*contains spoilers*

So, I've come to the end... :(

It would be great to report that the series goes out with a bang, but to me the 5th season is easily the weakest of the bunch. Relatively speaking of course, it's still great tv drama...

To me, the 'hoax' aspect, both the McNulty/Freamon and the Templeton one, was far fetched and a bit silly - more comedy than great storytelling. The 'suspension of disbelief' if you will, disappeared, and I was sat thinking about writing and direction skills instead of getting immersed in the story. Probably could've happened IRL, but highly improbable.

There's a lot to be said about both political and media priorities, but with the twist they've chosen I don't take the issue seriously...


It also suffers from having 10 instead of 13 episodes - the story seems hurried, it cuts corners and new characters doesn't have the time to get as rounded as you're used to with this show.
Marlo was never a very strong character IMO, and when Prop Joe gets capped (and eventually Omar), there are hardly anyone left to care about on the street.

The newsroom, which I have some real life knowledge about, is put in a pretty realistic light - but the senior editors become charicatures. And you don't really feel for any of them (except Haynes at a stretch). And haven't they heard of the internet in Baltimore?

I liked some touches though - like the one where Bubbles become rehabilitated as Dukie starts shooting smack. The two 'lambs' of the story switching destinies. People change - the world doesn't. Very Wire-esque.

The review is based on initial reactions and not 100% thought through - but for the first time I was left rather cold and didn't get the irresistible urge to pop another disc in as soon as the last one finished.

My ranking of the seasons:

1. Season 3
2. Season 4
3. Season 1
4. Season 2
5. Season 5

totally agree with you Kapitan. It was a bit weak, IMO. Also, I didn't really care much about the journalists and found that whole side of things unengaging.

For me, it needed more scenes in the ghetto itself, not all the peripheral issues. (I know I'm probably missing the point, but..)

After the harrowing end to season 4, I was disappointed to see so little about the 4 kids.
They're all in it and there's a fair bit of Dukie and Michael, but after the fantastic job they did with those characters in season 4, I felt a bit let down.

However, I know Simon probably doesn't always want to tie all loose ends, and in a way it's powerful to just let their destinies hang in the air...

I watched this season on tv, and waiting excitedly for the new episode each week was a different experience to the gluttonous consumption of a season on dvd. I didn't think this one was significantly worse then any of the others, and I wouldn't be that definite about rating them until I rewatch them. I really liked the newspaper stuff though - how the news was reported seemed particularly important in the light of everything from previous series, where it would have seemed less of a big deal if it was covered early on. I also enjoyed the McNulty hoax storyline - though it's true that it was a bit further out than some other aspects of the plot, it was surely no more so than the Hamsterdam thing. I thought the individual character arcs ended pretty well - particularly Carcetti's transformation from idealist to being forced to make the same compromises as his predecessors. Also Snoop's murder was handled very well - she wasn't a sympathetic character but her quick acceptance of her fate spoke volumes about the nature "the game".

Was at a live interview with David Simon a couple of weeks ago which also featured a showing of the episode Unconfirmed Reports. Clay Davis' appearance got a round of applause :lol:

I liked Season 5 well enough but the peak for me was season 4. I just loved the intense street level aspect of it. Also the way one of the young'uns thought there were zombies or ghosts (can't remember which, Randy?) up in the boarded up houses which gave a gothic horror feel to the season. The creators stuck with that wonderful Dickensian feel continuing on from season 3. Also season 4 had the best opening of a tv show ever - Snoop buying the nail gun. 4 just had a visceral edge a little ahead of the others. There were truly terrifying and heartbreaking (Bubs) bits throughout.

Ranking
1) Season 4
2) Season 3
3) Season 1
4) Season 5
5) Season 2

It was hard for me to put 2 last as I did like the docks.

