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The Wire. I'd tried to watch it a few times, but only a few months ago actually got past the first two episodes. I think it helped that I quite quickly saw it

• mjklin 6y ago
  A good companion piece is Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory, which gave David Simon much of his inspiration for The Wire. Excellent film.
  • wespiser_2018 6y ago
    Paths of Glory is one of my favorite films, after hearing David Simon speak about how it's essentially a movie about middle management and the dangers of being giving a task that's impossible to complete yet will still let down the people who look up to you!
    • op03 6y ago
      Much better than movies or shows on the subject is Herbert Simon's work on Administrative Behavior. Unlike David Simon's work it gives people a way to think about problems and approaches to problems where their skills, resources, rationality aren't enough - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_A._Simon https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_A._Simon
• ystad 6y ago
  The Wire does live up to it's hype. Keep going beyond the second season, it gets better, when the lines between the gangs and the government blur
  • patrickthebold 6y ago
    It's very good, but the last season gets a little weird with the 'serial murder'.
    • peteretep 6y ago
      We need to get better as a species at pretending certain seasons didn’t happen. Season 5 of The Wire, Season 3 of Homeland, anything after All Along the Watchtower in BSG etc
      • ra7 6y ago
        > Season 3 of Homeland Oh, what a downer that season was. On the other hand, Homeland Season 1 was one of the best bits of television I’ve seen.
        • kenjackson 6y ago
          The last season of Homeland I thought was incredible. It felt like everything pushed to the extreme. Overall great show.
        • peteretep 6y ago
          Honestly I just skipped it having seen the IMDB reviews. I’ve watched all the others and it’s one of my favourite shows.
      • albedoa 6y ago
        "Community" made their lost season part of the show's lore by having the characters refer to it as "The Gas Leak Year": https://screenrant.com/community-season-4-gas-leak-year-explained/ https://screenrant.com/community-season-4-gas-leak-year-expl...
      • ska 6y ago
        The thing about season 5 is that it doesn't stand up well to the other seasons, but it does stand up reasonably to most other television; I'm not sure it's quite in this category.
• OminousWeapons 6y ago
  The Wire is the greatest show that has ever been made in my opinion. It features thoughtful examinations of schools, corruption, media bias, policing policy, labor, drug legalization, addiction, politics, drug organizations, what it is like to be poor, and much more. The Wire also features the single most accurate portrayal of what it is like to exist in a large organization and how individuals within those organizations drive organizational momentum, policy, and culture at all levels. People complain about it being a little slow because real life is slow and the Wire is emulating real life. The ending of the show is also perfect in that it's absolutely not spectacular in any way. Season 1 is my favorite season.
  • hwestiii 6y ago
    The Wire really is a remarkable show in that, unlike a most of TV before it, it literally springs from who the characters are. The closest thing to an imposed narrative is the decision to focus on a specific segment of the phenomenon that is Baltimore, the police bureaucracy in S1, the white+ working class (well before DJT) in S2, etc. Literally everything else derives from the who the characters are, not the arc imposed by the writers. The scripts are as much channeled as written.
  • sharkweek 6y ago
    It’s easy to sound hyperbolic calling anything the “best” thing of its category, but no TV has even come close to The Wire for me. Season four broke my heart with the adolescent kids. I can’t believe how good they all were in their roles, phenomenal performances. The one minor scene that always wrecks me is where Bodie is talking to McNulty near the end of the series and says, “I feel old...” The character is supposed to be a late teenager in that scene, and is already feeling worn out of life he has almost no chance of escaping. That to me was the big takeaway. Too many things are stuck where they are: people, systems, etc. As Marlo says, “You want it to be one way, but it’s the other way.” Okay I’m done fan-boying. Yes, I’m this annoying when I tell my irl friends about the show as well.
    • joseph 6y ago
      I'll never forget that scene with Marlo, with the lollipop in his mouth. It strangely makes him seem extra ruthless. My wife finds it odd that I remember such trivia, but that is one of the most prominent details of the whole series for me.
• paulnechifor 6y ago
  I started watching The Wire recently expecting a very dry show that's difficult to understand but I found it gripping from the start. The characters felt real and the world very fucked up and interesting. Season 2 was good, but I didn't understand why they kept the drug dealers plot on ice. It seemed like filler. By season 3 it turned into every other TV show where characters are just tools used to express a story rather real people. I stopped watching a few episodes into season 4 because I couldn't be bothered to care. I would understand the heaps of praise The Wire gets if it were limited to season 1 (maybe 2 as well), but the reset doesn't seem that good.
