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The Wire (1 Viewer)

I guess I am on my own in here but I hated The Wire.  I liked Sopranos and Breaking Bad is by far my favorite show ever.  I don't even think I made it through the last season of The Wire.

 
I think it’s splitting hairs to compare B.B. and the wire for best series.  But having just finished w, I am struck by the enormity of the cast and story.

 
The Dude said:
I think it’s splitting hairs to compare B.B. and the wire for best series.  But having just finished w, I am struck by the enormity of the cast and story.
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This is the thing that puts the wire at #1, and BB at 1a for me. BB had that awesome arc of Mr. Chips to Scarface, and left me feeling very satisfied when it ended. But the Wire, while not as compelling episode to episode (there was very little of "how do they get out of this?"), told a much bigger and deeper story that felt enormous at the end. That ending montage, where they revisit key figures and show how some players change, but life in the city goes on, was super powerful. 

 
jwb said:
This is the thing that puts the wire at #1, and BB at 1a for me. BB had that awesome arc of Mr. Chips to Scarface, and left me feeling very satisfied when it ended. But the Wire, while not as compelling episode to episode (there was very little of "how do they get out of this?"), told a much bigger and deeper story that felt enormous at the end. That ending montage, where they revisit key figures and show how some players change, but life in the city goes on, was super powerful. 
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Completely agree. 

 
jwb said:
This is the thing that puts the wire at #1, and BB at 1a for me. BB had that awesome arc of Mr. Chips to Scarface, and left me feeling very satisfied when it ended. But the Wire, while not as compelling episode to episode (there was very little of "how do they get out of this?"), told a much bigger and deeper story that felt enormous at the end. That ending montage, where they revisit key figures and show how some players change, but life in the city goes on, was super powerful. 
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Very well said and completely agree. 

Move rewatched it three times and it gets almost better each time. 

 
bigmarc27 said:
Really phenomenal all the way around... except for the serial killer story in season 5. 
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I think the problem with this was how icky and cringe-inducing it was the first time anyone watches it then colors it permanently for most people. But the second time I watched the series (and each time after), I didn't mind it because I knew about the motivation behind it, that McNulty doesn't get away with it professionally or personally, appreciated the parallels drawn between McNulty and Templeton, etc. 

Most people come around on Season 2 the second time because they are over the feeling of "this cop vs drug dealers show that I watched and loved in Season 1 is suddenly not that", so they are in a better frame of mind. I'm probably in the even smaller minority that came around on the serial killer plot. 

 
The Noid said:
I think the problem with this was how icky and cringe-inducing it was the first time anyone watches it then colors it permanently for most people. But the second time I watched the series (and each time after), I didn't mind it because I knew about the motivation behind it, that McNulty doesn't get away with it professionally or personally, appreciated the parallels drawn between McNulty and Templeton, etc. 

Most people come around on Season 2 the second time because they are over the feeling of "this cop vs drug dealers show that I watched and loved in Season 1 is suddenly not that", so they are in a better frame of mind. I'm probably in the even smaller minority that came around on the serial killer plot. 
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Right. 2 took a hit initially when it debuted because of that.......but it's excellent; right below 1 in the pecking order (1-2-4-3-5), IMO.

 
Don't Noonan said:
I just never got invested in any of the characters and found myself hoping the episode would be over soon.  Like I said I never even finished the last season and I have no desire to finish it.   :shrug:
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It's ok to disagree but I have to say the exact opposite. I was never as interested in as many characters as I was on this show.

Whether a major player like Mcnulty/Omar or guys like Brother Mouzone being in 1/2 dozen episodes.

Each character left me wanting to know how they got there and where they would end up.
Maybe I wanted to see how or if they were all connected in some way. Either way each character got my interest 

 
comfortably numb said:
Maybe I wanted to see how or if they were all connected in some way.
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The incredible ending montage was a wonderful way to show how characters related to each other, even ones that never met on the show as they show characters morphing into other characters, showing how life continues to cycle good and bad no matter what came before.

 
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comfortably numb said:
It's ok to disagree but I have to say the exact opposite. I was never as interested in as many characters as I was on this show.

Whether a major player like Mcnulty/Omar or guys like Brother Mouzone being in 1/2 dozen episodes.

Each character left me wanting to know how they got there and where they would end up.
Maybe I wanted to see how or if they were all connected in some way. Either way each character got my interest 
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I agree and I think Simon did a similar job with The Deuce so far. I'm really curious to see where he takes that world.

 
NewlyRetired said:
The incredible ending montage was a wonderful way to show how characters related to each other, even ones that never met on the show as they show characters morphing into other characters, showing how life continues to cycle good and bad no matter what came before.
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Is this montage the last scene in the last episode?  The Wire was ok, didn't wow me but I don't hate it either... never watched the last season and no desire, but the montage sounds pretty cool.

 
I am watching this again with my wife who has never seen it.  She liked season one well enough.  We are about four or five episodes into season two, and she's complaining there are too many characters.   She wasn't thinking (or didn't know) and made the off handed comment "they really copied Game of Thrones with the presentation and style of this".  I reminded her it was the other way around as the Wire was fifteen years old. She thinks they both have too many characters, lol.

