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Post by The Doctor on Dec 2, 2008 16:52:40 GMT
I finished watching season 1 of this last night. It's an unconventional police show created by David Simon, who wrote the book the show Homicide: Life on the Street was based on. It's very unusual for a tv show, being paced much more like a novel and filmed more like a documentary. There is no incidental score. There are no flashbacks or 'previously on...' intros. Some episodes don't even end on a dramatic cliff-hanger. They just stop.
Now, initially this is quite off-putting and there are some pacing issues in the first few episodes that don't help. Some of the cast initially seem to be pulling in different directions, tonally. In honesty, had I been watching this a week at a time on broadcast I probably would have given up on it. But I am glad I perservered, as once the teething problems are worked out and the show settles into its distinctive style it becomes rather more compelling. I found it was a show that snuck up on me, becoming more gripping as it went and going from: 'this is boring me' to 'must watch next episode now'. So it is worth sticking with. The acting, writing and pacing come on leaps and bounds as we follow the points of view of both cops and criminals in a drugs case that spirals increasingly out of control.
It is, unusually, a proper serial telling a complete story in 13 parts with a beginning middle and end. There is no dramatic end of season cliffhanger. It has the feel of: 'tune in for another series if you want, but if you don't want to you still got a full story'. Many series promise this, but don't deliver. Heroes season 1, I'm looking at you.
Not a show for everyone. The language is coarse, the humour is very black, the violence is horrible rather than 'TV Violence' and the tone of it is rather grim, but fans of solid adult drama might wish to give it a go. Fans of good sound design will find much to enjoy too: it is a show that hinges on it the way some SF shows hinge on CGI.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Dec 2, 2008 22:53:56 GMT
I'm most of the way through the second season at the moment, and was going to be posting some thoughts once I had gotten through that, but Ralph has beaten me to the posting button.
You've pretty much hit on a lot of the things I like about "The Wire" Ralph - the very naturalistic camera style and the decision to only use music when it has a "source" in the scene gives it a feel very distinct from a lot of other TV shows, verging at times on "participant camera". I think that is one of the things that contributes to a very down to earth feeling about the show. It does almost feel as if they have pointed a camera at parts of Baltimore and recorded what it saw at times. I like the fact that it treats its characters in a similar manner - folk working in the drugs trade aren't mustache twirling villians, a lot of them are just young men working a job that brings in the money for their new sneakers and track-suits. Likewise the Police aren't somehow morally different from the rest of humanity, they too are just people doing a job, and come in all sorts of types as people do.
The show's depiction of a large-scale investigation is also excellent. It isn't about "action police" who solve crimes by driving fast and having shiny guns. To break an investigation what is needed is the ability to think, to connect the pieces and to chase the small details that make the case. It is a testament to the strength of the show's writing that it can make that process quite gripping. (I had much the same experience of being "crept up on" by it as well. I thought the opening episodes were ok, but at some point it just sucked me in and wouldn't let go.).
It can be a fairly bleak show at times I would agree, and it doesn't pull its punches, which can make it very unsettling, but generally it doesn't do things just to shock - when there is violence there is a point to it, and I think it is the correct choice not to glamourise or sugar-coat it. I'd agree it isn't going to be everyone's thing though. There are a number of folk I would hesitate to recommend it to for very good reasons.
It's courage in terms of its structure does impress me though - there are very few shows that commit totally to the idea that they are telling a single story across the whole of the season to quite the extent that "The Wire" does.
Well worth sticking with past the bumpy patch in the first few episodes because once it finds its feet it seems to be a very intelligently written and produced piece of television with a great deal to recommend it.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 14, 2008 1:50:10 GMT
Season 2 is also excellent.
-Ralph
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Rich
Protoform
Posts: 880
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Post by Rich on Dec 14, 2008 13:00:58 GMT
A brilliant show.
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Post by legios on Dec 14, 2008 21:12:48 GMT
I've just finished watching Season 2 myself. It truly is fantastic television. Once again it gives the viewer a single story that is complete in twelve episodes, but at the same time builds on the first season to create a broader canvas and to flesh out some of the things that the series is saying.
I don't often comment on the editing in television shows, but "The Wire" has some truly superb editing and camera work. Often television shows can be very static, but this has a much more fluid sensibility to it in terms of the way it is built up and a sense of a much more active camera. It isn't flashy though - the editing and the camera style puts itself at the service of the story rather than drawing attention to itself with its cleverness.
The show isn't flawless - because nothing that is made is ever completely without blemish - but it is of outstanding quality and I would say it was probably the finest drama I have seen this year.
I think I shall take a breather and watch some tosh for a few days- as this show does have a tendency to draw me in quite heavily. But I think I shall be kicking Season Three up to the top of my rental queue in the hopes of getting hold of it quick-smart.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 14, 2008 21:22:26 GMT
The sound design is fabulous. I've taken to listening to it with headphones now. Much more immersive, lifts the mood quite a bit.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 23, 2008 17:12:56 GMT
"There has never been a paper bag for drugs."
