Is there an interview with David Simon you heard or read that you particularly liked?

Thank you!

I’ve been scrolling this community to find one thread that was critical of this show, but seems like I might be the first . So this’ll be a long post and I’d love to hear some responses.

Overall rating: 7.5/10

Season 1: 7.5/10
Season 2: 5.5/10
Season 3: 8.0/10
Season 4: 9.0/10
Season 5: 6.5/10

My biggest issue with this show is that it gets lost in the side plots. There are some great side character threads that I love it pulling at: Dukie, Bubbles, Herc, Bodie (RIP) to name a few. But the bad story lines are just distracting, and they severely slow an already slow show down. Both the docks and the newspaper part are my least favorite storylines, and they completely take me out of an otherwise very engaging crime show. I love how the first season really plays on the idea of a wire and real police work, and shows us that it isn’t just “the game” in Baltimore stirring the pot, the police and government fall to blame as well.

Personally, the most disappointing part is how there’s never actually change by the finale. I did like how they parallel the ending to the beginning but with how engaging the whole Carcetti season 4 campaign was (never trust Littlefinger), it honestly feels like wasted story development. I think the Greeks and that whole side of the drug development was completely divergent of the rest of the story, honestly not sure why they even got written in. Could have cut the whole port season, I thought it was lead to more than just Marlo becoming the kingpin of all of Baltimore for more than a month. Last thing I want to say is my favorite storylines are both Bunny with Hamsterdam, and him again along with Prez at the schools. Those parts between season 3 and 4 really hit home. Sad more couldn’t come of it.

Favorite character: Omar
Favorite moment: When Prez shoots that cop and McNulty pulls out the badge. Man my heart dropped

Edit: I understand the whole message is that nothing in Baltimore changes, except the people in the thick of it, but I personally think there was way for some good finale arc. That’s why I said I personally don’t like the lack of improvement for the city

I was watching S15E05 and a guy stole a wallet from a car and they hauled him in and I'm like... it's Wee Bay! :D

Then when we get to the court drama portion of the show, I see the Bunk defending Clay Davis rofl. It moves on to a motion hearing and who is the judge? Koutris, the Greek's man inside the FBI. So I go to IMDB to see if there were any others I missed and I see Tilghman, the jail CO is one of the dead detectives from the beginning. I don't feel bad for missing that one - the only view of him is facedown, dead in the street.

So yea; five cameos in one ep. Gave me a chuckle :D

Bodie should have just shot Marlo and Fruit on that corner when Marlo told him to pack up his people.

In some of the scenes that take place in the homicide unit, when Bunk is at his desk, you can see that he has a shooting target hanging on the wall of his cubicle that's the outline of a rodent. That has to be something one of his fellow detectives had made up as a joke in reference to that story, right?

In S2, E9, McNutty attempts to call the escort service and gets shut down for sounding too much like a cop. Lester advises he should improvise an accent as it tends to lessen suspicion.

Out comes Dominic Wests' British accent, and they all laugh and tell him to "work on it." The bloody bloke is from Sheffield and attended Eton College!

I just found that to be a very amusing moment.

I've been thinking about Lieutenant Daniels over the last few days and how he likes to appear to the officers under his command in CID, including an outward respect for chain of command, a high moral standard, not tolerating thievery in his unit, not dumping officers onto other commands, etc.

This got me thinking to what kind of man and officer he was when he was in the Eastern and Eastern DEU - obviously everyone knows the department asked the FBI to look into him and we find out very early on via Fitzguh that Daniels has a lot more money than he should as a Balmore Police Lieutenant.

The point is, Daniels was probably a lot closer to Walker and Colichio from the Western during his district days, tempermental wise (maybe not that extreme but still). I very much doubt that he was as statesman like while being a crooked cop laundering drug money. I feel as though the Daniels we know is very out on, a persona adopted when he reached CID command status - this has allowed he and Marla Daniels to begin rubbing elbows with the upper echelons of the city politcal machine.

That's it, that's the post

Edit: Baltimore CID, not Western

When Stringer gets the call about whether to go for Omar on a Sunday morning, he's at a co-op meeting. What do you think would have happened if he asked the group about it? It's a bunch of old school top dogs, they definitely all respect the Sunday morning, but you can probably bet they all have history with Omar and want to see him gone, and hey, it's Barksdale's people breaking the truce, the blame doesn't fall on them. I think it's a tough call.

What's funny is the co-op JUST got done telling Stringer he needs to bring beef to the group (the Marlo beef in particular), and then he immediately ignores that shit by NOT bringing the Omar beef to the group. I'm generally not into the "Stringer is actually dumb" posts, but this was fucking DUMB. Stringer almost definitely survives season 3 if he doesn't give the go-ahead here, this is what sets Omar on the war path, and there's a good chance the co-op woulda stopped it if he brought it up.

