The Wire - does it ever get going?
Discussion
It's not that it particularly picks up in pace, but that once you get it going it gains an unstoppable momentum. It's akin to the full reading of a good book rather than a condensed movie version of the same.
I watched the first few (5ish) episodes up to five times each before it stuck and I wanted to see more. Then I watched five series back to back with practically all of my free time.
The first few times it didn't work - wasn't paying enough attention in general or wasn't picking up enough of the subtleties to gain an understanding. Perseverance pays off here.
I watched the first few (5ish) episodes up to five times each before it stuck and I wanted to see more. Then I watched five series back to back with practically all of my free time.
The first few times it didn't work - wasn't paying enough attention in general or wasn't picking up enough of the subtleties to gain an understanding. Perseverance pays off here.
youngsyr said:
With the Wire, it feels like you're watching a 10 year old, 12 hour episode, that just happens to be broken into hour long slots.
Which is kind of what it is. The structure is very different from the typical cop drama, where a majority of the story is wrapped up in a single episode with some limited arcs through the season. HBO gave them the freedom to write and produce TV that doesn't conform to the usual formulas. A lot of the writing team are long-form authors/novelists and the way the stories play out are quite novel-like. It does ask a lot of the viewer's attention span, not making use of flashbacks or recall to draw attention to events from the past - thus it doesn't make good "background" TV that you can dip in and out of. The upside is that the characters are so much better formed and these arcs are so much more rewarding for it.
It's not for everyone and the thick Baltimore accents don't help - I tend to watch with subtitles or it's really easy to miss bits of dialogue. I do worry that all the "best TV show ever" plaudits mean people go into it with some misconceptions about what it is and expect too much. I think it's great (although it did take a fair few episodes to get into), I'd urge you to stick with it, but can understand that you may not want from your TV viewing what The Wire offers.
I probably shouldnt admit this in public, but I didnt realise that Earle was Walon. Hadnt seen him since his days with the Pogues.
OP, it is a slow burner, you need to stick with it, before you know it you will be hooked. I started watching The Wire because everyone seemed to be talking about it. Got the box set and realsied I had saw an episode while channel hopping and obviously didnt like it. For me series 1 is by far the best, typewriters and all, but I have probably watched it five times now. I then thought series 2 was a huge let down, but after watching it again and again it is up there with season 1. Frank is a great carachter.
OP, it is a slow burner, you need to stick with it, before you know it you will be hooked. I started watching The Wire because everyone seemed to be talking about it. Got the box set and realsied I had saw an episode while channel hopping and obviously didnt like it. For me series 1 is by far the best, typewriters and all, but I have probably watched it five times now. I then thought series 2 was a huge let down, but after watching it again and again it is up there with season 1. Frank is a great carachter.
I know a few people who have stopped watching it in the first season as they got bored, I also know plenty of people who stuck it out and they love it, absoloutely love it! I reckon you are about 5 more episodes away from being hooked.
For the record I also love Dexter, Spartacus, 24, The Shield, Entourage etc, you will love the Wire, it just takes a bit longer.
If it's still boring and rubbish in 5 or 6 episodes you can give me a kickin!
For the record I also love Dexter, Spartacus, 24, The Shield, Entourage etc, you will love the Wire, it just takes a bit longer.
If it's still boring and rubbish in 5 or 6 episodes you can give me a kickin!
I got into it when BBC2 showed the whole lot more or less back to back up to 5 nights a week with very little gaps. Hooked me enough to watch it again on FX. Not sure how easy it would've hooked on a once per week basis first time.
But then Treme has my attention. It nothing more than the lives of some characters based around the Katrina affect on New Orleans and I'm not fan of a lot of the music. But there is something about the way the characters grow and we get to know them that keeps me coming back to learn more about their story.
The way that sounds I've a cheek criticising people hooked on soaps.
But then Treme has my attention. It nothing more than the lives of some characters based around the Katrina affect on New Orleans and I'm not fan of a lot of the music. But there is something about the way the characters grow and we get to know them that keeps me coming back to learn more about their story.
The way that sounds I've a cheek criticising people hooked on soaps.
youngsyr said:
Slow isn't the word for (at least) the first 5 episodse of seaon 1 (that's how far I've got), I'd call them "glacial"!
