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Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

DarkCrawler posted:

Besides, the top level drug guys also get privileges. They just aren't holding the corners. Stringer Bell handles the financal/distribution side in current season. Monk in later seasons seemed to be Marlo's no. 2 and he wasn't a soldier.

That's an interesting take on Monk. I'd always figured Chris to be his number 2, but since Marlo was dropping bodies so frequently and had to consult his war chief more often, you didn't really get a feel for the commerce side of things to the extent you did with the the Barksdale pit crew.

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Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
I'll keep an eye out next time, been some years since I'd seen that season. I wonder if they intentionally kept those scenes short because they had already been addressed with the previous Barksdales storylines or out of some sort of plot expediency, trying not to clutter up an already complicated show.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Mr Lance Murdock posted:

Whats also great about my rewatch this time is that I am getting to show my wife some of these episodes for the first time.
She had watched some here and there with me, but nothing really from the start to the end.

She had the best reaction to McNulty in this episode. When he steals his neighbors paper.

Her: Did he just steal a paper?
Me: Ya
Her: But he is a cop...
Me: Ya
Her: Wow, he is an rear end in a top hat.
Me: Ya, you pretty much summed it up.

Wow, I forgot he stole the paper that episode. That makes his newspaper theft throughout the series very intentional and very funny.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

escape artist posted:

I don't remember much about him, but one thing I remember is he did this thing where he would theoretically bet on on horse races, and always did it, but would never wager any money.

He did not play, so he could not lose.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
Play in the dirt you get dirty.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
I'm expecting an Onion article for some reason. The reason is probably wishful thinking.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

cletepurcel posted:

Something I noticed rewatching that episode that I'd never noticed before: before giving Mahone the cigarette, even Polk joins in on the beating of Bodie for a bit. He does it kind of half heatedly but even a worthless, burnt out cop still can have a cop moment :allears:

Are you sure man?

http://youtu.be/gTo9SsblY0I

I'm watching it and Bodie belts him at :48 and I'm fairly certain he doesn't.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

SpookyLizard posted:

I always loved how Bodie figuring out what entrapment was got him out of Hamsterdam easily and endeared him to McNulty for all time.

I thought it was because Bodie was more useful to McNutty on the street?

e: then again, been a hot minute since I've seen season 3 too so take that with a grain assault.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

ShaneMacGowansTeeth posted:

I've just reached that point as well, and it's probably only the second time where McNulty realises that his loving crusade to be the smartest guy in the shop is actually having consequences (the other being when Kima got shot). Jimmy's progression over season three is wonderful though as he becomes a bigger arsehole as time goes on. Daniels rips him, Lester tears him a new one twice, and the coup de grace comes when he talks to Breanna about D'Angelo not being a suicide. Here's a grieving mother and he basically flat out tells her "yeah, you made him take the years, and if he had flipped he would be alive, this is all your fault and you don't care at all". It's just such a crowning moment of arseholeishness (though what's worse is that McNulty's speech is more than likely true) that then after that point, Jimmy gets taken down peg after peg until he's sitting in the homicide department, hears Jay ripping Prez and walks out a broken man. He's officially done. Oh and one more thing - when he finds out about Hamsterdam, he has this little exchange with Bunny: "do the bosses know?" "gently caress the bosses!" I wonder where he learnt his insubordinate tendencies, and of course THAT harks back to Daniel's speech to Carver at the end of season one about "piece of poo poo lieutenants turning out piece of poo poo sargeants"

McNulty was completely on the mark with his behavior to Brianna. She's no De'Londa Brice or Wallace's mother, but she's not far from the mark. She shaped the destiny of D'angelo more so than even Avon and drove him to his ruin. She's not a good person dude. The kindest thing you can say in her defense is she was shaped by forces and institutions beyond her control but that doesn't exonerate her for the way she behaves.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
It's always possible that different venues have equally different layouts.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

escape artist posted:


What you look for to determine what is what, is the effects. Wallace-- after he snorted the powder, smiled and sort of nodded out, and then slumped over on his bed. He would do the exact opposite if it was heroin.

Nodding off is something that happens with opiates and opioids though.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
To be fair though given the nature of his condition I'd recommend pretty much anything other than cocaine lol.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

DarkCrawler posted:

The Wire's Greatest Fashion Moments :haw:
http://four-pins.com/style/the-wires-greatest-fashion-moments/

Never realized how much Bodie wore that rag.

Whoa, they call season five a 10 episode poo poo factory. drat, wasn't that bad jesus.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

DarkCrawler posted:

Also, I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this or if it is just me, but West Side seems to hate the East Side way more then East Side hates the West Side...

Lingering allusion of the cold war, obviously.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

escape artist posted:

I meant for this thread. I am interested too, it's always fun to see it through the eyes of a new viewer, but this is the re-watch thread. He should post in the other thread.

