like, he made lurrrrrrve and the ladeez were grateful. 

The Wire has randomn drunken grunty fucks! I cant only recall 2 'lurrve making' scenes, and thusly they stand out. 




			
				 sadken said:
			
		

> The Wire has Omar. You need this character in your life, so you can do his whistle. He's one of the best characters in anything ever - books, films, comics, WWF - anything.


Michael K Williams turned up in a dire Chris Rock movie on Sky Premiere this week. I actually screamed! 
The film is execrable and he's only in it long enough to hand  Chris Rock one wicked bitch slap. 

Bunk is also in it for 30 seconds.


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## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

I remember seeing Omar in The Sopranos. 

It was wrong.


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## King Biscuit Time (Mar 12, 2009)

Didn't realise that 'McNulty' was English. In fact, not only English but from Sheffield .

Although unlike most people from Sheffield, it would appear he went to Eton.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

And Trinity College Dublin. Dont hate, appreciate.


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## plasticene (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Hopefully they don't stick it on at stupid o'clock like 1 or 2 am.



Hopefully they will - it's shit when your fave things get really popular!


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## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

blimey, and i thought this thread would die an embarrassing death.  seems all one need do is include the word 'Wire' in a thread title for it to automatically jump to three pages.

Fuck knows what 'the show's five seasons will be shown stripped across the week.' actually means, my guess it almost nightly in the week for 15 weeks, but who really knows?

i'd also guess at it starting out at nine, then getting pushed back later and later if the viewing figures don't reach their expected heights


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## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

King Biscuit Time said:


> Didn't realise that 'McNulty' was English.


loads of the cast are (well, at least two more) and several others (well, Clarke Peters) spends most of their time here, treading the boards.


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## dwenfish (Mar 12, 2009)

i don't get it- downloaded the first series, the first episode was kind of watchable, struggled to get through the second episode and have very little inclination to watch any further....whats all the hype aboot pray tell?


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

plasticene said:


> Hopefully they will - it's shit when your fave things get really popular!



Not at all, when certain bits of work get popular one simply has to have seen other, less well known stuff that is related to the newly popular work. Then you can airily claim that these minor unknown works are superior to the newly popular work.


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## D'wards (Mar 12, 2009)

belboid said:


> loads of the cast are (well, at least two more) and several others (well, Clarke Peters) spends most of their time here, treading the boards.



Stringer Bell is a limey, is he not?


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Stringer Bell is a limey, is he not?



Idris Elba, from lahndahn tahn


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## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

aah Idris, the best Doctor Who we never had....


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## PacificOcean (Mar 12, 2009)

To be fair to BBC2, they have tried loads of things in primetime that they have had to shunt as it just doesn't get the viewers.

Seinfeld, Family Guy, Arrested Development and so on all had primetime showings before being shunted off post midnight as no one was watching.

The success of Heroes for BBC2 though might be a turning point for US drama on the Beeb.


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## mango5 (Mar 12, 2009)

Dunno why some folk are getting worked up about elistist internetz people.  It's goning to be on the BBC!  Watch and enjoy, if you will.  Give it some time and join in the debate.


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

Sadken said:


> But I've seen about 1000 articles in the Guardian, plus references on tv and other articles.  It's even been reviewed favourably in Heat, that most elitest of elite rags.


Well, you have the advantage of me as I've never read Heat.  But most people don't read the Guardian.

I frequently do, but didn't see any mention of the Wire until after I'd seen it mentioned here.  I'm just suggesting that while certain people will have seen it, and others read about it, most people will not have seen it or heard of it.


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## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Actually the boyfriend feels the same way.  He refuses to watch it on account of me having inducted all of our friends into the cult of Bunk and Bell.
> 
> Makes me feel cold towards him at times.



thats grounds for dumping i reckon.

dave


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## newme (Mar 12, 2009)

dwenfish said:


> i don't get it- downloaded the first series, the first episode was kind of watchable, struggled to get through the second episode and have very little inclination to watch any further....whats all the hype aboot pray tell?



Yup thats pretty much where I was with it, yet to see the fascination, seems decidely unengaging so far.


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## mango5 (Mar 12, 2009)

Even JC2 watched a few seasons


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

mango5 said:


> Even JC2 watched a few seasons



he blatantly only did so for troll fodder.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> he blatantly only did so for troll fodder.


Blates! Having looked through some of those older wire threads, he was a total pain in the arse on them.   He didnt like Lester Freamon much.


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> thats grounds for dumping i reckon.
> 
> dave


As if the knacker scratching and current haircut arent grounds enough.


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## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

its not engaging as in lots of violence(although there is a bit) and explosions and pretty things it, proper slow burns. But within about 3 episodes i wanted to know everything about everyone. It really intrigued me and never stopped during the whole thing. In fact i'm pissed off they didn't do more.

Seriously its amazing. I never thought anything would top the sopranos but this does. I hope its not ruined by the hype for you though, cos it would be a shame. 

Oh and its not elitist at all, everyone should love it. When it starts up i'm going to have to watch it again(4th/5th time?) so i can finally talk about it to my mates who haven't seen it yet .

dave


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## danny la rouge (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Oh and its not elitist at all


(Many of) Its fans are.  And they're putting people off.


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## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

Might give it another go but the second series was so boring I'm not overly arsed.


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## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

NVP said:


> Might give it another go but the second series was so boring I'm not overly arsed.



The second series was probably the least enjoyable for me, NVP! 

It all ties together though...watch on!


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## electrogirl (Mar 12, 2009)

NVP said:


> Might give it another go but the second series was so boring I'm not overly arsed.



lol


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## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> (Many of) Its fans are.  And they're putting people off.



Mylene Klass and the Yorkshire one from Loose Women make cameo appearances.  Low brow enough for youse?!


Why cant we celebrate clever telly? How can you justify allowing a vague sense of inverted snobbery to stop you from trying something new?


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## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

Sadken said:


> The Wire has Omar.  You need this character in your life, so you can do his whistle.  He's one of the best characters in anything ever - books, films, comics, WWF - anything.



Yes!


Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!!!!!    


If there is only one reason, it is Omar...and the progression of his character. Fucking ace!


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## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

the second season was a cracker.

ya gotta love that duck


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## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> (Many of) Its fans are.  And they're putting people off.



nah everyone wants you to join the club really. I'm just shocked and dismayed(seeing as you asked) that  there are people that still haven't been pulled in by the gravity of love that everyone has for the show. One of my best mates is one of the silly buggers still resisting, wanker(and he is a drummer, with a shit indie haircut who wears oxblood shoes and loves morrisey).

I only know one person who hasn't loved it so far and he is a bit of a tosser(he is & not just beacuse of the wire hatin). If you like your drama series it really is the best thing ever produced.


dave


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## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

I'm clearly a tosser, then.


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## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

sheothebudworths said:


> Yes!
> 
> 
> Yes, yes, yes, yes, YES!!!!!!!!
> ...










'That wud'n no 'temp murder. I just shot im in is hind parts so he wouldn't walk right'


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## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 12, 2009)

SSSWWWEEEETTTTT!

I can't find any torrents left of the second series and had to stop when the DVDs I was lent were missing two discs. Now I can watch it all without having to buy £80 of DVDs. 

The licence fee is finally giving me something back. 





There is nothing, nothing, nothing I watch on TV anymore except the news, and I am trying to give that up for radio because the morning news on BBC1 sucks hard balls. Anyone know of any good stations for lots of news? Preferably something without music.


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Michael K Williams turned up in a dire Chris Rock movie on Sky Premiere this week. I actually screamed!



I did the same when I saw him walking down a corridor - as a policeman in 'Gone Baby Gone' - WTF? 

Then later on he was back with a speaking part and I calmed down a bit, but not much.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

NVP said:


> I'm clearly a tosser, then.



Umm belive me no one wants to be like my tosser ex house mate. Dude is a gimp, a proper clueless cliched twat of one at that. Mate really wasn't the right word.

Unless you wear oxblood shoes and have a shit indie haircut in which case yes, yes you are.


dave


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

NVP is a gimp too, tbf.


----------



## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

Well, YOU'RE mates with him.   

ETA: Directed at both dave and sheo.


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)




----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

I am a gimp's mate.


----------



## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

sheothebudworths said:


> I am a gimp's mate.



That does sound particularly tragic, doesn't it?  Like you're not quite good enough to be a gimp yourself.  Which is, of course, the reality of the situation.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

ah i don't need to be insulted i only ever talk to him on facebook now. Only talked to him last year whenever i was out of weed and he was holdin. 


I had forgotten how much he annoyed me untill i had started typing to be honest.

Unlucky there ETA dircted at NVP & sheo


dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Blates! Having looked through some of those older wire threads, he was a total pain in the arse on them.   He didnt like Lester Freamon much.



he objected to his skill as an actor by claiming he was to 'stagey'.

subtle troll was subtle


----------



## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I had forgotten how much he annoyed me untill i had started typing to be honest.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

and there was always a couple of people taking the bait. Clever button pusher is clever.

dave


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

Actually, I can't really see how 'gimp' and 'dude' would go together in one package..


----------



## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> 'That wud'n no 'temp murder. I just shot im in is hind parts so he wouldn't walk right'


"Ey yo, this is some kind of full tilt set  up to catch a master scoundrel, Capone and what not... Home James!"


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

'Gimp dude'


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> "Ey yo, this is some kind of full tilt set  up to catch a master scoundrel, Capone and what not... Home James!"



Stop talking like the sex!


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

'Gimp dude's mate'.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

> Maurice 'Maury' Levy: You are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade. You are stealing from those who themselves are stealing the lifeblood from our city. You are a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs...
> Omar Little: Just like you, man.
> Maurice 'Maury' Levy: Excuse me? What?
> Omar Little: I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?


----------



## Voley (Mar 12, 2009)

sheothebudworths said:


> 'Gimp dude's mate'.



Yep. That's about the size of it, luv.


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

NVP said:


> That does sound particularly tragic, doesn't it?  Like you're not quite good enough to be a gimp yourself.  Which is, of course, the reality of the situation.



All right.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

sheothebudworths said:


> 'Gimp dude's mate'.



I do have a certain flair with my language.


dave


----------



## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> he objected to his skill as an actor by claiming he was to 'stagey'.
> 
> subtle troll was subtle



Him backing Polk and McHone over Freamon wasnt so subtle. 
Ive just felt a completely irrational flash of irritation towards the man!


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> > Maurice 'Maury' Levy: You are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade. You are stealing from those who themselves are stealing the lifeblood from our city. You are a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs...
> > Omar Little: Just like you, man.
> > Maurice 'Maury' Levy: Excuse me? What?
> > Omar Little: I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?



<flustered>


----------



## Melinda (Mar 12, 2009)

sheothebudworths said:


> Stop talking like the sex!


Its how I catch all the pretty ladeez  In homage to the man I added _'Tip on out'_ to my lexicon sometime in June 2007. 




DotCommunist said:


>


That's one of those 'superhero scenes'   It'd never happen, but all the more beautiful for it!


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Its how I catch all the pretty ladeez  In homage to the man I added _'Tip on out'_ to my lexicon sometime in June 2007.
> 
> 
> That's one of those 'superhero scenes'   It'd never happen, but all the more beautiful for it!



Of all of the characters he is the most 'superhero' but even then



Spoiler: omar



he dies an ignominious death


----------



## kained&able (Mar 12, 2009)

Bodie was my favourite. Proper ruthless but showed his heart a fair bit too.

Oh and he always looked fly as well. I want most of his clothes(not the do-rags obviously)

dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 12, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Bodie was my favourite. Proper ruthless but showed his heart a fair bit too.
> 
> Oh and he always looked fly as well. I want most of his clothes(not the do-rags obviously)
> 
> dave



a puppy with big paws.

I practised gobbing through the gap in my front teeth like he does but just ended up dribbling down me chin


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

will be monday to friday in 'the spring' 

http://blogs.thestage.co.uk/tvtoday/2009/03/the-wire-tapped-for-bbc2/


----------



## 8den (Mar 12, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> Well, you have the advantage of me as I've never read Heat.  But most people don't read the Guardian.
> 
> I frequently do, but didn't see any mention of the Wire until after I'd seen it mentioned here.  I'm just suggesting that while certain people will have seen it, and others read about it, most people will not have seen it or heard of it.



It's actually pretty obscure. Aside from some rave magazine articles I've rarly seen homicide life on the streets, I've never seen more than fifteen minutes of the epically well reviewed the shield. 

Look at this way, you occasionally meet a soul who's never watched any star wars. 

Danny, it's really not elitist, it's smart, it's funny, it's incredibly deep. And what I particularly like alot the wire, is the attitude of the the show's creator is his attitude which is _"fuck the casual viewer"_. Episodes don't start with "Previously on the Wire", stuff happens off screen that you need to work out, accents and slang are hard to understand. You're often dropped into scenes and relationships, and no one is stopping to spell things out for you. It's hard, you're expected to pay attention, they don't give you any quarter, or lower themselves to the lowest common denominator. It's a program that assumes you aren't stupid, and asks you to try and keep up. It rewards people who are willing to invest time and attention the story. 

Thats why I fucking adore it, I work in telly, and I've lost count of the number of programs I've worked on where executives and producers assume they are smarter than the people watching the programs, and dumb them down, accordingly. The Wire's not dumb down telly. You could call that elitist. I call that brilliant.


----------



## belboid (Mar 12, 2009)

Danny hasn't called the show elitist, no one has.


----------



## spirals (Mar 12, 2009)

I can't wait for it to start even though it will probably inspire more texts that start with yo shorty and motherfucker from my mum (who is nearly 60) after she watched the dvds!


----------



## sheothebudworths (Mar 12, 2009)

belboid said:


> Danny hasn't called the show elitist, no one has.



But it was a very excellent summary, nonetheless.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Mar 12, 2009)

whats the reckoning that even if they show this at a decent hour (which they probably won't coz of all the swearing, sex, drugs and violence - however non-gratuitous it is...) it gets hopeless viewing figures...?


----------



## baldrick (Mar 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Maurice 'Maury' Levy: You are feeding off the violence and the despair of the drug trade. You are stealing from those who themselves are stealing the lifeblood from our city. You are a parasite who leeches off the culture of drugs...
> Omar Little: Just like you, man.
> Maurice 'Maury' Levy: Excuse me? What?
> Omar Little: I got the shotgun. You got the briefcase. It's all in the game though, right?


ohhhh, he got so owned in that scene  

in fact the whole omar going to testify thing was just unreal.  the tie


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 12, 2009)

I'm getting increasingly excited at the prospect of seeing this all again.

Of course, BBC = no adverts  Having tried to sit through a couple of eps on FX I can tell you right now adverts + Wire = shitbird


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 12, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I'm getting increasingly excited at the prospect of seeing this all again.
> 
> Of course, BBC = no adverts  Having tried to sit through a couple of eps on FX I can tell you right now adverts + Wire = shitbird



Agreed and agreed.


----------



## newme (Mar 13, 2009)

kained&able said:


> its not engaging as in lots of violence(although there is a bit) and explosions and pretty things it, proper slow burns. But within about 3 episodes i wanted to know everything about everyone. It really intrigued me and never stopped during the whole thing. In fact i'm pissed off they didn't do more.



No i meant unengaging in that after 2 hours of watching I had so little interest in finding out what happened to any of them I couldnt be bothered to continue forcing myself to watch it.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 13, 2009)

newme said:


> No i meant unengaging in that after 2 hours of watching I had so little interest in finding out what happened to any of them I couldnt be bothered to continue forcing myself to watch it.



If only you'd just watched a third hour.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 13, 2009)

The fourth hour is when you get hooked. 

mother_fucker_.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 13, 2009)

fuck


----------



## newme (Mar 13, 2009)

ah well ill get the 3rd one at some point then, lol just seems fairly ridiculous theyve failed to bother putting anything remotely engaging in the first 2 hours of the show. Seemed decidely average so far.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 13, 2009)

You simple fuck.

The Wire sure does give good cuss. *long satisfied sigh*

e2a the abuse was aimed at Dilly, naturally.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 13, 2009)

that is one caderverous motherfucker right there.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 13, 2009)

I want a voice like Slim Charles.


----------



## 8den (Mar 13, 2009)

newme said:


> ah well ill get the 3rd one at some point then, lol just seems fairly ridiculous theyve failed to bother putting anything remotely engaging in the first 2 hours of the show. Seemed decidely average so far.



It's a slow burner, requiring an investment in time. It pays off.


----------



## 8den (Mar 13, 2009)

All five series of the wire in a five minute rap. (And yes, duh, spoilers)


----------



## belboid (Mar 13, 2009)

newme said:


> ah well ill get the 3rd one at some point then, lol just seems fairly ridiculous theyve failed to bother putting anything remotely engaging in the first 2 hours of the show. Seemed decidely average so far.



dont bother watching the rest of it then.  if you dont think their was anything interesting in the first two hours, its not for you.

you're a fool, but what the hell


----------



## kyser_soze (Mar 13, 2009)

newme said:


> ah well ill get the 3rd one at some point then, lol just seems fairly ridiculous theyve failed to bother putting anything remotely engaging in the first 2 hours of the show. Seemed decidely average so far.



I was there after the discussion between McNutty and the street dude on how 'Snot' Boogey got his nickname and the dice games from the start.


----------



## electrogirl (Mar 22, 2009)

When is this actually coming?

I've nearly finished The Sopranos now and need something more.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 23, 2009)

Melinda said:


> I want a voice like Slim Charles.



I'd just like Slim Charles, please.


----------



## mhendo (Mar 23, 2009)

belboid;8866884]dont bother watching the rest of it then.  if you dont think their was anything interesting in the first two hours said:


> I'm getting increasingly excited at the prospect of seeing this all again.
> 
> Of course, BBC = no adverts  Having tried to sit through a couple of eps on FX I can tell you right now adverts + Wire = shitbird


Yeah, having ads just completely fucks it over.

One of the basic cable channels, Black Entertainment Television (BET) showed _The Wire_, in reruns, with adverts. Of course, because the HBO originals were written to run about 55 minutes with no ads, BET had to allot a full 90 minute segment for each episode so it could fit in commercials.

All except Season 2.

They managed to fit Season 2 into a 60-minute slot by cutting almost the whole of the storyline about the docks, and focusing almost exclusively on the streets and the drug stuff. Here's a list of the scenes cut from Season 2, Episode 1, "Ebb Tide":


Spoiler: Episode summary



* The opening scene with McNulty on the boat
    * Prez/Valcheck's office chat about life and the church window.
    * Frank going to the church to see the new window.
    * Nick at home with his mother with Ziggy sleeping on the couch.
    * A scene with Nick on his way to work passing by new houses.
    * Nick and Ziggy on the way to meet Vondas .(It just skips to them walking through the diner door.)
    * Stringer in his lawyer's office.
    * The first part of the scene where McNulty is charting the tides. (It cuts to him faxing it instead.)
    * Kima arriving home to Cheryl where they talk about the baby.
    * Scene where the floater's name is written on the board, with Cole and Landsman commenting.


This editing, of course, fits into BET's mandate as a network primarily aimed at a black audience, but i think it's a real shame that they fucked it up like that.


----------



## 8den (Mar 23, 2009)

mhendo said:


> I'm not sure i agree with that. I found the first season of _The Wire_ to be a bit of a slow burner, and it wasn't until about the sixth or seventh episode that i was really hooked. It takes a little while to realize, if you don't know what to expect, that this is different from normal, episodic television, and that there is not necessarily going to be a specific story arc and conclusion for each episode. Yeah, having ads just completely fucks
> 
> 
> This editing, of course, fits into BET's mandate as a network primarily aimed at a black audience, but i think it's a real shame that they fucked it up like that.




KILL THEM WITH FIRE!!!!!!!


----------



## elevendayempire (Mar 23, 2009)

belboid said:


> aah Idris, the best Doctor Who we never had....


There's still time! He's young. Mind you, he'll probably be winning Oscars by the time Matt Smith buggers off...


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 23, 2009)

BBC2 are doing what they alwys do and putting good shows on too late

11.20pm   

on too late

people have to get up and won't stay up so the viewing figures don't hold up which perpetuates the stupid idea that good US shows dont work

they did it with seinfeld, curb and now the wire


----------



## PacificOcean (Mar 23, 2009)

rubbershoes said:


> BBC2 are doing what they alwys do and putting good shows on too late
> 
> 11.20pm
> 
> ...



I emailed the BBC through their "Contact Us" link.

They emailed me back to say it won't be cut, but trying US programming in earlier slots has proved unsuccessful.

To be fair, I remember Sienfield being on BBC2 at 9pm at first, before being swiftly moved to a post midnight slot.

Maybe, there just isn't enough viewers in the UK to make American programming popular, apart from channels like FX where they get 100,000 viewers tops?


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Mar 23, 2009)

Heard all the talk, never seen any of it before and i'm really looking forward to it starting on BBC 2


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 23, 2009)

rubbershoes said:


> BBC2 are doing what they alwys do and putting good shows on too late
> 
> 11.20pm
> 
> ...



That's a reasonable time to put a violent cop show on


----------



## belboid (Mar 23, 2009)

not really.  11.20 every weekday night for 12 weeks? Those woh haven't seen it before are absolutely bound to miss episodes, or be too drunk when getting back from the pub, and it'll fail, and the beeb will go 'well, it's not worth us spending money on things like that, is it?'


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 23, 2009)

Is it on every week night? That is unreasonable then.


----------



## rutabowa (Mar 23, 2009)

Melinda said:


> I cant help thinking this show will be relegated to the Seinfeld/ Mad Men slot.
> 
> The language, the subject matter, the largely black cast... its all going to alienate the fuck out of a BBC audience.



yes, the bbc audience isn't nearly so freethinking as the urban 75 crowd!! they're gonna freak!


----------



## belboid (Mar 23, 2009)

starting from monday, yup


----------



## PacificOcean (Mar 23, 2009)

If a channel like FX can afford it show it over here, then it will be chicken feed to the BBC who then has a show for weeks to fill a late slot on BBC2.


----------



## Diamond (Mar 23, 2009)

iplayer, people.

There will always be iplayer.


----------



## belboid (Mar 23, 2009)

most foreign imports don't get onto iplayer


----------



## elevendayempire (Mar 23, 2009)

belboid said:


> most foreign imports don't get onto iplayer


Not entirely true - first-run stuff like Heroes and Mad Men appears on the iPlayer (though there are all sorts of restrictions, like Mad Men being deleted after a week instead of a month ).


----------



## belboid (Mar 23, 2009)

that's why I said 'most' 

(didn't realise Mad Men did, tho, I must admit)


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 23, 2009)

The public want original programming at peak viewing hours - USA imports are pretty niche by license fee  standards. It's why C4 and Sky have had the run on most USA product for a decade or more.

Despite Madnmen and Heros, it's not really BBC turf, especially given the first series is 7 years old. Pretty unique from that pov.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 23, 2009)

I guess there will be the bbc viewer and won't there be repeats on other BBC channels? 

I hope they have subs.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

The build up to Monday (11.20pm, State Broadcasting Corp 2) is underway, I'm sure there will be a reasonable amount of media attention over the weekend. Here's the Guardian's interview with Sir David Simon with a few quotes pulled out:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/28/david-simon-the-wire-interview




> The key principle of Simon's storytelling was encapsulated in a remark that caused raised eyebrows when he uttered it, late last year, on BBC2's Culture Show: "Fuck the average viewer.





> the ingenious effect is to leave the viewer with the smugness-inducing sense of being smarter than before. "I love people who get to the end of the first episode and say, 'That's the show they're calling the greatest show in television? What?'" Simon says. "The first season of The Wire was a training exercise. We were training you to watch television differently.





> Isn't it arrogant to presume to retrain viewers in the art of watching television? "You know what would feel arrogant to me? What would feel arrogant to me would be asking you to spend 10 or 12 hours of your time a year watching my shit, and delivering something where we didn't hold that time precious. Last year, with The Wire and Generation Kill, HBO gave me 17 hours of uninterrupted film - almost $100m of production value. What would be arrogant would be to waste that - to tell anything less than the most meaningful possible story





> The way Simon sees it, The Wire and Generation Kill are, above all else, an exercise in reporting: the pulling back of the curtain on the real America that should have been undertaken by newspapers, transposed instead into the multimillion-dollar world of TV drama. "It's fiction, I'm clear about that. But at its heart it's journalistic." Newspapers, he says, launching into a new tirade, "have been obsessed with what they called 'impact journalism' - take a bite-sized morsel of a problem, make a big noise, win a Pulitzer. It was bullshit! But it was the only thing they knew. But what America needed in the last two decades was not 'impact journalism'. What they needed was somebody explaining what the fuck was happening to the country.



Fo sho.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Mar 28, 2009)

Simon really does come across as a bit arrogant in that article (justifiably, given the brilliance of the wire, but still...)

also interesting to hear how he was known for picking fights.  He's not afraid to slag people off, is he?

"Fuck the average viewer"


----------



## Melinda (Mar 28, 2009)

His arrogance is justified and necessary. He is fully cognisant of the value of his skills and the power of his story-telling.  

Do even a half -arsed comparative analysis and the man is McNulty, the smartest fuck in the room.  

What marks him out as special shouldnt be that the Wire is so great, but rather 90% of everything else is godawful dross. 

He's railing against lazy and lowest common denominator tv and journalism, fecal matter which costs fortunes and is either unwatchable or instantly forgettable.

The man is a warrior.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm not sure arrogance is the right word; we have all been trained to digest tv entertainment in bite-sized pieces (30 minutes, 60 minutes - cliffhanger/conclusion), it's like living in an old peoples' home and having someone cut up your dinner for you. The default, prescribed format of decades, init.

Occasionally we've had things like Prime Suspect, but nothing that's  60-hours and a 5 series narrative.


----------



## Voley (Mar 28, 2009)

I liked that interview that they showed on the Culture Show last night. 'Fuck the average viewer' does sound arrogant but by the end of the programme I liked him for trying to do something different.

I still think people get way too gushing about The Wire, though, but now I've got Sky+ I should be able to keep up with this BBC2 slot. It'll be interesting to see whether I like it as much giving it a second go.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Mar 28, 2009)

NVP said:


> It'll be interesting to see whether I like it as much giving it a second go.



I was thinking this. I guess there'll be quite a few references that I didn't pick up on first time round. Also, took quite a while in series 1 to figure out who was who and what they were up to. I remember thinking Omar was a complete psycho when he first showed up.


----------



## Voley (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm wondering whether I'll get through the second series, too. Everyone I know tells me it's worth sticking with it but I thought it really fell apart. After the great ending of the first it was really boring. I got about 4 episodes in and gave up.


----------



## Biglittlefish (Mar 28, 2009)

Is there a great artist who isn't arrogant? Surely its necessary. After all there are no rules to art, you simply have to have the confidence to think your work is great and worth dedicating your life to. Otherwise why do it? And in Simons medium, if you want to get things made, you have to be able to convince others too.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

NVP said:


> I'm wondering whether I'll get through the second series, too. Everyone I know tells me it's worth sticking with it but I thought it really fell apart. After the great ending of the first it was really boring. I got about 4 episodes in and gave up.



Imo, you can't tell the story of a city without including the decline of the work and the workclass who built the city. Be like a history of Liverpool but not including the Irish.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

i think the 2nd series is the best


----------



## Azrael (Mar 28, 2009)

"Fuck the average viewer."

Wouldn't phrase it like that myself, but the man has a point. The real problem might be execs' perception of the "average viewer", which lands us with average dross. If _The Wire_ was aired on primetime BBC1 with loads of publicity, maybe it would get good viewing figures. Ditto _Mad Men_. We can never know until it happens, which it probably won't, due to perceptions. Vicious circle. 

I'll be eagerly following later seasons of _The Wire_ on BBC2. What I've seen already is enough for me to put it in the top five TV shows ever. Great, great series.


----------



## trabuquera (Mar 28, 2009)

Azrael said:


> "Fuck the average viewer."
> 
> Wouldn't phrase it like that myself, but the man has a point. The real problem might be execs' perception of the "average viewer", which lands us with average dross.



Actually I believe that David Simon didn't phrase it that way either. The original quote from the Culture Show interview was:

[lauren laverne in 'dumb cop' mode:] But your shows are long and confusing and obscure, they don't exactly go out of their way to win over the casual viewer, do they?
[Sir Simon]: Fuck the *casual* viewer.  (and proceeds on to long explanation of how junkfood telly which gets wrapped up in a predictable hour is making people stupid, thus inducing stupid decisions from network bosses to make more stupid programmes.)

Simon is a cocky, prickly guy (and boy does he know how to bear a grudge!) but he is not nearly as arrogant as this misquote makes him sound. I guess when you spend years of your life going round fanboy forums and events and have the cream of the critical elite licking your boots it must rub off a bit, though. But other stuff from him has very much undercut this 'you're a genius!' hype - surely others here also remember him on BBC Radio telling some caller who was going on about how regular Wire marathon nights were all his social circle wanted to go out for - that they all needed to get a life


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Mar 28, 2009)

NVP said:


> I'm wondering whether I'll get through the second series, too. Everyone I know tells me it's worth sticking with it but I thought it really fell apart. After the great ending of the first it was really boring. I got about 4 episodes in and gave up.



It was the most difficult for me, the first time round, simply because of the complete change of setting, story, charecters etc.  It's also the least easily accessable of all the seasons, in a show that is legendarily unaccessable.  

However, on rewatching, its actually extremely good and stands out as solidly as the first (or fourth, imo, but you haven't got that far...)  In particular, it is worth watching just for the continued story of the dealers from season 1, omar, bubs etc.  A stand out scene is omars court appearance, about halfway through - very funny...


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Mar 28, 2009)

Personally I think that "fuck the casual viewer" is a fucking cool thing to say.  There were a few other things that made me think he was cocky, but I can't be bothered to reread the article.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 28, 2009)

I'm sad they're showing it every weekday at that late time. I was looking forward to seeing it all again on my tv. Last time I only saw 1-3 on my tv, then the rest online. I don't want to watch it again on the small comp (iplayer). Boo. My video is in bad shape too, god awful tracking problems. Bumflaps.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> It was the most difficult for me, the first time round, simply because of the complete change of setting, story, charecters etc.  It's also the least easily accessable of all the seasons, in a show that is legendarily unaccessable.
> 
> However, on rewatching, its actually extremely good and stands out as solidly as the first (or fourth, imo, but you haven't got that far...)  In particular, it is worth watching just for the continued story of the dealers from season 1, omar, bubs etc.  A stand out scene is omars court appearance, about halfway through - very funny...


Yep, my theory is S2 is a little misunderstood and therefore under-appreciated (second only to S5 in that sense). People come into it relieved the old  Detail is back together – like the Return of the Magnificent Seven – and then it turns out to not be a standard form cops and robbers story. I do think it’s where the challenge with The Wire starts and I suspect some are just a little confused or disorientated as reality dawns that it’s not the format they thought. Hopefully it grows as you stick with it.

It also has possibly my fav character of all, the great Shakespearian tragic-hero. Well, two of them really, male and female.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, my theory is S2 is a little misunderstood and therefore under-appreciated (second only to S5 in that sense). People come into it relieved the old  Detail is back together – like the Return of the Magnificent Seven – and then it turns out to not be a standard form cops and robbers story. I do think it’s where the challenge with The Wire starts and I suspect some are just a little confused or disorientated as reality dawns that it’s not the format they thought. Hopefully it grows as you stick with it.
> 
> It also has possibly my fav character of all, the great Shakespearian tragic-hero. Well, two of them really, male and female.



Sobotka and.....?


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

she's not a tragic hero


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 28, 2009)

I included her as an after thought in that line achooly. He's the tragic-hero of course, she's heroic.


----------



## fen_boy (Mar 28, 2009)

I've not watched any of The Wire at all so I'm really looking forward to it. My problem with these American series is that I can never fully commit to watching them. I've never watched Lost or 24 for this reason, but now I have my lovely SkyHD box I can series link it and watch it at my own pace.


----------



## Santino (Mar 28, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> Sobotka and.....?





London_Calling said:


> .





Orang Utan said:


> she's not a tragic hero





London_Calling said:


> I included her as an after thought in that line achooly. He's the tragic-hero of course, she's heroic.



*racks brain*


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

He was talking about Beatrice Russell - Beadie


----------



## stavros (Mar 28, 2009)

Do we have confirmation that it'll be available on the iPlayer? I really don't want to have to stay up that late.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 28, 2009)

I wish I had Sky+.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

it's not that late - it's only 11 o clock isn't it?


----------



## stavros (Mar 28, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> it's not that late - it's only 11 o clock isn't it?



Yes, but I do need my sleep. OK it's post-watershed, but why not put it on at 9pm? The original showings of the Sopranos on C4 were on then.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 28, 2009)

Too early for such a violent show


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 29, 2009)

Alex B said:


> *racks brain*


Yep, as Mr Utan says. Was going to put it in a spoiler but didn't get arouund to working out how that works.


----------



## 8den (Mar 29, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I included her as an after thought in that line achooly. He's the tragic-hero of course, she's heroic.



I love the scene with Bunk and Freedman interviewing the ship's crew.


----------



## Voley (Mar 29, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> It was the most difficult for me, the first time round, simply because of the complete change of setting, story, charecters etc.  It's also the least easily accessable of all the seasons, in a show that is legendarily unaccessable.
> 
> However, on rewatching, its actually extremely good and stands out as solidly as the first (or fourth, imo, but you haven't got that far...)  In particular, it is worth watching just for the continued story of the dealers from season 1, omar, bubs etc.  A stand out scene is omars court appearance, about halfway through - very funny...



Yeah, I'm gonna give it a bit more of a concerted effort this time. Watching that interview got me excited about seeing it again.


----------



## 8den (Mar 29, 2009)

In fact let us take a few moments to pay homage to the bunk

The lie detector


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 29, 2009)

8den said:


> In fact let us take a few moments to pay homage to the bunk
> 
> The lie detector



Originally done in Homicide, and, in fact, recounted in Simon's book, _Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets_. I prefer the Homicide version myself.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 29, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> it's not that late - it's only 11 o clock isn't it?



11.20pm. Every night. Which means it finishes at 12.20am. Every morning. I can't function on that little sleep. I'm usually in bed by 10.30pm. It'll kill me!


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 29, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> Originally done in Homicide, and, in fact, recounted in Simon's book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets. I prefer the Homicide version myself.


Maybe, but that scene provides the two spoken line clues as to the essential neo-con theme of S5:

"Americans are a stupid people by and large. We pretty much believe anything we’re told"

"The bigger the lie, the more they believe”


----------



## 8den (Mar 29, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> Originally done in Homicide, and, in fact, recounted in Simon's book, _Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets_. I prefer the Homicide version myself.



Double nerd points for you. Truth be told it doesn't really work in a 2009 situation. Even Mopes have seen CSI.


----------



## 8den (Mar 29, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> 11.20pm. Every night. Which means it finishes at 12.20am. Every morning. I can't function on that little sleep. I'm usually in bed by 10.30pm. It'll kill me!



Hopefully it'll be on Iplayer, so you can enjoy it with your 8 o'clock cup of coco. Do you keep your teeth, in or out at night.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 29, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> 11.20pm. Every night. Which means it finishes at 12.20am. Every morning. I can't function on that little sleep. I'm usually in bed by 10.30pm. It'll kill me!



PVR it then


----------



## The Octagon (Mar 30, 2009)

Dominic West was just on 5-Live for a bit (I never realised just how posh his real accent is).

Every single caller (unless I missed a few, didn't hear the whole thing) raving about the show and urging people to watch it.

Another DJ reviewing The Wire after 3pm on 5-Live too, so at least they're giving it some promoting.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 30, 2009)

Im trying to find the commentary where Michael K. Williams and Dominic West are messing about and doing each other's accents. 

Apparently Michael asks Dominic to _spank his botty_ 

Does anyone know which DVD it is?


----------



## Gingerman (Mar 30, 2009)

Going to watch this tonight to see what all the fuss is about.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Mar 30, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Going to watch this tonight to see what all the fuss is about.



Series one had the best version of the theme song, too. Think you're in for a treat.


----------



## Crispy (Mar 30, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Going to watch this tonight to see what all the fuss is about.


As others have said, it can take several episodes before you 'get it' if that doesn't sound too patronising. So stick with it even if ep1 doesn't really grab you by the balls/ovaries.


----------



## electrogirl (Mar 30, 2009)

Crispy said:


> As others have said, it can take several episodes before you 'get it' if that doesn't sound too patronising. So stick with it even if ep1 doesn't really grab you by the balls/ovaries.



Sounds like what people said about Harry Potter.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 30, 2009)

Everyone's being mean to me. I can't help it if I have to go to bed early.

OU I don't know what PVR is, but if it relates to some weirdo recording technology I have a VCR if that helps.


----------



## chegrimandi (Mar 30, 2009)

my guess is it will get rave reviews/high viewing figures and they'll move its slot to something better like 10pm pretty damn quickly.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Mar 30, 2009)

chegrimandi said:


> my guess is it will get rave reviews/high viewing figures and they'll move its slot to something better like 10pm pretty damn quickly.



Would love this to be the case, have told all my mates to watch it, hope they stick with it.


----------



## 8den (Mar 30, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> Sounds like what people said about Harry Potter.



very very careful there EG, you're mocking the love of my life. 

(No not Harry sodding Potter.)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm getting quite excited now. Is that sad?

Must find a decent video that isn't borked. I mght stay up and watch some of them. It depends if I need to be up at 7 the next morning or not.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 30, 2009)

Nice article on BBC news site with Dominic West bemoaning the state of British (non costume) drama. 

Actually he seemed slightly out of his depth in the interview situation  but Andrew Billen, a TV critic, has a good crack at the state of British drama. 

I was trying to think of genuinely groundbreaking British drama with vision and flair and I could only come up with Queer as Folk and Life on Mars.


----------



## lostexpectation (Mar 30, 2009)

why are bbc congratulating themselves about playing this series years late, fucking hell our irish language channel had it only about a year behind i think

i actually think law and order uk , gives a different perspective then we seen before with the case going to court, never seen that in uk dramas, i guess the police and courts work more closely or more publicly in the us

i presume dominic hasn't seen red riding, or watch c4 much, bbc have done spooks and state of play with i guess or the opposite to the wires look at class politics.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 30, 2009)

I wasnt even close to watching the UK Law and Order show Apollo _and _Bradley Walsh? Thats too much baggage to get past!


Police and Medical dramas have poisoned TV schedules. Thats where the money goes, them and soaps.


----------



## lostexpectation (Mar 30, 2009)

whats the latest production from the bbc a church choir comedy drama


----------



## DRINK? (Mar 30, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Going to watch this tonight to see what all the fuss is about.




the first few episodes take a bit of effort. Because that's what the makers wanted, they wanted to make you 'lean in' and pay attention, get a feel for it. Unlike CSI, which assumes that the audience has recently undergone a lobotomy, thus explaining every single little thing, spoon feeding you information and terrible one-liners.

If you don't get The Wire, it's probably because you're thick


----------



## starfish (Mar 30, 2009)

Does anyone have any idea if its going to be on iPlayer?


----------



## ddraig (Mar 30, 2009)

starfish said:


> Does anyone have any idea if its going to be on iPlayer?



doubt it 

just about to start!!

i never seen it, ata ll


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 30, 2009)

I'm so jealous of all the people who get to watch it for the first time now.

But I'm also nervous. What if they don't like it? It's on EVERY DAY. That's quite a committment. What if they go out one night and miss an episode, and then they'll be lost and it'll be confusing and they might get cross with it.


----------



## 8den (Mar 30, 2009)

"got to man this is america" 

Jesus, three years ago, I watched that bit and feel deeply in love.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Mar 30, 2009)

Watching it. Waiting for it to get good. So far it seems a bit cliched.


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 30, 2009)

Snot Boogie, man!

Stick with it, KE.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Mar 30, 2009)

missfran said:


> Snot Boogie, man!
> 
> Stick with it, KE.



Yeah I gonna because it's been so heavily recommended. That said so was Life on Mars and the the first season was boring as hell...


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 30, 2009)

McNulty (the white cop) becomes so much more than you might think.


----------



## 8den (Mar 30, 2009)

Kid_Eternity said:


> Watching it. Waiting for it to get good. So far it seems a bit cliched.



Its a slow burner, it needs an investment in time, and concentration.


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 31, 2009)

Hey, has anyone mentioned that it needs time to get going, and that people need to watch at least 4 episodes?

We Wire bores are so predictable


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

I've read that so many times, but I think it gets going straight away - I was hooked from the start.


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 31, 2009)

Me too now, that I think about it. Wallace hooked me in. Where's Wallace, man?


----------



## retribution (Mar 31, 2009)

Haven't read the entire thread, but it looks like they're editing it to keep it within the hour: I'm sure they chase Johnny for a lot longer in the real version.

Controversial!


----------



## 8den (Mar 31, 2009)

missfran said:


> Me too now, that I think about it. Wallace hooked me in. Where's Wallace, man?



Who invented the McNugget!


----------



## Azrael (Mar 31, 2009)

lostexpectation said:


> i actually think law and order uk , gives a different perspective then we seen before with the case going to court, never seen that in uk dramas, i guess the police and courts work more closely or more publicly in the us


There's been similar -- Channel 4's little known daytime gem _The Courtroom_ did the court side of _Law & Order_ a few years ago, and I believe the BBC's _Criminal Justice_ was an obese _Law & Order_ episode with added sadism (hence my not watching it) -- but yeah, I guess _Law & Order: UK_ is fresh enough. Since the scripts are mostly recyled from the US version I wasn't keen, but turning the sclerotic CPS into a clone of passionate New York ADAs breaks the forth wall for me.  

And they're editing _The Wire_.  Sacrilege! Oh to have Mr. Omar rip'n'ride White City.


----------



## 8den (Mar 31, 2009)

Azrael said:


> And they're editing _The Wire_.  Sacrilege! Oh to have Mr. Omar rip'n'ride White City.



What are you on about, HBO episodes run to an hour BBC episodes run to an hour, neither has ad breaks.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Mar 31, 2009)

8den said:


> What are you on about, HBO episodes run to an hour BBC episodes run to an hour, neither has ad breaks.



I didn't notice any differences, is the boxset any different to what was on FX?


----------



## Azrael (Mar 31, 2009)

8den said:


> What are you on about, HBO episodes run to an hour BBC episodes run to an hour, neither has ad breaks.


*retribution*'s post above. Can't confirm or deny as I've already seen season one. 

The BBC do have form for this though: they snipped the odd scene from season two of _Rome_ (season one was an edit-fest) and _Band of Brothers_. HBO shows aren't exact: occasionally they under- or over-run the hour mark.


----------



## Diamond (Mar 31, 2009)

It was good getting a chance to see it again. There's so many little details that you fail to pick up on the first time round, or things that only really make sense when you know what's going to happen in a several seasons time.

Also, the plotting is so dense and economically presented that it's easy to get straight back into it. You might remember broadly what happened but chances are that the majority of the scenes will seem fresh again.

No sign on the iplayer front yet. I really hope that they've got the rights to put it up on there.

And finally, watching it again, it would have been a very brave individual who might have green lighted an earlier broadcast time.


----------



## lostexpectation (Mar 31, 2009)

no widescreen how 2002 :/


----------



## Voley (Mar 31, 2009)

missfran said:


> It's on EVERY DAY. That's quite a committment.



All 5 series? Christ. It'll drive me mental.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Mar 31, 2009)

First time I've ever watched an episode. I'll definately watch the rest of the series but i'm not hooked on it quite yet.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

It may not help anyone but in case it does here's some notes I made a while ago - fwiw, I used the show as a learning aid to writing:

S1E1

Of all the 60 hours I think this first one needs to be properly understood else you’re behind the curve before you begin - everything from the kitchen sink to the Low Rise sofa is thrown at the screen. Here’s some of what we get; the hierarchy of the police department: Detectives > Sergeants > Lieutenants > Majors > Deputy Ops – that’s identified and explored though two separate departments Homicide and Narcotics. The personnel in both have been promoted from two Baltimore districts, the Eastern and the Western. The courts influence the police department but have no direct control. There’s the small matter of a ‘Detail’ being set up, whatever that is. You need a Ven diagram.

Beyond that core police hierarchy we learn a little about the State’s Attorney’s Office – we meet two women and a third is mentioned; we learn Assistant (State’s Attorney) Eileen Nathan is Violent Crimes, Rhonda Pearlman is Narcotics. We access the FBI at Special Agent level and learn it’s a separate and distinct entity and pulling out of the Drugs War to fight the War on Terrah. As an aside, we’re introduced to the technology gap – fibre optics surveillance vs. typewriters.

Alongside that we get a sketch of the Barksdale hierarchy; the other institution: Avon at the top, we know this because Stringer Bell withdraws when Avon wants to speak to D’Angelo. The goons are mentioned but remain in the background in the court scenes and outside the High Rise. Lower down, the wannabee youngsters are working the Low Rises.

In storytelling terms, McNulty and DeAngelo Barksdale tie everything together for us as they move around their organisations. They’re both in the dog house and the reaction of their co-workers and bosses is the mechanism by which we are introduced to, and begin to understand, those institutions – the writers nudge us twice: “chain of command”. They both reflect with a late night drink.

All in all we meet at least 20 central characters, maybe 25.  There’s other stuff – the first glimpse of McNulty, Bunk and Kima’s after work life, the two addicts trying to shake down a deal, humour and stress in the car drug bust; it’s a frantic hour but the whole series/season is set up.

Fwiw, the flash back in the final scene of a dead William Gant (at HBO’s insistence) is the only concession in the 60 hours to helping the viewer - from here on we have to do all the work ourselves.


----------



## Matt S (Mar 31, 2009)

Shit, I'm going on holiday for two weeks, I'm never going to be able to work out what is going on when I get back....

Matt


----------



## Herbert Read (Mar 31, 2009)

For all your Wire needs including spoilers.

http://thewire.wikia.com/wiki/The_Wire_on_HBO


----------



## rollinder (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I've read that so many times, but I think it gets going straight away - I was hooked from the start.


 
same here


kyser_soze said:


> I was there after the discussion between McNutty and the street dude on how 'Snot' Boogey got his nickname and the dice games from the start.


 
^ and this.


----------



## 8den (Mar 31, 2009)

Azrael said:


> *retribution*'s post above. Can't confirm or deny as I've already seen season one.
> 
> The BBC do have form for this though: they snipped the odd scene from season two of _Rome_ (season one was an edit-fest) and _Band of Brothers_. HBO shows aren't exact: occasionally they under- or over-run the hour mark.



I'd really like to check that I know the assistant editor from Rome.


----------



## Riklet (Mar 31, 2009)

Come onnn, you can always stream it online if you miss an episode, and with any luck it'll get put on iplayer! Hopefully people will get sucked in and gripped though, cos tbh they deserve to sell a few more boxsets! 

I'm watching it all again, on the second season at the moment and just... phwoahhh


----------



## madzone (Mar 31, 2009)

I've recorded it and done a series link.

Will I like it or will I have to think?


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2009)

I think you'll like it. It can be a bit heavy on the slang, but it's not impenetrable.


----------



## madzone (Mar 31, 2009)

Oooh, will I learn lots of hip new words?

I'll have to watch it in the daytime - no kids and slightly more brain cells available.


----------



## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

11.30?? on a Monday night??

do the even _want _people to watch it?! 

madness.


----------



## madzone (Mar 31, 2009)

foo said:


> 11.30?? on a Monday night??
> 
> do the even _want _people to watch it?!
> 
> madness.


 Real people have Sky +


----------



## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

yeh ok fair enough, but it begs the question why did they bother buy it off HBO to then put it on so late? and on a weeknight?

i don't get time slots on telly sometimes...


----------



## madzone (Mar 31, 2009)

That's a very good point, Ms Foo.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Mar 31, 2009)

Matt S said:


> Shit, I'm going on holiday for two weeks, I'm never going to be able to work out what is going on when I get back....
> 
> Matt



Cancel your holiday. You won't regret it. Or you could record it I suppose.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

I'd guess that most people go to bed around 12, so it's a perfectly reasonable time slot. Sopranos went out after 11 and that's a much bigger show. Plus, they expect people will become devoted fans of it, so it doesn't really matter so much when they schedule it.
I thought you'd seen it anyway?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

they only cost £20 a series on DVD anyway!


----------



## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

yeh i have seen it. all of it, and have all the box sets. 

it's just that i've been evangelical about it to friends and workmates, all of whom have commented on it being scheduled too late.

'most people go to bed around 12'

lol. really?


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

foo said:


> yeh i have seen it. all of it, and have all the box sets.
> 
> it's just that i've been evangelical about it to friends and workmates, all of whom have commented on it being scheduled too late.
> 
> ...


I reckon most people do!
I'm not doing a fucking poll though!
I've been evangelical about it by lending people the boxsets.
I couldn't give a shit if the hoi polloi don't go for it.
I doubt they will.


----------



## madzone (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I reckon most people do!
> I'm not doing a fucking poll though!
> I've been evangelical about it by lending people the boxsets.
> I couldn't give a shit if the hoi polloi don't go for it.
> I doubt they will.


 I go to bed at half ten-ish.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

but aren't you a farmer? 
If people can't get their priorities right re Wire vs sleep, then they're not worthy of watching the show


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

I go to bed at 9 or 10 usually 

Good job you didn't do a poll OU


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

You're all old biddies 
<ducks>


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

foo said:


> yeh ok fair enough, but it begs the question why did they bother buy it off HBO to then put it on so late? and on a weeknight?
> 
> i don't get time slots on telly sometimes...


I suspect you're making the mistake of thinking you represent a large BBC demographic.

The Wire is niche for the BBC. License fee audiences don't want imports at peak hours, they want original programming.

Heros is an exception otherwise US imports just don't pull in audiences - it's why the BBC has pretty well left the import market to the likes of C4 and Sky for a decade or more.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

Well, I am, can't speak for anyone else 

I have to add though that I do read for an hour or so once in bed.  Well, that's the plan anyway...


----------



## Gingerman (Mar 31, 2009)

Its a shame the Beeb are showing it every night,twice a week would be better,give the viewer more time to absorb it all in.looks like one of those series if you miss a few eps,you will prob wonder what the fucks going on,anyway I'll stick with it for a while,last nights ep was'nt bad,you would'nt think the actor potraying McNulty went to Eton in real life.


----------



## electrogirl (Mar 31, 2009)

I thought it was shit


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 31, 2009)

I like to be in bed by 11pm.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

it's no gilmore girls is it?


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 31, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> I thought it was shit



I did, after the first episode. By episode 3 I was in awe of it. It really is incredible, provided you take the time to get used to it.


----------



## Voley (Mar 31, 2009)

Are they having a break between each series at all? Or are they really going to run all five every night? For such a densely-plotted programme, that's just nuts.


----------



## electrogirl (Mar 31, 2009)

I didn't really think it was shit, I just wanted to see you all outraged. I liked it, I think it was unfortunately weighed down by everyone jizzing over it on here, so, I guess, I wanted something spectacular. But I thought it was good, I will stick with it.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> I didn't really think it was shit, I just wanted to see you all outraged. I liked it, I think it was unfortunately weighed down by everyone jizzing over it on here, so, I guess, I wanted something spectacular. But I thought it was good, I will stick with it.



well, it's not just us lot is it, the critics on both sides of the pond have been raving about how good it is for ages.
I was hooked by episode 1, some people take longer to get dragged in.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 31, 2009)

I thought the snot boggie(that the right name?) thingy and the whole this is america bit was possibly the worst beginning to the wire they could have used.

so corny. I don't care if it was real or not. It was shit.

I'm going to have to start watching them all again very soon.


dave


----------



## hektik (Mar 31, 2009)

it's weird watching it again: at a couple of points me and the missus just looked at each other and said "typical [XXXXX] - even back then they were [xxxx]"

(xxxxxx's added so as to not give the game away for people who have never watched it).

am looking forward to getting a bit of a wire fix for the next couple of weeks:  have been deleting stuff off the skyplus in order to make sure we have enough space


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 31, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> I didn't really think it was shit, I just wanted to see you all outraged. I liked it, I think it was unfortunately weighed down by everyone jizzing over it on here, so, I guess, I wanted something spectacular. But I thought it was good, I will stick with it.



I had the same problem. My best mate had been banging on about it for years. I grudgingly tried to watch it 4 times and  gave up. Then, eventually, I watched it all the way through and my curiousity was piqued.


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Mar 31, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I thought the snot boggie(that the right name?) thingy and the whole this is america bit was possibly the worst beginning to the wire they could have used.
> 
> so corny. I don't care if it was real or not. It was shit.
> 
> ...



I thought it was quite cliched too and a all a bit meh but it is only the first ep. Gonna persevere and watch the whole 1st series. If it doesn't get any better I can't see I'll bother with the rest...


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Mar 31, 2009)

i quite enjoyed what i saw of the first episode (missus was watching harry hill and wouldn't turn over). rolled along at a nice pace, some spectacularly brilliant swearing, characters that felt 3-dimensional. pity they're showing it every single night though as i am notoriously bad at forgetting about things when they're on that often.


----------



## BlackArab (Mar 31, 2009)

goldenecitrone said:


> Series one had the best version of the theme song, too. Think you're in for a treat.



Actually that was series 4. Here to help.


----------



## BlackArab (Mar 31, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I thought the snot boggie(that the right name?) thingy and the whole this is america bit was possibly the worst beginning to the wire they could have used.
> 
> so corny. I don't care if it was real or not. It was shit.
> 
> ...



Different strokes et al, that was always one of my favourite openings alongside Omar going shopping for cereal.


----------



## Belushi (Mar 31, 2009)

Kid_Eternity said:


> I thought it was quite cliched too and a all a bit meh but it is only the first ep. Gonna persevere and watch the whole 1st series. If it doesn't get any better I can't see I'll bother with the rest...



I did the first episode, it does get more interesting mate.


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

there are, imo, three drawbacks to episode one:

You've heard all about the whole series from loads of other people, and it would have to practically jump out of te screen and give you a blow job to match up to the glowing reviews

It's six or seven years old, lots of other programme makers have now seen it and ripped it off

The first two episodes are, not exactly slow, but definitely set ups for the long haul. At first it can kinda seem like 'just' a very good cop show, rather than the sublime work of genius, recreating the Dickensian aspect of society, that it actually is.


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> the Dickensian aspect



Oh and the S5 theme music is by far the worst


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Mar 31, 2009)

it was quite a strange anachronism to see them using type writers for their reports and checking pagers for messages, i have to say.


----------



## Bungle73 (Mar 31, 2009)

I think the BBC are shooting themselves in the foot with this one: putting it on so late, on a weekday, every day.  And WTF is it not on the iPlayer?

It's not the usual sort of thing I watch but I'm giving it a go because I heard it was good.  One thing though, watching the first episode last night, was it just me but sometimes I had a bit of trouble understanding what they were saying?


----------



## maomao (Mar 31, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Different strokes et al, that was always one of my favourite openings alongside Omar going shopping for cereal.



Snoop buying a nail gun was the best opening ever.


----------



## Voley (Mar 31, 2009)

Bungle73 said:


> was it just me but sometimes I had a bit of trouble understanding what they were saying?



It's not just you. It takes quite a while to get used to.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

the slang can be unpenetrable at first, but you learn the lingo eventually. Get the DVD and employ subtitles


----------



## Belushi (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> The first two episodes are, not exactly slow, but definitely set ups for the long haul. At first it can kinda seem like 'just' a very good cop show,



I agree with that, I watch a lot of American cop shows and the first episodes of the Wire I wasnt that impressed, it seemed good but nothing that hadnt been done before, especially Homicide.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Mar 31, 2009)

Bungle73 said:


> I think the BBC are shooting themselves in the foot with this one: putting it on so late, on a weekday, every day.  And WTF is it not on the iPlayer?
> 
> It's not the usual sort of thing I watch but I'm giving it a go because I heard it was good.  One thing though, watching the first episode last night, was it just me but sometimes I had a bit of trouble understanding what they were saying?



I had to use the subtitles on the DVD.


----------



## BlackArab (Mar 31, 2009)

maomao said:


> Snoop buying a nail gun was the best opening ever.



Another classic I could rewatch again and again. Both funny and chilling, pure genius.


----------



## rubbershoes (Mar 31, 2009)

mcnulty looked so young!


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

maomao said:


> Snoop buying a nail gun was the best opening ever.



yep

I have a 'thing' for Snoop   Even got her memoirs and everything


----------



## subversplat (Mar 31, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Different strokes et al, that was always one of my favourite openings alongside Omar going shopping for cereal.



I swore at the TV when I saw the opening that you mention. Unadultered bullshit


----------



## Diamond (Mar 31, 2009)

goldenecitrone said:


> I had to use the subtitles on the DVD.



Especially when Snoop comes on the scene. I often found her impossible to understand.

Who here really thinks they could have shown that at a prime time post-Watershed slot?

The earliest they could have had it on would have been 10.30 I reckon and that just isn't going to happen what with the BBC1 and BBC2 scheduling. So the alternative would have been shunting it to BBC4, but that would cause even more of an uproar.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 31, 2009)

Yes, the Snoop beginning is cool as fuck 

I still don't get half the slang. I think I probably understand about 50% and just about get the gist of the other 50%.


----------



## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

Diamond said:


> Especially when Snoop comes on the scene. I often found her impossible to understand.
> 
> .



only a few of them had that odd halting Baltimore accent didn't they. there was one corner boy with it, that i kept rewinding him speaking, just so i could hear it again 

snoop was yet another brilliant character.


----------



## maomao (Mar 31, 2009)

I didn't work out snoop was a woman for about 4 or 5 episodes. I thought she was a pre-teen boy.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

sojourner said:


> yep
> 
> I have a 'thing' for Snoop   Even got her memoirs and everything


I feel'ya!

I love that scene in the hardware store *so* much, just two workaday folk exchanging information. 

I watched an interview with Felicia Pearson her promoting that book. The voice, the hair, the clothes- she's lived her character- she's deep.



maomao said:


> I didn't work out snoop was a woman for about 4 or 5 episodes. I thought she was a pre-teen boy.


Me too! 
It was her on the bike that freaked me out- I was like IT'S A GIRL!


----------



## Diamond (Mar 31, 2009)

maomao said:


> I didn't work out snoop was a woman for about 4 or 5 episodes. I thought she was a pre-teen boy.



That's what most of my pals thought before I inadvertently corrected them in the pub a few months ago by saying something like "Snoop's impossible to understand, she's got strangest accent."


----------



## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

foo said:


> only a few of them had that odd halting Baltimore accent didn't they. there was one corner boy with it, that i kept rewinding him speaking, just so i could hear it again


Warg'up, headshot.

I love that glottal throat thing the native Baltimore actors do when they say  certain words.
VP and Mhendo have spoken about it at length for a few years now.


----------



## Me76 (Mar 31, 2009)

Bugger - I forgot this was on!!!!


----------



## kyser_soze (Mar 31, 2009)




----------



## twister (Mar 31, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> I still don't get half the slang. I think I probably understand about 50% and just about get the gist of the other 50%.



I strangely get most of it. It's the diet of hip-hop I ate from a very young age I guess.

Ya dig?


----------



## kyser_soze (Mar 31, 2009)

The slang's a piece of piss, it was pronunciation I had the issues with.

BTW S1&3 have the best versions of the theme, S5 the worst (but then S5 generally...IMVHO of course...)


----------



## kained&able (Mar 31, 2009)

Innit listen to far too much hip hop to not be able to understand those little yo's accents.

Drunk bunk was the only challenge.


dave


----------



## electrogirl (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm wondering whether there is actually any point in trying to keep up with this if it isn't on Iplayer or catchup. I'm never going to be able to watch every single one.


----------



## kyser_soze (Mar 31, 2009)

Now then Davey, don't you fuck with The Bunk.

BTW, for you and KE (who hates Aeris in FFVII and there has suspect opinions anyway...)...what's so cliché about the comment about America WRT to the dice game? The one thing that I love most about The Wire is the writing - the conversations are natural, don't employ cliché anymore than someone would in real life...so what makes that conversation cliché; is it the comment about America? If you think that's cliché you should go there and listen to the way people talk about the place...


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## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Innit listen to far too much hip hop to not be able to understand those little yo's accents.
> 
> Drunk bunk was the only challenge.
> 
> ...



pussai... hic


----------



## STFC (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> they only cost £20 a series on DVD anyway!



£9.99 at www.bangcd.com.


----------



## kained&able (Mar 31, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> Now then Davey, don't you fuck with The Bunk.
> 
> BTW, for you and KE (who hates Aeris in FFVII and there has suspect opinions anyway...)...what's so cliché about the comment about America WRT to the dice game? The one thing that I love most about The Wire is the writing - the conversations are natural, don't employ cliché anymore than someone would in real life...so what makes that conversation cliché; is it the comment about America? If you think that's cliché you should go there and listen to the way people talk about the place...



No no i love the bunk he is the teddy bear i always wanted as a kid. He just mumbles a lot when he is drunk which is some times hard to follow. It's the only time when i'm trying to listen rather then just hearing if ya gets me.

I reckon the opening scene is very corny. But i know it is basicly taken word for word from homicide life on the streets and did happen. So its kinda fair enough, its just a bit lame and possibly my least favorite scene in the entire 5 series(something from the docks or a politics bit in s5 might be worse). So its a really poor scene to start with. 

Just my opinion though innit.

Electrogirl, baby. I'm in a very generous mood today so seeing as you made me a lovely owl, if you miss any i will send you the entrie first series on a dvd.


dave


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## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

STFC said:


> £9.99 at www.bangcd.com.


fuck me that's cheap


----------



## STFC (Mar 31, 2009)

It's almost worth buying them all again.


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## Dr. Furface (Mar 31, 2009)

Crispy said:


> fuck me that's cheap


They make you wait though. And wait. I ordered a Wire series from them but it was taking them so long that I cancelled it and went and got it at Fopp for the £20 - it was worth the extra tenner to be able to watch it when I wanted to.


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

Well I downloaded it, but £10 is a good price to have best picture quality and extras. Are the extras any good?


----------



## 8den (Mar 31, 2009)

its just the occasional commentary, crispy. And to be honest while I like that, it's not exactly breathtaking. Its stripped down, and sparse like the whole series, really.


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

kained&able said:


> No no i love the bunk he is the teddy bear i always wanted as a kid. He just mumbles a lot when he is drunk which is some times hard to follow.


The Bunk is the company man; never rocks the boat, always does  the company thing, is never late and never speaks back.

Nice guy of course, but spineless.


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

This is getting dangerously close to spoilers for a newbie thread!


----------



## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The Bunk is the company man; never rocks the boat, always does  the company thing, is never late and never speaks back.
> 
> Nice guy of course, but spineless.



Bunk is so NOT spineless!!!!




actually Crispy's right - we better be careful now.


Bunk is not spineless!


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

maomao said:


> I didn't work out snoop was a woman for about 4 or 5 episodes.



Took me a while...think that was what got me interested tbh.  Once I'd looked her character up, I just HAD to go and get the book 

She's incredibly pretty/handsome   Fucking love that walk she does n all


----------



## STFC (Mar 31, 2009)

Dr. Furface said:


> They make you wait though. And wait. I ordered a Wire series from them but it was taking them so long that I cancelled it and went and got it at Fopp for the £20 - it was worth the extra tenner to be able to watch it when I wanted to.



Ah, that's not so good.

I don't recall buying anything from bangcd, but they keep sending me emails.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

Crispy said:


> fuck me that's cheap



Yeh but it takes about 2 months to come through!  That's where I got mine from

electrogirl - it's not on catchup, which is a swizz, but happy to lend you my boxsets if you want


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## electrogirl (Mar 31, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Electrogirl, baby. I'm in a very generous mood today so seeing as you made me a lovely owl, if you miss any i will send you the entrie first series on a dvd.
> 
> 
> dave





sojourner said:


> electrogirl - it's not on catchup, which is a swizz, but happy to lend you my boxsets if you want



ooh you twos are lovely! I would love that. thank you!

obviously only one of you, having 2 sets would be greedy.

I'll even overlook the baby.


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## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

likewise electro. a couple are out on a lend at the mo, but between me, dave and soj we could keep you in boxsets for a bit...


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## kyser_soze (Mar 31, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The Bunk is the company man; never rocks the boat, always does  the company thing, is never late and never speaks back.
> 
> Nice guy of course, but spineless.



Don't. Fuck. With. The. Bunk.







You know not of what you speak.


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## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

yawn


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## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The Bunk is the company man; never rocks the boat, always does  the company thing, is never late and never speaks back.
> 
> Nice guy of course, but spineless.



Bunk is on the take


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

Can we take discussion of characters and events off this thread for newbies please? The probability of spoilers is now very high.


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## foo (Mar 31, 2009)

*Orang!*

oi 

that would be a spoiler if it were true! which it isn't.


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## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> Bunk is on the take


It's an idea.

Chalk down my indifference to him as tweedy impertinence.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> ooh you twos are lovely! I would love that. thank you!
> 
> obviously only one of you, having 2 sets would be greedy.
> 
> I'll even overlook the baby.





foo said:


> likewise electro. a couple are out on a lend at the mo, but between me, dave and soj we could keep you in boxsets for a bit...



drop us a pm and let me know what you want from who, and we'll sort you out


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## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

Actually, does anyone have S5 on boxset that they might like to lend to me?   Then again, I might just buy it - to go with the rest


----------



## kyser_soze (Mar 31, 2009)

Unless it's real cheap I'd torrent it first and see if you think it's worth investing your hard earned in...


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## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

It is.  It so is.

Send us your address soj & I'll send it over (as long as you promise to be better than the person with Season 1 who keeps 'forgetting' to gived it us back!)


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> It is.  It so is.
> 
> Send us your address soj & I'll send it over (as long as you promise to be better than the person with Season 1 who keeps 'forgetting' to gived it us back!)



wahey - cheers!  pm incoming, as they say 

e2a - OU can vouch for my 'safe return' service as he very nicely lent me the first 4 series - and then I went and bought them off bangcd cos they are so much worth a rewatch


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 31, 2009)

twister said:


> I strangely get most of it. It's the diet of hip-hop I ate from a very young age I guess.
> 
> Ya dig?



It's probably cos you're naturally street


----------



## SpookyFrank (Mar 31, 2009)

electrogirl said:


> I'm wondering whether there is actually any point in trying to keep up with this if it isn't on Iplayer or catchup. I'm never going to be able to watch every single one.



Init, who can be arsed to stay up til 12.30 _every bloody night_ ffs 

There's not much point watching the wire if you don't see the whole thing IMO, and considering how hard it is to wrap your head round at the start most people probably aren't going to put the effort in.


----------



## mrsfran (Mar 31, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's an idea.
> 
> Chalk down my indifference to him as tweedy impertinence.



tweedy impertinence


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> Init, who can be arsed to stay up til 12.30 _every bloody night_ ffs
> 
> There's not much point watching the wire if you don't see the whole thing IMO, and considering how hard it is to wrap your head round at the start most people probably aren't going to put the effort in.



Plus, there is nothing much that compares to lying on the couch watching 6 episodes +


----------



## breasticles (Mar 31, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Plus, there is nothing much that compares to lying on the couch watching 6 episodes +




i don't have a telly so am now completely indoctrinated into the Way of The Boxset. really can't imagine watching anything episode by episode now. which is a shame in a way, because you lose the anticipation factor, but i think the sheer indulgent pleasure of six episodes in a row makes up for it. 

(btw, i'm four episodes into season two disc by disc at the moment and would really beg all of you to watch for even the suggestion of a spoiler in this thread. i don't want to know about anything that might happen in two season's time! i want it all to be a glorious involuntary- gasping surprise! i already know that *something bad happens* to *someone especially awesome* at *some point in the future*, you know, that thing, and if i think about that too much it harshes my mellow in a major way).


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

24h ban for any spoilers. No kidding.


----------



## breasticles (Mar 31, 2009)

^^^^^^ awesome. you rule, crispy.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

Crispy said:


> 24h ban for any spoilers. No kidding.



  A-men to that


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

breasticles said:


> i don't have a telly so am now completely indoctrinated into the Way of The Boxset. really can't imagine watching anything episode by episode now. which is a shame in a way, because you lose the anticipation factor, but i think the sheer indulgent pleasure of six episodes in a row makes up for it.


there's a bit on a commentary on one of the episodes of (iirr) Six Feet Under, where the director goes on about how he gets pissed off with people watching like that. It's not just the lack of anticipation, it's also not seeing what other shows, of much lesser quality, are on inbetween. Just how great each episode really is doesn't stand out in the same way.  Also, you can sometimes just get too much plot if you watch loads at once, and it can seem almost ridiculous  (the bit where Omar gets a dirty bomb and wipes out South Baltimore springs to mind)


----------



## Crispy (Mar 31, 2009)

> also not seeing what other shows, of much lesser quality, are on inbetween



That's ridiculous! I only watch good TV, and I don't need to watch the shit to know it's good!


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> there's a bit on a commentary on one of the episodes of (iirr) Six Feet Under, where the director goes on about how he gets pissed off with people watching like that. It's not just the lack of anticipation, it's also not seeing what other shows, of much lesser quality, are on inbetween. Just how great each episode really is doesn't stand out in the same way.  Also, you can sometimes just get too much plot if you watch loads at once, and it can seem almost ridiculous


yes, but it bears repeated watching, which is why boxsets are so popular


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

Crispy said:


> That's ridiculous! I only watch good TV, and I don't need to watch the shit to know it's good!


you never catch anything but prime HBO??  Even the other 'good stuff' pales into comparison. Other things may be good, but they aint _sublime_


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

sojourner said:


> yes, but it bears repeated watching, which is why boxsets are so popular



oh yeah, that is one reason why I own them all!  That and their lack of being shown on a reasonable channel over here. But we did make a point of taking two years to watch them all, drawing them out to make them last good and proper.


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> oh yeah, that is one reason why I own them all!  That and their lack of being shown on a reasonable channel over here. But we did make a point of taking two years to watch them all, drawing them out to make them last good and proper.



two years???  jesus christ, that's some fierce restraint you showed there 

well I go to bed at 9ish each night, and missed loads of interesting stuff that was shown late at night, and I've now caught up with it all thanks to ondemand and boxsets

I like the autonomy it gives you


----------



## breasticles (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> It's not just the lack of anticipation, it's also not seeing what other shows, of much lesser quality, are on inbetween.



lol. i got rid of my telly so i could spend less time watching mediocre programmes. and this dude wants me to watch *more*? whatever. 

and actually now i come to think of it, the 'lack of anticipation' thing is nonsense. i'm going to argue with myself. i'm currently anticipating the hell out of madmen coming to dvd; waiting for the wire boxsets to turn up at the library has been a nightmare of anticipation. i've got to the stage where i'm asking where i am on the waiting list for the wire every other day. i'm kind of worried that i might be losing a little bit of my dignity and that the librarians see me heading towards the info desk and do a little laugh. 'oh, she's back again...' so yeah, i was talking nonsense, but so was 6 feet under dude.


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

sojourner said:


> two years???  jesus christ, that's some fierce restraint you showed there



they were only up to season three when i got the first set, so that was part of the reason. and was skint when 5 came out and had to wait till this christmas!


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> they were only up to season three when i got the first set, so that was part of the reason. and was skint when 5 came out and had to wait till this christmas!



well THAT makes more sense


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

I did drag them out tho, only two a year. Glad I did, can pretty much start them all over again straight away!

(Tho we still have Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica and the last three of the Shield to do as well...)


----------



## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

breasticles said:


> lol. i got rid of my telly so i could spend less time watching mediocre programmes. and this dude wants me to watch *more*? whatever.
> 
> and actually now i come to think of it, the 'lack of anticipation' thing is nonsense. i'm going to argue with myself. i'm currently anticipating the hell out of madmen coming to dvd; waiting for the wire boxsets to turn up at the library has been a nightmare of anticipation. i've got to the stage where i'm asking where i am on the waiting list for the wire every other day. i'm kind of worried that i might be losing a little bit of my dignity and that the librarians see me heading towards the info desk and do a little laugh. 'oh, she's back again...' so yeah, i was talking nonsense, but so was 6 feet under dude.



This post has made me smile so much!


----------



## sojourner (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> (Tho we still have Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica and the last three of the Shield to do as well...)



Yeh

I curse god for not letting me enjoy stuff like that

god!


----------



## kropotkin (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> I did drag them out tho, only two a year. Glad I did, can pretty much start them all over again straight away!
> 
> (Tho we still have Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica and the last three of the Shield to do as well...)


God, just finished the shield a few weeks ago after putting off the final series for as long as possible.
awesome.

Really excited that friends of mine will start talking about the wire!


----------



## PacificOcean (Mar 31, 2009)

Crispy said:


> 24h ban for any spoilers. No kidding.



It was Prof. Plum in the dining room with the candlestick.


----------



## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

belboid said:


> I did drag them out tho, only two a year. Glad I did, can pretty much start them all over again straight away!
> 
> (Tho we still have Mad Men, Battlestar Galactica and the last three of the Shield to do as well...)



Can I introduce you to True Blood if you havent seen it? 

