The Wire - what am I missing?

There is a feature article on the woman who plays
`Snoop' in the current issue of Rolling Stone. When
does she enter the picture? Stephen King called her
the `most terrifying female villian in the history of
television'.

 

I subscribed to HBO for this series and dropped it afterwards. I still can't believe that the series didn't win any major awards!

 

She starts in season 3.

 

The Wire is often a bit too close to real life, for some.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/08/felica-snoop-pearson-hbo-actress-guilty-drugs_n_921296.html

 

Someone mentioned Season 2 as weak, and though I did like it, did anyone else think it was EXTREMELY hard to believe that all of it starts over who gets their piece of stained glass hung in the church?

 

That's exactly the sort of petty nonsense that will get a ball rolling.

 

Agreed.

 

No one's expecting anyone to believe that anyone in a position of mid-level authority could have an inflated sense of entitlement in real life, naturally, but this is fictional drama. You have to be willing to suspend some belief.

The weird state of TV shows on Blu-Ray is one of my greatest complaints. Nothing worse than watching a show on broadcast on hi-def and then being asked to pay hard cash for worse-looking DVDs. There doesn't seem to be any logic as to what's issued on BD and what isn't; it's just illogical and random and annoying.

Networks seem to have it in their head that TV shows just won't sell on Blu-Ray so they don't release them; a self-fulfilling prophecy. I wish HBO were different, but I'm looking at a shelf full of 'Sopranos' DVDs framed by seasons one and six (only!) in hi-def. How is there any logic to that? If they're not willing to issue a "complete series" (a la 'Deadwood') I guess someone would have to make the decision as to which season of 'The Wire' they should issue on Blu-Ray first.

 

I only just bought the complete DVD set, so I'll be pissed off if it comes out on blu-ray now! David Simon has been quoted as saying he likes it in SD as it gives it a gritty documentary feel, but I don't buy that. I didn't realise that it had been shown in HD in the US. Jealous now!

I think it was filmed on Super 16 (anybody confirm?) so blu would at least be a nice upgrade to the DVDs...

 

Baltimore Cathecism

Baltimore is the epicenter of Roman Catholicism in the U.S.A. It's not all that far-fetched.

 

It is impossible to judge a TV show based on just two episodes. It took me half the first season to keep straight which one was Avon Barksdale and which one was Stringer Bell. Maybe something is being lost in translation for people on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. IMO, The Wire is the best drama I have ever seen on American TV.

 

Understandable. The cops always refer to Avon/Stringer by name, but are never in the same shot with either one so it is hard to keep them straight.

 

Andre Royo's performance in this series is beoynd amazing. He does a monologue in the fifth season at a meeting that just blew me away. The entire show was very well cast.

 

The only thing that confused me for a few weeks was "Lake Trout". What in the world is a "Lake Trout"? Finally it dawned on me that it is merely some undefined species used as a marketing ploy.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_trout

BUT, in local Baltimore context... read this: http://www2.citypaper.com/eat/review.asp?rid=5071

 

I remember watching The Long Good Friday years ago. it took multiple viewings to understand everything that was being said. Still one of my favorite gangster films.

 

Thanks.

 

You ain't kidding. We watched the first episode of Shameless last night, and it was like watching something set on another planet. I swear I got like five words of the father's long monologue at the beginning introducing the characters. It might be really good, but with no subtitles on Netflix streaming I don't know if we're going to try to take on 50+ episodes. The first one didn't grab us that hard.

 

No problem! I used to live in Baltimore...

 

I had to give up on The Tudors on Netflix for this reason. Eventually I just gave up on Netflix.

 

I love The Wire too. There is no way to watch just a few episodes to understand what's going on. It is designed to be watched as a season and that is actually what makes The Wire so great.

What is really cool is to watch a whole season and watch it over again. Then you will realize how much you missed the first time around, especially in the first several episodes of each season.

For those of you in the UK, if you are having issues with understanding season 1, you may like season 3 better. The story line changes dramatically and will be more understandable.

 

Just to throw my 2 cents in. The Wire is the greatest show I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of the greats. It's also in my opinion the greatest work of fiction of the 21st century. The best analogy I can give is that it's truly like a novel. You don't pick up a novel and are blown away reading the first page. Just like a novel you have to give it time. If it doesn't hook you by the end of the first season then don't waste your time.

 

The best ever. Sublime.

 

I'd agree with your last statement: If you don't like it after the first season, you're not going to change your mind. But it does take some time to really get under your skin. The beauty is that the characters are well written, and the continuity of character is very good: Unlike most TV, the characters don't change in unrealistic ways as a plot device. (I'm looking at you House!) So if you get interested in the characters, you'll have lots to enjoy--five seasons worth.

 

I put "The Wire" in my top 4 drama series of all time list (I place it at #2, behind "Homicide" and ahead of "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos" ).

The thing with "The Wire" is that you really have to WATCH it. Meaning that you can't be a casual viewer, with one eye on the computer or talking on your phone or something. It requires your full attention to capture all the details and nuances, and the show never dumbs down for the average viewer like so many shows do. Once you start a season, you would need to see every episode in order to fully grasp what's happening.