  • implements 6y ago
    Season 4 is arguably the best bit of television drama, ever - it’s a masterpiece.
    • _jcrossley 6y ago
      Agreed, 4 is my favorite. Then maybe 2,1,3,5. Enormous fan here
  • rpdillon 6y ago
    It may be that your opinion would change if you pushed through to the end. I liked it the entire way through, but I think it took finishing the final season for me to realize how masterful it all truly was.
  • Eric_WVGG 6y ago
    I get the argument that good tv/literature/whatever shouldn't need to be explained, but I think the Wire really benefits from reading a lot of serious criticism alongside watching. There were a ton of details and ideas and motifs that just flew over my head, but upon some reading and a second watching… well I started out loving The Wire, but the second time I loved The Wire. Even seasons 3 and 4. (not 5, at least I understand what they were trying to do)
    • kazamaloo 6y ago
• sizzle 6y ago
  The wire absolutely blew my mind and raised the bar on how great television can be. I have trouble getting past the first few episodes of Game of Thrones, how does it stack up to The Wire in terms of sucking you into the storyline and committing, looking forward to each new episode and pondering over episodes during your day to day like I experienced with The Wire?
  • mercer 6y ago
    I'd say most shows fall short of The Wire. Game of Thrones was /good/ for the first three seasons or so, then got worse and worse. The last season, in my opinion, is so bad that in hindsight I wish I hadn't watched the entire show.
• meowzero 6y ago
  The last season brings the whole series down IMO. But in a way, it was almost meant to be for the last season to be worse than the others. It was almost fitting based on its themes.
• dan1234 6y ago
  The Wire does live up to its hype, but I think The Shield is the better series.
  • darod 6y ago
    I watched the Wire after The Shield and it was hard not to fall asleep. It was so slow in comparison. I understand art imitating reality but they really kill the pace with some of these stake out scenes.
  • totemandtoken 6y ago
    I respectfully disagree. The writing on the Shield was good but kind of amateur compared to the Wire. I really want to like Kurt Sutter, and often I do, but he doesn't hold a candle to Simon and the rest of the writers on the Wire. The Shield had some really good socially aware arcs (the asset forfeiture season comes to mind) but even those pale compared to the whole Wire philosophy of institutions as Greek gods in a Greek tragedy. Also the pray-the-gay-away subplot in the Shield has not aged well.
• beervirus 6y ago
  > I'd tried to watch it a few times, but only a few months ago actually got past the first two episodes. I did the same thing, and I'm not sure why. The first couple episodes are fine in retrospect, but at the time... I just couldn't get into them and couldn't keep the characters straight. When I finally did get over that hump though, it turned out to be one of my all-time favorite series.
• misiti3780 6y ago
  The Wire is amazing television for sure, but the last season kinda sucked. I know that they were forced to end it early because HBO cut it short, but I thought the whole serial killer story line just didn't add up.
• misiti3780 6y ago
  Also -- for anyone here that loved The Wire, I really recommend Treme. It is almost as good, just more about musicians than drugs. Writing and story lines are the same David Simon-esque style.
• house9-2 6y ago
  One of my favorites from HBO. The first time I watched it the first few episodes felt a little weak (like a network tv cop show), almost gave up on it but glad I didn't.
• hardwaregeek 6y ago
  People rightfully discuss the wonderful themes, the memorable characters, the tragic arcs in The Wire, but one area they underrate is the form. I recently watched some of the HD restoration and the use of sound and image is really wonderful. I suspect a lot of it flies under the radar because The Wire purposefully used a style that wasn't overly pretty, was closer to verite than visually stunning. But there's some great ideas there. The utter commitment to diagetic sound (barring one scene in the first season). The use of complex camera movements and an Altman-esque zoom to provide a documentary or even voyeuristic perspective. You could make an argument that The Wire is more innovative in filmmaking than a lot of the typical prestige TV, who simply mimicked Hollywood big budget artistry.
  • georgebcrawford 6y ago
    > barring one scene in the first season Yes! Was that the one where Avon, String, and Stinkum arrive with the cash bonuses? I am rewatching a third time right now and couldn't figure out why it stood out as somewhat clumsy. It even popped into my head while I was driving yesterday. You've just reminded me, so thank you.