Plus that other thread needs a bump anyway. Lot of good discussion in there and a crying shame if it fell into archives.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

Marlo is a deeply insecure person, he orders the guard killed for "talking back", but really it's down to him once again feeling undervalued/unacknowledged by the fact that the guard didn't fear him enough to keep his mouth shut, even though he was completely cowed and impotent in the wake of Marlo's power. His initial revenge against Omar is smarter (but more horrifying) than anything Avon or Stringer ever came up with, but Omar gets the ultimate revenge by damaging the one thing that Marlo truly cares about - his name/reputation. Chris and Snoop keeping Omar's insults from Marlo shows that even they don't truly understand Marlo, even though they were correct in keeping him from falling into Omar's trap and going out to face him in the street. Omar basically set up a no-win situation for Marlo, and victory is ultimately his.

What was the initial revenge against Omar again anyway? I can't recall and I'm not that far along yet.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
So I finally tried Utz crab chips. They're really good chips. Not just the flavor either. Like the actual chip has a great crunch and a good texture.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
A Humble motherfucker with a big rear end dick.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

hiddenmovement posted:

Sydnor knows, and I've no doubt in five years time he's off pulling similar crap (he learned from the best!)

In 2015, Sydnor lets a homeless guy out of his car and stares off wistful into the distance.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

cheese and crackers posted:

I was also interested in seeing a closer look at the transformation of the drug game vis a vis cellphones and the decline of open air markets. I feel like it is important both because it lessens the visibility of the drug trade to citizens and the violence over territory between drug crews. That said, I still think they did a great job and I mostly just miss the Wire and would watch anything even tangentially related to the show.

This is a super good point. I've never bought illegal drugs without using a cell phone and have a hard time even imagining how that poo poo actually worked back in the slow old days.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

chesh posted:

The commentary on s2e6 is brilliant. It's just Dominic West and and Michael K Williams shooting the poo poo, talking about getting drunk with Idris and how they felt totally intimidated by Seth Gilliam and how Wendell Pierce showed them how to do California and New Orleans. They are just laughing and having a terrific time. They have a conversation about the Baltimore accent that I recognize from my step-mom and it makes me want to write a series based in Pittsburgh because the Pitt accent and dialect is insane.

Also, how did I not know the actor who plays Nick is Liev Schreiber's brother????

When True Blood first started, I had a hard time identifying Sheriff Andy as anything other than "Frank Sobotka." Eventually Chris Bauer just became Sheriff Andy to me, but I'm amazed, on this rewatch, how easily he's simply Frank Sobotka in my head. Dominic says Chris Bauer is wearing a fat suit the entire time, and I don't know if he is serious or not!

I did notice in this episode, though, that when D'Angelo is killed, he's strangled with the killers belt, but he's still wearing his own belt. The killer never takes it off him. So how did they assume he hung himself with someone else's belt?

It's pretty rude tbh. Borrow somebody else's belt to hang yourself. You know they're not getting it back, being evidence and all.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
drat Jerusalem. Was really hoping you'd include my personal wire eureka movement with Nick's father. He doesn't play, therefore he doesn't lose!

e: Only reason I'm bummed is because I mentioned it waaaay back in I think the earlier thread and you personally commented on it. Doesn't really matter to be honest, I'm never mad talking the wire.

Frostwerks fucked around with this message at 09:22 on Apr 22, 2013

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Bioshuffle posted:

Just wanted to stop by and say thanks for the great write ups! I had given up on the show after skimming through the first three seasons, but I decided to go back and finish the series after reading the write ups. After finishing seasons 4 and 5, I decided to rewatch the whole thing. Spoilers ahead, so please don't read if you haven't seen the series all the way through. I love how big the scope of the show is. I could tell you the basic plot and most of the major events that happen, but all the behind the scenes back stabbing and scheming takes me a second to process (assuming I didn't miss it in the first place). Now, I'm tempted to watch the series all the way through for the 3rd time just for the hell of it.

I really wish Marlo would have met his end, but that makes me love the show even more.

Marlo not getting his is kinda like Chigurh not getting his at the end of NCfOM. Sometimes the bad guys don't get their proper comeuppance. It drives people loving bananas.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

Because Omar's was always out there facing down everything that came his way, his legend grew to the point that when he DID die nobody was willing to believe or accept that it was in any way mundane. People tried to take credit for it, conflicting stories arose and so by the end of the final episode you have two dudes on the corner enthusiastically talking about Omar going toe to toe with a half dozen highly paid and well-armed New York assassins.

This as well is paralleled to that part in season 2 I believe when Cheese's man shoots the young guy on the corner down. They were talking about some badass gangster that had forced the police to hole up in station who were begging him to let them be. Name of Bumpy, I recall?