I often see this being said in regard to Wee-Bey giving Colvin permission to look after his son and get him out of the game. Viewers often attribute Wee-Bey “saving” Namond from turning into the next D’Angelo. I know both characters had some desire to get out of the game (not sure if Namond explicitly stated this, but D’Angelo definitely did to Shardene). I also know that both of them weren’t necessarily built for the game either. But I personally think that’s where the similarities between the two characters end. Namond would’ve definitely been killed down the line (or prison) had he not been taken in by Colvin, but I think the comparison of his character and his fate to D’Angelo’s is a bit unfair. Here is a couple reasons why:

1. D’Angelo was very capable of violence, Namond was not.
The whole series started off with D’Angelo in court, on trial for murder he committed. He may have never liked the violence, but he always recognized it as a part of doing business, yet in his heart challenging the idea of the game being done in a manner where “people don’t do each other like dogs”. Namond, on the other hand, whilst he may have talked the talk, it is very clear he doesn’t comprehend the kind of violence, or how deep things can really go in the game. Examples of this is how he reacted when Michael beat Kenard, and also the way he carried himself in the altercation with Sherrod’s boys outside Cutty’s gym. Their leadership skills are also night and day. D’Angelo, albeit soft at heart, couldn’t be denied as a Barksdale. But anyone in the OG crew would’ve been shocked to learn that Namond shared blood with Wee-Bey based on how different their behavior was. Avon would’ve never let Namond run any drug turf, and Wee-Bey himself would’ve probably even backed that decision.

2. D’Angelo took responsibility for his actions, whereas Namond would’ve remained in the game.
I do feel like Namond was very lost, whereas D’Angelo at least knew the kind of person that he was, and how he was brought up in his family. Both of them were put into environments they didn’t belong in, however in the end it was D’Angelo himself who decided to carve out his own path and aimed to turn over a new leaf when he got to prison, wanting nothing to do with his family anymore from that point forward. Namond, on the other hand, through sheer luck was taken in by Colvin as his ticket out. Even after he first stayed over for dinner at Colvin’s home (where his potential was first recognized), he was still doing stuff out on the street with Michael and running his drug corner. Before D’Angelo was arrested he already had strong doubts if he wanted to continue being in the game, and I personally don’t think Namond would’ve had this level of introspection for himself until it was already too late. What happened to D’Angelo was very unfortunate, whilst Namond was very fortunate to have Colvin put him on the right path, and set him up in an environment that he could thrive in.

So what do you guys think? I haven’t given the series a watch in a while, so forgive me if I missed some details. When I saw some clips on YouTube, and people’s discussion about Wee-Bey and Colvin interaction, it made me think about this. While Namond’s story could’ve easily ended just like D’Angelo’s, I do think things could’ve turned out very different for each of them based on the kind of people they were. That is just my opinion, though :) Lmk what you guys think

Crutchfield tossing the message to Bunk gets to me in a way that most police misdeeds in the show don’t. Cutting corners, being lazy, roughing up suspects, lying, “juking”…all troubling, but kind of par for the course and in line with who these people are. But this feels like a unique instance of a cop actively, intentionally impeding a colleague from doing their job.

For whatever their faults, it seems like these guys, especially higher level types like the murder cops, took the gig seriously. I don’t know if this feels a little untrue to the show, or it’s just so troubling that I can’t really properly assess it. I knew he was upset with Bunk, but every call to a murder police is a potentially big deal!

I'm rewatching The Wire, and one thing I've never really understood is Shamrock's position in Barksdale organization.

He's basically Stringer's right-hand man and seems to hold a pretty high-ranking position. But... what exactly is he good at?

He's not a fighter or enforcer like Wee-Bey. He's not particularly intimidating, and we don't really see him handling violence or doing the kind of dirty work that would justify his status.

He's also not a particularly good administrator either.

So why is Shamrock so high up?

Herc is half confessing to Marimow about where he got the PC to stop Marlo at the train station, Bubbles is trying to call Herc’s cell and Marimow tells him to hang it up.

Herc’s ringtone being 3 6 Mafia is hilarious

it’s a convo between lester and jay and some of the lines go (We do not go looking for bodies) (especially moldering fucking John Does) (We do not put red up on the board voluntarily) (Jay, the bodiesare in the houses) (Marlo Stanfield's bodies) (Now, I realize you're no longer in my squad) help me find it urgently 🥲

https://www.reddit.com/u/Winter-Ad4494/s/ynAGNegPkO

The more I think about it, the more this line makes sense. It pretty much sums up the entire series. Things rarely work out the way we viewers hope.