Mine:

3
4
1
5




2

4
3
1
2
5

**SPOILERS**



How does the team feel about the death of Omar? A fortnight after I saw it and I'm still conflicted about. One the one hand it was very Wire to have him die like that. On the other, it meant that a lot of what preceded it ended up as shaggy dog story, and wasted plot is very un-Wire. It certainly affected how I felt about Season 5, and not in a good way.

the problem for me was I knew it was going to happen, this was the plot development that somebody gave away with no warning before I'd even started watching season 5. It also happens later on in the series than I thought and, like you say, was a bit of an anti-climax in a sense.

So I'm not sure if my enjoyment of this series was tainted by already knowing what happens to Omar, a favourite character whose appearances in the previous series' were usually the most tense and exciting plotlines.

It was definitely anti climatic, as it was building up to this big showdown...

Then again, I was always slightly annoyed by the way he was able to strut around, robbing and scaring off huge gangs of men (everyone carrying guns).

"Yo! Omar coming!" - cue 40 hardened drug dealers armed to the teeth, scampering into hiding instead of one of them just planting a bullet in his head... :P

I think I did well to avoid any spoilers. Someone I know accidentally found out about the death of Stringer Bell. Ouch. Plus I know of someone who'd heard about 'Jimmy's eulogy' so spent the whole of series five assuming he was going to be killed.

Spoiler

I thought Omar's death was a real shock. And he was dispatched so peremptorily. Butr it made sense in terms of the life he had chosen. No big shoot-out, just bang and that's it: stuffed in a body bag.

Depressing about all the kids and their future at the end of Season 5.

I found this mildly amusing... :lol:

hey bubbles.

the wire rocks, but i do agree the fifth season is the weakest.

one of the characters i loved most is snoop. absolutely "funny" ... in a way.

... now listening to "the entertainment" by max tundra

Nah, season two was the weakest. -_-

Adored seasons 1,2,3 and to a very slightly lesser extent 4 (felt some of the teaching stuff was a little bit pat). 5 nowhere near as good. 'The bigger the lie' may well be the plot tag, but really struggling with the serial killer story.

Also the wonderful slow pace of the first three series has had to be sacrificed with having to cover so much so instead of getting whole scenes in one go, you keep leaving and returning to them. I understand that they had to do this to cover all the material (it was a little like this in 4 as well) but I think it detracts from the slow intensity of the first three series.

I also think that the less of a conventional detective plot the writers have, the more there is a tendency to preach - one of the great things for me about the first three series was the complete the sense of objective complexity - no sense of the writers' thumbs being on the scales.

The rise and fall of Stringer Bell had a remarkable, almost Shakespearian feel to it, and gave the first three series which, more or less having dumped the children of series four, the final two lack.

Still better than most things on tv, of course, but the first four were better than EVERYTHING on tv, cinema and most other things as well.

:rant: :rant: SPOILER ALERT :rant: :rant:

I've been thinking about this final season again over the past couple of days (my flatmate is zipping throught the boxsets as I type...) and the more I think about it, the more I think that the whole thing with McNulty and the homeless guy he "abducts" and all that kinda ruins the tone of the whole thing.

I watched all the shows on boxset, but spread out over a few months - so at the time I didnt think it was THAT strange, although I did kind of think, "Hmmm". If you watch them all fairly quickly I imagine that whole thing I've mentioned with McNulty seems totally out of character for him and sticks out like a sore thumb.

What makes The Wire so brilliant is the fact that it is so understated, and all that stuff at the end is kind of verging on, I don't know, CSI territory or something.

Not that I've ever seen CSI but you get my point...

The actual murdering homeless subplot with the lying journalist and all that is pretty cool - it's just that one "McNulty abducts a homeless" aspect I think they should have found another way round.

Glad I've got that off my chest.

I always thought Omar's 'immunity' to execution was part of the mythology. He appeared almost superhuman at times. Even Marlo says something like "That's some Spiderman shit" when Omar survives that leap from the block of flats. Simon could easily have made it a lower floor - it was deliberate. Even the way Omar leaps from the bulding had a superhuman quality to it. Simon speaks about The Wire having parallels to Greek mythology and tragedy. I think Omar is one indication of this.