 
PIK95 said:
I am watching this again with my wife who has never seen it.  She liked season one well enough.  We are about four or five episodes into season two, and she's complaining there are too many characters.   She wasn't thinking (or didn't know) and made the off handed comment "they really copied Game of Thrones with the presentation and style of this".  I reminded her it was the other way around as the Wire was fifteen years old. She thinks they both have too many characters, lol.
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My wife started watching bits here and there with me on one of my rewatches. The Dukie storyline really bothered her... like, a lot. No family life, picked on at school, a good attitude but still got #### on, etc... She had to stop and has no desire to watch the series because of it. 

 
bigmarc27 said:
My wife started watching bits here and there with me on one of my rewatches. The Dukie storyline really bothered her... like, a lot. No family life, picked on at school, a good attitude but still got #### on, etc... She had to stop and has no desire to watch the series because of it. 
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S4 was the only bit of scripted television that has made me cry.  the S4 ending was a gut punch. 

 
Don't Noonan said:
I just never got invested in any of the characters and found myself hoping the episode would be over soon.  Like I said I never even finished the last season and I have no desire to finish it.   :shrug:
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Good lord.

 
Don't Noonan said:
I just never got invested in any of the characters and found myself hoping the episode would be over soon.  Like I said I never even finished the last season and I have no desire to finish it.   :shrug:
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How...did you even make it to season 5?

 
Actual aside: RIYL The Wire, I would check out The Chi, which is 3 episodes in. There are some base-level similarities (sprawling cast, show begins with a dead body, attempts to capture inner-city life), but it's also...different. It's good.

 
Good Posting Judge said:
Actual aside: RIYL The Wire, I would check out The Chi, which is 3 episodes in. There are some base-level similarities (sprawling cast, show begins with a dead body, attempts to capture inner-city life), but it's also...different. It's good.
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I've seen 2 EPs of "The Chi".    So far it seems to fall right between The Wire and Treme.

 
bigmarc27 said:
My wife started watching bits here and there with me on one of my rewatches. The Dukie storyline really bothered her... like, a lot. No family life, picked on at school, a good attitude but still got #### on, etc... She had to stop and has no desire to watch the series because of it. 
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My wife loved The Wire. We watched and then she demanded we immediately rewatch the whole thing. She hates GoT- just can't get past any of the fantasy elements at all. 

 
Don't Noonan said:
Good question, I think I may have stopped some time in season 4.  It was that bad.
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I'm picturing you in the middle of S4E5 sitting in a chair staring at the ceiling as the episode plays.  Finally, you grab the remote and hit the guide button and begin scrolling through the available real-time programming.  With a sigh, you're about to resign yourself to continuing the episode when suddenly, like a bolt of lightning from Olympus...

"OOOOH !!!  ERNEST GOES TO JAIL !!  AND IT JUST STARTED !!!!!"

You then glance over at little Cletus, see that he's still enthralled with the ball of string and dead mouse he's playing with, grab the bag of homemade pork rinds the Mrs. left before heading out to her shift at the quarry, and settle in for 90 minutes of hilarity.  Hopefully Cletus doesn't look up when Ernest appears on screen for the first time and you guffaw loudly and fling pork rinds at the screen in unhinged, primal bliss.  Otherwise, you're going to have to pause and get up to get him a can of cake frosting for lunch.

 
Evilgrin 72 said:
I'm picturing you in the middle of S4E5 sitting in a chair staring at the ceiling as the episode plays.  Finally, you grab the remote and hit the guide button and begin scrolling through the available real-time programming.  With a sigh, you're about to resign yourself to continuing the episode when suddenly, like a bolt of lightning from Olympus...

"OOOOH !!!  ERNEST GOES TO JAIL !!  AND IT JUST STARTED !!!!!"

You then glance over at little Cletus, see that he's still enthralled with the ball of string and dead mouse he's playing with, grab the bag of homemade pork rinds the Mrs. left before heading out to her shift at the quarry, and settle in for 90 minutes of hilarity.  Hopefully Cletus doesn't look up when Ernest appears on screen for the first time and you guffaw loudly and fling pork rinds at the screen in unhinged, primal bliss.  Otherwise, you're going to have to pause and get up to get him a can of cake frosting for lunch.
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Lol.  Dead on, except after finishing an episode on Season 4 I just never had the desire to watch again.  I stuck with it for a long time because of this thread, and the fact that Breaking Bad is my favorite show all time and I heard people compare The Wire to it.  Not even close

 
Don't Noonan said:
Lol.  Dead on, except after finishing an episode on Season 4 I just never had the desire to watch again.  I stuck with it for a long time because of this thread, and the fact that Breaking Bad is my favorite show all time and I heard people compare The Wire to it.  Not even close
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:lol:   I was just kidding, as I'm sure you know.  Breaking Bad and The Wire are two of my favorite shows, but I'd never recommend one to somebody just because he/she liked the other.  They're totally different.  Breaking Bad is very story-driven, while The Wire is more a portrait of the decay of an American city.

 
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