BSG is patchy, but I envy you watching the sublime Mad Men for the first time. Its perfect.


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

breasticles said:


> i was talking nonsense, but so was 6 feet under dude.


that's slightly unfair on him.

when he wrote the series, DVD Boxed Sets were only just getting going really, he wrote it to be viewed n a weekly basis, had he made it for DVD, he'd have done it differently.

Mike Leigh made a similar point last night in an interview. He'd rather Abigail's Party had been wiped after broadcast.  It's not that it's bad play or anything, but the production on it was so *bad* that it embarrasses him.  he does have a point.


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Yeh
> 
> I curse god for not letting me enjoy stuff like that
> 
> god!



they're all on lovefilm, that's how we watch them.



Melinda said:


> Can I introduce you to True Blood if you havent seen it?
> 
> BSG is patchy, but I envy you watching the sublime Mad Men for the first time. Its perfect.



not another, please!  We'll have the next Big Love and undoubtedly something new by the time we get through that lot.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2009)

True Blood is shithot Belboid. Highest stateside viewing figures for any prog since Sopranos apparently

It involves southern gothic, hot sex, vampires and solid plotting and characterisations.

It's well good


----------



## Melinda (Mar 31, 2009)

Much better selling from you there DC!  You made it sound attractive!

What's Big Love people?


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> True Blood is shithot Belboid. Highest stateside viewing figures for any prog since Sopranos apparently
> 
> It involves southern gothic, hot sex, vampires and solid plotting and characterisations.
> 
> It's well good




bastard, I'm sold now.



Melinda said:


> Much better selling from you there DC!  You made it sound attractive!
> 
> What's Big Love people?



Mormon drama about the trials and tribulations of the polygamist lifestyle.


----------



## rikwakefield (Mar 31, 2009)

I'm not reading this thread in fear of spoilers but I just had to voice my opinion on how great this is. I need to take myself outside and give myself a good hiding for missing out on this till now.


----------



## STFC (Mar 31, 2009)

Me and the missus are slowly working our way through the first series of Mad Men at the moment. We like it a lot.

Any thoughts on Deadwood, people? Could be next on the list.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Mar 31, 2009)

STFC said:


> Me and the missus are slowly working our way through the first series of Mad Men at the moment. We like it a lot.
> 
> Any thoughts on Deadwood, people? Could be next on the list.



watched first episode and thought it was ok, not bothering with the other series, more to do with me being skint than anything else though.


----------



## belboid (Mar 31, 2009)

STFC said:


> Any thoughts on Deadwood, people? Could be next on the list.



even better than the Wire.  Except they never got to make the final season so it all just kinda stops


----------



## nick h. (Mar 31, 2009)

Is there a site with the script? It's one of those programmes where you need to understand all the dialogue. You can tell a novelist wrote it because every word matters.  

You also have to pause it occasionally so you can look things up at urbandictionary.com. (Am I showing my age?)


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 31, 2009)

nick h. said:


> Is there a site with the script? It's one of those programmes where you need to understand all the dialogue. You can tell a novelist wrote it because every word matters.
> 
> You also have to pause it occasionally so you can look things up at urbandictionary.com. (Am I showing my age?)



Do not listen to Hip-Hop?


----------



## London_Calling (Mar 31, 2009)

Nope. No re-up, feel me?

The best resource I'm aware of for checking to see what you've missed on first viewing is the HBO episode guide - of variable quality though:

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season1/episode01.shtml


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

nick h. said:


> Is there a site with the script? It's one of those programmes where you need to understand all the dialogue. You can tell a novelist wrote it because every word matters.
> 
> You also have to pause it occasionally so you can look things up at urbandictionary.com. (Am I showing my age?)



a journalist wrote it, not a novelist.
You pick up the slang eventually - it's just like moving to another school when you're 12


----------



## kained&able (Mar 31, 2009)

re-up? you don't play cards either do you?

whats wrong with people


dave


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

I don't play cards or listen to much hiphop, but if you can't deduce what re-up means, maybe you should go watch Midsomer Murders instead.


----------



## nick h. (Mar 31, 2009)

And if anybody wants to record it without getting Sky+, check out BT Vision. http://www.productsandservices.bt.c..._vidSP4_btvision_bt vision_Broad&vendorid=SP4 They were trying to flog it to me the other day - all in one deal for  a recording box thingy with landline rental, broadband and call package. No up front charge for the box. So goodbye to my Sky+.


----------



## STFC (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> a journalist wrote it, not a novelist.
> You pick up the slang eventually - it's just like moving to another school when you're 12



David Simon came up with the original idea, but he is just one of the writers. Some of the others, like George Pelecanos, are crime novelists.


----------



## Orang Utan (Mar 31, 2009)

STFC said:


> David Simon came up with the original idea, but he is just one of the writers. Some of the others, like George Pelecanos, are crime novelists.


Yeah, Lehane and Price too, but I think nick h was talking about the first episode.


----------



## nick h. (Mar 31, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I don't play cards or listen to much hiphop, but if you can't deduce what re-up means, maybe you should go watch Midsomer Murders instead.



Re-up's not a problem. But until 5 mins ago when I sneaked a look at last night's BBC2 episode which has subtitles I had no idea that Snotboogie 'would always fade a few shooters'. Which I don't need to translate for all you dogs. Soon I'll be able to watch the whole season in an evening with subtitles. Heaven.


----------



## maomao (Mar 31, 2009)

nick h. said:


> Re-up's not a problem. But until 5 mins ago when I sneaked a look at last night's BBC2 episode which has subtitles I had no idea that Snotboogie 'would always fade a few shooters'. Which I don't need to translate for all you dogs.



It means he bet against the people throwing dice. In order to establish himself in the game.


----------



## nick h. (Mar 31, 2009)

Tell me you didn't have to look that up here:http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fade


----------



## 8den (Mar 31, 2009)

I do love that scene with D, Mc Nulty and Bunk, "I ain't going to dirty you, I don't give a fuck about some possession charge,  I'm murder police". 

Thats the thing about the wire, it's so sodding dense, even re watching episodes gives you a chance to enjoy a forgotten scene.


----------



## maomao (Mar 31, 2009)

God. I'm going to end up staying up late for this shit. Polk and Mahone is such a crap joke.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 1, 2009)

8den said:


> I do love that scene with D, Mc Nulty and Bunk, "I ain't going to dirty you, I don't give a fuck about some possession charge,  I'm murder police".



You'd better run and hide before the spoiler police get here


----------



## 8den (Apr 1, 2009)

maomao said:


> God. I'm going to end up staying up late for this shit. Polk and Mahone is such a crap joke.




Oh fuck I've watched the first series of the wire about 3 times, and I grew up in Dublin, and I _never_ picked up on that. Shhhhittt.


----------



## 8den (Apr 1, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> You'd better run and hide before the spoiler police get here



How the fuck can it be spoiler when it was just on telly, not to mention I didn't ruin any plot points.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 1, 2009)

8den said:


> How the fuck can it be spoiler when it was just on telly, not to mention I didn't ruin any plot points.



My bad, didn't know you were quoting the current episode


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Apr 1, 2009)

Two episodes in and it's already pretty engrossing.  Hope I can stay up and watch as many as I can, then again there's always iplayer


----------



## maomao (Apr 1, 2009)

Smoky said:


> Two episodes in and it's already pretty engrossing.  Hope I can stay up and watch as many as I can, then again there's always iplayer



It's not on Iplayer.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 1, 2009)

Smoky said:


> Two episodes in and it's already pretty engrossing.  Hope I can stay up and watch as many as I can, then again there's always iplayer



It's not available on Iplayer


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Apr 1, 2009)

Really? I would've thought it would be.  Oh well, torrents it is then


----------



## gnoriac (Apr 1, 2009)

8den said:


> Oh fuck I've watched the first series of the wire about 3 times, and I grew up in Dublin, and I _never_ picked up on that. Shhhhittt.



For shame! That's the 1st episode of the Wire I've ever seen, I'm English, and that had me wincing / grinning immediately.


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Apr 1, 2009)

it's on too late, am knackered and it's only 2 nights so far  

last night's episode fairly whizzed by though. some of the characterisation is a _bit_ far flung imo.


----------



## STFC (Apr 1, 2009)

In case you didn't know, The Corner is released on R2 DVD Monday 6 April.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 1, 2009)

STFC said:


> In case you didn't know, The Corner is released on R2 DVD Monday 6 April.



It's also currently on TV Choice on Demand, for Virgin customers, all 6 episodes


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 1, 2009)

STFC said:


> Me and the missus are slowly working our way through the first series of Mad Men at the moment. We like it a lot.
> 
> Any thoughts on Deadwood, people? Could be next on the list.



I loved the first series, but McGowan's character just mellowed too much after that and it wasn't quite the same


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 1, 2009)

Has anyone watched ian mcshane's new thing, kings@?  That looks quite good too


----------



## goldenecitrone (Apr 1, 2009)

8den said:


> Oh fuck I've watched the first series of the wire about 3 times, and I grew up in Dublin, and I _never_ picked up on that. Shhhhittt.



Quite a few Pogues songs running through the series, too, that's how I picked it up.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 1, 2009)

Hesitant to post this as I'm sure it seems excessive if not obsessive, but hey-ho. I'll mention again the show became a writing learning tool - bypass if desired:

S1E2

Having laid out so much of the shape of the two organisations and introduced so many characters in an almost bewildering first hour, the second builds on the first by underlining the two organisational structures, adds flesh to key characters and depth to the networks of interconnecting relationships. 

The Detail itself is not unconventional; we have the washed up, the young hotheads, the honest, by-the-book plodders, the dark horses, the able; the slow, gunslinger gait of the lean Daniels reminds us of Lee Van Cleef as he’s assessing his not-so-magnificent band of misfits in a dusty Mexican town. They begin to weigh up each other as well; the looks around the basement, the awkward humour. The ensemble could be planning to dig their way out of a German prisoner of war camp or plot a Vegas diamond hoist.

The problem presented is how organisation A discovers all it can about organisation B when organisation B wants to remain anonymous. The answer offered in this hour is initiative; McNulty tags along, or maybe co-opts, his erstwhile co-worker’s murder investigation (after he’s been assigned to the Barksdale Detail) to shake a few Low Rise cages, and Greggs drags her (now re-assigned ) former Narcotics meatheads onto the rooftops to begin putting names to faces at the High Rises – both locations being the offices of org B.

From a storytelling perspective, the knitting together is neat; the Barksdale crew at the High Rise is told something is going down at the Low Rises, Greggs follows them and finds her new co-worker (McNulty) stirring the pot, Stringer Bell eyeballs McNulty as D’Angelo is cuffed. Against McNulty’s wishes Daniels levers Greggs into the interview room, she tell McNulty she saw him today “in the canyon”. Later the two visit Daniel’s office together with D’Angelo’s letter – the arrest and letter are the storytelling device by which McNulty and Greggs learn about each other.

Elsewhere in Daniels’ merry band initiative seems less apparent. The car burning scene at the High Rise sets a generic base level for the three erstwhile meatheads but its Daniel’s we learn the most about. Their character development will have to wait.

On that specific issue, the mid-hierarchy employee D’Angelo is the development focus in relation to organisation B. The McNuggets conversation tells us something about him and the seemingly intelligent Wallace, the staircase conversation tells us more about him and his uncle and the interview room conversation tells us even more about him and the Detail.

We now know most about McNulty and D’Angelo Barksdale. Without realising it we know both of their domestic situations (should D’Angelo move in with his girlfriend and baby?), we already know their work environments and key friendships. We know they drink, a little of how the operate, how their co-workers view them – these are the players assigned to draw us in. 

We don’t really think too much about early parallels because, at this point, it’s a cops and robber procedural and we’re not working for it yet; would Prez still be in his organisation without his father-in-laws benevolence, would D’Angelo be in his without his uncle? Why would a newly elected Judge be putting himself about so much, why would Daniels’ wife be advising her husband in such terms? Who told the press of the link between Gant’s death and the Barksdale trial, and why?

The person who tells us “the game is rigged” is Daniels’ wife, but no one has yet told us all the pieces matter.

We get the first sight of the pin board. Greggs is leading the plot development. McNulty likes the work.


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 1, 2009)

Paulie Tandoori said:


> it's on too late, am knackered and it's only 2 nights so far
> 
> last night's episode fairly whizzed by though. some of the characterisation is a _bit_ far flung imo.



Despite most of them being based on real people...

It's always interesting commenting on the characterisation on the Wire, because most if it is barely fictionalised real life.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> I loved the first series, but McGowan's character just mellowed too much after that and it wasn't quite the same



McGowan?  Do you mean mcShane? In which case, nooo way he did, not at all. That scrap with Bullock? mellow?


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I'm sure it seems excessive if not obsessive,



fraid so


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

STFC said:


> In case you didn't know, The Corner is released on R2 DVD Monday 6 April.



Ive had The Corner for two or three years, but avoided it till very recently. It didnt get the best reception amongst my Wire friends or even on here. 

Ive now seen two eps and its very _Homicide_ in look and its messing with my head watching the Wire cast in such wildly differing roles! 
Its like watching a Repertory Company shift parts around. 

How come the actor who played Dre didnt make it into the Wire Cast?


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Apr 1, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> Despite most of them being based on real people...
> 
> It's always interesting commenting on the characterisation on the Wire, because most if it is barely fictionalised real life.


oh come on, we've got the renegade cop who plays fast and loose with the rules, we've got the hard bitten chief cop who plays it hard and straight, the deadbeats and low rents, the gangsta with a heart, the drug lord who is a nice guy in public, etc etc.

i'm not saying i haven't enjoyed it, but its hardly the most ground breaking  premise for a cop show in that sense tbh. the story is what is driving it at the moment.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 1, 2009)

Crispy said:


> fraid so


Get back to drawing your south London train lines, you!


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 1, 2009)

Am I the only person in the world who thinks The Wire is crap?

I can't understand what the fuss is all about.

Various people have been on at me for ages about how good it is, so I made time to watch the first two episodes on BBC2. My immediate impression from the cliched title sequence was "another crap US cop show". The music sucks and the 1990s titles/graphics laid over close ups of drugs, guns and flashing blue lights reminds me of an undergraduate doing a poor imitation of CSI Miami or something. (Is it supposed to be a cliche??!)

There's little real character development other than in the most superficial sense - in fact, the characters are not at all convincing and little more than cliches in most places. The plot is pedestrian and unexciting. The dialogue is cliched and peppered with unnecssary swearing to make it sound "cool" - in fact the dialogue is rarely clever or witty.

Stylistically there's little flair or creativity in terms of shot selection, editing, sound etc and no real difference to a thousand other cop shows or drama shows out there. I've heard people say things like "this is the best cop show in a generation..." but this looks like overhyped PR to me. 

The only thing it really seems to have going for it is the fact that its a cop drama focusing on the people and the effects of crime on them, rather than on car chases and explosions etc. But even this doesnt work for me because the characters are not realistic or believeable. I guess the first two episodes may be laying the foundations for some wonderful drawn out narrative development, but I cant really see it myself. If this is really the best people are coming up with at the moment then something's going wrong. 

This series has none of the excitement and energy of 24, none of the style of Heroes, none of the mystery and intrigue of Lost. I found this programme mildly interesting at best and, while I'm happy to be proved wrong if there's some sudden change in quality, at the moment I think it's utter bollocks and the most over-hyped tv show i can remember!


----------



## Santino (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Am I the only person in the world who thinks The Wire is crap?
> 
> I can't understand what the fuss is all about.
> 
> ...


Shit, he's right, I've been an idiot. Thanks for opening my eyes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 1, 2009)

As has been said a million times, the show is not episodic in nature and a lot of people aren't gripped in the first few episodes. And yes it is laying the groundwork for a grand narrative.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> This series has none of the excitement and energy of 24, none of the style of Heroes, none of the mystery and intrigue of Lost.



    

dear god, there's no hope for you with your love of utterly cliched grossly over-cgi'd action over drama programmes.  

must be the english Johnny Canuck


----------



## Pigeon (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Am I the only person in the world who thinks The Wire is crap?
> 
> I can't understand what the fuss is all about.
> 
> ...



Unbefuckenleavable.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 1, 2009)

Mr Hatter - it's too soon. This is more of a book experience than a 60 minute tv cops and robbers experience. 

It's understandable you're choosing entertainment like 24 as a comparison because that's, instinctively, the right route, but it's not in this case.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> As has been said a million times, the show is not episodic in nature and a lot of people aren't gripped in the first few episodes. And yes it is laying the groundwork for a grand narrative.



it is kinda amusing tho, to expect significant character development in the first two episodes (especially when being introduced to about twenty characters), or to expect up to the minute visual style in an eight year old programme.  It's a shame BH doesn't understand the language tho


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

Lost, 24, Heroes? Not really comparable. Watch more, give it time. It is _not_ a typical US cop show.


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm happy to give it a few more episodes but on this evidence I might have something better to do with my life in a few days! I'm not a big TV watcher and I generally avoid most mainstream shows but I will go out of my way to watch something that's thoughtful and well crafted - unfortunately it doesn't seem like the Wire atm. 

Think of all the wicked things people have done in recent years with TV shows - playing with style and form, use of special effects, use of new production techniques, brilliant characterisation etc etc - The Wire has none of these.

Give me some reasons - any reason - why this is any better than The Bill?


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Am I the only person in the world who thinks The Wire is crap?
> 
> I can't understand what the fuss is all about.
> 
> ...








Stick with it. It broadens out like you wouldn't believe.


----------



## Santino (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Think of all the wicked things people have done in recent years with TV shows - playing with style and form, use of special effects, use of new production techniques, brilliant characterisation etc etc - The Wire has none of these.


Oh, I see.

2/10 I guess.


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 1, 2009)

Originally Posted by Brixton Hatter
This series has none of the excitement and energy of 24, none of the style of Heroes, none of the mystery and intrigue of Lost.



belboid said:


> dear god, there's no hope for you with your love of utterly cliched grossly over-cgi'd action over drama programmes.


he he, I dont "love" those programmes - they're just examples of where people have done something different or compelling. (In fact I dont even watch Lost.) I just want to see quality TV and The Wire simply doesn't seem to justify the hype at the moment - which is probably why it's been put on in the less risky slot of 11.20pm.

But I'm happy to be proved wrong!

(And I understand the language perfectly well BTW!)


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

Would it be better if McNulty was actually a vampire, feeding on the blood of the drug addicts, and so become an addict himself (twice! to blood and drugs! now that's a ratings winner!)?


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Think of all the wicked things people have done in recent years with TV shows - playing with style and form, use of special effects, use of new production techniques, brilliant characterisation etc etc - The Wire has none of these.
> 
> Give me some reasons - any reason - why this is any better than The Bill?



Dont be fucking stupid. Not one of the progrqammes you mentioned had 'brilliant' characterisation, nor dialogue, quite the opposite in fact.

Watch a few more episodes, watch characters actually _grow_ rather than being fed drugs that cause complete character changes every other episode, and learn a few things about the complexities of the yankee drug trade, and how people get into it.

If you seriously thnk it is no different to the Bill, then just dont bother.


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 1, 2009)

Hmm, people are quite defensive about this! It must get fucking good quite soon.



Crispy said:


> Would it be better if McNulty was actually a vampire, feeding on the blood of the drug addicts, and so become an addict himself (twice! to blood and drugs! now that's a ratings winner!)?


er, no. That's generally the shit I dont bother watching.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> I'm happy to give it a few more episodes but on this evidence I might have something better to do with my life in a few days! I'm not a big TV watcher and I generally avoid most mainstream shows but I will go out of my way to watch something that's thoughtful and well crafted - unfortunately it doesn't seem like the Wire atm.
> 
> Think of all the wicked things people have done in recent years with TV shows - playing with style and form, use of special effects, use of new production techniques, brilliant characterisation etc etc - The Wire has none of these.
> 
> Give me some reasons - any reason - why this is any better than The Bill?



Only clever people like The Wire


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

It's incredibly hard not to come off as patronising about this


----------



## Santino (Apr 1, 2009)

Crispy said:


> It's incredibly hard not to come off as patronising about this


Patronising is when you talk down to someone.


----------



## Fedayn (Apr 1, 2009)

It's been utterly dull so far, nothing new or even slightly innovative. The same trite US plod characterisations and themes, white Irish cops, a few rogue cops and black drug dealers in the projects. Is it the 1980's again? Will have to keep watching to see if it gets interesting. The same was said about Hill Street Blues however which wasn't well received at all at first. If The Wire even manages to poke it's neb out from under HSB shadow it might be worth persevering with.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Hmm, people are quite defensive about this! It must get fucking good quite soon.



think it's shit and turn it off if you like, obviously.  your loss,  But pleeeease, dont compare it with The bleedin' Bill, or utter tosh like Lost, or any of that other style over substance nonsence.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

BH is double bluffing. Bare trolling! 

Special effects?!   Interactive 3D screens to task satellites! Yaysss!


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Apr 1, 2009)

brilliant, briston hatters causes shit storm on wire thread by comparing it to the bill  wonderful work that man.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

we've been had 
april fools


----------



## Santino (Apr 1, 2009)

First spotted by me in post 435.

*awards self a prize*


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

Alex B said:


> First spotted by me in post 435.
> 
> *awards self a prize*



pah!  428 - Johnny Canuck comparison ,trumps yours


----------



## Belushi (Apr 1, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> It's been utterly dull so far, nothing new or even slightly innovative. The same trite US plod characterisations and themes, white Irish cops, a few rogue cops and black drug dealers in the projects. Is it the 1980's again? Will have to keep watching to see if it gets interesting. The same was said about Hill Street Blues however which wasn't well received at all at first. If The Wire even manages to poke it's neb out from under HSB shadow it might be worth persevering with.



Keep watching, though that was my initial reaction to the first few episodes when I saw them (I hought it compared unfavourable with the great Homicide). I think with hindsight theres more going on but I suspect some of those who were hooked from the start arent as familiar with the American cop show genre as I am


----------



## Jenerys (Apr 1, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> I'm happy to give it a few more episodes but on this evidence I might have something better to do with my life in a few days!



You'll be hooked by the end of episode 4


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

Alex B said:


> First spotted by me in post 435.
> 
> *awards self a prize*


*ahem*
I spotted it in the post BEFORE yours.


----------



## Santino (Apr 1, 2009)

Melinda said:


> *ahem*
> I spotted it in the post BEFORE yours.


Mine got delayed in the server.



Now calm down and listen to your Wicked soundtrack.


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 1, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> Only clever people like The Wire


I'm too clever to like it


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

Alex B said:


> Mine got delayed in the server.
> 
> 
> 
> Now calm down and listen to your Wicked soundtrack.



 
Im ruined.


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

600,000 viewers and 8% share on monday night acc. to the Guardian, pretty good for bbc2 at that time


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 1, 2009)

I wonder how many people will give up at the first couple of episodes? It must have quite a high number of drop outs.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 1, 2009)

I suspect the big dropout point is around S2 E2-E3 when people who until now were carried along on the cops and robbers idea aren't as impressed with unions and docks.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 1, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suspect the big dropout point is around S2 E2-E3 when people who until now were carried along on the cops and robbers idea aren't as impressed with unions and docks.



That actually my favourite series.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 1, 2009)

belboid said:


> McGowan?  Do you mean mcShane? In which case, nooo way he did, not at all. That scrap with Bullock? mellow?



I meant mcshane!  LOL!


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 1, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> I wonder how many people will give up at the first couple of episodes? It must have quite a high number of drop outs.



I have, but the second time I got into it more, buit I was just starting my course.  Now I am about to begin a 2 week easter hols, so I'm going to make the effort to get back into the Wire big time.


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 1, 2009)

belboid said:


> 600,000 viewers and 8% share on monday night acc. to the Guardian, pretty good for bbc2 at that time



That's awesomely good for BBC2 at any time; during a graveyard spot it's amazing.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 1, 2009)

Yeah, you might be right. I loved the change, was totally unexpected.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 1, 2009)

Belushi said:


> That actually my favourite series.



tbf, what hooked me on that series was when



Spoiler: escaping the wrath of crispy



the various agencies try and push the dead traficked women of on each other. I was sickened and gobsmacked at the idea


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 1, 2009)

Belushi said:


> That actually my favourite series.



And mine.


----------



## christonabike (Apr 1, 2009)

Broke my Wire virginity last night, watched the first two eps

Afterwards, I decided to roam around my living-room saying:

it's quite complex
I shall take a while to get into it
multi-layered
etc

It seems a decent show so far, it has cops and dealers and politicians and people, some of them bad I think

3rd best thing on the telly after football and coro


----------



## breasticles (Apr 1, 2009)

belboid said:


> when he wrote the series, DVD Boxed Sets were only just getting going really, he wrote it to be viewed n a weekly basis, had he made it for DVD, he'd have done it differently.



oh, no, i getcha. i read it a bit defensively but i see what he means now. and i wasn't really dissing him with all my heart anyway: i could never diss anyone involved in 6 feet under, one of my fave tv things of all time.  (and also, i'm ashamed to admit that he's right about plot overload- i had a 'what the fuck is going on? what is he talking about? how did i miss what he's talking about?' moment last night. something i should have picked up on about 8 episodes ago, or picked up and forgot about.)

who was it who was asking about the michael k smith/ dominic west dvd commentary? the 'smack your bottom' one? i can't find the post in this behemoth of a thread. i watched it last night- its season 2 ep 6. and genuinely lol- some it is too. that's pretty rare isn't it? for a dvd commentary. they're often pretty dull.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> It's been utterly dull so far, nothing new or even slightly innovative. The same trite US plod characterisations and themes, white Irish cops, a few rogue cops and black drug dealers in the projects. Is it the 1980's again? Will have to keep watching to see if it gets interesting. The same was said about Hill Street Blues however which wasn't well received at all at first. If The Wire even manages to poke it's neb out from under HSB shadow it might be worth persevering with.





Belushi said:


> Keep watching, though that was my initial reaction to the first few episodes when I saw them (I hought it compared unfavourable with the great Homicide). I think with hindsight theres more going on but I suspect some of those who were hooked from the start arent as familiar with the American cop show genre as I am



Yes. Watching the first 2 again now make me realise how much more I appreciate them second time around. I, too, dissed the first few episodes in light of my beloved Homicide. Oh how was I wrong 

Fed, give it some time. It may even take until ep 5 before you start to get hooked. It seems like a hell of an investment to make, but it's worth it.


----------



## christonabike (Apr 1, 2009)

> Fed, give it some time. It may even take until ep 5 before you start to get hooked



What is this? It's fookin' good from the start


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 1, 2009)

christonabike said:


> What is this? It's fookin' good from the start



Innit?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

christonabike said:


> What is this? It's fookin' good from the start



Did you read my post?

Not everyone thinks so 1st time around. I'm seeing it for the 2nd time and yes, it's excellent from the start. When I watched it 1st time around I didn't think so. It's a perfectly normal reaction. We are not all you.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 1, 2009)

> Not everyone thinks so 1st time around.



I dint not think it was good, I thought the first few episodes weren't particularly innovative in terms of the genre - which they arent particularly (if you've watched enough US cop shows) until you've watched the entire season and can judge it as a whole.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 1, 2009)

breasticles said:


> oh, no, i getcha. i read it a bit defensively but i see what he means now. and i wasn't really dissing him with all my heart anyway: i could never diss anyone involved in 6 feet under, one of my fave tv things of all time.  (and also, i'm ashamed to admit that he's right about plot overload- i had a 'what the fuck is going on? what is he talking about? how did i miss what he's talking about?' moment last night. something i should have picked up on about 8 episodes ago, or picked up and forgot about.)
> 
> who was it who was asking about the michael k smith/ dominic west dvd commentary? the 'smack your bottom' one? i can't find the post in this behemoth of a thread. i watched it last night- its season 2 ep 6. and genuinely lol- some it is too. that's pretty rare isn't it? for a dvd commentary. they're often pretty dull.



The DVD commentary to Conan The Barbarian is awesome


----------



## isitme (Apr 1, 2009)

i didn't like it at first but i was rewatching it last night and you definetely don't appreciate how good it is at first

i think mcnulty sort of ruins the first series cos he is such a cliche and not very well acted but a lot of it is about him, he is a pretty crap character up till the middle of series 2 i reckon

i still haven't gotten past series4 tho, they do take a lot of investment


----------



## Melinda (Apr 1, 2009)

Take it to China


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

The ghostbusters one is excellent, as I think it's the first time the whole cast are back in a room together and they're having a great time 

On some of the Spaced ones, they're very obviously stoned and it's quite boring.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

Does anyone know how much HMV are charging for the box set in store? It's £89 on their website.


----------



## breasticles (Apr 1, 2009)

the commentary to st elmos fire is very good quality. the irector seems to be under the impression that *its not a shit film*. endlessly amusing.


----------



## isitme (Apr 1, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Take it to China



as soon as i get my puter fixed they are getting watched....


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

£89! 
I suppose you could try caling the store?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

Crispy said:


> £89!
> I suppose you could try caling the store?



Yeah, I just did. £100 in store, but I get 20% discount because I'm special, so only (only, lol) £80.

See, I like to buy the box set of things I love. I did for Homicide. I dl'd most of them 1st time around but I always planned to buy the box set.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 1, 2009)

Yeh, took me a good 3 to 4 episodes of S1 to really start getting into it.  In fact, I think I enjoyed it more second time around, as various things kinda dropped into place.  Plus I'd got more used to the dialect by then


----------



## Voley (Apr 1, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Yeh, took me a good 3 to 4 episodes of S1 to really start getting into it.  In fact, I think I enjoyed it more second time around, as various things kinda dropped into place.  Plus I'd got more used to the dialect by then



I'm enjoying these ones on the TV more on a second viewing for the same reason.

I only spotted the Polk Mahone joke last night for the first time, too.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm going to buy the box set. I don't really have the money, but I wants it. £80 isn't that bad (cheaper than my Homicide box set) and then I get to watch it lovingly at a sensible hour. This midnight taping malarky is doing my head in. (Mainly because I'm a bit of a freak and can't leave the tv plugged in overnight - had recent terrifying electricity problems - so set the alarm for half twelve to come down and switch everything off once it's finished recording. I can't keep that up for another 12 weeks or whatever it is!)


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

Can't you wait to get it delivered?  It's only 13 quid on http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/728467/The-Wire-Complete-Season-1-Box-Set/Product.html! In stock, dispatched in 24h


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Can't you wait to get it delivered?  It's only 13 quid on http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/728467/The-Wire-Complete-Season-1-Box-Set/Product.html! In stock, dispatched in 24h



Dude, the whole thing. S1-5. All of it. Not just S1!!!

No wonder you were all confuseysmilie


----------



## belboid (Apr 1, 2009)

I presume he means http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/5388700/The-Wire-The-Complete-Boxset/Product.html not just S1

only £90 there! (cheaper to get them individually)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

belboid said:


> I presume he means http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/5388700/The-Wire-The-Complete-Boxset/Product.html not just S1



Yes. *She* does 

Don't forget I get a discount at HMV, so it'll be £80.


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 1, 2009)

I'm waiting for them to come out on BRD - I'm sooooo tempted to get the DVDs, but I'm trying to upgrade my whole collection to Bluray so it'd be a bit pointless...


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 1, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> I'm waiting for them to come out on BRD - I'm sooooo tempted to get the DVDs, but I'm trying to upgrade my whole collection to Bluray so it'd be a bit pointless...



I've been waiting for ages to get it on DVD. Always been putting it off due to extreme lack of funds. I've still got an extreme lack of funds, but the BBC airing is tipping my hand.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 1, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> I'm waiting for them to come out on BRD - I'm sooooo tempted to get the DVDs, but I'm trying to upgrade my whole collection to Bluray so it'd be a bit pointless...



What's the point? They were all shot in standard definition, you're not going to get any better quality  Any bluray player will play DVD too.


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 1, 2009)

Crispy said:


> What's the point? They were all shot in standard definition, you're not going to get any better quality  Any bluray player will play DVD too.



Depends - some DVDs upscale really well, some don't. Nowt worse than paying for a DVD and watching it on a big screen and it looks little better than an avi...


----------



## maomao (Apr 2, 2009)

That's one of my favourite moments. Carver lays into Boadie after he hits back and you see Greggs face and expect her to pull some liberal bullshit cause she's queer. But she starts kicking him harder than anyone.


----------



## 8den (Apr 2, 2009)

Crispy said:


> What's the point? They were all shot in standard definition, you're not going to get any better quality  Any bluray player will play DVD too.



No. They were shot on 35mm and mastered to SD. That means they can go back and make HD versions at some point.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Apr 2, 2009)

8den said:


> No. They were shot on 35mm and mastered to SD. That means they can go back and make HD versions at some point.



I think they did broadcast on HD too in the US too.


----------



## Riklet (Apr 2, 2009)

maomao said:


> That's one of my favourite moments. Carver lays into Boadie after he hits back and you see Greggs face and expect her to pull some liberal bullshit cause she's queer. But she starts kicking him harder than anyone.



Uhhh...

(((Bodie)))

Spittin' ragamuffins get my sympathy.

So which urbs are now shaking and sweating if they don't get their nightly (or hourly??) Wire-fix?


----------



## 8den (Apr 2, 2009)

Riklet said:


> Uhhh...
> 
> (((Bodie)))
> 
> ...



No now the best bit is we get the Herc, Carver and Bodie show, starting next week.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 2, 2009)

8den said:


> No now the best bit is we get the Herc, Carver and Bodie show, starting next week.



Love their chemistry 

I bought me the box set - all 5 seasons. Early birthday present to myself even though I shouldn't have spent the money. Very glad I did


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

Carver got properly fit as the seasons progressed. From season 4, he was looking _foine. _


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

Are there any Wireisms/ Baltimoreisms which have entered your vocabulary? 

I just had to pull back from describing Carver as 'hot as balls!'


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 2, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Are there any Wireisms/ Baltimoreisms which have entered your vocabulary?
> 
> I just had to pull back from describing Carver as 'hot as balls!'



Shitbird. Great insult. 

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit, of course.

Others, I'm sure, that I can't remember. I'm a slave to the media though and a lot of phrases from various shows/adverts pepper my vocab.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

"Thats how dey do" is another one. My partner is getting well sick of it  


Is the effortless way that some characters are able to move in and out of street vernacular is unique to The Wire?

As Dave Chappelle tells it he '_speaks street AND job interview._' 

One of my personal loves of the show is when a phrase you've heard on the street is later used by an adult you wouldnt expect to have heard it. 

Thats the beauty of the language on the show, sometimes a phrase so perfectly encapsulates a concept that it moves up and down through the class divide.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 2, 2009)

What phrases go 'down' the chain?


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

Is this worthy of a new thread d'ya think? The examples I want to use are spoilers.

Or will a spoiler code do?


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 2, 2009)

When I first got into The Wire I used to watch it for like four hours a day, spending the other 24 walking round talking like I was Bodie, unfortunately can't remember any slang at the mo.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> When I first got into The Wire I used to watch it for like four hours a day, spending the other 24 *walking round talking like I was Bodie*, unfortunately can't remember any slang at the mo.


I _love _that!


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 2, 2009)

The scene on last night's episode with D'angelo teaching Bodie to play chess was just perfect language-wise; writing convincing dialogue in such a complex dialect must be hard enough, but that was pure poetry.

I love watching it all again, without having to try so hard to keep up with the plotlines you appreciate just how finely crafted the show is on just about every level you can think of.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 2, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> When I first got into The Wire I used to watch it for like four hours a day, spending the other 24 walking round talking like I was Bodie, unfortunately can't remember any slang at the mo.



I'm fairly sure i am bodie!


dave


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> The scene on last night's episode with D'angelo teaching Bodie to play chess was just perfect language-wise; writing convincing dialogue in such a complex dialect must be hard enough, but that was pure poetry.
> 
> I love watching it all again, without having to try so hard to keep up with the plotlines you appreciate just how finely crafted the show is on just about every level you can think of.


*shivers*


Spoiler:  Spooky Frank



Isnt it wonderful that *seasons* later you become aware _just how much _that seminal talk shaped Bodie's consciousness. 
Its so delicately arced.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 2, 2009)

The chess scene: 

"You see this, this is the Queen. She smart, she fierce". "She the get shit done piece"


----------



## kained&able (Apr 2, 2009)

all i know is i'm one smart motherfuckin pawn.

for real, yo.


dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The chess scene:
> 
> "You see this, this is the Queen. She smart, she fierce". "She the get shit done piece"







next to the omar court scene thats the one I always 'tube when trying to get mates onto watching the Wire


----------



## madzone (Apr 2, 2009)

Right, I'm just about to watch this - it better be good or you lot are for it


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 2, 2009)

Shorty got fierce.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 2, 2009)

madzone said:


> Right, I'm just about to watch this - it better be good or you lot are for it



I got the cider, you got the sheeps. All in da game, tho right?


----------



## Melinda (Apr 2, 2009)

madzone said:


> Right, I'm just about to watch this - it better be good or you lot are for it



I aint mad atcha girl, dats how you do.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 2, 2009)

madzone said:


> Right, I'm just about to watch this - it better be good or you lot are for it



Ayo, lesson here, madz. You come at the king, you best not miss.

dave(walking the streets like it ain't no thang)


----------



## madzone (Apr 2, 2009)

I fell asleep 

I'l have to start again tomorrow


----------



## rapattaque (Apr 2, 2009)

madzone said:


> Real people have Sky +



Sky+ was invented for this. I'm going to watch seasons at a time. Can't wait!


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 2, 2009)

The lesbian cop is v sexy,anyway at the end of last nights ep,McNulty's FBI friend said that Daniels was a dirty cop,is Daniels the tall black bald dude whos in charge of the team?


----------



## Crispy (Apr 2, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> The lesbian cop is v sexy,anyway at the end of last nights ep,McNulty's FBI friend said that Daniels was a dirty cop,is Daniels the tall black bald dude whos in charge of the team?


yes


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 2, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> The lesbian cop is v sexy,anyway at the end of last nights ep,McNulty's FBI friend said that Daniels was a dirty cop,is Daniels the tall black bald dude whos in charge of the team?



yep, the man hides a mean set of muscles under that suit


----------



## ericjarvis (Apr 2, 2009)

I'll be watching it regularly. I worked with Idris Elba a couple of times back when I was a thesp, and he's a thoroughly nice geezer, so I'll be doing my bit to support the viewing figures to boost his chances of extra repeat fees.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 3, 2009)

"Shit, you back from the dead Lester. You rolled away the stone"


----------



## YouSir (Apr 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> yep, the man hides a mean set of muscles under that suit



Honed back when he was in Oz no doubt, although you'd think he'd have recognised Body by now


----------



## Paulie Tandoori (Apr 3, 2009)

bored now.


----------



## 8den (Apr 3, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Carver got properly fit as the seasons progressed. From season 4, he was looking _foine. _



Really? Really? 



Spoiler: carver's progression



I thought he looked like a penis in a suit.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

spoilered, even if it is fairly bland (hence no BAN OF WRATH)


----------



## Melinda (Apr 3, 2009)

8den said:


> Really? Really?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


You shoulda gone to spec savers?


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 3, 2009)

Loved the "fuck fuck fuckidy fuck" dialogue when they were searching that appartment ,think McNulty fancies  Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs


----------



## Melinda (Apr 3, 2009)

Gingerman, you are so ace!


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2009)

I'd almost forgotten that scene till I saw it again last night. A work of sheer brilaince, five minutes where the only word spoken was 'fuck', but each one so filled with meaning. I'd love to see the actual script for that bit


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

belboid said:


> I'd almost forgotten that scene till I saw it again last night. A work of sheer brilaince, five minutes where the only word spoken was 'fuck', but each one so filled with meaning. I'd love to see the actual script for that bit



  when I rewatched that with my daughter, I was bursting trying not to laugh cos I knew how it rolled out 

she turned round and went 'fucking hell, there's a lot of fucks in that'


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

Melinda said:


> *shivers*
> 
> 
> Spoiler:  Spooky Frank
> ...



Yep - agreed Melinda

That's why it HAS to be watched again I reckon


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 3, 2009)

I never really understood how the fridge door flattened the bullet, and stopped it completely.

The hole in the fridge door had been filled in, right. What happened there?


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

The bullet was flattened by its impact with the body - this happens to all bullets, it's how they're meant to work. I imagine the hole was filled in by the landlord/caretaker so the next tennant didn't have a hole in their fridge


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I never really understood how the fridge door flattened the bullet, and stopped it completely.
> 
> The hole in the fridge door had been filled in, right. What happened there?


Was wondering that meself,surely the cops woulda seen the entrance hole at the first investigation?


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 3, 2009)

Crispy said:


> The bullet was flattened by its impact with the body - this happens to all bullets, it's how they're meant to work. I imagine the hole was filled in by the landlord/caretaker so the next tennant didn't have a hole in their fridge


Would'nt they have dug out the bullet in the first place?


----------



## mrsfran (Apr 3, 2009)

Sometimes, cops don't do their job properly


----------



## kained&able (Apr 3, 2009)

yeah thats why thre scene had to be reinvestigated in the fiorst place. shit work from the primary.

dave


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

Nah why bother? Just slap some putty in there.

The bullet was missed first time round cos the investigation was crap - pretty sure mcnulty & bunk discuss this, the original case file is very slim.


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2009)

door swings shut, first cops assumed the woman was shot from an angle different to the one she was actually shot from, couldn't find the bullet (or even didn't realise it was missing, as they aint natural po-lice like McNulty and the Bunk)


----------



## Melinda (Apr 3, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Nah why bother? Just slap some putty in there.
> 
> The bullet was missed first time round cos the investigation was crap - pretty sure mcnulty & bunk discuss this, the original case file is very slim.


yup they do,  before they enter the house.  Before they start talking about Lester.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 3, 2009)

I can see how the hole was missed (the fridge door bounced off its hinges and shut after the impact).  Just a little contrived that the bullett limped to the fridge with just enough left to lodge in the space between the inner and outer skin.  I also wondered who filled in the hole given no one had used the apartment since and therefore there was no one to complain about the fridge . . . 

OK, how about this; tap,tap,tap > tap, tap, tap > naked women comes into kitchen > naked women puts on light > naked woman OPENS FRIDGE DOOR > naked woman leaves door open > naked woman walks to window and peers our.

If someones knocking on your ground floor window in the middle of the night, do you go into the kitchen naked, put the light on, get a drink, leave the fridge door open, and then peer out the window?

pedantic, I know.


----------



## gnoriac (Apr 3, 2009)

Perhaps round there murder's so commonplace the cops can't be arsed to investigate much?


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 3, 2009)

LilJen said:


> You'll be hooked by the end of episode 4


Well i'm still not hooked! Admittedly episodes 3 and 4 were slightly better than the first two, but (April fools or not) I'm still of the opinion that this is a pretty standard US cop show with a slightly better than average script. Even the actor who plays McNulty on BBC Breakfast yesterday admitted it wasn't that good, saying "there's no pay off after each episode, you have to wait 13 episodes for the pay off."

Being a chess player, I quite enjoyed the chess description at the start of yesterday's episode, but I still think the language is a bit cliched - like how a middle-class scriptwriter who's listened to lots of JZ albums would imagine da Baltimore yoot speak. 

Anyway, each to his own I say, and I now reluctantly agree that (so far) The Wire is marginally better than The Bill


----------



## Belushi (Apr 3, 2009)

> Even the actor who plays McNulty on BBC Breakfast yesterday admitted it wasn't that good, saying "there's no pay off after each episode, you have to wait 13 episodes for the pay off."



I dont think he was saying it wasnt that good when he said that, quite the opposite


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

Regular cop shows are like a dozen frenzied wanks in one day. Each one just like the last and leaves you feeling like you wasted your time. The wire is like hours and hours of sweet sweet tender lovin and is good for the soul


----------



## goldenecitrone (Apr 3, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Being a chess player, I quite enjoyed the chess description at the start of yesterday's episode, but I still think the language is a bit cliched - like how a middle-class scriptwriter who's listened to lots of JZ albums would imagine da Baltimore yoot speak.



It's a way to go till Snoop appears in Series 4, but hopefully she'll be real enough for you.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 3, 2009)

Brixton Hatter said:


> Well i'm still not hooked! Admittedly episodes 3 and 4 were slightly better than the first two, but (April fools or not) I'm still of the opinion that this is a pretty standard US cop show with a slightly better than average script. Even the actor who plays McNulty on BBC Breakfast yesterday admitted it wasn't that good, saying "there's no pay off after each episode, you have to wait 13 episodes for the pay off."
> 
> Being a chess player, I quite enjoyed the chess description at the start of yesterday's episode, but I still think the language is a bit cliched - like how a middle-class scriptwriter who's listened to lots of JZ albums would imagine da Baltimore yoot speak.
> 
> Anyway, each to his own I say, and I now reluctantly agree that (so far) The Wire is marginally better than The Bill



I'm shocked. I suppose there's always got to be an exception to the rule. You're wrong though... and I suspect trolling a little after that Dominic West quote


----------



## hektik (Apr 3, 2009)

Melinda said:


> *shivers*
> 
> 
> Spoiler:  Spooky Frank
> ...





Spoiler:  for melinda (assuming you have seen it all, yo)



The thing that made me shiver was episode 2, when bunk and mcnulty go and visit d'angelo about the witness who got capped. bodie: "he ain't have to testify". prophetic words, given what happens to him when he talks to the po-lice


----------



## Brixton Hatter (Apr 3, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Regular cop shows are like a dozen frenzied wanks in one day. Each one just like the last and leaves you feeling like you wasted your time. The wire is like hours and hours of sweet sweet tender lovin and is good for the soul


now that I can relate to - I guess my wire has just had a gentle fondle so far, and not much more yet....! 



ChrisFilter said:


> I'm shocked. I suppose there's always got to be an exception to the rule. You're wrong though... and I suspect trolling a little after that Dominic West quote


seriously, im not on a wind up at all, i guess i just like different things. Despite my criticisms I am giving it a chance and I will be watching it again tonight (assuming it's on) - I've only seen 4 episodes and you've all seen 4 series!


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

5 series


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

Can someone check hektiks second spoiler please and let me know if it refers to S5, cos I've yet to see S5


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 3, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Can someone check hektiks second spoiler please and let me know if it refers to S5, cos I've yet to see S5



yes, it really does.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> yes, it really does.



ta


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2009)

uhh, no it doesn't!


----------



## Melinda (Apr 3, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Can someone check hektiks second spoiler please and let me know if it refers to S5, cos I've yet to see S5



I add my own voice to this. 

Im rubbish at saying goodbye to books I love and strangely the same has become true of a few shows. 

As well as the ends of dozens of books, Ive not seen the final two BSG eps, the last Sopranos or much of S5 Wire  I mostly know what happens, but I like to keep the anticipation and the sense that I always have some more to read. 

Yes, I know its nuts, but even the satisfaction of completing a much loved book cant outweigh the sadness of knowing there will never be any more.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 3, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> yes, it really does.


agreed. for gods sake don't read it and I mean it.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

belboid said:


> uhh, no it doesn't!



Bastards!!!    (not you belboid)


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 3, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Bastards!!!    (not you belboid)



seriously - it is a big season five spoiler that i would have been gutted to0 know about in advance.


----------



## Santino (Apr 3, 2009)

I think it might be an end of S4 spoiler, not S5.


----------



## belboid (Apr 3, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> seriously - it is a big season five spoiler that i would have been gutted to0 know about in advance.



naah, it refers to somethng from the end of season 4


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 3, 2009)

belboid said:


> naah, it refers to somethng from the end of season 4



rilly?





Spoiler:  really?



isn't Bodie alive in S5?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2009)

yeah, it's a season 4 spoiler alright


----------



## hektik (Apr 3, 2009)

just double-triple checked, and my spoiler is deffo end of season 4.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 3, 2009)

You bastards made me check.  And its deffo a Season 4 spoiler.


----------



## mrsfran (Apr 3, 2009)

C'mon now, let's be nice and not put spoilers at all, eh? We're going to ruin someone's day eventually.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 3, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> The scene on last night's episode with D'angelo teaching Bodie to play chess was just perfect language-wise; writing convincing dialogue in such a complex dialect must be hard enough, but that was pure poetry.
> 
> I love watching it all again, without having to try so hard to keep up with the plotlines you appreciate just how finely crafted the show is on just about every level you can think of.





Melinda said:


> *shivers*
> 
> 
> Spoiler:  Spooky Frank
> ...



I had to pause the dvd at that point and take a little moment. Such a wonderfully written piece of dialogue, that chess scene. It's The Wire in a paragraph.

I'm spotting so much more this time around. It's nice to be able to see how little pieces of dialogue mean something in the grand scheme of things. Even to the extend of the "shit rolls down hill" comment. Obviously a good line first time around, but once you've seen it all I think you get a more rounded appreciation for even something as banal as that.

I'm trying to keep on schedule with what's on tv, will be watching episode 5 while eating tea in a bit, but as we all know, you can't stop at just the one. Now I've got the dvds I'm worried I'll have finished the lot in 2 weeks time


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 3, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> but as we all know, you can't stop at just the one. Now I've got the dvds I'm worried I'll have finished the lot in 2 weeks time



Nothing wrong with that.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> will be watching episode 5 *while eating tea* in a bit, but as we all know, you can't stop at just the one. Now I've got the dvds I'm worried I'll have finished the lot in 2 weeks time



I can't watch it while I'm eating.  I'm too torn and miss bits 

I'm just rewatching S4 before watching S5 (that the lovely belboid is sending to me )

and then I'll probably cave and buy S5 anyway if previous experience is anything to go by


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2009)

missfran said:


> C'mon now, let's be nice and not put spoilers at all, eh? We're going to ruin someone's day eventually.



HOW?


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> HOW?



are you being McNulty there?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 3, 2009)

If something's put in spoiler tags, surely it's ok?


----------



## sojourner (Apr 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> If something's put in spoiler tags, surely it's ok?



Yeh, you're right

But seeing them there, and I'm speaking as a person who has yet to see S5 and will literally die if I see any spoilers but is also incurably fucking nosey, the temptation to look at them is a killer

I asked about a spoiler, and people wound me up.  Cunts, lot of them.  I should probably add some smilies, just to show I am actually being flippant


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 3, 2009)

Spoilers don't bother me. Ruined it for myself by searching The Wire into youtube and getting results from series I haven't seen yet, silly billy.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Apr 3, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Yeh, you're right
> 
> But seeing them there, and I'm speaking as a person who has yet to see S5 and will literally die if I see any spoilers but is also incurably fucking nosey, the temptation to look at them is a killer
> 
> I asked about a spoiler, and people wound me up.  Cunts, lot of them.  I should probably add some smilies, just to show I am actually being flippant





Spoiler:  Series 5



it isn't nearly as good as any of the other series - but is still better than pretty much every other TV show on


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 4, 2009)

S1 E5

Two explicit mentions of 'the bug' in this hour and, i believe, one implicit - everyone happy with the idea Avon Barksdale's father has the bug (as suggested by the lesion on the side of his face) ?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 4, 2009)

His father? I don't remember his dad being in it


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 4, 2009)

D'you remember the visit D'Angelo and Avon make to a hospital - they visit (as Avon says) D'Angelo's "uncle" who is unconscious. I don't recall anything explicit being said but the tenderness, etc . . .


----------



## Crispy (Apr 4, 2009)

if he's D's uncle, then he's Avon's brother.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Apr 4, 2009)

Crispy said:


> if he's D's uncle, then he's Avon's brother.



Your uncle's dad tends to be your grandad


----------



## Crispy (Apr 4, 2009)

I can't remember the exact relationship Avon says. Whatever. Old man. Death bed. Mighty can fall etc. etc.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 4, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> Your uncle's dad tends to be your grandad



maybe he's D's great uncle


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 4, 2009)

I'm glad we sorted that out!


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 5, 2009)

As predicted I'm racing ahead. Still on S1 though.

Fucking great stuff.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 5, 2009)

Isn't the bug HIV?

whats that got to do with a lesion or a coma?

There is a mntion of avons daddy(i think) in the wire 


Spoiler: don't read this unless you've watched till season 2



When D gets arrested he tells Bunk his grandad was Butch Stamford and the name was obviously some legendery underground figure.





dave


----------



## maomao (Apr 5, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Isn't the bug HIV?
> 
> whats that got to do with a lesion or a coma?
> 
> ...



Skin lesions are a very common symptom of full-blown AIDS.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 5, 2009)

coma really isn't though. is it?

dave


----------



## Grandma Death (Apr 5, 2009)

I've lent the Wire off a mate and I've just finished watching episode 5 of series 1. I was expecting to be really sucked in by this point but that moment hasn't arrived. It's good-but thus far I don't think it's amazing.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 5, 2009)

It does just keep getting better in S1.


----------



## danny la rouge (Apr 6, 2009)

It's started then, has it?  I just noticed it's on tonight.  At silly o'clock until even sillier o'clock.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 6, 2009)

poor show on the scheduling, yeah


----------



## maomao (Apr 6, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> It's started then, has it?  I just noticed it's on tonight.  At silly o'clock until even sillier o'clock.



I'll lend you the DVDs if you drop them off at my mum's house (you're in Edinburgh right?) when you're finished.


----------



## hektik (Apr 6, 2009)

kained&able said:


> coma really isn't though. is it?
> 
> dave



he isn't in a coma though is he? He was just sleeping/passed out. Wasn't attached to any machines.

On another tangent@ when Lester goes to the gym to pump the owner for information: was that a young micheal standing outside? It sure looked like him!


----------



## danny la rouge (Apr 6, 2009)

maomao said:


> I'll lend you the DVDs if you drop them off at my mum's house (you're in Edinburgh right?) when you're finished.


I'm in Stirling.

It was a kind offer, though.  Say hi to your mum for me.


----------



## danny la rouge (Apr 6, 2009)

It doesn't even appear to be on iPlayer.  Clearly I'm not supposed to watch this.


----------



## maomao (Apr 6, 2009)

danny la rouge said:


> I'm in Stirling.
> 
> It was a kind offer, though.  Say hi to your mum for me.



Yeah, I'll tell her 'Danny La Rouge' from the internet says hi. You don't think she worries about me enough already? She wants to borrow the DVDs after it's been on telly cause she keeps falling asleep halfway through so it seemed like a good idea.


----------



## danny la rouge (Apr 6, 2009)

maomao said:


> Yeah, I'll tell her 'Danny La Rouge' from the internet says hi. You don't think she worries about me enough already?


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 6, 2009)

Anyone want to lend me season 5? Ill pay for postage and would only have it for a week, you have my typed word.


----------



## maomao (Apr 6, 2009)

PM sent.

I need an office. 'Working from home' really is just another name for 'posting on Urban75 and getting fuck all done' isn't it.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 6, 2009)

maomao said:


> PM sent.
> 
> I need an office. 'Working from home' really is just another name for 'posting on Urban75 and getting fuck all done' isn't it.



You're a very nice bloke, thank you.


----------



## El Sueno (Apr 7, 2009)

I accidentally nodded off after the first five mins then woke up right at the end all confused, anyone fill me in on last nights episode plz?


----------



## belboid (Apr 7, 2009)

it was episode 6, right?

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season1/episode06.shtml


----------



## Crispy (Apr 7, 2009)

maomao said:


> 'Working from home' really is just another name for 'posting on Urban75 and getting fuck all done' isn't it.


Not much different from working in an office, tbh.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 7, 2009)

belboid said:


> it was episode 6, right?


oh, indeed.


----------



## El Sueno (Apr 7, 2009)

belboid said:


> it was episode 6, right?
> 
> http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season1/episode06.shtml



cheers


----------



## STFC (Apr 8, 2009)

There's an interview with David Simon in today's Metro, page 16.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 8, 2009)

Is this thread being run at Beeb pace? I'm not going to read the damned thing if we're going to get unspoilered stuff from you old hands.

Loving it so far.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

Wayhay the great Steve Earle ,the look on the drivers face when Daniels said 'Lieutenant' when they were sitting in the kitchen


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 8, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> Is this thread being run at Beeb pace? I'm not going to read the damned thing if we're going to get unspoilered stuff from you old hands.


The thread is running with the BBC airings. Crispy is doing a good job of making sure it stays that way.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 8, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The thread is running with the BBC airings. Crispy is doing a good job of making sure it stays that way.


Crispy: Urban's Stringer.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 8, 2009)

No doubt


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> the look on the drivers face when Daniels said 'Lieutenant' when they were sitting in the kitchen


The episode where Marla and Daniels go schmoozing? 
That driver is an actor mate of Dave Chappelle's.  Considering the Wire cast were pretty much 'unknowns' up to that point, I squealed to see one of the Chappelle's Show regulars turn up. 

I was already totally hooked by that episode, but seeing the random robot-dance guy, and Dave's chief scene-stealer, gave that moment extra jokes for me.


----------



## nick h. (Apr 8, 2009)

This is so fucking addictive - esp. with the subtitles - that I can't help jumping ahead to watch extra episodes online - and staying up til 4 in the morning and getting nothing done the next day. 

Damn you, american tv people!


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 8, 2009)

So who out of the early ep doubters have been converted yet? I see BH still thinks it's average, and that dialogue based on talking with real people is 'cliché', but aside from that any early doubters changed their minds?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

I enjoyed watching it on telly again. I had forgotten how good it was. After the first episode the other week, I ended up watching the entire series again. One episode a night isn't enough!


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

Oh, and whilst I am talking about The Wire, I had a Wire related dream last night, when I joined them on a bust of Aleister Crowley, who looked exactly like Martin Amis.


----------



## Voley (Apr 8, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> So who out of the early ep doubters have been converted yet? I see BH still thinks it's average, and that dialogue based on talking with real people is 'cliché', but aside from that any early doubters changed their minds?



I'm enjoying it much more second time round. Took me too long to get the lingo/accent the first time, I think. Still not sure whether I'll like the second series, though.


----------



## 8den (Apr 8, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Oh, and whilst I am talking about The Wire, I had a Wire related dream last night, when I joined them on a bust of Aleister Crowley, who looked exactly like Martin Amis.



That is possibly the most awesome dream ever, I'm surprised you let yourself wake up.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 8, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> So who out of the early ep doubters have been converted yet? I see BH still thinks it's average, and that dialogue based on talking with real people is 'cliché', but aside from that any early doubters changed their minds?



*ahem*

'clichéd'


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 8, 2009)

NVP said:


> I'm enjoying it much more second time round. Took me too long to get the lingo/accent the first time, I think. Still not sure whether I'll like the second series, though.



Series 2 is still my favourite.


----------



## Biddlybee (Apr 8, 2009)

Series 2 the docks?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Series 2 is still my favourite.



It is mine as well. By far.


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 8, 2009)

S3 for me, but I can see the attraction of S2.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 8, 2009)

Not been watching on BBC2, but as its the hols finally had some time to get into it (downloaded) and now can finally see the beauty of it.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

You new to The Wire RD?


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 8, 2009)

Melinda said:


> You new to The Wire RD?



I tried it a couple of times before but was always too busy to appreciate it.


----------



## colbhoy (Apr 8, 2009)

You have to invest the time and effort in it, not one to watch with other people dotting about. I've watched every episode of the DVD's that I have after the wife and weans are in bed (and I preferably have a beer).


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

Well I have'nt missed an ep yet,dont normaly watch stuff like this,last cop series I really got into was Hill Street Blues showing me age here ,some of the dialogue goes over my head a bit but its very watchable,wish it was'nt on every night though


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Well I have'nt missed an ep yet,dont normaly watch stuff like this,last cop series I really got into was *Hill Street Blues* showing me age here ,some of the dialogue goes over my head a bit but its very watchable,wish it was'nt on every night though



Heh, I used to LOVE that 

Be careful out there


----------



## rikwakefield (Apr 8, 2009)

Up to episode 9 of series 1. It's amazing.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

There's a vulnerability about Wallace thats makes him a bit different than the rest of the crew,touching to see him getting the younger kids up for school a few eps back,hes ob cut up about what happened to Omars boyfriend.Got a funny feeling bad things are going to happen to him.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

Melinda said:


> The episode where Marla and Daniels go schmoozing?
> That driver is an actor mate of Dave Chappelle's.  Considering the Wire cast were pretty much 'unknowns' up to that point, I squealed to see one of the Chappelle's Show regulars turn up.
> 
> QUOTE]
> Yep thats the one,Daniels is a cool hardass mutha-fo is'nt he,think I'm going to develop a walk like him  like a panther is'nt he?


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> think I'm going to develop a walk like him  like a panther is'nt he?



you'd probably have to have your shoulders frozen to do that


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Yep thats the one,Daniels is a cool hardass mutha-fo is'nt he,think I'm going to develop a walk like him  like a panther is'nt he?



The Robocop/ Gunslinger walk! 

I love him in the scene where the detail have just moved into the basement and Herc is moving in the desk!  

Daniels robocops his way in, assesses the situation and a _touch _of a smile comes to his lips. 

He's cool when he smiles.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

I was gobsmacked the first time he took his shirt off tbh.  Not in a phwoar way obviously, but blimey - packing all that muscle underneath a bland shirt!


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

I phwoarred. Oh god I definitely phwoarred. He properly looked like he was carved from some blessed piece of stone. 

Marla must have been sumthin in the bedroom, because it sure wasnt her conversation keeping them together.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

I phwoarred at snoop, and she never took her top off


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)




----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

Melinda said:


>



oh and while we're at it, i also phwoarred at Kima.  my daughter preferred her girlfriend


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I was gobsmacked the first time he took his shirt off tbh.  Not in a phwoar way obviously, but blimey - packing all that muscle underneath a bland shirt!



oh yes.

that man is _buff._


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I was gobsmacked the first time he took his shirt off tbh.  Not in a phwoar way obviously, but blimey - packing all that muscle underneath a bland shirt!



Yeah, he looks so skinny, but then you see him bare chested-he's MUSCLED.

Not an ounce of fat on the man


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Yeah, he looks so skinny, but then you see him bare chested-he's MUSCLED.
> 
> Not an ounce of fat on the man



Ripped.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 8, 2009)

just spotted the tags


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> oh and while we're at it, i also phwoarred at Kima.  my daughter preferred her girlfriend





Spoiler:  belts and braces, just in case



Kima is lovely but which gf did your girl like? The one with the dreads?
You *have* to be talking about the girl from the big sex scene? Now SHE was all kinds of hotness. 

That sex scene was "enough to make me clutch my pearls" [/Lafayette]


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Kima is lovely but which gf did your girl like? The one with the dreads?



Yeh, the first girlfriend. there was another one? rest were just fucks, weren't they?  I haven't seen S5 btw so be careful


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 8, 2009)

It's a 'toss up' between which sex is the hottest, 



Spoiler: hasty



Mcnulty and the waitress or Kima and her lover.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 8, 2009)

Oit! Mcnutty's only gotten the lawyer


----------



## El Sueno (Apr 8, 2009)

I am absolutely loving it. Hasn't been a series on in ages that's wound its way into my subconcious like this has, it seems to be all I can think about.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

^^^Yay!




sojourner said:


> Yeh, the first girlfriend. there was another one? rest were just fucks, weren't they?  I haven't seen S5 btw so be careful





Spoiler:  safe for Sojourner but no one else, esp S1'ers



Im talking about Kima and a lover/ fuck buddy sex scene. Its not made clear who she is, but it didnt seem casual to me!


----------



## sojourner (Apr 8, 2009)

Melinda said:


> ^^^Yay!
> 
> 
> 
> ...



re your spoiler, it did to me!


----------



## Melinda (Apr 8, 2009)

That scene makes me go wibbly!


----------



## breasticles (Apr 8, 2009)

wait a minute? WTF? kima? girlfriends plural? first girlfriend? which thread am i in?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

FFS hardly a spoiler!


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

It has been ruined for me.


----------



## maomao (Apr 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> FFS hardly a spoiler!



Actually it would be a HUGE spoiler if you were watching series 3.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

No it wouldn't unless you think you're watching a soap
It doesn't have any bearing on the plot


----------



## breasticles (Apr 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> FFS hardly a spoiler!





Spoiler: breasticles



last episode i watched kima and first gf were in a baby shop buying baby clothes, for a baby. so i feel that has been spoiled for me, you bastards.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 8, 2009)

reveal of information about future events is called spoiler. the cat's out of the bag now, but in future, please restrict this thread to _events that have been shown on bbc only_ please. There's loads of other Wire threads to discuss later events on.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

even details that have no bearing on the plot?
wee bay wears a blue shirt in S3 EP!
Ban me!


----------



## breasticles (Apr 8, 2009)

that thing i spoilered about? thats not just a costume detail. thats part of kima's character arc ffs. the plot is not just 'stuff that happens to the character while at work'. what you call soapy shit is what makes the characters rounded and give- a- shit- about- able (i just made that word up, do you like it).


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 8, 2009)

Just discuss the current episode - how diff is it?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

the plot is the wire and the game between the po-lice and the gangsters - everything else is just detail - spoilers are who gets killed, put away, sacked, major stuff not minor details.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Just discuss the current episode - how diff is it?



I'm fine with that, I just like arguing!


----------



## breasticles (Apr 8, 2009)

i think what i'm tryin to say is, it's a bit annoying when youve spent yada- yada amounts of time listening to people that you really should get round to watching something because its fucking amazing and works on loads of levels, and then you get round to it, and its fucking amazing and works on loads of levels, and then you get told that a level on which you're enjoying it? not important. this is the important stuff. fuck that 'soapy' shit. i like the soapy shit! not quite as much as the other stuff but i like it! and now its dented!

_im taking my wire experience very sriously, everybody. please respect my wire experience and help to keep it golden. thankyou._


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 8, 2009)

colbhoy said:


> You have to invest the time and effort in it, not one to watch with other people dotting about. I've watched every episode of the DVD's that I have after the wife and weans are in bed (and I preferably have a beer).



The other thing is that you need to be in the mood to concentrate on it.  For too long now I've had loads of stresses and have wanted to watch rather more brainless stuff.  I've got a bit more time right now to sit back and appreciate it.


----------



## maomao (Apr 8, 2009)

I agree, the personal lives of characters are as important. You wouldn't have wanted to hear about the threesome with Omar, Prop Joe and Jay Landsman before you saw it in series 4 would you?


----------



## fieryjack (Apr 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> even details that have no bearing on the plot?
> xxx wears a blue shirt in S3 EP!



ahh, but that _is_ a spoiler as it at least confirms that xxx is still alive and around in season 3, not necessarily a given through seasons 1 & 2.


Spoiler: xxx-related



and what wee bay wears in S3 would, given his circumstances, be a spoiler in any case...


This thread should probably be for new viewers and the discussion of BBC2-present issues, with the occasional drop-in from an old hand to call out reactionary nay-sayers for the tasteless dick-ends that they are.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

hmmm, I have no respect for all these johnnycomelatelys anyway. My lovely deserted beach has been ruined by arrivistes with gaudy windbreakers.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> hmmm, I have no respect for all these johnnycomelatelys anyway. My lovely deserted beach has been ruined by arrivistes with gaudy windbreakers.



I'm no use at being trendy.  I tried getting into it 2 years ago and couldn't quite.  Now I'm just going with the herd and digging it cos the rest of them are


----------



## maomao (Apr 8, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> I'm no use at being trendy.  I tried getting into it 2 years ago and couldn't quite.  Now I'm just going with the herd and digging it cos the rest of them are



I watched the first 5 episodes 3 times and kept ending up watching something else instead. Didn't get there till I got a DVD player and got the first series box set (and thereby proving that illegal downloads can promote solid media sales).


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 8, 2009)

I watched it when it was on white label


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> oh and while we're at it, i also phwoarred at Kima.  my daughter preferred her girlfriend



Oh yes Kima's sexy,like that stripper as well,whats her name?


----------



## maomao (Apr 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Oh yes Kima's sexy,like that stripper as well,whats her name?



Shardeen.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> you'd probably have to have your shoulders frozen to do that



Plus Id prob have to be tall,lean,musclar,cool sexy and black,0 outa six is'nt too bad I suppose ;-)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 8, 2009)

I've finished S1 now. Anyone still doubting, I dare you to get through eps 10 and 11 still being a h8r  Fucking marvellous stuff. Am going to watch all the eps with added commentaries before moving onto S2, so I might, just might, be back on schedule with you all by then.

But then again ...

(I did watch all last 4 eps in one night yesterday )


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 8, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've finished S1 now. Anyone still doubting, I dare you to get through eps 10 and 11 still being a h8r  Fucking marvellous stuff. Am going to watch all the eps with added commentaries before moving onto S2, so I might, just might, be back on schedule with you all by then.
> 
> But then again ...
> 
> (I did watch all last 4 eps in one night yesterday )



I did that the other day.


----------



## teahead (Apr 9, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I've finished S1 now. Anyone still doubting, I dare you to get through eps 10 and 11 still being a h8r  Fucking marvellous stuff. Am going to watch all the eps with added commentaries before moving onto S2, so I might, just might, be back on schedule with you all by then.
> 
> But then again ...
> 
> (I did watch all last 4 eps in one night yesterday )


Yeah. I lost interest somewhere in ep3. I'm not interested in the police. I know events in culture are interconnected. The characters' mix of angst&whistfulness is boring silly pap.


----------



## belboid (Apr 9, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> No it wouldn't unless you think you're watching a soap
> It doesn't have any bearing on the plot



Yes it does.  Or do you think that charcater development and plot have no bearing on each other?


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 9, 2009)

Blimey what happened to Bunk last night? Daniels gettin shat on,ob cares too much about career advancement to make a big issue about it


----------



## DRINK? (Apr 9, 2009)

I'm really liking this....I happen to really appreciate  all its subtle nuances; the pathos, the drama, the tragedy. It is a modern masterpiece, written from the heart and acted from the soul. 

I would say to those who seem to 'jump on the band-wagon' of hating this programme because of all its accolades, please 'Bore off and do one'. What I mean to say, in clearer terms, terms that even the most backward of f*ckwits might understand - This programme is better than you, better than the armchair critics who sit there spitting their vitriol at the screen, simply because they do not have the patience to even begin to understand the complexities of the simplest of plotlines. 

Do we concur? I think we do. F*ck y'all young'uns !


----------



## teahead (Apr 9, 2009)

DRINK? said:


> I would say to those who seem to 'jump on the band-wagon' of hating this programme because of all its accolades, please 'Bore off and do one'. What I mean to say, in clearer terms, terms that even the most backward of f*ckwits might understand - This programme is better than you, better than the armchair critics who sit there spitting their vitriol at the screen, simply because they do not have the patience to even begin to understand the complexities of the simplest of plotlines.
> 
> Do we concur? I think we do. F*ck y'all young'uns !


Why rant? Do you hate people that don't share your taste? Would it be alright with you if some people don't like it? Do you have the patience to read a 19th century novel. They're pretty good too.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 9, 2009)

> This programme is better than you



LOL


----------



## Belushi (Apr 9, 2009)

I've watched the first few episodes again after 4 years and its a much different experience than seeing them for the first time, its impossible to see characters in the same light with some of the knowledge you have of them from later seasons.


----------



## DRINK? (Apr 9, 2009)

teahead said:


> Why rant? Do you hate people that don't share your taste? Would it be alright with you if some people don't like it? Do you have the patience to read a 19th century novel. They're pretty good too.



i love a good rant...blame the inclement weather, blame the anti-abortionists whatever...and interestingly, am very well read though quite what that has to do with patience or lack thereof I don't know...

it may be something to do with the fact that I'm drinking wine! In work! On antibiotics! I'm mad me....*flat lines*


----------



## teahead (Apr 9, 2009)

DRINK? said:


> i love a good rant...blame the inclement weather, blame the anti-abortionists whatever...and interestingly, am very well read though quite what that has to do with patience or lack thereof I don't know...
> 
> it may be something to do with the fact that I'm drinking wine! In work! On antibiotics! I'm mad me....*flat lines*


Oh alright, if you're drinking wine... Some tosser at work has been shoving the Wire down my throat and in the end I've tried damn hard to get 'into' it to shut him up. I'd prolly do better off getting into the wine myself. Delishus, afternoon boozing.


----------



## DRINK? (Apr 9, 2009)

teahead said:


> Oh alright, if you're drinking wine... Some tosser at work has been shoving the Wire down my throat and in the end I've tried damn hard to get 'into' it to shut him up. I'd prolly do better off getting into the wine myself. Delishus, afternoon boozing.


----------



## hektik (Apr 9, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I watched it when it was on white label



i watched it before they even filmed it.

i'm going to put a spoiler tag in now, because i don't think it's a spoiler, but I want to cover myself. it's related to latest epsiode on bbc 2, concerning a potential spot of a character in season 4:



Spoiler:  reasons given above



was the girl who offered omar the ends on the syringe as he watched weebay and stinkum burn his van micheal's momma?


----------



## Melinda (Apr 9, 2009)

No.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 9, 2009)

hektik said:


> i watched it before they even filmed it.
> 
> i'm going to put a spoiler tag in now, because i don't think it's a spoiler, but I want to cover myself. it's related to latest epsiode on bbc 2, concerning a potential spot of a character in season 4:
> 
> ...





Spoiler: akjhghg



I don't think so, but you definitely see 4 boys who look like the 4 boys in series four, in an episode in series 2 or 3.

