[Thief12]

Thief is caught in The Wire



Yeah, they got me!... Suffice to say that I regard it as one of the best TV shows I've seen and I'm already planning a rewatch of it, so I'm well caught in it. So to celebrate my 7,000 posts, I'll take a trip down my recent watch of HBO's The Wire. .

I plan on ranking and discussing favorite/least favorite characters, seasons, shots, episodes, and whatnot. So, considering that the vast majority of RT drools over this show, feel free to join, share your thoughts, and comment on it.

If you haven't seen the show, I advise you to stay away. I will openly discuss major spoilers and plotpoints all through the thread, so the best thing you can do is watch the show and then read this.

[Nobby]

Hey! It's Littlefinger.

[Thief12]

Favorite Season



I hate to be cliché, because I think most people consider this season the best, but it really is an excellent season. Maybe it's because most of the characters are already established solidly, or that one develops a better connection with the kids in the season because of their initial innocence, in contrast with the rampant corruption around them.

Be what it may, this was the season that affected me the most, and I think it was mostly because of the kids. Not only are the performances of all four of them excellent, but their situations feel real and one can't help but feel pity for them as they try to escape poverty, drugs, jail, abuse, or death.

Another thing I liked is the way they develop the Marlo Stanfield plot. At one point, I was afraid that the departure of Stringer Bell would leave a hole in the show, but after a few episodes I was already going "Stringer who?". Marlo and his people are so ruthless AND clever that I felt like screaming at them cops just to make things right so they could capture him. And every time he sneaked away, it's like "damn!"

Finally, the further exploration of politics and its machinery, was something I particularly "enjoyed" because I'm very much into political debates, and it cemented my lack of hope towards the government. It's sad, but a lot of times I went "they got that shit right", as they showed politicians and high-rank officers scheming and manipulating whatever they needed to curry favors and public acceptance. Ugh...


Least Favorite Season



Again, I don't wanna be clichéd, because I think most people consider this the "worst" season of the show (whatever that means!)... but I do think it was the weakest, or least good. Which means, it still was pretty great, but the rest of the seasons were better.

The thing is that, I feel like it's my least favorite for the "not so usual" reasons. First off, I thought the most important and well-developed subplot was that of Frank Sobotka and co. as he tries to keep the Baltimore port afloat. Most of the performances involved were great and I felt it was a good change of environment.

What I liked less is the way they handled the lead police characters, especially McNulty. I pretty much hated him this season, and how the writers wanted to show him as the most reckless, drunken, stupidest man ever. IMO, it felt forced the way they had him jumping women all the time and whatnot. They could've achieved the same results more subtly.

Also, generally speaking, I wasn't that crazy about the way they handled the Major Crimes Unit. I don't know why, but everything felt like an excuse to put all the same characters together to do another wiretap. As opposed to future seasons, that flowed more nicely and neatly, this one felt awkward at first.

Like I said, the season is far from bad or awful, but I still don't think it worked as well as other seasons.


The In-betweens

As for the other three seasons, I really wouldn't know how to rank them. Part of me wants to say that Season 1 is probably another weak one, but the thing is that I loved it. I think the top and bottom are very clear, but these other three? I wouldn't know.

[Smalley]

Season 3 is tops for me; Hamsterdam!

[Dead and Messed Up]

Whoo!

EDIT: You started already. Okay. I'd rank them 4, 2, 3, 5, and then 1. I can't imagine any free-thinking human person watching the fourth season and not putting it at the top. Although if someone did, I suspect it would be because that season doesn't have an MCU plot, and it's trying to re-define the criminal element now that the Barksdale crew has moved on. At least, those seem like the most significant changes between 1 through 3 and 4.

Chris Bauer and Amy Ryan elevated the hell out of Season 2 for me. So much pathos and subtlety at work. Beautiful stuff. And the later seasons' callbacks to Vondas and the Greek emphasize what an important part of Baltimore they are. And of course...he is not even Greek.

[Atomic Cow]

Star Trek guy that I am I like the even numbers 4 and then 2. Happy 7000.