Season 3 is also very solid, integrating the running plotlines more fluidly than in seasons 1-2. Fans of Idris Elba will particularly enjoy this season. But then, there is not a bad performance in it.
There's a big shock about 3/4 in, which I defy anyone to say they saw coming.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Dec 23, 2008 21:12:37 GMT
"There has never been a paper bag for drugs." Interesting, that is also a quote also from David Simon and Edward Burns' non-fiction book "The Corner". (Which is highly recommended to folk in general btw). I look forward to seeing this in due course. I am taking a break from The Wire to enjoy some tosh to cleanse the pallete a bit, but then it will hopefully be back into the fray for Seasons 3 and 4. Karl |
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Post by The Doctor on Dec 29, 2008 19:40:00 GMT
The thing is, though, that season 3 is very much the third act of a three act play. By the end of that season the show has come to a natural end. From a story standpoint it is finished off perfectly and with aplomb. You'll know what I mean when you see it. Unfortunately, what I've seen of season 4 re-inforces that opinion. It's very watchable and well acted. It's very well made, but the show does indeed feel done. Characters who had their story finished off dramatically well (one in particular who we should never have seen again) are still wondering around for no other reason than because it's a TV show and they're in the cast. The show's done...but it's still going and my interest is waning rapidly.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 4, 2009 22:37:37 GMT
Hmmmm. I gave up. The level of violence just got far too horrible and sadistic in season 4. There are valid story justifications for it, but beyond what I could stomach personally. Other people's mileage may vary.
Not a bad season as such, just not to my tastes.
Still, cost me nothing but my time so nowt to complain about!
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 13, 2009 19:58:22 GMT
Skipped ahead to season 5. Very much a return to form.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Jan 13, 2009 20:35:03 GMT
Season 3 and 4 will shortly be stuffed in at the top of my rental queue. I have been feeling the lack of it since I started on Blakes 7 as a filler series. I think the filler will have been good for cleansing the pallete before I dive back into The Wire though.
Karl
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Post by Dark Stranger on Jan 14, 2009 13:01:34 GMT
About to start watching season 3 tonight. Love The Wire, it's brilliant.
Have you ever seen The Corner? It's a sort of pre-cursor to The Wire, made by the same guys, about the same stuff. It's what made me want to check out The Wire.
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Post by legios on Jan 14, 2009 14:48:57 GMT
About to start watching season 3 tonight. Love The Wire, it's brilliant. Have you ever seen The Corner? It's a sort of pre-cursor to The Wire, made by the same guys, about the same stuff. It's what made me want to check out The Wire. I haven't seen the mini-series adaptation of The Corner, but I have recently finished reading the book on which it was based (see the Books 2009 thread a subforum over for my thoughts). I did notice a few "call-backs" to The Corner in various seasons of The Wire - the exchange about "you can't have no War on Drugs. Wars end." for example. Karl |
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 14, 2009 17:46:08 GMT
I haven't got round to The Corner yet. Seasons 1-3 of The Wire are top-drawer telly. What I've seen so far of Season 5 is of similar quality (other than one baffling character reboot though I hope that becomes clearer by the end of the show). Season 4...less so. Redundant characters, poor pacing and only feels like part of a complete story whereas the only seasons comprise full satisfying stories in their own right.
Still, the one dodgy season (in my opinion) was still better than most other series best. If it had been season 1 (and it does feel like season 1 of a new show) I would probably have been more kindly disposed towards it, if that makes sense.
-Ralph
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Post by The Doctor on Jan 17, 2009 19:49:05 GMT
Excellent final episode.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Jan 18, 2009 20:15:50 GMT
I'm lagging you by a little, having just started Season Three today. As usual I found myself absorbed by the show - saw the first two episodes back-to-back and then had to tear myself away as I had other things to do.
Interesting to see a few references to Simon and Burns previous work in this season - when the Westerns commander walked into the station house with a brown paper bag I had a good idea what he was going to say, having read the section of The Corner which talks about the "paper bag truce" regarding street drinking.
It is certainly starting out extremely solidly - the writing and the performances are top-drawer. I continue to be amazed how deft the shows touch is - especially in terms of how much it can say about the characters personal lives in the space of very short scenes.
Karl
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Post by legios on Jan 25, 2009 20:48:26 GMT
There's a big shock about 3/4 in, which I defy anyone to say they saw coming. -Ralph Just got to that point in the season. You are right, I never saw that coming at all. Which gave it all the more impact when it happened. Karl |
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Post by legios on Feb 1, 2009 20:53:23 GMT
I have finished Season Three now, and am taking a short breather before I start on Season Four.
I do think that S3 is very, very high-quality television. The writing is dense, and very layered - I picked up on at least one layer of metaphor in the season, but I'm fairly sure that there are others that I have missed. I've rarely seen television that is this intelligent, or this unflinching in saying something that cuts against the grain of public opinion. (What The Wire has to say about the "War on Drugs" is something that isn't calculated to make it popular, but is clearly something its creators feel very strongly).
I do get a very strong sense of closure from the ending of this season. So much business has been tied up that it feels as if the show could very easily have been ended there and not felt particularly incomplete. Mind you, that could be said for each of the previous seasons as well because of the way that the show is constructed. I will be curious, however, to see where they go with the remaining two seasons.