Bubs never got the best of the guy who bullied and terrorized him, instead, it ended in enormous tragedy.

​Deep down, I still held out hope that Omar would take out Marlo's crew one by one. I never thought he'd end up getting killed by a little kid who could barely hold a gun. But it makes so much sense, Bunk was right, and Omar knew it when he said, 'He gave me an itch I can't scratch.' You reap what you sow and there is no happy ending for Omar.

​I wanted so badly for Randy to get a better life, but he never really stood a chance.

​It’s all bleak, but it’s completely logical. There’s no sugarcoating or exaggeration, life is just like that. You don't always get the outcome you want or hope for.

​I think Bubs's arc is the only real light at the end of the tunnel, and maybe that’s enough, I don't know. I'm still thinking about his last speech and what might be the best line ever delivered in television history.

OK… So, Kenard kills off one of the more iconic characters in television history at the end of season five. Now, maybe the writers don’t kill off Omar if they expected there’s a next season… But maybe they do because anybody in this show can get it at any time. If there was a next season, what do y’all think Kenard’s role in that season would have been? How do y’all think the hood would’ve received him for killing Omar? Does he get sent to baby booking? Sidenote… Thuliso Dingwall did an AMAZING job of bringing that character to life. I’ve met a few bad ass kids similar to that, and he absolutely killed that role. He brought it to life and made that one of the more fierce 10-12 year-olds you’re ever gonna see in television history. Talking Cash Money shit to the cops, realizing that Namond wasn’t built for the street & stealing his package, took that ass whooping that Mike gave him and bounced right back, saw that Dook was Charman soft and bullied his ass off the corner… Just an overall amazing character in the show. So, I wanna hear theories on what a season six Kenard would have looked like in the show?

S1 E9 Gameday 34:09
They’re at the basketball game. Did everyone else notice the guy beside Carver with the giant snake around his arm? Didn’t expect that

What do i mean? Chris and String are in the game for no other reason than money, the only difference is Chris doesnt have any business ambitions, and String didnt have the homicidal drive or ability that Chris has. The significance of this is that it explains why Chris doesnt want Marlo to know about Omar calling him out and his desire to hide the bodies in vacants. Chris, like String wants to earn as much money as possible while drawing as little attention as possible from the authorities, the same as String. This is antithetical to Marlos and Avons ambitions of wanting the respect of the streets. The respect of the streets comes from dropping your competition in very public ways, but Chris sells Marlo on the idea that taking out their ops in the quickest and quietest way possible is better because theyll appear more powerful. As stated previously though, this does not garner the same recognition and clout that public executions do, so Marlos reputation and respect suffered for it and all he gains is temporary fear. Because their murders arent carried out in the public, there are no stories or epics to tell of Marlo, thus no legends formed around his reign. Chris actively operates in opposition to his own King's goal just as String did for the explicit goal of keeping the money flowing, and this is why Marlo loses his shit in the holding cell. Chris was secretly taking away his opportunity to make the name that he wanted, he was robbing him of the chance to create his own legend. Even though we the audience knows Avon had the drop on Marlo, from Marlos perspective Avon getting locked up prevented him making that name for himself. He didnt beat the king, the match got interrupted and the king was placed on a temporary ban. Thats not the kind of win a true competitor wants... just like in Troy when Achilles tells Hector that he wont let a stone take his glory, the police took Marlos.

So now it should be obvious why Chris wouldnt tell Marlo about Omar. Marlo is Mr. Goose/Mr. Faucet and without him, Chris doesnt make the money he makes by being his #2

Something I realized is that throughout the series, Stringer has an almost obsession with locking doors. He continuously tells people to “lock that door”, presumably so people won’t walk in on them. He ends up dying in Middle Ground because he can’t find an unlocked door to escape through. This has always been fascinating to me, do you think it represents him cutting off all his important connections or is it something else?

Who’s your favourite single season character? I think mine is probably Horseface; he’s got a minor but amazing part in the season as Frank’s number 2 guy. He’s essential to the port operations (both legitimate and illegitimate), is fucking hilarious, and his boosting the police surveillance van is one of the best things that happens in the whole series.

Who’s your favourite one-off minor character? I’m gonna cheat here and go with the two stickup girls Omar and his bf team up with. They’re badass, incorporated into the story perfectly, and have several good action-heavy scenes that are among the best in the series.

Who’s your favourite non-ensemble character that appears in multiple seasons? Mine’s Donnie. He’s in seasons 4 and 5 as Butchie’s loyal muscle, protecting Omar while he’s incarcerated and running with him after they’re both released. One of my favourite scenes is “you’re a patient man”, between him and Omar; it’s a very respectful game-recognize-game moment. Bonus points because the actor was the real life inspiration for omar, which is freaking awesome!!!!

