The Wire comes to BBC2 (Spoiler free, please)

[El Sueno]

A complex and unsatisfying ending. No easy answers or neat endings.

Yeah. Left me a bit... well. Not like it tainted the show as a whole, not like it left a nasty taste in my mouth or nothing but... I dunno. Was just sad, mainly.

When Omar got capped by the youngun I think I went into mild shock which spoilt the last couple of episodes!

 

[Gromit]

He had to die so that Michael could be the new Omar rather than just another Omar.

 

[The Octagon]

The whole Prez / Dukie thread of the episode severely depressed me (they both knew what the other was doing and played it out regardless), one of those 'shouting at the telly' moments

McNulty's 'wake' was inspired though, particularly Landsman's speech, you could tell how much they thought of McNulty as Po-lice, but "Christ what an asshole!"

Marlo desperate to have his 'name' ring out in the streets again, upstaged by Omar even in death

As someone said, no easy answers, plenty of loose ends and hypocrasy exhibited by the lorry-load.

Great, great TV, from beginning to end.

 

[Gromit]

Did love Marlo taking a corner just so he could stand there in his suit. Not selling anything but enjoying standing on conquered land like some victorious Norman king. A shitty little dump of a corner but he stood on it like he'd stolen Buckingham Palace.

Like a dog's need to have territory and mark it really.

 

[D'wards]

Leander is the new McNulty.

Going to see the judge behind everyones back and saying "keep my name out of it"

 

[London_Calling]

I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.

Also, quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together - with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.

I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.

 

[D'wards]

I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.

Thats exactly what it was about i think, shit carries on, and there will always be fresh mofos coming through to take on these roles.

 

[The Octagon]

I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.

Also, quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together - with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.

I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.

I'd watch a Wire Prison spin-off, with Avon pulling the strings and Wee-Bey and Chris getting into wacky adventures.

Perhaps the occasional shot of Ziggy sitting very quietly in a corner and hoping no-one's heard about his giant schlong.

It's a ratings winner I tell ya.

 

[DotCommunist]

I liked that they raised $10 million cash in a few hours in order to buy the franchise.

Also, quite amusing to see Wee-bay and Chris together - with, what, 40 murders between them? Boris must just be out of frame.

I suppose the point about the ending is there is no end; the town is still there, the game is still there, just with fresh players and more fierce: It was always about the game.

something that struck me. Remember Cheese got paid a fuckload for giving up Prop Joe. Perhaps it was the fact that he offered to stump up such a large amount that confirmed in Slims mind that cheese was the sell-out?

He was shot mid-boast about money.

 

[The Octagon]

something that struck me. Remember Cheese got paid a fuckload for giving up Prop Joe. Perhaps it was the fact that he offered to stump up such a large amount that confirmed in Slims mind that cheese was the sell-out?

He was shot mid-boast about money.

I think Slim went to that meet to kill Cheese either way (as soon as Marlo offered Prop Joe's business to Cheese after him, the dots pretty much match up themselves). The fact Cheese started going off on one at the other 'bosses' and bragging about how he was with whoever was top dog, only served to make Slim shoot him sooner to shut him up

Methodman - rare case of a rapper being a decent actor

 

[El Sueno]

That was the only icing on the cake for me, Slim (the only remaining authority figure from the Barksdale era) nobly takin out one treacherous eastside nigga!

Also nice to see Poot working in the shoe shop t'other night. I guess Bodie getting capped was the last straw for him, fuck the corners - I'd rather be sat in a downmarket Foot Locker all day.

 

[D'wards]

I reckon Slim Charles killed Cheese cos he was an irritating twat they could all have done without, basically.

Now Cheese was a gaping arsehole

 

[London_Calling]

I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty.

It's interesting how they can so inhabit their characters it's difficult to imagine things any other way.


Btw, anyone want to talk about lies and WMD

 

[Orang Utan]

the guy who played slim charles is a big cheese on the go-go scene in dc

 

[El Sueno]

I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty.

Talking of Cutty, was there a scene in the closing montage of a derelict gym? Got me thinking that it was too good to last. Or maybe it was just the detail room, all cleaned out and looking shitty. Yeah, now I think of it, last time we saw Cutty he was doin' alright.

I think Lester came out of it all best. Ended up with some hottie half his age, all besotted by his hobbycraft!

 

[D'wards]

I was reading the other day about a guy who was given the role of Slim Charles but another gig came up that he preferred. When he became available DS, etc. still liked him and gave him a new character they'd decided to develop - Cutty

Lester auditioned for Bubbs originally - how weird is that?