I cant remember which one. I think series 2. McNulty needs to find Omar and puts his card in Omar's burnt out van. Four boys walk past, and they look like Michael, Randy, Namond and Dukie. 

Watch out for it. It is very obvious once you see it. 

It is the little things like that in The Wire that make it so good.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 9, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Spoiler: akjhghg
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler:  Dill and Hektik



Omar's lookout is shorter and more round faced than Michael's mum. 

That scene with the boys walking past the car ... at the time I was looking to see if they were Wallace's siblings.  But do you really think they look like the S4 boys?

*scratches head*


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 9, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Spoiler:  Dill and Hektik
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler:  mel



They are not the same actors. But there is a definite resesmblence there. 

That happens all the time in The Wire.

I refer you to the final episode of series one where Herc is advising two new police about how police work is not just about busting heads.

They both resemble Herc and Carver, except opposite, somehow. 

Another look-a-like: a court room scene in series one where Kima is getting Bubbles's friend Johnny out of court.

It pans across the line-up, and lingers for a split second on a look-a-like of McNulty.

There are loads of little in jokes like that when you know what to look out for. They are intentional.


----------



## hektik (Apr 9, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Spoiler:  Dill and Hektik
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler:  Melinda



nah, not his lookout. He is sitting across from his old house, where weebay and stinkum are going through it - they then burn his truck. Omar is looking out of the window with a little kid on his lap, while the kids mum is shooting up some heroin. she offers him some. 

it just looks like micheal's mum - and the little kid could grow up to be Bug.




shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: we should have a wire re-up, from the beginning. with spoilers so we can talk on this: noticing things that we missed first time around.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 9, 2009)

hektik said:


> shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: we should have a wire re-up, from the beginning. with spoilers so we can talk on this: noticing things that we missed first time around.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 9, 2009)

hektik said:


> Spoiler:  Melinda
> 
> 
> 
> ...





Spoiler:  reply for hektik



Omar's lookout is the woman who comes up to him, Brandon and the other guy (Bailey?) asking for 'endz on this.' 
That's the woman we're both talking about right? 

The first time we see her:





Inside her gaff as Omar watches WeeBey and Stinkum trash his old place and van. Her son sits on Omar's lap.





Michael's mother. 




[/ me channelling London_calling ]

Different actresses. But it was a close spot hektik!






			
				 hektik said:
			
		

> shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet: we should have a wire re-up, from the beginning. with spoilers so we can talk on this: noticing things that we missed first time around.


Yes, its probably for the best. Start one up!


----------



## sojourner (Apr 9, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Yes, its probably for the best. Start one up!



Alex b started a great thread for people who had only watched up to S4

I kept well away from it until I'd finished S4. Worked very well


----------



## fieryjack (Apr 9, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Spoiler: akjhghg
> 
> 
> 
> Four boys walk past, and they look like Michael, Randy, Namond and Dukie.


Can't speak for that one but...


Spoiler: S5



there's a bit from, I think, S3 where Bunk is at the scene of an Omar Vs Barksdale people shoot-out. He sees a wee boy pretending to be Omar (I think saying it was "his turn to be Omar", not sure) and making shooting gestures. That's the wee fella that shot and killed Our Hero in S5.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 9, 2009)

Some people gonna get beat down if they dont' stop messing about.


----------



## breasticles (Apr 9, 2009)

i'm staying at my mum's for the weekend. she's just said 'oh, that "wired" programme is on after newsnight. we can watch it if you want but you'll have to explain it to me'. 

'okay mum, this is omar. hes a stone- cold sawn- off packing homothug. hes a bit batey at the moment because some drug dealers poked his gay lover's eyes out and then set fire to him a little bit. whats a re-up? oh well... ummmm.... i might go to bed now, actually.'


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 10, 2009)

Once the Beeb get through the 1st series,theres going to be a 2 week break for the snooker before they show series 2 apparently.


----------



## 8den (Apr 10, 2009)

However nothing beats


Spoiler: S3



Rawls in the gay bar in Season 3. All of his insults take on  way more meaning after that


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 10, 2009)

8den said:


> However nothing beats
> 
> 
> Spoiler: S3
> ...



oh yes.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 10, 2009)

8den said:


> However nothing beats
> 
> 
> Spoiler: S3
> ...



I couldn't believe that, was in stitches.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 10, 2009)

8den said:


> However nothing beats
> 
> 
> Spoiler: S3
> ...



Rewatching the first season I find I'm seeing his character in a completely different light.


----------



## OneStrike (Apr 10, 2009)

Any other Brits find themselves adopting the lingo?  Policemen and women are just Police now to me.  Shit had become Sheeeeeet also.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Apr 10, 2009)

Smurker said:


> Any other Brits find themselves adopting the lingo?  Policemen and women are just Police now to me.  Shit had become Sheeeeeet also.



I hope you mean PO-lice? (Emphasise the O). 

And yeah, it's fun.


----------



## OneStrike (Apr 11, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> I hope you mean PO-lice? (Emphasise the O).
> 
> And yeah, it's fun.





Yea, that all we got, PO- Lice.


----------



## BlackArab (Apr 11, 2009)

Smurker said:


> Any other Brits find themselves adopting the lingo?  Policemen and women are just Police now to me.  Shit had become Sheeeeeet also.



Keep finding myself nodding sagely and saying 'no doubt' a lot these days.


----------



## dwenfish (Apr 11, 2009)

so, i perservered with series 1 and have to say it was quite enjoyable (although i'm still slightly bemused by the level of afficionadary surrounding the programme)  i'm currently downloading the 2nd series but am bored and have nothing to watch now, been searching for ages for a torrent or stream of season 2 ep 1, can anyone help me oot?

ta


----------



## maomao (Apr 11, 2009)

dwenfish said:


> so, i perservered with series 1 and have to say it was quite enjoyable (although i'm still slightly bemused by the level of afficionadary surrounding the programme)



Ask yourself that question again about halfway through series 3.


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 11, 2009)

Smurker said:


> Any other Brits find themselves adopting the lingo?  Policemen and women are just Police now to me.  Shit had become Sheeeeeet also.



I did for a while.

I also attempted make use of the gender neutral pronoun 'yo' but it just confused me and anyone I was talking to






> The grammar news is that Dr. Elaine Stotko, from the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University, and her student, Margaret Troyer, have discovered that school children in Baltimore are using the slang word yo as a gender-neutral singular pronoun. Dr. Stotko was teaching a master’s class at Johns Hopkins, and it came out during a discussion that several of the high school and middle school English teachers had noticed their students using yo as a pronoun. Often the students would be talking to another student, would point at the third person they were referring to, and would say something like "Yo threw a thumbtack at me." This made teachers think they were using yo to mean "he or she" instead of yo as you would normally hear in phrases like "Yo momma."




http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/grammar-yo-pronoun.aspx


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 12, 2009)

Spoiler: s2+s5



Of course, there is also the guy from the control room at the docks, I forget his name, he has a long goatee beard. He's a homeless guy in S5. Fucking tragic shit right there.


----------



## tommers (Apr 12, 2009)

gah, that was annoying.  my own stupid fault, I thought you meant a spoiler for episode 5 of season 2, not season 2 and season 5.   (at myself)


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 12, 2009)

tommers said:


> gah, that was annoying.  my own stupid fault, I thought you meant a spoiler for episode 5 of season 2, not season 2 and season 5.   (at myself)



Ah, sorry! I'll edit it to be slightly more clear!


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 12, 2009)

Anyone know where they're up to on BBC2?  Still on series One?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 12, 2009)

butchersapron said:


> Anyone know where they're up to on BBC2?  Still on series One?



Yeh, right near the end now. The last few episodes this week.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 12, 2009)

Ta. Don't suppose they've said whether they're going straight on series 2 have they?


----------



## killer b (Apr 12, 2009)

break for snooker aparently


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 12, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> Spoiler: s2+s5
> 
> 
> 
> Of course, there is also the guy from the control room at the docks, I forget his name, he has a long goatee beard. He's a homeless guy in S5. Fucking tragic shit right there.



True that.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 12, 2009)

killer b said:


> break for snooker aparently



No wai! Fuckin' 'ell.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 12, 2009)

My god. We're back in the 80s!

Cheers, give me time to watch series one then slip back in when they start showing S2


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 12, 2009)

I have to say some of those computer monitors look a little small by today's standards. Thank goodness we don't get close-ups of their mobile phones.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

dwenfish said:


> so, i perservered with series 1 and have to say it was quite enjoyable (although i'm still slightly bemused by the level of afficionadary surrounding the programme)  i'm currently downloading the 2nd series but am bored and have nothing to watch now, been searching for ages for a torrent or stream of season 2 ep 1, can anyone help me oot?
> 
> ta



How are you downloading series 2 yet asking for a torrent of it?


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Anyway I watched the first few episodes of series one quite a few times when I was in china, quite liked it, but always wanted something more saccharin when it came to western programmes.  Then attempted again last september, dug it, but kept being interrupted by my course.  This last week I've had some time off for hols and have finally been getting in to it.

It's bloody great, isn't it?

(on s109 so far)


----------



## hektik (Apr 12, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Yes, its probably for the best. Start one up!



done: 

http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=8992543#post8992543

I'm going over to the eastern: those still on season 1 and want to remain spoiler-free, best keep your sorry asses here on the westside.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 12, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> How are you downloading series 2 yet asking for a torrent of it?



He wants a torrent of s02e01... he's downloading a torrent of the complete season.


----------



## subversplat (Apr 12, 2009)

If you go to the "files" part of your torrentclient you can set ep1 as high priority so it downloads first. Unless you're downloading the DVD or, god forbid, a rar'drelease.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> He wants a torrent of s02e01... he's downloading a torrent of the complete season.



Yeah but the season would only take a couple of hours so hardly seems worth asking for it...


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

subversplat said:


> If you go to the "files" part of your torrentclient you can set ep1 as high priority so it downloads first. Unless you're downloading the DVD or, god forbid, a rar'drelease.



Ooh i didn't know you could do that.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> Yeah but the season would only take a couple of hours so hardly seems worth asking for it...



a couple of hours?  how do you do that?
It'd take a couple of days for me to download a series.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> a couple of hours?  how do you do that?
> It'd take a couple of days for me to download a series.



I dunno, it only took me a couple of days on my crappy chinese connection 

Do you check all the settings on utorrent and stuff?


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 12, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> Yeah but the season would only take a couple of hours so hardly seems worth asking for it...



Depends on the torrent and the connection!


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> I dunno, it only took me a couple of days on my crappy chinese connection
> 
> Do you check all the settings on utorrent and stuff?



Utorrent?
as far as I can tell, all the settings are maximised with the software I have.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Yeah - true.  But aren't most UK ISPs these days at least 8meg (which what mine is)?  and it's easy to find a wire torrent on isohunt with loads and loads of seeders.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2009)

I think mine's 3 or 5. Time to upgrade I think.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> Utorrent?
> as far as I can tell, all the settings are maximised with the software I have.



Do you always look for the one with the most seeders?  That's the crucial thing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2009)

No! I just pick the one from the top of the list


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I think mine's 3 or 5. Time to upgrade I think.



Deffo; the standard one with Be is 8.  I pay 13.50 a month for that and generally the connection's v.good.  Plus you only pay 8 quid a month for the first 6 months IIRC (I think I did)


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> No! I just pick the one from the top of the list



Ah, could be why; if there aren't many seeders then it will take a lot longer


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

for instance, here's a search for the wire with most seeders specified

http://isohunt.com/torrents/the+wire+season?iht=-1&ihp=1&ihs1=2&iho1=d

Pick any of those seasons from the top and I guarantee it shouldn't take long to download a season even with a 3-5meg connection


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 12, 2009)

I have them on DVD


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 12, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> I have them on DVD



I know, just telling your future torrenting reference's sake


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Apr 14, 2009)

My god this programe is so fucking good! I can't remember the last time I felt this tense about something on TV.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 14, 2009)

Smoky said:


> My god this programe is so fucking good! I can't remember the last time I felt this tense about something on TV.



shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit.


----------



## dwenfish (Apr 14, 2009)

i count myself lucky if i get over 30kb/s on this connection!


----------



## kained&able (Apr 14, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> Yeah - true.  But aren't most UK ISPs these days at least 8meg (which what mine is)?  and it's easy to find a wire torrent on isohunt with loads and loads of seeders.



Most ISP's offer 8 meg but i'm to far from an exchange and have shit wires and stuff so get 1mb. its lame.


dave


----------



## Crispy (Apr 14, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> No! I just pick the one from the top of the list


If you're using ISOhunt, then you're doing the right thing


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 14, 2009)

my connection seems to be very variable - last night it was working very fast, but last week it was very sluggish - it took 2 days to download one episode of True Blood last week, but overnight for a 5gb comp of all Adam Curtis' documentaries at the weekend. I guess everyone was off doing Easter things.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 14, 2009)

kained&able said:


> Most ISP's offer 8 meg but i'm to far from an exchange and have shit wires and stuff so get 1mb. its lame.
> 
> 
> dave



That'll learn ya for living in Essex!


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 14, 2009)

Crispy said:


> If you're using ISOhunt, then you're doing the right thing



Not always...


----------



## kained&able (Apr 14, 2009)

I live in luton fool boy! it even says it on my location!


dave


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 14, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I live in luton fool boy! it even says it on my location!
> 
> 
> dave


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 14, 2009)

Im assuming Kima survives what happened to her last night,Shardene is georgous esp when she wears her glasses,shame shes only in 11 eps alltogether.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 14, 2009)

Kima! No!

(Damn she scrubs up well)


----------



## Melinda (Apr 15, 2009)




----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 15, 2009)

Melinda said:


>



That is well niche.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 15, 2009)

And guaranteed anyone who came up to admire your chest would be WAY COOL!

Mate magnet!


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 15, 2009)

What a fine pair, Melinda!


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 15, 2009)

So Rawles is'nt a complete cunt then?


----------



## kained&able (Apr 15, 2009)

Rawles is very missunderstood i reckon. He is however very ambitious which at certain times can make him a cock.


dave


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 15, 2009)

Some bastard on another forum has just posted a Wire spoiler in a thread completely unrelated to The Wire.

There aren't enough  in the world right now.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 15, 2009)

D'Angelo thinking he was about to get whacked and being told to feed the fish.Some telling moments last night,the big chief automatically speaking to the white guy in the hospital thinking he was the boss,instead of Daniels and then refusing to speak to Kima's girlfriend.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 15, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> So Rawles is'nt a complete cunt then?


If everyone thought the same of him he wouldn’t have got to middle management in a huge bureaucratic institution. Why do you think he’s a cunt, because he despises McNulty?


----------



## kained&able (Apr 15, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> D'Angelo thinking he was about to get whacked and being told to feed the fish.



I love that scene so much. First time me and my mate were arguing the whole way through it as to if he was going to get clipped or not, it was sold perfectly.


dave


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 15, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If everyone thought the same of him he wouldn’t have got to middle management in a huge bureaucratic institution. Why do you think he’s a cunt, because he despises McNulty?


I think he despises everyone not just McNulty.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Apr 16, 2009)

what's gonna happen to Walllaces kids?


----------



## breasticles (Apr 16, 2009)

^^^^^ i wondered that!  if i can harp back to my main plot v. character- building soapy shit moan last week, wallace and the kids is an example of PROPER characterisation; he's a teenage drug dealer who, for some reason never disclosed, is bringing up this little passel of kids. in a squat, on capri sun and potato chips. those two scenes added nothing to the plot but told you everything you could need to know about wallace's character and the context in which he was living and working. beautiful stuff.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 16, 2009)

Nigger should have stayed in the country yo.


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 16, 2009)

breasticles said:


> ^^^^^ i wondered that!  if i can harp back to my main plot v. character- building soapy shit moan last week, wallace and the kids is an example of PROPER characterisation; he's a teenage drug dealer who, for some reason never disclosed, is bringing up this little passel of kids. in a squat, on capri sun and potato chips. those two scenes added nothing to the plot but told you everything you could need to know about wallace's character and the context in which he was living and working. beautiful stuff.



and it's why we care about him so much.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If everyone thought the same of him he wouldn’t have got to middle management in a huge bureaucratic institution.



Eh? you ever worked in a huge bureaucratic institution?


----------



## breasticles (Apr 16, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> and it's why we care about him so much.



i'm feeling a bit tearful just thinking about it. but that's because i am a massive GIRL.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 16, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Eh? you ever worked in a huge bureaucratic institution?


Not for about 20 years - perhaps you're right!






Interesting that it was Poot, not Wallace, who spotted Omar’s boyfriend playing pinball. Poot points him out to Wallace and Wallace makes the phone call. They wait together for Stringer to arrive.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

Where Wallace at? Where Wallace, String?


----------



## Melinda (Apr 16, 2009)

Have they had that bit? ^^^ 




breasticles said:


> i'm feeling a bit tearful just thinking about it. but that's because i am a massive GIRL.


Heart breaking stuff.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Poot points him out to Wallace and Wallace makes the phone call..



Maybe motivated more because D's pay freeze has hit him harder, seeing as he has to support the kids.

I'm flailing a bit here


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Where Wallace at? Where Wallace, String?


Don't worry, i found him!


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 16, 2009)

breasticles said:


> i'm feeling a bit tearful just thinking about it. but that's because i am a massive GIRL.



i cried my eyes out.


oh and i'm not sure which episode we're at - but is dilly's post back there a spoiler?


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 16, 2009)

It's a line from the episode on last night (Wednesday).


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> i cried my eyes out.
> 
> 
> oh and i'm not sure which episode we're at - but is dilly's post back there a spoiler?



I will edit anyway, just in case.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> It's a line from the episode on last night (Wednesday).



I thought so. 

I wont edit then.


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 16, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> It's a line from the episode on last night (Wednesday).



no worries.

pivotal, poignant line, though.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

I have been waiting to do that line for ages.

Where wallace at?


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 16, 2009)

Wallace took the $500 finder fee and Poot didn’t. We can see that Wallace is the de facto father of the feral kids as Poot defers to him on domestic matters and Wallace provides the food. I suppose it’s natural he tells Wallace about Omar’s boyfriend.

As for the feral kids themselves and why they're like that, stick with it.


Elsewhere, didn’t Avon look fine in his getting arrested attire: “Look at those Delta Force motherfuckers . . . ”


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Wallace took the $500 finder fee and Poot didn’t. We can see that Wallace is the de facto father of the feral kids as Poot defers to him on domestic matters and Wallace provides the food. I suppose it’s natural he tells Wallace about Omar’s boyfriend.
> 
> As for the feral kids themselves and why they're like that, stick with it.
> 
> ...



I love the look of confusion on Stringers face as he realizes he is not getting cuffed. 

That is one thing they hadn't counted on.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 16, 2009)

"You'd rather work in shit then let the world let you see work a shovel" - Daniels


----------



## Gromit (Apr 16, 2009)

Great episode last night.

I know people said this series was great but i honestly didn't believe it was as great as it truly is.


----------



## BlackArab (Apr 16, 2009)

breasticles said:


> i'm feeling a bit tearful just thinking about it. but that's because i am a massive GIRL.



Not because you're a girl, I've seen it twice before and turned off because I knew it was coming and the lump in my throat. You should worry if the scene doesn't affect you.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 16, 2009)

Marius said:


> Great episode last night.
> 
> I know people said this series was great but i honestly didn't believe it was as great as it truly is.


Gripping is'nt it,last ep tonight for 2 weeks,poor Wallace you knew he'd come to a sticky end,the guy that plays Stringer,was'nt he in crap Channel 5 soap Family Affairs? big step up for him.


----------



## BlackArab (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I have been waiting to do that line for ages.
> 
> Where wallace at?



The line that got me hooked the first time round.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 16, 2009)

Who else thinks Levy the lawyer is the biggest scumbag in the series so far? comes across as a right slimeball even though he has'nt had much screen time.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 16, 2009)

I suspect only a Jew (David Simon) could get away with writing that character.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 16, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Gripping is'nt it,last ep tonight for 2 weeks,



Yeah bloody snooker. Cant wait to see the seocnd season again, unlike most Wire fans its my favourite.


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 16, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Yeah bloody snooker. Cant wait to see the seocnd season again, unlike most Wire fans its my favourite.


Kinda glad in a way,gives me a bit of breathing space,wish the Beeb would schedule it properly say twice a week or summit like that.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 16, 2009)

Could you watch it twice a week and be satisfied though?

Its interesting because most people watched it in marathon sessions. Which admittedly can be quite overwhelming.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 16, 2009)

I gad completely forgotten the dude who plays Bird was in Moesha!


dave


----------



## kyser_soze (Apr 16, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Who else thinks Levy the lawyer is the biggest scumbag in the series so far? comes across as a right slimeball even though he has'nt had much screen time.



No more or less a morally bankrupt character than anyone else - I think with Levy you see someone who is smart enough to play the game up to their level of ability and no higher...


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Yeah bloody snooker. Cant wait to see the seocnd season again, unlike most Wire fans its my favourite.



Series 2 is the best.

Anybody who disagrees simply doesn't understand it.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 16, 2009)

season 2 the docks??

If so thats the lamest series other then the odd funny moment from ziggy and that method man pops up in it.


dave


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

kained&able said:


> season 2 the docks??
> 
> If so thats the lamest series other then the odd funny moment from ziggy and that method man pops up in it.
> 
> ...



*invokes daves law*

Now I know that I am right.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 16, 2009)

*dissents from Dave's law*


Spoiler: kinda of maybe a spoiler



While I realised (on a second view-through, after having watched ss 3 and 4) that series 2 was vastly vastly better than I'd thought it was at the time, and that Frank Sobotka is a figure of tragic genius and it's all about the Wire's most deeply-held themes of power and hubris bla bla bla... 

I *still* say S2 is the weakest of the five.
(waves tauntingly at the stevedores and runs away.)


(oh and I also say: maybe it's just proof he's a Great Actor, but while in S2 of the Wire I just though Ziggy was an annoying tosser, when I caught sight of James Ransone again in Generation Kill I found him ...er ... oddly alluring.)


----------



## Crispy (Apr 16, 2009)

Careful now, remember the title of the thread...


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> .....



You are wrong.

Sorry.


----------



## kained&able (Apr 16, 2009)

dillenger is the coolest bestest person in the entire world & will not spontaniously combust in the next minute.

i beluve daves law only applies in the music forum when jefe cant be arsed to argue with me about something.


dave


----------



## Belushi (Apr 16, 2009)

I think I like 2 so much because its the one I identify with most, I grew up around men like Frank Sobotka.


----------



## ChrisFilter (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> *invokes daves law*
> 
> Now I know that I am right.



 Dave's law  had forgotten about that.

It's true though. Series 2 is the best.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

ChrisFilter said:


> Dave's law  had forgotten about that.
> 
> It's true though. Series 2 is the best.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 16, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> I realised (on a second view-through, after having watched ss 3 and 4) that series 2 was *vastly vastly better than I'd thought it was at the time,* and that Frank Sobotka is a figure of tragic genius and it's all about the Wire's most deeply-held themse of power and hubris bla bla bla...



Yep, same for me.  

I'm loving this thread - having only watched S1-4 last year, and rewatched them this year, it's great reading new viewers opinions


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

On your third view you will realize that it is unquestionably the best series.

If not your third view, then your fourth. And so on, until you realize the truth.


----------



## Santino (Apr 16, 2009)

What is Dave's Law?


----------



## Refused as fuck (Apr 16, 2009)

What _isn't_ Dave's law?


----------



## sojourner (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> On your third view you will realize that it is unquestionably the best series.
> 
> If not your third view, then your fourth. And so on, until you realize the truth.



No I won't


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

Alex B said:


> What is Dave's Law?



That he is wrong about everything. 

If he disagrees with you, you are unquestionably right.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

sojourner said:


> No I won't



You just don't understand it yet. That is all.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> You just don't understand it yet. That is all.



This is like being told what is best for me by my child.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 16, 2009)

sojourner said:


> This is like being told what is best for me by my child.



Wisdom from the mouth of babes.


----------



## sojourner (Apr 16, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Wisdom from the mouth of babes.


Mm, and as you're both clever fuckers, I've talked myself into a corner with that


----------



## Melinda (Apr 16, 2009)

Come one now Wirettes- there are bits in posts 801 (quoted agin in 803) that need spoilers. 

Or better still Crispy lift them and start a new discussion thread  for those who have seen it.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 16, 2009)

sorry, i was trying to be as general and nonspoileresque as possible, didn't tell anything that actually HAPPENED ... but anyway - have tried to spoilerise that post but didn't manage. directions on how to hide the not-that-informative information please?


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 16, 2009)

Get it done else five-0 gonna light up your ass.


----------



## Crispy (Apr 16, 2009)

I did it for you. edit your own post to see how it's done


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suspect only a Jew (David Simon) could get away with writing that character.



He pretty much says that much in his voice over commentary for one of the S1 episodes.

Just finished ep 6 of s2 yesterday. Fucking thing sucks that you lot have got to wait 2 weeks now.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 16, 2009)

VP - you ordered the box set didn't you, you looking at it now ?


----------



## Bob_the_lost (Apr 17, 2009)

Moar!


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 17, 2009)

"The case got legs, ain't she?"
"Ain't she!"


----------



## El Jefe (Apr 17, 2009)

kained&able said:


> i beluve daves law only applies in the music forum when jefe cant be arsed to argue with me about something.
> 
> 
> dave



afraid not - the music forum is just where it's most evident


----------



## Doctor Carrot (Apr 17, 2009)

If you don't wanna watch them at silly o'clock on BBC2 they've got all the seasons streaming (except season 4 strangely) Here


----------



## Gingerman (Apr 17, 2009)

Quite a downbeat ending.


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 17, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Quite a downbeat ending.



it isn't finnished.  look at that as the first chapter.  the story arc is over all five series.


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 17, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> VP - you ordered the box set didn't you, you looking at it now ?



I bought it, yes. Up to ep7 of s2 now. Reaffirming that as much as I love FS it still isn't top of my list of seasons. That award goes to S4.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Apr 17, 2009)

Well, by the end I was quite addicted. I must go back and watch the whole of series 1 again now on my computer rather than the TV so I can pay more attention as I tend to end up withn 1 eye on the TV & 1 eye on my PC when watching telly. I'm definately looking forward to series 2 in a few weeks.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 17, 2009)

I had another Wire related dream the other night.

Me and some of the detail were busting the offices of Grazia magazine for paedophilia.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 17, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suspect only a Jew (David Simon) could get away with writing that character.



Definitely


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 18, 2009)

Vintage Paw said:


> I bought it, yes. Up to ep7 of s2 now. Reaffirming that as much as I love FS it still isn't top of my list of seasons. That award goes to S4.


Excellent. Just wondered about extras in the box set. You mention commentary from David Simon, is there much of it and what else have you come across?


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 18, 2009)

Arse, my torrent of series 2 is shite quality.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 18, 2009)

I'm going to buy the whole lot though at some point, when the wife isn't looking.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 18, 2009)

That little speech about 'white boys' dealing in 2.01 is hilarious


----------



## starfish (Apr 18, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> Arse, my torrent of series 2 is shite quality.



Got a good download for series 1 & am looking for S2, where did you download so i dont?


----------



## Riklet (Apr 18, 2009)

Ha if it's that Polish one it's not "that" bad.... I got a truly fucking shocking one of series 5 where the quality is even worse than streaming it online! Shoulda twigged with the file sizes.... 

So series 1 is over now? God, they really demand dedication don't they the Beeb, nowt on iplayer so it's 5-day a week late night serious business! Feel sorry for those not so used to internet wizzery and streaming, missing an episode is bang outa order! 

Ahh well for those who are still really just getting into it, you're so damn lucky!! It's been said before I know, but damn it's true....


----------



## Frankie Jack (Apr 18, 2009)

Torrent the whole series.. Watched it over four days.. It's 2nd series now on BEEB2 innit..


----------



## Melinda (Apr 18, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Excellent. Just wondered about extras in the box set. You mention commentary from David Simon, is there much of it and what else have you come across?


There are a few episode commentaries per season and they are available as MP3s. Ive heard Simon, Michael K Williams and Dominic West doing them so far. 



RenegadeDog said:


> That little speech about 'white boys' dealing in 2.01 is hilarious


 

And ditch the poor quality and try again.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 19, 2009)

I am watching 'damages' for the first time, and just found out Rawl's is in it.


----------



## Refused as fuck (Apr 19, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Me and some of the detail were busting the offices of Grazia magazine for paedophilia.


----------



## El Jefe (Apr 19, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I am watching 'damages' for the first time, and just found out Rawl's is in it.



and Freamon


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 19, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> and Freamon



He is? I have not seen him yet. 

Also: 



Spoiler: season4



Michael Lee is in the new 90210. This disappoints me.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 19, 2009)

Oh there he is. Freamon, I mean. 

It is wrong seeing people from The Wire in non Wire related situations and locales.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 20, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Oh there he is. Freamon, I mean.
> 
> It is wrong seeing people from The Wire in non Wire related situations and locales.



LOL, when I first watched the Wire it kept freaking me out how many old faces from Homicide were in it


----------



## DotCommunist (Apr 20, 2009)

I was discombobulated when Marlow Stansfield popped up on Heroes


----------



## Gromit (Apr 20, 2009)

When when when is the second series on BBC2?


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 20, 2009)

Melinda said:


> There are a few episode commentaries per season and they are available as MP3s. Ive heard Simon, Michael K Williams and Dominic West doing them so far.


Chars.



I agree it's disconcerting seeing people from The Wire in other things; you wonder what they're doing away from their real lives in Baltimore.


----------



## trabuquera (Apr 20, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's disconcerting seeing people from The Wire in other things; you wonder what they're doing away from their real lives in Baltimore.



Watching (grim, blurry, bony-Christian-Bale-featuring) film _The Machinist_ over last weekend I couldn't stop wanting to shout "D! _What_ are you doing working in a metal shop? surely there are more profitable alternatives elsewhere?"


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 20, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> Watching (grim, blurry, bony-Christian-Bale-featuring) film _The Machinist_ over last weekend I couldn't stop wanting to shout "D! _What_ are you doing working in a metal shop? surely there are more profitable alternatives elsewhere?"





I saw that as well.


----------



## Gromit (Apr 20, 2009)

Surely he should do what all ex cops do and go into private security.

Hang on. Which one is D again?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

D? An ex-cop?


----------



## Gromit (Apr 20, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> D? An ex-cop?


 
Damn have I just spoilered series 5 for you? Forget I said anything.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

I've seen it - you quite clearly haven't even seen the first


----------



## goldenecitrone (Apr 20, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> Watching (grim, blurry, bony-Christian-Bale-featuring) film _The Machinist_ over last weekend I couldn't stop wanting to shout "D! _What_ are you doing working in a metal shop? surely there are more profitable alternatives elsewhere?"



Not as weird as seeing Stringer Bell in an episode of the Inspector Lynley Mysteries.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

or as a gay gigolo in Ab Fab....


----------



## Crispy (Apr 20, 2009)

In the recentish movie verison of Richard III, Ian Mckellen gets defeated by a very young mcnulty


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

Crispy said:


> In the recentish movie verison of Richard III, Ian Mckellen gets defeated by a very young mcnulty



he plays a callow quisling in 300


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 20, 2009)

I think it's funny how McNulty is one of the most 'American-looking' people in it, and he turns out to be the British actor!


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

'American-looking'?


----------



## Crispy (Apr 20, 2009)

it's the jawline you could crack walnuts on


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

A lot of Americans look like us you know! We're not THAT different! Hence the success of Brits in the show.


----------



## D'wards (Apr 20, 2009)

When does S2 start? It said in The Guardian right after s1, but on bbc2 its said "in a few weeks".

Probably after the snooker i reckon.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Apr 20, 2009)

I've only just found out that the bloke who plays the candidate for mayor was in Queer as Folk. It's now so glaringly obvious I can't believe I didn't see it immediately.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

yeah, he rims that 15 year old lad


----------



## Belushi (Apr 20, 2009)

D'wards said:


> When does S2 start? It said in The Guardian right after s1, but on bbc2 its said "in a few weeks".
> 
> Probably after the snooker i reckon.



After the snooker is over in a fortnight I believe.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 20, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> 'American-looking'?



He looks like he could be the archetypal American mutt - a bit english, a bit italian/european, a bit 'latin'...


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 20, 2009)

he looks Irish


----------



## sojourner (Apr 20, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> he looks Irish



he does


----------



## foo (Apr 20, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> he looks Irish



yeh, i think so too.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 24, 2009)

I'm told Lester Fremon is on BBC1 at 7.00pm tonight.


I know nothing, just passing it on . . .


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 24, 2009)

On the one show?

I like The Wire. 

I like Freamon.

But I don't know if I can put myself through The One Show just for that.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 24, 2009)

Dunno.  Just what I'm told.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 24, 2009)

Yup, just checked- its the One Show. Thanks for the heads up LC. 



> "Adrian Chiles and Christine Bleakley are joined by actor, singer and writer Clarke Peters, talking about his role in The Wire and his new role as Nelson Mandela."



I bet no one on the show has seen it.


----------



## Melinda (Apr 24, 2009)

OMG- pin hole camera? Clarke looks so lost. 

"Is there going to be another season of The Wire then?"


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 24, 2009)

Not good?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Apr 24, 2009)

Come on.

This is The One Show.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 25, 2009)

Series 2 begins on the State Broadcasting Corp on Monday 4th May - a week on Monday. Ta-daaaa.


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

I see Stringer Bell's starring in a new film with Beyonce - he's all over the BBC at the mo: Some cool fucker.

I was thinking perhaps Idris might do the best out of all of them?


----------



## Vintage Paw (Apr 30, 2009)

Finished S2 and watched the commentaries last night. Fucking great season - you're all in for a treat.

Don't know whether to start S3 tonight or watch Cloverfield instead.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I see Stringer Bell's starring in a new film with Beyonce - he's all over the BBC at the mo: Some cool fucker.
> 
> I was thinking perhaps Idris might do the best out of all of them?



Yeah, he's definitely got some presence about him, real menace yet real.


----------



## fen_boy (Apr 30, 2009)

So I've just started watching S1 on Sky+ and have watched 4 episodes so far.

There's been a couple of decent bits like the chess description by D'Angelo, and the dialogue is reasonably interesting, but so far it seems pretty standard cop show stuff.

When does it get all epic like everyone is saying it does?

I'm having a hard time getting the fen_wife to keep watching and I keep assuring her it's going to get better.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> So I've just started watching S1 on Sky+ and have watched 4 episodes so far.
> 
> There's been a couple of decent bits like the chess description by D'Angelo, and the dialogue is reasonably interesting, but so far it seems pretty standard cop show stuff.
> 
> ...



It gets its teeth properly into you after about 5 episodes, I found


----------



## Belushi (Apr 30, 2009)

Init, but its not compulsory to like it - dont forget it was a ratings disaster for HBO!


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

Yeah - IMO it _is quite dialogue heavy and left-field.  I wouldn't expect everyone to like it.  I've mostly been recommending it to people who generally already enjoy films and stuff which are dialoguey and arthousey_


----------



## fen_boy (Apr 30, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> Yeah - IMO it _is quite dialogue heavy and left-field.  I wouldn't expect everyone to like it.  I've mostly been recommending it to people who generally already enjoy films and stuff which are dialoguey and arthousey_


_

See my wife loves all that arthousey stuff, it's not arthousey enough for her so far._


----------



## isitme (Apr 30, 2009)

i didn't get into it till the middle of the 2nds series, i never would have stuck with it if so many people hadn't told me to

i don't like mcnulty that much


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> See my wife loves all that arthousey stuff, it's not arthousey enough for her so far.



OK, maybe 'arthousey' is wrong.  But it's slow, it's not action packed, it's kind of theatrical in a way.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

isitme said:


> i didn't get into it till the middle of the 2nds series, i never would have stuck with it if so many people hadn't told me to
> 
> i don't like mcnulty that much



I like McNulty, but am waiting to find out whether he supports Sheffield United or Wednesday to make a final judgement


----------



## Crispy (Apr 30, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> So I've just started watching S1 on Sky+ and have watched 4 episodes so far.
> 
> There's been a couple of decent bits like the chess description by D'Angelo, and the dialogue is reasonably interesting, but so far it seems pretty standard cop show stuff.
> 
> ...



It doesn't get really gripping until they actually have the wiretap running. The first handful of episodes are all about establishing the characters and the situation. Stick with it, the payoff's worth it.


----------



## fen_boy (Apr 30, 2009)

Crispy said:


> It doesn't get really gripping until they actually have the wiretap running. The first handful of episodes are all about establishing the characters and the situation. Stick with it, the payoff's worth it.



Yeah I'll definitely stick with it.


----------



## The Octagon (Apr 30, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> I like McNulty, but am waiting to find out whether he supports Sheffield United or Wednesday to make a final judgement



Google leans towards Wednesday (good lad), but nothing conclusive.


----------



## belboid (Apr 30, 2009)

Wednesday? I always knew he was a wrong un


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

If he is Wednesday, how about him and Sean Bean having a punch up - who wins?

McNulty might have age on his side a fraction but Sean is solid . . .


----------



## belboid (Apr 30, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If he is Wednesday, how about him and Sean Bean having a punch up - who wins?
> 
> McNulty might have age on his side a fraction but Sean is solid . . .



tough call, but an interesting bout.

Could have Paul Heaton (Blade) v Jarvis Cocker (Owl) as the warm up


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

I dunno, but if they have mates holding their coats, Bunk wins.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

belboid said:


> Wednesday? I always knew he was a wrong un



You're not a Blunt, are you?



I had more respect for you than that


----------



## belboid (Apr 30, 2009)

I'm a part of the super white army, not one of these bleeding yorkshire showers. Tho if forced, the lanes a much nicer ground, and its a family tradition.


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Apr 30, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> When does it get all epic like everyone is saying it does?
> 
> I'm having a hard time getting the fen_wife to keep watching and I keep assuring her it's going to get better.



It doesn't really 'get better' really. You just don't quite see how good it is until you've watched it a bit. I enjoyed those first episodes far more the third time I watched them than the first.


----------



## spanglechick (Apr 30, 2009)

Monkeygrinder's Organ said:


> It doesn't really 'get better' really.



really?


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Apr 30, 2009)

Nah i think it's more a case of getting used to the style.


----------



## starfish (Apr 30, 2009)

Am about half way through S2 on downloads. So far so good, its keeping my attention. ms starfish appears to have developed an unhealthy fixation with Omar however


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 30, 2009)

yos should check out Baltimore on Google Streetview - bleakest vibes


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

Orang Utan - you didn't get back to me; what about the connect?


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 30, 2009)

huh?


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

season 5, the theory you pretty pleased about ?

Whats going on!


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 30, 2009)

oh, forgot about that - i think i skimmed it and thought your observations were many words describing the obvious, but i'm happy to read it properly this time and give you a better response. right now though, i feel like listening to Rumours and singing very loudly to it all before my flatmate gets back


----------



## London_Calling (Apr 30, 2009)

well,  don't let us keep you.


----------



## Belushi (Apr 30, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i feel like listening to Rumours and singing very loudly to it all before my flatmate gets back



Your getting obsessed with Rumours, try Tango in the Night for a change.


----------



## fen_boy (May 1, 2009)

One thing that's struck me is how much the Baltimore low-rises (is that what they call them) look like Arbury in Cambridge or actually any relatively shitty recently built estate in a UK town/city.

e2a Actually it's a bit more rundown in Baltimore, but I think it's the red brick that does it.


----------



## fen_boy (May 1, 2009)

I've watched episodes 5 and 6 now and am getting more into it.

Omar is a great character and Bubs is good too and I like all the stuff with Avon's lot.

Lieutenant Daniels gets on my tits- he struts around like a constipated peacock and overacts everything.
And the lesbian cop, forget her name, she's not very good either.
And the bits with McNulty's family are boring, yes I get it he's got a complicated character, but they lay it on a bit thick.


----------



## London_Calling (May 4, 2009)

Tonight then. 11.30. See you there.


----------



## D'wards (May 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Tonight then. 11.30. See you there.



Was good last night i thought - like the new characters, Ziggy and that.

I like the direction this series is gonna go in.

Why is Avon still top boy tho - seems like String does all the hard work, makes the big decisions. String could run that easy by himself.


----------



## tommers (May 5, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Lieutenant Daniels gets on my tits- he struts around like a constipated peacock and overacts everything.



He walks like a gunslinger.


----------



## tommers (May 5, 2009)

I watched 6 episodes back to back yesterday.... season 3....  I feel a bit odd.


----------



## SpookyFrank (May 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Why is Avon still top boy tho - seems like String does all the hard work, makes the big decisions. String could run that easy by himself.



It's a key theme of the show that those at the top of the ladder are seldom the ones best suited to being there.


----------



## London_Calling (May 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Was good last night i thought - like the new characters, Ziggy and that.
> 
> I like the direction this series is gonna go in.
> 
> Why is Avon still top boy tho - seems like String does all the hard work, makes the big decisions. String could run that easy by himself.


You can make your own mind up but, for a more definitive answer, it  might be worth waiting for around another season and a half to unfold.


----------



## ddraig (May 5, 2009)

only got home at midnight so it confused the hell out of me!


----------



## Gingerman (May 5, 2009)

Loved the way McNulty dumped that case back on Rawles guys


----------



## Crispy (May 5, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Loved the way McNulty dumped that case back on Rawles guys


the fuck did I do?


----------



## belboid (May 5, 2009)

no one posted this up yet?  Seeing as he failed to be given the role of the single most iconic british film/tv character ever, being up for the second most iconic character isn't bad going.



Spoiler: link includes spoiler for season 3



http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/05/television-the-wire-idris-elba-obsessed


----------



## fen_boy (May 5, 2009)

Seen all of S1 now, I love it.


----------



## mhendo (May 5, 2009)

belboid said:


> no one posted this up yet?  Seeing as he failed to be given the role of the single most iconic british film/tv character ever, being up for the second most iconic character isn't bad going.
> 
> http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/05/television-the-wire-idris-elba-obsessed


WARNING:

There are some HUGE Season 3 spoilers in that article, so if you haven't seen S3 yet, you might want to bookmark it and read it later.


----------



## Crispy (May 5, 2009)

good point hendo. remember guys this thread's for newbies!


----------



## belboid (May 5, 2009)

aah, yes   sorry about that


----------



## mhendo (May 5, 2009)

*belboid*, maybe you could edit your post to warn about the spoilers, in case someone clicks on the link before seeing my warning post?


----------



## Crispy (May 5, 2009)

way ahead of you


----------



## madamv (May 5, 2009)

Whats with the BBC or Sky+!!!

I just watched the first ep of season 2 and my recording stopped before the end!!!  Mutha fucka.

Also, as an additional rant...   Why the fuck is it so hard for my Sky+ to pick up each episode to record?   I have to remember to go in each week and plus them in.  Which reminds me of another irritant, there isnt an episode on Thurday!?@#%*$($%£"$)


----------



## Melinda (May 6, 2009)

Madamv, try adjusting your Sky+ buffer settings. Add a minute or two t the end of each recording.

Also, de-series link the Show and  then try it again. Failing that, restart the unit and do a completely fresh series link.

I had similar issues.


----------



## D'wards (May 6, 2009)

madamv said:


> Whats with the BBC or Sky+!!!
> 
> I just watched the first ep of season 2 and my recording stopped before the end!!!  Mutha fucka.
> 
> Also, as an additional rant...   Why the fuck is it so hard for my Sky+ to pick up each episode to record?   I have to remember to go in each week and plus them in.  Which reminds me of another irritant, there isnt an episode on Thurday!?@#%*$($%£"$)



Happened on mine too - think it was something to do with the snooker under-running.


----------



## hektik (May 6, 2009)

from that spoiler link:



> When he presented some awards at the Baftas last month, someone whispered that his latest movie had grossed a record-breaking $27.5m in its first weekend. "I looked around the room and there were all these stars - Jonathan Ross, Ross Kemp and Lenny Henry - and knew for the first time I was as good as them."



talk about low expectations. ross kemp. lenny henry?


----------



## goldenecitrone (May 6, 2009)

hektik said:


> from that spoiler link:
> 
> 
> 
> talk about low expectations. ross kemp. lenny henry?



Idris Elba is in a different league to Ross and Lenny. Premiership compared to Vauxhall Conference.


----------



## Gromit (May 6, 2009)

Melinda said:


> Madamv, try adjusting your Sky+ buffer settings. Add a minute or two t the end of each recording.
> 
> Also, de-series link the Show and then try it again. Failing that, restart the unit and do a completely fresh series link.
> 
> I had similar issues.


 
Happened to me too. My buffer is 3 mins and thats how I like it. I'm not going to up it just cause the Beeb won't keep to schedules as its more than enough for every other channel.

I'll catch the end on iPlayer tonight instead.

I'm loving the fact McNaughty is screwing over his old department with his faxes. Its no more than they deserve. The look on their faces as that woman was writing on the board. Class 

Highlights how silly stats and percentages are when your job is supposed to be justice not making yourself look good.


----------



## fen_boy (May 6, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Happened on mine too - think it was something to do with the snooker under-running.



Same happened to me too.


----------



## Melinda (May 6, 2009)

goldenecitrone said:


> Idris Elba is in a different league to Ross and Lenny. Premiership compared to Vauxhall Conference.



That might be true, but Idris wouldnt be cast in a lead role in TV/ film here.

Ross Kemp has made a career out of playing meathead hardmen and entire series have been carved out around him.  

Lenny Henry has enjoyed the kind of career longevity unknown to any other minority British actor/ comedian I can think of. 

Its interesting that Idris mentioned Adrian Lester and Colin Salmon, both tremendous stage actors who fuck allover Kemp and Henry for talent. They've starred in 'colourblind' roles in rep; in the theatre they arent restricted to 'black' roles.

Adrian tried to tried to  break out of  Hustle and ended up in the execrable Bonekickers. It was ace to see Colin in the Ladies Detective Agency- he has immense physicality and presence. But outside of the stage neither man has had the kind of roles and opportunities their talent deserves in this country. 

Elba, like them would be limited in the scope of TV roles offered to him-  Hollywood is the only option.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (May 6, 2009)

So, Melinda, are you saying that for all the progress, there's still basically a glass ceiling for nonwhite actors in the UK?

What about that guy from Peep Show and Survivors.


----------



## Melinda (May 6, 2009)

Dont know about a glass ceilings necessarily -  its just the availability of challenging roles. 

Unless being black is integral to a role- I dont see so many asian/ black actors being cast in 'colorblind' mainstream roles- (e.g Adrian Lester as Mickey in Hustle).

The commissioning process probably has a lot to do with it.  

The stage is different- Othello isnt the be all and end all of roles- it's not  shocking to see Lester play Hamlet. 

Id add Paterson Joseph to that roster of able black actors who excel on stage but generally get short changed on tv work over here. He was appparently really good in Survivors - I didnt see it. 

Because of their stage experience, they'd kick arse in Hollywood with a decent agent.


----------



## belboid (May 6, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> So, Melinda, are you saying that for all the progress, there's still basically a glass ceiling for nonwhite actors in the UK?
> 
> What about that guy from Peep Show and Survivors.



not too dissimilar to that for women of any colour over 40. Some good roles, for sure, but not that many, and they go to a rather limited number of actresses.


----------



## BlackArab (May 6, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> So, Melinda, are you saying that for all the progress, there's still basically a glass ceiling for nonwhite actors in the UK?



Very much so, I'm afraid. One good example is to look at the careers of the two actresses who played the leads in 'Bend it like Beckham'.

I'm always surprised when people think that racism has disappeared in this country. It's like saying class and gender are no longer barriers to success.


----------



## Melinda (May 6, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Very much so, I'm afraid. One good example is to look at the careers of the two actresses who played the leads in 'Bend it like Beckham'.


Funny you should mention Parminder Nagra, I was talking about her  just today in almost exactly this context. 

She is one of the reasons I started watching ER again. They gave her an ace role- meaty, high profile storylines- fuck all to do with her ethnicity or nationality. Parminder carried the show in its final two years, so much was built around her. 

She's currently doing press junkets with Ray Winstone for their new film  Compulsion. 

But she had to leave the UK to avoid all the arranged marriage scripts being sent her way after _Bend It_. 
Like you say, even as successful as she is, (and so many British actors would chew their arm off to be her atm) - she cant compare to the sheer quality of roles and and cash Keira Knightly can command.  

Where are Parminder's cosmetic and perfume deals?


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (May 6, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Very much so, I'm afraid. One good example is to look at the careers of the two actresses who played the leads in 'Bend it like Beckham'.
> 
> I'm always surprised when people think that racism has disappeared in this country. It's like saying class and gender are no longer barriers to success.



I don't think racism had disappeared, just that things have come a long way from what they were.


----------



## D'wards (May 7, 2009)

Right - so Avon had the bad drugs sent in to the prison - was this something to do with the prison guard who was always hassling Wee-Bay? Trying to stitch him up, by getting him to be selling bad drugs, or have i confused people/things?


----------



## Crispy (May 7, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Right - so Avon had the bad drugs sent in to the prison - was this something to do with the prison guard who was always hassling Wee-Bay? Trying to stitch him up, by getting him to be selling bad drugs, or have i confused people/things?


spot on


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 7, 2009)

My tivo has died, i have no wire to watch. *WHY DO YOU DO THIS TO ME GOD!? WHY?*

*cries*


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (May 7, 2009)

http://isohunt.com/torrents/?ihq=the+wire


----------



## Melinda (May 7, 2009)

Shame that, it was a good episode too!


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 7, 2009)

Worse, i've missed monday, tuesday and wednesday. It's even possible tivo won't be working tonight so i'll have to chose between question time and the wire.

If there is a god, he's a cunt.


----------



## Belushi (May 7, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> Worse, i've missed monday, tuesday and wednesday. It's even possible tivo won't be working tonight so i'll have to chose between question time and the wire.
> 
> If there is a god, he's a cunt.



They're re showing the first three episodes either late Sat or Sun night on BBC2.


----------



## belboid (May 7, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> Worse, i've missed monday, tuesday and wednesday. It's even possible tivo won't be working tonight so i'll have to chose between question time and the wire.


No Wire tonight, tis Apprentice:You've Been fired instead


----------



## Belushi (May 7, 2009)

Next episode isnt on until Monday.


----------



## BlackArab (May 7, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> I don't think racism had disappeared, just that things have come a long way from what they were.



Actually I did word my comment inaccurately, my bad.

I'd agree that things have improved since the 60s/70s but a long way, I'm not so sure.


----------



## Gingerman (May 7, 2009)

The actor playing Nick Sobotka is the spitting image of Ben Affleck


----------



## Orang Utan (May 7, 2009)

no he isn't


----------



## spanglechick (May 7, 2009)

i always thought they were simililar - especially in his 'good will hunting' role.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 7, 2009)

belboid said:


> No Wire tonight, tis Apprentice:You've Been fired instead


Aha, different cause, same result.


----------



## Gingerman (May 7, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> no he isn't




http://www.imdb.com/media/rm827558656/nm1032567
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm647596800/nm0000255
Hmm think its the hairstyle Schreiber is sporting on The Wire which reminded me of Affleck


----------



## Melinda (May 7, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> http://www.imdb.com/media/rm827558656/nm1032567



Blood hell at that photo- he's unrecognisable. 


And yeah, he reminded me of Ben Affleck in Good Will Hunting too Spangles.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 7, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> http://www.imdb.com/media/rm827558656/nm1032567
> http://www.imdb.com/media/rm647596800/nm0000255
> Hmm think its the hairstyle Schreiber is sporting on The Wire which reminded me of Affleck



nothing like him!


----------



## chico enrico (May 7, 2009)

I have only strted watching it recently. 

series one is brilliant, 

but what I have seen of series two so far (5 episodes) is such utter unmitigated, moribund *SHIT* i half expect to see mike myers or jim carey make an appearance.

It's like the scriptwriters of the first series have had some big fall-out with HBO and are doing their upmost to fuck them up.

i really don't think i can keep watching (unless someone perhaps tells me that peerlessly irksome piss-insect 'Ziggy' gets bettered to fuck with hammers then dipped in a vat of sulphutic acid whilst still alive.

And some semblance of characterisation/narrative emerges.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 7, 2009)

you are as wrong as wrong can be - it's the best series


----------



## goldenecitrone (May 7, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> you are as wrong as wrong can be - it's the best series



Nah, that's series 4.


----------



## Belushi (May 7, 2009)

Season Two is my favourite, think I identify with it more than the others. 

I can see why its the least favourite for many wire fans, its the most different form the other seasons.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 7, 2009)

chico enrico said:


> I have only strted watching it recently.
> 
> series one is brilliant,
> 
> ...



I really didn't "get" series 2 the first time round.  It's actually among the best of the whole run (up there with 1, 3 & 4...).  It's interesting that they depart so significantly from the setting and charecters of series 1.  Completely unexpected.  It also (according to simon/wiki,) explores the theme of the "betrayal of the American working class", how "unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy" - surely ideas of concern for almost any self respecting urbanite.

The new charecters (especially ziggy,  Frank and the duck...) are some of the strongest, yet also most understated, of the entire series.  The fact is that Ziggy is supposed to be annoying, so the writers/actors have done their job effectively.

It is also possibly the most difficult to understand of all seasons.  Narrative is strong, but now more than ever, it is not spoon fed to viewers.  I would concede the point that they might have been ever so slightly off-balance on that front for series 2 (this is my third viewing, and the first time I have truly felt that I understand entirely what is happening at any point - and that's only because I know what is coming...)

But stick with it.  More than any other season, the modern "greek tragedy" aspect (another thing simon wished to achieve with the show...) of the Wire is most apparent for this series.  It truly is TV at its best.


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 7, 2009)

word ^^^


----------



## Crispy (May 7, 2009)

really powerful ending to S2 - much more so than S1


----------



## kyser_soze (May 8, 2009)

goldenecitrone said:


> Nah, that's series 4.



Season 3


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (May 8, 2009)

I have to admit, having struggled with series 1 to begin with, and then adored it, I'm now struggling with series 2.  Dunno why.  On episode 2 so far.  I guess every series must be a bit like that, difficult early learning curve


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (May 8, 2009)

But obviously I'm going to keep on with it.


----------



## belboid (May 8, 2009)

season 2 is probably my favourite, that fucking duck!

season 4 comes close tho


----------



## kyser_soze (May 8, 2009)

I didn't start really getting into S2 until about E7 first time around - I still place it 3rd behind S3 & S1 - but it is worth sticking with, and re-watching.


----------



## Melinda (May 8, 2009)

RenegadeDog said:


> But obviously I'm going to keep on with it.



You especially are going to *love* it.  


Props to Jon of arc for his S2 breakdown!


----------



## ovaltina (May 8, 2009)

So where abouts is BBC2 with the screenings then? I'm flogging the box sets on Amazon and want to get the timing right to maximise my profits


----------



## D'wards (May 8, 2009)

ovaltina said:


> So where abouts is BBC2 with the screenings then? I'm flogging the box sets on Amazon and want to get the timing right to maximise my profits



Showing 3 a week, shown 3 thus far.

I like this series so far, but admit i do miss Avon and String being the main focus a bit.

Omar has just shown up though, always helps


----------



## fen_boy (May 8, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Showing 3 a week, shown 3 thus far.
> 
> I like this series so far, but admit i do miss Avon and String being the main focus a bit.
> 
> Omar has just shown up though, always helps



Was the 3rd one on last night? - if it wasn't then my pissing sky plus has missed it.

I found S1 difficult to start with and then loved it. I've really enjoyed the change of pace and setting in S2 so far.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 8, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> word ^^^





Melinda said:


> Props to Jon of arc for his S2 breakdown!



 *blushes*


----------



## El Sueno (May 8, 2009)

Belushi said:


> They're re showing the first three episodes either late Sat or Sun night on BBC2.



Yup they're doing a triple-bill 'refresher course' tonight/tomorrow morning, S2 episodes 1-3, at some ungodly hour... kicking off 1.20am.


----------



## ddraig (May 8, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Yup they're doing a triple-bill 'refresher course' tonight/tomorrow morning, S2 episodes 1-3, at some ungodly hour... kicking off 1.20am.



cool!
that muight help me understaaaand


----------



## London_Calling (May 8, 2009)

The trip by Bodie (and driver guy) to Philly for the drugs dry run was quite interesting. Served no purpose at all from a narrative pov – just a little thing all by itself, yet there was fun to be had.

We all understood the stuff about the radio station and Baltimore and also maybe that this was probably the first time Bodie had heard a non-Black voice on the radio. Not only that but it sounded to me like  Garrison Keillor's ’A Prairie Home Companion’ NPR show, which would be amusing and informative. It isn’t broadcast until the evening – and to the mid-west – but that’s part of the point, I imagine. It must have been like an alien broadcast;  they were still tuned in to Keillor outside  the car park in Philly when you assume Philly must have plenty of Black music stations.


----------



## chico enrico (May 9, 2009)

ok, you've convinced me . i shall persevere. would have done anyway as i've paid $10 to be able to stream every episode. 

still reckon Sopranos is a lot better tho. but that's probably cos it relates a lot more to , like, my life and stuff than the wire.


----------



## BlackArab (May 11, 2009)

My suggestion for Wire newbies. If you've never seen Apocalypse Now, do so before series 3.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The trip by Bodie (and driver guy) to Philly for the drugs dry run was quite interesting. Served no purpose at all from a narrative pov – just a little thing all by itself, yet there was fun to be had.
> 
> We all understood the stuff about the radio station and Baltimore and also maybe that this was probably the first time Bodie had heard a non-Black voice on the radio. Not only that but it sounded to me like  Garrison Keillor's ’A Prairie Home Companion’ NPR show, which would be amusing and informative. It isn’t broadcast until the evening – and to the mid-west – but that’s part of the point, I imagine. It must have been like an alien broadcast;  they were still tuned in to Keillor outside  the car park in Philly when you assume Philly must have plenty of Black music stations.



you think about The Wire waaay too much


----------



## London_Calling (May 11, 2009)

You didn't like me pointing out that S5 thing, did you. Oh well, I think you're wonderful.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> You didn't like me pointing out that S5 thing, did you. Oh well, I think you're wonderful.


i didn't like how proud you were about it, no


----------



## London_Calling (May 11, 2009)

"proud" that's in interesting interpretation of something you specifically asked for. Actually, it was a bit of a shame you didn't deem to acknowledge the post as you must have known it took 10 minutes or so to jot down a response to your request. Just comes across as a bit ignorant, you see, not even acknowledging, let alone thanking someone for taking the trouble.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

knickers! twist!


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

anyway, here's a 'parody' (with S5 spoilers in it):


----------



## Crispy (May 11, 2009)

this thread is for first-time watchers! GTFO, you old hands


----------



## London_Calling (May 11, 2009)

email/pm's in support of commenting on the show are well appreciated. Cheers.

Sad though that people feel they have to do that than say so in the thread itself. But understood.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

snide bastards!


----------



## Crispy (May 11, 2009)

PM's of support? Just over this? Wow


----------



## Orang Utan (May 11, 2009)

it beggars belief!


----------



## Gromit (May 11, 2009)

Spoiler free thread is spoilt. Baby jesus cries.


----------



## London_Calling (May 11, 2009)

Bullies! The pair of you!

Go back to your geeky train maps and ginger narcissism, and leave the normal people alone!


----------



## Crispy (May 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> ginger narcissism


tagline I think


----------



## London_Calling (May 11, 2009)

Yours. If you need anymore just . . . pm me.


----------



## El Sueno (May 11, 2009)

Back on tonight, excited me... ended up staying up last Friday night to catch the first three episodes of Season 2 again, which frankly was a waste of time because I was so tired by the end I can barely remember anything about them. And that's having watched them the previous week. Ah well, I'm sure it'll all come flooding back tonight at 11:20.


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 13, 2009)

From the Wire, to Holby City. Clarke Peters (Detective Lester Freamon) certainly gets about.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_8045000/8045497.stm


----------



## Melinda (May 13, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> From the Wire, to Holby City. Clarke Peters (Detective Lester Freamon) certainly gets about.
> 
> http://news.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/hi/entertainment/newsid_8045000/8045497.stm


 
Now Ive never seen Holby City, but "working on a show like Holby City tested Peters _like never before." _ probably isnt a good thing!  

"You've got to get it in a certain amount of time because they've got an hour of television to do a week. This is like a factory," he said.

This a man who did 8 shows a week in Five Guys Names Moe, Chicgao, Witches of Eastwick... etc

Man's got to pay his bills, but Holby is the anti David Simon! 
Bah!.. its hard accepting that they aren't really Princes of Baltimore.


----------



## London_Calling (May 13, 2009)

If it was a choice between Clarke Peters with his old skool hammy stagecraft and Dominic West . . . the cringeometer goes less into the red with Lester.



So . . . if it's ok with _absolutely everyone,_ shall we continue?

Interesting parallels to be had between D'Angelo and Ziggy, doncha think - sons ill-fitting the family business, etc?


----------



## BlackArab (May 13, 2009)

I love the two headlines next to the Clarke Peters story

_Ne-Yo hopes to 'spice up' Blunt_ 

_Amy Winehouse gig 'disastrous' _


----------



## El Sueno (May 13, 2009)

Nicky's bird's got wicked tits, that's all I can add for the timebeing.


----------



## moonsi til (May 13, 2009)

Postman has just delivered S4..


----------



## STFC (May 13, 2009)

A mate of mine got fed up with The Wire as he reckons there is some really terrible acting in it - particularly from the actors who played Frank Sobotka and Tommy Carcetti. Can't say I noticed myself, I was too gripped by the storylines to spot any bad performances (although McNulty's accent grated at times).

Does anyone else feel it was let down by the acting?


----------



## Crispy (May 13, 2009)

GET THE FUTURE TALK OFF THIS NEWBIE THREAD!!!!!

moved here: http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=288885

grrrrr


----------



## London_Calling (May 13, 2009)

For the newbies – and to piss off our Pict-coloured self-obsessive, three questions from last night. One easy, one moderate, one tricky:

1)	What was the name of the woman estate agent who showed Nicky Sobotka around the house?
2)	What was the toon playing as Beadie Russel was turning herself into real police by developing a CI?
3)	What was interesting about what the Greek who met Frank Sobotka on the waterfront was wearing?


----------



## El Sueno (May 13, 2009)

1) Dunno
2) Dunno
3) Was he wearing Bodie's headscarf thing?


----------



## London_Calling (May 13, 2009)

Got to go out now:



Spoiler: answers



1. Mrs . . . McNulty - it was Jimmy's wife
2. Midnight at the Oasis
3. The same colour and style jacket Ziggy had before Cheese took it from him


----------



## El Sueno (May 13, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Got to go out now:



Dammit, I gotta start paying more attention! I think the problem is being on last thing at night tiredness gets the better of me. Fuck it, I guess I'll be ordering the boxset like everyone else at some point.


----------



## moonsi til (May 13, 2009)

oooh to answer 1...


----------



## Gingerman (May 13, 2009)

Loved Sobotka's rant at Bunk and Beadie when they served those warrents to him last night,v impressive Ziggy trying to save face in front of the corner guys after gettin done over by Cheese at the start of last nights ep


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

"What you're forgetting, Detective, is that every I.B.S. local on the East Coast has had its ass in front of a federal grand jury two or three times already. You want to throw your summonses, throw 'em. You want to subpoena our records? Shit, you don't even need a subpoena no more. Our books have been open to the Justice department for eight years. We're here through Bobby Kennedy, Tricky Dick Nixon, Ronnie "The Unionbuster" Reagan and half a dozen other sons-a-bitches. We'll be here through your weak bullshit, no problem! These four ain't workin' today. You wanna leave the papers here, I'll make sure they get 'em and go downtown on 'em."






D understood the game better than Jay Gatsby, that's foo sure.


----------



## fen_boy (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> For the newbies – and to piss off our Pict-coloured self-obsessive, three questions from last night. One easy, one moderate, one tricky:
> 
> 1)	What was the name of the woman estate agent who showed Nicky Sobotka around the house?
> 2)	What was the toon playing as Beadie Russel was turning herself into real police by developing a CI?
> 3)	What was interesting about what the Greek who met Frank Sobotka on the waterfront was wearing?



1) I thought it was McNutly's wife
2) Dunno
3) Dunno


----------



## El Sueno (May 14, 2009)

How fucking cool was Omar in court last night?


----------



## Gromit (May 14, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> How fucking cool was Omar in court last night?


 
Yeah. Loved his court outfit and the way he kept waving his tie.

Was rather surprised by all the nudity. We haven't seen any real nudity up til now. All of a sudden we have a totally nekid striper and McNaughty's wife in a naked clinch with him.

Wishing they wouldn't put it on so late though. I need to get to bed early and I can't until i get my Wire fix.


----------



## El Sueno (May 14, 2009)

Marius said:


> Was rather surprised by all the nudity.



Me too, first we get Niko's girl hooking out her wicked tits a couple of episodes ago, now everyone's at it. 

I see they've doing the same deal as last week; 3 episodes Mon/Tues/Wed and then all three repeated silly hours late Friday night/Sat morning. So I can have an early night tonight at last! (I'm so pissed off my digibox recorder is fucked, otherwise I'd have every episode on hard drive.  )


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 14, 2009)

Bastard tivo cut off the end of last nights! What happened to D?


----------



## Crispy (May 14, 2009)

Spoiler: the end of the episode, in case anyone's not seen it yet



He gets led into the library storeroom, then he's strangled from behind with a leather belt until dead. The murderer then ties the belt around D's neck, sits him down leaning on the door and ties the other end of the belt to the door handle. He slips through the door, which is closed behind him by the weight of D's body. Roll credits.


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

That one surprised the fuck out of me n mrs b when we saw it.  A literally jaw dropping moment.  What a fucking series.


----------



## goldenecitrone (May 14, 2009)

belboid said:


> That one surprised the fuck out of me n mrs b when we saw it.  A literally jaw dropping moment.  What a fucking series.



I remember when I first saw that scene, too. Like a punch to the throat. I was wondering about the ramifications for ages and I got it all totally wrong.


----------



## Crispy (May 14, 2009)

And it takes so long to finally play out. I love that about this show


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

I suppose because of the strong court room set-piece and the ending, it's sometimes overlooked at how strong was this (19th) hour for women with Beadie Russell, Elana McNulty, the strip bar dancer, Kima and girlfriend and Eileen Nathan all stepping up.

I also like how it stands up to scrutiny, no matter how close you look. For example, there was a full Detail sit-down at the very beginning of this hour and it was decided they'd look at four angles. You then see Kima and Prez at one angle, Lester and Beadie at another, Herc and Carver doing their thing, etc - you're not slapped in the face with any of it. I suppose it's creative 'integrity'.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 14, 2009)

belboid said:


> That one surprised the fuck out of me n mrs b when we saw it.  A literally jaw dropping moment.  What a fucking series.


Come on, it was obvious he was going to get killed, I just expected him to get shanked.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Two completely different stories sharing screen time though; absolutely nothing links the Barksdale gang with Sobotka and the Docks.


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

Really?  You must have missed several characters and rather important plotlines then


----------



## Crispy (May 14, 2009)

I think there's a 'yet' missing from the end of that sentence. Anyway, this is drifting towards FUTURE TALK, so be careful!


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Two completely different stories sharing screen time though; absolutely nothing links the Barksdale gang with Sobotka and the Docks.


As of yet, we've seen Nicko talking to the fat guy and how they've poisoned the well there with the package, he could take the H to that crew but there's bad blood there. The competition might give a better rate, thus opens the Barksdale crew.

I want to know how McNutty gets back into the game.

No spoiler tags as i'm just guessing.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

I'm not drifting into the future. Just exploring the narrative arcs as they are in hour 19.


----------



## Crispy (May 14, 2009)

Good good  I want to see newbies playing the guessing game


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

Well, it is bloody obvious what the links between Sobotka and the Barksdale gang are, even if they haven't been explicitly shown yet (and i think there _has_ been some mention of the link from the gang, albeit not explicitly yet)


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

It might be obvious to you but, fwiw, I use the show as a writing aid and mechanically speaking it matters what happens when and how. There are no links in hour 19 between the two (as best I understand), although we (the audience) think we know how this kind of story will pan out and make assumptions.

It is interesting that David Simon includes assumed responses (of the audience) in the direction of  storylines. He second-guesses where we expect the story to go and if you're doing that as a writer you can't be wrong else the story doesn't make sense.

It's like the person above saying they want to know how McNulty gets back into the gig - that kind of comment is  based on how this kind of story always plays out. Except sometimes - as with D'Angelo - it doesn't.


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

couldn't give a toss how you think you use the show   but I stil lthink you are wrong. There is no direct link shown yet, but there have been one step removes, and it is, imo, absolutely bloody obvious what the link is.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Why don't you share with us the one-step removed links -  as of hour 19 ?


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

Sobotka has been informed of what other items come in through the docks in the conatiners, including drugs. Nick has met with Cheese and Prop Joe to discuss problems with drug deals.  There is an obvious connect.  We know the Barksdales get their gear from someone who is, in all probability, importing it.  Now okay, 2+2 won't always equal 4, but it's a pretty bloody good guess that it will.


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It might be obvious to you but, fwiw, I use the show as a writing aid and mechanically speaking it matters what happens when and how. There are no links in hour 19 between the two (as best I understand), although we (the audience) think we know how this kind of story will pan out and make assumptions.
> 
> It is interesting that David Simon includes assumed responses (of the audience) to the direction of  storylines. He second-guesses where we expect the story to go and if you're doing that as a writer you can't be wrong else the story doesn't make sense.
> 
> It's like the person above saying they want to know how McNulty gets back into the gig - that kind of comment is  based on how this kind of story always plays out. Except sometimes - as with D'Angelo - it doesn't.



i think mcnulty is the least believable character.

he really wouldn't get asked back to special crimes again and again, they just keep him on cos he is meant to be the cipher for the plot. daniels hates him but keeps sticking up for him cos he sees the good in him, but he wouldn't in real life under that much pressure stick up for someone who fucks him over who he doesn't like anyway

i don't think those two would respect each other in real life like they do in the TV show


----------



## Refused as fuck (May 14, 2009)

You're forgetting that Americans are idiots. makes it much more believable.


----------



## 8den (May 14, 2009)

belboid said:


> Sobotka has been informed of what other items come in through the docks in the conatiners, including drugs. Nick has met with Cheese and Prop Joe to discuss problems with drug deals.  There is an obvious connect.  We know the Barksdales get their gear from someone who is, in all probability, importing it.  Now okay, 2+2 won't always equal 4, but it's a pretty bloody good guess that it will.





No sorry you're wrong. We've seen D'Angelo get lifted on his way back with the Barksdale package, from New York at the end of season one(remember they needed a massive emergency Re up after Baltimore PD raided in the main stashhouse in the aftermath of Kema's shooting). And we've seen Bodie make the delivery from Philly in the van. 

So it's been made abundantly clear thats the Barksdale Package is not coming through the Baltimore docks.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> Nicko talking to the fat guy.


Proposition Joe, manager of the east side basketball team of course.

And you are a "cadaverous motherfucker"


----------



## 8den (May 14, 2009)

isitme said:


> i think mcnulty is the least believable character.
> 
> he really wouldn't get asked back to special crimes again and again, they just keep him on cos he is meant to be the cipher for the plot. daniels hates him but keeps sticking up for him cos he sees the good in him, but he wouldn't in real life under that much pressure stick up for someone who fucks him over who he doesn't like anyway
> 
> i don't think those two would respect each other in real life like they do in the TV show



I think the thing about Mc Nulty is that Daniels has grudging respect for Mc Nulty. McNulty wants to make the case, fuck the games, fuck the politics, when Daniels is career police. Mc Nulty was a gapping asshole all throughout season 1, but he was ultimately right, they didn't land anything on Avon Barksdale with some street rips, Mc Nulty was proven right, he just went about getting it the wrong way. The thing is, if Mc Nulty hadn't been such a dick, and made such a fuss, they'd never have gotten anywhere near Avon.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

8den said:


> No sorry you're wrong. We've seen D'Angelo get lifted on his way back with the Barksdale package, from New York at the end of season one(remember they needed a massive emergency Re up after Baltimore PD raided in the main stashhouse in the aftermath of Kema's shooting). And we've seen Bodie make the delivery from Philly in the van.
> 
> So it's been made abundantly clear thats the Barksdale Package is not coming through the Baltimore docks.


I think what happened was Philly was a dry run but Avon did manage to make a short-term arrangement with Atlanta. This came to light when his sister/D's mother went to visit him and made it clear they were "on scraps". She comfirms the arrangement in a word at a later visit.

That short-term deal is what's keeping them going at the moment. Atlanta hasn't been explored and only mentioned once.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I think what happened was Philly was a dry run but Avon did manage to make a short-term arrangement with Atlanta. This came to light when his sister/D's mother went to visit him and made it clear they were "on scraps". She comfirms the arrangement in a word at a later visit.
> 
> That short-term deal is what's keeping them going at the moment. Atlanta hasn't been explored and only mentioned once.


Where were they going in the first episode with the car, i know it was out of Baltimore, which implies a land connection.


