Watching the Wire for the Second Time

[edinatlanta]

I'm watching the Wire for the second time through and I strongly urge anyone who watched it once to watch it again.

What I like about the second viewing is I am seeing how brilliant the individual performances are, whereas the first time, I could only see the bigger picture.

For example after Kima got shot, I'm seeing Lester is a f*cking fantastic cop, he knew how to work with people and the personal nature of cops, making him an even better police officer. Carver's grief at the scene is gut wrenching, which I never really saw the first time. Those are just two examples of what I'm seeing now.

Then the craft and artistry of the mise-en-scene is something I'm picking up now. Don't know if it has been discussed, but all the bad guys' (whether criminals or cops) scenes are shot in a very shallow focus, and they all have a short time frame to deal with in their worlds. Contrast this with the good cops and and the good police work, those are always in a deep focus and they are thinking about things much further down the line. Or at least that is my interpretation.

It is still a great show.

Your friend,

Edina Tlanta

 

[Connemara]

You should put a spoilers warning in this post, otherwise a lot of people will ******* hate you.

 

[limping_decorum]

season 5 is the only one i have not watched more than twice.

 

[Joffrey]

I just rewatched season 1 a few weeks ago. I'm waiting for season 2 to get back on On Demand

 

[Boston Litigator]

best show ever

 

[holymadness]

A friend of mine is watching it for the first time, so I'm re-living it vicariously through his updates. I have to say that season two absolutely killed me; the show was never better before or after. That montage in the finale where Nick is staring through the chainlink fence and Steve Earle's 'I Feel Alright' is playing had me in tears. Obligatory: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/09/85-the-wire/

 

[Connemara]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Obligatory: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/03/09/85-the-wire/

If you attempt to talk about an episode they have not seen yet, they will scream and cover their ears. In white culture, giving away information about a film or TV series is considered as rude as spitting on your mothers grave. It is an unforgivable offense.

LOL!

 

[edinatlanta]

I just got my mom hooked on it.

She saw one of the first season episodes with me. Going to rope my dad in too.

Told them since I started and finished watching the dvds over the summer they ought to watch it. Now my mom sees why.

 

[DeCaloFashion1]

This is one of the best shows HBO has ever produced. Good to the last drop too.

HBO has the first season up On Demand (not sure if that is just in New York or not).

 

[edinatlanta]

OKAY, for a variety of reasons I've seen Ep1 Season 3 a few times and only on the most recent viewing did I get just how literally insane Stringer became. I mean dude is out of his ******* head and you can see it during the meeting, trying to follow Robert's Rules, using standard econ.... he was not right. In a way it showed just how dangerous and fearsome he was.

What a fantastic character.

RIP String. RIP.

 

[Biggskip]

Originally Posted by edinatlanta

OKAY, for a variety of reasons I've seen Ep1 Season 3 a few times and only on the most recent viewing did I get just how literally insane Stringer became. I mean dude is out of his ******* head and you can see it during the meeting, trying to follow Robert's Rules, using standard econ.... he was not right. In a way it showed just how dangerous and fearsome he was.

What a fantastic character.

RIP String. RIP.
In the hopes of reviving this thread, I would have to say that you are wrong regarding Stringer.

One of the major themes of season three is that Stringer was right when it came to how he and Avon should run their empire. It was his idea to form the Baltimore-wide Co-Op and that was a major success for everybody invovled.

I believe that it was sometime near the end of Season 2 when he and Prop Joe are having a conversation about how a certain gangster (the name escapes me) played the game a long time ago. Joe talks about how the gangster didn't drop bodies, he just bought for a dollar, sold for two. Since that talk Joe and String bascially work together to try and get something similar up and running on a Baltimore-wide scale. Only Avon and his need to beef with Marlo gets in the way.

String isn't insane, but he's trying to balance the world he's trying to create with the world that Avon cannot let go of. At the same time he's trying to stay ahead of the mistakes that he made during Season 2 (Greenlighting D'Angelo and Brother Mouzone).

 

[jon bones]

Season 4 is possibly the greatest bit of TV ever written. Each episode is so heavy without ever being overwrought.

 

[mccvi]

You've inspired me. I've been meaning to give it a re-watch, thanks for the reminder.

 

[AntiHero84]

Originally Posted by Biggskip

In the hopes of reviving this thread, I would have to say that you are wrong regarding Stringer.

One of the major themes of season three is that Stringer was right when it came to how he and Avon should run their empire. It was his idea to form the Baltimore-wide Co-Op and that was a major success for everybody invovled.

I believe that it was sometime near the end of Season 2 when he and Prop Joe are having a conversation about how a certain gangster (the name escapes me) played the game a long time ago. Joe talks about how the gangster didn't drop bodies, he just bought for a dollar, sold for two. Since that talk Joe and String bascially work together to try and get something similar up and running on a Baltimore-wide scale. Only Avon and his need to beef with Marlo gets in the way.

String isn't insane, but he's trying to balance the world he's trying to create with the world that Avon cannot let go of. At the same time he's trying to stay ahead of the mistakes that he made during Season 2 (Greenlighting D'Angelo and Brother Mouzone).


Agreed. Stringer brought a sense of order to the business, that Avon and the other hoppers just couldn't understand. Just because their business is incredibly illegal, doesn't mean that it can't be improved and streamlined. The only way to do this was through the everyday street hustlers, from the ground up.

 

[MetroStyles]

In terms of insanity / sociopathy =

1. Marlo
2. Stringer
3. Avon
4. Prop Joe