The Wire, Season 5 -- Read Between the Lines

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

You apparently missed the episode where Omar gets sent to jail, takes a stabbing attempt in the Yello Pages he has wrapped around his torso and shanks his would-be-assasin up the ass.

Let's see Chris pull that shit off before we make him king swingin' dick...

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

I'm currently in the process of rewatching Season 1. It still breaks my heart every time I see Wallace get shot. :'(

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

What death was the toughest to take for people? Wallace? D'Angelo? Frank Sobotka (sp?)? Bodie? Stringer?

I'm probably leaving someone out, but that's the list off the top of my head. Wallace was probably the most jolting death scene I've ever seen on television. A 14-ish year old kid getting killed by his two 16-ish year old friends? Man, that's some tough stuff. D and Bodie are up there too because you really got to know them better than Wallace. It was tough to see D because his heart was never really in the game and he seemed to be making real progress with the Gatsby scene. Bodie was just a soldier and one of my favorite characters ever... no one can spit out of the side of their mouth better. Frank didn't resonate as much with me because I wasn't as invested in his story as the other ones. And I can't have a true reaction to Stringer because I started watching the show late and was catching up on it and found out before getting to that show that he died at some point. Probably would have been much more powerful having no idea it was coming, especially after the scene on the balcony with Avon.

I guess I'm going with Wallace slightly over D and Bodie. How about you?

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

I haven't seen season 4 yet, so can't comment on Bodie. Of seasons 1-3, Wallace was definitely the hardest to watch; he was the most innocent. Sobotka was pretty tough, but unlike the others, you didn't actually see him die. And the best funeral was decidedly Ray Cole.
What's interesting is that all these guys (except for Cole, of course, and maybe Bodie, I don't know), were killed because they got too deep into the game and tried to get out, or play by their own rules, to preserve at least something of their selves. The guys who are all in - Avon, Omar, The Greeks - whose selves are the game, they thrive.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

Wallace's death was disturbing ... such an innocent looking kid ... but I can't say I honestly missed Wallace in the next seasons. I'm definitely going to miss Bodie in the last season.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

Sorry, hopefully that wasn't a spoiler... I'm thinking that since the first four seasons have been over for a little while, we don't need the warnings though. And as for Bodie, the stuff that leads up to it will still make it powerful. I'd say he was one of my favorite characters, but that's not that exclusive seeing as how that list would include roughly 20 characters... I'll say he's top five though.

An addendum to my previous post. I think Bubs would have been the toughest ever, and now that he survived I'm hoping that he's in the clear. My stomach completely dropped when they showed him hanging in the interrogation room. I feel like Omar's time is coming and this is where I'm hoping Simon takes a page out of Chase's book and doesn't do what the audience expects.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

The Wire has far less red herrings than The Sopranos. The only one I can remember off-hand is Chris and Snoop chasing Michael at the beginning of one of last season's episodes and even then it didn't leave you hanging. What makes The Wire better than the Sopranos is it manages to tie up all the loose ends while still raising questions.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

Oh don't get me wrong, I think the writing is better than the Sopranos, and I like the lack of red herrings (I understand that's what some find so brilliant about the Sopranos, so not a criticism, to each his own). I was just saying that I'm hoping Simon doesn't kill off Omar. I think people are feeling like his time may be up, and I wouldn't mind if Simon pulled a Chase and went against what people were expecting and didn't kill him off.

I don't think the public will have any effect on what Simon does. He's all about telling his story, not trying to outsmart anyone.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

No problem. I followed the discussion of Season 4 here and elsewhere, so I know the basics, including Bodie's fate. I just don't have HBO, so I'm awaiting the DVDs.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

OK cool. Again Bodie's story is great in this season, and the actor turns in a phenomenal performance down to his last moments. It'll be for you the way Stringer was for me. I knew it was coming but it was still powerful stuff and amazingly well done.

 

Re: All-purpose, never-ending "Wire" thread

I've gotta say nothing affected me like Bodie's death. Wallace was gut-wrenching, but I thought it was pretty clearly telegraphed...plus, as others have said, you didn't have nearly as much time to get to know him.

For whatever reason, Bodie's line about "the Barksdale crew...the few that's left," really spoke to me. I knew exactly what he meant, because I'd watched Bodie get his start in the Barksdale organization, and I'd watched most of the guys he started with disappear to prison or the cemetery. His death -- and the way he refused to take it lying down -- was very, very hard for me to watch. I'll miss Bodie a lot more than I've missed Wallace, or even Stringer.