The Wire Season FOUR! - Page 7

I finally finished watching Season 4 OnDemand, and Schwartz invited me to bring this thread back up. I know I'm late, and I'm sure I'm just saying things that others have said, but here goes.

Like every season of The Wire, I'm left crushed, despondent, sad, and strangely hopeful. There is no show that has moved me this way. I never find myself worrying about the "characters" on this show, because they aren't characters . . . They are actual people that we've all met at one time or another. There is a scene this season when the character Dukie smiles, and that smile has haunted me this entire week. As much as I love shows like Lost and 24, they've never affected me on such a personal level.

Schwartz mentioned dissatisfaction with the Cutty storyline, and personally, I'm somewhat bummed that he didn't take one of the kids in . . . It just seemed like he would be the one to naturally do so . . . Of course, part of this show's fuel is the subversion of expectations.

This is the finest show ever produced, no doubt . . . There are shows that give me pure joy, like Arrested Development and Freaks & Geeks, and there are shows that thrill me, like Lost . . . this show has affected my view of the world, or at the very least, my view of this country and what keeps it from being its best. Thank you, HBO, for allowing this wonderful show to tell all of the stories that it wants to tell . . . This is art that deserves our gratitude.

(EDIT: Re-reading that last line, I can't help but think of the guy from the "Fistful of Yen" parody in Kentucky Fried Movie. Hopefully, my lousy writing doesn't obscure my point.)

Is season 5 only going to have 10 episodes? Please say no!

If Simon says he only needs 10 episodes, than they only need 10 episodes. If this was an order passed down from HBO, I'd be pissed, but if Simon is cool with it than so am I.

They only need 10 but It'd be better if they used 13...or 20...or 100!

After four great seasons I've got nothing but confidence in Simon, so if he only needs ten episodes then so be it. It would be nice if they were each two hours long, though...

Meldrick, bitches!

Not only Meldrick but perhaps his prized Velvet of Teddy Pendergrass.

Awesome news about Johnson. Hopefully he goes behind the camera too!

In the comments section to that link Rath posted, David Mills said Johnson will be directing the series finale.

That's fantastic news. Johnson's always been a better TV director than he has a feature director. 'Boycott,' with Jeffrey Wright as Martin Luther King, was some awesome stuff. And Johnson directed the first episode of 'The Wire,' too, so it's all circular and shit.

Sweet!

Just read the comments from Rath's link and someone asked about West's role for next year and Mills replied:

Not a surprise at all but it's still a great thing to hear. Even though West's role was minor in Season 4, it's pretty awesome to hear that he made time to come back.

Another interesting comment from the Mills blog:

So it's not 10 episodes because that's all Simon needed. It's 10 episodes because HBO is being cheap. Again.

http://undercoverblackman.blogspot.c...s-of-wire.html

Dear whoever has been in charge of HBO's original programming department for the last 2 years,

GOD FUCKING DAMN YOU.

Sincerely,

Albert John Schwartz III

I'm going to let my avatar do the talking on this one.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...031501664.html

Am I going to have to wait until August or longer for this on DVD?

Way late to the party but I just finished the 4th season the other night. Fantastic. I’ve been scanning this thread and I see a lot of talk about Michael’s turn to a stone cold killer and Randy’s plight. Those were depressing but what pissed me off the most was seeing Duquan working one of the corners. That hurt.

I guess some folks are starting to find Omar a bit unrealistic but I love the guy. I pissed myself laughing when he offered to sell the shipment back to Prop Joe and then gave him the ticket to get his repaired clock back.

I was hoping that the new season would start in the fall but from this thread it looks like it’ll be early ’08 which is a bummer. But it will nice to see Macnulty back doing what he does best. I know this isn’t a show that’s about happy endings but I’d really like to see him put one in Marlo’s head.

I've got to say Schwartz, you truly are the Walt Whitman around these parts.

2 questions:

1) Does anyone know when the S4 DVD will be coming out?
2) Does anyone know when S4 will be playing OnDemand again? I loaned my friend the first 3 seasons on DVD, and he's jonesing.

The best season of the best show ever. Just awesome.

On one of those lil shit HBO 10 minute featurettes, one of the creators said that there is an Omar character out there in the real world. Not exact replica, but the no work on Sunday and only steal from drug dealers. Those traits do exist in some people out there in Baltimore or did at one point.

Hell I grew up in Detroit and I can tell you there is a guy like that in every ghetto in america. One guy who only robs drug dealers but is feared by everyone else. I doubt that guy is as charasmatic as Omar or shares his affinity for light-skinned black men but they are out there.

Shame about the low episode count for the next season, but still, 10 episodes isnt too bad at all. Maybe because I'm in England, but I dont consider a low episode per season, or just one season a bad thing, infact if more shows were just one season we might see more quality overall. Its tiring watching a show run out of steam and ideas. The Wire is obviously exempt from this naive theory, because each season has been fantastic and full of depth.