The viewing of S4 shall begin on Monday.
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Feb 1, 2009 21:23:35 GMT
If it only it had ended there, it would have been a great show rather than a very good one.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Feb 18, 2009 21:47:36 GMT
So. I just finished Season Four this evening. I wish I could say that it was up to the standard of the first three years. The quality of the writing is still top-notch, the dialogue retains its firm ring of authenticity, the direction is still some of the best that I have seen on television and the cast are still firing on all cylinders. The season has important things to say about the Inner City school system in America, and the ways that it fails the children who move through it. Everything is there except for one important thing. Unfortunately that missing element is narrative impetus. Whilst previous seasons have ranged widely they have managed to anchor themselves on a single strong story which gives a spine to the season. Season Four never quite finds that. The separate story strands are all interesting, but none of them quite rise up with enough strength to give the season a focus. It isn't helped by the fact that this is the first season not to have a sense of closure at the end of it. Some elements do end, but there is so much left open at the end of the season that it lacks the structural sense of previous seasons. (The first three years each had a sense of "this is not The End, but it is an End" to them, which is lacking here. It feels more like "this is the end of the beginning").
Don't get me wrong, it is still good television. It is just that it suffers from comparison to the seasons that have come before it. It is still good enough television that I know the season will have rewatchability.
I think a short break is called for, where I shall be watching some more of Eureka 7 and the first season of Mad Men before I dive back into the last season of The Wire
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 13, 2009 17:32:53 GMT
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Post by Jaymz on Mar 13, 2009 20:12:13 GMT
So. I just finished Season Four this evening. I found Season 4 to be all set up for Season 5, and don't think Season 5 would have worked as well without getting to know the kids introduced in 4. |
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Post by legios on Mar 15, 2009 21:26:41 GMT
I found Season 4 to be all set up for Season 5, and don't think Season 5 would have worked as well without getting to know the kids introduced in 4. I kind of got the impression from the commentary on the last episode that it had always been intended to do either two more seasons or none. It thought it was still very good television. I just think it is a shame that, unlike the previous seasons, it didn't have a story unique to the season to give it a sense of closure. To some degree I am reserving judgement until I have seen S5 - which I will be starting tomorrow (the rental service sent me disc three of Homicide S6 as well, and I think four hours of policework in Ballmer in two days is probably enough). I am looking forward to the BBC2 airing of it - a good opportunity to sit down and watch the series through again. Karl |
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Post by Andy Turnbull on Mar 16, 2009 11:16:30 GMT
Will definitely catch it when it's on BBC2.
Andy
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Post by legios on Mar 28, 2009 23:28:47 GMT
Terrestrial airing starts on BBC2 on Monday at 11.20pm - they are stripping the first season over consecutive nights apparently. Well worth a look it you haven't seen it. (Or even if you have).
Karl
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Post by The Doctor on Mar 29, 2009 0:10:44 GMT
What a ludicrous time-slot. Hurray for TV on demand ie iPlayer.
-Ralph
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Post by legios on Mar 29, 2009 14:08:44 GMT
What a ludicrous time-slot. -Ralph That it is, that it is. Karl |
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Post by legios on Apr 1, 2009 20:12:36 GMT
I just finished Season Five this evening. (Bar one episode which I could'n't see due to the disc being crocked). Season Five was really good stuff. One of the main plot threads suffered a little from feeling a little too melodramatic - in any other series it would probably have felt quite cynical and realistic, but in the context of The Wire it felt a little bit over-the-top in some regards. But even so that shouldn't detract from the fact that the season is superb drama. The character arcs for some of the recurring characters were very well-crafted, and the story-arc surrounding the Baltimore Sun newsroom was fantastic television (heck, at times I felt those characters and situations could have carried ten episodes of television by themselves).
It also benefited from a great last episode, which served to call down the curtain on the show whilst still reminding you that all the issues that the series had approached are still out there in the real world, going on as business as usual. I did like the way they paid off some of the interelationships amongst the main cast on a certain plot point - it could easily have been played in a heightened way for Drama, but instead it just played itself out in a very low-key way - which seemed far more "real" than having some enormous confrontation.
Overall I would say that it has three seasons that are simply astounding televison drama, one that is very, very good and a season that is good in every way except for being the odd-man out structurally. In terms of the quality of writing, direction and the calibre of the acting of the cast (both the experienced actors, and the large chunk of the cast who were sourced outside the usual channels) was absolutely exceptional. The sort of thing that restores my faith in the possibility of television drama's ability to aspire to some sort of weight, relevance and art.
(I think that renting it won't be enough in the long term - this is a series I am inevitably going to end up purchasing in due course I think).
Karl
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Post by Bogatan on Apr 1, 2009 20:38:57 GMT
I've been watching on FX one episode a week and have been really enjoying season 1. Looks like I'll be able to switch to BBC2 in a few days which will be nice. Tempted to pick up the DVD's depending how long I have to wait to see season 2 on FX or BBC.
Andy
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