----------



## 8den (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I think what happened was Philly was a dry run but Avon did manage to make a short-term arrangement with Atlanta. This came to light when his sister/D's mother went to visit him and made it clear they were "on scraps". She comfirms the arrangement in a word at a later visit.
> 
> That short-term deal is what's keeping them going at the moment. Atlanta hasn't been explored and only mentioned once.



I agree, but we're in the suburbs of spoilertown here.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Bob_the_lost said:


> Where were they going in the first episode with the car, i know it was out of Baltimore, which implies a land connection.


Bodie in the van with the radio fading? Philly. He changes into a car (not literally, it's not Heros  ) when they get there.

Remember the big post-mortem about 3/10ths of a mile and Bodie shitting himself explaining what happened to Stringer? No drugs intended, a dry run.


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

8den said:


> I think the thing about Mc Nulty is that Daniels has grudging respect for Mc Nulty. McNulty wants to make the case, fuck the games, fuck the politics, when Daniels is career police. Mc Nulty was a gapping asshole all throughout season 1, but he was ultimately right, they didn't land anything on Avon Barksdale with some street rips, Mc Nulty was proven right, he just went about getting it the wrong way. The thing is, if Mc Nulty hadn't been such a dick, and made such a fuss, they'd never have gotten anywhere near Avon.



but that's what I mean

like, what you just described could be John Mcclaine or Harry Callaghan 'goddamn this paperwork, I'm a cop not a goddamn secretary' 'he doesn't play by the rules, but he always gets results' etc 

All of the other characters are believable, but McNulty is pure cop show. Including Daniels grudging respect for him.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Anti-hero, perhaps?

As opposed to, say, Frank Sobotka's hero?


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Anti-hero, perhaps?
> 
> As opposed to, say, Frank Sobotka's hero?



well frank is a proper anti-hero. same as carver or the boxing guy, or lester or carcetti, fighting an endless battle that you are bound to lose just cos it has to be fought

mcnulty doesn't do that, he is just a plot device


----------



## 8den (May 14, 2009)

isitme said:


> but that's what I mean
> 
> like, what you just described could be John Mcclaine or Harry Callaghan 'goddamn this paperwork, I'm a cop not a goddamn secretary' 'he doesn't play by the rules, but he always gets results' etc



Yeah but it's not like the captain ends up defending him to the chief, and keeping his badge and shield. Mc Nulty constantly suffers, and is set back because the qualities that make the guy Good Police, are the exact qualities that make him a dire human being. Using his kids to spy on Stringer? Drunken Massive fuck ups? Screwing over Rawls? He's a miserable human being with a rotten life, who's only comforts in life is his job and boozing. 



> All of the other characters are believable, but McNulty is pure cop show. Including Daniels grudging respect for him.



If  you stick with it, the Mc Nulty at the end of season 3, and season 4, and season 5, are three very different men.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Well done the pair of you: Is it so fucking difficult to stay in real time?


----------



## belboid (May 14, 2009)

8den said:


> No sorry you're wrong. We've seen D'Angelo get lifted on his way back with the Barksdale package, from New York at the end of season one(remember they needed a massive emergency Re up after Baltimore PD raided in the main stashhouse in the aftermath of Kema's shooting). And we've seen Bodie make the delivery from Philly in the van.
> 
> So it's been made abundantly clear thats the Barksdale Package is not coming through the Baltimore docks.



hmm, i think you are missing something still.  but i am glad not to be so totally obsessed as to recall every bleeding detail like that


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

8den said:


> If  you stick with it, the Mc Nulty at the end of season 3, and season 4, and season 5, are three very different men.



I've watched all 5 series. I don't find him believable in any of them

I think that whole 'good cop up against it' plot line is best represented by herc and carver's trajectories. mcnulty is just john mcclaine


----------



## Melinda (May 14, 2009)

isitme said:


> but that's what I mean
> 
> like, what you just described could be *John Mcclaine or Harry Callaghan *'goddamn this paperwork, I'm a cop not a goddamn secretary' 'he doesn't play by the rules, but he always gets results' etc
> 
> All of the other characters are believable, but McNulty is pure cop show. Including Daniels grudging respect for him.



I see what you're getting at, but McLane et al are all 'super human', reliant on uncanny sixth senses and hunches, (not to mention violence/ threats of violence). They get smashed and bloodied but get up to carry on. 

Superficially McNulty shares a similar shitty attitude to authority but its born out of a different place. He has a fundamental contempt for the system within which he works. He is shambling and self destructive, stumbling through life leaving chaos and disorder in his wake which people behind him have to clear up, both at home and at work. He has to face the consequences too.

Occasionally he shows flair, but you wouldn't argue that he was a better cop than Greggs, Bunk or Freamon.


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

Melinda said:


> I see what you're getting at, but McLane et al are all 'super human', reliant on uncanny sixth senses and hunches, (not to mention violence/ threats of violence). They get smashed and bloodied but get up to carry on.
> 
> Superficially McNulty shares a similar shitty attitude to authority but its born out of a different place. He has a fundamental contempt for the system within which he works. He is shambling and self destructive, stumbling through life leaving chaos and disorder in his wake which people behind him have to clear up, both at home and at work. He has to face the consequences too.
> 
> Occasionally he shows flair, but you wouldn't argue that he was a better cop than Greggs, Bunk or Freamon.



have you watched Homicide? that was better cos there wasn't any McNulty style American Hero. they were all heroes but they were all part of the system.


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

Definitive anti-hero for me; loathes the system and is indifferent to authority, cares about the job.


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

he's a real maverick renegade


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

belboid said:


> hmm, i think you are missing something still.  but i am glad not to be so totally obsessed as to recall every bleeding detail like that


So feel free not to tell the rest of us we're wrong, when we're not. You lucky person in your enriched, fulfilled life


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 14, 2009)

I like mcnultys patheticness - he _thinks_ he's smarter than every other fucker (and he has his moments), but really he's just someone else who has his talents either exploited or ignored.  Deep down, he knows this to be the case, and the frustration it brings him, more than any "renegade maverick" tendencies, seem to be his true motivation.  IMO.


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I like mcnultys patheticness - he _thinks_ he's smarter than every other fucker (and he has his moments), but really he's just someone else who has his talents either exploited or ignored.  Deep down, he knows this to be the case, and the frustration it brings him, more than any "renegade maverick" tendencies, seem to be his true motivation.  IMO.



well that would be the case, except he's the only character who gets whole shows dedicated to him and his kids etc


----------



## London_Calling (May 14, 2009)

isitme said:


> he's a real maverick renegade


His whole purpose, from David Simon's pov (imo), is to subvert the tradition of the American Hero, whether it's John Wayne, Callaghan or McLaine.

An example; guns - McNulty doesn't use one let alone use it in the primitive way American heros do; when he wants to wave his cock about, he just waves his cock about. He doesn't do violence or posturing or symbolism. I suppose you might argue he's anti-Hollywood, maybe.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (May 14, 2009)

isitme said:


> well that would be the case, except he's the only character who gets whole shows dedicated to him and his kids etc



Greggs aside...


----------



## isitme (May 14, 2009)

GHEY


----------



## subversplat (May 15, 2009)

Regarding McNulty, I don't think that he's a proper *anti*-hero, he's still the guy the viewer is rooting for in the end. A deeply flawed coventional hero perhaps, but he doesn't really generate any real antipathy from the watcher.

Agree with the ex-Voice of Reason on this one.


----------



## gosub (May 15, 2009)

subversplat said:


> Regarding McNulty, I don't think that he's a proper *anti*-hero, he's still the guy the viewer is rooting for in the end. A deeply flawed coventional hero perhaps, but he doesn't really generate any real antipathy from the watcher.
> 
> Agree with the ex-Voice of Reason on this one.



You wait til season 5, his behaviour is so un McNultyish as to be annoying


----------



## Belushi (May 15, 2009)

isitme said:


> have you watched Homicide? that was better cos there wasn't any McNulty style American Hero.



And they had Frank Pembelton


----------



## subversplat (May 15, 2009)

gosub said:


> You wait til season 5, his behaviour is so un McNultyish as to be annoying


I've seen the lot


----------



## El Sueno (May 18, 2009)

Can't wait for tonight and the fallout from D's execution.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 18, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Can't wait for tonight and the fallout from D's execution.


That fallout is going to last for a long long time, it'll be waiting under the surface like a turd in the arctic, just waiting for some poor shmuck to step in it. Slow burner.


----------



## London_Calling (May 18, 2009)

The guy leading D'Angelo's prison book club was Richard Price, a writer himself and a mate of Simons' he did a lot of the writing for S5 - just keeping you hoppers on your toes.


----------



## Gromit (May 18, 2009)

No Wire for me tonight 

Gotta be out of the house at 7am tomorrow so early night for me. 

I'll have to wait tip tomorrow evening to see what happens. Bloody torture.


----------



## Dan U (May 18, 2009)

Belushi said:


> And they had Frank Pembelton


----------



## D'wards (May 19, 2009)

PVR cut the end off again - AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Who can i complain to about that? I'm not normally the complaining type, but it always happens with the Wire - if a few of us complain something may happen eh?

Theres a lot of Wire to get through still


----------



## kyser_soze (May 19, 2009)

So where you all at, homes? Still down at the docks?


----------



## belboid (May 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The guy leading D'Angelo's prison book club was Richard Price, a writer himself and a mate of Simons' he did a lot of the writing for S5 - just keeping you hoppers on your toes.



who wrote the superb Clockers, which Spike Lee just about managed not to ruin!


----------



## Crispy (May 19, 2009)

The episode ends with Daniels bargaining with Rawls - in return for taking on the murder cases, Rawls has to give him what he needs. Marla's not happy with it, she thought he was getting out of the unit to get back on the ladder. Mcnulty has a little chat with his wife while the kids play in a tent. She acknowledges that he's changed for the better but she still can't trust him. Credits.


----------



## El Sueno (May 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> PVR cut the end off again - AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
> 
> Who can i complain to about that? I'm not normally the complaining type, but it always happens with the Wire - if a few of us complain something may happen eh?
> 
> Theres a lot of Wire to get through still



Don't panic, you didn't miss any tits.


----------



## Sadken (May 19, 2009)

Started series 3 yet?


----------



## Crispy (May 19, 2009)

BBC's still on S2. 5 more episodes to go


----------



## London_Calling (May 19, 2009)

I'm just a humble motherfucker with a big-ass dick
You give yourself too much credit
Okay then. I ain't that humble

 - first time we see Bunk at a bar without McNulty.


----------



## BlackArab (May 19, 2009)

belboid said:


> who wrote the superb Clockers, which Spike Lee just about managed not to ruin!



and The Wanderers!


----------



## D'wards (May 19, 2009)

Crispy said:


> The episode ends with Daniels bargaining with Rawls - in return for taking on the murder cases, Rawls has to give him what he needs. Marla's not happy with it, she thought he was getting out of the unit to get back on the ladder. Mcnulty has a little chat with his wife while the kids play in a tent. She acknowledges that he's changed for the better but she still can't trust him. Credits.



Good man.

The Wanderers is excellent - well worth a read by, anyone really.


----------



## Orang Utan (May 19, 2009)

belboid said:


> who wrote the superb Clockers, which Spike Lee just about managed not to ruin!


clockers is well wiresque - there's a few things that happen in the wire that i'm sure i read about in clockers.
price also wrote freedomland which starred a lot of wire actors and covers a lot of wire type territory - the neglected projects, covert racism, the press coverage of white people as victims of crime whilst whilst ignoring the crime problems of black people (also covered in homicide with the robin williams episode)


----------



## D'wards (May 19, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Don't panic, you didn't miss any tits.



Good stuff  - if i do i'll expect you to do a crude sketch of them for me.


----------



## El Sueno (May 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Good stuff  - if i do i'll expect you to do a crude sketch of them for me.



I dunno if I could do them justice with a drawing, they were spectacular. Nicko's a lucky fella.


----------



## belboid (May 19, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> clockers is well wiresque - there's a few things that happen in the wire that i'm sure i read about in clockers.
> price also wrote freedomland which starred a lot of wire actors and covers a lot of wire type territory - the neglected projects, covert racism, the press coverage of white people as victims of crime whilst whilst ignoring the crime problems of black people (also covered in homicide with the robin williams episode)



The Spike Lee film wasn't bad of it, but just nowhere near as good or as full as the book. And, as lee himself freely admits, if it weren't for Harvey Keitel, all the white characters would have been two-dminsional as shit.

Wee-bays first acting job as well, it was.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 19, 2009)

belboid said:


> And, as lee himself freely admits, if it weren't for Harvey Keitel, all the white characters would have been *two-dminsional as shit*.



Hve you been defecating in your trouser press again?


----------



## El Sueno (May 19, 2009)

belboid said:


> Wee-bays first acting job as well, it was.



It's hard to imagine some of the gangster actors breaking character after each take, Wee-Bay especially - he's just so perfect for the role.


----------



## London_Calling (May 19, 2009)

After all the character development and the set up, I thought the plot really got out of the blocks in this hour. There was more community stuff (Frank's schooldays and social history, the Polish Wiggers, the Union at work, rest and hospitalisation), but mainly it seemed to be about the Detail getting into gear and doing what it does best in the modern urban crime environment. We all know it's got more gears yet.

Carver's got a great "That's fucked me" look.


----------



## El Sueno (May 19, 2009)

I liked it how Carver and Herc are taking the initiative, getting their own bug but going about it all in a kinda 'boys own' way, having a little adventure of their own.


----------



## kyser_soze (May 19, 2009)

> if it weren't for Harvey Keitel, all the white characters would have been two-dminsional as shit.



You mean like every other white character he's ever filmed?


----------



## belboid (May 19, 2009)

bar two or three, yup


----------



## kyser_soze (May 19, 2009)

I'm thinking Sal from DTRT and...actually, I don't know who else!

In fairness, he does white males better than he does women full stop.


----------



## belboid (May 19, 2009)

John Leguizamo isn't at all badly drawn in Summer of Sam


----------



## kyser_soze (May 19, 2009)

True dat. Generally it seems the quality of his white characters hinges on the basic talent of the actor, I reckon.


----------



## belboid (May 19, 2009)

and whether they can be arsed/dare to argue with SL about their role. He (Lee) is actually very open and generous towards Keitel about his role in developing his character in Clockers, which is pretty unusual


----------



## Gingerman (May 19, 2009)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2330/1846946209_669fab50b0.jpg?v=0


----------



## Gingerman (May 20, 2009)

Fuzzy Dunlop ,Was that a Pogues song on McNulty's car radio at the start when he was driving phished?


----------



## D'wards (May 20, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> It's hard to imagine some of the gangster actors breaking character after each take, Wee-Bay especially - he's just so perfect for the role.



Yeah, that character Bird - seemed like such a nasty piece of work, and looked it too, that you cannot imagine him being pleasant in real life


----------



## D'wards (May 20, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Fuzzy Dunlop ,Was that a Pogues song on McNulty's car radio at the start when he was driving phished?



Yeah, was for sure. He's a one that McNulty. Takes a whore to catch a whore...


----------



## goldenecitrone (May 20, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Fuzzy Dunlop ,Was that a Pogues song on McNulty's car radio at the start when he was driving phished?



There's quite a few Pogues references throughout the 5 series.


----------



## Melinda (May 20, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Yeah, that character Bird - seemed like such a nasty piece of work, and looked it too, that you cannot imagine him being pleasant in real life



He played a similar character in Save The Last Dance, and someone on another thread remembered he was a bad boy in Moesha too.


----------



## D'wards (May 20, 2009)

Melinda said:


> He played a similar character in Save The Last Dance, and someone on another thread remembered he was a bad boy in Moesha too.



He's got that evil look to him, hard to think he will play a romantic lead in a romcom anytime soon, but you never know.


----------



## Melinda (May 20, 2009)

Ive just looked him up and apparently he was in Onyx! 

All the pussy niggaz and pussy hoes who are scared of this- BACK THE FUCK UP. 

Just _SLAM!! _LET THE BOYZ BE BOYZ!!


----------



## London_Calling (May 20, 2009)

Bird is proper Last of the Mohicans stuff; a one-dimensional muscle machine. Wee-Bey, on the other hand, is yer calm, thoughtful, proper psychopath. Love Wee-bey – excellent acting but, as others have said, it might be tricky breaking out of the mould.

The interesting contrast to all this testosterone at the docks and among the Barksdale crew and Detail is perhaps  . . . Ziggy. The only muscle he has won’t help him in a fight, unless he strangles someone with it. What purposes does the immensely annoying Ziggy serve in the narrative sense; is he the non-macho counterpoint, is he the poor white boy parallel for D’Angelo, does he represent the lost, white, urban poor . . .


----------



## nick h. (May 20, 2009)

Stuff the poor white boy, how about the nympho waitress? Wasn't that the most erotic sex scene ever? A ridiculous porn film fantasy rendered convincing.  I wish that would happen to me when I nip out for eggs and scrapple. McNulty should just move in with her and forget about the whiny wife.   But she didn't even get a credit so I doubt we'll see her again.


----------



## London_Calling (May 20, 2009)

I thought the writers  were just sending up their own creation


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 20, 2009)

nick h. said:


> Stuff the poor white boy, how about the nympho waitress? Wasn't that the most erotic sex scene ever? A ridiculous porn film fantasy rendered convincing.  I wish that would happen to me when I nip out for eggs and scrapple. McNulty should just move in with her and forget about the whiny wife.   But she didn't even get a credit so I doubt we'll see her again.



Indeed. That was a great moment.

I just wish I could get eggs and scrapple after closing time.


----------



## nick h. (May 20, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I thought the writers  were just sending up their own creation



American women really are that forward sometimes.


----------



## D'wards (May 20, 2009)

nick h. said:


> American women really are that forward sometimes.



*Buys plane ticket for America*


----------



## D'wards (May 20, 2009)

I've realised why the PVR keeps cutting the end off - all these fucking unscheduled party political broadcasts us Wire fans are forced to endure


----------



## Belushi (May 21, 2009)

Well excited by the introduction of Brother Mouzone


----------



## Gromit (May 21, 2009)

nick h. said:


> Stuff the poor white boy, how about the nympho waitress? Wasn't that the most erotic sex scene ever? A ridiculous porn film fantasy rendered convincing.  I wish that would happen to me when I nip out for eggs and scrapple. McNulty should just move in with her and forget about the whiny wife.   But she didn't even get a credit so I doubt we'll see her again.



I thought the scene gratuitous at first (not that I was complaining). 
Like the fact that she was no super model. Believable as a waitress and as someone who would shag him just like that.  However she did have a nice bod. 

So why wasn't it gratuitous? What was the point?
It was reafirming / reminding us of his manwhore status for him to be selected for brothel duty.


----------



## London_Calling (May 21, 2009)

see above for my view.


First time I saw this hour I didn't really take notice that the FBI agent McNulty went to visit didn't actually dial the number of the person he spoke to - the software did it for him, as McNulty mentions.


----------



## Gingerman (May 21, 2009)

Can anyone explain the situtation with Stringer and Prop Joe,got lost in translation with me  and who is this Brother Mouzone?


----------



## London_Calling (May 21, 2009)

Brother Mouzone has been brought in by Avon - without first telling Stringer - to protect their real estate. 

Stringer - without telling Avon - has given Prop Joe 3 towers for connecting him with his package.


----------



## Crispy (May 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Can anyone explain the situtation with Stringer and Prop Joe,got lost in translation with me  and who is this Brother Mouzone?


Prop Joe controls the East Side like Avon controls the west. Joe gets his dope from the greek. Avon's dope supply is crap. So, behind Avon's back, Stringer's going to join up with Joe so that they both make more money by selling more dope in more territory, without their dealers killing each other (which is what brings the cops).

Avon knows that joe is a threat and therefore he needs to prevent joe's dealers from operating on his territory. All his good muscle (weebey, bird etc) is either dead or locked up, so he calls in a favour from New York. They send Mouzone. This is a problem for Stringer, because it steps all over the deal he did with Joe.


----------



## sojourner (May 21, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Prop Joe controls the East Side like Avon controls the west. Joe gets his dope from the greek. Avon's dope supply is crap. So, behind Avon's back, Stringer's going to join up with Joe so that they both make more money by selling more dope in more territory, without their dealers killing each other (which is what brings the cops).
> 
> Avon knows that joe is a threat and therefore he needs to prevent joe's dealers from operating on his territory. All his good muscle (weebey, bird etc) is either dead or locked up, so he calls in a favour from New York. They send Mouzone. This is a problem for Stringer, because it steps all over the deal he did with Joe.



  not that you're interested 

Gingerman - How could you not understand this?


----------



## Crispy (May 21, 2009)

I refute the suggestion that I have the entire plot of the wire stashed in my long-term memory


----------



## Gromit (May 21, 2009)

I'd just like to say that Thursday nights are now made of fail.

No Wire after three days of Wire goodness makes me


----------



## sojourner (May 21, 2009)

Crispy said:


> I refute the suggestion that I have the entire plot of the wire stashed in my long-term memory



heh


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 21, 2009)

Was last night's ep 6 or 9?


----------



## London_Calling (May 21, 2009)

And the main point behind all of that is the set up: Stringer's classroom education vs. Avon's streetwise gut instinct and knowhow.

Fwiw, last night Prop Joe undermines Avon's instinct in his meeting with Stringer "Avon's a soldier" while bigging up the gullible Stinger.


----------



## nick h. (May 21, 2009)

Marius said:


> I thought the scene gratuitous at first (not that I was complaining).
> Like the fact that she was no super model. Believable as a waitress and as someone who would shag him just like that.  However she did have a nice bod.
> 
> So why wasn't it gratuitous? What was the point?
> It was reafirming / reminding us of his manwhore status for him to be selected for brothel duty.



Waitress didn't get a credit but google led me to her myspace page http://www.myspace.com/lillisa739  Just an ordinary Baltimore girl who wants to open a tanning salon. Seems like her part in the Wire was her 15 minutes of fame. I'm starting to think that all the characters are real people. Even when Dominic West was doing his English accent he still seemed like McNulty


----------



## Gingerman (May 21, 2009)

Did'nt McNulty look like a kid in a sweetshop when he had to chose one of the ladies,bet he wished Bunk and Kimo hada waited a little bit longer before they stormed in


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Did'nt McNulty look like a kid in a sweetshop when he had to chose one of the ladies,bet he wished Bunk and Kimo hada waited a little bit longer before they stormed in



um, doesn't he actually come, in that scene?  I thought he did.  You hear him, while the camera's on Kima and Bunk

Anyone?


----------



## DotCommunist (May 22, 2009)

sojourner said:


> um, doesn't he actually come, in that scene?  I thought he did.  You hear him, while the camera's on Kima and Bunk
> 
> Anyone?



yeah he does and he has to write a report on it which is lulsome


----------



## London_Calling (May 22, 2009)

3 fucks and 3 times the woman does the work.


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> yeah he does and he has to write a report on it which is lulsome



Yeh 

Gingerman - have you actually watched this programme?!


----------



## Gingerman (May 22, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Yeh
> 
> Gingerman - have you actually watched this programme?!


Er yes why do you ask?


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Er yes why do you ask?



cos the last couple of posts you've posted, you seem to have missed lots of stuff


----------



## Gingerman (May 22, 2009)

sojourner said:


> cos the last couple of posts you've posted, you seem to have missed lots of stuff


Lots of stuff???? well I could'nt understand some of the dialogue between Prop Joe and Stringer on Tue ep thats why I asked wtf was going on,did'nt noticed whether McNulty came or not on Wed ep.


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Lots of stuff???? well I could'nt understand some of the dialogue between Prop Joe and Stringer on Tue ep thats why I asked wtf was going on,did'nt noticed whether McNulty came or not on Wed ep.



I just can't understand how you wouldn't have at least got the gist, in the first instance, and not realised that McNulty had come 

Are you the type of person who talks through films?


----------



## nick h. (May 22, 2009)

I was concentrating and I didn't notice he'd come. He was making lots of noise but I assumed that's because he was trying NOT to come. A man of his experience ought to have lasted a bit longer.   I assumed the icky details of his report were just about the sexual contact - he wasn't supposed to have any at all.


----------



## nick h. (May 22, 2009)

Marius said:


> I'd just like to say that Thursday nights are now made of fail.
> 
> No Wire after three days of Wire goodness makes me



I couldn't wait so I torrented the rest of the series. Brilliant.  

Am now torrenting series 3. It's an addiction. Probably watch series 4 and 5 over the weekend. What will I do with my life next week?


----------



## sojourner (May 22, 2009)

nick h. said:


> It's an addiction.



yep 

It should be a class A by rights.  You think you'll be okay, like you won't be like the others, and you can just do it every now and again, but before you know it, you're on the couch for 6 hours plus.  And that's showing massive self restraint


----------



## Gingerman (May 22, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Are you the type of person who talks through films?



Nope.Noticed one of the ladies attempting to jerk him off,did'nt notice whether he shot his load or not.


----------



## London_Calling (May 27, 2009)

If you're finding some elements a little confusing I think the idea is that your state of mind reflects how not a few characters feel at the moment; some do have part of it, others no idea, some know things aren't quite fitting . . . It's a struggle putting the puzzle together.

Only a couple of characters seem to have a complete handle on events but to most  . . .  it's all Greek.


----------



## D'wards (May 27, 2009)

Marius said:


> I'd just like to say that Thursday nights are now made of fail.
> 
> No Wire after three days of Wire goodness makes me



I know exactly what you mean, Wire cold turkey innit.

When are they showing S3, cos i can't find any listings for it at all


----------



## Gingerman (May 27, 2009)

Poor aul Frank Sobaka,talk bout being in the wrong place at the wrong time and to think it all started over a stained glass window in a church.


----------



## 8den (May 27, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Poor aul Frank Sobaka,talk bout being in the wrong place at the wrong time and to think it all started over a stained glass window in a church.



And you should never fuck with Major Valchek, who is a massive asshole.


----------



## Gingerman (May 27, 2009)

8den said:


> And you should never fuck with Major Valchek, who is a massive asshole.



He really is,Prez decking him was ,I actually think Sobaka is a decent guy who turned to the dark side to keep the Union from going under.Felt sorry for Ziggy last night unlikable as he is.


----------



## tar1984 (May 27, 2009)

I watched this for the first time last night.  What series are they showing?


----------



## D'wards (May 27, 2009)

8den said:


> And you should never fuck with Major Valchek, who is a massive asshole.



Looks like Valchek is the least of his problems, right now.

Wonder what the Greeks will do to the boy.

Who was the bloke who phoned up the Greek? FBI or 5-0? Was he a character you've seen before?


----------



## D'wards (May 27, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Felt sorry for Ziggy last night unlikable as he is.




I remembered where i'd seen Ziggy before - he graphically indulged in a bit of Michael Hutchence style auto-erotic asphyxiation in the film Ken Park - therefore i can say he is cleary wearing a prosthetic in The Wire.


----------



## Gingerman (May 27, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Looks like Valchek is the least of his problems, right now.
> 
> Wonder what the Greeks will do to the boy.
> 
> Who was the bloke who phoned up the Greek? FBI or 5-0? Was he a character you've seen before?


FBI,hes been in the last few eps, got some relationship with the Greeks


----------



## Crispy (May 27, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> I watched this for the first time last night.  What series are they showing?



The second. But you _have_ to watch the whole thing, in order, from the very beginning or it won't make any sense.


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 27, 2009)

The dialogue between Omar and Brother Mouzone while he's laid there shot is superb. I had to watch it again.


----------



## SpookyFrank (May 27, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> The dialogue between Omar and Brother Mouzone while he's laid there shot is superb. I had to watch it again.




"You kill my man?"
"Naaw, he resting."


----------



## London_Calling (May 27, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Who was the bloke who phoned up the Greek? FBI or 5-0? Was he a character you've seen before?


Well, that's part of the confusion; the mystery man.

When we first see this guy he's on the end of a phone that Fitz has called. Fitz assumes he's phoning the FBI in San Diego (his computer dials the number for him) which is where the guy was  when he had dealings with the Greeks a few years ago, yet very soon after he's meeting the top Greek on a bench (and to who the Greek passes info about the 'narco-terrorist' Columbians). San Diego is on the other coast.

We're also invited to look at the crest on his computer monitor while he eats his lunch, which doesn't like like the FBI crest but it might be a little familiar.

No one in the Detail understands yet why they dumped their phones either - Frank said his had been flagged but that's really the answer.

Something isn't right somewhere.


----------



## tar1984 (May 27, 2009)

Crispy said:


> The second. But you _have_ to watch the whole thing, in order, from the very beginning or it won't make any sense.



Well that sucks.  Despite not knowing what was going on a lot I still enjoyed watching it.


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 27, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> "You kill my man?"
> "Naaw, he resting."



Omar: _"Bout a year ago a boy named Brandon got got here in Baltimore. Stuck an burn before he pass."
_
Mouzone: _"The Game. Is The Game."_

Love it


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 27, 2009)

It's still worth watching but its' worth chasing the first and first half of the second season up before you get onto season 3.


----------



## tar1984 (May 27, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> Omar: _"Bout a year ago a boy named Brandon got got here in Baltimore. Stuck an burn before he pass."
> _
> Mouzone: _"The Game. Is The Game."_
> 
> Love it



That whole scene was fucking awesome.



Bob_the_lost said:


> It's still worth watching but its' worth chasing the first and first half of the second season up before you get onto season 3.



Yeah I'll keep watching it.


----------



## nick h. (May 27, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> Well that sucks.  Despite not knowing what was going on a lot I still enjoyed watching it.



It's well worth torrenting each series and watching it right through, twice.  I'm  just doing that with series 3. I'm so immersed in it that Coldharbour Lane and the west side have pretty much blended into one in my brain. It makes life very exciting.


----------



## honto (May 27, 2009)

After intensively watching all 5 series over a few very sofa bound weekends I am now dreaming in drug dealer slang / Baltimore accent. Unfortunately I sound like a proper doofus trying to recreate it in real life.


----------



## Belushi (May 27, 2009)

_"You know what the problem is, Brucie? We used to make shit in this country... build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket"_

A great man.


----------



## Gingerman (May 27, 2009)

Belushi said:


> _"You know what the problem is, Brucie? We used to make shit in this country... build shit. Now we just put our hand in the next guy's pocket"_
> 
> A great man.


Read somewhere he wears a fat suit for the part of Frank


----------



## London_Calling (May 27, 2009)

Belushi said:


> A great man.


but how our families have to suffer for our greatness . . . 


Totally Shakespearian.


----------



## BlackArab (May 27, 2009)

Be careful looking at YouTube clips of the Wire as there will be spoilers on the other videos. I made this mistake before and found out a storyline which I hadn't seen coming. 

What I have discovered this time, is the existence of Wire prequels, anybody know anything about these?


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

Yeah, they're a bit silly imo. Not even sure they're proper David Simon originals. Just tiny one scene minimi's HBO put out.


----------



## Gromit (May 28, 2009)

3 weeks to series three. In the meantime my mate will be moaning like fuck that he has to wait, every single day he'll complain how long till its back on.


----------



## 8den (May 28, 2009)

honto said:


> After intensively watching all 5 series over a few very sofa bound weekends I am now dreaming in drug dealer slang / Baltimore accent. Unfortunately I sound like a proper doofus trying to recreate it in real life.




Try and switch over and speak like Police. Real Po lice. 




Also I fucking adore the end montage of season 2. What is that piece of music.


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

Somewhat heavy symbolism towards the end there with Frank sinking into his own channel before fighting free to drift towards his beloved union and docks  . . . 


What fantastically tight plotting though, it just all hangs together so well.


----------



## BlackArab (May 28, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yeah, they're a bit silly imo. Not even sure they're proper David Simon originals. Just tiny one scene minimi's HBO put out.



I saw one about Omar's early days and the same thing with Prop Joe. Prop Joe's was set in 1962, making him in his 50s during The Wire which seemed odd. 

How many are there anyway?


----------



## BlackArab (May 28, 2009)

8den said:


> Try and switch over and speak like Police. Real Po lice.
> 
> 
> 
> ...




The Steve Earle song "I Feel Alright" plays over the closing montage.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_in_a_Storm


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

Can't remember how many there were - I thought three, but now I can only remember the two you mention (Omar and firends at a bus stop and Prop Joe in the playground).


Fwiw, I really enjoyed Steve Earle in The Wire, tremendous acting. You might wonder about his range but, in this, superb. Unlike Nicky and Ziggy Sobotka, for example, and some of the dock workers  . . .


----------



## Crispy (May 28, 2009)

He may be a good actor but he cannot be forgiven for the S5 version of 'down in the hole'


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

Crispy !!!

24 hour ban !


----------



## Crispy (May 28, 2009)

it spoils nothing. in fact, it's my moral duty to tell posters to ffwd through the s5 opening credits for the sake of their ears.


----------



## El Jefe (May 28, 2009)

Crispy said:


> He may be a good actor but he cannot be forgiven for the S5 version of 'down in the hole'



true dat.


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

If you don't mind me saying, for someone's who's thinks other's take it too seriously you seem to be around  . . . a fair bit  . . .


----------



## El Jefe (May 28, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If you don't mind me saying, for someone's who's thinks other's take it too seriously you seem to be around  . . . a fair bit  . . .



i'm sorry?


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

To Crispy.


----------



## Crispy (May 28, 2009)

Hey, you're nearly double my posts on this thread, ner ner 
95	London_Calling 
81	Melinda 
62	Orang Utan 
56	Crispy 
56	belboid 
47	Dillinger4 
45	sojourner 
41	RenegadeDog 
38	Gingerman 
30	8den 
29	Vintage Paw 
28	DotCommunist 
26	kained&able 
23	danny la rouge 
22	Belushi 
22	kyser_soze 
21	Bob_the_lost

Anyway, I've got no real beef with you so chill


----------



## London_Calling (May 28, 2009)

I was trying to work that out how to do that last week re Mr Utan !

That is a bit sad, achooly


----------



## belboid (May 28, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Anyway, I've got no real beef with you so chill


mmmm, beef chilli...


----------



## BlackArab (May 28, 2009)

Crispy said:


> it spoils nothing. in fact, it's my moral duty to tell posters to ffwd through the s5 opening credits for the sake of their ears.



But they must wait with anticipation for s4, the best version.


----------



## Gingerman (May 28, 2009)

Daniels is well buff aint he? thought some-one was going to run up behind Nick and shoot him dead at the end when he was looking out over the harbour.


----------



## El Sueno (May 28, 2009)

I was trembling with excitement as the last episode played out, it was epic. But three fucking weeks to wait for s3... dey playin with us BBC suckers


----------



## D'wards (May 28, 2009)

Dem BBC yo's gonna get got if dey be fuckin' wit a nigga's Wire.

Was looking forward to see how Omar was gonna deal with Stringy, gonna be a long wait fo' dat


----------



## El Sueno (May 28, 2009)

Yeah I like the way Omar's been in and out of the first couple of seasons, you can't get rid o' that nigga so easy! I got a feeling he's gonna be a bit of a playa before it's all said and done...


----------



## kained&able (May 28, 2009)

seeing as this is the popular wire thread at the minute.

I was watching waterboy yesterday! D'angelo is in it!!!!!! was surreal.

I saw weebay in something as well, but can't remmeber what.


dave


----------



## skyscraper101 (May 28, 2009)

Apparently Lester Freamon's going to be in Holby City sometime soon. Bizarre!


----------



## belboid (May 28, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I saw weebay in something as well, but can't remmeber what.


ER? Clockers?


----------



## strummerville (May 28, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Can't remember how many there were - I thought three, but now I can only remember the two you mention (Omar and firends at a bus stop and Prop Joe in the playground).
> 
> 
> Fwiw, I really enjoyed Steve Earle in The Wire, tremendous acting. You might wonder about his range but, in this, superb. Unlike Nicky and Ziggy Sobotka, for example, and some of the dock workers  . . .



You're joking right?? Steve Earle was truly terrible, embarrassing even, I thought the kid who played Ziggy was superb. The scene when he shot the store owner was one of best bits of acting in S2. He created a great, interesting live wire role whereas Steve Earle just mumbled through a beard and looked awkward.


----------



## Bob_the_lost (May 28, 2009)

Last 2 eps of S3, magnificent.


----------



## breasticles (May 28, 2009)

steve earle is a recovering addict, so it's not a great stretch for him performance wise. but i like his acting style, nonetheless. or maybe its just because he's always onscreen with The God They Call Royo and some of his shininess rubs off. (that man does not get anywhere near enough props on here, yfm? he is just the BEST. the BEST.)


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (May 28, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> Apparently Lester Freamon's going to be in Holby City sometime soon. Bizarre!



He was Nelson Mandela in 'Endgame' that was on a couple of weeks ago.


----------



## hektik (May 29, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Can't remember how many there were - I thought three, but now I can only remember the two you mention (Omar and firends at a bus stop and Prop Joe in the playground).



the third one is mcnulty's first night on homicide: he gets pissed with the bunk.


----------



## BlackArab (May 29, 2009)

kained&able said:


> seeing as this is the popular wire thread at the minute.
> 
> I was watching waterboy yesterday! D'angelo is in it!!!!!! was surreal.
> 
> ...



Shaft (remake) - Kima/Bubbz

Remember the Titans - Avon

Starship Troopers - Carver (has to be seen )


----------



## nick h. (May 29, 2009)

C4 News today,  Saturday 30th at 6.30 will have a story to appeal to readers of this thread. Details here: http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=9205949#post9205949


----------



## El Jefe (May 30, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Starship Troopers - Carver (has to be seen )



was just about to post this


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 2, 2009)

strummerville said:


> You're joking right?? Steve Earle was truly terrible, embarrassing even, I thought the kid who played Ziggy was superb. The scene when he shot the store owner was one of best bits of acting in S2. He created a great, interesting live wire role whereas Steve Earle just mumbled through a beard and looked awkward.



Glad someone else thinks this.  Steve Earles whole charecter is just a cliched pastiche of every boring 12-step "tale of miraculous recovery" I have ever heard, and I've heard a few.  His weird drawn-out mellow hick accent is almost unbearable.  his performance is one of the only bad ones in the whole 5 series.  IMO.

also, ziggy is classic.  it may have been great acting, but I suspect it was more great casting - I just cannot picture anyone else in that role.


----------



## BlackArab (Jun 3, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> also, ziggy is classic.  it may have been great acting, but I suspect it was more great casting - I just cannot picture anyone else in that role.



Great casting I'd say. His character in Generation Kill was almost identical.


----------



## kyser_soze (Jun 3, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> Great casting I'd say. His character in Generation Kill was almost identical.



No he wasn't - his character in Generation Kill is sympathetic, funny and engaging; Ziggy is a twat


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 3, 2009)

But why is ziggy a twat, why was he written that way . . .


----------



## BlackArab (Jun 3, 2009)

kyser_soze said:


> No he wasn't - his character in Generation Kill is sympathetic, funny and engaging; Ziggy is a twat



I'm thinking of the hyperactivity, motormouth etc in comparison to the more calmer sidekick, sound familiar? Having read Generation Kill when it came out I was familiar with the character and could see exactly why they had cast him in that role.


----------



## Gingerman (Jun 17, 2009)

Wahey just checking next weeks TV guide and noticed the 3rd series starts on Mon at 23:20pm


----------



## Crispy (Jun 17, 2009)

You guys are in for a _treat_


----------



## digitell (Jun 17, 2009)

I thought it was back on this week, then got seriously hacked off when I realised that it wasn't. The wait has been too long.


----------



## Crispy (Jun 17, 2009)

Anyone know what sort of viewing figures it's been getting on the beeb?


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 17, 2009)

goddam it, I got bored of waiting and DVDd ahead to series 5...


----------



## llion (Jun 17, 2009)

Finished season 5 on the weekend and on reflection I think season 3 is possibly my fave for lots of reasons. Really like some of the new characters like Cutty and Bunny who come in, and Brother Mouzone's in it too.


----------



## Gingerman (Jun 17, 2009)

Though the Beeb were going to  wait until Wimbledon was over before they started the next series like they did with the snooker,they usually show the tennis highlights after newsnight.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 17, 2009)

llion said:


> Finished season 5 on the weekend and on reflection I think season 3 is possibly my fave for lots of reasons. Really like some of the new characters like Cutty and Bunny who come in, and Brother Mouzone's in it too.



I cant make up my mind.  The first 4 are all so good, with number 5 trailing ever so slightly behind, for a couple of reasons.  

But we're jumping ahead of ourselves unless we want crispys wrath to deal with...


----------



## D'wards (Jun 17, 2009)

And i'm with Crispy on that - you only have 67 other Wire threads to discuss future series.

You don't want us to put Brother Mouzone on yo' assess


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 17, 2009)

D'wards said:


> And i'm with Crispy on that - you only have 67 other Wire threads to discuss future series.
> 
> You don't want us to put Brother Mouzone on yo' assess



Hey yo', if you with crispy an'a other babylon and ting, you're more likely to turn snitch and get Bubs on me...


----------



## D'wards (Jun 17, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Hey yo', if you with crispy an'a other babylon and ting, you're more likely to turn snitch and get Bubs on me...



Yo, nigga's gotta get paid nigga, dealin wit them low-rise yo's, an buying that red top shit, nigga. Shit is just the same ole sub-standard snooker shit they be slinging last week wit a new motherfuckin' ICC Cricket name.
Motherfuckers be waitin 3 weeks for the re-up yo, niggas be gettin real antsy yo


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jun 17, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Yo, nigga's gotta get paid nigga, dealin wit them low-rise yo's, an buying that red top shit, nigga. Shit is just the same ole sub-standard snooker shit they be slinging last week wit a new motherfuckin' ICC Cricket name.
> Motherfuckers be waitin 3 weeks for the re-up yo, niggas be gettin real antsy yo



best of getting your ass over east side, for some of Prop Jos good dope....


----------



## krtek a houby (Jun 17, 2009)

Having seen every goshdarn episode of every season, I plump for season 4 as the winner.

And best character? Omar. 

Best catchphrase? "Sheeeeeee-iiiiit".

Most distracting hair? Steve Earle.

Best spin off potential? Lester, of course.

If you still need a fix after the series; I recommend George Pelecanos novels. Esp his later stuff - "Drama City" - there's a scene right out of season 5 with Bubbles. Probably wrote that episode, I guess.


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 17, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Anyone know what sort of viewing figures it's been getting on the beeb?


I look at the BARB data most weeks and it's not registering at all - means audiences are below 600,000 but there's no way to know how far below without paying.


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 17, 2009)

I came across this a few days ago, thought it may interest some - just someone else's views:



> I guess I'll weigh in as someone a bit more critical of Frank Sobotka. I agree that he is a tragic figure, but his tragic flaw, in the Shakespearean sense, is his obsession with saving the traditional work at the docks. He has no Plan B, and therefore he invests everything, including his integrity, to the docks. Let's say that I see him as corrupted rather than corrupt. He wants to be Prospero but he is in the end Canute. This does not, however, absolve him of responsibility. He is smart and strong enough to be held responsible for his choices.
> 
> Also, Frank does enjoy the power he has, which is an almost paternal authority and loyalty over the checkers. As a consequence, he becomes a bad father to his real son. He seems oblivious to Ziggy's behaviour until it erupts into violence. He has corrupted his nephew, who is a surrogate-son figure. Interestingly, once (and only once, if I remember correctly), Ziggy refers to a brother, presumably older, who has gone to community college. This brother is never mentioned again, and is therefore arguably estranged from his family to some extent. Frank's obsession with saving jobs on the docks would leave little room for a son who had moved on from that. My instinct that this is the case is reinforced by Frank's hostility to the lobbyist who relates how his family has moved up in the world over three generations through education. The hostility can partly be explained by his sense that the lobbyist is bragging and claiming to be better than Frank, but I think there is also an attitude in Frank that rejecting the docks is somehow a moral failing. As a result, I can see Frank becoming distant from a son who has decided to do something else, even if he rationally thinks that it was a good choice for the son.
> 
> ...



Fwiw, I think the point that's often missed about Frank Sobotka is his inability to show positive, warm emotion on  a personal level. He can get angry in the abstract; about the dead girls and about the docks and about a lot of things, but it's difficult to escape the view Frank entirely shaped Ziggy via his emotional illiteracy.

Anyway . . . S3


----------



## El Sueno (Jun 18, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Shit is just the same ole sub-standard snooker shit they be slinging last week wit a new motherfuckin' ICC Cricket name.
> Motherfuckers be waitin 3 weeks for the re-up yo, niggas be gettin real antsy yo


----------



## breasticles (Jun 18, 2009)

can i just warn people who might get pissed at waiting and do as jon of arc did and jump forward onto dvd not to listen to the commentary on the first episode of season 5? while they're not massive spoilers, there are a couple of comments by joe chappelle and the bunk which give away info about what happens to two of my favourite characters, and it PISSED ME RIGHT OFF. being angry at wendell pierce felt strange, man. it was not an emotion i ever foresaw myself directing at him. 

i couldn't even begin to choose a favourite series. i'm going to have to go back and wallow in the joy of them all over again.


----------



## CNT36 (Jun 18, 2009)

Spoiler: small, but still spoils a little maybe



Radio 4 gave away what happens to Cutty earlier. I wasn't happy.


----------



## Crispy (Jun 18, 2009)

Guys, even saying you found out what happens to xxxx means that people know something importantis going to happen. A great thing about the wire is that so many events are completely unexpected.


----------



## fen_boy (Jun 19, 2009)

When does S3 start?


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 22, 2009)

Well, if you like your drama to be very dramatic, it doesn't get much beter than S3 - which begins tonight . . .


----------



## El Sueno (Jun 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Well, if you like your drama to be very dramatic, it doesn't get much beter than S3 - which begins tonight . . .



Welcome back late nights and tired mornings.


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 23, 2009)

Watching on DVD and just finished Season 2 last night, brilliant stuff.

Was painful watching the long takes of Nicky just walking by the docks, I was so sure he was going to get plugged and the anticipation made me physically grimace.

Noticed a lot more soundtrack / montages this season (don't recall any extraneous music at all in the 1st season, but maybe someone can correct me?), which veered close to indulgent, but worked well when played over the scenes of the docks slowly dying at the end.

I even started to feel a pang of sympathy for Ziggy by the end (not much, but some), and the horrible inevitability of Frank's storyline rounded off one of the best drawn characters I think I've seen so far in the series.

Looking forward to S3 now, what's the general focus on? I'm guessing it's going to swing back to the projects somewhat, but is the theme the same as Season 1?


----------



## ddraig (Jun 24, 2009)

M.E.T.H.O.D. MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN


----------



## 8den (Jun 24, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Noticed a lot more soundtrack / montages this season (don't recall any extraneous music at all in the 1st season, but maybe someone can correct me?),



There is no music aside from incidental in any series of the wire. i.e. if you hear music it eminates from a source in the scene (ie boombox, car stereo). The technical term is dietgetic music. The exception is a single music montage that closes each season. 



> which veered close to indulgent, but worked well when played over the scenes of the docks slowly dying at the end.



Perhaps it's because Season 2 ends with "Feel Alright" by Steve Earle, a really big song, while Season 1 ends with a much more low key song "Step by Step" by Jesse Winchester. 



> Looking forward to S3 now, what's the general focus on? I'm guessing it's going to swing back to the projects somewhat, but is the theme the same as Season 1?



Not to give too much away it focuses on higher ranking police and pressure they are under to massage crime statistics, to "show" crime is being reduced. It's also about how the war on drugs cannot be won by throwing police at it. Or grabbing slingers.


----------



## The Octagon (Jun 24, 2009)

8den said:


> There is no music aside from incidental in any series of the wire. i.e. if you hear music it eminates from a source in the scene (ie boombox, car stereo). The technical term is dietgetic music. The exception is a single music montage that closes each season.


What about the 'Walk the Line' montage?

I know it's meant to be coming from Prez's stereo, but it's then overlaid onto several scenes of the detail doing their work (and the sound quality switches).


----------



## Gingerman (Jun 24, 2009)

What the blinking hell were Herc and Carver going on about last night? to my tired befuddled brain it appeared to me that they were debating what bloke they'd fancy if they were gay?Daniels is well buff is'nt he? I love those police head honcho briefings, Rawls is well brutal 
The actor playing him is a former Marine Corps officer and Vietnam veteran 
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0231283/


----------



## Gromit (Jun 24, 2009)

Anyone notice Rawls barracking that officer for palming cases off to someone else (the .38 killings) when he himself was involved in the same practice of fiddling his stats this way in previously. 
Easily missed hypocrisy but ooh it got my hackles rising.


----------



## Gingerman (Jun 25, 2009)

A bar full of drunken cops singing along to a Pogues song,whats not to love about that,Omar biting off more than he could chew last night.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jun 25, 2009)

Series 3 is just _not quite_ as good as the first two is it? 

But don't worry newbs, it gets better pretty quickly from now onwards and then you've got series four which is awesome.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 25, 2009)

With the hearse drivers looking on in disgust


----------



## Biddlybee (Jun 25, 2009)

jer said:


> Having seen every goshdarn episode of every season, I plump for season 4 as the winner.
> 
> And best character? Omar.
> 
> ...


Who's Steve Earle?



CNT36 said:


> Spoiler: small, but still spoils a little maybe
> 
> 
> 
> Radio 4 gave away what happens to Cutty earlier. I wasn't happy.





Spoiler: reply to CNT36



I can't remember anything massive happening to him


----------



## Crispy (Jun 25, 2009)

Steve Earle plays Walon.


----------



## Biddlybee (Jun 25, 2009)

Ah ok, didn't realise he was a country singer too


----------



## The Boy (Jun 25, 2009)

I'm rewatching season 3 for about the fourth time now and have a question.



Spoiler: just incase



What does Landsman put in Ray Cole's pocket at the wake?


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 25, 2009)

Spoiler: just about getting the hang of this



Dunno the answer, but I do know 'Cole' is an abreviation of Colesberry - the name of the  producer of The Wire and David Simon's series Producer honcho. Colesberry did play Cole as well as produce.

The character of Cole was 'killed off' when it became clear Colesberry needed surgery, only for Colesberry to then die from complications . . . taking 'life imitating art' to a tragic and spooky extreme.

The whole story


----------



## 8den (Jun 25, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Steve Earle plays Walon.



Aheh! Spoiler.


----------



## D'wards (Jun 25, 2009)

i really wish folks who have seen it all would stop posting about the future on this thread - really gets up my hooter, no matter how hidden the spoilers are.


----------



## Crispy (Jun 25, 2009)

oh yeah 
edited


----------



## Biddlybee (Jun 25, 2009)

D'wards said:


> i really wish folks who have seen it all would stop posting about the future on this thread - really gets up my hooter, no matter how hidden the spoilers are.


Sorry, happens with New Posts. Where is BBC2 up to now?


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 25, 2009)

D'wards - change your post, there are other people as well?


----------



## D'wards (Jun 25, 2009)

BiddlyBee said:


> Sorry, happens with New Posts. Where is BBC2 up to now?



S3 Ep3

One of Omar's women was killed and they have muscle on the funeral home to get him, and Omar is staking it out.


----------



## Crispy (Jun 25, 2009)

I really am sorry, I thought it had happened already


----------



## D'wards (Jun 25, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> D'wards - change your post, there are other people as well?



Done and done


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2009)

Crispy said:


> oh yeah
> edited


----------



## 8den (Jun 25, 2009)

Crispy said:


> oh yeah
> edited



It's not a massive spoiler, but I just enjoyed catching you out.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2009)

Anyone else planning to go to  David Simon/George Pelecanos 'In conversation' on the 22nd July?

http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=200006


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 25, 2009)

The Prince Charles Cinema, orf Leicester Sq, £7.50.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2009)

Yes, you have to book through Waterstones Gower St


----------



## London_Calling (Jun 25, 2009)

Got to say I'm tempted. Hope they've hoovered the cinema since I was last there.

Would like to put my S5 theory to the man.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2009)

Me and Orang Utan will be there, be cool if there were some more Urbanites.


----------



## spanglechick (Jun 25, 2009)

is there any way of getting the tickets without having to go to gower street in person?  cos i'd love it, and i'll be on hols so it's perfect - but i can't get into town for a bit.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 25, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> is there any way of getting the tickets without having to go to gower street in person?  cos i'd love it, and i'll be on hols so it's perfect - but i can't get into town for a bit.



I booked them over the phone - the numbers at the bottom of the page I linked to, it took them a while to answer the phone tho!


----------



## Gingerman (Jun 30, 2009)

How come I never get invited to those kind of parties?


----------



## foo (Jun 30, 2009)

i made a right tit of myself on Sunday...

i often talk to our dog in funny voices, cos it pleases me   on Sunday, he was being treated to my best Baltimore accent (a la Snoop) - and i was really getting into the swing of it as i pottered in the garden. cussing him in slow tones an all sorts.

i looked up and there were three men in the next door garden, beers in hand, totally still, watching me.

oh god.


----------



## Gromit (Jun 30, 2009)

Fo' real?

True dat.


----------



## Flashman (Jun 30, 2009)

foo said:


> i made a right tit of myself on Sunday...
> 
> i often talk to our dog in funny voices, cos it pleases me   on Sunday, he was being treated to my best Baltimore accent (a la Snoop) - and i was really getting into the swing of it as i pottered in the garden. cussing him in slow tones an all sorts.
> 
> ...





Pretend you're from B-more innit.


----------



## Belushi (Jun 30, 2009)

Flashman said:


> Pretend you're from B-more innit.



Innit, all she has to do is keep it up every time she sees them and they'l never be any the wiser


----------



## foo (Jun 30, 2009)

um. i think they know i'm local. 


and a dick, obviously.

edi: i've mastered that halting stopping thing they do. i'm stupidly proud of that.


----------



## Biddlybee (Jun 30, 2009)

foo said:


> i made a right tit of myself on Sunday...
> 
> i often talk to our dog in funny voices, cos it pleases me   on Sunday, he was being treated to my best Baltimore accent (a la Snoop) - and i was really getting into the swing of it as i pottered in the garden. cussing him in slow tones an all sorts.
> 
> ...




*searches you tube*


----------



## Belushi (Jun 30, 2009)

foo said:


> um. i think they know i'm local.



Just ask yoursaelf what would snoop do in this situation...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jun 30, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Just ask yoursaelf what would snoop do in this situation...


----------



## foo (Jun 30, 2009)

@ Dot.


----------



## Flashman (Jun 30, 2009)

The Hilti DX 460 MX - fully automatic tool with highly versatile magazine:

brought to you by Felicia Pearson and Jeffrey Boomhauer


----------



## 8den (Jun 30, 2009)

foo said:


> i made a right tit of myself on Sunday...
> 
> i often talk to our dog in funny voices, cos it pleases me   on Sunday, he was being treated to my best Baltimore accent (a la Snoop) - and i was really getting into the swing of it as i pottered in the garden. cussing him in slow tones an all sorts.
> 
> ...



I think you should move.


----------



## foo (Jun 30, 2009)

8den said:


> I think you should move.



why?


----------



## Gromit (Jun 30, 2009)

The easy solution is to send them the first three seasons of the Wire on Box set as a gift.

Two weeks later they'll be talking b'more fo' sure, they'll understand why you were doing it and think you are the cooliest mofo.


----------



## goldenecitrone (Jun 30, 2009)

foo said:


> why?



Omar comin!!!


----------



## foo (Jun 30, 2009)

if Omar really was coming, i'd grow a willy and shag him.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 5, 2009)

what a hypo: http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2009/jul/05/dominic-west-wire-tv-british


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 8, 2009)

Wonder if McNulty reliases hes creating a rift between Barksdale and Stringer by  bringing up the D'Angelo situtation?Marlo is a very smart cookie,can see how hes managed to survive and thrive on the corners.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 8, 2009)

One of the most excellent episodes last night.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 8, 2009)

Got a feeling Hamsterdam aint going to last too long,surprised the Press have'nt been on to it,no way could anyone keep summit like that a secret in real life.Like the Bunny Colvin character,some-one whos near retirement and thinks " What the fuck,lets try something different seen as everything else has'nt worked" McNulty shoting himself in the foot acting the reckneck last night was v funny


----------



## Gromit (Jul 8, 2009)

Great episode. Two women trying to tell a politician to stop looking like such a cunt without upsetting his ego. 
Stringer telling Avon about D. 
Mcnaughty making a pass at the lesbian and telling D's mother he went to his girlfriend first as he picked the one he thought cared about D. 
Putting the pieces together over the burners. 
Someone finally pointing out to the Major that he'd created a hell in earth when he expected them to be impressed.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 8, 2009)

anyone going to this?
http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/displayDetailEvent.do?searchType=1&author=David|Simon


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 9, 2009)

Poor old Prez,much better at the tech stuff behind the scenes than being a fronline cop.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 14, 2009)

Yes, you did just see Rawl's in the gay bar.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 14, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Got a feeling Hamsterdam aint going to last too long,surprised the Press have'nt been on to it,no way could anyone keep summit like that a secret in real life.Like the Bunny Colvin character,some-one whos near retirement and thinks " What the fuck,lets try something different seen as everything else has'nt worked" McNulty shoting himself in the foot acting the reckneck last night was v funny



You know, I see the word 'Hamsterdam', and I can feel The Rage beginning to  well up inside again...

It's like when somebody slaps Bruce Banner in the kisser.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 14, 2009)

HamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdam


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 14, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> HamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdamHamsterdam


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 14, 2009)

Rawls who'da thunk eh?


----------



## Pigeon (Jul 14, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Rawls who'da thunk eh?





Talking of closet cases, does anyone else detect a bit of a frisson between Omar and Brother Mouzone? 

I do realise Mouzone's supposed to be a staunch Fruit of Islam type, but there's something hugely camp about his prissy bow-ties and his _Harper's
_ addiction.


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 14, 2009)

I'll say again, if you are watching this for the first time and have never seen Apocalypse Now, do so before this series ends.


----------



## 8den (Jul 14, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> I'll say again, if you are watching this for the first time and have never seen Apocalypse Now, do so before this series ends.



Out of curiosity why?


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 14, 2009)

8den said:


> Out of curiosity why?



It has relevance to the last episode of this series, a friend who hadn't seen the film was gutted when he failed to make the connection and I explained it to him.


----------



## 8den (Jul 14, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> It has relevance to the last episode of this series, a friend who hadn't seen the film was gutted when he failed to make the connection and I explained it to him.



Okay after the last episode of season 3 air on bbc, you must explain it.


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 14, 2009)

8den said:


> Okay after the last episode of season 3 air on bbc, you must explain it.



will do


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 14, 2009)

The Beeb are only showing 2 ep this week,the last ep of series 3 is being shown next Mon and then theyre starting series 4 next Tue.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 14, 2009)

I wouldn't miss too much between now and next week.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

This scene on the balcony is probably the best single scene in all of The Wire.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

mmm an omar&mcnulty 3some.

*licks lips*


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

I like the joke Brother Mouzone made to Omar about going in the front entrance.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2009)

real double-judas moment with the avon/stringer hug.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

how many seasons have they made?


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 15, 2009)

5


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

Oooo


----------



## D'wards (Jul 15, 2009)

Fucking hell, they killed Russell Bell -  i never saw that coming - though it was closing in on him, thoughtb he was too important in the context of the series to be killed off.

Wonder whats gonna happen to Avon now, after String put Colvin on his ass.

What an episode!


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> real double-judas moment with the avon/stringer hug.



The scene on the balcony where they both know they have betrayed each other is pure pure Greek tragedy.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> This scene on the balcony is probably the best single scene in all of The Wire.


It might be mine as well.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Yes, you did just see Rawl's in the gay bar.



One of my fave bits, laughed my head off. Bit pointless trying to tell my Mum the beauty of it, she wasn't interested.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I like the joke Brother Mouzone made to Omar about going in the front entrance.



"'We need to go in through the front door'
'That will be a departure for you' the scenes with them together were great,make a great team,cant believe one of the major characters is no more ,Barksdale's badass way wins out,Stringer did'nt want to harm Avon, just to have him taken outa the scene for a while for things to calm down.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 15, 2009)

On an older wire thread, there was much talk of petitioning for a wire spinoff sitcom - the omar and brother mouzone show. omar would get into scrapes, mouzone would sort it out then omar would forget to buy harpers. it'd be classic


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

god, it's really bad for me to keep reading this thread...I've only just watched season 1 waiting for 2 to d/l.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 15, 2009)

get off! there's massive spoilers!


----------



## foo (Jul 15, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> It has relevance to the last episode of this series, a friend who hadn't seen the film was gutted when he failed to make the connection and I explained it to him.



i thought the last episode was the weakest one tbh. it really disappointed me.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

yeah i knows NOW. ''OMG, I cant believe they killed stringer bell...meh meh meh'' cocks. 

im still reeling from wallace's death.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 15, 2009)

It must be joyous when you write something that comes together from so many directions - on a number of levels - in such a powerful way; all those story arcs and character arcs and themes and motifs in this hour. 

Just a fucking beautiful architecture to  the piece.


----------



## Pigeon (Jul 15, 2009)

Crispy said:


> On an older wire thread, there was much talk of petitioning for a wire spinoff sitcom - the omar and brother mouzone show. omar would get into scrapes, mouzone would sort it out then omar would forget to buy harpers. it'd be classic



 I'd watch that!


----------



## Gromit (Jul 15, 2009)

Poor McNaulty. He's gonna be gutted. Just as he pins a wrap on Stringer after three years.


----------



## 8den (Jul 15, 2009)

Madusa said:


> god, it's really bad for me to keep reading this thread...I've only just watched season 1 waiting for 2 to d/l.



LEAVE! LEAVE NOW. UNSUBSCRIBE AND WALK AWAY. YOU ARE DOING A DISSERVICE TO THE WIRE. 

Join us after you catch up, we'll welcome you with punch and pie.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

But, but...when can I join in? After season 3 or somesuch? Reckon I'll have season 2 under my belt by the end of the weekend.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 15, 2009)

Read the TV listings and see which episode they're up to


----------



## Madusa (Jul 15, 2009)

God! ok.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 15, 2009)

Mouzone: Pull it slowly, then toss it.

Omar: Oh I _will_ move slow. But I ain't tossing nothin.... Bow Tie.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 15, 2009)

Madusa,

Season 4 starts Tuesday I think someone said.


----------



## Flashman (Jul 15, 2009)

I had 'im Bunk. And he didn't know.


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 15, 2009)

foo said:


> i thought the last episode was the weakest one tbh. it really disappointed me.



It was the visual commentary that stunned me.


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 15, 2009)

Madusa said:


> But, but...when can I join in? After season 3 or somesuch? Reckon I'll have season 2 under my belt by the end of the weekend.



Mads, stay away! spoilers ruined my enjoyment of the Wire first time round, in fact don't read anything on the net as you're bound to stumble acroos them. I am jealous though, you have so much to discover.


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 15, 2009)

One thing I wasn't sure I'd clocked, cos in between all the exciting bits I was chomping down some quiche, but didn't Stringer have a private meet with Chief Bunny at some point? What was the piece of paper String passed to him?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> One thing I wasn't sure I'd clocked, cos in between all the exciting bits I was chomping down some quiche, but didn't Stringer have a private meet with Chief Bunny at some point? What was the piece of paper String passed to him?



Where Avon is laying his head, innit.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Where Avon is laying his head, innit.



and, has loads of weaponry so is thus breaking his parole terms.


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Where Avon is laying his head, innit.



That's what I thought but I had a sneaky feeling he was giving up Cutty or Marlo 

It _ALL _makes sense now. What a fucking episode. Gonna have to watch that one again!


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2009)

Cuttys real name is Dennis Wise


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

cutty from the cut


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 15, 2009)

Crispy said:


> On an older wire thread, there was much talk of petitioning for a wire spinoff sitcom - the omar and brother mouzone show. omar would get into scrapes, mouzone would sort it out then omar would forget to buy harpers. it'd be classic


http://www.urban75.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=230695&highlight=Omar+Brother+Mouzone+spin-off


possible spoilers therein


----------



## Gromit (Jul 15, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Where Avon is laying his head, innit.



The funeral parlor I suspect. i.e where all the guns and grenades are.

Stringer wanted Avon to get caught with his armoury.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 15, 2009)

Avon is not at the funeral parlour! 

But you are right.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2009)

Liked the bit where McNulty walked out on D'Agostino when he reliased she was pumping him for info about Colvin,hes not a total manwhore


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2009)

Gromit said:


> The funeral parlor I suspect. i.e where all the guns and grenades are.
> 
> Stringer wanted Avon to get caught with his armoury.


He just could'nt bring himself to kill Avon could he? Unlucky for Stringer Avon had no such scruples.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 15, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Liked the bit where McNulty walked out on D'Agostino when he reliased she was pumping him for info about Colvin,hes not a total manwhore



Too true.

Even though I sooo would with her.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 15, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> Too true.
> 
> Even though I sooo would with her.



http://www.imdb.com/media/rm314022400/nm1408832 
Yup,Brandy Burre  great name


----------



## Gromit (Jul 15, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> He just could'nt bring himself to kill Avon could he? Unlucky for Stringer Avon had no such scruples.



He didn't need to kill Avon. Just get him out the way. 

Avon however was only given the turn him over to us option.

If killing Avon had been Stringer's only option I have no doubt he would have gone through with that too.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 15, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Liked the bit where McNulty walked out on D'Agostino when he reliased she was pumping him for info about Colvin,hes not a total manwhore



He is getting a taste of his own medicine. He considers himself superior to everyone around him and uses people. 

She considers herself superior to him and uses him and he don't like it. His ego can't take it. Boo fucking hoo


----------



## fen_boy (Jul 15, 2009)

I love The Wire, but I think there's generally a bit too much eulogising and gushing about it... however... the balcony scene with Stringer and Avon was one of the best scenes I've seen in anything ever.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Up to season 3, mofos. Yeah!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> I love The Wire, but *I think there's generally a bit too much eulogising and gushing about it.*.. however... the balcony scene with Stringer and Avon was one of the best scenes I've seen in anything ever.



in media and internets.


I've still yet to meet an real person who loves it off like the 'net does.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> in media and internets.
> 
> 
> I've still yet to meet an real person who loves it off like the 'net does.



Vintage Paw is the only real life person I know who loves The Wire as much as I do.

Years afterwards, one of my other friends got into it, but so far his apprciation has only disappointed me. 

He likes it, but just not as deeply as Vintage Paw and myself do.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

And just for extra kudos, I do believe me and Vintage Paw were Wire trailblazers, back in the day.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 20, 2009)

I've met plenty 
My brother's only just got into it, after years of me trying. Saw him a few weeks ago. "THe Wire's the best TV ever isn't it Crispy?" "Well I tried to tell you"


----------



## Belushi (Jul 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I've still yet to meet an real person who loves it off like the 'net does.



Should have been at the pub with me on Saturday night 

Or in my building this morning when I spotted the Office Manager from next door wearing a McNulty t-shirt


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Vintage Paw is the only real life person I know who loves The Wire as much as I do.
> 
> Years afterwards, one of my other friends got into it, but so far his apprciation has only disappointed me.
> 
> He likes it, but just not as deeply as Vintage Paw and myself do.



Ginger Matt was bought series one for his birthday. He failed to be sucked in right at the 'we hadda let him play. This is america man' line.

I've crossed him off of the christmas card list.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Can I ask a q... do Omar and Brother Mouzone join forces against Avon and his crew? Please tell me they do. That'll be just awesome. I am just about to press play on season 3.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Can I ask a q... do Omar and Brother Mouzone join forces against Avon and his crew? Please tell me they do. That'll be just awesome. I am just about to press play on season 3.



No.

Omar gets into a different shenanigans, though.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 20, 2009)

madusa said:


> can i ask a q... Do omar and brother mouzone join forces against avon and his crew? Please tell me they do. That'll be just awesome. I am just about to press play on season 3.



get off the thread, you'll only regret it!


----------



## Crispy (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Can I ask a q... do Omar and Brother Mouzone join forces against Avon and his crew? Please tell me they do. That'll be just awesome. I am just about to press play on season 3.


get the fuck off this thread!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Can I ask a q... do Omar and Brother Mouzone join forces against Avon and his crew? Please tell me they do. That'll be just awesome. I am just about to press play on season 3.



it's far more complex than that. Don't spoilerize it for yourself! Sheeeeeit!


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 said:


> No.
> 
> Omar gets into a different shenanigans, though.





Belushi said:


> get off the thread, you'll only regret it!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> in media and internets.
> 
> 
> I've still yet to meet an real person who loves it off like the 'net does.



I've met one person irl who likes it. They're a person who doesn't get out much, in general.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Ginger Matt was bought series one for his birthday. He failed to be sucked in right at the 'we hadda let him play. This is america man' line.
> 
> I've crossed him off of the christmas card list.



I have said it before, but it is episode 4 that sucked me in whole. 

Motherfucker.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Crispy said:


> get the fuck off this thread!





DotCommunist said:


> it's far more complex than that. Don't spoilerize it for yourself! Sheeeeeit!



okok! I'm getting off the internets now. Looking forward to seeing what they've done with season 3's theme tune.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


>



shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!



Who has the best SHIIIIITTTTTTTTT?

I reckon Clay Davis and Carcettis aide (whos name escapes me) have the best quality of saying shiiiiiiiiiitttt


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

Clay Davis definitely has the classic shhhhhhhhhhhhhhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttttt

He has the best one when Sidnor gives him a warrant. It lasts for ages.

Carcetti's aide is a contender though.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 20, 2009)

Last of this series tonight.

Fuck yeah


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> okok! I'm getting off the internets now. Looking forward to seeing what they've done with season 3's theme tune.



The hammy reggae isnt working for me, have to say. Omar's wheelchair disguise though.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> The hammy reggae isnt working for me, have to say. Omar's wheelchair disguise though.



Oh, in_deed_


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

he's so sexay


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 20, 2009)

Madusa.

It is the s3 finale on tonight - people are going to talk about it. 

Just so you don't get anything spoiled here!


----------



## Madusa (Jul 20, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Madusa.
> 
> It is the s3 finale on tonight - people are going to talk about it.
> 
> Just so you don't get anything spoiled here!



yeah, yo right.

fo' sho.

I gotta get ma head right. come correct. season 3 gotta get got, 'na mean?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)




----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

See how Avon was almost accepting of his fate? His betrayal of Stringer hurt him.

Loved the Kima response to the question of how McNulty took Stringers death

'Like he was kin'


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

also:

'we fight on that lie' -Slim


good stuff


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Yep, a proper stand out speech by Slim - and the first undisguised reference to Iraq:

“Don’t matter who did what to who at this point. Fact is, we went to war and now there ain't no going back. I mean, shit, that's what war is, you know; once you in it you in it. If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie. But we gotta fight,”


----------



## 8den (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, a proper stand out speech by Slim - and the first undisguised reference to Iraq:
> 
> “Don’t matter who did what to who at this point. Fact is, we went to war and now there ain't no going back. I mean, shit, that's what war is, you know; once you in it you in it. If it's a lie, then we fight on that lie. But we gotta fight,”



Nothing compared to the fall of the towers at the start of the season.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

I imagine you like top 10 lists?


----------



## Badgers (Jul 21, 2009)

How far are the BBC2 showings in now (3 series?) then? 

I loved this series (who does not?) and was one that I really did not want to finish. Not started Generation Kill yet and have re watched the last episode but am looking forward to watching Wire back through from the start.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Actually, having re-watched it last night, Avons passivity strikes me a lot. It is as if he betrayed Stringer and that took the heart out of him. It took him out of the Game mindset and put him in a place equivalent to that of Old School (the fella who runs the boxing gym for yoots)


I'm reminded of Slims exchange with Avon after Boxer had given up the Game. 'he still a man'.

Even then it seemed like the Game was becoming a jaded cliche for Avon.


And yet he gives a nod to Marlow (in the gallery), as he is getting sent down on parole violations.

Tis complex stuff



Spoiler: marlow



he also gives Marlow respect later when he hooks him up with the Greek. It's like he lost his heart, but still respected the Game and those involved in it


----------



## llion (Jul 21, 2009)

I love the musical montages they do at the end of series 2 and series 3, the song at the end of series 3 is particularly fitting, its 'Fast Train' by Solomon Burke. So many other shows have copied this style, I wonder if the Wire were the first to do it?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

llion said:


> I love the musical montages they do at the end of series 2 and series 3, the song at the end of series 3 is particularly fitting, its 'Fast Train' by Solomon Burke. So many other shows have copied this style, I wonder if the Wire were the first to do it?



They weren't.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

I cannae stop opening this thread!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I cannae stop opening this thread!



GTFO

Don't ruin it for yerself Trish


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> GTFO
> 
> Don't ruin it for yerself* Trish*



Fuck you, little boy. Mr. LittleCock.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Fuck you, little boy. Mr. LittleCock.



It's not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean


e2a

my cock is massive


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It's not the size of the boat, but the motion of the ocean
> 
> 
> e2a
> ...



Yeah, and I'm Kima. Oh...yeah, to you people, I probably am since all black folks look alike, right?


