The Wire

TheAntipop said:
I and others have said it before, I'll say again - it takes a good few episodes for the hook to sink in. It's very alien to go into this show fresh off the bat of... well, everything, as there isn't anything like it out there to my record. The Sopranos maybe, so it was a little easier for me to get into after I just finished the last season of that.

Stick with it for a few episodes.
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The Sopranos hooked me from the first episode. :p
Ended up buying every season on dvd, it's definitely not as slow as The Wire.
But, I said I'd give this show another chance and I will after every other show I'm watching is done... I really need to cut down, too many damn stories to follow.
 
Lucid said:
The Sopranos hooked me from the first episode. :p
Ended up buying every season on dvd, it's definitely not as slow as The Wire.
But, I said I'd give this show another chance and I will after every other show I'm watching is done... I really need to cut down, too many damn stories to follow.
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The Wire is a goddam bazillion times better than The Sopranos, and I love that show, too!

Trust me, you'll be thinking the exact same in a month. Right now, people get a little bothered by how slow it is, but after a few more episodes it's the pattern they adjust to, and then they realise just how well deserving it all is. This is me speaking from imaginary facts and random estimations aswell - savour it.
 
As has been discussed a bit on the steam chat, I've been looking though The Wire for the last month or so. It's really true what they say about you needing time to get into it. It was only on the third try that I got hooked (having watched the first two episodes twice before). It's truly one of the greatest achievements of American television. I'd rate season 5 to be of slightly less quality than the other ones, but it's still miles above most shows' best season.

This is mainly because
the people in the newsroom didn't engage me as much as the other characters did in past seasons. They seemed quite flat and without much complexity. And the fake serial killer story didn't quite do the trick for me in terms of realism.

That said, the show is full emotionally gripping scenes and characters. The dock workers and the school kids were really the most interesting for me, and the political scene bored me quite a lot. Maybe that's something that improves on repeated viewings. When watching it I also wasn't analysing the different seasons from the perspective of allegory (to the Iraq War etc.), as you maybe should. I viewed the whole series as a huge tale of how individuals are stuck in their institutions, and forced to follow the rules of "the game", whether they like it or not. There are also not-so-subtle elements of critique against laissez-faire capitalism.

Now on to my favourite scene in the whole series. I have never been to emotionally engaged by a TV series before.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrvaRKtfelw

On another note, huge credit goes to HBO for not cancelling the show despite low ratings. They are really the saviors of American television.
 
The Monkey said:
This is mainly because
the people in the newsroom didn't engage me as much as the other characters did in past seasons. They seemed quite flat and without much complexity. And the fake serial killer story didn't quite do the trick for me in terms of realism.
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I'd concur with that. I didn't think it held up as well Vs the earlier seasons. Albeit not quite in the same league as the wire in terms of the broader narrative, I would recommend Southland as a good police show to watch. It effectively covers 3 different police units in LA precinct a rookie & his instructor on beat patrol, a couple of homicide detectives, and a couple of detectives in the gangs division. Presently on it's 3rd season, though Seasons 1 & 2 were short (like 7 & 6 episode affairs) where as series 3 is 10 episodes (season finale this week) . Worth watching as there are some good performances esp from Michael Cudlitz (Cooper) and Regina King (Det Adams).
 
I actually got around to watching this properly a few months ago. Its certainly a great show, but I feel like its overhyped. Like, its probably not even in my top 20. Granted, I don't find gang movies to be very interesting in general anyways, so thats probably the sole reason I didn't like it a whole lot.
 
the show really comes into it's own on the second viewing, i'd recommend a re-watch if you have the time to.
 
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