Ohio Chatter DEV

SportsAndLady

Some say the GOAT premium television show.

I started watching about 6 months ago, and I'm just now starting season 3. Did some reading and found this to be generally thought of as the greatest season...wanted to see where you guys ranked them.

I know we gotta have a few Wire fans on here

gut

I think without question Season 3 was best. Although Season 1 would be in the debate, as well.

Raw Dawgin' it

I just finished 4 - it was good but not as good as the other 3.

2, 3, 1, and 4 - Starting season 5 when it comes in the mail. I really liked every season a lot. I thought 4 ended well but took a long time to get going. 2 was my favorite hands down.

SportsAndLady

I wasn't big on Season 2 because I fucking hated Ziggy...wasn't a big fan of the Sabotka's at all really.

justincredible

I've not watched it but I've heard great things. This is from HBO and Kurt Sutter is somehow involved, right? Or am I thinking of another show?

killer_ewok

Never watched it. What's so great about it?

justincredible

justincredible;1192186 wrote:I've not watched it but I've heard great things. This is from HBO and Kurt Sutter is somehow involved, right? Or am I thinking of another show?

Nevermind, Sutter was part of The Shield.

SportsAndLady

justincredible;1192186 wrote:I've not watched it but I've heard great things. This is from HBO and Kurt Sutter is somehow involved, right? Or am I thinking of another show?

He's the shield or the sons of anarchy...never heard him be involved w/ the Wire

justincredible

SportsAndLady;1192192 wrote:He's the shield or the sons of anarchy...never heard him be involved w/ the Wire

Yeah, I knew it was "The Something" but it was The Shield. I am terrible.

SportsAndLady

killer_ewok;1192189 wrote:Never watched it. What's so great about it?

God so many things, where do you start?

For one it's the most realistic show you'll ever watch. It's about inner city living in Baltimore, MD when crime, gangs, and drugs were at an all-time high.

The point of view comes from both the drug dealers AND the police. Police POV is all about corruption. Drug dealers POV it's all about, well, dealing drugs.

Third POV--Omar.

justincredible

What time is it set in? Modern day or in the past?

gut

It's a great show. Not as good as Sopranos at its best, but more consistent. Nothing was as good as Sopranos at its best, but they had some pretty weak seasons, especially the 2nd half of the run.

A few seasons of The Wire were a bit slow (also did not care for Slovaka), but they also wrapped it all very, very well.

The Shield is still my favorite.

killer_ewok

Okay. Thanks. May have to check it out at some point. Is it on Netflix?

that_guy

My ranking of the seasons:
3
1
5
4

2

gut

Note also what is special about The Wire is more than the realism, it's based on a "true" story. It's dramatized and fictional, but much is based on the creator's experiences and what he saw as a writer with the Baltimore Sun.

There was a real Omar that the character is based on, for example.

SportsAndLady

justincredible;1192204 wrote:What time is it set in? Modern day or in the past?

Early 2000's I believe. It's hard to watch at times...incredibly realistic.

[SP]When Wallace is killed in Season 1, is a perfect example of the show's brutality[/SP]

SportsAndLady

gut;1192212 wrote:Note also what is special about The Wire is more than the realism, it's based on a "true" story. It's dramatized and fictional, but much is based on the creator's experiences and what he saw as a writer with the Baltimore Sun.

There was a real Omar that the character is based on, for example.

Did not know that. That's cool.

SportsAndLady

killer_ewok;1192207 wrote:Okay. Thanks. May have to check it out at some point. Is it on Netflix?

Unfortunately no.

I'm poor so I can't do this, but I would HIGHLY recommend just buying the 5 seasons and watching them. Because they're really, really good. You will not be disappointed.

I just watch them on HBO on-demand. Hence why it's taken me 6 months to watch 2 seasons. Sucks.

gut

SportsAndLady;1192217 wrote: I just watch them on HBO on-demand. Hence why it's taken me 6 months to watch 2 seasons. Sucks.

You know if you go online with your PC or Tablet you can access all seasons from HBO on-demand? That's how I watched them.

SportsAndLady

gut;1192221 wrote:You know if you go online with your PC or Tablet you can access all seasons from HBO on-demand? That's how I watched them.

HBO GO or something like that? I tried getting on there and it said my cable provider doesn't allow me to access HBO GO.

gut

Probably contains some spoilers if you read it.
http://www.vice.com/read/david-simon-280-v16n12

A big thing I wonder about in terms of writing The Wire is how you went about constructing composite characters from real-life influences, like Omar is a big one, of course, but—
Why don’t I do Omar, because that’s the one everybody always asks about. Here are some people that we used for the Omar story line—and they are real people and real names that would be known on the streets of Baltimore. Anthony Hollie, Ferdinand Harvin, and Cadillac and Low. I don’t know their real names, but they were a team. And there’s also Donnie Andrews. He was the big man who went to war with Omar the last time. He got killed in the shootout in the apartment in the ambush. That’s actually the real Donnie.

So out of all these people, did you pick and choose traits and stories from their realities for Omar? For instance, Omar carries a shotgun. He’s gay. He’s got all these really great characterizations.
Listen, when he jumps out the window during that shootout, that was something Donnie Andrews actually did. He jumped out of the sixth floor of the Murphy Homes when he was caught in an ambush and out of ammunition. Did he think about it? No, but he did it and he survived and he was able to limp away. It happened. He also jumped off the Poplar Grove rail bridge another time. It’s legend. There are people who will tell you about it in West Baltimore other than Donnie. It’s not just something he’s making up. If you make that jump, you’re dead. If I make that jump, I’m a puddle on the ground.

gut

SportsAndLady;1192222 wrote:HBO GO or something like that? I tried getting on there and it said my cable provider doesn't allow me to access HBO GO.

Yeah, maybe so. I log in with my cable provider account. You could call them. If you're a subscriber to HBO I believe you should be able to access HBO GO.

SportsAndLady

gut;1192226 wrote:Yeah, maybe so. I log in with my cable provider account. You could call them. If you're a subscriber to HBO I believe you should be able to access HBO GO.

That's what you'd think...but unfortunately your cable provider has to actual subscribe to hbo go...mine does not. We've signed some petition asking them to subscribe but that probably went nowhere.

Im getting directv in July hopefully they provide it.

justincredible

With all the positives I've heard about this I'm going to have to give it a shot. I'll just have to figure out a way to watch in on the free.

BORIStheCrusher

Easily the greatest show I've ever seen, I'm in the process of watching it for the second time and it's even better. What makes this show great is the realism, the characters and the story line. After seeing this every other crime drama is difficult to watch. It is not a fast paced show where they are solving new cases every episode, or having shootouts with bad guys (cops fire a total of 3 or 4 rounds the entire series), and there is never any dramatic music to make scenes more intense. The show is one long story where everything in connected or related which makes it so brilliant. They have no problem locking up/killing off big characters (often), and will do much earlier than expected just to show you that it's more like life and anything can happen. The best thing is there is no real main character (other than the city of Baltimore). You could take anyone off the show halfway through unlike any other show and it wouldn't change.

As for the seasons, I would rank them 4,2,1,3,5

Archive

The Wire...rank the seasons