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Actually, having re-watched it last night, Avons passivity strikes me a lot. It is as if he betrayed Stringer and that took the heart out of him. It took him out of the Game mindset and put him in a place equivalent to that of Old School (the fella who runs the boxing gym for yoots)


Was he any more passive than when the Detail came to arrest him in the office above Orlando's in S1?

On a real world timeline, I'd be interested to know when the phrase 'hitting the mattresses' first occured in The Wire vs. The Sopranos, and whether it's been used in other drama.

Even if this isn't one, there are cross-over references but I saw The Sopranos as I did The Wire so much probably passed me by.


----------



## llion (Jul 21, 2009)

Out of interest, which drama series did start the trend for end of series montages? There were some good ones in the OC e.g when they used Hallelujah.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

llion said:


> Out of interest, which drama series did start the trend for end of series montages? There were some good ones in the *OC* e.g when they used Hallelujah.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Was he any more passive than when the Detail came to arrest him in the office above Orlando' in S1?
> 
> On a real world timeline, I'd be interested to know when the phrase '*hitting the mattresses'* first occured in The Wire vs. The Sopranos, and whether it's been used in other drama.
> 
> Even if this isn't one, there are cross-over references but I saw The Sopranos as I did The Wire so much probably passed me by.



It's an old school term, Puzo (of Godfather fame) brought it to my attention years before The Wire.

It refers to hiring fleapit rooms with a few amenities. Soley to be used by hitters dossing it and waiting for a hit opportunity


----------



## Belushi (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> On a real world timeline, I'd be interested to know when the phrase 'hitting the mattresses' first occured in The Wire vs. The Sopranos, and whether it's been used in other drama.



Its a phrase that goes back to the 1930's - iirc Puzo explains its meaning in the Godfather.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Yeah, and I'm Kima. Oh...yeah, to *you people*, I probably am since all black folks look alike, right?



I declare umbrage


----------



## Belushi (Jul 21, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Anyone else planning to go to  David Simon/George Pelecanos 'In conversation' on the 22nd July?
> 
> http://www.waterstones.com/waterstonesweb/navigate.do?pPageID=200006



So is it just me and OU representing U75 tomorrow night?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I declare umbrage



well, it's fucking true you do.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> well, it's fucking true you do.



I don't know about that, but when people make that trish joke, there is an element of taking the piss out of cheesypoof for saying it, _seriously_, in the first place.

I don't think you look like Trisha, not even slightly. It was just funny that somebody would think that you do! The funniness is in the absurdity of it. It is nothing offensive.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Thang yew both.


----------



## llion (Jul 21, 2009)

The gaping chasm between the OC and the Wire sums up a lot of things about America you could argue!!!


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I don't know about that, but when people make that trish joke, there is an element of taking the piss out of cheesypoof for saying it, _seriously_, in the first place.
> 
> I don't think you look like Trisha, not even slightly. It was just funny that somebody would think that you do! The funniness is in the absurdity of it. It is nothing offensive.



Yeah sure. But I dunno man: people (yes white people) have a habit of seeing a black face and going ''corr, dun' he/she look like *insert random black sleb who happens to be 'current' here*'' pisses me off. And then you have the ''well, i cant tell the difference...'' type remarks too. 

Same shit.

I'm off to watch some more... that's if I can tell the difference between all those blacks in the show!


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

kima is much fitter than you


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Yeah sure. But I dunno man: people (yes white people) have a habit of seeing a black face and going ''corr, dun' he/she look like *insert random black sleb who happens to be 'current' here*'' pisses me off. And then you have the ''well, i cant tell the difference...'' type remarks too.
> 
> Same shit.
> 
> I'm off to watch some more... that's if I can tell the difference between all those blacks in the show!



Yeah but you get those comparisons with white folks too. For instance our Internetstalker looks the dead spit of Vin Diesel.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

isitme said:


> kima is much fitter than you



oi, last nights episode had some nipple sucking scene that nearly depleted my stock of kleenex


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

llion said:


> The gaping chasm between the OC and the Wire sums up a lot of things about America you could argue!!!



I want 1000 words on this by tomorrow.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Yeah but you get those comparisons with white folks too. For instance our Internetstalker looks the dead spit of Vin Diesel.



nah but he blates wants to be.


----------



## Belushi (Jul 21, 2009)

isitme said:


> kima is much fitter than you



She's particularly hot in season 4, which starts tonight.


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oi, last nights episode had some nipple sucking scene that nearly depleted my stock of kleenex



yeah i think that it's probably the one i'm thinking of where she's straddling her gf

i can't decide wether i like the cutting socio-economic commentary or the very short lez scene better about series 3


----------



## llion (Jul 21, 2009)

Interesting quote by David Simon from his recent interview at the Hay Festival:

He was more positive than he has been about British interest in The Wire, saying: "What's happened in the UK with [The Wire] is inexplicable to me. Americans can barely understand that show. I'm starting to think you guys are not quite as serious a country as I had in my mind. It's a TV show! We're approaching 'Get a life' country here." He added: "Apparently American dystopia plays better the further you get from it. You guys have more of an appetite for it than we do."


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

isitme said:


> kima is much fitter than you



YOU'RE fitter than me and that says something!


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

It's not inexplicable; the UK is eternally poised between a European philosohpy and the USA model. There is much to ponder from the urban USA experience when it's as accurately portrayed and critiqued as it is in The Wire.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Sorry to get back on topic there for a moment.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Yeah sure. But I dunno man: people (yes white people) have a habit of seeing a black face and going ''corr, dun' he/she look like *insert random black sleb who happens to be 'current' here*'' pisses me off. And then you have the ''well, i cant tell the difference...'' type remarks too.
> 
> Same shit.
> 
> I'm off to watch some more... that's if I can tell the difference between all those blacks in the show!



It does happen quite a lot, I know it happens to South and East Asian people a lot as well. My best friend is from Laos, and she is particularly sensitive to comments that all 'Chinese' people look the same. 

Where I live at the moment is a very white area, and I hear this kind of stuff every so often. I think it is just the result of ignorance more than anything, though. It is easy to say that when you don't know anybody from other backgrounds, a lot harder to say it when you do. 

Like I said, I don't think anybody (apart from cheesypoof!) really thinks you look like Trisha. That joke is being repeated because it was a really stupid thing to say, on many levels.

I will shut up about it now though.


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> YOU'RE fitter than me and that says something!



only about how fit i am


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

llion said:


> Interesting quote by David Simon from his recent interview at the Hay Festival:
> 
> He was more positive than he has been about British interest in The Wire, saying: "What's happened in the UK with [The Wire] is inexplicable to me. Americans can barely understand that show. I'm starting to think you guys are not quite as serious a country as I had in my mind. It's a TV show! We're approaching 'Get a life' country here." He added: "Apparently *American dystopia *plays better the further you get from it. You guys have more of an appetite for it than we do."



he's half right. Dystopia itself plays well to an english audience. Don't matter what flavour.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oi, last nights episode had some nipple sucking scene that nearly depleted my stock of kleenex



Fuck me that was so fucking hot, I didn't even have time to reach for any kleenex innit. 

Did you notice the tongue action? I did.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Sorry to get back on topic there for a moment.



 there's always one! 

ok, I'm really off now. S3, e3 here I come!


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's not inexplicable; the UK is eternally poised between a European philosohpy and the USA model. There is much to ponder from the urban USA experience when it's as accurately portrayed and critiqued as it is in The Wire.



i'd say it also plays to our idea that for all their money american society is inferior to ours. they have more money etc but a lot of america is still really backwards compared to europe etc etc


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 21, 2009)

Poor Bunny Colvin,left out to dry while everyone else ran around trying to cover their asses,Bubbles's friend Johnny Weeks bought it as well


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

Spoiler: bunnycolvin



he turns out alright in the end though, I reckon.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

isitme said:


> i'd say it also plays to our idea that for all their money american society is inferior to ours. they have more money etc but a lot of america is still really backwards compared to europe etc etc


I don't think it's a question of superiority or backwardness; it's a series of ideologically-couched choices that particular society makes - less personal taxation, less redistribution of taxation, etc. - which has as dramatic an effect on the poor as the opposing, socialist influenced,  philosophy does on the poor of mainland Western Europe.

The eternal battle for UK politicians is how to convince the UK public they are getting what they demand, which is European levels of social provision at USA rates of personal taxation.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 21, 2009)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Wisdom
The actor who plays Colvin appeared in an ep of The Bill in 1990


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 21, 2009)

No way!

Then again, Eamonn Walker used to be in The Bill as well...


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 21, 2009)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837276/fullcredits#cast
Played a charactor called Johnny Olina-Olu


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Bubbles's friend Johnny Weeks bought it as well



I had to double-take that too - didn't look like an OD, which surprised me cos he'd been hitting it quite hard... but beaten to death by the cops during the busts I guess?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I had to double-take that too - didn't look like an OD, which surprised me cos he'd been hitting it quite hard... but beaten to death by the cops during the busts I guess?



Could have been anything.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 21, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I had to double-take that too - didn't look like an OD, which surprised me cos he'd been hitting it quite hard... but beaten to death by the cops during the busts I guess?


Could have been air in the syringe, could have been an aids related illness, could have been anything.


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 21, 2009)

He looked like he'd had the crap beaten out of him... all cuts n' bruises on his face.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 21, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> He looked like he'd had the crap beaten out of him... all cuts n' bruises on his face.



It doesn't matter.

What matters is that he was one of the victims of hamsterdam in one way or another. One of those who fell through the gaps. Nameless.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 21, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> He looked like he'd had the crap beaten out of him... all cuts n' bruises on his face.


Always seem to be getting the crap beaten outa him


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> It doesn't matter.
> 
> What matters is that he was one of the victims of hamsterdam in one way or another. One of those who fell through the gaps. Nameless.



Yup... there was always gonna be a downside, what was so remarkable is the way Colvin made it seem like such a fucking great idea to begin with.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

It wasn't a great idea?

Who didn't it work for - the police with less drug crime having more time for other crime, the residents with no drug dealers on their corners, the court system able to do its job better, the health care industry who could better target users, the social case system able to better target problem children?

Or the politicians?


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It wasn't a great idea?
> 
> Who didn't it work for - the police with less drug crime having more time for other crime, the residents with no drug dealers on their corners, the court system able to do its job better, the health care industry who could better target users, the social case system able to better target problem children?
> 
> Or the politicians?



It didn't work out too well for the junkies, or perhaps it _did_ work out too well for them. When Bubbles meets Colvin in the series 3 finale he tells him about how users could be free of hassle from both dealers and police in the free zones. He didn't say whether he thought that was a good thing or not.

It's all so cleverly handled. You can't help but sympathise with Colvin for most of the series, but then that bastard Carcetti makes his big speech and suddenly you feel like the whole idea really was completely wrong. Carcetti's such a brilliant anti-hero because he's always saying the right things for entirely the wrong reasons. You agree with him and hate his guts at the same time, because you get to see how everything he says in public is planned and crafted beforehand to get him and his mates more power.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Yep, it sets up the decriminalisation debate - which is not, of course, the legalisation debate.

Agree, Carcetti is a smartly crafted character.


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

i like carcetti. he's another mcnulty, total bastard but totally neccesary. he really reminds me of one of my best friends. he's realistic, if there were enough cops like bunny, lester etc then their ideas would work, but they won't cos there aren't


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

isitme said:


> i like carcetti. he's another mcnulty, total bastard but totally neccesary. he really reminds me of one of my best friends. he's realistic, if there were enough cops like bunny, lester etc then their ideas would work, but they won't cos there aren't



Carcetti has that level of self belief that drags others in his wake.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

I'm not quite getting Carcetti's role yet... 

Lester looks like my dad, lol


----------



## Fedayn (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, it sets up the decriminalisation debate - which is not, of course, the legalisation debate.
> 
> Agree, Carcetti is a smartly crafted character.



Carcetti is, to me, an example of bad casting with a nod to make sure it's a 'brit' actor playing him. The name is obviously Italian-American and yet the accent is clearly Irish-American, why make such a glaring mistake?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> Carcetti is, to me, an example of bad casting with a nod to make sure it's a 'brit' actor playing him. The name is obviously Italian-American and yet the accent is clearly Irish-American, why make such a glaring mistake?



heh. His accent isnt even consistant.


----------



## Fedayn (Jul 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Carcetti has that level of self belief that drags others in his wake.



Fame driven demagogue.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> Carcetti is, to me, an example of bad casting with a nod to make sure it's a 'brit' actor playing him. The name is obviously Italian-American and yet the accent is clearly Irish-American, why make such a glaring mistake?


The actor is Irish, fwiw.

I suspect, from an acting pov, most actors can sustain an accent through several minutes of dialogue spread over a 2 hour film - which is what it boils down to. This is obviously of a different magnitude. Imo, the only one who comes close to consistency is our man from Hackney.

I don't know national or regional politics well enough to understand why they chose a name with Italian heritage, though I can't recall that heritage ever being invoked at any stage.

Of course the Police Dept is always Irish anyway.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> Fame driven demagogue.



aye.

he _believes_ his own spiel I reckon.


----------



## isitme (Jul 21, 2009)

maybe he's irish american with an italian american dad


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suspect, from an acting pov, most actors can sustain an accent through several minutes of dialogue spread over a 2 hour film - which is what it boils down to. This is obviously of a different magnitude. Imo, the only one who comes close to consistency is our man from Hackney.



McNulty's accent is pretty consistent IMO. And in series 2 he did a brilliant 'American doing a shit British accent' accent that must be so hard for a real British person to do.


----------



## llion (Jul 21, 2009)

I found Aiden Gillen's/Carcetti's accent more strange in last week's Freefall on BBC2, and I think he was sticking with his own accent in that! It seems to have gone a bit mid-Atlantic. One of my fave bits in the whole of the Wire is when McNulty has to pretend to do an English accent in series 2 - you can tell that the actor playing Freeman really wants to laugh in this scene!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

heh we are getting int 



Spoiler: prez



beard tonight




Beards as a sign of instability flip reversed for stability


----------



## SpookyFrank (Jul 21, 2009)

Series 4 starts tonight? Fuck yeah, I thought it was gonna be another three week wait


----------



## Fedayn (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The actor is Irish, fwiw.
> 
> I suspect, from an acting pov, most actors can sustain an accent through several minutes of dialogue spread over a 2 hour film - which is what it boils down to. This is obviously of a different magnitude. Imo, the only one who comes close to consistency is our man from Hackney.
> 
> ...



Yeah I know he's Irish, pretty good in most things i've seen. However in this instance is a glaringly stupid casting and given the detail has been so well observed in the other programmes it just seems bizarre thay'd make such a fuck-up in this case.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

I guess the Irish/Italian thing is met by the overriding references to a young, thrusting _Catholic_ politician.

Which brings us onto the issue of the relationship between him and his wife, which is quite interesting; very moral in some ways, yet a cold, unpleasant piece of work as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> It doesn't matter.
> 
> What matters is that he was one of the victims of hamsterdam in one way or another. One of those who fell through the gaps. Nameless.





that is grim.

I hear property in certain ares of Bodymore is cheap. No idea why.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I guess the Irish/Italian thing is met by the overriding references to a young, thrusting _Catholic_ politician.
> 
> Which brings us onto the issue of the relationship between him and his wife, which is quite interesting; very moral in some ways, yet a cold, unpleasant piece of work as well.



If you can call fucking your assistant on the side, 'moral'.


----------



## mhendo (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> Carcetti is, to me, an example of bad casting with a nod to make sure it's a 'brit' actor playing him. The name is obviously Italian-American and yet the accent is clearly Irish-American, why make such a glaring mistake?


Because it's not a glaring mistake.

Irish and Italian immigrant groups have been prominent in America's big eastern cities since the middle of the nineteenth century, and they don't always just marry within the group. Not only that, but the fact that these two groups have formed the backbone of America's Catholic community means that there has been plenty of fraternization between Irish and Italian Americans.

The idea of someone with an Italian surname being Irish-American, or someone with an Irish surname having an Italian-American family line, is not at all unusual.

My wife, going back only three generations, can trace ancestors directly to France, Italy, and Spain. She happens to have been born with the Spanish surname, but that's just because of how the marriages and name changes worked out. Her mother's maiden name is clearly Italian, and her mother's mother's maiden name is clearly French.

Edit:

If you want another literary/entertainment reference to an Irishman in an Italian-American context, look at the Tom Hagen character in Mario Puzo's _The Godfather_.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2009)

It's funny. The Wire is a series I didn't enjoy much, but thanks to the various discussion on here, and my resulting research, it's probably the series that I know the most about.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 - Re #1432: There are no spoilers in this thread ahead of the BBC schedule. Some courtesy, please.


----------



## Fedayn (Jul 21, 2009)

mhendo said:


> Because it's not a glaring mistake.
> 
> Irish and Italian immigrant groups have been prominent in America's big eastern cities since the middle of the nineteenth century, and they don't always just marry within the group. Not only that, but the fact that these two groups have formed the backbone of America's Catholic community means that there has been plenty of fraternization between Irish and Italian Americans.
> 
> ...



I am aware of their prominence but that's not the issue here.
It's rather unusual here because he's clearly, with his accent, not from a long line of Irish Americans but an Irish man ion America, rather unsusually with an Italian surname.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Johnny Canuck2 - There are no spoilers in this thread ahead of the BBC schedule. Some courtesy, please.



What did I spoil?


----------



## mhendo (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> I am aware of their prominence but that's not the issue here.
> It's rather unusual here because he's clearly, with his accent, not from a long line of Irish Americans but an Irish man ion America, rather unsusually with an Italian surname.


That's not clear to me at all. I've heard plenty of second- and third-generation Americans talk like him.


----------



## Sunspots (Jul 21, 2009)

mhendo said:


> If you want another literary/entertainment reference to an Irishman in an Italian-American context, look at the Tom Hagen character in Mario Puzo's _The Godfather_.



_Goodfellas_ too, of course. 

De Niro plays an Irish American, Ray Liotta plays an Irish/Italian American, and Joe Pesci and Paul Sorvino play Italian Americans.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Jul 21, 2009)

Fedayn said:


> I am aware of their prominence but that's not the issue here.
> It's rather unusual here because he's clearly, with his accent, not from a long line of Irish Americans but an Irish man ion America, rather unsusually with an Italian surname.



Another alternative is that the actor is doing a shit job with the accent.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 21, 2009)

mhendo said:


> If you want another literary/entertainment reference to an Irishman in an Italian-American context, look at the Tom Hagen character in Mario Puzo's _The Godfather_.


Always thought the Tom Hagen charactor was of German extract?


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 21, 2009)

Italian, German . . . it's all the same Axis.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 22, 2009)

Prez as teacher,looks like a lamb being lead to the lions  the actress playing Snoop has an interesting history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 22, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> the actress playing Snoop has an interesting history http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felicia_Pearson



I was genuinely confused at first as to whether she was a young boy or not. Never new she'd actually been sent down for murder too!


----------



## Belushi (Jul 22, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 said:


> Another alternative is that the actor is doing a shit job with the accent.



Yup, I just dont think Aiden Gillen is very good at accents, though otherwise his ratlike charm is perfect for Carcetti.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 22, 2009)

First thoughts about series four ep 1.


Is it me or is the theme music getting slowly but steadily worse.
Title sequence is all about kids and we have a cop turned teacher now so I guess we are focusing on the kids this series.
Loved the scene they start with, Snoop buying the nail gun.
I then found the rest of it had a very slow plodding feel despite the fact lots was going. I almost felt disappointed but then realised i was enthralled and upset that it ended so soon.
Loved the fact that they think Marlow isn't creating enough bodies. Yeah not that they know of. They might not have evolved burner wise but they are still evolving.


----------



## Crispy (Jul 22, 2009)

You wait till you hear the S5 theme music


----------



## Gromit (Jul 22, 2009)

Crispy said:


> You wait till you hear the S5 theme music



So its not just me.

Why they didn't just keep the same tune for all of them i don't know.

Season 2's theme was catchy (i'm not sure if it was the same as season 1)

But season 3 was like a pale imitation of season 2 and season 4 is worse again. Which following the logic means that season 5 will be truly dreadful which you just seem to have confirmed


----------



## Crispy (Jul 22, 2009)

The guitarist fluffs a note in the guitar solo in S4's music. Makes me wince every time


----------



## D'wards (Jul 22, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 said:


> What did I spoil?



Well, now i know Carcetti fucks his assistant on the side, which i didn't know before


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 22, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Well, now i know Carcetti fucks his assistant on the side, which i didn't know before



Didn't that already happen in the last series though? At one of the fundraisers when his wife and kids went home before him? Or was that someone else? *confused*


----------



## Crispy (Jul 22, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Well, now i know Carcetti fucks his assistant on the side, which i didn't know before


He doesn't


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 22, 2009)

But he definitely did shag some other woman at the fundraiser, and that was last series. Right?


----------



## Gromit (Jul 22, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> But he definitely did shag some other woman at the fundraiser, and that was last series. Right?



Yeah some blond towards the beginning of the series I think. Not sure if it was a fundraiser or some other sort of party though. He wasn't in a race then so didn't need funds then did he?


----------



## moonsi til (Jul 22, 2009)

I loved S4. It may well be my fave though I'm only on episode 5 of S5 so we'll see. I have only watched each episode once and looking forward to doing it all again.


----------



## BlackArab (Jul 22, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> He looked like he'd had the crap beaten out of him... all cuts n' bruises on his face.




The cops mentioned that rats had been at him


----------



## captain_insano (Jul 22, 2009)

Crispy said:


> The guitarist fluffs a note in the guitar solo in S4's music. Makes me wince every time



They did this on purpose apparently. The first guitar solo they played originally was too perfect and the producers wanted it to be a bit more raw like it was a school band playing it (as series 4 is about schools)


----------



## Crispy (Jul 22, 2009)

Damn Them


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 22, 2009)

Snoop appreciation post.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Bit of a filler/build up episode tonight.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

I have missed BOTH episodes of the new series due to being in society.

In a lot of ways I would rather have watched The Wire.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit


----------



## The Octagon (Jul 23, 2009)

Quick question (I've just finished Season 3 on DVD and trying to catch up to BBC2) - 

Why did Marlo kill DeVonne? Who was she in relation to Avon?

Oh, and the Kima nipples scene. Awesome.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Quick question (I've just finished Season 3 on DVD and trying to catch up to BBC2) -
> 
> Why did Marlo kill DeVonne? Who was she in relation to Avon?
> 
> Oh, and the Kima nipples scene. Awesome.


Avon used her to set up Marlo.Marlo found out about it and killed her in revenge.I loved the quizzical glance Bubbles gave Prez at the school


----------



## Flashman (Jul 23, 2009)

I love Cutty's story in this series.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

Flashman said:


> I love Cutty's story in this series.


Popular with the ladyez


----------



## 8den (Jul 23, 2009)

Signs you've watched too much of "The Wire" no 112;

Whenever you read or hear and anything about Swine Flu, and you come across the word "Pandemic", you instantly think about a bunch of corner hoppers shouting "Pandemic" "Pandemic!"


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

wmd!


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

8den said:


> Signs you've watched too much of "The Wire" no 112;
> 
> Whenever you read or hear and anything about Swine Flu, and you come across the word "Pandemic", you instantly think about a bunch of corner hoppers shouting "Pandemic" "Pandemic!"



when the word is on the news and you immediately go 'Paaandemc!' in a baltimorish accent and everyone in the room looks at you like you are a loon


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Popular with the ladyez


----------



## Flashman (Jul 23, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> wmd!



Rye-cheer rye-cheer!


----------



## Flashman (Jul 23, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Popular with the ladyez



Aye.

Great character, mad fucking eyes though


----------



## skyscraper101 (Jul 23, 2009)

8den said:


> Signs you've watched too much of "The Wire" no 112;
> 
> Whenever you read or hear and anything about Swine Flu, and you come across the word "Pandemic", you instantly think about a bunch of corner hoppers shouting "Pandemic" "Pandemic!"



Haha... I was just thinking this today as well.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

Another snoop appreciation post.



Out of all the crushes I have ever had, this is by far the weirdest. And I have had some pretty weird crushes before.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 23, 2009)

Another another snoop appreciation post

I love her retarded drawl, its so engaging - the scene where whe was buying the nailgun was terrific.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Another snoop appreciation post.
> 
> 
> 
> Out of all the crushes I have ever had, this is by far the weirdest. And I have had some pretty weird crushes before.



you like 12 year old boys.

it's OK, Plato was down with noncery


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> you like 12 year old boys.
> 
> it's OK, Plato was down with noncery



I like psychopath gangster lesbians who _look_ like 12 year old boys.

There is a difference.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I like psychopath gangster lesbians who _look_ like 12 year old boys.
> 
> There is a difference.



That's a very niche market, but I am sure Rule 34 applies.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 23, 2009)

Oh indeed.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 23, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> you like 12 year old boys.
> 
> it's OK, Plato was down with noncery



Yeah, i can't see that one, and i fancy some strange people.

Her name is Snoop in real life innit. Took me a while to work out whether she was a boy or girl first time i saw her - dresses the same as the boys and no boobage of note.

I think she is basically playing herself - she runs this " keeping young adults away from violence" thing with the actor who plays Marlo. He looks well smart and intelligent and respectable in real life - a real Stringer Bell if you will.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Another another snoop appreciation post
> 
> I love her retarded drawl, its so engaging - the scene where whe was buying the nailgun was terrific.


Thought they were going to put the nailgun to a more horrific use


----------



## D'wards (Jul 23, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Thought they were going to put the nailgun to a more horrific use



Yeah - that was implied huh? But they used if for.....nailing wood to other wood.

Why bother with anything else when a silenced pistol is perfect - considering them are damn good shots with it too...


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Yeah - that was implied huh? But they used if for.....nailing wood to other wood.
> 
> Why bother with anything else when a silenced pistol is perfect - considering them are damn good shots with it too...



I was interested to note that you cannot buy nailguns of that power or type for domestic UK use


----------



## 8den (Jul 23, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I was interested to note that you cannot buy nailguns of that power or type for domestic UK use



If I owned that company, I'd put a big picture of Snoop and Chris on the box with a "fo sho, as seen on the Wire."


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 23, 2009)

"Took me a while to work out whether she was a boy or girl first time i saw her - dresses the same as the boys and no boobage of note."

Quite a few of us didn't work that one out for a while!


----------



## gnoriac (Jul 23, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Thought they were going to put the nailgun to a more horrific use



Esp after that execution, "I promise I'll make it clean and quick" or words to that effect while the poor kid was throwing up with fear. The Wire seems to go from strength to strength (apart from the opening music).


----------



## krtek a houby (Jul 23, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Esp after that execution, "I promise I'll make it clean and quick" or words to that effect while the poor kid was throwing up with fear. The Wire seems to go from strength to strength (apart from the opening music).



Man, I love the different artists each season!


----------



## Gromit (Jul 23, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Yeah - that was implied huh? But they used if for.....nailing wood to other wood.
> 
> Why bother with anything else when a silenced pistol is perfect - considering them are damn good shots with it too...



When yo a gangstar yo wants firepower even if yo buying a scewdriver.

Could come in handy when the clip runs dry on yo piece. Backup weapon innit.

Surprised they ain't using it though. Must be less traceable than a gun. 
However, more expensive than a street piece at $700. You can pick up a gun for half that on the streets.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

'in b-more we aim to hit a nigga'


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

Carcetti seems to have gone from being bullish about his chances of being elected mayor in Series 3 to being rather fatalistic this series  no McNulty last night as well,is that a 1st?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

who's snoop?


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 23, 2009)

Madusa said:


> who's snoop?



http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/snoop.shtml


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Madusa said:


> who's snoop?



the hitter from marlo's crew who looks like a 12 yo boy


where are you now? I thought you was caught up with UK terrestrial?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

ahh she's hot

Still with season 3. Episode 10 or somesuch.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

Anyone know the name of one of Barksdale's minons. A 'young'un', darkskin under Bodie?


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Anyone know the name of one of Barksdale's minons. A 'young'un', darkskin under Bodie?


http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/poot.shtml

Him?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/characters/poot.shtml
> 
> Him?



yeah. the dopey. I like his eyes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Never really felt for his character. Bodie is so cool I even tried to master the spitting-through-a-tooth-gap maneuver.


Dribbled on my chin alot


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

I fucking hate when he does that. 

Actually on a side note, after what I was saying about the 'Trish' thing, one of the episodes I watched today when one of the detectives spotted Barksdale out of the clink and told Kima and Mcnulty, Kima goes ''you sure it was him? what? we all look alike to you or something...'' and I smiled to myself and thought of you guys.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I fucking hate when he does that.
> 
> Actually on a side note, after what I was saying about the 'Trish' thing, one of the episodes I watched today when one of the detectives spotted Barksdale out of the clink and told Kima and Mcnulty, Kima goes ''you sure it was him? what? we all look alike to you or something...'' and I smiled to myself and thought of you guys.



heh. Bunk did that 'fuck I never thought of the unconscious reaction I would have' to me with the BNBG thing. Sometimes you just make the judgement and say the thing. It possibly ties in with my theory that one should check oneself before one wrecks oneself. AKA think before you speak you dick


----------



## Madusa (Jul 23, 2009)

I love Bunk.


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 23, 2009)

some fucking r/w tossbag has replaced the wire


----------



## Belushi (Jul 24, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Her name is Snoop in real life innit. Took me a while to work out whether she was a boy or girl first time i saw her - dresses the same as the boys and no boobage of note.
> 
> I think she is basically playing herself .



She's the real deal, she'd never acted before Michael Williams (Omar) met her in a club, took her along to meet the writers who gave her a small role on the spot, which expanded once they saw she was a natural.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 24, 2009)

lolz Rawls (sp?) in the gaybar.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 24, 2009)

Snoop.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 24, 2009)

Madusa said:


> lolz Rawls (sp?) in the gaybar.


One of my fave Wire moments  the way it was done as well,you only saw him for a second,I almost did a double take when I saw it.


----------



## starfish (Jul 25, 2009)

Who hasnt switched over from politicians to sport. Cutty just did what most of of us do.


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 25, 2009)

I didn't think Cutty was political and I didn't think what he did was about sport - although boxing was his tool. Apart from that we agree.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 26, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> One of my fave Wire moments  the way it was done as well,you only saw him for a second,I almost did a double take when I saw it.



fucking lolz... and when brother mouzone's guy storms out of the bar, rawls has a look like ''haha, what the fucks the matter with him?'' pmsl It's so well done.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 28, 2009)

Omar looked very fetching doing his morning shop last night ,love the way everyone says"Omar comming" whenever he walks down the street,felt for Prez last night,that poor kid who seems to be the butt of much derision  fuckin heartbreakin


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 28, 2009)

That bit right at the end with his little fan thing is funny and sad all at once.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 28, 2009)

I loved the Omar start sequence. Can't find a home for his gun yet people are so scared of him he robs a stash and all he was doing was lighting up. When he gets back he is so utterly disgusted by it all. It's no fun if people just roll over and let themselves get fucked.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Omar looked very fetching doing his morning shop last night ,love the way everyone says"Omar comming" whenever he walks down the street,felt for Prez last night,that poor kid who seems to be the butt of much derision  fuckin heartbreakin



He's shaved his hair aswell. And there was a bit of cockage when he got up to get cereal. 

Yes! I've caught up wi' ya'll!


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

So with the McNulty thing, he just announced one day to that port copper woman that he was gonna move in with her cos none of the other women in his life wanted him?


----------



## London_Calling (Jul 28, 2009)

"that port copper woman" is the heroic Beadie Russell.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 28, 2009)

Madusa said:


> So with the McNulty thing, he just announced one day to that port copper woman that he was gonna move in with her cos none of the other women in his life wanted him?



Wonder how long that'll last  she dos'nt seem his type,sad and depressing that an ob good cop like Bunny gets fucked over while total cunts like Burrell and Rawles survive and thrive,always the way.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> "that port copper woman" is the heroic Beadie Russell.



Forgive me that I dont know all of the wire's grand cast by name. yes, Beadie Russell.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

The wire on tv everyday then?


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 28, 2009)

Madusa said:


> The wire on tv everyday then?


Mon Tue and Wed,all eps repeated on Fri.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Mon Tue and Wed,all eps repeated on Fri.



wow, that's excellent.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 28, 2009)

http://www.warnerbros.it/movies/rockstar/img/dominic.jpg 
Guess who?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 28, 2009)

I have seen that picture.

He also advertises coffee now. I cant remember who for, but he has a load of videos on some coffee companies website where he talks about how lovely coffee is.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 28, 2009)

http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/pride-and-prejudice


----------



## starfish (Jul 28, 2009)

starfish said:


> Who hasnt switched over from politicians to sport. Cutty just did what most of of us do.



You know, ive looked back at that post a couple of times over the last few days & i still dont know what the fuck i meant by it.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> http://www.warnerbros.it/movies/rockstar/img/dominic.jpg
> Guess who?



phwoar



Orang Utan said:


> http://www.cartenoire.co.uk/pride-and-prejudice



 His voice is darling!


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Jul 28, 2009)

Blimey, he's quite posh isn't he.  I thought he was from Sheffield.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 28, 2009)

I could listen to him reading that whole book I reckon.


----------



## Orang Utan (Jul 28, 2009)

upsidedownwalrus said:


> Blimey, he's quite posh isn't he.  I thought he was from Sheffield.


he is!
some people don't speak like the folk they grow up with - i don't much.
he did go to eton though, which i think is the clincher.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jul 29, 2009)

Does anybody know the music being played when Omar holds up the poker game from last nights episode? I know its a famous song just can't find out what it is.


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jul 29, 2009)

Soz double post.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

No idea what the song is called but i think it's a funk piece that was used in a Lynx advert years ago. It's kinda question and answer kinda tune Q(Bass): ''do do do do do ba da ba da?'' A(Trumpet): ''de de de de!'' Then the bass goes ''do-do-do dodo/bam badadada...'' 

HTH.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 29, 2009)

Marlo's a horrible unlikable cunt,having that   poor security guard killed just because he fronted him up,Im surprised Omar did'nt know who Marlo was when he robbed him.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Marlo's a horrible unlikable cunt,having that   poor security guard killed just because he fronted him up,Im surprised Omar did'nt know who Marlo was when he robbed him.



Yeah. And his eyes are too far apart.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 29, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Marlo's a horrible unlikable cunt,having that   poor security guard killed just because he fronted him up,Im surprised Omar did'nt know who Marlo was when he robbed him.



Yeah - he's becoming a sod, that boy.

Avon/Stringy would not have done that. I'm hoping eventually Marlo gets it in a horrible way.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 29, 2009)

Marlo is coldhearted.


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 29, 2009)

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213067/bio
The actor playing Colonel Raymond Foerster died not long after this ep,noticed he looked poorly in last nights ep.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Marlo is coldhearted.



most def that. Remember when the Barksdale crew set up a honeytrap with that prossie and he caught her coming out of their van when one of the guys slung the used johnnie out of the window: the same as what he had done with her? He shot her dead through BOTH tits and then shot her through the mouth probably shooting her brains out all over the pavement!


----------



## hektik (Jul 29, 2009)

Threshers_Flail said:


> Does anybody know the music being played when Omar holds up the poker game from last nights episode? I know its a famous song just can't find out what it is.



the meters - cissy strut.

i think they were going for like irony and shit, cos like omar is gay. GET IT?

edited to add: you tube link:


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

hektik said:


> the meters - cissy strut.
> 
> i think they were going for like irony and shit, cos like omar is gay. GET IT?
> 
> edited to add: you tube link:




doesnt it sound like the way I typed it?! Q&A's see?!


----------



## Threshers_Flail (Jul 29, 2009)

hektik said:


> the meters - cissy strut.
> 
> i think they were going for like irony and shit, cos like omar is gay. GET IT?
> 
> edited to add: you tube link:




Big thank you, yeah I get it.


----------



## hektik (Jul 29, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Im surprised Omar did'nt know who Marlo was when he robbed him.



he did though, didn't he? he just didn't care.

marlo says "this aint over"
and omar says something like " i can find your peoples much easier than they can find me"

which i took to mean he fully knew who he was robbing...he just didn't mind any.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 29, 2009)

he didn't give it no never mind


----------



## Gromit (Jul 29, 2009)

I think Marlo can be classified as an emotionless sociopath. 

Perfect qualifications for a crime boss.


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

yeah course he knew. Remember when he went to get cereal in his lilac pj's and afterwards was like: I dont even want this (about the bag of pills) and was like ''It's not what you rob, it's who from'' or whatever it was. He wants the big players, does our Omar.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Jul 29, 2009)

Have you all been following the ring, btw?


----------



## Madusa (Jul 29, 2009)

yes, of course.


----------



## El Sueno (Jul 29, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Marlo is coldhearted.



Yep, and with a passion for his homing pigeons... Nothing's ever straightforward in the Wire init!


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 30, 2009)

Rawles knows which way the wind is blowing politics wise.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 30, 2009)

He's read the script.


----------



## D'wards (Jul 30, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Have you all been following the ring, btw?



Omar has it now, right, unless i missed something.

Chris is a ruthless mofo as well huh? Killing that delivery woman like that - thats some cold-hearted shit, yo.

I'm pleased Prez is doing better at school too.


----------



## Gromit (Jul 30, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Have you all been following the ring, btw?



Whose was it to begin with?

The fat guy Marlo took it off or did I miss when the fat guy got it?

(fat guy <> the fat man as Marlo calls him)


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 30, 2009)

Chris is cold, but the actor playing marlo has proper dead shark-eyes.


----------



## gnoriac (Jul 30, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I'm pleased Prez is doing better at school too.



Is he? The kids are still treating him like shit. TBH I'd much rather be a cop than a teacher in that school, less violence if nothing else. 
But is that what it's all about, Prez's way of paying his dues to society for accidentally killing a colleague?


----------



## D'wards (Jul 30, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Chris is cold, but the actor playing marlo has proper dead shark-eyes.



Looks quite nice here - shows he's a good actor i suppose - still with the eyes though


----------



## DotCommunist (Jul 30, 2009)

He turns up in Heroes as well. I was all 'run for lives! it is Marlo!'


----------



## Dandred (Jul 30, 2009)

Anyone watch the story of penicillin on BBC 4 a few days ago? 

I finally got round to watching it and guess who my playing one of the lead characters? Jimmy Mcnulty!


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 30, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Omar has it now, right, unless i missed something.
> 
> Chris is a ruthless mofo as well huh? Killing that delivery woman like that - thats some cold-hearted shit, yo.
> 
> I'm pleased Prez is doing better at school too.


Marlo would'nt be able to get away with that shit if he joined Co-Op,I liked the way Prez gave the young kid some of his lunch


----------



## Gingerman (Jul 31, 2009)

http://weblogs.variety.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/05/05/andre_royodinner.jpg
Bubbles scrubs up well


----------



## Madusa (Jul 31, 2009)

all his own teeth too!


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

I've only just starting watching this.

I've obviously missed loads of episodes.  I have no idea what's going on.


----------



## 8den (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I've only just starting watching this.
> 
> I've obviously missed loads of episodes.  I have no idea what's going on.



Minnie stop, seriously, download it, or if you're desperate I'll lend you my boxed sets*

*If you promise to give them back.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

8den said:


> Minnie stop, seriously, download it, or if you're desperate I'll lend you my boxed sets*
> 
> *If you promise to give them back.






I take it I need to really watch from the beginning then?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I take it I need to really watch from the beginning then?



oh yes.

it's not forgiving to casual viewers. David Simon (creator/writer) actually said 'fuck the casual viewer'


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oh yes.
> 
> it's not forgiving to casual viewers. David Simon (creator/writer) actually said 'fuck the casual viewer'




How much have I missed?

The first episode I saw was some girl getting her face slashed in a class?

They showed about 3 episodes in a row last night but I videod them but that means I had to watch them without sub-titles


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> How much have I missed?
> 
> The first episode I saw was some girl getting her face slashed in a class?
> 
> They showed about 3 episodes in a row last night but I videod them but that means I had to watch them without sub-titles



yeah you've missed series one two and three.

Fuckloads.

borrow the mans boxed sets and then you can have subtitles too


----------



## maomao (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> How much have I missed?
> 
> The first episode I saw was some girl getting her face slashed in a class?
> 
> They showed about 3 episodes in a row last night but I videod them but that means I had to watch them without sub-titles



They're a few episodes into series 4. That means you've got nearly 40 unwatched episodes.


----------



## 8den (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> I take it I need to really watch from the beginning then?



Imagine an immensely thick novel. Now imagine five of them. You've stepped into chapter 3 of the 4th book. 

Put it another away, the two creators of the wire spent 25 years between working the crime desk of Baltimore Sun, and as a Homicide cop. The Journalist went on to spend a year tailing the Baltimore Homicide department and a year on a Corner following the lives of addicts, resulting in two 600 page factual books, while the cop became a teacher in the Baltimore school district. They worked on a TV series called "Homicide", all this was the distilling process that went into the creation of The Wire. 

Minnie I'm series about the Wire, I'll lend it to you, for nothing else, you need to hear the tail of poor "Snot Boogie" and how he kicked this all off.


----------



## 8den (Aug 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oh yes.
> 
> it's not forgiving to casual viewers. David Simon (creator/writer) actually said 'fuck the casual viewer'



I fucking adore that quote. If every tv writer in the world had that written on their walls, the world would be a better place. 

I'm working in ITV at the moment, and the sheer fucking idiocy about their audience demography beggars believe, it's like they're making idiotic poorly written drama because people want this.


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 1, 2009)

Just finished final episode of final series...no spoilers from me but I just wanted to share where I have been.

Going to take me a while to figure some of this out before I go back for round 2 with S1.

The Wire is also the only TV series my BF has ever watched. I rented S1 from LOVEfilm and got him hooked then we bought the others from amazon.


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> yeah you've missed series one two and three.
> 
> Fuckloads.
> 
> borrow the mans boxed sets and then you can have subtitles too





maomao said:


> They're a few episodes into series 4. That means you've got nearly 40 unwatched episodes.




That many?  

I'll never get anything done if I end up with the whole lot of them


----------



## D'wards (Aug 1, 2009)

Minnie_the_Minx said:


> They showed about 3 episodes in a row last night but I videod them but that means I had to watch them without sub-titles



I have to watch them with subtitles too - helps doesn't it.

Just recommended it to a french friend who has perfect English, but struggles with american accents on tv a bit - insisted she got the dvds for subtitle purposes rather than torrent


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I have to watch them with subtitles too - helps doesn't it.




Especially when you're half deaf to male voices


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I have to watch them with subtitles too - helps doesn't it.
> 
> Just recommended it to a french friend who has perfect English, but struggles with american accents on tv a bit - insisted she got the dvds for subtitle purposes rather than torrent



It's suprised me a lot, how people struggle with baltimore variant ebonics.

Like no-one listened to g-rap when growing up


----------



## Minnie_the_Minx (Aug 1, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Like no-one listened to g-rap when growing up




I didn't.  I think it's mostly crap


----------



## D'wards (Aug 1, 2009)

To be honest its as much the police speak as the low rise yo's.

I've always listened to hip hop and that, but just find its easier to absorb what they say quicker.

Me and me pal have our own name for it - Low Rise Fancy Spit


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 1, 2009)

D'wards said:


> To be honest its as much the police speak as the low rise* yo's.*
> 
> I've always listened to hip hop and that, but just find its easier to absorb what they say quicker.
> 
> Me and me pal have our own name for it - Low Rise Fancy Spit



ah the non-gendered baltimorese pronoun

Cutting gender from pronouns naturally where overt attempts to do so failed.


TBF I had little to no issue with the lingo, but then I am good at english. It's the only thing, mind.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2009)

I always enjoyed the parallel redemption arcs of Carver and Cutty.

It could be cliched, sentimental stuff but certainly people like Cutty would, at some level, reach out to popular film for a direction, and bosses like Colvin do turn around people like Carver. I suppose that's what The Wire is all about, no cheap plot fixes, and all the pieces matter.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I always enjoyed the parallel redemption arcs of Carver and Cutty.



No spolier here i hope


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2009)

If you've kept up with the BBC2 showing how could stuff in S3 be a spoiler?

You've presumably noticed the two characters complimentary approach to working with kids given we were hammered over the head with it during Hamsterdam.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If you've kept up with the BBC2 showing how could stuff in S3 be a spoiler?



Yeah, but Carver has not done anything really that he needs redeeming from, so i assumed you may be talking about summat in the future


----------



## madamv (Aug 2, 2009)

Just dropped in to say I am still totally into The Wire...  I love Omar and agree with ya'll saying how cold Marlo is.   He is a complete fucker and I cant wait til he gets got.  

I think McNulty has always wanted to be a homely guy, but I dont know if I totally take his turn around.  He wanted it so badly with his wife and couldnt do it for her, how comes he has managed for Beattie?   But its nice to see...   

Last night I was shouting for Lester to think about the empty houses, but as we were shown a decomp last night, I reckon they'll be all over that soon.

Anyone else notice that Carcetti doesnt have moving facial features?   His acting disappoints me a little...


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Yeah, but Carver has not done anything really that he needs redeeming from, so i assumed you may be talking about summat in the future


I haven't got the time to get into it but start at S1 when he got promoted to Sergeant for grassing up his Detail, and contrast his contribution when working with Herc to what he's doing at the end of S3.


----------



## madamv (Aug 2, 2009)

Yeah, I always felt the two of them together were bad news...  Never put much effort in and always missing stuff they were supposed to be scouting.   Also, who took the money?  Wasnt that them both or was it just Herc?

I think he has started to take the kids involved to heart after his stint in Hamsterdam...


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2009)

My reading at the time was they both took the money.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 2, 2009)

madamv said:


> He wanted it so badly with his wife and couldnt do it for her, how comes he has managed for Beattie?   But its nice to see...



How?

1. He had a taste of his own medicine from politics woman. 
2. He saw how chasing the big case doesn't bring happiness. Just uses everyone up, grief, stress, politics, disapointment. That's leads to boozing and the boozing to womanising.   
3. He saw another cop riding a radio car with a big ass grin on his face. 

He's put two and two together and has chosen happiness.


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 2, 2009)

madamv said:


> Yeah, I always felt the two of them together were bad news...  Never put much effort in and always missing stuff they were supposed to be scouting.   Also, who took the money?  Wasnt that them both or was it just Herc?



IIRC Herc wanted to but Carver pointed out that, due to the wiretap, the others would find out how much money had gone and they'd get caught. Then they lost some of the money and got in trouble anyway, and found it in the spare wheel hole.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 2, 2009)

Mr Organ - that was an earlier incident. They found more cash under a mattress when there was that huge city-wide raid. They both stashed it inside their bullit proof vests.


----------



## madamv (Aug 2, 2009)

Gromit said:


> How?
> 
> 1. He had a taste of his own medicine from politics woman.
> 2. He saw how chasing the big case doesn't bring happiness. Just uses everyone up, grief, stress, politics, disapointment. That's leads to boozing and the boozing to womanising.
> ...



Ahh  course...  I had forgotten about that last one too..

Yeh LC I am sure they did actually take some money...

On something completely different, Avon Barkesdale was in House the other night, as the hostage negotiator!  And the perp was the Majister from True Blood and Danko from Heroes.....


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

I saw some really shitty movie with Justin Timerlake this weekend and it had Avon Barksdale in it aswell.

One question though, why does Michael get his little brother Bug's dad killed? Anyone know? It was very very faintly alluded to that he was a paedo by the way Chris was acting but I actually thought that maybe Chris was projecting. Can anyone shed light on this?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

i reckon it was cos michael knew his 'step-dad' had abused his brother, or was planning to. chris had obviously been abused as a child, hence his brutal variation n the contract.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i reckon it was cos michael knew his 'step-dad' had abused his brother, or was planning to. chris had obviously been abused as a child, hence his brutal variation n the contract.



eh? when was it revealed that Michael's brother Bug had been abused by that guy? 

to me actually, it just looked like the guy got out of prison and was shacked up with the drug fiend mother, but that Michael wanted to be the man of the house and didnt want to let go of the social card cos he knew he'd have no means to feed himself and his brother. Not more. The way the dad gets killed though. *shivers*


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

Michael gave up boxing because of an adult male touching him during training - weirded him out. That wasn't because of what happened to his half brother imo. He can't talk about it because it makes him less of a man, etc.

I don't recall abuse ever being diirectly mentioned.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Michael gave up boxing because of an adult male touching him during training - weirded him out. That wasn't because of what happened to his half brother imo. He can't talk about it because it makes him less of a man, etc.
> 
> I don't recall abuse ever being diirectly mentioned.



Pretty heavily implied, however.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Michael gave up boxing because of an adult male touching him during training - weirded him out. That wasn't because of what happened to his half brother imo. He can't talk about it because it makes him less of a man, etc.
> 
> I don't recall abuse ever being diirectly mentioned.



Ah yeah, this is true.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

Madusa said:


> eh? when was it revealed that Michael's brother Bug had been abused by that guy?
> 
> to me actually, it just looked like the guy got out of prison and was shacked up with the drug fiend mother, but that Michael wanted to be the man of the house and didnt want to let go of the social card cos he knew he'd have no means to feed himself and his brother. Not more. The way the dad gets killed though. *shivers*



michael obviously hates his stepdad and is desperate for him not to spend any time with his brother. i think it's suggested that perhaps michael himself knows why this is not a good idea.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Pretty heavily implied, however.



Yeah.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Pretty heavily implied, however.


Not only but particularly from Michael asking Chris to remove the threat to Bug by murdering his father.


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 3, 2009)

i've always read that story as being that michael had been abused by his stepdad, and wanting to protect bug from him because he's now the right sort of age.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

By the end of series 4 is it actually humanely possible to not be head-over-heels in love with Omar?! Gender or sexual orientation NOT A FACTOR!


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

The BBC2 showing  isn't at the end of S4 yet so the people following it in real time aren't at the end of S4. Hence you could do something about post #1597.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2009)

Madusa said:


> By the end of series 4 is it actually humanely possible to not be head-over-heels in love with Omar?! Gender or sexual orientation NOT A FACTOR!



It's hard not to love Omar. He's no Robin Hood, but he is totally the lovable Chaotic Neutral (D&D term, soz)


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The BBC2 showing  isn't at the end of S4 yet so the people following it in real time aren't at the end of S4. Hence you could do something about post #1597.



ok


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

Did anyone get a handle on the  meeting of police commanders at headquarters - 'stat' something they called it.

You can pull together the political pieces of what David Simon is saying but I was always struck by the staging, the lighting and layout - as if it were heavily referencing. At first it looked like the jury at one end and the fellow commanders were sat at the side like a jury, but that doesn't work. In every scene there a  commander was  mocked and abused for his stats or approach.

It also came out of no where in S3, just before Hamsterdam. Just curious if anyone got a reference vibe from the staging. A war room based film - Dr Strangelove?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

man, you should have been at the q&a last week. all people asked were shit about the writing process (and one of those came from an eastenders scriptwriter).
also, a little bird tells me that itv's moving the bill to a later slot, as well as being a bid for higher viewing figures, sprang also from the desire of the writers to introduce a wiresque element of grittiness.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2009)

every time a commander was getting castigated it was like a war room set-up tbf.

but that's not a Wire exclusive thing, merely how it goes. And given a few hours I could rustle up some other examples. Kangaroo Court ennit?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> man, you should have been at the q&a last week. all people asked were shit about the writing process (and one of those came from an eastenders scriptwriter).
> also, *a little bird tells me that itv's moving the bill to a later slo*t, as well as being a bid for higher viewing figures, sprang also from the desire of the writers to introduce a wiresque element of grittiness.



It already has though, and has gone all weird and pretend-grownup


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It already has though, and has gone all weird and pretend-grownup



sorry, i wrote that all wrong.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> all people asked were shit about the writing process (and one of those came from an eastenders scriptwriter).


I'd have asked about my grand, all-embracing theory about S5.


----------



## mhendo (Aug 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Did anyone get a handle on the  meeting of police commanders at headquarters - 'stat' something they called it.


CompStat, sometimes also COMSTAT. A shortening of Computer Statistics (or, according to some, Comparative Statistics).

It is essentially the process of analyzing crime data using computers in an attempt to track patterns and assess priorities for future policing. It became all the rage in the United states after it was implemented in New York City. Another TV show that made use of CompStat was the awful show _The District_, starring Craig T. Nelson.

It's not just about showing what crimes occur where, though. It's about resource allocation, and also about evaluation of past performance and holding district commanders and regular beat cops accountable for their performance. I think all of that comes out pretty clearly in _The Wire_.

Here's an interesting article about it. As the article suggests, not everyone believes that CompStat has been as important in reducing crime rates as its boosters claim.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It already has though, and has gone all weird and pretend-grownup



sorry, i wrote that all wrong. 
eta: no, what i said does make sense. everyone knows it has moved, but i was talking about the reasons why.
cops was a much better attempt at showing the real police force, though the most realistic portrayal of the cops on british tv has always been in the young ones


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

mhendo said:


> CompStat, sometimes also COMSTAT. A shortening of Computer Statistics (or, according to some, Comparative Statistics).
> 
> It is essentially the process of analyzing crime data using computers in an attempt to track patterns and assess priorities for future policing. It became all the rage in the United states after it was implemented in New York City. Another TV show that made use of CompStat was the awful show _The District_, starring Craig T. Nelson.
> 
> ...


Yep, it all comes across, but it's also nice to have all that info as well. Cheers.  

I don't look at Hollywood material much so the artistic references  . . .


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> sorry, i wrote that all wrong.
> eta: no, what i said does make sense. everyone knows it has moved, but i was talking about the reasons why.
> cops was a much better attempt at showing the real police force, though the most realistic portrayal of the cops on british tv has always been in the young ones



on a re-read I get you. I think the introduction of the CSI bloke was done for similar reasons.

If cops was that one shot in fly-on-the-wall style then yes, that was fucking ace.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 3, 2009)

mhendo said:


> CompStat, sometimes also COMSTAT. A shortening of Computer Statistics (or, according to some, Comparative Statistics).
> 
> It is essentially the process of analyzing crime data using computers in an attempt to track patterns and assess priorities for future policing. It became all the rage in the United states after it was implemented in New York City. Another TV show that made use of CompStat was the awful show _The District_, starring Craig T. Nelson.
> 
> ...


that's well New Labour - target culture
Adam Curtis has a lot to say about that.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2009)

Which episode is this thread up to now? 

I thought I was up to date after watching the election episode, but now I've just seen the spoilers about Michael (previous and this page). Am I still a few behind or is someone spoiling stuff?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

The Michael stuff runs alongside the election stuff. You should have picked it up.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2009)

Madusa said:


> The Michael stuff runs alongside the election stuff. You should have picked it up.



Nah, I watched it last night, Michael's in 3 or 4 short scenes, Chris is in 1 and none of what's said up there ^^^^ has occurred


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

Which episode? Was Michael's step dad in it?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

It wasn't on the BBC last night, was it?


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2009)

I'm trying to catch up with the thread on DVD, thought I had last night ("Margin of Error"), now I don't know what to believe anymore


----------



## Madusa (Aug 3, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I'm trying to catch up with the thread on DVD, thought I had last night ("Margin of Error"), now I don't know what to believe anymore



Watch to maybe, ''Misgivings''. ffs, boy, GET!


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 3, 2009)

Fair enough, I was going by the BBC website - http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00m0l63


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 3, 2009)

In case you miss something, this is the complete narrative:

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/episode/season4/episode38.shtml


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 4, 2009)

Namond's mum is a right piece of fuckin work is'nt she? feared for Omar during the last few moments last night.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

"She's what niggers call a Dragon Lady"

"She don't blink"


----------



## Gromit (Aug 4, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Namond's mum is a right piece of fuckin work is'nt she? feared for Omar during the last few moments last night.



She likes her nice cushy living handed on a plate for her. Acts like it's her right. Now she's been cut off she's happy enough to make her son give it to her and risk his life and prison. What a lovely mom.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

she was quite funny when she got a bee in her bonnet, but yeah, horrid woman.

what episode you guys up to now?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

That one, where she takes Namond to see Bodie about a job and Carcetti wins the election.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

7% to go til series 5 has d/l for me.

oh god, tell you who i hate, officer walker.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 4, 2009)

Madusa said:


> 7% to go til series 5 has d/l for me.
> 
> oh god, tell you who i hate, officer walker.



I thought you seemed to be a bit ahead of the thread, careful with the spoilers


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

You'll find it confusing and different, and that's about all there is to say.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I thought you seemed to be a bit ahead of the thread, careful with the spoilers



yeah, sorry about that. 



London_Calling said:


> You'll find it confusing and different, and that's about all there is to say.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

There are many different views on S5; imo it brings another level of complexity that a lot of people don't 'get'. Others might say it's not there to 'get'. That's enough from me though. See what you make of it.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

what's your favourite series? without having seen 5, I'm gonna say 1and 4.

Oh and have we had a Wire Character's thread yet? Prolly most def.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

I can't do that really, OU threatened to saw my nuts off unless I told him and I couldn't 

It's like saying which is your fav section of a book. Feels wrong . . .  There are threads about it though, lot of views.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

What do you mean, you CANT?! For example, I quite disliked series 2. Total anticlimax after series 1. All that stuff at the port... warmed to ziggy's dad though whose name escapes me and when he got killed, it saddened me but in the main, it felt more like a chore to watch that series.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

For a lot of people on here S2 is their fav, the industrial/metropolitan decay, the allure of drug money on otherwise sound communities,  all kinds of moral confusion, the wonderfully heroic but flawed and tortured  Frank. A lot of very serious working class themes are  discussed in S2.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

Boring!


----------



## Sadken (Aug 4, 2009)

Definitely agree with Madusa; S2 -whilst still really good and enjoyable - definitely dropped off in pace after S1 and wasn't _as_ compelling imo


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 4, 2009)

it's my favourite series


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

Yep, it really has some very strong themes and discusses them very well. A great portrayal of the urban working class.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 4, 2009)

the tragedy of Subodka MADE that series imo.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 4, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I can't do that really, *OU threatened to saw my nuts off* unless I told him and I couldn't
> 
> It's like saying which is your fav section of a book. Feels wrong . . .  There are threads about it though, lot of views.



 

I think 4 is my favourite.  And 1.  1 more than 4, just because it was the intro to everything, and rewatching it after watching them all just adds to the whole enjoyment.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

Sadken said:


> *Definitely agree with Madusa*; S2 -whilst still really good and enjoyable - definitely dropped off in pace after S1 and wasn't _as_ compelling imo







Series 4 was class though. Forgotten what series 3 was about now...


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 4, 2009)

Not much. Best you not bother thinking about it.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Not much. Best you not bother thinking about it.



oh come on, dont be like that. Remind me please. Too lazy to find it on my computer. 

edit, oh it was Hamsterdam, werent it?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 4, 2009)

Slim


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Marlo, Chris and Snoop need to be taken DOWN! 

Am I talking to myself on this thread now? ah well


----------



## sojourner (Aug 5, 2009)

I'll take Snoop down

Or something like that anyway


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

i've got tears in my eyes after what they've just done but I'm not allowed to say on here and cant remember how to use the spolier code.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> i've got tears in my eyes after what they've just done but I'm not allowed to say on here and cant remember how to use the spolier code.





Spoiler: secret



bodie? aye thats a hard episode


----------



## sojourner (Aug 5, 2009)

It's not real Madusa, god


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Spoiler: secret
> 
> 
> 
> bodie? aye thats a hard episode



no, no, not that one... the other one. Come on, s5. I had a little cry.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

sojourner said:


> It's not real Madusa, god



Heartless Bitch!


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

Poor Bubs needs to start packing some hardware,who are the 2 big guys with Omar and why are they protecting him?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Poor Bubs needs to start packing some hardware,who are the 2 big guys with Omar and why are they protecting him?



when?


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Poor Bubs needs to start packing some hardware,who are the 2 big guys with Omar and why are they protecting him?



I think they're down with Blind Whasisname from the bar Omar pops into. Could be wrong tho.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Butch. He's Omar's best friend and looks after his cash for him


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I think they're down with Blind Whasisname from the bar Omar pops into. Could be wrong tho.



Was wondering why they gave him the magazines at the start of last nights ep,became clear fairly quickly.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

what are people's opinions of Proposition Joe?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> what are people's opinions of Proposition Joe?



He's fairly moral, but weak. He seriously isn't a Stringer


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/img/castcrew/actor_season04/sandimccree.jpg
Namond's mum
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_XS36m8TeR...XM/jiq0XItP2t0/s1600-h/AChristianShow-007.jpg
The actress playing her,almost unrecognizable


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 5, 2009)

Nah I reckon Prop Joe is stronger than you give him credit for. He knows how to work people. Stringer didn't.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> He's fairly moral, but weak. He seriously isn't a Stringer



he's not meant to be any sort of replacement for stringer! I dont think he's weak at all either. The man's smart. Very smart. Quite like him too cos he's not about the body counts.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Quite like him too cos he's not about the body counts.


That's his weakness


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> he's not meant to be any sort of replacement for stringer! I dont think he's weak at all either. The man's smart. Very smart. Quite like him too cos he's not about the body counts.



oh he's smart, but he is noway near ruthless enough. Not for the Game he is in. Stringer had smarts and ruthlessness.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> what are people's opinions of Proposition Joe?



It's all about the bottom line. A real businessman, unlike String.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Crispy said:


> That's his weakness



hmm, maybe.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> he's not meant to be any sort of replacement for stringer! I dont think he's weak at all either. The man's smart. Very smart. Quite like him too cos he's not about the body counts.


Yep,ob dos'nt want a war with Marlo hence the effort in bringing him on board,smart enough to know that wars and dead bodies are bad for his line of buisness.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oh he's smart, but he is noway near ruthless enough. Not for the Game he is in. Stringer had smarts and ruthlessness.



I got the feeling that String got more 'gangsta' as it progressed... initially he was the business end of the Barksdale organisation, but when Avon made it clear he didn't think String ever really had the balls for game, he upped it. And consequently got out of his element for the first time. Anyone else agree or am I missing something?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

I cant really remember what Stringer was like in the beginning, but it did seem like at one time, Stringer was giving the nod for everyone to get axed.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I cant really remember what Stringer was like in the beginning, but it did seem like at one time, Stringer was giving the nod for everyone to get axed.



I don't think String would've ordered a hit on a Sunday in season one. But once Avon had gone away, from the moment he went behind his back and didn't really think through what the consequences might be, he was heading out of his comfort zone.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

No bodies and he's taking a slice off the top of everyone's package by being the sole supplier.

It's like he's the franchise holder and everyone has their own chain outlet. He, of course, likes to call it a co-op.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

Stinger never understood the street. Thought he did and thought he was better but he never understood the street soldier mentality.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

fucksake, I want you lot to catch up to s5!!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Slim



He's one of my favourite characters

'We fight on the lie'


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa - there are plenty of Wire threads that allow spoliers for all 60 hours.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Yeah he's one of my favourites aswell. ''what's your thoughts on this, tall man?''


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Madusa - there are plenty of Wire threads that allow spoliers for all 60 hours.



They're all dead as dodos.


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Madusa - there are plenty of Wire threads that allow spoliers for all 60 hours.



but she doesn't want the end spoiled.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Yeah he's one of my favourites aswell. ''what's your thoughts on this, tall man?''





> _Ain't enough y'all done violated the Sunday morning truce. No, I'm standing here holding a torn-up church crown of a bona fide colored lady. Do you know what a colored lady is? Not your moms, for sure. 'Cause if they was that, y'all would've known better than that bullshit. Y'all trifling with Avon Barksdale reputation, you know that?
> _


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

spanglechick said:


> but she doesn't want the end spoiled.


Fair point!


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 5, 2009)

Belushi said:


>



i love that scene!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

I love how the rumors proggresed on that hit till the point where people were saying 'they shot off her sunday crown and pissed on it'


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

I like the sheer horror among hardened murderers that someone could commit such a foul deed


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

Right I've caught the occasional episode of this but I've not watched it from the start or anything.  I can kind of follow a couple of the stories that are going on though.  Exuse the silly questions but I wanted to ask here.  
Why does that guy who goes around selling the dvd's and stuff out of a shopping trolley keep on getting battered by that other guy?  
And you know that one who went into the prison (omar?) why was everyone else in the jail giving him a hard time when he went in, shouting at him and stuff?  Was that just what they do in american jails or was there a reason for it?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

You *really* need to watch it from the start tar.

Omar robs drug dealers for a living, hence his unpopularity among the prison population.


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

Belushi said:


> You *really* need to watch it from the start tar.
> 
> Omar robs drug dealers for a living, hence his unpopularity among the prison population.



So why does the shopping trolley guy keep getting beat up by that other guy?  I like him.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> Right I've caught the occasional episode of this but I've not watched it from the start or anything.  I can kind of follow a couple of the stories that are going on though.  Exuse the silly questions but I wanted to ask here.
> Why does that guy who goes around selling the dvd's and stuff out of a shopping trolley keep on getting battered by that other guy?
> And you know that one who went into the prison (omar?) why was everyone else in the jail giving him a hard time when he went in, shouting at him and stuff?  Was that just what they do in american jails or was there a reason for it?


Poor Bubbles is easy pickins for that guy,Omar prob robbed most of those guys who were threatening him in jail.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> Right I've caught the occasional episode of this but I've not watched it from the start or anything.  I can kind of follow a couple of the stories that are going on though.  Exuse the silly questions but I wanted to ask here.
> Why does that guy who goes around selling the dvd's and stuff out of a shopping trolley keep on getting battered by that other guy?
> And you know that one who went into the prison (omar?) why was everyone else in the jail giving him a hard time when he went in, shouting at him and stuff?  Was that just what they do in american jails or was there a reason for it?



1. Bubs is getting hit up for his money because a bully has identified him as a target

2. Omar has probably done stick-up jobs on most of the inmates. That's what he does, he robs drug dealers.


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

Oh hey I might take the season one box set out of the library.  Do you think it ruins the earlier ones if I watch the current ones, cos I might be able to see where the storylines are going?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> or was there a reason for it?


There is a very good reason for absolutey everything.

As said above, start at the beginning.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> Oh hey I might take the season one box set out of the library.  Do you think it ruins the earlier ones if I watch the current ones, cos I might be able to see where the storylines are going?



theres enough of a gap between where we are at now and srs 1 to make it not-too ruined, but stop watching the current aired ones when you get season 1


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> There is a very good reason for absolutey everything.
> 
> As said above, start at the beginning.



OK!


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> theres enough of a gap between where we are at now and srs 1 to make it not-too ruined, but stop watching the current aired ones when you get season 1



ok doky


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> oh he's smart, but he is noway near ruthless enough. Not for the Game he is in. Stringer had smarts and ruthlessness.



Look where that got Stringer though.

Prop Joe's probably the smartest motherfucker in the game (he takes a cut of everyone's money, has the best inside information and is the only player careful enough not to have come up on the Detail's radar).

Props to Prop Joe I say


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Nah I reckon Prop Joe is stronger than you give him credit for. He knows how to work people. Stringer didn't.



He knows the game inside out, is an intelligent man, and is a good judge of character and doles out good advice. Puts business before the violence, so far anyway.

Nice and fat too.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

HBO must be recruiting from the Fat People Inc Agency of America.

Bunk is large, but it's even, like an athlete gone to fat. His boss just has this obscene gut


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

He even kippered Avon up at the annual East v.s West game with a better ringer. That was a very funny scene, I thought. Avon doing comedy.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> They're all dead as dodos.



Start a new one - you can all spoil away as much as you like then.

I well look forward to The Wire, and even tho i have access to the boxsets like watching it on bbc2 cos i have a few pals that are watching it on there, and what with them and th discussions on this thread i like all the chat about it and rumination, and analysis. 

I would be upset if something big got spoiled on this "spolier-free" thread, so i'd be up for all those who have seen it all and  wanna discuss future events starting another thread and staying clear of this one (only if they're gonna spoil of course)

anyone else with me?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Start a new one - you can all spoil away as much as you like then.
> 
> I well look forward to The Wire, and even tho i have access to the boxsets like watching it on bbc2 cos i have a few pals that are watching it on there, and what with them and th discussions on this thread i like all the chat about it and rumination, and analysis.
> 
> ...



any spolers to be contained within the spoiler code, on this thread.

If you haven't the self control not to look at stuff that is in spoiler boxes, how are you going to stop yourself opening another thread that contains naked spoilers?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards - I don't think you're alone, if you look at the ratio of posts to views on this thread it's unusally high for Urban at around 1:14


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> any spolers to be contained within the spoiler code, on this thread.
> 
> If you haven't the self control not to look at stuff that is in spoiler boxes, how are you going to stop yourself opening another thread that contains naked spoilers?



Because

a) it says Spolier Free

b) stuff is not always in the spoiler code - i know what happens to Bubbs cos someone blurted it on this thread uncoded

Fair enough, if everyone will keep the spoliers to the code thats not so bad, though i still can't see wht you can't start another thread, enough of you seem to have seen it all already


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Because
> 
> a) it says Spolier Free
> 
> ...



point.


perhaps there is a place for a 'bb2 wire followers, spoilers ahoy!' thread seeing as some folks aren't using the spoiler code.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Because
> 
> a) it says Spolier Free
> 
> ...




 what happens to Bubbs?!


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> what happens to Bubbs?!



Well, what i heard was........hey hey hey, you're not gonna get me like that.

To not spoil, it was his whole story arc, rather than a shocking incident.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

ah ok.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Because
> 
> a) it says Spolier Free
> 
> ...



Now _I_ know something happens to Bubbs, even though I'd missed the earlier spoiler. You and your big mouth/typey fingers, D'wards!


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Another McNulty-free episode last night.

I wonder if the actors all know each other, cos someone like Bubbs, who is a mainstay, would never have had any scenes with Omar, or Rawls, or loads of characters, most of them.

Must meet at the parties and that.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

No, sometimes they do cross paths in scenes but dont acknowlege each other on screen if that makes sense?

But yeah, 'course all the actors know each other!


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Another McNulty-free episode last night.
> 
> I wonder if the actors all know each other, cos someone like Bubbs, who is a mainstay, would never have had any scenes with Omar, or Rawls, or loads of characters, most of them.
> 
> Must meet at the parties and that.



Bubbs n' Omar met when they were trying to track down Omar for his court hearing. "Nearly shit my pants", did Bubbs!

As for the 'McNulty-free episode'; likewise we aint seen nothin of Avon or his crew since they got sent down second time around, although we see Wee-Bay when he gets his prison visits.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> No, sometimes they do cross paths in scenes but dont acknowlege each other on screen if that makes sense?
> 
> But yeah, 'course all the actors know each other!



I suppose, but Bubbs only interacts with a few other characters, and never anyone higher than the basement crew in the police, feasible all their scenes would have been shot on different days, locations. He may never have been on the same set as Royce or carcetti or that crew


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I suppose, but Bubbs only interacts with a few other characters, and never anyone higher than the basement crew in the police, feasible all their scenes would have been shot on different days, locations. He may never have been on the same set as Royce or carcetti or that crew



Come on, of course they all know each other! They may work on different days but of course they do!


----------



## Crispy (Aug 5, 2009)

Something I'd like to know: How much of the show is shot on sets, and how much on location?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

it's all on location - none of it is shot in a studio AFAIK


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> it's all on location - none of it is shot in a studio AFAIK



Yeah, the writers were proud of the fact they'd used so many Baltimore cast and crew when we saw them.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Something I'd like to know: How much of the show is shot on sets, and how much on location?



I cant really tell the difference what would be what... obv. the roof top surveilance and *maybe* the street scenes would be on location, maybe the court scenes, prison scenes and the offices would be sets but i have no idea.

edit, All on location, huh? So when they go inside vacants and whatnot that's real? or how about when the towers came down...?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Yeah, the writers were proud of the fact they'd used so many Baltimore cast and crew *when we saw them.*



ooh, you lucky bastards. Was Omar in attendance?


----------



## Crispy (Aug 5, 2009)

so even the offices are real offices? The basement in S1? The harbourside offices from S2 onwards? The Comstat room etc? impressive


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

they were real locations from what i can gather - maybe not being used for their real purposes of course.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Is it true that Omar used to go out with Halle Berry?


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> ooh, you lucky bastards. Was Omar in attendance?



nah, just simon and pelecanos


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> ooh, you lucky bastards. Was Omar in attendance?



Nah, David Simon and George Pelecanos - you'd have loved it mate as it was focused on the writing.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Is it true that Omar used to go out with Halle Berry?


he's gay! and fictional!


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Is it true that Omar used to go out with Halle Berry?



Dont know about that but he did used to be a backing dancer for Technotronic!


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> he's gay! and fictional!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I cant really tell the difference what would be what... obv. the roof top surveilance and *maybe* the street scenes would be on location, maybe the court scenes, prison scenes and the offices would be sets but i have no idea.
> 
> edit, All on location, huh? So when they go inside vacants and whatnot that's real? or how about when the towers came down...?



they were real places - they talk about it in the commentaries


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

wow, I love The Wire.


----------



## killer b (Aug 5, 2009)

for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.



i'm surprised they're so close - way more people watch top gear than the wire - there's some serious fanboy mobilisation going on there. 
i voted for deadwood.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.



the scheduling REALLY hasn't helped Wire uptake in this country. Beeb lack balls.