It's not as if they're developing the characters in all that time either, if you actually pay attention to how it's shot (I've started to out of boredom), a lot of the screen time is taken up with lengthy (and time wasting) panning shots to and from characters before you even see a character, let alone learn anything about them.
Plus it's showing its age now - the cops in the first series are using typewriters FFS! Yes, I know it's supposed to be showing that they're underfunded, but that's a bit of a stretch.
The Wire isn't glacial, if you want glacial watch Carnivàle, the Wire is Speedy Gonzales in comparison.It's not as if they're developing the characters in all that time either, if you actually pay attention to how it's shot (I've started to out of boredom), a lot of the screen time is taken up with lengthy (and time wasting) panning shots to and from characters before you even see a character, let alone learn anything about them.
Plus it's showing its age now - the cops in the first series are using typewriters FFS! Yes, I know it's supposed to be showing that they're underfunded, but that's a bit of a stretch.
The characters do develop, very much, through the acting, not the very basic and underwritten typical ways shows use which is dialogue...'Oh I'm so upset/mean/snide' etc.
Yes they use typewriters, this is explained in the dialogue, the whole place is still working in the 80s and they don't have the resources or push to get up to speed, McNulty is amazed at the stuff his FBI mate has and the recording equipment is also from the 80s.
youngsyr said:
I think people must be looking back on the whole show with rose tinted glasses and haven't watched the early episodes recently, as if this had started on tv last month at S1 E1, there's no way I would have bothered to tune in past episode 3, let alone push on through to the next season and I'm a big fan of US shows.
I'm not, never seen it before this year, started watching on FX and got hooked immediately, it was obvious to me why it is rated so high and I am thoroughly hooked
TEKNOPUG said:
Maybe you should consider watching the remake of Hawaii 5-O if you aren’t interested in character development & plot and just want action?
I think so... That is the kind of turgid s
t (1 hour wrap em ups stories which are usually so awful in their execution, like we're back in the 80sredtwin said:
The show is universally lauded for its realism, if you saw them using typewriters on the show then you can reasonably expect that typewriters were being used in real life. It will hardly be the case that the show's producers cut the budget tight and couldn't afford to have a PC as a prop.
Quite. HBO backed it from the first day. It was ahead of it's day because it wasn't a success to begin with. There is a lot of location work, budget wasn't an issue...save for the real police department.youngsyr said:
...However, both of those have episodes which are in themselves discreet mini-stories, all of which contribute to the overall plot of the series, and you come away from watching each satisfied that the story has moved along and eager to find out what happens next.
With the Wire, it feels like you're watching a 10 year old, 12 hour episode, that just happens to be roken into hour long slots.
As I said in the opening post, it's not like all of the screen time is even taken up with developing the plot or the characters, a lot of it just seems to me to be filler - overly long panning of the environment, etc.
The insistence on putting filler episodes or mini stories usually distracts from a serial for me, they tried it with BSG and the quality drops. It is usually on the producers insistence to reel in casual viewers. Spartacus is good, but it is much more run of the mill meat and potatoes stuff. The Wire doesn't feel old to me, feels like a breath of fresh air, and if you think not much is taken up by character development/plot your missing the acting. The Wire is much more subtle and crafted than other shows.With the Wire, it feels like you're watching a 10 year old, 12 hour episode, that just happens to be roken into hour long slots.
As I said in the opening post, it's not like all of the screen time is even taken up with developing the plot or the characters, a lot of it just seems to me to be filler - overly long panning of the environment, etc.
Don Veloci said:
I got into it when BBC2 showed the whole lot more or less back to back up to 5 nights a week with very little gaps. Hooked me enough to watch it again on FX. Not sure how easy it would've hooked on a once per week basis first time.
But then Treme has my attention. It nothing more than the lives of some characters based around the Katrina affect on New Orleans and I'm not fan of a lot of the music. But there is something about the way the characters grow and we get to know them that keeps me coming back to learn more about their story.
The way that sounds I've a cheek criticising people hooked on soaps.
The Wire hooked me on FX, once a week. Having said that, I couldn't get into Treme....I shall give it a second chance when it comes around. These kind of shows are more than soaps, soaps repeat ad nauseum, and any real growth is often forgotten for plot effect. I find the 1 hour procedural so boring, a good serial drama will pull you in and make you want to watch the whole series, maybe even multiple series....as I though hereBut then Treme has my attention. It nothing more than the lives of some characters based around the Katrina affect on New Orleans and I'm not fan of a lot of the music. But there is something about the way the characters grow and we get to know them that keeps me coming back to learn more about their story.
