The Wire - First Watch Thread

So, Kelly has strong armed me into watching this show. I guess I should be used to it by now. I'm not terribly good at first watch threads so bear with me. Not a lot of thoughts after the first episode.

A couple of things, wtf was the deal with McNulty playing chicken with an oncoming train? Was it just because he was drunk, or is he that self destructive? Based on his much talked about conversation with the judge, I'm assuming the latter?

The deal with the dead witness at the end was interesting. The cops said the same thing I initially did, why kill the witness after the trial. But I realized only a few seconds before they did that it would be a great intimidation tactic against future witnesses.

I'll may or may not watch another one tonight, we'll see.

As for McNulty, both of those factors played a role in that decision. You'll come to a better understanding of him in time if you want to.

The bad guys carry The Wire. Season 1 is pretty good but the show ups its game in the seasons to follow. I'm not a big fan of cop dramas but this is one of the better ones, if not the best.

I agree that season 1 is probably the weakest of the seasons i've seen (i still haven't seen the last one), but i still love it.

And one thing that's always stuck with me from that episode, from the first time i saw it, was McNutty musing on Snot Boogie's street name. "Instead of giving the poor kid a tissue..."

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

.... And one thing that's always stuck with me from that episode, from the first time i saw it, was McNutty musing on Snot Boogie's street name. "Instead of giving the poor kid a tissue..."

Stuck with me, too! The colors, all the red and blue, and black of the kid's blood snaking across the pavement. And the dialogue sets up McNulty's ambivalence toward -- well, just about everything.

His Royal Dorkness wrote:

I agree that season 1 is probably the weakest of the seasons i've seen (i still haven't seen the last one), but i still love it.

And one thing that's always stuck with me from that episode, from the first time i saw it, was McNutty musing on Snot Boogie's street name. "Instead of giving the poor kid a tissue..."

"If Snotboogie stole the money every time, why'd you let him play?"

"Got to. This America."

I just finished the S1 finale and I have to say that is the best-written hour of television I've ever seen. It's mind-boggling how amazing that episode is just in a technical sense. The doubled and reflected lines of dialogue, "nicely done." "Where don't you want to go?" "Happy now, bitch?" "What the fuck was that?" "All in the game." So much of the more things change, the more they stay the same. A wheel that keeps turning. Victory and futility in such a complete package. They could have ended the show right there and it still would have been a masterpiece.

I mean I don't think S1 is the best season, more like the third best (I rank it 3-4-1-5-2). But it's SO complete and perfectly written.

Ness, you need to get back on this show. Really. REALLY. You have to get to this episode.

I do always want to stop my rewatch at this point, because S2 is so boring to me. I might just skip it (except for Omar bits) and go right to S3.