If they had even put it on at 9.30 that would have meant those who like an 11 o'clock bedtime for whatever reason could have been drawn into it. As is it's on far too late for those who need sleep and have to be up in the morning.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

TBH I dont think it would ever be a huge ratings winner whatever time it was scheduled.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

Belushi said:


> TBH I dont think it would ever be a huge ratings winner whatever time it was scheduled.



no, i dont either. most people in the uk'll prolly have to hit their 888 buttons just to understand it and who's got time for that?


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> no, i dont either. most people in the uk'll prolly have to hit their 888 buttons just to understand it and who's got time for that?



I struggle to understand them sometimes.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

Madusa said:


> no, i dont either. most people in the uk'll prolly have to hit their 888 buttons just to understand it and who's got time for that?



never understood that tbh. It's not _that_ hard to work out accents and slang. I had it almost immediately.

Seems bizarre that accents and slang could be so complex as to make english incomprehensible.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 5, 2009)

Snoop is the only one I've ever had problems understanding.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> never understood that tbh. It's not _that_ hard to work out accents and slang. I had it almost immediately.
> 
> Seems bizarre that accents and slang could be so complex as to make english incomprehensible.



yeah but that's YOU. People like you are a small minority of the British tv watching public I would have thought. Plus, yeah if you listen to hip-hop, it does give you more of a background for the kind of street slang they use.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 5, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> the scheduling REALLY hasn't helped Wire uptake in this country. Beeb lack balls.
> 
> If they had even put it on at 9.30 that would have meant those who like an 11 o'clock bedtime for whatever reason could have been drawn into it. As is it's on far too late for those who need sleep and have to be up in the morning.


Video,hard driver recorders anyone?


----------



## 8den (Aug 5, 2009)

killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.



I am pleased to say Big Brother is scoring a respectable 0%


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Something I'd like to know: How much of the show is shot on sets, and how much on location?


I've read something about this. For places like the Homicide Dept and COMSTAT they kept an eye out for vacant office space 'downtown' and, I prseume, did very cheap deals. If you look at where the Homicide detectives work it's just a big space with screens to break it up. You really don't see anything except a couple of aisles.


killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.


Internet polls - one link on a fan site is all it takes.


DotCommunist said:


> the scheduling REALLY hasn't helped Wire uptake in this country. Beeb lack balls.


Not the case.

It knows what the licence fee payers want and it gives them that i.e. original, UK  based programming at peak hours. As said several times in this thread, imports aren't the BBC's thing notwithstanding occasional exceptions like ManMen and Heros - which is why C4 have had a free rein for a decade or more on the USA imports from Friends to ER to whatever it is now. They just don't attract big audiences and BBC peak hour demographics require other content.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

yes it would be lunacy to schedule something so minority interest at a peak hour


----------



## gosub (Aug 5, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Snoop is the only one I've ever had problems understanding.



this. Changed up to subtitles when she bought the nail gun.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

gosub said:


> this. Changed up to subtitles when she bought the nail gun.



 True. She fucking mumbles A LOT. ''mumble mumble mumble...you feel me?!'' No snoop, I dont.


----------



## spitfire (Aug 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I've read something about this. For places like the Homicide Dept and COMSTAT they kept an eye out for vacant office space 'downtown' and, I prseume, did very cheap deals. If you look at where the Homicide detectives work it's just a big space with screens to break it up. You really don't see anything except a couple of aisles.



Nothing new there, the beeb have been doing that for years as well.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 5, 2009)

My fave line from her is when 



Spoiler: snoop



she shows whats his name the futility of drive by shooting 'In B'More we aim to hit a nigga'


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> yes it would be lunacy to schedule something so minority interest at a peak hour


Not sure it would last five minutes without a Daily Mail outcry.

There is another view though, and that's that it's pretty unforgivable to use it as a late night summer filler between - what was it first, the snooker championships? - and then Glastonbury, and then . . something else. And then it's the family holiday . .

It's all been pretty irregular, which hurts any series.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

ed.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 5, 2009)

That's a pretty big spoiler, even for the spoiler tag


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

I thought after is that wrong?. I think I'll change it anyway.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 5, 2009)

I'm developing some serious guy love for Carver, the scene with Herc was classic (and a perfect illustration of how very different they've developed as cops) - 

"This is an enabling relationship" 

"So? Enable me Carv"


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

Crispy said:


> That's a pretty big spoiler, even for the spoiler tag



So I'm guessing there's a major incident concerning xxxxxxxx in the near future... Which has spoiled my fun a bit, as I enjoy the fact I don't know how relevent certain characters are in the entire story arc.

Can we agree that if someone wants to post a spoiler, could they not give us any clue about who or what it regards please? I'm probably overreacting but...


----------



## Madusa (Aug 5, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I'm developing some serious guy love for Carver, the scene with Herc was classic (and a perfect illustration of how very different they've developed as cops) -
> 
> "This is an enabling relationship"
> 
> "So? Enable me Carv"



yeah, Carver's ok but he can be a bit of a dick sometimes.


----------



## killer b (Aug 5, 2009)

killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.


it's neck and neck now...


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 5, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> So I'm guessing there's a major incident concerning xxxxxxxx in the near future... Which has spoiled my fun a bit, as I enjoy the fact I don't know how relevent certain characters are in the entire story arc.
> 
> Can we agree that if someone wants to post a spoiler, could they not give us any clue about who or what it regards please? I'm probably overreacting but...



Oh look I've fuckin gone perpetuated the problem now... this is harder than it looks init Crispy, I take it all back! Thanks for the edit, didn't mean to spoil anyone else's fun who didn't see the previous spoiler or didn't read into it like I did.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

i think that once s5 has aired on bbc2, all bets are off


----------



## D'wards (Aug 5, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i think that once s5 has aired on bbc2, all bets are off



Agreed.

Are they showing the next series right away, or is Liverpool and Widnes Lawn Bowls finals gonna interupt it for 3 weeks?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 5, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i think that once s5 has aired on bbc2, all bets are off


I'm telling you, it's another level!


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Internet polls - one link on a fan site is all it takes.



Top Gear has a _fan site_.  Dear oh dear.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 5, 2009)

i imagine that it's the wire fan sites that have made voting on a level with top gear, rather than the other way round


----------



## foo (Aug 6, 2009)

Lester Freeman was in Holby the other night.


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 6, 2009)

Hey Foo I thought that. I meant to check the actors name. He has been in it for a few weeks playing Donna the nurses dad.

At the moment he is in a critical condition after his op.

I love Lester Freeman.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 6, 2009)

I wanted an early night last night so I borrowed the S4 boxset for an early screening. End result was me finally calling it a night around just before 3am having watched five episodes, only the season finale to go for me now (thought I'd save that for another night). So I'd better be real careful what I say on this here thread for a week or so 'cos I've skipped ahead o' y'all!! Whups.


----------



## moonsi til (Aug 6, 2009)

killer b said:


> for some reason the wire seems to be lagging behind top gear (wtf?) on this guardian poll.




It's in the lead now with 46.9%. I voted for it..


----------



## foo (Aug 6, 2009)

moonsi til said:


> Hey Foo I thought that. I meant to check the actors name. He has been in it for a few weeks playing Donna the nurses dad.
> 
> At the moment he is in a critical condition after his op.
> 
> I love Lester Freeman.



oh right!

i hadn't seen Holby for a few weeks. yes, Lester Freeman/the actor is a dude.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 6, 2009)

Have to say, I'm loving s5.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 6, 2009)

Wonder if Micheals father abused him in the past?The Burrell- Rawles axis is no more,the cop they held a wake for last night died in real life during the making of s4

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213067/


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 6, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Wonder if Micheals father abused him in the past?The Burrell- Rawles axis is no more,the cop they held a wake for last night died in real life during the making of s4
> 
> http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0213067/



That seems to me to be the way it went yeah (although I don't know if it's Michael's father, definitely Bug's though).

Great acting in those scenes, you could feel Michael's revulsion at even being in the same room.


----------



## N_igma (Aug 6, 2009)

Fuck sake I got bored and decided to watch a few of these episodes and now I'm hooked, I'm going to have to start from the beginning methinks!


----------



## Madusa (Aug 6, 2009)

lol Another one bites the dust.

Oh god, I need to speak about something! Something fucking weird just went down and I need to pm someone who's seen the whole thing. Please make yourself known.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 6, 2009)

Madusa said:


> lol Another one bites the dust.
> 
> Oh god, I need to speak about something! Something fucking weird just went down and I need to pm someone who's seen the whole thing. Please make yourself known.



ask away


----------



## Madusa (Aug 6, 2009)

Incoming in a jiffy...


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 6, 2009)

i wanna know what's bothering mads too!


----------



## Madusa (Aug 6, 2009)

im sorry for this. will forward you the pm, OU. In future, I will forward my s5 queries to yourself or Dotty.

Box is full, DotC. Thanks, hon.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 7, 2009)

I'm out. Watched everything now. How fantastic was that?!


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2009)

Madusa said:


> im sorry for this. will forward you the pm, OU. In future, I will forward my s5 queries to yourself or Dotty.
> 
> Box is full, DotC. Thanks, hon.



I've seen it all too, but my answer might have a different slant to it.


----------



## Dandred (Aug 7, 2009)

3rd time watching here 

Best T.V, ever


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 7, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I'm out. Watched everything now. How fantastic was that?!





Spoiler: end



and they didn't patronise with happy ending tied ends. Just bleakness and hope in equal measure


----------



## Madusa (Aug 7, 2009)

Not gonna gush on about it but i think the peeps following on bbc2 have much in store for s5. dont miss an episode. it's quite fantastic imo.

The whole thing is tbh. Think I'll have to have a re-watch sometime soon.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 7, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Not gonna gush on about it but i think the peeps following on bbc2 have much in store for s5. dont miss an episode. it's quite fantastic imo.
> 
> The whole thing is tbh. Think I'll have to have a re-watch sometime soon.



spoken like a true convert 

It's like they made a tv version of crack.  How fitting


----------



## Madusa (Aug 7, 2009)

sojourner said:


> spoken like a true convert
> 
> It's like they made a tv version of crack.  How fitting



Red Top. Red Top. Get yo Red Tops.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2009)

sojourner said:


> spoken like a true convert
> 
> It's like they made a tv version of crack.  How fitting



I think that like crack, it has the ability to addle the brain.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2009)

Season 5 is excellent & takes some er, unusual new policing methods.

Not everyone's fave season, mind but still streets ahead of the competition.

Sigh. Finished The Wire, BSG and The Shield.

Currently getting my fix of policing from Law & Order SVU & Ghost in the Shell SAC Season 1...


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 7, 2009)

i'm bang on the shield now - it's essentially the wire for divs, but i'm halfway through s3 and i'm gripped.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 7, 2009)

I've got Homicide life on the streets on my dvd rental list

I've already read the book


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2009)

It's The Wire on steroids!

Nah. Fuck the comparisons - feel the ardrenalin!

The final season will have you chewing your knuckes to the bone, I promise.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2009)

Folks: get Deadwood. Watch it.


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I've got Homicide life on the streets on my dvd rental list
> 
> I've already read the book



So loved that series but RTE kept fucking up the scheduling. Still missed loads of episodes...


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 7, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 said:


> Folks: get Deadwood. Watch it.


yeah, on reflection, deadwood pips the wire to the post


----------



## krtek a houby (Aug 7, 2009)

Johnny Canuck2 said:


> Folks: get Deadwood. Watch it.



Came in to it in season 2 and was lost. Would like to see the entire thing from start to finish, my sis is always raving about it.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 7, 2009)

jer said:


> So loved that series but RTE kept fucking up the scheduling. Still missed loads of episodes...


all available cheaply on dvd


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 7, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> yeah, on reflection, deadwood pips the wire to the post



I am almost tempted to agree with this. Deadwood is very very very good.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 7, 2009)

jer said:


> Came in to it in season 2 and was lost. Would like to see the entire thing from start to finish, my sis is always raving about it.



It's hard to get into at the first, as is often the case with these series. But if you force yourself to watch the first three or four episodes, you'll likely be hooked.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 7, 2009)

Listen to yourselves!

Saying that, I've just composed a 'Fave Wire character list' pm and sent it to one lucky urbanite.


----------



## rubbershoes (Aug 7, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Listen to yourselves!
> 
> Saying that, I've just composed a 'Fave Wire character list' pm and sent it to one lucky urbanite.



it better have Prop Joe and Bodie on it


----------



## sojourner (Aug 7, 2009)

rubbershoes said:


> it better have Prop Joe and Bodie on it





mine did


----------



## Madusa (Aug 7, 2009)

1 out of 2 aint bad


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 8, 2009)

i really wasn't that into deadwood.  ian mcshane chewing the scenery was not quite my thing. i prefer the wire for it's more ensemble storytelling and even greater degree of moral ambiguity.  



Spoiler: deadwood story arc



plus also the fact that just when you're getting into deadwood it cuts out .  season three doesn't even have a proper season finale.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 8, 2009)

still beats the wire for writing and for whiskers


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> still beats the wire for writing and for whiskers



for whiskers, yes.  dunno about writing.  dialogue maybe - but plotting?  not so much.


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 11, 2009)

Why is this thread falling off the front page? 

Last nights was good.  I want to see the guy who's bullying bubbs get smashed though.  That copper guy is a dick.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 11, 2009)

It's quite astounding how much of a fuck-up Herc is in this episode (not that he's covered himself in glory previously, but still).

Not only does he completely screw Bubs over, he fucks up with Little Kevin too 

Nice to see Poot back, feels like ages since the pussy-hound went away (I guess it's a year or two in the show's chronology?).

Nice little bromance (yeah, I said it) between Cutty and Carver too, bonding over shared Wee-Bey experience 

Chilling final scene too, Michael slipping towards Marlo's world, I can't see him getting a favour for free


----------



## Madusa (Aug 11, 2009)

where are you guys now?!


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 11, 2009)

Madusa said:


> where are you guys now?!



Season 4, Episode 9 - Know Your Place


----------



## Madusa (Aug 11, 2009)

And is s5 being screened straight after this one?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 11, 2009)

Herc is an example of how somebody climbs the career ladder. Everything you touch turns to shit, whilst carver is learning how to be real po-lice.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 11, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Herc is an example of how somebody climbs the career ladder. Everything you touch turns to shit, whilst carver is learning how to be real po-lice.



Carver's the real deal now. He actually believes in the community spirit of policing, seeing the big picture and not taking short-cuts, as opposed to the other beat cops.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 11, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Herc is an example of how somebody climbs the career ladder. Everything you touch turns to shit, whilst carver is learning how to be real *po-lice*.





''Good night moon'' ''Good night moon''
''Good night po po.'' ''Goo' night po po''


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 11, 2009)

tar1984 said:


> Last nights was good.  I want to see the guy who's bullying bubbs get smashed though.  That copper guy is a dick.


Join the club,whenever I see poor Bubbs gettin beaten up I always hope some-one like Kima or McNulty will suddenly appear on the scene and dish out a bit of "justice" on the geezer.


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 11, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Join the club,whenever I see poor Bubbs gettin beaten up I always hope some-one like Kima or McNulty will suddenly appear on the scene and dish out a bit of "justice" on the geezer.



It was funny how he started giving that guy shit when he thought the polis were coming to back him up though.  But yeah he needs to get revenge somehow.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 12, 2009)

That is perhaps the most savage beating in the whole series. The shot of the destroyed face was harsh


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 12, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Join the club,whenever I see poor Bubbs gettin beaten up I always hope some-one like Kima or McNulty will suddenly appear on the scene and dish out a bit of "justice" on the geezer.



I always hope his skull will be caved in, and he's written out of the series.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> That is perhaps the most savage beating in the whole series. The shot of the destroyed face was harsh



I was shocked by that - hints that Chris was "nonced" as a kid i suppose. 

Marlo is too cold, at least Avon and String had reason before they offed a nigga, Marlo is dropping anyone, whether they deserve it or not. Funny how odd bits of the vocab infect your speech innit


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Aug 12, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I was shocked by that - hints that Chris was "nonced" as a kid i suppose.
> 
> Marlo is too cold, at least Avon and String had reason before they offed a nigga, Marlo is dropping anyone, whether they deserve it or not. Funny how odd bits of the vocab infect your speech innit



Marlo is like Darth Maul from the Star Wars series.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 12, 2009)

That was a fuckin beating good on Bubbs for doing a number on Herc


----------



## Badgers (Aug 12, 2009)

If I drink more will I forget The Wire so I can watch the whole thing again?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> That is perhaps the most savage beating in the whole series. The shot of the destroyed face was harsh



yup. horrible.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 12, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> That is perhaps the most savage beating in the whole series. The shot of the destroyed face was harsh



Just to clarify, was he using the butt of the gun or did he do that damage with his fists?

I love the fact that Snoop was a little taken aback, that's when you know you've perhaps taken things over the edge


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

Twas with his bare fists, man!

The man was literally beaten to a pulp!


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 12, 2009)

Between the broken fingers and that hands-on beatdown, there's been some gruesome scenes int wire lately eh.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

aww I have a real soft spot for the lad who boosts cars and got his fingers broken. 

He's just like, addicted to nicking cars.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 12, 2009)

Gosh. It's rare that I sync up with bbc2 and this thread.

You're all better at names than I am.


Pointless post. I've edited as not sure how many episodes I've watched tonight. may have got beyond bbc2


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

drag0n said:


> Gosh. It's rare that I sync up with bbc2 and this thread.
> 
> You're all better at names than I am. I'm glad Wallace was mentioned again. I still feel bad for him.



Oh, yeah. Wallace was my first ''oh shit, i hope he doesnt die...oh shit, he's dead. Oh no!'' but having seen the whole thing, there's way too many i feel like that about. A fair few more so than Wallace.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 12, 2009)

Can you tell I haven't been to bed? I'm para about mentioning anything that may not have happened yet. The manshape managed to read (elsewhere) that Stringer Bell died before we got to that bit. He didn't ruin it for me but I knew from his face.

I remember Wallace because he was the first time I was like, "oh. Oh no."   I'm hating bubbles getting regular beatings and that shitty new cop and I like the car stealing kid and stuff.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

Bless you, dragon, you're all confuzzled.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 12, 2009)

proper confuzzled


----------



## spanglechick (Aug 12, 2009)

i cried for the last few minutes of that scene with poot and bodie and wallace.  proper breath-gasping, boo-hooing sobs.

i was hooked before then - but that scene might be what made me take the evangelising personally.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2009)

Where's Wallace at? Where the fuck is Wallace? Where's Wallace, String? String! Where the fuck is Wallace? Huh? Stringer?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

Oh dont.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 12, 2009)

Yeah don't. I've welled up all over again.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2009)

I want what Wallace wanted. I want to start over. That's what I want. I don't care where. Anywhere. I don't give a fuck. I just want to go somewhere, where I can breathe like regular folk. You give me that... And I'll give you them.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2009)

This one always makes me smile:

Squeek: You've got to be the stupidest motherfucker... I've ever dated.
Bernard: [to crony] I can't wait to get to prison. 


They're all from here, btw - don't click unless you have an hour to waste!


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 12, 2009)

Naimonds Mom proved again last night as if any was needed what a complete fuckin horror she is,you get the feeling Slim Charles dos'nt like the way Marlo operates but i suppose self-preservation is the order of the day for the tall guy.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2009)

Charles seems most comfortable conforming within an organisational hierarchy like, say, Bunk or Horseface.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Naimonds Mom proved again last night as if any was needed what a complete fuckin horror she is,you get the feeling Slim Charles dos'nt like the way Marlo operates but i suppose self-preservation is the order of the day for the tall guy.



bbbbbb


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 12, 2009)

Madusa said:


> bbbbbb



Stop it.

Even vague hints are really irritating.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

lol ok ok!


----------



## hektik (Aug 12, 2009)

bad madusa.  

you really have to resist any kind of talk about it when you know people are behind...I've spent what seems an age waiting for people at work to watch the whole thing.

i am pretty much synced up with bbc2 at the moment - i was a whole season ahead, but I haven't had the time to watch it recently, and y'all have caught up with me.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 12, 2009)

Octogan - if you quote it you're making it worse, and the person doing it can't remove it themselves.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 12, 2009)

bbbbb inserted instead of even slightly vague hints


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 12, 2009)

Crispy said:


> bbbbb inserted instead of even slightly vague hints



Until I read this I was sat here racking my brains trying to figure out what kind of a hint 'bbbbb' was.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Until I read this I was sat here racking my brains trying to figure out what kind of a hint 'bbbbb' was.



lol


----------



## 8den (Aug 12, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> This one always makes me smile:
> 
> Squeek: You've got to be the stupidest motherfucker... I've ever dated.
> Bernard: [to crony] I can't wait to get to prison.
> ...





> McNulty: Hey, are we still police?
> Freamon: Technically, yes.
> McNulty: Good, just checking.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Aug 12, 2009)

last time I read this thread Mads you werent yet up on season 4, what happened? Did you hardcore all of S4 and S5 in a week?


----------



## Madusa (Aug 12, 2009)

skyscraper101 said:


> last time I read this thread Mads you werent yet up on season 4, what happened? Did you hardcore all of S4 and S5 in a week?



I think I watched the whole fucking thing in like, a month. Summer holidays, y'see?


----------



## skyscraper101 (Aug 12, 2009)

Sheeeeeit


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 12, 2009)

bunk's in some shite nic cage lotto comedy on c5 right now, if anyone's interested


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 12, 2009)

Anyone else noticed how bigger and older McNultys kids have gotten in last nights ep?


----------



## starfish (Aug 12, 2009)

That was a bit of a shock as we'd watched all 5 series in about 6 weeks.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 12, 2009)

Madusa said:


> aww I have a real soft spot for the lad who boosts cars and got his fingers broken.
> 
> He's just like, addicted to nicking cars.


Same here,funny as fuck seeing the wee guy driving those big ol' 4x4s


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 13, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Same here,funny as fuck seeing the wee guy driving those big ol' 4x4s



I loved it when he rolled past that po-lice and they looked at each other and he went 'oh sheaaat' and then started crashing into everything trying to escape.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 13, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> They're all from here, btw - don't click unless you have an hour to waste!



Oh excellent 

this always cracks me up:

McNulty: This is just us talking right? Just you, me, my partner and... what did you say your name was?

Bodie: I didn't say shit.

McNulty: Just you, me, my partner and Mr. Shit here.


----------



## 8den (Aug 13, 2009)

From last night



> Cheese: You know who got the best ass and pussy? Midgets, yo. I'm not even playin'.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 13, 2009)

Cheese is a legend

'That shit was unseemly yo'


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 13, 2009)

"Omar with a spade on one side and Marlo with a shovel on the other.... I just dug myself out of my own grave" Prop Joe has a great way with words


----------



## kained&able (Aug 13, 2009)

I watched it on bbc yesterday. it made me want to watch it all again. I will resist the urge for now.

Although i really want to watch that episode when prop joe rveals himself to be a lizard.


dave


----------



## starfish (Aug 15, 2009)

Looked liked Chris had a gun in his hand. Goodfellas ++


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 17, 2009)

Ok after 3 days without the wire it's back on tonight.  Second last in the series I think.


----------



## madamv (Aug 17, 2009)

Does the new series start straight away tar?


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 17, 2009)

madamv said:


> Does the new series start straight away tar?



Dunno.  I hope it does.  I'll be very unhappy if it doesn't.


----------



## starfish (Aug 17, 2009)

Series 5 starts on thursday.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 17, 2009)

I'm somewhat surprised they haven't taken the opportunity to sod the schedule up this week with highlights from the World Athletics Championships. Perhaps the BBC are waiting for the World Indoor Bingo Wings Cup next week.


----------



## digitell (Aug 17, 2009)

starfish said:


> Series 5 starts on thursday.



Yes yes yes (starts happy dance). Glad there isn't another 3 week break between seasons. Loving the Wire.


----------



## madamv (Aug 17, 2009)

Me too, I miss it too much when its not on...

This is the final series isnt it?


----------



## starfish (Aug 17, 2009)

Interesting little piece in the Indy today about watching it with subtitles on. Seems some people cant understand it & wouldnt have got really into it without them.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/used-subtitles-to-watch-the-wire-the-writer-says-thats-just-criminal-1773087.html


----------



## Lo Siento. (Aug 17, 2009)

starfish said:


> Interesting little piece in the Indy today about watching it with subtitles on. Seems some people cant understand it & wouldnt have got really into it without them.
> http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/used-subtitles-to-watch-the-wire-the-writer-says-thats-just-criminal-1773087.html



don't get that. Most of it's not that obscure, surely?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 17, 2009)

Lo Siento. said:


> don't get that. Most of it's not that obscure, surely?



Innit, the slang is pretty self explanatory and the only person who's accent I've had problems with is Snoop


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 17, 2009)

Shit I wanted to watch the football highlights tonight but it clashes with the motherfucking wire.


----------



## starfish (Aug 17, 2009)

Lo Siento. said:


> don't get that. Most of it's not that obscure, surely?



Not at all, i think some folks are just lazy.


----------



## Lo Siento. (Aug 17, 2009)

and usually when they're using slang, it's in context. As in 'look at these little hoppers' with a shot of young drug dealers.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 17, 2009)

yeah, i've always understood what they were saying, but occasionally have had trouble interpreting the slang used, but as the above post notes, the context usually provides the meaning.
i've had more trouble understanding the vocab used in the shield to be honest - it took me ages to figure out what a rice burner was.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 18, 2009)

man. 

that is fucking grim.

miss anna.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 18, 2009)

I only watched this episode the other day but I watched it again tonight and it made me cry again.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 18, 2009)

It seems Beadie Russell has got her Big Break:

2010: Green Zone  staring Matt Damon, Amy Ryan, Greg Kinnear, and Brendan Gleeson. Amy Ryan portrays Lawrie Dayne, a foreign correspondent for The Wall Street Journal who investigates the U.S. government's claims of the existence of weapons of mass destruction

2010: Jack Goes Boating starring 	Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Ryan


 - she's mine really!


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2009)

watching s3 for the second time. why does omar have such a hard on for lifting barksdale product?


----------



## mhendo (Aug 18, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> watching s3 for the second time. why does omar have such a hard on for lifting barksdale product?


Does the name Brandon ring a bell?

Also, he likes a challenge. As he says at the beginning of Season 4, "It ain't what you takin', it's who you takin' it from."


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2009)

oh yeah, of course. i think i may have to do a third viewing as a binge - all 5 seasons over a couple of days.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 18, 2009)

starfish said:


> Interesting little piece in the Indy today about watching it with subtitles on. Seems some people cant understand it & wouldnt have got really into it without them.
> http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/used-subtitles-to-watch-the-wire-the-writer-says-thats-just-criminal-1773087.html



That's pretty condescending, particularly the backhanded accusation of racism, thought a writer on this show in particular would avoid lazy pigeonholing.

Some of us are watching in a shared house at 3 in the morning and don't particularly want to wake everyone up, hence subtitles for the quieter spoken scenes.


----------



## Harold Hill (Aug 18, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> That's pretty condescending, particularly the backhanded accusation of racism, thought a writer on this show in particular would avoid lazy pigeonholing.
> 
> Some of us are watching in a shared house at 3 in the morning and don't particularly want to wake everyone up, hence subtitles for the quieter spoken scenes.



The more these writers speak, the easier they are to dislike.  Most people can pick up the slang but if the actos speak fast or mumble all the time as most of the corner kids do, people won't pick it up.

On a separate note, he never gets any praise despite some classic one liners.  Norman Wilson, one of the most underrated characters on the show.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 18, 2009)

I woke up excitedly last night having dreamt I WAS IN THE WIRE!!! 




so you know that chick who worked at Orlando's- was going out with D'angelo, and then starts going out with Lester? Well, I was her friend, but she was going out with STRINGER BELL! so 3 of us go out to a restaurant for dinner, they're cooing over each other and then I'm like ''the fat man's over there'' and no other than BUNK is at the other table so Stringer gets all edgy and says we have to leave. We head out of the restaurant and as I pass Bunk, he spots us...

So we're just about to get into Stringer's car in an underground carpark and shots are fired all over the shop. Stringer's laying on the backseat shouting ''protect the girl, protect the girl...!!'' And then I woke up.  I then annouced in the middle of the night to my guy that ''OMG, I WAS IN THE WIRE!''

So now he has found a site where they stream the wire with spanish dubbing and has vowed to veto this ''amazing'' show that I'm always talking about and which has also now infiltrated my dreams.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 18, 2009)

Harold Hill said:


> The more these writers speak, the easier they are to dislike.  Most people can pick up the slang but if the actos speak fast or mumble all the time as most of the corner kids do, people won't pick it up.
> 
> On a separate note, he never gets any praise despite some classic one liners.  Norman Wilson, one of the most underrated characters on the show.



who's Norman Wilson?

ahh, ok just checked. The campaign guy. He's a bit meh.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 18, 2009)

I have loads and loads of Wire related dreams.

My favourite was when me, Bunk and Rawl's went to bust Aleister Crowley. 

Also, can I echo what Harold Hill just said: Norman Wilson is definitely one of my favourite characters.

The actor who plays him, Reg E Cathey, is in a few productions in London this year.


----------



## hektik (Aug 18, 2009)




----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 18, 2009)

Madusa said:


> who's Norman Wilson?



Carcetti's right hand man.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 18, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> I have *loads and loads of Wire related dreams*.
> 
> My favourite was when me, Bunk and Rawl's went to bust Aleister Crowley.
> 
> ...



OH! Look at Mr. Trump Card.  This was my first one, ok?! 

That's a really shitty dream about busting Crowley cos for one, Rawls is NEVER out the office...unless he's in a gaybar. rofl


----------



## sojourner (Aug 18, 2009)

Weirdly, I also had a Wire dream last night, and it was my first one I think

I was Omar's girlfriend (that's dreams for ya!), and we'd had a baby, a boy, and he was being horrible to the boy, and i was trying to protect our little lad from his nasty comments.

Felt all churned up cos I still loved Omar and wanted him to love his son, but he wouldn't


----------



## Madusa (Aug 18, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Weirdly, I also had a Wire dream last night, and it was my first one I think
> 
> I was Omar's girlfriend (that's dreams for ya!), and we'd had a baby, a boy, and he was being horrible to the boy, and i was trying to protect our little lad from his nasty comments.
> 
> Felt all churned up cos I still loved Omar and wanted him to love his son, but he wouldn't



 Lezzers and gay men, eh?! Wonders will never cease!

That's a great dream though! Wish mine had included some romance. I just got to be the third wheel/look-out person on a date!


----------



## sojourner (Aug 18, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Lezzers and gay men, eh?! Wonders will never cease!
> 
> That's a great dream though! Wish mine had included some romance. I just got to be the third wheel/look-out person on a date!



Lezzers and gay men having BABIES as well! 

I didn't like it.  My heart was breaking and I woke up really upset


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2009)

never had a Wire dream

quite a few Star Trek ones though.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 18, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> man.
> 
> that is fucking grim.
> 
> miss anna.


Gruelling ep,poor Bubbs and Randy,was anyone else fooled by the opening scenes last night,thought I missed an ep.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 18, 2009)

Gotta keep tha' devuullll waaay down in tha 'ole!


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 18, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Gruelling ep,poor Bubbs and Randy,was *anyone else fooled by the opening scenes last night,thought I missed an ep*.



That whole sequence didn't really make sense to me, what if Michael went for a head shot, wouldn't he have blinded Snoop or Chris?

Not to mention the various (minor) laws they flouted during the 'training', surely they'd be trying to avoid exposure like that?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 18, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> That whole sequence didn't really make sense to me, what if Michael went for a head shot, wouldn't he have blinded Snoop or Chris?
> 
> Not to mention the various (minor) laws they flouted during the 'training', surely they'd be trying to avoid exposure like that?



Nah, it made perfect sense, they were training him. 

And these are murderers, they are not going to be that bothered by any laws really.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2009)

chris n snoop aint gonna sweat on a humble


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 18, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> chris n snoop aint gonna sweat on a humble



they not gonna give it no nevermind.



I also noticed the cheese quote you posted earlier in this thread.

that shit was unseemly, yo


----------



## starfish (Aug 18, 2009)

Indeed.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 18, 2009)

Bunk Moreland: So, you're my eyeball witness, huh? [Omar nods] So, why'd you step up on this?
Omar: Bird triflin', basically. Kill an everyday workin' man and all. I mean, I do some dirt, too, but I ain't never put my gun on nobody that wasn't in the game.
Bunk: A man must have a code.
Omar: Oh, mos' def'.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 18, 2009)

Last ep of series 4 tonight,75 min long as well,series 5 starts on Thur,Im presuming it'll then revert back to Mon,Tue and Wed nights


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 18, 2009)

the montage at the end is one of the highlights of the entire show


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 19, 2009)

Awesome (in the proper sense of the word).

Bodie  Hope you've gone to a place with plenty of spitoons.

 all round quite frankly.


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 19, 2009)

Bubbles's tragic life just seems to get worse and worse. Thought he was dead [avoiding spoiler here] in this episode.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 19, 2009)

Bubbles is always so chirpy despite his shit life. So to see him so miserable. I just hated it. Poor Bubs.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

After that montage, we know with some certainly what kinds of bands and music Mr Simon was listening to in his late 70s formative years  Still curious to me he chose an English musician though . . .


The scene when McNulty goes to see Daniels about going back to Major Crimes  always hits the sweet spot for me. For those who missed what was going on, the two of them reprised the exact exchange they had about four years earlier (in the first or second hour of season one), except this time they quoted what the other said back then.

Fwiw, it was a scene where the Detail-to-be were sitting around outside’s Daniel’s office while he was still at Narcotics and McNulty was giving it the big one about how the case should be handled.

Four years on Daniels is acknowledging McNulty was better police back then and the two of them exchange a mutual respect moment. I suppose David Simon is reminding us all the pieces matter, and keeping us on our toes. It was a nice blokey moment I thought.


Bodie: “Just don’t ask me to live on my knees”


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 19, 2009)

The little touches were great too, particularly Randy carefully folding his hard-earned cash and inserting it into the spine of his textbook, once he realised he was going back to the group home (spoke volumes about the environment there, especially once we see the book destroyed shortly before his beating).

Landsman giving Bubbs a pass was a nice moment too, I think his job is probably one of the worst to have in the department.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 19, 2009)

Interesting where all the kids ended up. 

Not quite as you might have predicted at the start. 

Ending with you can take the boy out of the hood but you can't take the hood out of the boy.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Awesome (in the proper sense of the word).
> 
> Bodie  Hope you've gone to a place with plenty of spitoons.
> 
> all round quite frankly.



The single saddest part of the whole danm saga.

Poor poor Bodie. He was always my favourite.

Series 5 is bare intresting  by the way. An entirely new facet of urban crime gets opened up.


dave


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> The single saddest part of the whole danm saga.
> 
> Poor poor Bodie. He was always my favourite.
> 
> ...



Quite impressive (on the show's part) that so many people seem to have been affected by Bodie's execution, considering how he did Wallace in Season 1.

"I feel old man", says it all.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

I even loved him for the wallace thing. The kid had big paws, yo.


dave


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

One thing that bugs me a little is what was it David Simon wanted when he sketched out Mrs Carcetti?


Also, he makes repeated points about the power of various unelected officials, perhaps topical given the current deputy Prime Minister.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Quite impressive (on the show's part) that so many people seem to have been affected by Bodie's execution, considering how he did Wallace in Season 1.
> 
> "I feel old man", says it all.


Play or be played innit?
Like Bodie said at the time - Wallace was weak. Should have stayed in the country. The order came down from above - if Bodie had an attitude to refuse that order, he'd only have ended up on the other side of the gun at some point. The game he's in, you have to play it to win, or you die. Bodie commands respect not because he's a "good" person, but because he's got integrity and honour. Which is what eventually did for him: Marlo's style of command lacks both, so Bodie tried to rebel against it.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

Marlow was trifflin yo, ain't the way the game should be played. Bodie ain't no snitch but something needed to be done bout that boy, mans was killin <word im not allowed to say cos i am white> for no reason. Hustlers gotta have a code, yo.


dave


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

I know it's nothing really, but it amuses me reading a bunch of middle class whiteys typing like they're black gangsters from a baltimore project


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

only for the jokes though! i don't really speak like that.

Well often.


dave


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)




----------



## Belushi (Aug 19, 2009)

Crispy said:


> I know it's nothing really, but it amuses me reading a bunch of middle class whiteys typing like they're black gangsters from a baltimore project



typing is one thing, its when they talk like that in real life...


----------



## Gromit (Aug 19, 2009)

Crispy said:


> I know it's nothing really, but it amuses me reading a bunch of middle class whiteys typing like they're black gangsters from a baltimore project



 Tru dat. Aiiiight. 

It's like when people saw Rocky for the first time and you come out thinking you are the world's hardest boxer when you ain't. We mimic the fings we love.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

Gos from bad to worse for Randy,loved the way Prop Joe increased the markup by 10% ,crafty old bugger


----------



## ozziememz (Aug 19, 2009)

my girl bought me the box set for christmas, watched it all in 3 weeks - was hooked


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

Gromit said:


> Interesting where all the kids ended up.
> 
> Not quite as you might have predicted at the start.
> 
> Ending with you can take the boy out of the hood but you can't take the hood out of the boy.


True,Randy started off with a stable home environment and ended up in a fuckin awful situtation,other way round for Namond.Glad to see Omar still rolling.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

and what's his name is following bubs path...


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> and what's his name is following bubs path...




Dukie?


----------



## D'wards (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> <word im not allowed to say cos i am white>
> 
> 
> dave



You can say it with an a at the end in the context of disucissing the wire in the yo speak, surely.

I know i have on this thread


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Dukie?



yeah, the really neglected kid who hooked up with that scavenger bloke and ended up using....sad.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

I can't wait for the newbies to start commenting on S5


What the xxxx?!? Xxxxxx just put a xxxxxx on the xxxxxxx!! I can't believe it! And xxxxxxx in on it too!?!?!


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> You can say it with an a at the end in the context of disucissing the wire in the yo speak, surely.
> 
> I know i have on this thread



im sure i have as well.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> yeah, the really neglected kid who hooked up with that scavenger bloke and ended up using....sad.



oh actually i think your talking about the wrong person, yo!

One following bubs path is not the same person as the scavenger kid!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> he didn't end up using, he ended up doing donkey shows for his rent and dealing. Don't think there was ever any definitive thing about him using. Although he blates will after a month in his new digs.
> 
> dave





Spoiler: justincase



well I passed out before lasts nights episode mad but I'm almost certain that there was a shot of him shooting up during that montage.long time since I saw that ep though



Spoilered just in case


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

you on about the kid who lived with bubs who bubs tried to get back into school and was shocked when he couldn't do a bit of maths that i couldn't do? he definmatly uses.

Or dookie, micheals mate who looked after his brother and was the smelly mate of randy and nay and everyone. Who i dont think used but like you havent watched the ep for a while.

Wires have been crossed somewhere i reckon.


dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> you on about the kid who lived with bubs who bubs tried to get back into school and was shocked when he couldn't do a bit of maths that i couldn't do? he definmatly uses.
> 
> Or dookie, micheals mate who looked after his brother and was the smelly mate of randy and nay and everyone. Who i dont think used but like you havent watched the ep for a while.
> 
> ...



yeah, the smelly mate of nay and the gang


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

swear he didn't use, but may have blinked. Who knows. Like i said if he ain't using now he will be in a week.


dave


----------



## YouSir (Aug 19, 2009)

He wasn't shown using in last nights episode, he was working a corner for Michael though.


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 19, 2009)

I have the dvd of s.1 now.  I have a week to watch it.  13 episodes in a week - easy.

I'm wondering, is it all of the same characters focused on in s.1?  Obv a lot will be the same but Nay and Michael and all that would be pretty young if you go back 4 years.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

coppers stay about the same throughout and some of the dealers stay around for all or most of it everyone else is different, although might be in it for an episode randomly.


dave


----------



## tar1984 (Aug 19, 2009)

Ta dave.

I can't wait for s.5 to start.  I as going to stop watching it so I could go back and watch the earlier ones first, but when it comes on I can't not watch it.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

Crispy said:


> I can't wait for the newbies to start commenting on S5
> 
> 
> What the xxxx?!? Xxxxxx just put a xxxxxx on the xxxxxxx!! I can't believe it! And xxxxxxx in on it too!?!?!


I don't recall seeing you express an opinion on S5, have you been a bit shy or have I missed it?


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

http://www.hbo.com/thewire/behindthescenes/robert_colesberry.shtml
Thats the guy the makers dedicated series 4 to,his name cropped up at the end of the credits last night,he produced and acted in the series..


----------



## 8den (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Spoiler: justincase
> 
> 
> 
> ...




No Prez watches Dukie out slinging at the corner during the montage.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

Oh, what the hell was the ring about?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 19, 2009)

The thing dotty is thinking of is in S5.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Oh, what the hell was the ring about?



I reckon it is a red herring.


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Oh, what the hell was the ring about?



Didn't he nick it off that arsehole cop? Presumably, repercussions about that to come.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> The thing dotty is thinking of is in S5.



bollocks, I've spoilerd unintentionally
@self


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Oh, what the hell was the ring about?



i suspect theres something deep and meaningful about power and status and transference or something.

dave


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

What was the full journey:

? > Marlo 
Marlo > Omar
Omar > cop
cop > Michael?


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

Marlo took it off whatisface who runs the wheel-rims shop.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

It's cool when Marlo sees Michael wearing it and asks him where he got it. Circle complete.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> What was the full journey:
> 
> ? > Marlo
> Marlo > Omar
> ...





Crispy said:


> Marlo took it off whatisface who runs the wheel-rims shop.



Ol' Face Andre wasn't it?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Marlo took it off whatisface who runs the wheel-rims shop.


Lost in the mists of time for me.


The Octagon said:


> Ol' Face Andre wasn't it?


Rings a vague bell achooly.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> It's cool when Marlo sees Michael wearing it and asks him where he got it. Circle complete.



michael was prepared to give it to him as well which im sure was a poignent moment that i couldn't quite work out.


dave


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 19, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Ol' Face Andre wasn't it?



Yeh, and he doesn't run RIM SOURCE II, he was just visiting.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> michael was prepared to give it to him as well which im sure was a poignent moment that i couldn't quite work out.
> 
> 
> dave



Loyalty ennit?

When Marlo took it the first time it was given out of fear. Michael offered it without question or thought, just loyalty. Which is one of the minor little things that lets Marlo trust him as part of the inner circle. IMO


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

yeah marlows original banker ran the rim shop.

andre ran that news agents that omar didn't rob(well the second time), didn't he??


dave


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

Ah yeah, that's right.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Aug 19, 2009)

Right, I'm going to start Series 2 again this week.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

So, Marlo asked about the ring twice and was offered it twice. On the first occasion (with 'ol Face Andre) he accepted the tribute (in the Roaman sense),  the second he didn't believe the tribute was necessary.

The other two times the ring passed, it was to the 'victor'.

Ok, that might be a start (or might not), but there's the hidden meaning as well and my first guess about that is that Simon is discussing something to do with how the notion of property is understood in west Baltmore. Time to ponder.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 19, 2009)

I reckon it is a total red herring myself. It means absolutely nothing.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

Is David Simon a red herring kinda guy?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 19, 2009)

I think he is somebody who likes an in-joke.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

I do think it's a comment on power games tbf. Consider all the circumstances that ownership of the ring happens under. Full circle with Marlo not giving a fuck how michael got the ring, just that it was within his ability to possess.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

I don't think anyone is going to claim DS doesn't tell in-jokes.

He did give a fuck because he asked about it. He just didn't want ownership this time.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I don't think anyone is going to claim DS doesn't tell in-jokes.
> 
> He did give a fuck because he asked about it. *He just didn't want ownership this time*.



because he had it offered. Marlo always struck me as a character who finds value in that which must be taken, through intimidation or force. Freely offered, he wasn't interested save as a 'I know that ring' sort of thing.

see also: his attitude to corners and the co-op


----------



## Crispy (Aug 19, 2009)

Also, it mirrors Michael turning down Marlo's money earlier on


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

You boys are joining up dots I'm not seeing.

I see Marlo as several powers more sophisticated than that and I saw Michael as a young boy trying to stay out of the game.

Like Avon before him, Marlo is the king, the Caesar, with all with all the guile and complexity you afford to those types. He's not a jumped up Wee Bay.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> You boys are joining up dots I'm not seeing.
> 
> I see Marlo as several powers more sophisticated than that and I saw Michael as a young boy trying to stay out of the game.
> 
> Like Avon before him, Marlo is the king, the Caesar, with all with all the guile and complexity you afford to those types. He's not a jumped up Wee Bay.



ah, but you know what it comes down to. These may be drug kings of Baltimore but in the end 'my name is my name'.

The sophistication is a veneer.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 19, 2009)

I'll leave you with that.


----------



## twister (Aug 19, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> the montage at the end is one of the highlights of the entire show



just finished it all myself, and yeah, love it. Didn't the last episode with Herc just sum up exactly that point? 

I'm watching it all again one day. no doubt.


----------



## upsidedownwalrus (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> bollocks, I've spoilerd unintentionally
> @self



gvbvfcsdgsgdcfcgsxdsfdfdfdfdgfdgfdgffdfdfcfddddddddffgdfdtrdfdzzzddgrdrdrdtrdfdfdfdfdfdrtrtrterdtrytrf


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

worth baring in mind w that marlo got it jacked off him by omar so probabley thought thats where michel got it from. Which would tie in with michel gradually becoming more and more of a g.

Theres things i want to say but i have a feeling it happens in season 5.

dave


----------



## D'wards (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> worth baring in mind w that marlo got it jacked off him by omar so probabley thought thats where michel got it from. Which would tie in with michel gradually becoming more and more of a g.
> 
> Theres things i want to say but i have a feeling it happens in season 5.
> 
> dave



How did the nasty cop get it from Omar - i cannot recall


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> How did the nasty cop get it from Omar - i cannot recall



Was'nt it when he arrested Omar for that delivery lady's murder?You know the one  Marlo tried to frame Omar for?


----------



## mhendo (Aug 19, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Was'nt it when he arrested Omar for that delivery lady's murder?You know the one  Marlo tried to frame Omar for?


Yep, that's right.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 19, 2009)

Marlo is far too violent and eager to kill. Bodie knew it, and became a victim of it.

All he did was get in a car with a 5-0. Old Face Andre, the fat bloke in the rim shop, Little Kev, and worst of all the Security Guard, all died without deserving to, apart from maybe Andre.

In any "game" i think he would eventually be taken out by his peers - brings too much heat down


----------



## Madusa (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I do think it's a comment on power games tbf. Consider all the circumstances that ownership of the ring happens under. Full circle with Marlo not giving a fuck how michael got the ring, just that it was within his ability to possess.





Crispy said:


> Also, it mirrors Michael turning down Marlo's money earlier on



Yup, agree with both points. All points to the fact that Michael has the power to go from pawn (soldier) to king one day I reckon... using the chess analogy of series one. imo, course.


----------



## Flashman (Aug 19, 2009)

And of course when Michael said "took it [the ring] off a nigga" Marlo would've assumed he'd taken it off Omar.

Respect.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> In any "game" i think he would eventually be taken out by his peers - brings too much heat down


I bet Prop Joe and his organisation would'nt be too sorry to see him dead or in jail ,all these dead bodies are going to create a lot of heat .


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Marlo is far too violent and eager to kill. Bodie knew it, and became a victim of it.
> 
> All he did was get in a car with a 5-0. Old Face Andre, the fat bloke in the rim shop, Little Kev, and worst of all the Security Guard, all died without deserving to, apart from maybe Andre.
> 
> In any "game" i think he would *eventually* be taken out by his peers - brings too much heat down



Like the barksdale crew. You get the money, you get the corners, you get the towers and the power. Then your weak complacency is vulnerable to po-lice or an up n coming Marlo.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Like the barksdale crew. You get the money, you get the corners, you get the towers and the power. Then your weak complacency is vulnerable to po-lice or an up n coming Marlo.



but only cos stringer bitched out when avon was in the hole. Avon wouldn't have been run off by him, well if bay and bird were about too or stringer didn't try and play the nation of islam mother fucker.


dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> but only cos stringer bitched out when avon was in the hole. Avon wouldn't have been run off by him, well if bay and bird were about too or stringer didn't try and play the nation of islam mother fucker.
> 
> 
> dave



yeah but shoulda, woulda, coulda

The empire rises and then falls. From Baltimore drug deals to historical fact. The taking is the easy part. The holding is the key.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 19, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Like the barksdale crew. You get the money, you get the corners, you get the towers and the power. Then your weak complacency is vulnerable to po-lice or an up n coming Marlo.



But in last nights episode Marlo was even fucking with the Greek's boy, putting a tail on him. 

If he fucks up the connection, i'd hope the co-op would drop him just on principle, let alone the missing out on cheap drugs.

Plus the po-lice had to put all the bodies in a school gym there were that many - motherfucker offs taxpayers too.

Dear old Stringer would not have ordered so many killed  - he was more business first. Plus String, Prop Joe, Avon, Slim Charles, Bodie all have a kind of charm - marlo is a cold, dead-eyed psycho - never seems to have a laugh, or lighten up.

Made me laugh last night when Bunk said he wanted to go get some pussy, and Snoop said "me too" - just the way she said it creased me up.


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

yeah everything from the word well is when i actually thought about it.

Hind sight is lame. Empires always fall.


dave


----------



## BlackArab (Aug 19, 2009)

After watching series 4 last year I commented to a fellow fan that this particular series made me want to donate money to the Obama campaign. 
We then had a discussion on whether The Wire and the issues it raised would have any influence on the elections. Very loose connections but I found these snippets of info very interesting:

_'In January 2008, then–U.S. Senator Barack Obama was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun as saying that The Wire is his favorite show on television.'

'The fourth season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on September 10, 2006, concluded on December 10, 2006'

'On February 10, 2007, Obama announced his candidacy for President of the United States'_


----------



## kained&able (Aug 19, 2009)

BlackArab said:


> After watching series 4 last year I commented to a fellow fan that this particular series made me want to donate money to the Obama campaign.
> We then had a discussion on whether The Wire and the issues it raised would have any influence on the elections. Very loose connections but I found these snippets of info very interesting:
> 
> _'In January 2008, then–U.S. Senator Barack Obama was quoted in the Las Vegas Sun as saying that The Wire is his favorite show on television.'
> ...



wht? why? who is obama-like in the wire? or you just you got a love for the darkies cos of the wire? im confused.


dave


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 19, 2009)

But he loves his pigeons. Cold as he is he has that weird outlet.

Yeah, the barksdale boys were people who ran on character and heart. Marlo is a cold check to that sort of sentiment. Game the same, just got more fierce.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 19, 2009)

kained&able said:


> wht? why? who is obama-like in the wire? or you just you got a love for the darkies cos of the wire? im confused.
> 
> 
> dave



Obama is obviously Omar. The gay guy who likes to steal from drug dealers.

Or he is kinda like Carcetti. Winning despite not being the usual colour for the job.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 20, 2009)

This is quite interesting:


----------



## Belushi (Aug 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Game the same, just got more fierce.



Do you come out with these lines going about your day to day business in northampton?


----------



## D'wards (Aug 20, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> This is quite interesting:




Apparantly Tyson realised his brutal power when an older lad was bullying him and pulled the head off his favourite pigeon, and Tyson lost his temper and took him apart


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 20, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Do you come out with these lines going about your day to day business in northampton?



no, but I have slipped in other subtler wireisms into everyday life.

An Omar-esque 'do tell' as request for futher information


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 20, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Apparantly Tyson realised his brutal power when an older lad was bullying him and pulled the head off his favourite pigeon, and Tyson lost his temper and took him apart



Yeh, I was just going to mention that! There were six of them, or something, and he knocked each one of them down, and kept them all down for about half an hour.

Or something along those lines.


----------



## Belushi (Aug 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> no, but I have slipped in other subtler wireisms into everyday life.
> 
> An Omar-esque 'do tell' as request for futher information



Indeed.


----------



## hektik (Aug 20, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> no, but I have slipped in other subtler wireisms into everyday life.
> 
> An Omar-esque 'do tell' as request for futher information



i also do a prop joe "i've got to think on it" when someone asks me a question at work...


----------



## hektik (Aug 20, 2009)

Flashman said:


> And of course when Michael said "took it [the ring] off a nigga" Marlo would've assumed he'd taken it off Omar.
> 
> Respect.



i think the thing with the ring does tell us a lot about how property is seen in west baltimore - like omar says "money don't have no owners, only spenders" - this applies to any property - the only owner it has is the person who can take it, and not have it taken off of him. 

Even if Marlo didn't assume it was omar that micheal took it off, he knows that micheal has at least taken it from someone - therefore he's a predator in the game, not the prey, and not someone who will be at the bottom of the food chain. it's what marks someone out, as deserving of some kind of respect.

there are also parallels here with bub and his shopping cart - that guy just takes his stuff, because bubs is weak, therefore doesn't get respect. officer walker also takes stuff from bubs - because he knows there wont be a comeback.

also seen where kenard steals namond's package - he senses that namond is weak, so tests him out. and also in marlo taking those lollipops - the guard knows he has got to step to, otherwise marlo would be there everyday taking. same applies to corners, with marlo taking the corner that bodie was working...he didn't want it when it was shit, but once it became valuable, he was having it. The ability to take, without fear of consequences - that's where the power is.

like namond etc say in the classroom - everybody always be watching. seeing waht you do, seeing if you are weak, and if you are weak, they'll come in and take it from you.

the simple fact of micheal having the ring shows marlo everything that he needs to know about what kind of person micheal is, and whether he'd be right for his organisation.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 20, 2009)

Would Marlo have thought that Michael was somehow connected to Omar? Hence he had the ring, maybe he thought it was a gift or something


----------



## Madusa (Aug 20, 2009)

hektik said:


> i also do a prop joe "i've got to think on it" when someone asks me a question at work...



Guilty.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 20, 2009)

hektik nails it there I think.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 20, 2009)

I cant look at marlo without thinking ''dead shark eyes'' from whoever said it on here. rofl. So true!


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 20, 2009)

hektik - As mentioned earlier, I agree DS is talking about the concept of property and ownership in west Baltimore. You pulled some nice references together. Omar's big rip is also interesting in that sense, especially in the re-selling.


More generally, the opening five minutes tonight has some fundamental clues if you want to try and work out what the hell is happening, at least as I worked it out.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 20, 2009)

I liked what hektik said and he has changed my mind on it being a red herring. Well done.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 20, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I cant look at marlo without thinking ''dead shark eyes'' from whoever said it on here. rofl. So true!



me. 

They were just as bad when he appeared in heroes. Cold gaze


----------



## D'wards (Aug 21, 2009)

A little underwhelmed by tonights ep - not sure if i can get excited about the goings on at a local newspaper. The Mr Prezbo, Carcetti, Sobotka plots have been great to run alongside the drug dealing stuff, showing the interaction with the drug trade.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 21, 2009)

The first time I watched it, I was underwhelmed.

But I know what happens. 

I think this is definitely a series that will stand up to repeated viewings.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

D'wards said:


> A little underwhelmed by tonights ep - not sure if i can get excited about the goings on at a local newspaper. The Mr Prezbo, Carcetti, Sobotka plots have been great to run alongside the drug dealing stuff, showing the interaction with the drug trade.



Heh, wait for it. You know how the Wire goes now. Chapters not episodes.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 21, 2009)

Way down in the hoe. Whatever happened to the hole? Crispy you were right, season 5's theme bites the worst yet.

Gutted to see Naulty backsliding into his old ways.

Haulk gets thrown out, best thing that could have happened to him money wise, irony abounds.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2009)

D'wards said:


> A little underwhelmed by tonights ep - not sure if i can get excited about the goings on at a local newspaper. The Mr Prezbo, Carcetti, Sobotka plots have been great to run alongside the drug dealing stuff, showing the interaction with the drug trade.


I can't tell you its not different. It's whether you're up for a different kind of Wire: Are you interested enough in the characters to stick around - as DS said "fuck the casual viewer".


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 21, 2009)

What sorta job has Herc got then? some sort of PI?


----------



## Crispy (Aug 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> What sorta job has Herc got then? some sort of PI?


Defence Investigator for Levy (the lawyer who always represented the barksdale crew)


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 21, 2009)

Sheeeit, what have they done to the theme tune? Sounds like Stevie Wonder played easy-listening style for a Berni Inn or summat.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 21, 2009)

Hideous isn't it?
The guy singing is the same guy who plays Weylan


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2009)

My mind is rubbbish at the moment; when did Boris and Marlo cross paths?


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> My mind is rubbbish at the moment; when did Boris and Marlo cross paths?


Did'nt Marlo have a sitdown with the Greek during the last ep in series 4?,Prop Joe arranged it


----------



## Crispy (Aug 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> My mind is rubbbish at the moment; when did Boris and Marlo cross paths?


You mean Sergei? I don't think they have before.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Did'nt Marlo have a sitdown with the Greek during the last ep in series 4?,Prop Joe arranged it


Boris had been in prison for about 2 years at that point.



Crispy said:


> You mean Sergei? I don't think they have before.


That's what I thought. So I guess they're working on the name and looking to connect from that angle.

Of course! What's why Chris wanted the photo - to ID this character Boris/Sergie who's connected to the Greeks.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 21, 2009)

Anyone else think Nerese Campbell's a bit of a fox? must be that stern demeur she gives off.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Boris had been in prison for about 2 years at that point.
> 
> 
> That's what I thought. So I guess they're working on the name and looking to connect from that angle.


Ob trying to undermine Prop Joe.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 21, 2009)

D'wards said:


> A little underwhelmed by tonights ep - not sure if i can get excited about the goings on at a local newspaper. The Mr Prezbo, Carcetti, Sobotka plots have been great to run alongside the drug dealing stuff, showing the interaction with the drug trade.



just wait!



gnoriac said:


> Sheeeit, what have they done to the theme tune? Sounds like Stevie Wonder played easy-listening style for a Berni Inn or summat.



season 5 theme tune is a damn sight better than all the rest...apart from the original s1 by Tom Waits.


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Anyone else think Nerese Campbell's a bit of a fox?



To put it mildly.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 21, 2009)

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z107/kellyelynch/M_Affleck1.jpg
http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z107/kellyelynch/M-Affleck2.jpg
Yup shes hot


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

D'wards said:


> A little underwhelmed by tonights ep - not sure if i can get excited about the goings on at a local newspaper. The Mr Prezbo, Carcetti, Sobotka plots have been great to run alongside the drug dealing stuff, showing the interaction with the drug trade.


Been watching it on torrented files (only just caught up with the BBC showings) and I've been underwhelmed every time I started watching a new season. It's a comedown after the last one climaxed but you soon get into it again


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Sheeeit, what have they done to the theme tune? Sounds like Stevie Wonder played easy-listening style for a Berni Inn or summat.


Innit. We speculated it was McNulty singing


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> season 5 theme tune is a damn sight better than all the rest...apart from the original s1 by Tom Waits.


You have the worst taste in the world. Official


----------



## Madusa (Aug 21, 2009)

Spion said:


> You have the worst taste in the world. Official



wtf?! Which is the best season theme tune then? It goes Season 1, then season 5. 
The WORST is the rnb woman singing. I had to forward the fucking title sequence for every single episode.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2009)

I believe the Tom Waits version features in S2.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 21, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I believe the Tom Waits version features in S2.



Really? I didnt like s2 version. Best is def season 1 theme song


----------



## D'wards (Aug 21, 2009)

Spion said:


> Been watching it on torrented files (only just caught up with the BBC showings) and I've been underwhelmed every time I started watching a new season. It's a comedown after the last one climaxed but you soon get into it again



Spot on -the change in pace from the climax of one to the start of another is probably to blame.

Maybe they should have had the Bowls in between or something - so by the time it comes on we are positively quivering with anticipation.

Always leave them wanting more...


----------



## Gromit (Aug 21, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Ob trying to undermine Prop Joe.


 
Control the drugs and you control the co-op.

Prop Joe is the one bringing in the shipment and threatening to cut people off from the sweet product if they don't like what he say.

Marlo doesn't like not being the one in control. He is suspicious of everyone and more concerned about what the co-op can do for him than what the co-op can do for each other.

So yeah I think he is looking for a back door to the supply so that he can overthrow Prop Joe.


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> wtf?! Which is the best season theme tune then? It goes Season 1, then season 5.
> The WORST is the rnb woman singing. I had to forward the fucking title sequence for every single episode.


S1 isn't Tom Waits, S2 is

My top 5

Number 1 - S1
Number 2 - S2
Number 3 - S4 (it took a while for the RnB thing to get to me, but it's an interesting arrangement)
Number 4 - S3 (far too noodly for me)
Number 5 - S5 (godawful, soulless, unsyncopated white trash)

All IMO of course. It's music


----------



## Gromit (Aug 21, 2009)

Nah. Its a simple equation.

S1 Best. 
S2 not as good as S1
S3 not as good as S2
S4 not as good as S3
S5 not as good as S4

If they ever release a S6 it will be worse again. An Ompah band with bagpipes or something,


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

Gromit said:


> If they ever release a S6 it will be worse again. An Ompah band with bagpipes or something,


*chortle*


----------



## sojourner (Aug 21, 2009)

I was reading the most recent Viz in bed last night, and in one of the strips there were two characters called Rawls and Barksdale


----------



## D'wards (Aug 21, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I was reading the most recent Viz in bed last night, and in one of the strips there were two characters called Rawls and Barksdale



The Pointless Cunt of St Bridgets


----------



## belboid (Aug 21, 2009)

Madusa said:


> season 5 theme tune is a damn sight better than all the rest...apart from the original s1 by Tom Waits.



it's a Tom Waits song, but the version in S1 is by the Blind Boys of Alabama.

S2 - Waits
S3 - The Neville Brothers
S4 - DoMaJe (Baltimore Boys Choir)
S5 - Steve Earle

3,2,1,4,5 is the correct oder of the theme tunes


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

belboid said:


> *3*,2,1,4,5 is the correct oder of the theme tunes


----------



## sojourner (Aug 21, 2009)

D'wards said:


> The Pointless Cunt of St Bridgets



Aye


----------



## mystic pyjamas (Aug 21, 2009)

Not only is The Wire a brilliant series but it's educational too.
" 120 people were evacuated? you don't evacuate people you evacuate buildings  unless you're giving those people an enema".
"Has subtle got a b in it" ?


----------



## Belushi (Aug 21, 2009)

The best thing about Season 4 is seeing Clark Johnson again!

Theres another real treat for Homicide fans coming up as well...


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

Gromit said:


> Control the drugs and you control the co-op.
> 
> Prop Joe is the one bringing in the shipment and threatening to cut people off from the sweet product if they don't like what he say.
> 
> ...



You think marlo'll be interested in any sort of fucking co-op if he gets the connect?


----------



## hektik (Aug 21, 2009)

thanks for the props concerning property etc - I am loving the affirmation. Another thought that I had regarding this is the fact that none of the major players can even own anything - cars are in someone else's name, they cant have houses in their name, nor can they own mobile phones.


----------



## BlackArab (Aug 21, 2009)

kained&able said:


> wht? why? who is obama-like in the wire? or you just you got a love for the darkies cos of the wire? im confused.
> 
> 
> dave



Love for the darkies? 

Fuck off, cunt.


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

mystic pyjamas said:


> Not only is The Wire a brilliant series but it's educational too.
> " 120 people were evacuated? you don't evacuate people you evacuate buildings  unless you're giving those people an enema"


Except he was talking bollocks. Evacuate as a transitive verb used in reference to people has been common usage for decades. He'd have got an argument from me if I was in his newsroom.

But it was a good representation of the type of grumpy old fool you get in newspaper offices


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

people working in a fucking newspaper room not knowing there is a b in subtle


----------



## belboid (Aug 21, 2009)

Spion said:


> Except he was talking bollocks. Evacuate as a transitive verb used in reference to people has been common usage for decades.


Wrongly.  Anyone who cares about words would not use it in such  a manner.


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

belboid said:


> Wrongly.  Anyone who cares about words would not use it in such  a manner.


I can't find a dictionary that rules against grumpy-chops' non-transitive interpretation of it either


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> people working in a fucking newspaper room not knowing there is a b in subtle



Noooo.

That was a different bit.


----------



## Spion (Aug 21, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> people working in a fucking newspaper room not knowing there is a b in subtle


eh? I thought it was a cop that said that


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> Noooo.
> 
> That was a different bit.



The issue with it being on so late is that by the time it airs I am pissed


----------



## belboid (Aug 21, 2009)

herc back in S3 wasn't it?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 21, 2009)

belboid said:


> herc back in S3 wasn't it?



Noooooo.

It was in last nights episode.

There are so many mistakes on this thread recently.


----------



## sojourner (Aug 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> There are so many mistakes on this thread recently.



Just highlights the immense substance abuse problems experienced by U75 posters


----------



## Gromit (Aug 21, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Just highlights the immense substance abuse problems experienced by U75 posters


 
Its this new 'Green Top' stuff. I miss Pandemic


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

dubya eem dee


----------



## D'wards (Aug 21, 2009)

Greenhouse Gas, get your Greenhouse Gas


----------



## Gromit (Aug 21, 2009)

The brands are often topical. WMD. Pandemic.

If they were selling in the UK would the brands be:

Recession get your recession.

or

Swine flu, swiiiiine flu.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

Gromit said:


> The brands are often topical. WMD. Pandemic.
> 
> If they were selling in the UK would the brands be:
> 
> ...





Broken Britain! Broken Britain right here!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 21, 2009)

Belushi said:


> Indeed.



Teal'c had that first tbf


----------



## Dandred (Aug 21, 2009)

Mad cow, mad cow!

BSE, BSE, get your BSE!


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 21, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> It was in last nights episode.
> 
> There are so many mistakes on this thread recently.


Agree, Herc spoke about the b in subtle in the first hour of S5.

Omar says "Oh <comma> indeed".

The innovotive marketing (WMD, etc)is a reflection of what we see every day i.e. exactly the same product dressed up in different ways to create a distinct market and variety - as, say, water is marketed variously. 

The drugs all come from the same source now.


----------



## mystic pyjamas (Aug 21, 2009)

So is it ok to use evacuate as a transative verb or not?
Was that journo right in pulling up his fellow female hack about it?
The b in subtle came later on from a cop,( last night's episode).


----------



## starfish (Aug 22, 2009)

Finally, i can say, Herc you are a complete cunt.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 22, 2009)

The closing scene to series 4 is _beautiful_. It lingers.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Agree, Herc spoke about the b in subtle in the first hour of S5.
> 
> Omar says "Oh <comma> indeed".
> 
> ...



Well exactly. Stringer did well.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 22, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The drugs all come from the same source now.



All the co-op's does but not all the drugs in B-more.

The guys currently threatening the east side must be getting their's from somewhere other than the greeks.

I'd be surprised is the new york lot were't supplying someone. Its just not Avon any more.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 22, 2009)

Oh behave.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 22, 2009)

> Wish You Weren't Here: A Guided Tour Of The Wire's East Baltimore



http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=11846


----------



## mhendo (Aug 22, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=11846


I've driven around most of the places on that map. That area is about 12 blocks south  and a couple of blocks east of where i lived for my first 4 years in Baltimore.

Abe Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth, is buried in the Greenmount Cemetery shown on the map.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 24, 2009)

I saw something on ITV last night starring Timothy Spall called Gun . . . something. A one-off drama, about 90 minutes without the adverts.

It was set around a south London estate where one of the local drug gangs sat around on a sofa - on the community grassy area, in the middle of the estate.

Plenty of drugs and gangs and guns and running around. Embarrassing: Unseemly shit.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 24, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=11846


 


mhendo said:


> I've driven around most of the places on that map. That area is about 12 blocks south and a couple of blocks east of where i lived for my first 4 years in Baltimore.


 
Funnilly enough I'm hoping to go to the states next year and visit a few 'regular' places rather than the usual tourist traps (Disney world etc.). 

As a massive fan of The Wire I asked myself would i like to see B-More and locations from the show.

Considering that I'm a soft as shite middle aged white man would i meet serious hostilies?

Would you go in my situation?


----------



## mhendo (Aug 24, 2009)

Gromit said:


> Funnilly enough I'm hoping to go to the states next year and visit a few 'regular' places rather than the usual tourist traps (Disney world etc.).
> 
> As a massive fan of The Wire I asked myself would i like to see B-More and locations from the show.
> 
> ...


If you rent a car and drive around during the day, you should be fine. Even walking around some areas is probably OK, but leave your wallet with extra credit cards etc. in your hotel room, and don't go flashing expensive camera equipment.

Just as important, in some of these areas, is that you look like you have a purpose being there. If you stand around gawking like a tourist, especially if you're a white guy, you'll attract someone's attention pretty damn quickly.

While i really grew to love Baltimore during the 7+ years i lived there, it's not a city that rewards casual tourism or short-term visits very much. It's not like New York or San Francisco, or even Washington. There aren't as many obvious "destinations," and the main tourist area around the Inner Harbor is a fucking awful trap of bad shops and kitsch.

The CityPaper (the paper you linked to) is Baltimore's free alternative weekly newspaper, and is a good place to start for information. If you follow it online for a while, and check out the dining and entertainment sections, you can get an idea of some interesting things to do and places to go. The town has some great bars, good food, and interesting areas. If you decide to go, start a thread and i'll be happy to offer some advice and places to go.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 24, 2009)

I liked the city as well, but this was more than a decade ago. The only thing I'd as is to try and get the tourism done for the day befoe the schools finish - the only racism I've ever been subjected to was by groups of black kids after school, not necessariliy the end of the world but unpleasant.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 25, 2009)

the wire is used as propaganda by the tories - oh the irony:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/aug/25/tories-compare-britain-wire-tv
they can't even understand the politics of a tv show and it looks like they'll be running the country soon.


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 25, 2009)

Dillinger4 said:


> http://www.citypaper.com/special/story.asp?id=11846



Don't think it's been used in The Wire (according to the article, just the yard behind it) but from that the American Brewery building:





How can a building like that get abandoned?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 25, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I saw something on ITV last night starring Timothy Spall called Gun . . . something. A one-off drama, about 90 minutes without the adverts.
> 
> It was set around a south London estate where one of the local drug gangs sat around on a sofa - on the community grassy area, in the middle of the estate.
> 
> Plenty of drugs and gangs and guns and running around. Embarrassing: Unseemly shit.


I saw that

I felt so ashamed for Paul Kaye as well 

Turned it off in the end


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 25, 2009)

Yep, it was shocking.


So folks . . . is there something specific that happened in Bubbles' past that he isn't able to confront - perhaps the death of his apprentice or something further back in childhood, or is it a more generally based denial about how his life has gone?

I have been leaning towards the death of his apprentice.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 25, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, it was shocking.
> 
> 
> So folks . . . is there something specific that happened in Bubbles' past that he isn't able to confront - perhaps the death of his apprentice or something further back in childhood, or is it a more generally based denial about how his life has gone?
> ...



There's not really been any hints to a poor / abusive childhood (particularly as the sister he stays with occasionally seems to be pretty together and scornful of how he lives his life).

Definitely the death of Sherrod is something he doesn't want to face up to yet, plus the fact that he's probably feeling guilty for still being around after all this time.

It's horrible to watch, because I'm just waiting for him to fall again


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 25, 2009)

Marlo's beginning to piss me off. A while back he's up all night playing poker, then he tells Michael 'early bird get that worm'. Come on, young'un - some consistency, please.

Was nice to see Avon again last night, he's lost none of his charm. Missed him for the entire S4. One thing I don't get though (late, tired, drunk etc.) is what can Marlo offer Sergi to make him cross his connection? Has Avon given him some 'friendly advice'?

Oh and Bubs, did I hear right - 15 months clean? Hats off to the man (a big red pimp hat, in this case)


----------



## D'wards (Aug 25, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Yep, it was shocking.
> 
> 
> So folks . . . is there something specific that happened in Bubbles' past that he isn't able to confront - perhaps the death of his apprentice or something further back in childhood, or is it a more generally based denial about how his life has gone?
> ...



Do you think its being hinted that Sherrod was Bubb's son - he mentioned earlier on he has a chilkd, and the way he was sadly looking at the children last night.

I love Bubbs, he is a great character, probably my favourite.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 25, 2009)

Nah, sherrod wasn't his son. 

He was just another kid who he was schoolin


----------



## oneflewover (Aug 25, 2009)

Is Britain going to get it's version of The Wire? we won't need to. Chris Graylling the Shadow Home secretary thinks it is already here.

Guardian Link

A cheap shot at sensationalism or edging on the truth. Being from genteel Leeds, it is not something I recognise.


----------



## Orang Utan (Aug 25, 2009)

i posted that earlier!


----------



## hektik (Aug 25, 2009)

sherrod wasn't his kid, but he was looking out for him, and saw him as a surrogate son, i guess.

the death of sherrod, and of johnny as well, people who he was looking after, but couldn't save.