All the pieces matter.

*****Contains spoilers******

I agree with pretty much all of this.

I've thought about this quite a bit and I think it's a bit misleading for me to rank each episode, because some (like 3 and 4) are equally brilliant, and of those that aren't quite up to the same standard, as others have already said, they're still of an exceptionally high standard that I don't really fell.... oh, fuck it:

1. 4
2. 3
3. 1
4. 2
5. 5

:D

I didn't have any problems at all with season 2 and thought it was as good as the first one. A better ranking would be:

1. seasons 3 and 4.
2. seasons 1 and 2.
3. season 5.

Having said all that, I thought the central theme of the final season was an interesting and important one. I just kind of expected more, given the heights of the previous 4 seasons, but especially because David Simon was a journalist and worked at the Baltimore Sun for like 12 years, I think -- I just thought this season would be the most brilliant.
I also agree about the relative silliness of the serial killer plot. I think the high-concept plot is at odds with the naturalism of The Wire and they seem to cancel each other out in a way. Mind you, the Hamsterdam plot was pretty far out and yet that worked.
I dunno, maybe Simon wanted to go out this way rather than some big climactic end.

Also, why only 10 episodes??? Does anyone know? It did feel rushed.
Omar. :cry2:

One thing that surprised me throughout the seasons was the way your feelings for certain characters changes. People you loved you end up disliking and vice versa.
I didn't think much of Prop Joe to begin with, but the end of his story really affected me. :cry2:

Anyway, what a truly brilliant piece of work the whole thing was. :applaud:

PS - I voted for Omar in that favourite character poll a while back, but I think Lester Freamon was my fave. :thumbsup:
And Clay Davis, "Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiit!!!!"

My only friend left from high school was a reporter for 10 years for the Baltimore Evening Sun and he doesn't have a problem with the newsroom scenes although, of course, he has insider quibbles which perhpas should not have happened if the main writer[is this correct?] work for The Sun.
I was happy to see the paintings of the 20th century mayors and the scene at the Fraternal Order of Police building because that's the organization I spent most of my career in as a member and officer. My uncle-by-marriage was a driver for the mayor of Baltimore, coincidentally.

Yes, he definitely worked for The Sun. I just saw a short interview with him. This from wiki:

"Upon leaving college he worked as a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun from 1983 to 1995. He spent most of his career covering the crime beat. A colleague has said that Simon loved journalism and felt it was "God's work". Simon says that he was initially altruistic and was inspired to enter journalism by the Washington Post's coverage of Watergate but became increasingly pragmatic as he gained experience. Later in his career he aimed to tell the best possible story without "cheating it".

Simon was a union captain when the writing staff went on strike in 1987 over benefit cuts. He remained angry after the strike ended and began to feel uncomfortable in the writing room. He searched for a reason to justify a leave of absence and settled on the idea of writing a novel. "I got out of journalism because some sons of bitches bought my newspaper and it stopped being fun," says Simon.

In an interview in Reason in 2004, Simon said that since leaving the newspaper business he has become more cynical about the power of journalism. "One of the sad things about contemporary journalism is that it actually matters very little. The world now is almost inured to the power of journalism. The best journalism would manage to outrage people. And people are less and less inclined to outrage," said Simon. "I've become increasingly cynical about the ability of daily journalism to effect any kind of meaningful change. I was pretty dubious about it when I was a journalist, but now I think it's remarkably ineffectual.""

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Simon

agree with Kapitn, entirely.
Still better TV than just about anything else.

The Sun, and Evening Sun were both Republican papers. The Hearst paper, the News, then News-American was the Democratic paper.
Wiki is correct about the strike and how management refused to bargain in good faith....that's when my friend quit and went to law school.
Thanks for the corroboration...both papers shared the support staff but the news gathering was independent. The Sun generated more income altho it always turned a profit

True that.

The only thing I like more is Twin Peaks. I know it has more flaws/ peaks and troughs than The Wire, but I'm a sucker for it.