[The Guy In The Trenchcoat]

Season 2 has never been widely considered the worst season. That's season 5.
Season 2 is #2 in my book.

[Smalley]

Season 1 is my worst.

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by The Guy In The Trenchcoat

Season 2 has never been widely considered the worst season. That's season 5.
Season 2 is #2 in my book.

My bad then. I thought I had read several people, here and in other places, saying it was considered the weakest.

That said, I do recall now other people commenting about the dip in quality from 4 to 5. Anyway...

[The Crimson King]

Season 5 has some great stuff, some of the best in the series, but it also has the newsroom stuff that feels like a longer, worse version of Shattered Glass. I think people also don't enjoy watching McNulty committing figurative suicide (Lester as well) as blatantly as he does after we've seen him struggle for 5 years. It makes for great characterization, but such a downer season (not that it isn't expected of The Wire). But after great arcs dealing with politics and the school system of Baltimore, newspapers and the homeless seem like a letdown. Basically, Season 4 was so great that it cast a shadow too large on the last season to be able to fulfill expectations.

[SamCat]

Season 2 will move up on re-watching. It takes a hit because of how much of a change it is in intensity at the beginning and how it unfolds in a different way then season 1. You feel as if you are starting over again and this puts a bad taste in alot of peoples mouths. However once you watch it again you will see it is an excellently crafted season and rivals 3,4 to me as the best. Season 5 takes a hit because it is a strange story line and some think the newspaper angle is boring.

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by Dead and Messed Up

Whoo!

EDIT: You started already. Okay. I'd rank them 4, 2, 3, 5, and then 1. I can't imagine any free-thinking human person watching the fourth season and not putting it at the top. Although if someone did, I suspect it would be because that season doesn't have an MCU plot, and it's trying to re-define the criminal element now that the Barksdale crew has moved on. At least, those seem like the most significant changes between 1 through 3 and 4.

Chris Bauer and Amy Ryan elevated the hell out of Season 2 for me. So much pathos and subtlety at work. Beautiful stuff. And the later seasons' callbacks to Vondas and the Greek emphasize what an important part of Baltimore they are. And of course...he is not even Greek.

...and Vondas is not even his real name

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by SamCat

Season 2 will move up on re-watching. It takes a hit because of how much of a change it is in intensity at the beginning and how it unfolds in a different way then season 1. You feel as if you are starting over again and this puts a bad taste in alot of peoples mouths. However once you watch it again you will see it is an excellently crafted season and rivals 3,4 to me as the best. Season 5 takes a hit because it is a strange story line and some think the newspaper angle is boring.

Originally Posted by The Crimson King

Season 5 has some great stuff, some of the best in the series, but it also has the newsroom stuff that feels like a longer, worse version of Shattered Glass. I think people also don't enjoy watching McNulty committing figurative suicide (Lester as well) as blatantly as he does after we've seen him struggle for 5 years. It makes for great characterization, but such a downer season (not that it isn't expected of The Wire). But after great arcs dealing with politics and the school system of Baltimore, newspapers and the homeless seem like a letdown. Basically, Season 4 was so great that it cast a shadow too large on the last season to be able to fulfill expectations.

In both of this "detours" from the MCU plot (the port, newspaper) I felt they were far better than what happened at MCU, both in plot and performances. Chris Bauer, like DaMU said, was excellent and I really loved his family's storyline in Season 2... as for Season 5, I thought Clark Johnson was excellent, and the guy that played Scott was perfect too. And I loved that powerplay between them; whereas McNulty's homeless hoax was a bit of a WTF move for me.

[Nocturna]

4>3>2>5>1 for me

[Nobby]

Season 4 is the best.

[Otm Shank]

I wonder how much better the fifth season would have been if HBO commissioned David Simon 13 episodes like he wanted instead of 10.

That said, after re-watching the series recently, I don't consider it the weakest season. That would go to season 1, as the show was still trying to break into its stride.

But season 1 was excellent, so...