 

[Orang Utan]

Lester auditioned for Bubbs originally - how weird is that?

makes sense if you've seen the corner

 

[El Sueno]

I read somewhere that Megan Anderson originally auditioned for the part of Prop Joe, but the producers thought she was better suited to the role of Jennifer Carcetti.

No wait I got that wrong. It was Felicia Pearson who originally went for the role of The Greek, which after much deliberation finally went to Bill Raymond.

 

[moonsi til]

Talking of Cutty, was there a scene in the closing montage of a derelict gym? Got me thinking that it was too good to last. Or maybe it was just the detail room, all cleaned out and looking shitty. Yeah, now I think of it, last time we saw Cutty he was doin' alright.

I think Lester came out of it all best. Ended up with some hottie half his age, all besotted by his hobbycraft!

So did Lester end up with D's ex girlfriend?

 

[El Sueno]

So did Lester end up with D's ex girlfriend?

Yeah I'm pretty sure, she was the dancer from Avon's club who Lester kinda took under his wing when she came down the station to give a statement or whatever.

 

[Gingerman]

Yeah I'm pretty sure, she was the dancer from Avon's club who Lester kinda took under his wing when she came down the station to give a statement or whatever.

Aye the lovely Shardeen,she looked different last night,cant believe theres no more Wire to look forward to,became essencial viewing for me,got to invest in the box-set and rewatch it again

 

[Gingerman]

I reckon Slim Charles killed Cheese cos he was an irritating twat they could all have done without, basically.

Now Cheese was a gaping arsehole

His was the only death I cheered throughout the whole series

 

[belboid]

I read somewhere that Megan Anderson originally auditioned for the part of Prop Joe, but the producers thought she was better suited to the role of Jennifer Carcetti.

No wait I got that wrong. It was Felicia Pearson who originally went for the role of The Greek, which after much deliberation finally went to Bill Raymond.

actually, you could be right about both. In the pilot every role was written so that it could be played by a man or a woman. McNulty was said to be a combo of Sharon Gless and Columbo

 

[8den]

Thats exactly what it was about i think, shit carries on, and there will always be fresh mofos coming through to take on these roles.

Actually I think the metaphor for the serious isn't the shit stays the same. Theres a moment in the end montage where that punk kid from namod's get put in bracelets despite being knee high to the cop. Or that any decent reporter in the BS is off the big desk, and the one willing to lie gets the Pulitzer.

The point of the Wire is, the kids get younger, the game gets tougher earlier, and it spits out and ruins people younger and younger. Meanwhile the politicians play the same games, the cops duke the stats, and most real police walk away.

Who are the decent cops at the start of the series? Lester, Mc Nulty, Kema, Bunk, Daniels and Leander. At the end you have Carver, Kema, Bunk and Leander.

At the start of the series you have gangsters who attempt to live at some semblance of a code. Remember the complete outrage when Avon's boy's attacked Omar and his mum, on a Sunday, and shot her "church crown!".

Would Marlo live to a code.

Again I think the Wire is (and I ain't going to claim to be an expert) is attempt by the writers to distil 20 years of crime reporting in Baltimore into five series. Avon and Prop Joe represent the 70s and 80s gangsters trying to live by a code, Marlo is in essence crack. This ruthless new generation with no code, and is nothing but addiction, power and ruthlessness. The kids represent the generation in between. For example would Chris or Snoop bother to education their corner hoppers like D'angelo did, use chess as a metaphor?

Sorry I'm rambling now. But I really don't think it was a hey "it's all the same" that was the message of the wire, it was more, it was bad, it got worse, and we're now completely fucked. Unless we radically think American drug and social policy, it's going to be something we cannot recover from.

 

[Orang Utan]

nah, you're spot on - i'm reading the corner at the mo and there's a lot about the new generations of corner boys and the lack of a code.
there's also a great piece of writing on the 'paper bag' that colvin talks about in s3

 

[London_Calling]

Slim: "The game the same, just got more fierce"

 

[starfish]

Dukie

 

[Gingerman]

Dukie

Cocky lazy mouthy little sod Namond landed on his feet,lovely sweet gentle Dukie landed in the shit

 

[starfish]

Cocky lazy mouthy little sod Namond landed on his feet,lovely sweet gentle Dukie landed in the shit

Eggsfuckinactily. What makes series 4 such a tough one. Hope & shite.

 

[Gingerman]

Eggsfuckinactily. What makes series 4 such a tough one. Hope & shite.

Likewise Randy