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The Wire Season 5 (Jan, '08)

I kind of like Daniels these days. He seems like he's just trying to do the right thing. Clay Davis, on the other hand...
 
Just watched the first three of Season 4. I think this one is going to be the most intense for me, because of the school aspect. I keep looking at Prez and thinking, "Oh, man, you're making so many mistakes." And then I look at the environment, and think, "F***, what would I do with that? What could I do?"

I really wonder, have I got what it takes?
 
Prez is the cop that became a teacher, right?

At first I thought that would be the lamest part, but it actually is real good. The Wire is really good at re-using characters like that- season 5 does something similar with Herc.
 
Also of note: Omar going to fetch some cereal, unarmed because his gun won't stay in the waitsband of his pajama pants, and coming back with a stash he doesn't want anyway. It's a fair critique of the show that they suspend realism for Omar. But then, who wouldn't?
 
Something about this season seems more grim. The kids being affected by everything is part of it, but you've got Omar going to jail (and we see him genuinely scared, until Butchie's people get to him), you've got the addict beating up on Bubbs, you've got Bubb's protege slipping away from him... even the theme music seems darker.

Prez is finally learning how to teach properly. I just hope the authorities let him get away with it. And I really want to see Colvin do more in that experimental classroom of his. I have a feeling he'd be a fantastic teacher.

Carcetti's mayor-elect now and has his eye on Daniels, which shows he's not a complete fool. After Colvin he's the most competent major we've seen yet.
 
And now we know why Michael doesn't trust anyone... and, oddly enough, we learn a thing about Chris, too. (Is it wrong that I find Snoop somewhat attractive? I do like my women lethal...)


The "teaching to the test" BS is very, very common. That alone would be enough to damn No Child Left Behind in my eyes, but fortunately I've got a whole fist full of reasons. And that line about "the first year, it's not about the kids, it's about you surviving" is a potent one, with a world of truth behind it.
 
Michael is a fascinating character, and according the commercial for the next episode I saw, will be featured in that.
 
Yes, but with at least one kid who has hope, which is pretty much the pattern of the show.

The last episode that aired was one of the best yet. The beginning of season 5 seemed a bit awkward but all the pieces are coming together now quite nicely.

You gonna wait 'till it comes out on DVD?
 
Yeah, I pretty much have to wait until it comes to Netflix, as I've got no cable where I live now... and I'm not even going to have a TV in my new place. So I must wait. Story of my TV viewing, really.

I was pleased that Namond got out. Wasn't quite expecting it, but Wee-bay showed a lot of heart giving his son up to an ex-police. Michael, though... good kid, in a really bad spot, and just what else could he have done? I'm sure there were other options, but few of them would have been good. I just don't like the way Michael's going.

And Bodie. Man. Stood tall and got killed for it. Weird, though; he killed Wallace back in Season One, and now I feel almost as bad for him as I did for Wallace then.
 
Michael is somewhat significant in season 5. One of the other kids makes an appearance in one episode in a way that'll just break your heart.

So now that you've seen 4 seasons, what do you think overall? I have pretty much become a pontificating ass about it, turning any conversation about popular entertainment into a sermon on how they need to see The Wire, so I'm totally in danger of over-hyping it to people, but I did get some people interested. I haven't felt this passionate about a show or movie since... I don't even know when. I know I was trying to get my sci-fi geek friends into B5 but that didn't even come close.
 
It's an amazing show. It's trying to teach us something, in a medium that's not well-suited to it (television and education go as well together as oil and water). There's still a little residual suspicion in me, too -- sure, maybe this is a great picture of Baltimore, but what about the rest of the country? Is LA that messed up? Is New York?

The show does a great job of juggling characters and keeping us up to date about it all while sometimes only having them onscreen for a few minutes in an hour-long show. I mean, how much screen time did McNulty get in Season 4?

I've heard that Omar is based on a couple of real people, but they've kind of made him the rippin' and runnin' Batman of Baltimore.

It's a show that's painful, and quietly hilarious, and powerfully done, and eye-opening. As TV it's astonishing. As education... well. Still I must wonder.
 
I've done some reading... I suspect that David Simon has several axes to grind, in ways that may invalidate some of his perspectives (particularly the media). But he also seems to have really done his homework, on Baltimore at least. Felicia Pearson endorses his take on the school system, and that's good enough for me. I love that they basically just have her show up and be herself on camera...
 
Simon himself I don't think would deny that he has axes to grind, especially with his experiences at The Baltimore Sun. But the undeniable truth is that the paper used to be a more respected, comprehensive journalistic institution and, like so many papers, has devolved into info-tainment, shallow nonsense.

Although one of the big appeals of the show is its realism, let's not lose sight of the fact that is a fictional drama, not a documentary.
 
On the realism side of things:

Today, by pure luck, I happened to have a chance to sit down and read the book "The Corner," by Simon and Burns. They say it's pure journalism, that the people they chronicled are real and in fact read the book for errors. So if we're concerned about what's real, we could just read that. (HBO made a miniseries of the book, but that's dramatized, as opposed to the actual text.)

A few things worth mentioning:

Dennis Wise (Cutty on the Wire) gets a mention as a professional gun for hire back in the old days.

The street gang that Burns and Simon spent some time studying is in a bit of a rivalry with the "nightmare" organization that holds five towers on the Terrace. Sound familiar?

The "paper bag" theory is discussed at length.

In the acknowledgements section, they thank a Lt. Daniel of the BPD for all his help.
 
Very cool, KF. I gotta find me a copy of that book.

The last episode was simply one of the best in the series. So many funny and tragic moments.

It came as a shock to me, after the end of the ep, when the TV told me there will be only 2 more episodes. Already?! Damn.
 
I just read a very interesting article about Felicia Pearson, focusing on her criminal past. She killed another girl when she was just 14. Now that she's on "The Wire," the family of the victim is having a hard time with it... they feel the show is glorifying Pearson as a killer. Which makes me think twice about my appreciation for her. I'm fascinated by the fictional Snoop. Am I revelling in her murderous side?

The article also makes me worry a bit about her; on "The Wire" she basically plays herself, her skills sound somewhat limited, and now the show is done, will she be able to do anything else? She's been handed this chance and she's doing the best she can to run with it, but the odds against her are long. She's got that murder on her record forever.

Funny line, though:
Pearson: "Thank God for 'The Wire.'"
Andre Royo, in response: "Thank God God watches 'The Wire.'"
 
I'm reading "The Corner" in its entirety now. Simon and Burns have some incredible rants, points where they just go on a tear about how f***ed up it all is... try this, for example, their final judgement on our "War on Drugs":

Every fiend and tout and runner understands; they know with a certainty to rival the faith of any religion that no one will miss his daily blast.

Against that, there will be no victory. Not if you come up Fayette Street with bulldozers... the slingers and fiends would be out here in the rubble, slinging pink-top vials. ot if you call out the National Guard or put police officers on every corner...

But you still want it to work. Of course you do.

Try napalm.

Seriously. One of those Rolling Thunder air strikes might do it. Because that Marine commander with the sage wit had it right: Only if you're willing to destroy the village can you be absolutely assured of saving it.
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