    • hardwaregeek 6y ago
      Yep! It's this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpUHa2rCWeA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpUHa2rCWeA There's also the end of season montages, but I'm a lot more forgiving towards non-diegetic music for montages
• jdeibele 6y ago
  The Wire: Way Down in the Hole is a podcast that talks about each episode of The Wire. The hosts are Jemele Hill and Van Lathan. Some of the background they give is that the cast and crew didn't think there would be a Season 2, that David Simon wrote Season 5 without Dennis Lehane or George Pelecanos, etc. https://www.theringer.com/way-down-in-the-hole https://www.theringer.com/way-down-in-the-hole Now that The Ringer has been bought by Spotify you might have to be a subscriber to listen to it.
• trianglem 6y ago
  The wire is art. I don’t have enough superlatives for it. I’m only sad that something so good and timeless will portray black people so poorly. I don’t mean the art portraying them poorly, I mean their literal state of being.
  • georgebcrawford 6y ago
    Surely that's part of its power though? The real-life facts of that existence are tragic of course, but shining a light on the issues is surely a positive thing.
    • deleted 6y ago
      [deleted]
    • trianglem 6y ago
      Yeah it’s positive if it leads to change that helps the situation. But I’m also an advocate of forget to move on and beautiful art like that doesn’t let you forget.
• kyleblarson 6y ago
  If you liked The Wire and haven't yet, definitely check out The Sopranos. Absolutely amazing.
  • georgebcrawford 6y ago
    Years ago I read that The Wire made The Sopranos look...silly? Or at least not as serious and gritty. I kind of agreed for awhile, but I'm actually rewatching both and appreciate the different styles more. One thing that strikes me is the acting - The Sopranos is filled with amazing performances, particularly the dynamic between Edie Falco and James Gandolfini. I hate Tony Soprano and really dislike Carmella, but I'm so conflicted about both.
• briandilley 6y ago
  > morally ambiguous discussion of the institutional ineptitude of conservative western cultures in mitigating the effects of crime, rather than a typical 'good vs bad' cop show. That's a mouthful. Basically you're saying that the cops operated questionably due to or because of the conservative government's inability to effectively fight crime?
  • glial 6y ago
    I think it’s more that the worldview held by western institutions and police in particular does not equip police to actually solve the problems they are trying to solve - through no real fault of the individuals involved.
  • ddek 6y ago
    Yeah I just combined an unrelated set of feelings into a single sentence. > morally ambiguous No character (save some in S5) is totally black or white. Take Omar, for example. When Omar responds to Levy in the S2 courtroom scene, we sympathise with Omar. When Bunk applies almost exactly the same criticism in S3, we don’t. > institutional ineptitude The show covers more institutions than just the BPD. S2 covers traditional economics, S3 has politics, S4 education, and S5 media. > conservative western cultures I kinda wanted to say ‘America’ here, but that wouldn’t entirely be true. I’m from Glasgow, a city which has been directly compared to the Wire’s version of Baltimore. Look up the ice cream wars. These problems aren’t uniquely America’s, but are inherent to all (small c) conservative western cultures. Parts of Europe (Scandinavia, Netherlands) have made huge progress through progressive policy. This isn’t an issue of which government is in power - the US had 8 years of Obama, the UK had 13 of Blair/Brown, and made no progress. > mitigating the effects of crime The true victims of the drug trade are the bystanders. However, the war on drugs is fought through virtuous motivation - drugs are bad, impure, and destroy people and society. This motivation omits those most affected by the drug trade, the bystanders. Between street dealing, turf wars, and aggressive policing; the drug trade devastates communities.
• gautamcgoel 6y ago
  Great show. My two favorite scenes are probably the death of Prop Joe (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ca4WeMd2MQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ca4WeMd2MQ) and the death of Wallace (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hor_gOBU_GU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hor_gOBU_GU).
• bigmattystyles 6y ago
  Even though it’s starting to show its age, it is still amazing. Pagers died such a quick death. The code/code cracking they use in the show seems almost quaint and innocent now. I would assume the level of sophistication has also exploded within criminal gangs. I also remember doing a double take when I first heard Dominic West and Idris Elba speak with their actual British accents. Stringer Bell is English!? He should have been Bond, I fear he’s aged out now.