The way that sounds I've a cheek criticising people hooked on soaps.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Heskey said:
On a similar note, I hated the 2nd series when I saw it (because I grew so attached to the setting of the 1st), but having seen it again, it's probably now my favourite one as I watched the other 4 series with tinted spectacles expecting it to be 'more of the same' of series 1, which it isn't.
The second series is my favourite. Its achingly sad; the death of blue-collar work in America. All the dock work going overseas. The 2nd generation dockworkers dealing drugs instead of working with their hands like their dads did because of the lack of ships coming in. The fact that the old man has been ripping off containers for years purely to fund lobbying the local government to re-open the second dock area. The futility of it. Just about the only character who is not doing criminal activity for personal gain; it was all for the docks. And it was all for nothing; it gets regenerated as 'luxury apartments' that no-one in Baltimore can actually afford.The montage over music in the last episode was heart-breaking. That and the 4th series (education) are the ones that stay with me for their damning indictment of human nature.
OP - stick with it. Finer television has never been made.
If you want fast action try The Shield: they have one major story per episode and then a load of over arching story lines. Just be prepared to suspend disbelief at the knots Vic Mackie ties himself by the end of Season 6.
The wire is very well paced by contrast. There are one or two 'major' events per season, but everything has its purpose and everything has it's place. That scenes in the first series resonate throughout the third and Fourth speaks volumes about the integrity of the writing.
Bunk, Major Rawls, Stringer Bell, Marlow, Prop Joe - these are characters with lives you can believe, motivations you can understand. But the twists keep on coming, and what may not seem important now will shape things in the future.
Granted it's not for everyone, but it has such depth and breadth as a series. It's a remarkable bit of TV and while it demands a lot of attention, it rewards in spades IMO.
The wire is very well paced by contrast. There are one or two 'major' events per season, but everything has its purpose and everything has it's place. That scenes in the first series resonate throughout the third and Fourth speaks volumes about the integrity of the writing.
Bunk, Major Rawls, Stringer Bell, Marlow, Prop Joe - these are characters with lives you can believe, motivations you can understand. But the twists keep on coming, and what may not seem important now will shape things in the future.
Granted it's not for everyone, but it has such depth and breadth as a series. It's a remarkable bit of TV and while it demands a lot of attention, it rewards in spades IMO.
Regarding Treme I think the inclusion of Clark Peters and Wendell Pierce got me started and the rest grew. I still think The Wire was way better - better characters and stories.
I'm not comparing these types of shows or the HBO back catalogue to soaps, just illustrating how I can be hooked just like to soap disciples.
I'm not comparing these types of shows or the HBO back catalogue to soaps, just illustrating how I can be hooked just like to soap disciples.
Some people say the same things - "too slow", "nothing happens", "not enough action" - about The Sopranos and Mad Men.
I guess it really depends if you like grown-up, polished, character-driven drama that weaves a story slowly over a series....or would prefer them to have shoehorned a car chase and shootout into every episode.
I guess it really depends if you like grown-up, polished, character-driven drama that weaves a story slowly over a series....or would prefer them to have shoehorned a car chase and shootout into every episode.
darth_pies said:
Some people say the same things - "too slow", "nothing happens", "not enough action" - about The Sopranos and Mad Men.
I guess it really depends if you like grown-up, polished, character-driven drama that weaves a story slowly over a series....or would prefer them to have shoehorned a car chase and shootout into every episode.
Imagine 24 in the world of The Wire. By the time McNulty had the tap the terrorist stereotype would have blown up whatever coffee shop he wanted toI guess it really depends if you like grown-up, polished, character-driven drama that weaves a story slowly over a series....or would prefer them to have shoehorned a car chase and shootout into every episode.
"Look at that bow legged mother f*cker. I made him walk like that"
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZnw6wuGBgk&fea... (probably NSFW
)
It's all about the bunk. Any man who burns his clothes after a night out is a hero.
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZnw6wuGBgk&fea... (probably NSFW
)It's all about the bunk. Any man who burns his clothes after a night out is a hero.
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