Off topic, but I'm way late to The Shield party, having finished watching season 1 today. I'm having a blast with this show, its similar to The Wire with its mix of gritty shit and laugh out loud humour. I'm wondering if its kept this successful formula for 6 seasons straight, but am obviously not heading into the season 6 thread to find out. Season 2 next up...

Season 2 of "The Shield" easily is a step up from the first. The show has been as solid as a rock but the second season and the fifth are the ones that stand out as being the best in my eyes. I'll wait to pass judgement on season 6 once the finale airs, so far it has been great.

The mix of grit and humor is fairly similar between "The Wire" and "The Shield." I will say that where "The Wire's" strength is seen in how it develops such a large universe of characters, "The Shield's" strength is in giving you essentially 9 major characters and making you live and die (and I mean die)with those 9. Both shows have spun the police drama on its axis.

One of the things I love about The Wire is how it changed stereotypical 'ghetto thugs' into intelligent characters with a substantial vocabulary (often to hilarious effect). I still mourn for Stringer, what a great character/actor. And yes, Marlo needs a bullet, but I have to give credit to the actor for making us hate him probably more than anyone thats been on the show. (although maybe the corrupt guy that says 'shee-it' is way up there)

The Shield, while not having as many unique characters on the streets, still follows The Wire's lead in many areas. I noticed a 'most shocking moments of The Shield' thread a while back, I wont check it out till I've finished season 6, but after having seen season 1 I'm wondering how you can narrow the choices down!

I wonder what next show will be a spiritual successor to The Shield and The Wire?

I don't think you can really compare the two shows outside of the fact that the main characters are police officers. I watch The Shield because I love the way its able to keep up a level of intensity that is unmatched and keep it going for many seasons (although I have to disagree with Moltisonti, I found S6 of the Shield to be downright boring (except for Goggins, who has never been better)). The Wire is more concerned with documenting the status/death of the working class and how everything is broken at a base level. I love both shows, but the Wire's ambition and attention to detail make it the more important one.

The Shield is like someone gave Anthony Soprano a badge and a gun.

The 6th season of "The Shield" has been fantastic. Maybe not quite as good as the 5th, but that's only because I think of the 5th as one of the best seasons of television period. The only season so far that I felt was off was the 3rd. It seemed like everything that went on that year could have been told in about half the amount of episodes.

Obviously the scope of "The Wire" is what sets it apart, not just from "The Shield," but from TV shows in general. It started out as cops trying to nab drug dealers and has evolved into a show about practically every aspect of a modern urban city (the unions, big city politics, the school systems). It's hard for me to believe that about a year from now both of these shows will have run their course to completion.

I've only begun The Wire. Starting Disc 4 of Season 1 this weekend. It's absolutely amazing and the dimensions of even the most non-primary of characters is a testament to Simon and Burns' craft.

But I've got one question about future seasons: This fullscreen business is getting to me. I know Season 1 is a several years old now, does the show's format ever switch to widescreen?

No, all seasons are fullscreen.

Thread bump, because I'm also just catching up on The Wire. I'd started watching on BET, but the content was so diluted I just decided to get the DVDs. Got all four seasons at once as a birthday gift and have spent the last 3 weeks doing marathon sessions. Just finished up the last 3 eps yesterday afternoon, and I have to say I was left feeling emotionally evacuated after watching all 4 seasons back to back to back to back. What a great fucking show. Hands down I'll call it the best thing on TV. Love the characters, the nuance, the texture, the dark humor, and especially the authenticity.

Not in a long time have character deaths (D'Angelo, Stringer, Bodie, Wallace, etc.) been so devastating. What I love about the show is that all of those deaths listed, those are pretty devious people, but you still end up feeling a sense of tangible loss when they get killed. When Bodie went down I just let out a groan. His professional relationship with Carv and Herc was hilarious, particularly the scene from season 3 when he and Poot run into them at the movie theater. I always thought in the back of my mind he might eventually ditch the corner, or at least rise up in it, instead of being devoted to its code and subsequently abandoned by it.

On a side note, I really enjoyed how a few characters have had arcs that have spanned multiple seasons. McNulty has of course seen a pretty wide trajectory, but Carver has had what I found to be the most satisfying. He was set up in season 1 as a Western district head cracker along with Herc, and then through seasons 3 and 4 he really had a great maturity happen. I had a distaste for him in season 1, but by season 4 Carv totally had my respect. The scene when he escorts Randy to the group home, and Randy touches his arm to tell him it was okay, he tried--the look on Carv's face there summed up how far he had come.

Yeah, I caught the last 40 minutes or so of the S4 finale on HBO last weekend while we were sitting around doing our pre-bar drinking, and Bodie and Carver's last scenes wrecked me all over again.

It's worth adding that the reason Norris is now a radio host rather than a high-ranking police administrator is that in 2004 he pled guilty to using $20,000 in BPD money on personal expenses and gifts, including bankrolling his own extramarital affairs with at least six women. Served 6 months in federal prison, where he posed as a convicted drug dealer to avoid the abuse he would receive from other inmates for being a cop.