Of course this probably never happened, but rumor and reality are often inseparable for some folks. In the end, myth endures.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

cletepurcel posted:

When Kima first investigates Marlo (not sure whether his war with Avon had started yet) she looks him up and finds that, unlike Avon, he has a record. She goes to Homicide where Holley tells her that he suspects Marlo killed a witness that was going to testify against him - despite them actually taking effort to protect the witness (had a tracking bracelet on, etc). Holley calls him the "spawn of the devil".

Went to westside to cop some dro he could have gotten on the east, IIRC.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
Go-go is apparently reaaaal popular in the DC area. I think it may be more popular there than hip hop though that's something I heard on another board a long time ago.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
Considering Ziggy couldn't fit into a pringles can I'm not surprise he was always left out.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

SpookyLizard posted:

Isnt Kids that movie about a bunch of kids getting HIV/AIDS? And hes the dick who gets it and keeps on loving?

Well he got the bug man.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

the black husserl posted:

One of the biggest mistakes in the Wire is that we never see anything more of Ziggy. HIs story wasn't completely over, and I think the perspective of someone incarcerated for life (who wasn't a career solider like Bey) would have been interesting.

Would Zig even get a life sentence? It seriously seems one of those second degree, psychotic rage-kill type of deals.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

Displaying the cold steel that belies his pleasant old man exterior, The Greek tells him that lambs go to the slaughter, a man knows when to walk away.

This is alluded to come season 4 with the Snoop/Chris vacant murders.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

There's a great moment in season 3 involving Bubbles (I think) being in Hamsterdam at night. He's just standing there staring around at everything going on around him, and the way it is lit/his facial expression/reactions etc leap out as showing the place for the hellish nightmare it actually is. At the end of the season Bubbles makes a nice comment to Colvin about how nice it was to be able to come down and cop drugs without the police getting in your face, but I always think of that image of him staring in horror at everything around him.

This right there. I'm almost positive that was supposed to be an intentional hellscape. It's dark as can be in a show full of harrowing settings.

e:ffff. Oh well, at least he's got links. I hope whoever writes that ep keeps that in mind.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

SpookyLizard posted:

In Wire cameo news, the guy who played Jay Landsman, Delaney Williams, just popped up in a recent episode of Veep. IMDB has bad cast listings atm, but goddamnit I heard Jay Landsman.

Christie finally made it to the whitehouse huh?

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

Colvin's,"Maybe I'll legalize drugs," gets a big laugh from everybody else, but then he goes ahead and does just that.

Hey now, he just elected to ignore them.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
Colvin's speech at thee town hall meeting in the church in episode 4 I believe is amaaaazing.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
I don't care who does it as long as somebody uploads that awesome colvin speech to youtube. It's one of my favorite moments in the entire series. It's the one where Carcetti meets Loretta Daniels and welcomes her into public service and asks who gave Colvin the gas can and told him to put out the fire.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Ainsley McTree posted:

I wonder about the Kintel Williamson thing. We just had a discussion yesterday about how in Season 5, the newspaper brushes off the stories about Prop Joe and Omar, because they don't really rate on their radar, but to us, the viewers, as well as the characters we've been following, those stories are obviously of great importance. I wonder if by the same token, there are equally (esoterically) important stories in the Kintel Williamson case that we just don't get to see because the camera never follows it.

I think Daniels even says something like, Stringer's quiet, but Williamson's racking up bodies, and this unit is about the violence; I wonder if by pulling the case off of him there's some other reign of violence that happens off camera.

Was Kintel Williamson the guy that Mcnulty calls a mook? Because I've thought the same a whole bunch about this show, even for characters that are never mentioned. Like, what other crazy crap is going down in Baltimore at this very moment? My answer? Pretty much the same, just on a smaller scale.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
Bunny's speech at the church is one of my favorite things in the Wire but oddly enough it's not on youtube. Anyone capable of fixing that?

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

Jerusalem posted:

There is something utterly terrifying about how Chris and Snoop so calmly "force" a person to walk to what they know is their death, making their victims seem almost apologetic about the trouble they are causing them. To reach that point where you are so convinced of your death that you'd grasp onto every single second even if you knew it was just making things easier for your murderer, just so you could still be alive even a little longer.... goddamn, I can't even imagine it.

I mentioned it a while back but they are figurative lambs going to their slaughter. If Old Face Andre had made a jump at Chris or Snoop he would have doubtless been killed but I doubt they would have moved the body into a vacant, if only for thematic consistency. I mean he would still get eaten by the rats. And the body would have been exposed to the elements. And nobody would have really cared about a dead gangster. But at least he wouldn't disappear.

Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax
If you love it so much, why don't you marry it?

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Frostwerks
Sep 24, 2007

by Lowtax

DarkCrawler posted:

True, but his planning is a pretty military-like ability too. Granted, strategists rarely do the shooting themselves though, so you're right, but I'd say he's more competent with guns then the average example in the show.

That's more in the tactics area of play and tacticians even when they don't do the shooting themselves do draw on their previous experiences. Who was the operational master of West Baltimore you figure?

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