----------



## gosub (Aug 25, 2009)

oneflewover said:


> Is Britain going to get it's version of The Wire? we won't need to. Chris Graylling the Shadow Home secretary thinks it is already here.
> 
> Guardian Link
> 
> A cheap shot at sensationalism or edging on the truth. Being from genteel Leeds, *it is not something I recognise*.



 no politicians on the make? no manipulation of systems so that targets are met? no administrations running out of money?no surveillance? no journos making stuff up to fill the gaps between adverts? no etonians pretending to be down with the people?


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 25, 2009)

oneflewover said:


> Is Britain going to get it's version of The Wire? we won't need to. Chris Graylling the Shadow Home secretary thinks it is already here.
> 
> Guardian Link
> 
> A cheap shot at sensationalism or edging on the truth. Being from genteel Leeds, it is not something I recognise.



I'd be surprised if Chris Grayling has watched more than a few minutes, seems like bandwagon-jumping to me.


----------



## gosub (Aug 25, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I'd be surprised if Chris Grayling has watched more than a few minutes, seems like bandwagon-jumping to me.



"Interviewer: Have you really seen any more than that first episode?

Grayling: Yes I’ve seen a number of ... I’ve seen most of the first series. I have seen a number of the other episodes yes. I have."


----------



## Gromit (Aug 25, 2009)

The quote "fuck the casual viewer" has never been more apt.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 25, 2009)

Gromit said:


> The quote "fuck the casual viewer" has never been more apt.





quite. The geezer would never had said it if he'd seen how David Simon makes politicians look...


----------



## Harold Hill (Aug 25, 2009)

Anyone else notice the girl at the beginning last night (the addict speaking) was previously shown buying drugs in Hamsterdam and Old face Andres store in previous series.

Only noticed because she was quite hot.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 25, 2009)

Well spotted


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 25, 2009)

Harold Hill said:


> Anyone else notice the girl at the beginning last night (the addict speaking) was previously shown buying drugs in Hamsterdam and Old face Andres store in previous series.
> 
> Only noticed because she was quite hot.



http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2131379/

she is on facebook as well.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 25, 2009)

Question about the title sequence. 

They show 6 photos in succession. 

A kid shot early on in the series (the one who got tired of hiding out in the country)
D
Avon
Frank Sabotka
Brodie

but who is it in the last photo? I don't recognise em.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 25, 2009)

wee bay?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 25, 2009)

the first geezer is wallace iirc

'Wheres Wallace String? Where's Wallace?'


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 25, 2009)

Where wallace?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 25, 2009)

Where's Wallace at? ... Where's the boy, String?:


----------



## Crispy (Aug 25, 2009)

He's fucking dead. Deal with it



dillinger4 said:


> where wallace?





dotcommunist said:


> where's wallace at? ... Where's the boy, string?:





dotcommunist said:


> the first geezer is wallace iirc
> 
> 'wheres wallace string? Where's wallace?'





london_calling said:


> where's wallace at? Where the fuck is wallace? Where's wallace, string? String! Where the fuck is wallace? Huh? Stringer?





dillinger4 said:


> where wallace at? Where wallace, string?





missfran said:


> me too now, that i think about it. Wallace hooked me in. Where's wallace, man?


----------



## sojourner (Aug 25, 2009)

Crispy said:


> He's fucking dead. Deal with it


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 25, 2009)

There's also an extra who I've noticed through the seasons, a woman, probably  in her 40s, with mid length silver/grey hair, not a slight build, who occasionally sits or stands around in group scenes. Never has a speaking part. She's been police and civilian.


Wallace never had a funeral, did he . . .


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 25, 2009)

You just knew they were'nt going to get any help off the FBI when you saw who the guy  they were pitching the investigation to was,true what they said in the bar,if the numerous bodies found in the boarded up houses were white the Gov would send in the army. .


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 25, 2009)

I'm loving bbc london news comparing london to the wire.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 25, 2009)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8219693.stm


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 25, 2009)

Crispy said:


> He's fucking dead. Deal with it



or what? you'll put me in a vacant? That's how a nigga gets a mod badge? Where's wallace?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2009)

some excellent chris-slim dialogue tonight.

Evil shit though, what they did to the blind man


----------



## D'wards (Aug 26, 2009)

Great episode tonight. I literally cannot wait to see what Omar does.

One question - Marlo is trying to hook up with The Greek right? I thought he was doing it behind Prop Joe's back, trying to get the connect himself - how come he was talking to Joe about it and used him to buy clean money?
Unless i've got it wrong - what does Marlo want with the Greek?


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Great episode tonight. I literally cannot wait to see what Omar does.
> 
> One question - Marlo is trying to hook up with The Greek right? I thought he was doing it behind Prop Joe's back, trying to get the connect himself - how come he was talking to Joe about it and used him to buy clean money?
> Unless i've got it wrong - what does Marlo want with the Greek?



because Prop is a fool despite his bizznis man attitude. Marlo is a shark, pure and simple


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 26, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Great episode tonight. I literally cannot wait to see what Omar does.
> 
> One question - Marlo is trying to hook up with The Greek right? I thought he was doing it behind Prop Joe's back, trying to get the connect himself - how come he was talking to Joe about it and used him to buy clean money?
> Unless i've got it wrong - what does Marlo want with the Greek?



Marlo didn't specify to Joe who was requesting the clean money, although Joe probably should have guessed (he thinks he's 'civilisin' Marlo, while Marlo is just absorbing all the knowledge and using it to circumvent Joe).

Love seeing Spiros again, the man's just so calm about everything (including basically telling Marlo to fuck off, although personally I wouldn't have  Shows the power of being the supplier very well)


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 26, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> some excellent chris-slim dialogue tonight.
> 
> Evil shit though, what they did to the blind man



Poor Butchie,hope Omar gets medievial on their asses


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 26, 2009)

So the cutbacks at the Sun are not because the 'paper is losing money - Gus says news is making money, and the management don't ever talk of losses - it's just that more profit can be made by covering less with fewer staff.

A wide range of types of lies are expressed in this season, the druggie/prostitute lying to herself, Burrell lying about stats, McNulty creating a seriel killer, false attributions by the reporter - as Carcettis aide says "The whole world shines shit and calls it gold",

Fwiw, my pet theory about S5 traces back to the photocopier/lie detector scene at the beginning of the first hour. Two quotes clue us in:

Norris: "Americans are a stupid people by and large. We pretty much believe everything we're told"
Bunk: "The bigger the lie, the more they believe"


So what's the subtext,  what big  lie  is DS addressing . . . perhaps too soon to tell at the moment.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

Poor Butch. Like he told Omar at the end of S4; "You steal that much money and it aint over!" or something.

Am I right in thinking that when Chris and Snoop's play got a bit raggety and Butch clearly wasn't going to give up his man, they killed him in order to draw Omar out of hiding? Dangerous game they're playing with Omar. You don't fuck with his nearest and dearest.

edit: Loved Omar in his 'holiday' clothes & hat yesterday. But sad to see his quest for Honey Nut Flakes continues without any apparant light on the horizon.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

Gromit said:


> Question about the title sequence.
> 
> They show 6 photos in succession.
> 
> ...



What's sad is that in that classic chess game scene in S1, all three of them (D'Angelo, Bodie, Wallace) are capped off before we even get to the final season.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> What's sad is that in that classic chess game scene in S1, all three of them (D'Angelo, Bodie, Wallace) are capped off before we even get to the final season.



Cos they is pawns yo'.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 26, 2009)

One scene from last night really stuck with me, the short section showing Dukie, Michael and Bug at Six Flags.

It was almost jarring compared to the usual setting we see these kids in, and for a few brief moments they look just like any other boys having a day out. 

Particularly when Dukie and Michael say goodbye to the cute girls and do a little hand-five, both clearly amazed at how little they had to do to impress them. The scene captured the possibility of a world beyond the small, dark place these boys inhabit daily. 

And the show did it one minute. Depressing, and brilliant.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> One scene from last night really stuck with me, the short section showing Dukie, Michael and Bug at Six Flags.
> 
> It was almost jarring compared to the usual setting we see these kids in, and for a few brief moments they look just like any other boys having a day out.
> 
> ...



Yeah that scene was beautiful, sunshine and smiles all round. Made me laugh that Dookie still had the stuffed toy they won under his arm when they arrived back at the corner. That didn't do his street-cred too much good in front of Marlo's boys.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Poor Butch. Like he told Omar at the end of S4; "You steal that much money and it aint over!" or something.
> 
> Am I right in thinking that when Chris and Snoop's play got a bit raggety and Butch clearly wasn't going to give up his man, they killed him in order to draw Omar out of hiding? Dangerous game they're playing with Omar. You don't fuck with his nearest and dearest.
> 
> edit: Loved Omar in his 'holiday' clothes & hat yesterday. But sad to see his quest for Honey Nut Flakes continues without any apparant light on the horizon.



i love this post

I cried when they killed Butchie.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Yeah that scene was beautiful, sunshine and smiles all round. Made me laugh that Dookie still had the stuffed toy they won under his arm when they arrived back at the corner. That didn't do his street-cred too much good in front of Marlo's boys.



I think the theme park scene was there to show that whilst some may think being  a drug dealer is glamourous and whatever, it really is a shit life.

They had a lovely day out, chatting up girls, having fun - doing what teenagers should do, but arrive back in B-more tired and happy and the aggression and misery of the corner slaps them back to reality.

I hope Michael and Dookie get out of the game before its too late


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 26, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> One scene from last night really stuck with me, the short section showing Dukie, Michael and Bug at Six Flags.
> 
> It was almost jarring compared to the usual setting we see these kids in, and for a few brief moments they look just like any other boys having a day out.
> 
> ...


And they are (around about) 15-year old boys deserted by their parents, not going to school  - the system, or lack of a system, has allowed them to just disappear. Third World.

Randy doesn't, of course, have the income of Michael.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 26, 2009)

is it wrong to find Michael a bit of a hottie in s5?


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

Pure conjecture at this point, so I don't think I need to spoiler it - but if I'm too close to the bone then feel free to cover this shit up... But I've got so many ideas spiralling in my head, right now I see this shaping up: Avon, who's Westside through and through, seems to be backing the 'new kid' Marlo and figures on them seeing off the Eastside niggas once and for all, freeing up for his New York connection to step in with supply. Prop Joe gets wind of Marlo trying to go around him, Omar come a lookin' for revenge and Joe gives him up without a second thought. But Marlo, being a clinical cunt, is probably one step ahead... Cue one almighty motherfucking battle, with Avon looking on from the inside, laughing to himself and reckoning on picking up the pieces when he gets out.

Hmmm. Probably wrong though, the one thing I fucking love about The Wire is that it always manages to surprise me.

edit: No wait, that doesn't make sense... what's the deal with Sergi giving up his connection, does Avon think he can muscle in on the aftermath if the co-op dissolves and still get that good shit straight off the boat?


----------



## Crispy (Aug 26, 2009)

EDIT: Not yet!


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 26, 2009)

Madusa said:


> is it wrong to find Michael a bit of a hottie in s5?



it means you are sort of a nonce


----------



## 8den (Aug 26, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I'd be surprised if Chris Grayling has watched more than a few minutes, seems like bandwagon-jumping to me.



Whats funny is some Baltimore politician did the exact same thing when David Simon's the corner was published. Stood on a street corner with a copy of the book, announcing a "tough on crime" zero tolerance approach to Street dealing. 

He was forced to admit later that no, he'd not actually read the book, because if he did he'd have known thats exactly type of police behaviour the Corner condemns. 

Graylings an idiot, Bodymore was _pleased_ to announce a drop in murders last year to _just_ 238. Manchester a comparably sized city with some of the roughest neighbourhoods in the country had a murder rate of 49.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 26, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> So the cutbacks at the Sun are not because the 'paper is losing money - Gus says news is making money, and the management don't ever talk of losses - it's just that more profit can be made by covering less with fewer staff.
> 
> A wide range of types of lies are expressed in this season, the druggie/prostitute lying to herself, Burrell lying about stats, McNulty creating a seriel killer, false attributions by the reporter - as Carcettis aide says "The whole world shines shit and calls it gold",
> 
> ...



Good spot. There is a lot of emphasis on lying this series. 

McNaulty lying about homeless deaths and back to lying to his girlfriend. 
Inexperience reporter making up stories and reactions whilst his competant colleague is getting bought out. I'm suspecting that later on he's goes on to write a Pultizer nominated article that's subsquently proven to be fabricated.
Commisioner lying to the mayor.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> .
> 
> edit: Loved Omar in his 'holiday' clothes & hat yesterday. But sad to see his quest for Honey Nut Flakes continues without any apparant light on the horizon.


Funny seeing the kids running up to him last night whereas in Baltimore they tend to run away from him,surprised to see Mr.sensible himself Lester go along with McNulty's idea.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Funny seeing the kids running up to him last night whereas in Baltimore they tend to run away from him,surprised to see Mr.sensible himself Lester go along with McNulty's idea.



Yeah that surprised me too, but then again McNulty and Lester are peas in a pod in some respects. Both anti-authority in their own ways, both REAL PO-lice, both desperate to ring some bells and get some decent case-action going. McNulty's gone darrrrk. Bad enough he's screwing around, drinking all day and all night, but when Bunk steps back and says he wants no part of his crazy scheme, damn!


----------



## madamv (Aug 26, 2009)

I cant believe McNulty has gone backwards with his drinking and stuff...  And Lester!  Well, my face was the same as Bunks when he started agreeing with McNulty.   Lester, I hope youre still Po-lice....   I think the russian (?) was afraid of Avon tbh, unless its some big set up...


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 26, 2009)

madamv said:


> I cant believe McNulty has gone backwards with his drinking and stuff...   QUOTE]
> I find it a tad boring tbh,woulda been far more daring if they kept him on the straight and narrow.


----------



## madamv (Aug 26, 2009)

I agree...

He is just irritating me atm.  When he was sober he was rather fascinating, and when he was a drunk before that he was interesting.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

What I've come to realise (at least, I think this is the case) is that when they do their 'end of season musical montage', what we're seeing is a glimpse into the future, as opposed to a reflection on the past season. What confuses me is the ambiguity about how long has passed between the end of one season and the beginning of the next. Sometimes they allude that a whole year has gone by, like when McNulty was back on the street beat and bumped into Bodie & Carver at the start of S4. But sometimes, other events appear to continue without any break.

Anyways, I suggest that the story moves on quite a bit in the time between each season, so it's not quite so shocking to see the character developments appear slightly exaggerated due to the extended time-line.

Is anyone else confused by this, or have I missed something incredibly simple?!


----------



## Crispy (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> What I've come to realise (at least, I think this is the case) is that when they do their 'end of season musical montage', what we're seeing is a glimpse into the future, as opposed to a reflection on the past season. What confuses me is the ambiguity about how long has passed between the end of one season and the beginning of the next. Sometimes they allude that a whole year has gone by, like when McNulty was back on the street beat and bumped into Bodie & Carver at the start of S4. But sometimes, other events appear to continue without any break.
> 
> Anyways, I suggest that the story moves on quite a bit in the time between each season, so it's not quite so shocking to see the character developments appear slightly exaggerated due to the extended time-line.
> 
> Is anyone else confused by this, or have I missed something incredibly simple?!


Each season is one year after the last. There are plenty of chronological clues in there so I'm sure a detailed timeline could be constructed - I'm amazed there isn't one on the net already.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

Right, makes sense 'cos Bubs is fifteen months clean. And he's had a haircut, which probably took a while with that matted old barnet.

I _think _I was right all along.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 26, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> What I've come to realise (at least, I think this is the case) is that when they do their 'end of season musical montage', what we're seeing is a glimpse into the future, as opposed to a reflection on the past season. What confuses me is the ambiguity about how long has passed between the end of one season and the beginning of the next. Sometimes they allude that a whole year has gone by, like when McNulty was back on the street beat and bumped into Bodie & Carver at the start of S4. But sometimes, other events appear to continue without any break.
> 
> Anyways, I suggest that the story moves on quite a bit in the time between each season, so it's not quite so shocking to see the character developments appear slightly exaggerated due to the extended time-line.
> 
> Is anyone else confused by this, or have I missed something incredibly simple?!



We are getting them season after season whilst the small audience who watched them when they were on television originally had to wait 40 weeks after the last season finished until the start oif the new one.

Look at Dukie - he has certainly grown into him self between s4 and s5  - even his lips seem to fit now. he was a little boy at the start of s4 - all smelly and weird faced - looks more of a young man now.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 26, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Look at Dukie - he has certainly grown into him self between s4 and s5  - even his lips seem to fit now. he was a little boy at the start of s4 - all smelly and weird faced - looks more of a young man now.



I'm not sure those lips will ever fit his face, but he's certainly having a go bless him.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 26, 2009)

First time around I guessed the 'Boys of Summer' are 15 at this point - just over two years since they tried to catch pigeons in a box and filled condoms with their own piss.


----------



## D'wards (Aug 27, 2009)

Why did the Cheese give up Prop Joe so easy? I know Marlo gave him Hungry Man, but it was his uncle. Don't get that.


----------



## The Boy (Aug 27, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Why did the Cheese give up Prop Joe so easy? I know Marlo gave him Hungry Man, but it was his uncle. Don't get that.



Prop Joe has never really been a big fan of Cheese though, has he?  Right from the scene in season 2 when Boris and Etan sort out the beef that Nick and Ziggy have with Cheese, he [Joe] is making comments about him being a fuck-up but not being able to do anything about it due to his being family.

I'm pretty sure the Joe/Cheese relationship is a tense one throughout, and the way Cheese felt humiliated at the co-op meeting was probs the last straw.

Or something.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

Cheese never had any respect for familiy, he's all about money. Joe did respect family as we know - hell, he died surrounded by photographs of family going back several decades in the old family home. It's the young 'uns again, different breed coming up, etc.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2009)

s'what I think a lot of you new viewers are missing._ Marlo is a shark_. And he'll attract his own ruthless kind. He's not on about no fucking co-op. Take corners, don't negotiate for em


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 27, 2009)

The boy Marlo gotta fall.


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 27, 2009)

Even at the end he tried a Proposition, shame he wasn't dealing with a businessman.

Liked the scene at the beginning too, where Prop Joe gives a quick summary of Butchie's career and orders flowers for his funeral. Kind of whets the appetite for a prequel series showing the early days (Butchie, Prop Joe and then Avon coming up), although I'm sure that's been vetoed.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

The florist was also a reminder of Bodie ordering flowers for D’Angelo’s funeral. This time around we got to understand the florist was no stranger to the street and probably stands as one of the few examples of someone getting out of the game. 

I always like that people like Marlo, Avon and Prop Joe don’t carry folding money – for obvious stop and search reasons, because it reminds me of the Queen.

This time we got to see a lie not developing – Carver stood up. 

Some excellent lines as well: Micheal  “I ain’t paying you to be my mother”

Prop Joe: “He was a year before me at Dunbar. Irvine was in the Glee Club”
Herc: “It’s killing me . . .
Prop Joe: “Stone stupid”

McNulty seems more relaxed now he’s got Lester to share the burden of the serial killer, though Beadie’s had enough it seems.


A couple of small points: Did you notice the character formally employed with Frank Sobotka at the docks? And also DS refers to the late 70s again with the background music in the bar – this time The Clash with Train in Vain.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

Do you guys like watch episodes with a notepad and pen at the ready?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

No we sit there saying "This 15-year old is hot".


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> No we sit there saying "This 15-year old is hot".



yeah but analysing the thing to DEATH til it doesnt even exist anymore kinda takes all the fun out of it.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

I'll write that down.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

do so


----------



## Crispy (Aug 27, 2009)

Madusa said:


> yeah but analysing the thing to DEATH til it doesnt even exist anymore kinda takes all the fun out of it.


Think of it like bonus features on the DVD


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

C'mon! Who was the character from the docks . . .


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Think of it like bonus features on the DVD



I like reading peoples speculations and that on here, I was actually refering to London Calling who tends to take the fun out of everything.


----------



## Crispy (Aug 27, 2009)

Madusa said:


> I like reading peoples speculations and that on here, I was actually refering to London Calling who tends to take the fun out of everything.


We keep him around to reassure ourselves that we're not _really_ obsessed


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

If you like writing, it's about the best learning tool I've ever had, so I tend to use it  . . . and I'm hardly going to apologise for that.

Madusa - some people look at the statue of David and see a small cock, others see what the artist intended. Each to their own.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> If you like writing, it's about the best learning tool I've ever had, so I tend to use it  . . . and I'm hardly going to apologise for that.
> 
> Madusa - some people look at the statue of David and see a small cock, others see what the artist intended. Each to their own.



It's not either/or you know! As a well-rounded person, it is quite possible to see both.  I enjoyed The Wire just as much as you obviously did but it aint a competition. 

Plus I wasnt aware this thread was being graded for people's analytical skills otherwise I would have tried harder.  Lighten up, ffs.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

I see, it's me who's being judgemental.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

Oh forget it!  Sorry for the intrusion.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 27, 2009)

What's wrong with a little insight here and there? I'm quite glad of all the contributions to this thread, I'm obviously not as clever as some of you and it's very enlightening hearing stuff from other people's perspective.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Oh forget it!  Sorry for the intrusion.


We're here to discuss The Wire as it unfolds on BBC2. Some might find your contributions about who is and who isn't 'hot' irritatingly banal but it's a thread abot the show as it unfolds and, if that's your angle, it's fine by me.

I'm not going to criticise you for it, at least not until you start criticising me _directly_ for using the show as a learrning aid.


----------



## Madusa (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> We're here to discuss The Wire as it unfolds on BBC2. Some might find your contributions about who is and who isn't 'hot' irritatingly banal but it's a thread abot the show as it unfolds and, if that's your angle, it's fine by me.
> 
> I'm not going to criticise you for it, at least not until you start criticising me _directly_ for using the show as a learrning aid.



I dont have BBC2 so cant follow every episode in minute details so apologies if my banal and irritating contributions arent quite up to your standards.  God, your attitude is funny. Dont worry, I will give your precious thread a wide berth from now on, wouldnt want to hinder your Wire phD. 

Bye bye sweet cheeks. xxx


----------



## The Boy (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> C'mon! Who was the character from the docks . . .



Johnny Fifty.


----------



## Gingerman (Aug 27, 2009)

Im glad Omar did'nt drop SlimCharles,that fuckin Cheese though,hes a wrong un,bet even Marlo's got fuck all time for him,just someone to use on his way to the top.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 27, 2009)

The Boy said:


> Johnny Fifty.



Because he drank 53 beers on his 21st birthday.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Aug 27, 2009)

.


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

He also pleaded the "5th Commandment".

Played, The Boy!


----------



## gnoriac (Aug 27, 2009)

Get a feeling that, given what happened last night [avoiding spoiler here], it's heading to an almighty bloodbath? Not just Omar v Marlo, but loads of other interested parties.


----------



## Spion (Aug 27, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> s'what I think a lot of you new viewers are missing._ Marlo is a shark_. And he'll attract his own ruthless kind. He's not on about no fucking co-op. Take corners, don't negotiate for em


Or in other words . . . Joe represented one kind of leadership, based on a degree of consensus while Marlo represents pure dictatorship. When Cheese bridled at the cooperative structure not allowing him to exercise his beef with Hungry Man Marlo saw the opportunity to put a wedge in


----------



## Spion (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Did you notice the character formally employed with Frank Sobotka at the docks?


It was Nicky Sobotka, no?


----------



## YouSir (Aug 27, 2009)

Spion said:


> It was Nicky Sobotka, no?



Nope, as they said, it was Johnny Fifty, he was with the homeless guys that McNulty and Lester were talking to, nice touch I thought.

Next episode's gotta see Slim Charles go down, or disappear; Marlo wouldn't leave someone so loyal to Joe still wandering around like that. And Cheese'll get it, probably from Marlo for generally being a fuck up.

Will the co-op react though? Surely they couldn't let Marlo go on dropping two charter members and even if he's got the supply now he's still a massive liability.


----------



## Spion (Aug 27, 2009)

YouSir said:


> Will the co-op react though? Surely they couldn't let Marlo go on dropping two charter members


Do they know it's Marlo tho?


----------



## London_Calling (Aug 27, 2009)

Spion said:


> Or in other words . . . Joe represented one kind of leadership, based on a degree of consensus while Marlo represents pure dictatorship.


Except Joe controlled _everything_ by having the connect. 

The co-op had a veneer of cooperation but that's because Joe was a good manipulator or propagandist, imo.


----------



## Spion (Aug 27, 2009)

YouSir said:


> Nope, as they said, it was Johnny Fifty, he was with the homeless guys that McNulty and Lester were talking to, nice touch I thought.


Oh, I musta missed that. I'm sure Nicky reappears somewhere tho


----------



## Spion (Aug 27, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Except Joe controlled _everything_ by having the connect.
> 
> The co-op had a veneer of cooperation but that's because Joe was a good manipulator or propagandist, imo.


True. That's why I said _a degree _of consensus


----------



## YouSir (Aug 27, 2009)

Spion said:


> Do they know it's Marlo tho?



Mhm, 'spose they could mark it down as Omar. But if Cheese re-emerges with Marlo's crew and they connect it with that County guys going down after arguing with Cheese then the dots are connected. Plus Slim Charles is still out there, he'd know it wasn't Omar and and he'd spread the word.


----------



## Refused as fuck (Aug 27, 2009)

Had a legitimate reason to say "we've lost The Wire" at work just now. I felt cool as fuck saying it. 

Even though I was only talking aboout a programming cable.


----------



## DotCommunist (Aug 27, 2009)

Madusa said:


> Do you guys like watch episodes with a notepad and pen at the ready?



well, when I watched it the first time round I did so in three-ep bursts. While the superficial elements of cops n robbers, gangsta stuff and that stayed with me I found myself thinking about the deeper structures and themes a lot (iirc I was still studying when I watched it first time and was in the lit-crit mindframe)

watching it a second time is even better, because I'm getting a proper feel for subtle connections that got lost in my initial watch, under the sheer appreciation of awesome.


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 27, 2009)

I find that if I watch three episodes in a row, I start to miss things. Once it's all done, I'll be watching it again from the start.

I reckon you could watch any season in any order, as it'd be just as interesting to find out the back-story of certain events/characters and treat earlier seasons as 'prequels' as opposed to watching it all in the correct order.


----------



## madamv (Aug 27, 2009)

God I hope that Omar is triumphant in his taking down of Marlo.  Thats a muther who totally deserves what he got coming to him, and more....

Meanwhile, why do we keep getting a lookin at the reporter bloke who wanted to change jobs?  I suppose he is going to get some big story on the Clayton trial, but anything else?


----------



## El Sueno (Aug 28, 2009)

I just spilled some coffee down my front, then cleaned myself up dabbing my shirt with paper towels in the toilet just like Landsman in the finale of S4 when Bubs pukes all over him. All that was missing was the festive tie. And a further 15 stone in weight. And... well, let's not get pedantic._ A lot of things._

Made me smile though. Although I was rather aftaid I'd get back to my desk and find my colleague's hung 'imsel.


----------



## hektik (Aug 28, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Why did the Cheese give up Prop Joe so easy? I know Marlo gave him Hungry Man, but it was his uncle. Don't get that.



also, from season 4: proposition joe put cheese on the package re-up to marlo that he  was going to direct omar too  - meaning that cheese would potentially be in the firing line for when omar came calling for marlo.

I guess cheese realised that he was never going to get any higher up the in game than where he was - in previous times, this would have been ok, and he would have accepted it. not any more. the game is more fierce.


----------



## Gromit (Aug 28, 2009)

Carcetti playing english nobility on Shanghai Knights right now is most lol.


----------



## starfish (Aug 29, 2009)

Yeah twat, licks arse, actualy. Carver dont fuck with him.


----------



## wtfftw (Aug 29, 2009)

I thought Joe would get killed but didn't expect it to be so soon.


----------



## starfish (Aug 29, 2009)

drag0n said:


> I thought Joe would get killed but didn't expect it to be so soon.



Aye, Marlos a real shifty fucker .


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 2, 2009)

Omar can fly he walked into that one last night,do you reckon McNulty and that journo knew they were both bullshitting about the 'phone call'?


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

The McNulty serial killer thing is the biggest pile of shit story in any of the 5 series.  It just doesn't make any sense at all and there's no way that Lester would help him, it's like two completely different characters - I don't know how it ends, but I hope McNulty gets caught.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

Heh  It was always going to get to this point.

The question to ask - imo - is does the writer/s know what he's doing or has he lost the plot? 

If you accept he knows what he's doing, the challenge becomes working out WTF is going on, what is it the writers are discussing here? 

If not, you just write it off as shit and vote it as the worst series of the five the next time someone posts a poll.

It certainly has a very different feel to the preceeding four series.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 2, 2009)

on a minor aside there was a nice long 'shiiiiiiiiiiiiit' from Clay Davis last night.

Always be wary of a man who refers to himself in the third person


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)




----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

Follow the lie.

Upscale the lie beyond city level.

Think about that time in that society.

The big clue of last nights hour was maybe the speech by Bond: "Public trust of public servants . . . " etc.

And remember the lines spoken in the first scene of the series.


----------



## Crispy (Sep 2, 2009)

Thing is, if I wanted to get a clever insightful essay on the iraq war and the lies told to make it happen, I'd read a magazine or website. I watch the wire cos it's good telly with consistent realistic characters, gripping drama and satisfying plotlines. S5 throws lots of that out the window.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

Is that what it is then? This serial killer is a metaphor for the WMD that were never found in Iraq???? And Marlo is Saddam Hussein?? Have the writer's actually said that? Sounds like a load of old shit to me.


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Thing is, if I wanted to get a clever insightful essay on the iraq war and the lies told to make it happen, I'd read a magazine or website. I watch the wire cos it's good telly with consistent realistic characters, gripping drama and satisfying plotlines. S5 throws lots of that out the window.



I did find the serial killer storyline implausible and out of character, and even though I take London Calling's point about its intention, it is nonetheless a real shark jump. But what saves S5 is that provided you can tolerate this central conceit, the rest of the writing works round it perfectly, they haven't thrown the baby out with the bathwater.


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Is that what it is then? This serial killer is a metaphor for the WMD that were never found in Iraq???? And Marlo is Saddam Hussein?? Have the writer's actually said that? Sounds like a load of old shit to me.



i think you're being a little bit literal.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 2, 2009)

Crispy said:


> Thing is, if I wanted to get a clever insightful essay on the iraq war and the lies told to make it happen, I'd read a magazine or website.



If you wanted. 
But you don't. 
Neither do loads of others. 
Which is maybe why people sometime feel the need to slip it into popular media.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 2, 2009)

i don't think it's like that really - certainly parallels are to be made, but it's not the big secret that lc thinks he's so cleverly deduced and that no one else has seen


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

Gromit said:


> If you wanted.
> But you don't.



and you know that how exactly?


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i don't think it's like that really - certainly parallels are to be made, but it's not the big secret that lc thinks he's so cleverly deduced and that no one else has seen



it's a bit nauseating, isn't it?


----------



## Crispy (Sep 2, 2009)

I wish he'd tell us then, instead of being all history teacher!


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

But Crispy - Would those magazines and web sites describe the process by which otherwise decent people get sucked into someone elses lie, or demonstrate how the role of institutions is only to act and not to question the veracity of why they do what they do, or how  a lie can be strengthened, manipulated and altered to serve the purpose of other individuals or institutions unassociated with the original. 

Maybe later we'll look at the price paid of individuals and institutions using the lie to their own advantage rather than questioning the lie.

It's a treatise not an article; it describes the whole process from a human, not a factual or political, perspective.


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Maybe later we'll look at the price of individuals and institutions using the lie to their own advantage rather than questioning the lie.



patronising arse.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 2, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> and you know that how exactly?



When people start a sentence "if i wanted" they generally don't do any of the suggested alternatives either.

If I want to learn about Shakespeare I'll watch the film. Ew this film is boooring, put on Clueless instead, she's sooo pretty, lurve her hair.


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 2, 2009)

Gromit said:


> When people start a sentence "if i wanted" they generally don't do any of the suggested alternatives either.
> 
> If I want to learn about Shakespeare I'll watch the film. Ew this film is boooring, put on Clueless instead, she's sooo pretty, lurve her hair.





but no, you're right. Crispy's definitely not the sort of poster to read extensively around a subject or anything, he's got no head for facts or anything. And he just LOVES romcoms.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> patronising arse.


Perhaps clumsily, I'm trying to adhere to the no spoilers rule. 

But lets not talk because i find your personal attacks less than constructive.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> i think you're being a little bit literal.



Intentionally so.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i don't think it's like that really - certainly parallels are to be made, but it's not the big secret that lc thinks he's so cleverly deduced and that no one else has seen


It's a shame you don't feel able to talk to me directly, having talked on this board for quite some while now.

From my pov, it's also a shame you don't differentiate between a tone _hopefully_ suitable for people viewing this programme for the first time and those who've seen it and who have fully formed views.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 2, 2009)

so you wanted a pm telling you that your posts on this thread are often helpful and insightful, yet the tone of them is irritatingly pompous?


----------



## Crispy (Sep 2, 2009)

Sorry lc, your tone doesn't come across as helpful for newbies, it comes across as irratatingly pompous.

"now then, my child-like students. have you managed to grasp the awesome truths this week?"

an exageration, but it's true. sorry.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's a shame you don't feel able to talk to me directly, having talked on this board for quite some while now.
> 
> From my pov, it's also a shame you don't differentiate between a tone _hopefully_ suitable for people viewing this programme for the first time *and those who've seen it and who have fully formed views*.



You see, that's quite pompous.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 2, 2009)

It's ok, I accept it.

I hope it's not how I usually post on the internet. Maybe it's different because it's part way in a *notes to self* form. Kind of 'this is how the writer develops this device' - the writing mechanics of it as it were, for my own education.

Anyway, sorry about that.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Sep 2, 2009)

It could be said that LCs arc runs almost in paralel with that of Culvin in Series 3, or Sobotka in Series 2 - the obsession with his own rightness, the belief that only he sees the big picture, the pride before the fall.  Surely, the Wire Series 6 (set in a decaying internet, where there is no true right or wrong, just shades of grey...) is shaping up to be the finest of the lot...

Sorry LC, couldnt resist.  I personally enjoy your insight and analysis, fwiw.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

Oh and Steve Earle is dreadful.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 2, 2009)

fen_boy said:


> Oh and Steve Earle is dreadful.



He does the theme toon on this one, the worst one. And his hair is appaling


----------



## Crispy (Sep 2, 2009)

PS: I do enjoy your insights and analysis, LC, it's just the tone


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 2, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> It's ok, I accept it.
> 
> I hope it's not how I usually post on the internet. Maybe it's different because it's part way in a *notes to self* form. Kind of 'this is how the writer develops this device' - the writing mechanics of it as it were, for my own education.
> 
> Anyway, sorry about that.



it's just this thread, as far as i can tell


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 2, 2009)

I get the feeling that David Simon is airing some serious grudges in the Newspaper scenes, the 2 head guys (let's call them cipher's 1 and 2, because that's all they are) are so poorly written you half expect them to be slithering around the newsroom and cackling.

Compared to the detailed portrayal of assholes we've seen in previous seasons (and the fact Simon is dealing with his home turf, as it were), it's a bit of a let-down so far. Hidden depths may emerge, but I don't see how there's enough time left to do it?


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 2, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> on a minor aside there was a nice long 'shiiiiiiiiiiiiit' from Clay Davis last night.



The longest yet by my reckoning, and by quite a stretch too! The camera cut to another angle and it was still rumbling on in the background.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 2, 2009)

Norman Wilson (carcetteis aide) let a long one rip last season.


----------



## Crispy (Sep 2, 2009)




----------



## El Sueno (Sep 2, 2009)

Crispy said:


>


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 2, 2009)

Someones done a re-mix tune as well


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 2, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> *Norman Wilson *(carcetteis aide) let a long one rip last season.



He was on breakfast tv this morning, he's playing Red (Morgan Freeman's character) in the stage production of Shawshank Redemption, was quite weird to see him bald.


----------



## kained&able (Sep 2, 2009)

I had major misgivings about the whole fake serial killer thing especially in lester not being the voice of reason but i reckon it ends up working quite well and is a good device to give the newspaper stuff prominence.


dave


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 2, 2009)

Surely any evidence they gather on Marlo with the wire tap would be ruled inadmissable of a court of law since the tap was specifically issued for the bogus serial killer,how the hell are they going to explain that one?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 2, 2009)

you use the wire tap to inform po-lice of an opportunity to catch the criminal in the act of criminality and they explain it via 'anonymous tip-off'

simples.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 2, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> simples.



You're history's greatest monster!!!!


----------



## Gromit (Sep 3, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Surely any evidence they gather on Marlo with the wire tap would be ruled inadmissable of a court of law since the tap was specifically issued for the bogus serial killer,how the hell are they going to explain that one?



They've already said. A confidential informant (CI) is going to magically appear.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2009)

fuzzy dunlop?


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 3, 2009)

I know it's possible to survive jumping out of a (5, or 6?) floor window whilst being shot at, without paralysing yourself, but _come on_

They're in danger of over-egging Omar's character towards the end here (and, as much as I like him, if he survives all the way I think I'll be a little disappointed).

Also, McNulty's now so far over the line he can't see the fucker with binoculars (and shame on Lester too, this obsession with Marlo is seriously messing up his judgement).

In contrast, The Bunk works his case from the ground up and finds the connection to Marlo, even whilst being hampered by the Serial Killer case taking precedence.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 3, 2009)

Nice to see Omar back in business so quick, fucked up leg n'all. He's putting a message out on the street that Marlo aint nuthin but a pussy. Even Chris is getting anxious.

Liked the way last night's episode began too, with the ambulance wheeling the body away from the scene... leaving you to wonder if it was Omar they found dead in the bushes. I was pretty sure I knew better, but you never really know with the Wire do ya.

The serial-killer/newspaper/mayor/homeless storyline seems to be coming together too. Get the feeling it's all building to something.

Oh, nice to see Nicky Sobotka heckling the Mayor down the docks, too.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 3, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I know it's possible to survive jumping out of a (5, or 6?) floor window whilst being shot at, without paralysing yourself, but _come on_
> 
> They're in danger of over-egging Omar's character towards the end here (and, as much as I like him, if he survives all the way I think I'll be a little disappointed).
> 
> Also, McNulty's now so far over the line he can't see the fucker with binoculars (and shame on Lester too, this obsession with Marlo is seriously messing up his judgement).



I thought "that spiderman sh*t right there" was stretching credibility too, until I read this:


Donnie Andrews, one of Simons and Burns' real-life sources for Omar's character, a now-reformed dealer-jacker, claims:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/donnie-andrews-the-road-to-redemption-1711563.html

"Eventually, like many Baltimore locals, he found himself cast in the show - as one of Omar's crew. His character was killed in a shootout, from which Omar escaped by leaping from a fifth-floor balcony. "That really happened to me," Andrews chuckles, "but I had to jump out of the sixth floor. It was either lead poisoning or take my chances, so I took my chances. I did it without thinking. If I'd thought about it, I might have taken the lead poisoning."  "

Can't remember who said it first, but yes, McNutty is now so far over the line that the line is a DOT to him. 

Still loving s5 even while watching the repeats, but the other night I caught a bit of s5 on BBC2 back to back with a bit of s3 being repeated on FX. The difference in quality is noticeable, sadly. All about control of the pacing, and the photography in s3 seems to have a particular gorgeousness that's been lost by s5.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 3, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Oh, nice to see Nicky Sobotka heckling the Mayor down the docks, too.



I'm guessing he just got bored of witness protection and is taking his chances then?

Shame we couldn't see his missus


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 3, 2009)

Thanks for the comments, including Jon-of-arc's amusing contribution.

At this point the whole thing goes mental; either you go with the idea of McNulty and Freamon as kind of Bush and Cheney, with WMD as the serial killer and homelessness as The War on Terrah or you disconnect. Disconnect by all means, the interpretation I’ve offered isn’t supported elsewhere and I’ve never seen DS talk of it, so it could well be nuts.

“I’ve reached a point, Detective Sydnor, where I no longer have the time or patience left to address myself to the needs of the system within which we work. When they took us off Marlo this last time, when they said they couldn’t pay for further investigation, I regarded that decision as illegitimate. And so, I’m responding in kind. I’m gonna press a case against Marlo Stanfield without regard to the usual rules.”


What causes me some concern in making the case is that these characters were created before 9/11, and series 1 was being filmed as 9/11 happened. There was obviously no issue of WMD at that point, far less TWAT. If David Simon and his team decided mid point to turn S5 to be about something that was unfolding around them, it was a hell of a call.

On the other hand, they’re clearly not precious about what they’ve produced or their characters and there does seem to be an end-of-term vibe in S5; the piss-take of the whole CSI thing (as seen on C5 most nights), throwing back (several times) to the critics and audience the term 'Dickensian', having fun with the Omar/superhero character who, by this time, had become seriously cult the first time around (Marlo talking about that Spiderman shit).

But then we meet the war Vet, talking about Fallujah of all places. The one town Bush razed to the ground, to set an example. If all the pieces do matter . . .


----------



## gosub (Sep 3, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> I thought "that spiderman sh*t right there" was stretching credibility too, until I read this:
> 
> 
> Donnie Andrews, one of Simons and Burns' real-life sources for Omar's character, a now-reformed dealer-jacker, claims:
> ...



TBF Series 5 was made during the writers strrike which explains the pace issues, not though plot, McNulty character is behaving out of character.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 3, 2009)

I know I've seen that war vet in something else but I can't for the life of me think what.


----------



## Intastella (Sep 3, 2009)

DLd season 1 & 2 the other day...i was up 'til 6am watching them this morning! My eyelids feel like i've got half of Blackpool beach under them now   Still a few to go...i feel another marathon sesh coming on...maybe not tonight tho!


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 3, 2009)

trabuquera said:


> Can't remember who said it first, but yes, McNutty is now so far over the line that the line is a DOT to him.



It was Joey.

To Chandler.

In Friends.


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 3, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> It was Joey.
> 
> To Chandler.
> 
> In Friends.



Wasn't it Joey to Ross, when Ross kissed Chandler's mum


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 3, 2009)

LilJen said:


> Wasn't it Joey to Ross, when Ross kissed Chandler's mum



nah, it was when Chandler got off with Joey's girlfriend and had to sit in a box for 6 hours.

I only know this cos that very scene was on yesterday.


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 3, 2009)

El Jefe said:


> nah, it was when Chandler got off with Joey's girlfriend and had to sit in a box for 6 hours.
> 
> I only know this cos that very scene was on yesterday.



I feel so much less sad now, thank Jeff


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2009)

you watched friends


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 3, 2009)

i was filling out a long benefit form yesterday and it was on in the background


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2009)

YOU WATCHED FRIENDS


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 3, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> YOU WATCHED FRIENDS



you BROADCAST Friends. And watch it.

And played Gunter.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2009)

friends is being dropped soon. thank fuck.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 3, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Shame we couldn't see his missus



Agreed. But those perfect tits will be waiting for me on the s2 dvd...


----------



## D'wards (Sep 3, 2009)

I had a day off work and couldn't wait, so borrowed the boxsets and motored through to the end.

I dunno how you lot who've seen it all can bear to post on this thread, i'm so conscious of posting spoilers.

*Drums fingers impatiently waiting for it to finish on BBC2 so can rejoin thread*

Series 2 had loads of dinkles and boobs in it, but no other series had them  - what was going through the producers minds you think?


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 3, 2009)

DS was giving the actors who wanted it their Hollywood show reels: Look at my body, it'd look great on a big screen. The scenes were never integral. Imo.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The scenes were never integral. Imo.



That scene where Nicky grabbed his bird's tits was pretty fucking integral, but in fairness, only in respect to the wank I had shortly afterwards.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 3, 2009)

ew


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 3, 2009)

Speckled the screen like a decorators radio.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Speckled the screen like a decorators radio.





Never heard that one before, what a succint mental image!


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 3, 2009)

Not mine either, sadly.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 3, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> Not mine either, sadly.



I think it could be Jimmy Carr's


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 3, 2009)

Is it fuck, it's from Viz )(rogers profanisaurus)


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 3, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I think it could be Jimmy Carr's



nothing Jimmy Carr ever says is Jimmy Carr's


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 3, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Is it fuck, it's from Viz )(rogers profanisaurus)



I still love the 'notes and swearies' section. "Dear Dr. Fuck;" 

Last night's blatant parallels between Carcetti, Rawls & Daniels' bullshit speeches seemed to come at the right time for Lester to make clear he's following his own path. Nicely balanced by Bunk continuing to do real Po-lice work. 

Reminds me of the proverb or whatever it was (fable?) of the three-headed crocodile, each mouth scrapping for the same bite of food not realising they all share the same stomach... I have a feeling McNulty, Freemon, Bunk & Kima will all come together just in time to make the case against Marlo.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 3, 2009)

So Omar hid out in the basement then? Surely one of the 1st places Chris's guys shoulda checked out? For a moment I though McNulty was considering killing the old homeless guy.I loved the way Rawles tried to drop Daniels in it at the press conference,musta pissed him off to see Daniels handle it pretty well.


----------



## gnoriac (Sep 3, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> . Nicely balanced by Bunk continuing to do real Po-lice work.



It's starting to feel like Bunk's the only one in the Police Dept in touch with reality.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 3, 2009)

Why dont the cops go to Carcetti and tell him that Marlo is responsible for a lot of the crime in Baltimore?,then they can ask him for more resources in bringing him down and maybe also reduce the crime rate in the city for a while at least therefore fulfilling one of his pre-election promises.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 3, 2009)

What happened last time they got 5 minutes of his time? He gave them 2 detectives to work the Clay Davis case and fucked the rest of it off.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 4, 2009)

Is that the 1st time Omar killed someone in cold blood? The repacussions of Mc Nultys big lie are going to be fucking massive and are going to affect a lot of people


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 4, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Is that the 1st time Omar killed someone in cold blood? The repacussions of Mc Nultys big lie are going to be fucking massive and are going to affect a lot of people



No, he's killed plenty of guys in cold blood, he just keeps it in the game.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 4, 2009)

Omar's on a _spree_. I like it that he's putting the word on the street that Marlo is nothing but a pussy who won't face him. Not doing his superhero 'Robin Hood' image any harm, that.

Struck me yesterday that Michael is the new Bodie.. a pawn moving up in the world. I'm scared the same fate awaits him - wasn't he fucking lucky that Omar didn't cop a look at him in the apartment shootout, or he'd be a dead boy sat on that corner. Loved the scene with him and Dukie going through the job ads and doing their little dance 

Also was left thinking that even though Avon and Stringer were cold-blooded, Marlo's gone and redefined the word ruthless. The way he coolly disbanded the co-op, knowing he had the connect and nobody could do anything about it, then upped the price... motherfucker!


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 4, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Struck me yesterday that Michael is the new Bodie.. a pawn moving up in the world.



I find it slightly odd that Michael is being used as both muscle / hitter and working a corner. Have we seen many other players in the game performing both roles? (and yes, Bodie and Poot killed Wallace, but that seemed a more ad-hoc decision by Stringer because they knew Wallace well enough to get into his home).


----------



## Gromit (Sep 4, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I find it slightly odd that Michael is being used as both muscle / hitter and working a corner. Have we seen many other players in the game performing both roles? (and yes, Bodie and Poot killed Wallace, but that seemed a more ad-hoc decision by Stringer because they knew Wallace well enough to get into his home).



They wanted him to run a corner from the start. He'll get promoted as he proves himself.  

At the same time they are 'training' him as a soldier. He ain't fully fledged soldier yet and snoops and chris have it covered anyways.

Some people don't have the skills to run a corner but can be soldiers. Some aren't good enough to be soldiers and can only work the corner. Michael is talented and can do both so they are grooming him for great things.


----------



## skyscraper101 (Sep 4, 2009)

Aggh... I've fallen behind in my viewing again and I can't read this thread til I've caught up so apologies if this has already been posed but I daren't read above.

But just to say Idris Elba (Stringer Bell) has been cast as the lead in a new BBC thriller as John Luther, a “near-genius murder detective whose brilliant mind can’t always save him from the dangerous violence of his passions”.

More here


----------



## Gromit (Sep 4, 2009)

I was watching Shaft that I'd recording off Sky some time ago. 

Kima was serving behind the bar and gave Shaft a birthday treat. 

Bubbles was a tattoo'd gangster / snitch. Alwayssnitching to the po po that boy.


----------



## belboid (Sep 4, 2009)

"Whereas traditional whodunits search for the murderer, each hour-long episode of the new drama will identify the culprit from the start"  have they never seen Columbo then?


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 4, 2009)

The Lie is going down a storm, isn’t it; Police Department has funds, the Mayor has his new cause of homelessness to run at the Governor with, the ‘paper has national coverage and a stab at the Pulitzer’s. Everyone has a purpose and every city institutional is justifying its existence and cost. The town’s buzzing – this is what they’ll call the good old days.

Victims? The taxpayers who will have to pay for all this in the decades to come, the family who are grieving and guilt-ridden about their son. Anyone else?

Easy to miss the  brief appearance from Munch

Landsmann: "It doesn't matter what any of us believe any more"


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 4, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> No, he's killed plenty of guys in cold blood, he just keeps it in the game.



Yeah but I cant recall him killing someone out of hand like that throughout the series, he normaly seems to kill in self-defence,did anyone else notice Richard Belzer in the bar last night when Gus was talking to Mello?

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001938/


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 4, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I was watching Shaft that I'd recording off Sky some time ago.
> 
> Kima was serving behind the bar and gave Shaft a birthday treat.
> 
> Bubbles was a tattoo'd gangster / snitch. Alwayssnitching to the po po that boy.


Fucking strange seeing some of the actors in other roles.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 4, 2009)

kima was in shaft too, wasn't she?
eta: d'oh, didn't read that other post properly


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 4, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Fucking strange seeing some of the actors in other roles.



best is avon barksdale playing jimi hendrix


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 4, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> best is avon barksdale playing jimi hendrix


http://www.imdb.com/media/rm4145453312/tt0260949


----------



## starfish (Sep 5, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I dunno how you lot who've seen it all can bear to post on this thread, i'm so conscious of posting spoilers.



I try not to, but when i do i make sure its bollox.


----------



## fen_boy (Sep 5, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> The Lie is going down a storm, isn’t it; Police Department has funds, the Mayor has his new cause of homelessness to run at the Governor with, the ‘paper has national coverage and a stab at the Pulitzer’s. Everyone has a purpose and every city institutional is justifying its existence and cost. The town’s buzzing – this is what they’ll call the good old days.
> 
> Victims? The taxpayers who will have to pay for all this in the decades to come, the family who are grieving and guilt-ridden about their son. Anyone else?
> 
> ...


----------



## wtfftw (Sep 7, 2009)

Fucking what?   I thought he was safe when the scene finished.


----------



## wtfftw (Sep 7, 2009)

Y'all aware that michael (? is that his name) is in the new 90210 right?


----------



## subversplat (Sep 7, 2009)

Bang! Bye bye captain boring. Two seasons too late, but a top end whatever.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Sep 7, 2009)

drag0n said:


> Y'all aware that michael (? is that his name) is in the new 90210 right?



Yeh.

Tristan Wilds.


----------



## Crispy (Sep 8, 2009)

notes time:

the kid who shot omar, kenard, was first seen play fighting on the street where omar went up against one of barksdale's stashes, where one of the girls got killed. he also ripped off namond on his corner, for which micheal beat fuck out of him.


----------



## The Boy (Sep 8, 2009)

Crispy said:


> notes time:
> 
> the kid who shot omar, kenard, was first seen play fighting on the street where omar went up against one of barksdale's stashes, where one of the girls got killed. he also ripped off namond on his corner, for which micheal beat fuck out of him.



He was also the kid who was trying to set fire to a cat at some point, was he not?


----------



## subversplat (Sep 8, 2009)

The Boy said:


> He was also the kid who was trying to set fire to a cat at some point, was he not?



Yeah in tonight's episode.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 8, 2009)

I was like, whats the point of this scene? This store don't look like a drop like that one he did over once, nope i still don... ah okay. That was an unexpected anti-climax to his tale. Unpredictable nature of life n all that i guess.


----------



## Endeavour (Sep 8, 2009)

Maybe he just wanted a pack of Newport. Soft pack.


----------



## gnoriac (Sep 8, 2009)

Exquisite bit of comedy last night, McNulty's face while the FBI guy was reading out the psychological profile of the "serial killer".


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 8, 2009)

I love the fact that even after Omar's death, the stories surrounding him continue to get more mythical, when the truth is he dies a pointless death, suffering the final insult of the morgue attendants getting the tags the wrong way round.

No glorious shoot-out in the street, no revenge for Butchie, just a punk kid who saw Omar hobbling and assumed he wasn't 'all that' after all.

Also, Beadie's speech to McNulty was good stuff, as was Sydnor figuring out the code (bit Deux ex Machina, but I can let it go with the way they did it).

The newspaper stuff is getting slightly better, but I still don't really care about them; it's too black / white for a show that normally deals in grey.


----------



## Pigeon (Sep 8, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> I love the fact that even after Omar's death, the stories surrounding him continue to get more mythical, when the truth is he dies a pointless death, suffering the final insult of the morgue attendants getting the tags the wrong way round.



Does he just get the it the wrong way round? It looked like he swapped them on purpose, for some unknown reason. A laugh?


----------



## Pigeon (Sep 8, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I was like, whats the point of this scene? This store don't look like a drop like that one he did over once...



Was it not the store he'd bought his cornflakes from in his jimjams, back in the day?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2009)

Omars death was on the cards from the moment he broke his leg. You had to suspect that the writers would play it this way. No grand revenge.


----------



## hektik (Sep 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Fucking strange seeing some of the actors in other roles.



beady is now in the american office as the new HR person.


----------



## hektik (Sep 8, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Omars death was on the cards from the moment he broke his leg. You had to suspect that the writers would play it this way. No grand revenge.



not from his broken leg, but from breaking his own code. His success in previosu years came from watching, waiting, making sure that he knew exactly what was going down before acting. 

His desperation to avenge butchie's death meant that he gave all of that up, something which he didn't do previously - he waited from s1 to s3 to get his revenge on stringer. 

once he gave up his code, he was done.


----------



## hektik (Sep 8, 2009)

rewatching series 5, a thought occurred to me that didn't the last time: do vondas and the greek give marlo up? Before the meeting with vondas, marlo never uses a phone, after prop joe tells him that he never touches a phone anymore (s4). but vondas encourages him to use the telephone. 

when marlo gives levy his phone number, levy is pleased because he knows that sooner or later they will probably get a wire tap case. 

do the greeks set marlo up for a fall, knowing that he probably killed joe?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2009)

I don't think the greeks had any loyalty to Prop tbf.

Seems to be strictly business.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

I can't believe how calm you all are about Omar

I was fucking hysterical when I saw that first time!  I kept willing him to get up off the floor, could not take in that this was the end - even in the morgue I thought it was still a trick and that he'd get up and go off


----------



## D'wards (Sep 8, 2009)

hektik said:


> beady is now in the american office as the new HR person.



And Stringer Bell as the area manager


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I can't believe how calm you all are about Omar
> 
> I was fucking hysterical when I saw that first time!  I kept willing him to get up off the floor, could not take in that this was the end - even in the morgue I thought it was still a trick and that he'd get up and go off



he had it coming so it was no real surprise - i was more upset by the demise of bodie


----------



## Harold Hill (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I can't believe how calm you all are about Omar
> 
> I was fucking hysterical when I saw that first time!  I kept willing him to get up off the floor, could not take in that this was the end - even in the morgue I thought it was still a trick and that he'd get up and go off



I was gutted when i saw it the first time, and very pissed off.  Just thought he made it through everything else, just seemed really cheap. I suppose that was the point though.  A bit similar to the way most of the big guns in City of God got gunned down.


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> he had it coming so it was no real surprise - i was more upset by the demise of bodie



I didn't think he had it coming at all.  How so? 



Harold Hill said:


> I was gutted when i saw it the first time, and very pissed off.  Just thought he made it through everything else, just seemed really cheap. I suppose that was the point though.  A bit similar to the way most of the big guns in City of God got gunned down.



I think I completely fell hook line and sinker for some kind of immortality shit

Just didn't think he was capable of being killed


----------



## D'wards (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I didn't think he had it coming at all.  How so?
> 
> I think I completely fell hook line and sinker for some kind of immortality shit
> 
> Just didn't think he was capable of being killed



T o be honest, i love Omar but thought the immortailty line was a bit over the top - when he was doing the robberies only takes one yo to shot him as he walked away from his robberies. I always thought the Wire was meant to be realistic, rather than Commado or something. One man cannot take on a whole room of tooled up drug dealers by himself.


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I can't believe how calm you all are about Omar
> 
> I was fucking hysterical when I saw that first time!  I kept willing him to get up off the floor, could not take in that this was the end - even in the morgue I thought it was still a trick and that he'd get up and go off



I'm with you blud

I even named a cat after him


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 8, 2009)

D'wards said:


> T o be honest, i love Omar but thought the immortailty line was a bit over the top - when he was doing the robberies only takes one yo to shot him as he walked away from his robberies. I always thought the Wire was meant to be realistic, rather than Commado or something. One man cannot take on a whole room of tooled up drug dealers by himself.



But he always had the drop on them. And it was known that he was a killer.

A roomful of tooled up dealers, but who wants to draw first? Knowing that first to draw is a dead man?


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

LilJen said:


> I even named a cat after him




I'm gonna do that, next pet I get!


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

D'wards said:


> T o be honest, i love Omar but thought the immortailty line was a bit over the top - when he was doing the robberies only takes one yo to shot him as he walked away from his robberies. I always thought the Wire was meant to be realistic, rather than Commado or something. One man cannot take on a whole room of tooled up drug dealers by himself.



I fucking hero-worshipped the guy   Proper outlaw


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I'm gonna do that, next pet I get!



He got lost last night, so I was out in the street shouting "Omar, Omar coming"


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

LilJen said:


> He got lost last night, so I was out in the street shouting "Omar, Omar coming"



Haha!! Ace


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 8, 2009)

Not too many gay superheros.


hektik said:


> not from his broken leg, but from breaking his own code.
> <snip>
> once he gave up his code, he was done.


  His code was about civilians and Sunday's and not swearing, etc, imo. I'd agree that in pursuit of Marlo he broke his own rules to the game - the grief of losing his father figure in a very ugly way caused him to lose his mind a little. That followed on from the poor judgement when busting into the flat. No space in Metro to report the death.

I suppose the thing about Kennard is he's the generation after the next generation, and we've been told enough about how even the next generation plays the game differently. 

Lots of humour in this hour, I thought.


----------



## kained&able (Sep 8, 2009)

LilJen said:


> He got lost last night, so I was out in the street shouting "Omar, Omar coming"



you neeed to get him to respond to the "a hunting we will go" whistle.


dave


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> I didn't think he had it coming at all.  How so?



he'd been sticking up all and sundry for years - loads of people wanted him out of the way - easy prey for an opportunistic corner boy wanting to make a name for himself


----------



## kained&able (Sep 8, 2009)

I really love the way omar got done by a 14 year old rather then a massive shoot out.

So unclichéd  twas good work.


dave


----------



## D'wards (Sep 8, 2009)

kained&able said:


> I really love the way omar got done by a 14 year old rather then a massive shoot out.
> 
> So unclichéd  twas good work.
> 
> ...



14? Thought Kennard was about 9


----------



## belboid (Sep 8, 2009)

the actor was 12 in the final season, Kenard himself was the youngest of Namons mates, probably a couple of years younger than namon.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 8, 2009)

RIP to one of tellys great anti-heros,did'nt think he'd get done by a fucking kid,can anyone explain what Lester was trying to do when he met Clay Davis in the bar? I though Davis was cleared during one of last weeks eps and did'nt the Federal bloke tell him nothing more was going to be done about Davis?


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 8, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Exquisite bit of comedy last night, McNulty's face while the FBI guy was reading out the psychological profile of the "serial killer".


----------



## Spion (Sep 8, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> can anyone explain what Lester was trying to do when he met Clay Davis in the bar?


essentially a form of blackmail wasn't it? Didn't Lester want a name or something?


----------



## Spion (Sep 8, 2009)

Been watching The Corner lately and it's odd seeing a lot of the Wire actors as junkies and street types - Lester is a scabby old junkie, as is Norman. Sydnor's a street kid, Cedric's wife's a skanky addict etc etc

Not a patch on the Wire but worth seeing, btw


----------



## The Boy (Sep 8, 2009)

Spion said:


> essentially a form of blackmail wasn't it? Didn't Lester want a name or something?



Something like that.  Although they had already been told they couldn't take the case federal, Davis wouldn't have known this so Freamon was using that as his stick.


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 8, 2009)

Spion said:


> Been watching The Corner lately and it's odd seeing a lot of the Wire actors as junkies and street types - Lester is a scabby old junkie, as is Norman. Sydnor's a street kid, Cedric's wife's a skanky addict etc etc


 Innit


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> he'd been sticking up all and sundry for years - loads of people wanted him out of the way - easy prey for an opportunistic corner boy wanting to make a name for himself



Sorry, I was taking it personally

I thought you meant that YOU thought he had it coming.  See what you mean now 

And London Calling - damn right re gay superheroes.

I wanted to hunt down Kenard and strangle the little shit


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

Spion said:


> Been watching The Corner lately and it's odd seeing a lot of the Wire actors as junkies and street types - Lester is a scabby old junkie, as is Norman. Sydnor's a street kid, Cedric's wife's a skanky addict etc etc
> 
> Not a patch on the Wire but worth seeing, btw



Yeh, I had real problems with Lester's character, but got used to it

Really fucking grim though, the Corner


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> Sorry, I was taking it personally
> 
> I thought you meant that YOU thought he had it coming.  See what you mean now



well that's true too


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> well that's true too





How could you not love Omar?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 8, 2009)

sojourner said:


> How could you not love Omar?



i do but he's still a bad man


----------



## subversplat (Sep 8, 2009)

I couldn't wait for Omar to get got since he did that bullshit scene in his dressing gown (s4e1) and everybody ran away scared. Stupid.


----------



## Jenerys (Sep 8, 2009)

subversplat said:


> I couldn't wait for Omar to get got since he did that bullshit scene in his dressing gown (s4e1) and everybody ran away scared. Stupid.



That scene is bean flicking / chain yanking fodder for some of us all right


----------



## sojourner (Sep 8, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> i do but he's still a bad man


But that's why he's good 


subversplat said:


> I couldn't wait for Omar to get got since he did that bullshit scene in his dressing gown (s4e1) and everybody ran away scared. Stupid.



Well yeh, it was a bullshit scene, but still funny at the time


----------



## subversplat (Sep 8, 2009)

The game ain't no joking matter, yo.


----------



## hektik (Sep 8, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I'd agree that in pursuit of Marlo he broke his own rules to the game .



yeah, should have said broke his own rules rather than his code. Much like McNulty and Freamon are breaking the rules on their side.


----------



## hektik (Sep 8, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> I don't think the greeks had any loyalty to Prop tbf.
> 
> Seems to be strictly business.



i think that vondas had loyalty to the prop joe, the same as he had for nicky in series 2. He likes people that he knows, stability. he all but turned marlo away. it was the greek himself who overruled vondas. and just because they said that they would deal with marlo if something happened to joe, it doesn't mean that they expected him to do it, or to do it quite so quickly.

it's one of those things that make the wire so great though - no explanations, so you read it how you read it. 

oh, but found this while searching:

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.c...s-think-of-the-wire-part-five/?pagemode=print



> Flavor waved him off and kept talking. “A coin is when you play both sides because you have to. That Greek dude made a deal with somebody — someone higher up. Usually, it would be the feds. The foreign people, immigrants — like the Greeks, Latins, Jamaicans, Chinese — they don’t have nobody around here who can protect them. No one in the police, you dig? So they need to give the feds somebody fresh, somebody like Marlo. That gets them, what you call, immunity. They can’t be caught because they gave up a big fish.”


----------



## starfish (Sep 8, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> the grief of losing his father figure in a very ugly way



I was always under the impression Buchie was his uncle. Not that an Uncle cant be a father figure.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 8, 2009)

The Boy said:


> Something like that.  Although they had already been told they couldn't take the case federal, Davis wouldn't have known this so Freamon was using that as his stick.



I think he is trying to bluff him into making some sort of mistake or just wanting to make him sweat with needless worry just because he deserves to.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 9, 2009)

2 hours remaining then it's all gone - tonight and tomorrow, not the time to go missing.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 9, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> 2 hours remaining then it's all gone - tonight and tomorrow, not the time to go missing.



 2 and a half hours actually,90 min job tomorrow night.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 9, 2009)

Of course!

11.20pm - 00.50am


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 10, 2009)

Michael's a fucking dude 

Heartbreaking scenes afterwards though (first leaving Bug and then dropping Dukie off at the junkyard / stables?). Nice call back to the first time we meet the boys too (piss balloons), a lot's changed 

And McNulty's shit is royally fucked, Daniels and Pearlman look like they might add him to the serial killer's body count


----------



## gnoriac (Sep 10, 2009)

Is series 5 to be the last ever? If they make a series 6 it's gonna take a whole new cast, just about everyone's been killed off / arrested / in the shit with 1 episode to go.


----------



## Crispy (Sep 10, 2009)

It's all over, no more series


----------



## 8den (Sep 10, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Is series 5 to be the last ever? If they make a series 6 it's gonna take a whole new cast, just about everyone's been killed off / arrested / in the shit with 1 episode to go.



Done and dusted. Check out the series creators other shows "Generation Kill" about Marines in Iraq at the start of the invasion. And the forthcoming Treme, about Jazzz musicians in post Katerina New Orelans.


----------



## ddraig (Sep 10, 2009)

so last episode ever tonight?


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 10, 2009)

Then you can go onto the excellent David Simon penned Generation Kill which is the best Iraq 2 drama I've seen.


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 10, 2009)

The scene with Michael, Bug and Dukie in the car 

That seems to be the only chance anyone gets for redemption in the wire, the chance to still feel human emotions despite it all and despite the fact that those emotions are almost invariably bad. The same is true for Bubbles, for whom a mind unclouded by drugs is just a mind opened up to grief and shame.


----------



## maomao (Sep 10, 2009)

gnoriac said:


> Is series 5 to be the last ever? If they make a series 6 it's gonna take a whole new cast, just about everyone's been killed off / arrested / in the shit with 1 episode to go.



Wasn't that a deliberate move to make sure that HBO couldn't go and do a series 6 without the original writing team?


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 10, 2009)

8den said:


> And the forthcoming Treme, about Jazzz musicians in post Katerina New Orelans.



That sounds like it might be in some considerable danger of being very good


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 10, 2009)

maomao said:


> Wasn't that a deliberate move to make sure that HBO couldn't go and do a series 6 without the original writing team?



I don't think HBO even wanted to comission series 5 tbh, the ratings were never all that great. That's why this series was cropped to 10 episodes instead of the usual 13 IIRC.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 10, 2009)

I'm refusing to let go off this show and am commissioningg series 6 as of now. We can make it ourselves urbs on the streets of Brixtonmall.

I'll play McNaulty 

What parts do you guys want?


----------



## Crispy (Sep 10, 2009)

No part in your plan if you can't spell the lead character's name right


----------



## SpookyFrank (Sep 10, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I'm refusing to let go off this show and am commissioningg series 6 as of now. We can make it ourselves urbs on the streets of Brixtonmall.
> 
> I'll play McNulty
> 
> What parts do you guys want?



I'll be Clay Davis


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 10, 2009)

Nicky Subodka for me


----------



## kained&able (Sep 10, 2009)

i will be the ghost of bodie.


dave


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 10, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Nicky Subodka for me



I wonder why 

For similar reasons, can I be Lester? Bloke's a suave motherfucker.


----------



## 8den (Sep 10, 2009)

SpookyFrank said:


> I don't think HBO even wanted to comission series 5 tbh, the ratings were never all that great. That's why this series was cropped to 10 episodes instead of the usual 13 IIRC.



At the time of the launch of series 4, HBO did a massive push, because the ratings for the first 3 series were so poor but critically acclaimed, they felt a massive PR boost could finally bring up the ratings. 

One of the things they did is give out the entire series to critics in advance of air time of the first episode. They felt that if critics got a sense of the arc, they'd write glowing reviews in advance of the series. Which they did. Also copies of the screeners were on the internet before they even aired in the states. 

Still didn't do much for ratings and other station would have dropped it. But HBO went fuck it. Lets finish it up. 

The overwhelming arc was the streets, the docks, the politics and mid level police management, the schools and the politics, and then the news. And how they all tie together.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 10, 2009)

Forgot to add, Bubs' scene last night may have co-incided with a large piece of grit getting in my eyes.

Also, Marlo finding out about Omar's taunts was a great piece of acting too, it occurs that he's never raised his voice at all until that scene and the effect is chilling. Bravo Jamie Hector.


----------



## 8den (Sep 10, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I'm refusing to let go off this show and am commissioningg series 6 as of now. We can make it ourselves urbs on the streets of Brixtonmall.
> 
> I'll play McNaulty
> 
> What parts do you guys want?



Can we make Dwyer be Omar? Elapse time before he'd die walking down coldharbour lane?


----------



## kained&able (Sep 10, 2009)

8den said:


> Can we make Dwyer be Omar? Elapse time before he'd die walking down coldharbour lane?



no! I just can't imagine the phrase fuck off omar being used in the wire.


dave


----------



## Gromit (Sep 10, 2009)

Crispy said:


> No part in your plan if you can't spell the lead character's name right



I'm unwell with swine flu. Cut me a break. Beside I thought you could be lead writer.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 10, 2009)

With regret, i'll take the part of Herc


----------



## Gromit (Sep 10, 2009)

8den said:


> Can we make Dwyer be Omar? Elapse time before he'd die walking down coldharbour lane?





kained&able said:


> no! I just can't imagine the phrase fuck off omar being used in the wire.
> 
> 
> dave



But we do already have people calling Dwyer coming and legging it.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 10, 2009)

The way they've been foreshadowed and then the way they're waved around centre stage suggests the  $80,000 hands (each one)  matter. But how;  metaphor, symbolism, pastiche, irony . . . ? It's a bit like finding a rationale for that bloody  ring.

$80,000 a year would be about the cost of a 20-year senior reporter like Twigg was, or it might build sheltered accommodation perhaps, or 2 teachers, or a couple of police maybe . . . seems a little obvious for DS, but then he's not been exactly subtle in S5 as he looks to make all the points he wants to make before it's too late.



Fwiw, for those wise enough to avoid the cut and thrust of US politics, Walter Reed has a place in recent US political discourse:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Reed_Army_Medical_Center_neglect_scandal


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 10, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> *Michael's a fucking dude*
> 
> Heartbreaking scenes afterwards though (first leaving Bug and then dropping Dukie off at the junkyard / stables?). Nice call back to the first time we meet the boys too (piss balloons), a lot's changed
> 
> And McNulty's shit is royally fucked, Daniels and Pearlman look like they might add him to the serial killer's body count



That scene was ace 'Hows my hair look?'

Badass till the end, that snoop


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 10, 2009)

Dissappointed with Kima,as McNulty said the serial killer stuff will eventually peter out,the whole deception was a means to an end,Herc is a complete cunt got a feeling what he told that lawyer will mean Marlo walks,Micheal's a smart cookie,knew that he was going to be set up,seems Lester is still with Shardeen lucky bastard ,who did they drop Bug off to?


----------



## twister (Sep 10, 2009)

The Octagon said:


> Also, Marlo finding out about Omar's taunts was a great piece of acting too, it occurs that he's never raised his voice at all until that scene and the effect is chilling. Bravo Jamie Hector.



yeah I'm with you. He's growling and furious, really noticable contrast. Might also be to do with the fact his empire has crumbled too.


----------



## 8den (Sep 10, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Dissappointed with Kima,as McNulty said the serial killer stuff will eventually peter out,the whole deception was a means to an end,Herc is a complete cunt got a feeling what he told that lawyer will mean Marlo walks,Micheal's a smart cookie,knew that he was going to be set up,seems Lester is still with Shardeen lucky bastard



Firstly did anyone else notice Polk in the Evidence locker at the end of episode 9? Polk was the was one of the drunk Daniels got stuck with at the start of season one, and was sent to Rehab. Thats a fucking gem of a touch there. 

Kima's loyalty was to Daniel's first, she knows that if McNulty's scheme gets accidentally found out it could bring down Lester, Kima, Carver, and a whole host of officers who faked their run sheets claiming they were working on the red string killer, when they were infact sneakingly taking down Marlo. 

Secondly if it came out that Marlo's wiretap came from the phone their were bugging belonging to the serial killer, the whole Marlo case could collapse. Kima's being good police, and a smart police.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 10, 2009)

Poor Dukie a nice kid who could do well in the right environment like Namond,will prob end up as another Bubbles,shame Prez could'nt become his guardian


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2009)

I'd forgotten how cool it was to see Micheal taking up Omars role.

A complex and unsatisfying ending. No easy answers or neat endings.


----------



## gnoriac (Sep 11, 2009)

Cycle just keeps on turning, more dealing and killing on the corners, more bullshit in the police dept, heaps more bullshit in city hall.