I love this show.

YouTube appears to be going down for maintenance shortly, but has anyone seen the Season 5 teaser?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFQVSvG5x54

God, I can't wait.

Hadn't seen that yet. Thanks for the link.

Simon's quote indicates he was already thinking 10 episodes before HBO's opinion came into the mix. Plus, keep in mind that HBO shows are 50-60 minutes (not 40 like ad-filled TV).

Hell, I'd prefer 20 episodes, but I'm not going to bitch too much when HBO has given us 5 seasons of a show that wouldn't have survived beyond ONE on any other network.

No, it was Simon being optimistic about how they only need 10 episodes to tell the final chapter of his story. He's basically thankful HBO gave him enough episodes but I'm sure he would've wanted the usual 12 or 13. One of his writers pretty much said so.

Just a note: OnDemand just started re-playing The Wire, starting with the first season. It looks like they'll be showing the full run of the show leading up to the final season in January. The first season is available until Oct. 29, so encourage your friends to watch, and have fun catching up yourself.

Also, here is a link to a Best of Baltimore 2007 award for the "Best Deleted Scene" for the fifth season of "The Wire." Hilarious, awesome, and it made me a little verklempt.

I burned through Season 4 in a matter of days, there are no superlatives that do this series justice. It's given us a fascinating look at not just a city but the institutions within them, this season was no different, the focus on public schools was great, Simon and co. skewered it, it was great to see Bunny Colvin once again, trying to change a failing system but not having any support, the kids were all great, the fact that he made a 12 year old foul mouthed kid his lieutenant made me laugh, the fact that he allowed that kid to punk him was just sad, he didn't have the balls to survive in 'the game', he was a pampered kid who thought he was a gangster, seeing him act like a bitch was painful, when Michael finally slapped him, it was almost like a comeuppance.

Michael was born for 'the game', it was still interesting to see him slowly drift towards his destiny, his decision to have his father killed was the capper, from there, it was no turning back, I did like the hunt sequence at the beginning of ep.12, took me by surprise. Randy and Dukie had the two most affecting arcs to me, they were stuck in a world which ate the weak alive, Randy's only sin was bad judgement, the whole gang-rape incident is what got him into trouble in the first place, he would've done anything not to go back to the foster home, ironically, he ended up there anyway due to talking about the murder of Lex which sparked the whole snitch rumor thanks to Marlo. Dukie really had no-one except his friends, Dukie giving Prez that gift was such a great moment, Prez knew there was nothing more he could do for him, so seeing Dukie selling drugs must've broke his heart, but at least Dukie, as Schwartz said had a roof over his head and was earning money, which is something considering where he started at the season.

The teaching scenes with Prez were painful to watch but it was also cool to see him connect with the kids and in a way parallel what Bunny was doing with the most disruptive kids. Even though Prez and Bunny failed for the most part, it was still cool to see them try and educate the kids through non-standard methods.
Bunk is still awesome, a spin-off with Bunk and Freamon would kick all kinds of ass. Herc got fucking nailed due to his own stupidity but I can't hate his character, everything he says is just pure awesome, I missed the banter between Carver and Herc but realized they were two different people now, hopefully this will teach Herc something much like Carver from Season 1. I'm beginning to love Carver even more, his whole arc was so deftly handled, just watching him walk away from Randy at the hospital was heartbreaking and again at the foster home, Carver looked crushed.

At the end of Season 3, I thought Carcetti was just another politician with empty words when he gave that big speech but it's been interesting to watch him try to play the game somewhat honestly (I don't think he'll make it to another term, too many people want to see him fail) him rejecting that insanely hot campaign manager is an indication he's coming to an epiphany of sorts. Bubs arc was brutal, his reaction at the death of Sherrod and subsequent breakdown in the medical centre were just amazing displays of raw emotion. It was kind of funny that Bubs pulls that trick on Herc after Herc keeps brushing him off.

I do love the way this series shows parallels between institutions, in the first season and the third season, it was the parallel between drug runners and the police and how they operate with chain of commands etc., this shows up again with the way Bunny and Prez try to get through to the kids.

I find it interesting to see the way people have become to attached to the character of Omar, even though he's essentially a thief and a murderer, we find ourselves rooting for him, I don't know if Simon intended it that way, Bunk knows Omar has committed dozens of murders, he doesn't condone Omar's actions, drug dealers or no.
Another interesting thing about The Wire is the fact that they have a white woman and a black man in a defacto relationship, the season 3 montage showing Daniels and his lover in an explicit love scene shows how great this show is at breaking down barriers but not bringing attention to it.

Pour yourself a stiff drink and sit down with the 5th season pronto.

It also has the best use of Curtis Mayfield.

Does anyone know which song is used for season finale montage?

Paul Weller's "Walk On Gilded Splinters".