EARLY ACCESS: THE WIRE | TV Reaction | Season 5 - Episodes 9 & 10 | First Time Watching | The Series Finale!
Added 2023-09-26 19:00:04 +0000 UTCWe're dialing up The Wire one last time! The end is here! Here's our reaction to our first time watching, The Series Finale of The Wire with Season 5 - Episodes 9 & 10 ('Late Additions' & '30').
Comments
I heavily disagree with the Mcnulty highway criticism . This is the same man who stood on train tracks facing an oncoming train. He’s shown time and time again to not be concerned with “safety”. He’s reckless by nature. But it’s also the final scene. There’s a lot there. Mcnulty standing on the outside looking in. The highway, or road, is often a metaphor for choices & the journey. Mcnulty stands in the middle of this organized chaos looking at the ecosystem that is Baltimore for the first time as many others have seen it in previous seasons. I agree with some of your criticism. The politics plot line the weakest part of the season for me. Carcetti running for governor after barely 2 years of being the mayor and running on a platform of homelessness just doesn’t make much sense. I do feel like this season is more of a season 4 part 2 in a way. While it’s not the show at its best, it’s still a very good season of television. I’ve never understood the criticism the serial killer plot line. I 100% buy that Lester would take part in this scheme. Yes they got lucky with Marlo’s phone number but “luck” or “the gods” is a constant force in this show. My least favourite thing in the season is the copycat business card guy. I feel like it’s too easy of an out. Lester makes his reasons clear to Sydnor. Lester, like Mcnulty, is intellectually vain. He won’t let Marlo win. Look at the scene where Marlo is arrested, he just has to show Marlo that he knew his code and cracked it. That was everything to him. That he got to stare Marlo in the face so that Marlo knew Lester had him. I’ve seen this criticism about Lester elsewhere. Or even Mcnulty. That these characters “wouldn’t do that” as if Lester or Mcnulty are some altruistic cops on network TV. But they aren’t. The best thing about this season is the Mike, Bubbles, Omar & Gus storylines. When you look at the idea of season 5 on paper it looks “out there”. But the show has laid enough track, given us enough verisimilitude to buy in. It’s a big swing. So was Hamsterdam. But it works for me. I do wish they had more episodes to really give us the epic POV the show is famous for, and at times, like with the copycat killer, things feel too rushed. But this season is a terrific culmination of everything that made this show great. Can’t wait to see what they react to next. Deadwood perhaps?
Stan the Man
2023-09-27 16:19:27 +0000 UTCAlso some interesting tidbits on the show in general: as mentioned the ratings for it were bad when it originally aired and it really struggled. hbo was dominated by Sopranos (biggest on hbo until Game of Thrones, ratings wise) and I believe Six Feet Under and Sex and the City were ratings juggernauts as well. David Simon wanted a spinoff focusing on the political stuff but the ratings of the main show was so poor the studio couldn't really justify it. I know not everyone gives a shit about critics but we pretty much have the critics and w/e niche audiences word of mouth and constant praise heaped onto the show that gave the show the legacy it has and in turn a second life to many new viewers after it came off the air years later. It's reputation is likely the sole reason a lot of people even heard of it. Because a lot of other shows did poorly in ratings but were also well regarded but still didn't get the same legacy and second life.
Veya
2023-09-27 01:26:47 +0000 UTCOne of the greatest shows of all time. Season 3&4 was peak and enough praise was heaped onto them during their uploads so don't need to rehash but 5 was a disappointment overall, even with some great moments in it. It was too much theme over sensible plot mechanics where previous seasons struck a better balance. Even the ending scene illustrates this. Why did Mcnulty stop in the middle of a highway? It was clearly forced just to get that ending skyline shot for a more thematic/artistic ending scene but mechanically it didn't make much sense. Why wouldn't he do it at a safer place like a parking lot or bus stop? Lester going with the serial killer thing even though he should know right from the get go that it would be a case that would be thrown out because everything was obtained off the book and he didn't even really have a strong contingency and pretty much lucked into a halfway salvation of the case near the end of the season. Mcnulty, I can kind of buy his cowboy cop tendencies dialed up to 11 but I think a lot of people may still find it hard to swallow. I'm open to rebuttals for the above two points if anyone can provide any. Street stuff was still pretty good if slightly predictable on Marlo's end with the Prop Joe thing. The Dukie/Michael stuff was good and a logical extension. So was Bubble's. Nice to see Dennis/Randy/Namond/Nick even if they were short appearances. Political stuff was okay but the thematic core of it was pretty much concluded at the end of the 4th season and this was just tracing the fallout of the decisions. Newspaper plotline, again, idk. It feels more black/white and more one dimensional than other institutions explored in the series. We don't get a compelling reason for why Scott does what he does in the same way we see that the streets are terrible and molds the gangsters we see, or that the politics are so cutthroat that anyone that isn't a complete saint was going to be forced into selfish decisions that allows them to even stay in that arena. Overall not to be to down on the show/season. All of this is just season 5 stuff. The show in general is fantastic and incredibly layered and novelistic. I'm hoping a strong hbo show is the follow up.
Veya
2023-09-27 00:59:22 +0000 UTC