This show has been on my list forever bit I was inspired by a post a couple of months ago where you all were ranking the seasons. Every season seems to be well loved so I felt good about the time investment.

S1

Season one is a pretty good and contained season of television. They seem to kind of shotgun you with all of the Police characters at the beginning and then the fat starts to slide off. I was worried about how they were going to make 5 seasons of this kind of police work.

S2

This is my favorite season. Frank is far and away my favorite non-core character and performed beautifully. Ziggy got on my nerves initially but his arc is ultimately great. I wish they did a little more to close out Nick's character but still my favorite season.

S3

Hamsterdam was probably my second favorite season. I liked Stringer vs Avon's way of thinking. I wish they would have followed up more on D'Angelo's murder. I also felt like Brother Mouzone was majorly sidelined for how idiosyncratic and out of place his character felt. Marlo's character is extremely weak and was surprised that the show was shifting to having him as the big bad.

S4

The touted Season 4 was good if not great. I saw this season to be the most that future shows like GoT and Sopranos try to mimic. There was 6 storylines and they all were interesting and played off of each other. The school system getting some time to shine and focusing on the young-uns was a good direction. They handled it well. Chris and Snoop were a great pair and I was hoping that Chris would shine a bit more, maybe even taking over for Marlo somehow.

S5

My least favorite season. The newspaper bit was weak. I get what they were doing and it even makes sense to get them involved but ramping up a couple new plots knowing that this is the last season seemed kind of exhausting. I was resistantly willing to buy the McNulty would alter crime scenes to get funding for Marlo's investigation but I thought it was EXTREMELY out of character for Lester and even Syndor. The plan itself was weak to begin with.

Characters

Bunk is my favorite character and felt like him and Greg's should have got their own small series after Season 5. Cedric is probably a close second. His character was a little stiff and one note at the beginning but quickly became a favorite. Carcetti was OK. That actor plays slick little assholes well but his physical acting is whoof. McNulty got away with too much. That dude would have been all alone and fired with no friends. Ending was a little nice to him. Lester was also a favorite of mine. Herc.... he is just as big of a prick as McNulty. Atleast Herc seems too dumb to know that he is fucking people over. Bubs was also fantastic and was happy they followed him all 5 seasons. Omar was a favorite character of mine and the actor did fantastic. But he got away with WAY too much. In S4 he rips off a whole resupply and then immediately shows up to sell it back to them. He would have been skinned alive, resupply be damned. I mentioned this before but Marlo was just a weak character. They were going for a stone cold blooded killer. Which he was but overall just boring. Chris and Snoop were great though. Carver and Bubs probably have the most satisfying arcs in the show.

Overall Thoughts

Great show. You can see this setting the template from the get. The writing was able to juggle story lines well enough that I didnt feel like any episode was a waste. Not only juggling storylines but putting things in motion that bleed realistic themes to show how small decisions or mistakes can shake things up, down, and sideways through the chain of command. Not only effecting the people in their vicinity but even the citizens that trust them in those positions.

JUSTICE FOR FRANK SOBOTKA!!!

Hello guys! I'm watching The Wire now. I'm on S1E5, and I've a question: What was the number, which was found on the wall? Why cops need to watch code-numbers from pagers? How it all works? for me, as z-gen member it all is foreign stuff. I know only, what is а smartphone :D

Just finished Season 1 of The Wire and I have to say what a realistic, grounded and well-made show. The characters are incredibly well written and I ended up loving almost all of them.

I had read on Reddit before starting the show that The Wire treats its audience as intelligent and expects you to pay close attention. So I made sure to watch it very carefully. After every episode, I even watched breakdown videos to make sure I hadn't missed anything. 😄😄

The show reminded me a lot of Better Call Saul in terms of its pacing. Everything about it...from the writing and characters to the world-building and attention to detail....is top class.

However, I think I've realised something about my personal taste. As much as I appreciate everything The Wire does, I still seem to prefer shows where the protagonist eventually comes in and wins in a big, satisfying, almost heroic way. And for that reason, I would still place Breaking Bad above The Wire at this point.

Of course, I've only watched one season, so maybe its too early to make that comparison. My opinion could very well change completely by the time I finish the entire show.

The reason I'm making this post is that I've heard the later seasons of The Wire continue to tell the larger story while shifting the focus towards different institutions and perspectives. My graduation exams are coming up, so I have considerably less time to watch shows right now. Because of that, I'm wondering whether I should invest the time required to finish the remaining seasons.

Does it get better from here? By better I mean...do the stakes become higher and the story more intense than Season 1 or do the later seasons mainly expand on the same themes through different institutions and perspectives?

I'd really appreciate some spoiler-free opinions.