----------



## DJ Squelch (Sep 11, 2009)

A bit of an anti-climax with no Omar or Snoop in the last episide but not too bad, circles keep turning, some nice little touches in the final collage scenes. I'll miss McNaulty & Bunk that's for sure. Where do I go for good TV now? I feel empty with no Sopranos or The Wire to look forward to.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2009)

Generation Kill.

Good stuff. Penned by David Simon. From his journeys with the first recon marines in Iraq 2


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2009)

deadwood,generation kill, true blood - it ain't over


----------



## Belushi (Sep 11, 2009)

I usually recommend Homicide: Life on the Street to those who never watched it and are suffering from Wire withdrawal.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> Generation Kill.
> 
> Good stuff. Penned by David Simon. From his journeys with the first recon marines in Iraq 2



not his, evan wright's


----------



## DJ Squelch (Sep 11, 2009)

I'll give them a try but they've got alot to live up too.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 11, 2009)

Homicide Office:








Baltimore Sun:


----------



## Harold Hill (Sep 11, 2009)

DJ Squelch said:


> A bit of an anti-climax with no Omar or Snoop in the last episide but not too bad, circles keep turning, some nice little touches in the final collage scenes. I'll miss McNaulty & Bunk that's for sure. Where do I go for good TV now? I feel empty with no Sopranos or The Wire to look forward to.



Treme and Boardwalk Empire both coming later this year from HBO.

First is David Simon and is starring Bunk and Lester.  Second is Scorsese produced with Steve Buscemi and Stephen Graham.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 11, 2009)

twister said:


> yeah I'm with you. He's growling and furious, really noticable contrast. Might also be to do with the fact his empire has crumbled too.



Nah that didn't bother him. The only thing that ever bothered him was his name. To the extent that you could get wacked for even a rumour that you'd said something about him. Even if he thought you probably hadn't said anything. Just the fact of the rumour was enough.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 11, 2009)

I imagine there wasn't too many people gutted at Cheese's demise,found meself saying 'good on ya SlimCharles'


----------



## Gromit (Sep 11, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> I imagine there wasn't too many people gutted at Cheese's demise,found meself saying 'good on ya SlimCharles'



Said it was for Joe but I'm imagining it was more a case of:

I could live with Joe being king
I could live with Marlo being king
But I'm fucked if I'm going to have *you* bossing me around.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 11, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> I imagine there wasn't too many people gutted at Cheese's demise,found meself saying 'good on ya SlimCharles'



He was my dawg yo'

Shit was unseemly.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 11, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> A complex and unsatisfying ending. No easy answers or neat endings.



Yeah. Left me a bit... well. Not like it tainted the show as a whole, not like it left a nasty taste in my mouth or nothing but... I dunno. Was just sad, mainly.

When Omar got capped by the youngun I think I went into mild shock which spoilt the last couple of episodes!


----------



## Gromit (Sep 11, 2009)

He had to die so that Michael could be the *new* Omar rather than just another Omar.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 11, 2009)

The whole Prez / Dukie thread of the episode severely depressed me (they both knew what the other was doing and played it out regardless), one of those 'shouting at the telly' moments 

McNulty's 'wake' was inspired though, particularly Landsman's speech, you could tell how much they thought of McNulty as Po-lice, but "Christ what an asshole!" 

Marlo desperate to have his 'name' ring out in the streets again, upstaged by Omar even in death 

As someone said, no easy answers, plenty of loose ends and hypocrasy exhibited by the lorry-load.

Great, great TV, from beginning to end.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 11, 2009)

Did love Marlo taking a corner just so he could stand there in his suit. Not selling anything but enjoying standing on conquered land like some victorious Norman king. A shitty little dump of a corner but he stood on it like he'd stolen Buckingham Palace.

Like a dog's need to have territory and mark it really.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 11, 2009)

Leander is the new McNulty.

Going to see the judge behind everyones back and saying "keep my name out of it"


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 11, 2009)

I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.

Also, quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together - with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.

I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.



Thats exactly what it was about i think, shit carries on, and there will always be fresh mofos coming through to take on these roles.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.
> 
> Also, *quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together *- with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.
> 
> I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.



I'd watch a Wire Prison spin-off, with Avon pulling the strings and Wee-Bey and Chris getting into wacky adventures.

Perhaps the occasional shot of Ziggy sitting _very_ quietly in a corner and hoping no-one's heard about his giant schlong.

It's a ratings winner I tell ya.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> *I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.
> *
> Also, quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together - with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.
> 
> I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.



something that struck me. Remember Cheese got paid a fuckload for giving up Prop Joe. Perhaps it was the fact that he offered to stump up such a large amount that confirmed in Slims mind that cheese was the sell-out?

He was shot mid-boast about money.


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 11, 2009)

DotCommunist said:


> something that struck me. Remember Cheese got paid a fuckload for giving up Prop Joe. Perhaps it was the fact that he offered to stump up such a large amount that confirmed in Slims mind that cheese was the sell-out?
> 
> He was shot mid-boast about money.



I think Slim went to that meet to kill Cheese either way (as soon as Marlo offered Prop Joe's business to Cheese after him, the dots pretty much match  up themselves). The fact Cheese started going off on one at the other 'bosses' and bragging about how he was with whoever was top dog, only served to make Slim shoot him sooner to shut him up 

Methodman - rare case of a rapper being a decent actor


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 11, 2009)

That was the only icing on the cake for me, Slim (the only remaining authority figure from the Barksdale era) nobly takin out one treacherous eastside nigga!

Also nice to see Poot working in the shoe shop t'other night. I guess Bodie getting capped was the last straw for him, fuck the corners - I'd rather be sat in a downmarket Foot Locker all day.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 11, 2009)

I reckon Slim Charles killed Cheese cos he was an irritating twat they could all have done without, basically.

Now Cheese was a gaping arsehole


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 11, 2009)

I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty. 

It's interesting how they can so inhabit their characters it's difficult to imagine things any other way.


Btw, anyone want to talk about lies and WMD


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2009)

the guy who played slim charles is a big cheese on the go-go scene in dc


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty.



Talking of Cutty, was there a scene in the closing montage of a derelict gym? Got me thinking that it was too good to last. Or maybe it was just the detail room, all cleaned out and looking shitty. Yeah, now I think of it, last time we saw Cutty he was doin' alright.

I think Lester came out of it all best. Ended up with some hottie half his age, all besotted by his hobbycraft!


----------



## D'wards (Sep 11, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty



Lester auditioned for Bubbs originally - how weird is that?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Lester auditioned for Bubbs originally - how weird is that?



makes sense if you've seen the corner


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 11, 2009)

I read somewhere that Megan Anderson originally auditioned for the part of Prop Joe, but the producers thought she was better suited to the role of Jennifer Carcetti.

No wait I got that wrong. It was Felicia Pearson who originally went for the role of The Greek, which after much deliberation finally went to Bill Raymond.


----------



## moonsi til (Sep 11, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Talking of Cutty, was there a scene in the closing montage of a derelict gym? Got me thinking that it was too good to last. Or maybe it was just the detail room, all cleaned out and looking shitty. Yeah, now I think of it, last time we saw Cutty he was doin' alright.
> 
> I think Lester came out of it all best. Ended up with some hottie half his age, all besotted by his hobbycraft!




So did Lester end up with D's ex girlfriend?


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 11, 2009)

moonsi til said:


> So did Lester end up with D's ex girlfriend?



Yeah I'm pretty sure, she was the dancer from Avon's club who Lester kinda took under his wing when she came down the station to give a statement or whatever.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 11, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Yeah I'm pretty sure, she was the dancer from Avon's club who Lester kinda took under his wing when she came down the station to give a statement or whatever.


Aye the lovely Shardeen,she looked different last night,cant believe theres no more Wire to look forward to,became essencial viewing for me,got to invest in the box-set and rewatch it again


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 11, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I reckon Slim Charles killed Cheese cos he was an irritating twat they could all have done without, basically.
> 
> Now Cheese was a gaping arsehole


His was the only death I cheered throughout the whole series


----------



## belboid (Sep 11, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I read somewhere that Megan Anderson originally auditioned for the part of Prop Joe, but the producers thought she was better suited to the role of Jennifer Carcetti.
> 
> No wait I got that wrong. It was Felicia Pearson who originally went for the role of The Greek, which after much deliberation finally went to Bill Raymond.



actually, you could be right about both. In the pilot every role was written so that it could be played by a man or a woman.  McNulty was said to be a combo of Sharon Gless and Columbo


----------



## 8den (Sep 11, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Thats exactly what it was about i think, shit carries on, and there will always be fresh mofos coming through to take on these roles.



Actually I think the metaphor for the serious isn't the shit stays the same. Theres a moment in the end montage where that punk kid from namod's get put in bracelets despite being knee high to the cop. Or that any decent reporter in the BS is off the big desk, and the one willing to lie gets the Pulitzer. 

The point of the Wire is, the kids get younger, the game gets tougher earlier, and it spits out and ruins people younger and younger. Meanwhile the politicians play the same games, the cops duke the stats, and most real police walk away. 

Who are the decent cops at the start of the series? Lester, Mc Nulty, Kema, Bunk, Daniels and Leander. At the end you have Carver, Kema, Bunk and Leander. 

At the start of the series you have gangsters who attempt to live at some semblance of a code. Remember the complete outrage when Avon's boy's attacked Omar and his mum, on a Sunday, and shot her "church crown!". 

Would Marlo live to a code. 

Again I think the Wire is (and I ain't going to claim to be an expert) is attempt by the writers to distil 20 years of crime reporting in Baltimore into five series. Avon and Prop Joe represent the 70s and 80s gangsters trying to live by a code, Marlo is in essence crack. This ruthless new generation with no code, and is nothing but addiction, power and ruthlessness. The kids represent the generation in between. For example would Chris or Snoop bother to education their corner hoppers like D'angelo did, use chess as a metaphor? 

Sorry I'm rambling now. But I really don't think it was a hey "it's all the same" that was the message of the wire, it was more, it was bad, it got worse, and we're now completely fucked. Unless we radically think American drug and social policy, it's going to be something we cannot recover from.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 11, 2009)

nah, you're spot on - i'm reading the corner at the mo and there's a lot about the new generations of corner boys and the lack of a code.
there's also a great piece of writing on the 'paper bag' that colvin talks about in s3


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 11, 2009)

Slim: "The game the same, just got more fierce"


----------



## starfish (Sep 12, 2009)

Dukie


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 12, 2009)

starfish said:


> Dukie


Cocky lazy mouthy little sod  Namond landed on his feet,lovely sweet gentle Dukie landed in the shit


----------



## starfish (Sep 12, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Cocky lazy mouthy little sod  Namond landed on his feet,lovely sweet gentle Dukie landed in the shit



Eggsfuckinactily. What makes series 4 such a tough one. Hope & shite.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 12, 2009)

starfish said:


> Eggsfuckinactily. What makes series 4 such a tough one. Hope & shite.



Likewise Randy


----------



## starfish (Sep 12, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Likewise Randy



Hercs a cunt. 

I wanted to have that as a Tag but ...............


----------



## starfish (Sep 12, 2009)

Reginald.

After 5 series, fucking Yay Bubs.


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 12, 2009)

Randy, btw - cheese's son.  

Only worked that out on this viewing.  apparently it's never directly alluded to (they both share a surname) but it's part of DS's story web.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 12, 2009)

Talking of him, has anyone else ever googled Randy's step mother and looked at the .co.uk site of that name?

I suggest you don't do it from work.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 12, 2009)




----------



## Gromit (Sep 12, 2009)

In five minutes sheeeeit.


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

starfish said:


> Hercs a cunt.
> 
> I wanted to have that as a Tag but ...............



Nah he's a complex character. Without Herc Marlo would never have fallen. 





			
				Gingerman said:
			
		

> Cocky lazy mouthy little sod Namond landed on his feet,lovely sweet gentle Dukie landed in the shit



It breaks my heart for the scene where Carver is punching his steering wheel because he can't take Dukie, he knows what Dukie is going to go through.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 13, 2009)

you mean randy


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> you mean randy



shakes fist. Yes. Yes. I did.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 13, 2009)

Sad thing is that Randy's home life was pretty stable if a little strict,went from being a smart switched on kid to being a resentfull aggressive young guy all because of Herc


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 13, 2009)

8den said:


> Nah he's a complex character. Without Herc Marlo would never have fallen.


Or another version: Without Levy manipulating Herc (telling him he had his phone number), Marlo wouldn't now be a multi-million dollar property developer.

Or another version: Without McNulty creating his serial killer and Templeton picking up on it, there would be no wiretap.

Or another version: Without the good Senator telling Lester about the Grand Jury leak there would be nothing with which to barter with Levy about, and Marlo would be free to continue as before

etc.


----------



## starfish (Sep 13, 2009)

8den said:


> Nah he's a complex character. Without Herc Marlo would never have fallen.



Some fall. Millionaire drug baron to millionaire business man.


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

starfish said:


> Some fall. Millionaire drug baron to millionaire business man.



He lasted a evening as a businessman. He's out on a corner.


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> Sad thing is that Randy's home life was pretty stable if a little strict,went from being a smart switched on kid to being a resentfull aggressive young guy all because of Herc



And it's because of Herc lazy fucked up idiocy, Sherrod would still be alive.

But I love the bald retard like he was my fucked up son. 



> *Det. Shakima 'Kima' Greggs: * Herc, What the fuck did you do exactly?
> 
> *Sgt. Thomas 'Herc' Hauk:* I lost a surveillance camera that I took without my Lieutenant's permission and the evidence that I had found, I it attributed to a made up informant.
> 
> *Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland:* Son, They gonna beat on your White ass like it was a Rented Mule.


----------



## starfish (Sep 13, 2009)

8den said:


> He lasted a evening as a businessman. He's out on a corner.



I thought he just went for a walk for old times sake.


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

starfish said:


> I thought he just went for a walk for old times sake.



How many walks do you go on that ends with you killing some corner hopper? I think Marlo leaves the party and takes a corner, because thats all he knows.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Sep 13, 2009)

starfish said:


> I thought he just went for a walk for old times sake.



Its 'sposed to be an ambiguous ending for the charecter - Despite never finding out his ultimate fate, we see Marlo getting everything that Stringer wanted, not valuing it.  He can't face the "real world", as all he ever wanted was power on the street.  When he can't have that, he basically has nothing.  Although he does not get locked up, it is hard to see being out of "the game" (even with loads of money) as a victory for him...


----------



## starfish (Sep 13, 2009)

8den said:


> How many walks do you go on that ends with you killing some corner hopper? I think Marlo leaves the party and takes a corner, because thats all he knows.



Yould be surprised . 

I didnt think the corner thing was intentional on his part, i though he just left the party & went for a walk around his old area. Maybe youre right though.


----------



## 8den (Sep 13, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Its 'sposed to be an ambiguous ending for the charecter - Despite never finding out his ultimate fate, we see Marlo getting everything that Stringer wanted, not valuing it.  He can't face the "real world", as all he ever wanted was power on the street.  When he can't have that, he basically has nothing.  Although he does not get locked up, it is hard to see being out of "the game" (even with loads of money) as a victory for him...



Yeah but remember what Rhona warns Levy with, the case against Marlo is left open and it's made clear that if they catch a scent that Marlo is still in the game, they'll bring the hammer down. 

Marlo is like the perfect animal of the corners. He's brilliant and ruthless and it's all he knows. The only way he's going to leave the game is prison or as a corpse. He's like Avon's terrifying heir.


----------



## trabuquera (Sep 13, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> Its 'sposed to be an ambiguous ending for the charecter - Despite never finding out his ultimate fate, we see Marlo getting everything that Stringer wanted, not valuing it.  He can't face the "real world", as all he ever wanted was power on the street.  When he can't have that, he basically has nothing.  Although he does not get locked up, it is hard to see being out of "the game" (even with loads of money) as a victory for him...



About this: I read somewhere - I think in an interview / blog with David Simon - that if you think about it, Stringer's entire career was about trying to drag himself and Barksdale into that room with Baltimore's big movers and shakers - and they both died in the process. Whereas Marlo, through being a ruthless little bastard, gets that opportunity and has no real interest in it - though whether from unease or contempt it's hard to say. Odd echoes again of the doomed Bad Kids' Dinner Out from series 4 (based on a real incident from Ed Burns' time int he schools) - where Bunny takes Namond etc out to 'celebrate' some minor academic achievement to a posh restaurant and they're totally ill at ease and like fish out of water.


----------



## Gingerman (Sep 13, 2009)

Snot Boogie seems like a long time ago


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## London_Calling (Sep 13, 2009)

Marlo knows the game though; on the street he plays, in Levy's world he's played: King or punk, it seems that clear.

Stringer is no comparison; Stinger had esteem  issues and class-related aspirations. He was weak, and arrogant and crass, imo.


----------



## moonsi til (Sep 13, 2009)

I got the impression that Marlo knew that the business men were punks just like he was but Stringer didn't see this due to the esteem and them/us issues.


----------



## Pigeon (Sep 14, 2009)

Gingerman said:


> I imagine there wasn't too many people gutted at Cheese's demise,found meself saying 'good on ya SlimCharles'



I didn't get how he knew about Cheese's role in Prop Joe's death...?


----------



## Belushi (Sep 14, 2009)

Pigeon said:


> I didn't get how he knew about Cheese's role in Prop Joe's death...?



He worked it out, he's no dummy Slim Charles.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2009)

Pigeon said:


> I didn't get how he knew about Cheese's role in Prop Joe's death...?



as mentioned, when props business went to cheese it was obvious, and then Cheese stumping up such a large amount of cash...Slim added 2 and 2


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 14, 2009)

Pigeon said:


> I didn't get how he knew about Cheese's role in Prop Joe's death...?



Slim never trusted Cheese anyway, and both he and Prop Joe discussed Cheese selling Butchie out (although Prop Joe knew he couldn't 'make a move against kin' straight away).

Then, once Joe is killed (and Slim will have been told by Fat Face Rick that Omar didn't do it), it's logical to assume it was Marlo.

Then Marlo dishes out the prime East-side business to Cheese, a promotion far above what he would normally expect.

Finally, Cheese goes off on his rant about how his loyalty changes depending on who is on top, Slim didn't really need to hear any more.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 14, 2009)

I liked the way Cheese's hand twitched as they drove away. Motherfucker.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 14, 2009)

Does anyone else blame The Greek for Prop Joe's demise? He basically gave Marlo the green-light to move things on a generation or two.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2009)

I blame prop joe for prop joes death. Showing Marlo how to clean money and get shonky ID etc? signed his own death warrant.

Marlo wasn't exactly giving the Greek a choice. Prop was getting dropped from the minute he tried to civilise Marlo


----------



## kained&able (Sep 14, 2009)

yeah im with dotty.

The laissez faire stuff was never going to work with marlo, same way it never worked with Avon.

Man wanted to be king and that meant a direct line to the greek(who wasn't greek) and prop to get brap braped.


daved


----------



## Belushi (Sep 14, 2009)

Yup, what the 'businessmen' like String and Prop Joe didnt get was that it was about more than the money for characters like Avon and Marlo.

_I'm just a gangster and I want my motherfucking corners_


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 14, 2009)

Spiros was holding his ground but The Greek stepped in and waved in the new era. Marlo would've had to learn to co-op if he came up against a wall trying to get the connect. Which is what Joe was trying to teach him.

What I don't get is how The Greek thought Marlo could do a better job of holding things together than Joe, who was professional and discreet. Soon as Marlo took over, his whole crew went down in a blaze and The Greek was dealing with yet another new face from the streets.


----------



## belboid (Sep 14, 2009)

The Greek saw that Marlo would go up against Joe no matter what, so best to be in with the new 'King' from the off.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2009)

It's a mistake to see the Greek and his lot as anything other than the disinterested businessmen they are. The internal politics of Baltimore street gangs are only important to them in who they will have to deal with.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 14, 2009)

belboid said:


> The Greek saw that Marlo would go up against Joe no matter what, so best to be in with the new 'King' from the off.



Yeah... I remember his telling Spiros as much, but I didn't fully understand his reasoning then and I'm still not through questioning his judgement. Surely young pretenders like Marlo have been capped off before once it appeared they were gonna muscle in? But as it turned out, Joe's family loyalty stopped him getting to Marlo before Marlo got to him.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 14, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Spiros was holding his ground but The Greek stepped in and waved in the new era. Marlo would've had to learn to co-op if he came up against a wall trying to get the connect. Which is what Joe was trying to teach him.
> 
> What I don't get is how The Greek thought Marlo could do a better job of holding things together than Joe, who was professional and discreet. Soon as Marlo took over, his whole crew went down in a blaze and The Greek was dealing with yet another new face from the streets.



Funny that Marlo went down because of the connect with the Greek though. Who taught Marlo the clock code that burried him?

Marlo was stupid and used it for every meet. Instead of only using it once in a blue moon for the re-connect. Which wouldn't have given the cops enough data to crack.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 14, 2009)

Gromit said:


> Funny that Marlo went down because of the connect with the Greek though. Who taught Marlo the clock code that burried him?
> 
> Marlo was stupid and used it for every meet. Instead of only using it once in a blue moon for the re-connect. Which wouldn't have given the cops enough data to crack.



yeah but he had no real reason to suspect that Freamon was doing some thorough coppering on the sly. Nobody did, till the ball was rolling to fast to stop it.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 14, 2009)

I thought one of the more interesting endings was that of Pearlman. She pleaded with Daniels to not take what he knew to the Governer (telling Daniels it would be the end of her career) and then  - IIRC - accepted Levy's terms that included letting Marlo free for the same reasons (her, albeit unintnetional, role in the wire tap). She should have driven a harder bargain but was herself exposed.

Daniels could have been where Rawls is at the end.


----------



## belboid (Sep 14, 2009)

Superintendent of the Maryland State Police?  I don't think so.  Wrong shade.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 14, 2009)

I suppose that is true. There is one former Superintendent who was a regular on the show, bit of an in-joke I think.


----------



## 8den (Sep 14, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> I suppose that is true. There is one former Superintendent who was a regular on the show, bit of an in-joke I think.



Actually a number of Baltimore cops play cops in the wire. Jay Landsman (aka the last real police in Baltimore) plays Lt Mello in the Western, Landsman the corpulent Homicide Sgt. is based unsurprisingly, on the Landsman. Gary D'Addario another homicide detective, played Gary DiPasquale, the gambling addict DA who's leaking grand jury information to Levi.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2009)

there's a former mayor in it once - he plays the receptionist at the senator's office in annapolis in the scene where carcetti and norman go to beg cash for the schools in s4. iirc that is. i may have just dreamt that factlet.


----------



## Belushi (Sep 14, 2009)

And the fella who plays the Deacon used to be a big player in the Baltimore drugs scene in the 70's.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2009)

AND deandre mccollouch's little bro, derodd,  from the corner (irl) was puddin, one of bodie's corner boys. simon likes to help people out in return for being his raw material i guess


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## Gingerman (Sep 14, 2009)

Prop Joe shoulda known Marlo was a wrong un,shoulda conspired with the rest of the co-op to remove him from the scene,it was ob Marlo did'nt give a toss about the co-op,means to an end,anyway theres a wire sized hole in me telly viewing


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## Jon-of-arc (Sep 14, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> there's a former mayor in it once - he plays the receptionist at the senator's office in annapolis in the scene where carcetti and norman go to beg cash for the schools in s4. iirc that is. i may have just dreamt that factlet.



wasnt the real former mayor one of the academics esposuing the virtues of Hamsterdam to Royce in Series 3?  If memory serves, this mayor actually had to quit in real life for suggesting something similar to Hamsterdam IRL, back in the 1980s?  I'm sure I've seen that on one of the (woefully lacking...) extras on the DVDs.  They should do a load of extras and stuff...#

E2A, re the Mayor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Schmoke is the guy.  

In the second from last episode of series 3... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ground_(The_Wire_episode)#Politics


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## Jon-of-arc (Sep 14, 2009)

Also, seemed like the right time to mention these clips, released just before series 5 came out online by HBO...

  (prop joe as a youngster...)

 (young omar...)

 (Bunk meets McNutty...)


----------



## D'wards (Sep 14, 2009)

If memory serves me right, i think the great author Richard Price is in it somewhere, but i might be mistaken.

Who was the fella doing the book club D'Angelo is in whilst in prison?


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2009)

Jon-of-arc said:


> wasnt the real former mayor one of the academics esposuing the virtues of Hamsterdam to Royce in Series 3?  If memory serves, this mayor actually had to quit in real life for suggesting something similar to Hamsterdam IRL, back in the 1980s?  I'm sure I've seen that on one of the (woefully lacking...) extras on the DVDs.  They should do a load of extras and stuff...#
> 
> E2A, re the Mayor http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Schmoke is the guy.
> 
> In the second from last episode of series 3... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Ground_(The_Wire_episode)#Politics


ah, i got slightly muddled. it was this fella that i was thinking of:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Ehrlich
it was in S4 EP12:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/That's_Got_His_Own#Politics


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 14, 2009)

D'wards said:


> If memory serves me right, i think the great author Richard Price is in it somewhere, but i might be mistaken.
> 
> Who was the fella doing the book club D'Angelo is in whilst in prison?



yes, that's price


----------



## Belushi (Sep 14, 2009)

D'wards said:


> If memory serves me right, i think the great author Richard Price is in it somewhere, but i might be mistaken.
> 
> Who was the fella doing the book club D'Angelo is in whilst in prison?



That was Price IIRC.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 16, 2009)

*Now it's all done, your favourite spoiler moments please*

Ok this thread is dated & dead now but just to tail off, what with all the spoliers we've all had so much fun fussing about (and let's be honest, it'd be nice to make it 100 pages), let's hear your favourite spoiler story. To kick off - 

Buying the DVD box set of season 4 before getting to the end of season 3, reading the first line; "After the collapse of the Barksdale organisation...".... Nice one. 

Going to the online cast list to clue up whilst watching season 1, and finding no Wallace... the writing was on the wall. Then I see Prez in the 'school' section, and 'Mayor Carcetti' - oh, so he _is_ gonna become mayor then? Thanks for that. 

Anyways I'm sure you've got better ones than those.


----------



## belboid (Sep 16, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Buying the DVD box set of season 4 before getting to the end of season 3, reading the first line; "After the collapse of the Barksdale organisation...".... Nice one.


ha, I did exactly the same thing!

My annoyance was only slightly leavened by the fact that someone I'd leant S3 to before watching it myself, asked me when collecting it 'shit man, could you believe it when they shot Stringer?'



El Sueno said:


> Going to the online cast list to clue up whilst watching season 1, and finding no Wallace... the writing was on the wall. Then I see Prez in the 'school' section, and 'Mayor Carcetti' - oh, so he _is_ gonna become mayor then? Thanks for that.



well, them's your own fault.


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2009)

I totally dropped the Omar death story, in an unrelated thread during a spoiler row.

I pissed off loads of people


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2009)

kyser spoilt the bodie death for me, the git


----------



## El Jefe (Sep 16, 2009)

dolly's gal did the same with Omar. On fucking Facebook


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

The only big one I recall is finding out about Omar's fate on YouTube. Bollocks!


----------



## DotCommunist (Sep 16, 2009)

tbf, you have to be some sort of moran not to know that Omar was finished after he jumped the window. The manner of his death was unexpected though. Even though I knew how anti-heroic the writing was I kept hoping Omar would take Marlo down in a blaze of glory


----------



## Structaural (Sep 16, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> Ok this thread is dated & dead now but just to tail off, what with all the spoliers we've all had so much fun fussing about (and let's be honest, it'd be nice to make it 100 pages), let's hear your favourite spoiler story. To kick off -
> 
> Buying the DVD box set of season 4 before getting to the end of season 3, reading the first line; "After the collapse of the Barksdale organisation...".... Nice one.
> 
> ...



I shouldn't have done it but I read an interview with the guy who plays Omar and read that he 'dies in a fantastic shoot-out'. Which was annoying. 

Luckily they were wrong so at least _the way_ Omar died did come as a surprise.


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 16, 2009)

Not a specific one, but when I told my brother I'd started watching it (he'd seen them previously) I began enthusing about who my favourite characters were and how I was really growing to like some of them (especially the street kids), despite their faults. Without pause for though, he duly warned me not to 'get too attached to anyone, because...' before I could interrupt him. But he'd already said too much. Fucker!


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 16, 2009)

Somebody on here posted about Stringer's death, I believe I may have been a tad pissed off and called them a 'rotting piece of cunt juice'.

I stand by it.


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

So what's McNulty doing a year on - on the boat, left the department, where's he working, is he still with Beadie, is he drinking again, is he up on the wire even?


----------



## The Octagon (Sep 16, 2009)

London_Calling said:


> So what's McNulty doing a year on - on the boat, left the department, where's he working, is he still with Beadie, is he drinking again, is he up on the wire even?



A year on from the end of the series?

I got the impression he'd left the force even before that final shot of the series (and I'm guessing he's still with Beadie, for now)


----------



## D'wards (Sep 16, 2009)

Someone on here said Bubbs was gonna clean up seasons before he did - i'm still pissed off about


----------



## twister (Sep 16, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Someone on here said Bubbs was gonna clean up seasons before he did - i'm still pissed off about



yeah, he was gonna. Then Keema got shot, she couldn't help him out getting a place etc and McNulty got him back out snitchin and getting high to get info to find out who did it etc


----------



## twister (Sep 16, 2009)

My worst was when I was youtubing the hardware store scene with Snoop (1st scene) I stumbled accross the scene where Mike shot Snoop.

I did go on the HBO site with characters during watching season 1 but clicked out of it when I realised what i was doing..


----------



## D'wards (Sep 16, 2009)

twister said:


> yeah, he was gonna. Then Keema got shot, she couldn't help him out getting a place etc and McNulty got him back out snitchin and getting high to get info to find out who did it etc



Nah - it explicity sdaid he was fully into rehab and that singer bloke was his sponsor and that


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 16, 2009)

D'wards said:


> Someone on here said Bubbs was gonna clean up seasons before he did - i'm still pissed off about



I would've put money on him snuffin' it (thought for a while he was full-blown aids) before the curtain fell... but despite everything, he was the one character that came good in the end. All though, they made it clear the battle wasn't over for him and probably never would be. True dat.


----------



## D'wards (Sep 16, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I would've put money on him snuffin' it (thought for a while he was full-blown aids) before the curtain fell... but despite everything, he was the one character that came good in the end. All though, they made it clear the battle wasn't over for him and probably never would be. True dat.



I'm all for non-conclusional endings, cos in the words of Avril Lavigne "Life's like that" but i felt unsatisfied that the bloke who was constantly beating up and robbing Bubbs did not get it in some horrible way.


----------



## belboid (Sep 16, 2009)

El Sueno said:


> I would've put money on him snuffin' it (thought for a while he was full-blown aids) before the curtain fell... but despite everything, he was the one character that came good in the end.



I thought from Season 2 - once it ws obvious that we weren't going to be just following one drug gang thru the whole thing - that it would only be either Bubbs or Omar that made it al lthe way thru.  My money was on Omar tho.


----------



## Gromit (Sep 16, 2009)

I'm still pissed that someone revealed that Marlo was MacNaulty's father and that Kima ends up strangling Prop Joe on the pleasure barge over the pit of Sarlaac.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2009)

hi-larious


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 16, 2009)

D'wards said:


> I'm all for non-conclusional endings, cos in the words of Avril Lavigne "Life's like that" but i felt unsatisfied that the bloke who was constantly beating up and robbing Bubbs did not get it in some horrible way.



 I too found solace in the poetry of Avril Lavigne, she eases the pain. And her mental image has assisted easing me towards a fairly satisfying climax on one or two occasions, in stark contrast to the way The Wire ended.


----------



## spanglechick (Sep 16, 2009)

Gromit said:


> I'm still pissed that someone revealed that Marlo was *MacNaulty*'s father and that Kima ends up strangling Prop Joe on the pleasure barge over the pit of Sarlaac.



M*c*N*u*lty!

he's irish, not scottish, and the errant 'a' is irritating.


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 16, 2009)

i don't like when people type marlow either. it's marlo!


----------



## London_Calling (Sep 16, 2009)

you sad obsessives!


----------



## Orang Utan (Sep 17, 2009)

a friend had a spliff with mcnulty outside westfield shopping centre last night - bizarre!


----------



## El Sueno (Sep 17, 2009)

Orang Utan said:


> a friend had a spliff with mcnulty outside westfield shopping centre last night - bizarre!





I bet afterwards he enquired about a re-up.


----------



## joustmaster (Mar 25, 2011)

I've just watched the first three seasons over the last month or so.

I have developed an urge to shout "got 'dem WMDs" and "Red tops" when i am out on the street.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 25, 2011)

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 25, 2011)

imagine being so notorious and feared that people shout warnings to each other as you whistle down the street. You can't buy that.


----------



## joustmaster (Mar 25, 2011)

it leaves me feeling very white and middle class


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 26, 2011)

joustmaster said:


> it leaves me feeling very white and middle class


 
Don't be too hard on yourself.


----------



## Crispy (Mar 26, 2011)

http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2011/0...entially-victorian-vision-of-ogdens-the-wire/


----------



## 8den (Mar 26, 2011)

Crispy said:


> http://hoodedutilitarian.com/2011/0...entially-victorian-vision-of-ogdens-the-wire/


 

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies has so much to answer for.


----------



## stavros (Mar 26, 2011)

I only saw the first half, but Marlo seemed to play quite well for England today.


----------



## Johnny Canuck3 (Mar 26, 2011)

stavros said:


> I only saw the first half, but Marlo seemed to play quite well for England today.


 
They _do _all look alike, don't they?


----------



## Lakina (Mar 26, 2011)

They look nothing like each other!


----------



## stavros (Mar 27, 2011)

There are whole sites dedicated to Wire characters-footballer lookalikes. Marlo-Young is the best, but from memory others include McNulty and Michael Ballack, and Snoop and Michael Mancienne.


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 27, 2011)

they don't look anything like each other either


----------



## ChrisFilter (Mar 27, 2011)

Are you really confused?


----------



## Crispy (Mar 27, 2011)

I think you need your eyes seen to, stavros


----------



## 8den (Mar 28, 2011)

stavros said:


> There are whole sites dedicated to Wire characters-footballer lookalikes. Marlo-Young is the best, but from memory others include McNulty and Michael Ballack, and Snoop and Michael Mancienne.


 

Man you'd be shit at guess who.


----------



## DotCommunist (Mar 28, 2011)

Does he LOOK like A BITCH?


----------



## stavros (Mar 28, 2011)

8den said:


> Man you'd be shit at guess who.


 
Shit, or sheeeit?


----------



## Dillinger4 (Mar 28, 2011)

No, just shit.


----------



## joustmaster (Apr 21, 2011)

joustmaster said:


> I've just watched the first three seasons over the last month or so.
> 
> I have developed an urge to shout "got 'dem WMDs" and "Red tops" when i am out on the street.


 
I finished it last week. 
Now I'm not sure what to do with my time.


----------



## Badgers (Apr 21, 2011)

joustmaster said:


> Now I'm not sure what to do with my time.


 
Start here


----------



## joustmaster (Apr 21, 2011)

i'm so out of date


----------



## El Sueno (Apr 22, 2011)

ignore/delete plz


----------



## The Octagon (Aug 14, 2012)

DeAndre McCullough (from The Corner, and who played Lamarr in The Wire) died a week or so ago, OD'ing whilst evading arrest for a robbery.

Nice piece by David Simon below -

http://davidsimon.com/deandre-mccullough-1977-2012/


----------



## Monkeygrinder's Organ (Aug 14, 2012)

The Octagon said:


> DeAndre McCullough (from The Corner, and who played Lamarr in The Wire) died a week or so ago, OD'ing whilst evading arrest for a robbery.
> 
> Nice piece by David Simon below -
> 
> http://davidsimon.com/deandre-mccullough-1977-2012/


 
I saw this the other day. Very touching - for anyone reading it read the comments and Simon's response to the obligatory right winger as well as the article.


----------



## Badgers (Dec 16, 2012)

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/15/u...f-the-wire-dies-at-58.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0


----------



## Kid_Eternity (Dec 16, 2012)

Finished the entire 5 series run a week or so, have to say while very watchable in places it wasn't anywhere near as amazing as people made out.


----------



## punchdrunkme (Dec 16, 2012)

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/414fa4b226/the-wire-the-musical-with-michael-kenneth-williams

Is this real? or a piss take? Cant decide.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 16, 2012)

It's on Funny Or Die. What do you think?


----------



## punchdrunkme (Dec 29, 2012)

Orang Utan said:


> It's on Funny Or Die. What do you think?


 
I don't know what a funny or die is and it has them all in it! Also it would defo be something I'd go to see, it'd be fuckin brilliant!

But I take it that means it is a piss take. 

Thanks though, honestly couldn't tell, seems like a great idea to me


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 1, 2014)

The Wire HD? Yes please  I didn't even know they shot it in widescreen...

http://hbowatch.com/the-wire-being-remastered-rebroadcast-in-hd-by-hbo/



Spoiler: Oh, but...



It's only a rumour for now. Looks fairly believable, though.


----------



## Bungle73 (Sep 1, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> The Wire HD? Yes please  I didn't even know they shot it in widescreen...
> 
> http://hbowatch.com/the-wire-being-remastered-rebroadcast-in-hd-by-hbo/
> 
> ...


Where does it say it will be in widescreen?


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 1, 2014)

Bungle73 said:


> Where does it say it will be in widescreen?


HD is widescreen.


----------



## Bungle73 (Sep 1, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> HD is widescreen.


Um, no it's not.  Not necessarily.


----------



## Bungle73 (Sep 1, 2014)

Aspect ratio and resolution are two different things.


----------



## mhendo (Sep 1, 2014)

This would be awesome, i think, although it would fly in the face of David Simon's own ideas about the show.

The Wire was shot in 16:9 format, and the 4:3 framing was a deliberate choice by Simon. There was apparently discussion after the third season about switching to widescreen format, but they decided to stick with what they were already doing. If they wanted to release a widescreen version, though, they have the material, and it would be a matter of cost.

You can find a discussion about it here. Relevant section:





> The Wire is shot entirely with Panavision cameras. David Insley let us know that, "These later episodes of the show are shot Super 35, 3-perf, and that saves a lot of money because that means we're shooting about three quarters of the film we used to. But we're only using the 4 x 3 part, so we're losing the edges of the 16x 9, but it's less than we were using when it was 4-perf, so (the image is) somewhere between a Super 16 image and a standard 35 (mm) image."
> 
> <snip>
> 
> ...


3-perf on Super 35 is a 16:9 framing. 4-perf is 4:3 framing using more of the film. But, as the above notes, even when shooting 4-perf, they were framing as 16:9 (i.e., leaving off top and bottom).

It seems to me that they should easily be able to get a full HD (1920x1080) digitization from that film. At the very least, they could get excellent 720p.


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Sep 1, 2014)

Wow I don't remember it being in 4/3. Was it really 4/3 on DVD?


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 1, 2014)

Bungle73 said:


> Aspect ratio and resolution are two different things.


While technically correct, most people when talking about HD think 1920x1080.


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 1, 2014)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Wow I don't remember it being in 4/3. Was it really 4/3 on DVD?


Yes.


----------



## Bungle73 (Sep 1, 2014)

Fez909 said:


> While technically correct, most people when talking about HD think 1920x1080.


Widscreen TV came about long before HD did.

The ST:TNG BDs are in HD, but 4:3 ratio.


----------



## 8den (Sep 2, 2014)

mhendo said:


> You can find a discussion about it here.



Excellent article



> Relevant section:3-perf on Super 35 is a 16:9 framing. 4-perf is 4:3 framing using more of the film. But, as the above notes, even when shooting 4-perf, they were framing as 16:9 (i.e., leaving off top and bottom).



[pedant hat]no it's not you can shoot 16:9 on either 3perf or 4perf, The 4:3 v 16:9 option is during the telecine process. For example I worked on a feature where we shot 3 and 4 perf, nominally the 4 perf stuff was for VFX purposes (it was going to scanned) and the larger frame size gives them more information. [/pedant]



> It seems to me that they should easily be able to get a full HD (1920x1080) digitization from that film. At the very least, they could get excellent 720p.



Super 35mm is approximately 6k (k is irrelevant when thinking of film) It'd be easy to get a full HD resolution ver of the wire. Everything will need to be rescanned and remastered. The question is of raking and framing, basically shot composition.


----------



## Fez909 (Sep 22, 2014)

There was almost a feature-length Wire prequel with Samuel L Jackson! It was going to show how Stringer and Avon took the towers.

http://uproxx.com/tv/2014/09/david-...l-to-the-wire-but-there-was-just-one-problem/


----------



## mhendo (Oct 17, 2014)

Some of you Wire fans might be interested in this video, which was taken yesterday at the Paley Center in New York City.

It's basically a one hour and twenty minute panel discussion, with David Simon and producer Nina Noble, as well as Wendell Pierce (Bunk), Sonja Sohn (Kima), Michael Kenneth Williams (Omar), Seth Gilliam (Carver), Jim True-Frost (Presbo), John Doman (Rawls), Lawrence Gilliard Jr (DeAngelo), and Jamie Hector (Marlo). It's a lot of fun, and offers nice insights into the production.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Oct 17, 2014)

Sounds good *bookmarks*


----------



## Crispy (Oct 17, 2014)

It does, but the video doesn't load for me


----------



## killer b (Oct 17, 2014)

nor me.


----------



## Orang Utan (Oct 17, 2014)

I was sent this too. Video doesn't work but at least this one has a précis:
http://m.hitfix.com/news/12-revelations-from-the-wire-reunion-at-paleyfest


----------



## mhendo (Oct 17, 2014)

Hmm, it looks like you have to sign into Yahoo to view the video, because it contains mature content. I was signed in through my Firefox browser because i play Fantasy Football in Yahoo. When i tried to view in Chrome, it asked me to sign in.

Unfortunately, the Paley Center only seems to make its videos available through Yahoo.


----------



## Crispy (Oct 17, 2014)

Yeah I got it now. 1h20m though and I'm already sleepy. Reckon I'll save this for background listening at work


----------



## 8den (Dec 3, 2014)

HD 16:9 versions coming out at christmas and David Simon has misgivings



> _The Wire_ was at its inception a bit of shoestring affair and expectations for the drama at HBO were certainly modest. Filming in letter-box was more expensive at the time, and we were told, despite Bob’s earnest appeals, that we should shoot the pilot and the ensuing season in 4:3.
> 
> At which point, Bob set about to work with 4:3 as the given.  And while we were filming in 35mm and could have ostensibly “protected” ourselves by adopting wider shot composition in the event of some future change of heart by HBO, the problem with doing so is obvious:  If you compose a shot for a wider 16:9 screen, then you are, by definition, failing to optimize the composition of the 4:3 image.  Choose to serve one construct and at times you must impair the other.
> 
> ...



http://davidsimon.com/the-wire-in-hd/


----------



## Crispy (Dec 3, 2014)

I'd have preferred a hi-def 4:3 image - 1440x1080
But will still get this.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2014)

That's too long to read but i don't understand how it would be better in a fancier format.


----------



## 8den (Dec 3, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> That's too long to read but i don't understand how it would be better in a fancier format.



Bascialy 4:3 v 16:9

When the Wire was shot on 4:3 most people didn't have widescreen tvs. It was the old fashioned tv you grew up. 

Over the life of the Wire 16:9 became norm. 

Now when making the new high def version HBO want to make full HD 16:9, the problem being the framing the shooting of the Wire was always envisioned as 4:3 show as was shot as such. the paragraph that sums this up



> But there are other scenes, composed for 4:3, that lose some of their purpose and power, to be sure. An early example that caught my eye is a scene from the pilot episode, carefully composed by Bob, in which Wee Bey delivers to D’Angelo a homily on established Barksdale crew tactics. “Don’t talk in the car,” D’Angelo reluctantly offers to Wee Bey, who stands below a neon sign that declares, “burgers” while D’Angelo, less certain in his standing and performance within the gang, stands beneath a neon label of “chicken.”



It's basically the old Pan & Scan (where in films shot in widescreen/panavision etc like Ben Hur/Lawrence of Arabia) and when they made the version you saw on telly at christmas where in you lost 50 to 75% of the image that was in the cinema version. But in the Wire's case it's in reverse, HBO are changing shots that were carefully composed 4:3 shots to 16:9 because people expect everything to be 16:9 now.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2014)

That's all just nerdiness though. No one outside the industry gives a shit. They saw the tv series already. No need for fancy nerdiness.


----------



## thriller (Dec 3, 2014)

8den said:


> HD 16:9 versions coming out at christmas and David Simon has misgivings
> 
> 
> 
> http://davidsimon.com/the-wire-in-hd/



can't be arsed to read all this.


----------



## 8den (Dec 3, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> That's all just nerdiness though. No one outside the industry gives a shit. They saw the tv series already. No need for fancy nerdiness.



It's not just nerdiness. It goes to show the level of passion and detail that goes into crafting a tv show. I watched the Wire when it 1st came out and never notice that it was 4:3 and I'm pretty nerdy. I'm just impressed that nearly 8 years later David Simon can explain why he's worried about the aspect ratio change.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2014)

I think we're on the same page. It was good enough before. Why change it?


----------



## 8den (Dec 3, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I think we're on the same page. It was good enough before. Why change it?



Because if they released HD 4:3 versions they're be two massive black bars vertically on their shiny HD tv blue rays and people would be confused.


----------



## fishfinger (Dec 3, 2014)

Orang Utan said:


> I think we're on the same page. It was good enough before. Why change it?


It's super-duper-widescreen-hi-definition NEW, KerCHING!


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2014)

Fuck the casual viewer, as Simon would have it.


----------



## Bungle73 (Dec 3, 2014)

8den said:


> Because if they released HD 4:3 versions they're be two massive black bars vertically on their shiny HD tv blue rays and people would be confused.


Only simpletons. I think you'll find that most (all) 4:3 programmes are released in their original format.  The ST: TNG BDs are in 4:3. What's the difference?

A lot of people want their productions in the format that were intended to be viewed in, hence the success of Widescreen VHSs when they were first released in the late '80s.


----------



## Orang Utan (Dec 3, 2014)

Only cunts think that shot


----------



## 8den (Dec 4, 2014)

Bungle73 said:


> Only simpletons. I think you'll find that most (all) 4:3 programmes are released in their original format.  The ST: TNG BDs are in 4:3. What's the difference?
> 
> A lot of people want their productions in the format that were intended to be viewed in, hence the success of Widescreen VHSs when they were first released in the late '80s.



Talk to HBO then, they wanted to release The Wire as 16:9 HD, when it was originally transfered at 4:3 SD. 

Fuck did I do.


----------



## Buddy Bradley (Dec 5, 2014)

8den said:


> Fuck did I do.


Quoted so I could Like this twice.


----------



## ddraig (Dec 5, 2014)

so will the original box set be cheaper now? ta


----------



## The Octagon (Jan 7, 2015)

Just downloaded the remastered HD versions of Seasons 1-5 (from the usual places), it really does look fantastic, almost like watching it for the first time again  

Think I may do a full rewatch as it's been a year or so since the last viewing.


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 10, 2016)

'The Wire' Creator Eyes Series on Spanish Civil War 

Never going to happen.


----------



## Orang Utan (Apr 10, 2016)

butchersapron said:


> 'The Wire' Creator Eyes Series on Spanish Civil War
> 
> Never going to happen.


Can we have Michael Bay's Kronstadt instead?


----------



## butchersapron (Apr 10, 2016)

Orang Utan said:


> Can we have Michael Bay's Kronstadt instead?


We've already got the fantasy version.


----------



## Badgers (Jul 2, 2017)

How did I not know there are three prequel/behind the scenes/making of episodes?????????

HBO Releases Three Prequel Videos for 'The Wire'


----------



## JimW (Jul 3, 2017)

Badgers said:


> How did I not know there are three prequel/behind the scenes/making of episodes?????????
> 
> HBO Releases Three Prequel Videos for 'The Wire'


Me either, found them here:


----------



## Ax^ (Jul 3, 2017)

or watch the corner


----------



## 8den (Jul 3, 2017)

Ax^ said:


> or watch the corner



Or homicide LOTS.


----------



## Nanker Phelge (Jul 3, 2017)

8den said:


> Or homicide LOTS.



I liked how some of the Homicide scenes got reworked in the Wire....


----------



## CNT36 (Jul 3, 2017)

Nanker Phelge said:


> I liked how some of the Homicide scenes got reworked in the Wire....


A lot of those were reworked from the book which was based off of real life. Quite a few things from The Corner book ended up in there as well. I can't remember the mini-series well enough to know if any ended up in The Wire.


----------



## Badgers (Mar 2, 2018)

Revisiting The Wire 10 years on


----------



## Santino (Mar 2, 2018)

Badgers said:


> Revisiting The Wire 10 years on


That website is absolute filth, in terms of adverts and auto-play videos.


----------



## Badgers (Mar 2, 2018)

Santino said:


> That website is absolute filth, in terms of adverts and auto-play videos.


Yes it is


----------



## ddraig (Mar 2, 2018)

still haven't got round to getting the box set!


----------



## Steel Icarus (Mar 2, 2018)

Badgers said:


> Revisiting The Wire 10 years on


Article immediately wrong. Those aren't the words with which The Wire begins, and neither is the line "It's America, man", it's "This America, man".


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2018)

Got to get around to season two at some point.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Mar 2, 2018)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Got to get around to season two at some point.


No rush, like


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 2, 2018)

DaveCinzano said:


> No rush, like


I really enjoyed series one. Someone lent me all the DVDs at the time. Then I got to series two. The first DVD was fine. Watched the first three episodes. Then the next one was missing. I just couldn't skip an episode, let alone three. I thought I would wait until I could get all the DVDs complete. It's just not happened yet.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 2, 2018)

Removed from Sky boxsets last Saturday - me a third of the way into series four  Think I've got some DVDs somewhere, will have to make do without the HD...


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 2, 2018)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> I really enjoyed series one. Someone lent me all the DVDs at the time. Then I got to series two. The first DVD was fine. Watched the first three episodes. Then the next one was missing. I just couldn't skip an episode, let alone three. I thought I would wait until I could get all the DVDs complete. It's just not happened yet.



You need more Greek in your life...


----------



## Steel Icarus (Mar 3, 2018)

Nine Bob Note said:


> You need more Greek in your life...





Spoiler



And he's not even Greek


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 3, 2018)

Possibly the greatest ever use of spoiler tags there


----------



## Badgers (Mar 3, 2018)

Nine Bob Note said:


> Possibly the greatest ever use of spoiler tags there


The game is the game


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Mar 3, 2018)

Oh, indeed...


----------



## shifting gears (Mar 3, 2018)

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:


> Got to get around to season two at some point.


 
After that try 24

Then possibly Sopranos

Dad's Army is dead good too


----------



## Badgers (Mar 3, 2018)

shifting gears said:


> After that try 24
> 
> Then possibly Sopranos
> 
> Dad's Army is dead good too


Not Deadwood or Treme or something good?


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Mar 3, 2018)

shifting gears said:


> After that try 24
> 
> Then possibly Sopranos
> 
> Dad's Army is dead good too



Ugh, 24 was shit after episode 12. It was supposed to only be 7 episodes or something, but they re-edited the last few episodes to make up 12. . . . but it was still popular so they wrote another 12 and ruined it. I tried watching series 2 but it was mega shit and gave up after two episodes. 
The Sopranos is just super shit. I really don't understand the attraction.


----------



## shifting gears (Mar 3, 2018)

Hmmm yeah was really just referring to how behind the times you were tbh [emoji3]


----------



## Badgers (Sep 20, 2018)

Should be called Orlando's

Actor Idris Elba to open London bar


----------



## Rosemary Jest (Sep 21, 2018)

I preferred The Shield. (Runs and hides).

The Wire was good though.


----------



## krtek a houby (Sep 21, 2018)

CNT36 said:


> A lot of those were reworked from the book which was based off of real life. Quite a few things from The Corner book ended up in there as well. I can't remember the mini-series well enough to know if any ended up in The Wire.



There's a Bubbles rehab scene that cropped up in one of Pelecanos' books. I guess he reworked it for the series.


----------



## Badgers (Sep 21, 2018)

Rosemary Jest said:


> I preferred The Shield. (Runs and hides).
> 
> The Wire was good though.


I love them both but The Wire edges it for me


----------



## stavros (Sep 22, 2018)

I really ought to watch it again. It'd be good to hear what West, Elba and Gillen sounded like before they lost their Baltimore accents.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 23, 2018)

What is this? 

Specials – The Wire Episode Guide – Episode List


----------



## neonwilderness (Nov 23, 2018)

Badgers said:


> What is this?
> 
> Specials – The Wire Episode Guide – Episode List
> 
> View attachment 153453


Is this any good then?


----------



## skyscraper101 (Nov 24, 2018)

I think I saw some of those way back. They were fairly forgettable.


----------



## Badgers (Nov 24, 2018)

skyscraper101 said:


> I think I saw some of those way back. They were fairly forgettable.


Ffs


----------



## Rosemary Jest (Nov 24, 2018)

On a related note, Avon Barksdale is a great name for a dog.


----------



## Reno (Nov 24, 2018)

Badgers said:


> What is this?
> 
> Specials – The Wire Episode Guide – Episode List
> 
> View attachment 153453


It says what this is in the link 

Various extras to be included on the DVD sets, documentaries and short tie in films.


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)

Rosemary Jest said:


> On a related note, Avon Barksdale is a great name for a dog.



"I'm just a canine, I suppose"


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)

God I love Avon. Wood Harris who played him is a very intelligent guy, I watched a long interview with him recently. I'll see if I can find it.


----------



## maomao (Nov 24, 2018)

Rosemary Jest said:


> On a related note, Avon Barksdale is a great name for a dog.


Bunk Pawland
'Pup' Joe
Randy Wag-staffie

There must be more


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)




----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)

maomao said:


> Bunk Pawland
> 'Pup' Joe
> Randy Wag-staffie
> 
> There must be more


Springer Bell


----------



## JimW (Nov 24, 2018)

Fuzzy Dunlope


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)

Frank Soboxer
Shiba Greggs
Ellis Cavapoo


----------



## maomao (Nov 24, 2018)

Snoop!


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2018)

dog onna stringer bell


----------



## Steel Icarus (Nov 24, 2018)

maomao said:


> 'Pup' Joe


Played by the late great Robert Dog Chew


----------



## SpookyFrank (Nov 24, 2018)

Cheese Wagstail


----------



## rekil (Nov 24, 2018)

A dog must have a bone.


----------



## DotCommunist (Nov 24, 2018)

S☼I said:


>



I've never seen Paid In Full so I'l d/l that to watch tonight. Odd, 2002 I was watching all of these sorts of films, missed this one.


----------



## DaveCinzano (Nov 24, 2018)

S☼I said:


>



Cheers, looks interesting


----------



## Badgers (Dec 9, 2018)




----------



## D'wards (Dec 9, 2018)

Snot Boogie- he was so ahead of the game he was outta the game before the series even started


----------



## Badgers (Dec 29, 2018)

Jimmy 

https://amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/dec/29/dominic-west-q-and-a-interview-guilty-pleasure-disco?__twitter_impression=true


----------



## Badgers (Jan 14, 2019)

Was Frank Ziggys biological father?

(S2)


----------



## CNT36 (Jan 15, 2019)

I don't think it was ever suggested otherwise.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 15, 2019)

CNT36 said:


> I don't think it was ever suggested otherwise.





> Ziggy: When I seen what I did to that kid down at the store, it made me sick to my stomach.
> Frank: That ain't you, Zig.
> Ziggy: It ain't? 'Cause the same blood don't flow for us, Pop. I mean, I wish it did, but it don't.


----------



## CNT36 (Jan 15, 2019)

I always took it as they were very different people, different values, and different motivations. He claims he wants to be more like Frank but given the way stuff is on the docks that path isn't open anymore.


----------



## Crispy (Jan 15, 2019)

If he was speaking Latin, we'd be able to tell by the case of the noun "blood" but unfortunately he was speaking English.


----------



## Badgers (Jan 15, 2019)

CNT36 said:


> I always took it as they were very different people, different values, and different motivations. He claims he wants to be more like Frank but given the way stuff is on the docks that path isn't open anymore.


That is how I took it. What prompted me to post that was an interview with Chris Bauer (Francis "Frank" Sobotka) saying that his understanding/feeling was that Ziggy was not his biological son. No mention of Ziggy's mother or homelife


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 15, 2019)

Badgers said:


> That is how I took it. What prompted me to post that was an interview with Chris Bauer (Francis "Frank" Sobotka) saying that his understanding/feeling was that Ziggy was not his biological son. No mention of Ziggy's mother or homelife



I mean, why's Frank looking out for Ziggy so much, then? I know Frank is a stand up guy, but that stand-up?  If your wife/girlfriend had a child by someone else, then you agreed to bring him up as your own to keep the relationship alive, then that relationship ended anyway and your child was as much of a (loveable) knob as Ziggy, would you really keep looking out for him...? Obviously Nicki and Ziggy repeatedly refer to each other as cousins, too, and Nicki's dad is Frank's brother.  I'm not buying it.  Interesting speculation, but assuming facts with (next to) zero evidence much...?


----------



## BigTom (Jan 16, 2019)

Jon-of-arc said:


> I mean, why's Frank looking out for Ziggy so much, then? I know Frank is a stand up guy, but that stand-up?  If your wife/girlfriend had a child by someone else, then you agreed to bring him up as your own to keep the relationship alive, then that relationship ended anyway and your child was as much of a (loveable) knob as Ziggy, would you really keep looking out for him...? Obviously Nicki and Ziggy repeatedly refer to each other as cousins, too, and Nicki's dad is Frank's brother.  I'm not buying it.  Interesting speculation, but assuming facts with (next to) zero evidence much...?



I don't buy it either but you could have a backstory that would work, something like Frank believes Ziggy is his kid until Ziggy is old enough that a proper parental bond is formed, then his wife dies and he finds out at that point she had an affair and Ziggy isn't his but the actual father isn't around for whatever reason so being a stand up guy he shoulders the responsibility which isn't hard because he had a genuine parental bond which hasn't been broken (fully) by the new knowledge.
Or his wife was raped, got pregnant from that, had Ziggy then killed herself. Dark as fuck but i could definitely see Frank bringing up Ziggy as his own following that.

I never took that phrase to be literal when i watched the wire, never even occurred to me.


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 16, 2019)

Actually, Ziggy's mum is mentioned... Prescription drug addict, from the sounds of things...


----------



## Badgers (Jan 16, 2019)

Good spot


----------



## Jon-of-arc (Jan 17, 2019)

BigTom said:


> I don't buy it either but you could have a backstory that would work, something like Frank believes Ziggy is his kid until Ziggy is old enough that a proper parental bond is formed, then his wife dies and he finds out at that point she had an affair and Ziggy isn't his but the actual father isn't around for whatever reason so being a stand up guy he shoulders the responsibility which isn't hard because he had a genuine parental bond which hasn't been broken (fully) by the new knowledge.
> Or his wife was raped, got pregnant from that, had Ziggy then killed herself. Dark as fuck but i could definitely see Frank bringing up Ziggy as his own following that.
> 
> I never took that phrase to be literal when i watched the wire, never even occurred to me.






Badgers said:


> Good spot



One of the greatest things about the wire was just how realistic the characters seemed to be.  Like, how they really did feel like real people with unspoken histories, how if you showed up at the Baltimore docks, you might just bump into Ziggy and Nikki (and Horse Face), and they'd be there, doing their thing... Or head down west-side, onto Crenshaw, and Naymond, Michael, Dukie and Randy could be hanging out...


----------



## ATOMIC SUPLEX (Jan 17, 2019)

Ahhhh, still haven't seen beyond series one and a bit. 
Someone lent me the DVDs and the second disc of season two was missing and I didn't want to see them out of order.
I keep expecting to see the whole boxset for a £1 in the charity shop but it never happens.


----------



## Nine Bob Note (Feb 5, 2019)

Resumed watching S4 a few days ago (was watching through a year or so ago until Sky lost the rights) and now have the final three episodes of S5 to watch. Tempted to start over again when I'm done. Need Wee-Bay to sustain me until Thrones and Bosch start back


----------



## Badgers (May 2, 2020)

Rewatched a few episodes (again) and have been wondering who the non participating character is that comes up in the first meeting between McNultey and Omar. Been bugging me a few days now but it just popped in my head  



Spoiler: No



No Heart Anthony 








						Anthony Little
					

"No-Heart" Anthony Little was the older brother of notorious Baltimore stickup man Omar Little. In 1985, a nine-year-old Omar, his brother Anthony Little, and an unidentified older boy planned and executed the robbery of a man at a bus stop. Omar questioned the value of robbing the man and then...




					thewire.fandom.com


----------



## Steel Icarus (May 2, 2020)

God I love The Wire. Sometimes when drunk I watch compilations of all Omar's scenes or Marlo. Jamie Hector is astonishing in The Wire


----------



## Proper Tidy (May 2, 2020)

Still my favourite ever telly show, rewatch it every couple of years. Season two the best.


----------



## Steel Icarus (May 2, 2020)

Proper Tidy said:


> Still my favourite ever telly show, rewatch it every couple of years. Season two the best.


I'm with four, just, simply cos the kids are so good in it. 

It's the quality of the writing that's so fantastic. Like in this scene as one of the comments says it's the addition of the words "on purpose" that lifts it into genius


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## Badgers (May 3, 2020)

S☼I said:


> It's the quality of the writing that's so fantastic. Like in this scene as one of the comments says it's the addition of the words "on purpose" that lifts it into genius


The game is the game #indeed


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## Chilli.s (May 3, 2020)

Badgers said:


> Rewatched a few episodes (again) and have been wondering who the non participating character is that comes up in the first meeting between McNultey and Omar. Been bugging me a few days now but it just popped in my head
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Chilli.s (May 3, 2020)

A man gotta have a code.


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## Badgers (May 3, 2020)

Am finding the Wire a pretty good yardstick to measure man's inhumanity to man in these times.


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## Chilli.s (May 3, 2020)

Badgers said:


> Am finding the Wire a pretty good yardstick to measure man's inhumanity to man in these times.
> 
> View attachment 210438


Yeah, it's a remarkable bit of telly. I've just watched it for the 3rd time, with a housemate who'd not seen it. They were hooked but it did take a wile. It doesn't look great on a large screen due to it using old tv proportions, I find that charming though as it dates it. The immorality in every walk of life if you look and having ones own moral code resonates well.


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## Chilli.s (May 3, 2020)

S☼I said:


> It's the quality of the writing that's so fantastic.


So true, housemate said it needs subtitles, for the police as well as the gangs. But in the end admitted that the poetry of what sounds like real people speaking shone out. 
eg: Snoop buys a nail gun.


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## Badgers (May 3, 2020)

Chilli.s said:


> Yeah, it's a remarkable bit of telly. I've just watched it for the 3rd time, with a housemate who'd not seen it. They were hooked but it did take a wile. It doesn't look great on a large screen due to it using old tv proportions, I find that charming though as it dates it. The immorality in every walk of life if you look and having ones own moral code resonates well.


It is the best telly ever made 'damn straight' 

Not bothered by the low quality. Have a wizzy telly but crap old dvd player so used to that.


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## BigTom (May 3, 2020)

Chilli.s said:


> So true, housemate said it needs subtitles, for the police as well as the gangs. But in the end admitted that the poetry of what sounds like real people speaking shone out.
> eg: Snoop buys a nail gun.




Snoop played by a Baltimore resident, ex-drug dealer and convicted of second degree murder, not an actor before the wire: Felicia Pearson - Wikipedia

One of two actual baltimore accents in the show, the other accent is the one that you hear from Bunny Colvin's deputy, who was played by Jay Landsman. Jay Landsman is the person that the homicide seargent Jay Landsman is based on. Jay Landsman audtioned for the role of Jay Landsman but it was decided someone else would make a better Jay Landsman than Jay Landsman 

So there were at least a couple of actual real people in some of the larger supporting roles.


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## Chilli.s (May 3, 2020)

Prop Joe a Baltimore person too. Well the actor was.


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## baldrick (May 3, 2020)

S☼I said:


> God I love The Wire. Sometimes when drunk I watch compilations of all Omar's scenes or Marlo. Jamie Hector is astonishing in The Wire


He's pretty good in Bosch too I've got to say.

Love the Wire. We watched S1 again over Christmas with a few friends who'd never seen it and got halfway into S2. I love the story arcs of the different series, would happily rewatch them all over and over.


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## Steel Icarus (May 3, 2020)

BigTom said:


> Snoop played by a Baltimore resident, ex-drug dealer and convicted of second degree murder, not an actor before the wire: Felicia Pearson - Wikipedia
> 
> One of two actual baltimore accents in the show, the other accent is the one that you hear from Bunny Colvin's deputy, who was played by Jay Landsman. Jay Landsman is the person that the homicide seargent Jay Landsman is based on. Jay Landsman audtioned for the role of Jay Landsman but it was decided someone else would make a better Jay Landsman than Jay Landsman
> 
> So there were at least a couple of actual real people in some of the larger supporting roles.


The real life Omar and Avon also have roles


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## Orang Utan (May 3, 2020)

S☼I said:


> The real life Omar and Avon also have roles


i think the real Omar is one of the guys who protects Omar from a knifing in jail (iirc they all get armoured up with thick magazines under their shirts)


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## Steel Icarus (May 3, 2020)

Orang Utan said:


> i think the real Omar is one of the guys who protects Omar from a knifing in jail (iirc they all get armoured up with thick magazines under their shirts)


Yep, Donnie Andrews. The inspiration for Avon, Melvin Williams, played The Deacon.


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## Crispy (May 3, 2020)

Chilli.s said:


> It doesn't look great on a large screen due to it using old tv proportions, I find that charming though as it dates it.


It was shot on wide-aspect film, so they were able to make a HD widescreen version, which you can get if you find a copy that fell off the back of a lorry stream it legally from hbo.com. It's sometimes very obvious that the shot was composed for the smaller frame, but mostly looks fantastic.


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## Reno (May 3, 2020)

Crispy said:


> It was shot on wide-aspect film, so they were able to make a HD widescreen version, which you can get if you find a copy that fell off the back of a lorry stream it legally from hbo.com. It's sometimes very obvious that the shot was composed for the smaller frame, but mostly looks fantastic.


The Wire was shot 4:3, the academy ratio which isn't a wide aspect ratio. It got converted to 16:9 by HBO, which had pixel nerds grab the pitchforks. Article here:









						Why are so many people upset about the new HD version of The Wire?
					

It all has to do with aspect ratios. What are those? Read on.




					www.vox.com
				




I wished audiences would just live the fact that film and tv comes in different aspect ratios and that the image won't always fill their screen. At least the bad old days of VHS are over when widescreen films got cropped so badly that only half of the image was left. That crapped all over compositions and screwed up the editing. This isn't nearly as bad.


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## JimW (May 3, 2020)

A bit of a toss up with Fargo for best US telly for me, think the Wire wins by dint of less pure fiction elements.


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## Crispy (May 4, 2020)

Reno said:


> The Wire was shot 4:3, the academy ratio which isn't a wide aspect ratio. It got converted to 16:9 by HBO, which had pixel nerds grab the pitchforks. Article here:


It was filmed wide and cropped to 4:3 in the original edit. A deliberate choice by the cinematographer to future-proof the footage for exactly this purpose.







The HD version is missing no imagary in the majority of shots. David Simon says there were only about 100 shots accross the whole show that needed reframing.




__





						The Wire in HD (updated with video clips)
					

This tale begins and ends with a fellow named Bob Colesberry, who taught me as much as he could about filmmaking in the three or four years I was privileged to work with him. To those who knew Bob, it will provoke warm memories to say that he was not a language guy; he understood image, and...



					davidsimon.com
				




Personally, I'm not that picky about it and am happy recommending this version to newcomers


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## Reno (May 4, 2020)

Crispy said:


> It was filmed wide and cropped to 4:3 in the original edit. A deliberate choice by the cinematographer to future-proof the footage for exactly this purpose.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Did you actually read the article you linked to ? 

Unlike a lot of TV shows at the time of the transition to widescreen,The Wire wasn't protected for 16:9, it was exclusively composed for 4:3. The article is about how much work it took to make it work in 16:9 and it concedes that it doesn't always work. Shooting for a 4:3 broadcast isn't the same as shooting at full aperture (using the entire frame of 35mm film). There is spare space at the sides and at top and bottom. When they opened up to the sides, it often revealed stuff not intended to be seen, like crew members, light stands, etc. which sometimes had to be digitally erased. It also threw off compositions.


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## Crispy (May 4, 2020)

I think we're talking past each other with the same argument


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## Steel Icarus (May 8, 2020)




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## Badgers (May 8, 2020)




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## Artaxerxes (Jul 13, 2020)

8den said:


> Signs you've watched too much of "The Wire" no 112;
> 
> Whenever you read or hear and anything about Swine Flu, and you come across the word "Pandemic", you instantly think about a bunch of corner hoppers shouting "Pandemic" "Pandemic!"



This is a hell of a post to read 11 years later. 

(yes I'm rewatching the Wire to make work days go faster so its time to browse old Urban threads on it - That scene where Bunny explains the freezone to his superiors and the slow horror and realisation dawns on them is just so fucking good)


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## Ax^ (Jul 13, 2020)

*ponder if 6 years is enough time to rewatch the corner and the wire"


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## DaveCinzano (Jul 13, 2020)

Ax^ said:


> *ponder if 6 years is enough time to rewatch the corner and the wire"


If memory serves I did all five series plus_ The Corner _in a fortnight.

I was living alone at the time, and self-employed


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## Ax^ (Jul 13, 2020)

that does not help me decide  if i forgotten enough of the bloody plots


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## Grace Johnson (Jul 14, 2020)

Ax^ said:


> *ponder if 6 years is enough time to rewatch the corner and the wire"



Definitely. I'm going to rewarch it all again. Find a little bit of something new and clever everytime I do.


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## Badgers (Jul 14, 2020)

Ax^ said:


> *ponder if 6 years is enough time to rewatch the corner and the wire"


On indeed.


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## Badgers (Sep 6, 2021)

Omar 









						‘The Wire’ actor Michael K. Williams found dead in NYC apartment
					

“The Wire’’ actor Michael K. Williams was found dead of a suspected drug overdose in his Brooklyn penthouse Monday afternoon, law-enforcement sources told The Post.




					nypost.com


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## Ax^ (Sep 6, 2021)

that rubbish news

he an interestng actor and had more to give 

RIP Micheal


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## Gromit (Sep 6, 2021)

That's really awful news.
Such a talent lost too soon.


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## Santino (Sep 6, 2021)

Badgers said:


> Omar
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Think this deserves a new thread. ☹️


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## SpookyFrank (Sep 6, 2021)

Badgers said:


> Omar
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Really shit news. I liked his work on Boardwalk Empire even more than the Wire I think.


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## Ted Striker (Sep 6, 2021)

RiP Omar.

I watched The Wire for the first time last year (pretty much the last remaining human to do so)...Omars death knocked me real hard. One of the best characters in modern TV, and was a huge achievement to nail a fairly untypical character, so believeably.

Shit


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## skyscraper101 (Sep 6, 2021)

Shit


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## Plumdaff (Sep 6, 2021)

Absolutely awful. He was a great actor, and his portrayal of Omar was one of many powerful performances. What a shame. RIP.


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## May Kasahara (Sep 6, 2021)

Omar goin'  What shit news, he was such a fantastic, charismatic actor.


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## krtek a houby (Sep 6, 2021)

May Kasahara said:


> Omar goin'  What shit Jews, he was such a fantastic, charismatic actor.



It's a tragedy but don't think it's down to any particular group of people


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## May Kasahara (Sep 6, 2021)

Sorry, apparently my phone is now an anti-semite as well as a pain in the arse.


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## Artaxerxes (Sep 7, 2021)




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## Badgers (Sep 7, 2021)




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## Nivag (Sep 7, 2021)

Sad news indeed, I've had this screen print on my wall since the Wire days.


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## Chilli.s (Sep 7, 2021)

RIP


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## Mr.Bishie (Sep 7, 2021)

Only seen The Wire on shite quality DVD a few years ago - anywhere legal where we can watch in HD?


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## Elpenor (Sep 7, 2021)

It’s on NowTV entertainment pack which can be had for £10/ month - no contract. It certainly was last year when I rewatched it.


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## mhendo (Sep 13, 2021)

Badgers said:


>




David Simon has now had time to produce a longer reflection on Michael Williams. It's a great piece.









						Opinion | The Question Michael K. Williams Asked Me Before Every Season of ‘The Wire’
					

As Omar Little, the actor bent his beautiful mind to a task that even the best writers and showrunners often avoid.




					www.nytimes.com


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## Badgers (Oct 6, 2021)




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## Orang Utan (Mar 5, 2022)

Saw this pic used as a reaction gif on Twitter and immediately recognised Wee Bey in the scene where Stringer Bell tells him Kima Greggs is an undercover cop


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