[Harry Caul]

I watched this show for the first time not that long ago, but despite that I'm now rewatching. I hit season 3 episode 8 yesterday... Holy shit!! That's one intense ending.

I love this show.

[DavidLynchFan]

Originally Posted by Nobby

Hey! It's Littlefinger.

Yes it sure it, I was wondering where I had seen him before The Wire ofcourse

[Dorky Deejay]

4>2>3>1>5

Though I think five would have been amazing as well had there been 13 episodes. Still, episode 9 in my opinion is the best single episode in the entire shows run.

[Smellbow]

Season 3 for me just because of the Stringer/Barksdale storyline.

I could watch any season of it though, love this show.

[strangeneighbor]

Season five is amazing. Had there been more episodes we would've gotten subplots with Prez, Cheese&Randy and Cutty. Those weren't needed.

[Thief12]

Originally Posted by strangeneighbor

Season five is amazing. Had there been more episodes we would've gotten subplots with Prez, Cheese&Randy and Cutty. Those weren't needed.

I would've liked that. Prez, Randy, and Cutty were some of my fave characters and I was sad to see them in just one episode each

[Thief12]

Regarding the seasons, and giving it a little thought... I think I would rank them like this:

4 > 3 > 5 > 1 > 2

...but it's all damn close, really.

[Thief12]

Favorite Opening Theme Version



Performed by: Steve Earle
Listen to it here



I really liked Earle's version. With some of the other versions, I really didn't care that much and simply fast-forwarded through the opening. But every time this one kicked in, I had to listen to it. I love the twang in Earle's voice and the fact that it leans more towards rock while maintaining a folksy sound. I was surprised to find out that Earle was actually "Walon" which immediately made it more awesome.

Least Favorite Opening Theme Version



Performed by: Tom Waits
Listen to it here



This is the only version of the opening song that was painful for me to listen to. I think I only listened to it a couple of times, and the rest I simply sped by the opening. I've never been a huge fan of Waits, but I can enjoy some of his music. This was not the case. Plus, the arrangement was too monotone. Weird, since the song was written by himself, but well...


The In-betweens

The season 1 opening theme, sung by the Blind Boys of Alabama, would've been my second favorite. I'm actually familiar with the Blind Boys, so I was surprised to hear them here. Pretty good, gospel/bluesy feeling. I thought it was cool to hear it in the last episode as well. The other two (Neville Bros. and DoMaJe) were good, but none of them really grabbed me.

[ahhhhh]

I recall that I would often proclaim to myself how horrible season five's opening theme is.

But I also think that the theme song choices in general are garbage. Probably a minority opinion.

[Thief12]

I forgot to add links to my post. I just added YouTube links to all the openings. If you don't remember, check them out.

[Thief12]

Bump...

[ergill sanchez]

Originally Posted by Thief12

Least Favorite Opening Theme Version


Performed by: Tom Waits
Listen to it here



This is the only version of the opening song that was painful for me to listen to. I think I only listened to it a couple of times, and the rest I simply sped by the opening. I've never been a huge fan of Waits, but I can enjoy some of his music. This was not the case. Plus, the arrangement was too monotone. Weird, since the song was written by himself, but well...

Fucking heresy.

[Thief12]

Hottest Ladies


Aimee, Nick Sobotka's girlfriend played by Kristin Proctor

Yes. Aimee is here mostly because she paraded some nice boobage in the Season 2 episode "Hard Cases" (NSFW). But regardless, she was a nice blonde. Not much screen-time, not much to do in the show, but I thought I would look less creepier if I put her instead of the waitress McNulty banged.



Theresa D'Agostino, played by Brandy Burre

D'Agostino is a weird case. She is not blow-you-away pretty (at least face-wise), but she had such a sensuous vibe and such an intriguing look in her eyes. Nice body though.



Elena McNulty, played by Callie Thorne

A really pretty lady. She seemed a bit stuck-up, which made it all more awesome when she made her famous pass at McNulty...

McNulty: "I want another chance"
Elena: "How about a fuck for the road instead?"

NSFW

Wicked lady

[Thief12]

Bumping it because of mod approval delay...