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The Wire, Season 1, Episode 1 (Patreon)

Published:
2024-09-04 21:39:03
Imported:
2026-06
Tags:

Content

The Target

Comments

Kallie Pampuch

Yessss. I’m so ready to see your reactions to this show. It’s one of the greatest shows of all time, and I know you guys will love it

Laura

OMG this is exciting. You've reacted to some great shows but this is The One.

Phil french

Wow! Amazing show. Can’t wait for this journey

Roland Cooke

How did Mad Men hold up over the seven seasons? (I think I only watched two or three seasons back in the day, but I remember enjoying it. I'm looking for a new long-term show for my wife and I, and want to find something she's going to like, with drama but low on the violence scale).

Kevin L

Woohoo! Like you, I never saw The Wire until long after it aired, but boy I'm glad I did. Deserves every bit of its widespread critical praise -- for superb writing, acting, everything -- and across all categories is likely (and amazingly for a prestige HBO drama) the most egregiously Emmy-snubbed show of all time. Dive in, pay close attention!, and enjoy the ride.

nj

can't wait to get home and watch this!!!

thank u next

Looking forward to watching with yall! Actually haven't seen this before myself but like you, heard great things. 👍

trenton gragg

A few of the actors and actresses on this show that would go on to have bigger careers after the series. Including an Oscar nominee and an Oscar winner in future seasons. When you finish this series the two of you will wonder why this series only received two Emmy nominations.

Roland Cooke

So the (very brief) history of the show is that showrunner David Simon was a crime reporter with The Baltimore Sun, and embedded himself with the city's Homicide Unit for a full year. (The Homicide Unit is always(?) the most elite detective unit). The output of that was his brilliant non-fiction book: Homicide - A Year On The Killing Streets. It's a fantastic read. That lead to the TV series Homicide - Life On The Streets, which varied between mostly bad to actually very good standalone episodes, cf Law & Order SVU. IIRC, Simon started as a consultant or something, but eventually became showrunner. In turn that lead to HBO commissioning The Wire, which has underpinned almost every serious HBO show since. Without The Wire you don't get Rome. Without Rome you don't get Game Of Thrones.

Robert Bauman

Moving right on over here from the Mad Men thread. Funny enough I watched the Wire for the first time after finishing Mad Men as well. Another excellent show with great characters. The structure of the show is very interesting, with each season focusing on a different institution in Baltimore. As a result you get introduced to a wide range of characters in various aspects of life who are interspersed throughout the different seasons. In one season they might be a focal point, in another you might only see them for a few scenes. It's a very unique structure that highlights how interconnected these various institutions are in a major city.

Cole

The greatest and most important show ever made. For me the wire it more than just an entertaining show with incredible writing. It’s a statement and a deep examination of the structures and insinuations that make up our society, and war between those who have and those who have not.

Pam Nail
>>148528846

And zero wins! Andre Royo alone should be as decorated as Allison Janney.

Jonathan

I’ve been so excited for you to get to this. I’ve worked in the Baltimore film community, and knew a ton of people who worked on this show. It has a ton of background from David Simons 2 nonfiction books Homicide following the cops and The Corner where he spent a year in one of Baltimores worst drug neighborhoods. There was a lot of material that could not be used in the books due to clearance so he and retired cop Ed Burns had plenty to draw from to make this fictional story. The realism comes from this is all on location. There isn’t soundstages in Baltimore so they find a vacant area they can secure set up cameras and shoot. The portrait of the bureaucracy is not far off. In Baltimore the police commissioner is a political appointee whose primary job is to make the city leadership look good, so that’s why they’re irritated about a prior year case because that doesn’t help their statistics for this year. Let me know if you guys have any questions or need spoiler free character guides. I’m glad you are going on this journey.

Cole

This show will also feel like you watching a documentary. They didn’t have normal tv writers like other shows. The creator was a former journalist who worked at the baltmore sun and one of the head writers was a cop turned teacher, and a lot of the actors were Baltimore natives and many even lived very similar lives to their characters in the show. The didn’t try to make a show that would get good ratings or be entertaining. They tried to tell a message and they told it better than anyone ever could.

HereBeMeghan

I have seen scenes/moments when I lived with a roommate who was watching the show roughly a decade ago, but never sat down and watched the show entirely from the start. You're giving me a nice excuse to start! (I was aware of Michael B Jordan's role as Wallace though; fun to see you both realize it!)

Kevin L

You guys mentioned a flaw in some crime dramas, which don't show much of the drug world's horrible consequences for everyday people caught in it. Reminds me of Roger Ebert's comments on The Godfather: we see violence among rival gangsters but not the real victims (of racketeering, prostitution, etc), allowing us a very romantic view of men we root for as if they're heroes. Don't worry, there's no risk of sidestepping gritty reality on The Wire!

Youtalkingtome
>>148536737

I hadn't heard that quote from Ebert, but he is absolutely right. I love good gangster movies (and the Godfather is the best), but it does overly-romanticize the self-made man as criminal without showing the casualties in their wake too often.

Youtalkingtome
>>148536647

I looked it up as soon as we were done with the episode, because I was going to feel REALLY dumb if we were wrong.

Youtalkingtome
>>148535093

I love the gritty realism of this episode. It's absolutely exciting that they are covering street crime and the police from so many angles.

Youtalkingtome
>>148534711

Thank you for sharing that and being here with us! We loved the details of the location (the derelict condition of the apartments where D'Angelo now works really stood out, as well as the vacant boarded-up apartments for the opening scene and the crime scene where the decaying body was found). It really adds so much texture to the show.

Youtalkingtome
>>148528511

Yay! We love people rewatching their favorite shows and movies with us, but it so much fun when some of us are all watching something new for the first time.

Skinny_Obelix

Oh yes here we go, I love the nuance in this show.

nj
>>148529643

i second the homicide: a year on the killing streets recommendation. i read it after finishing the wire, probably 14-15 years ago, but it's stayed with me. (i started reading the corner shortly after that but didn't finish it - i would mostly read while commuting and that one was bulky to carry around.) i started watching homicide: life on the streets this summer - i'm a few episodes into season 5. it's definitely not as good as the wire, but i can see some of the same threads running through it, and see elements in both shows that trace back to simon's books.

nj
>>148528223

i asked you guys about watching the wire shortly after you started crazy ex-girlfriend, i think, because seeing the way you really understood what that show was doing and the thoughtful conversations you had about it convinced me you would really appreciate this show and it would give you a lot to talk about. i'm so glad we're finally here!!!

dys

"Clearly this problem is systemic" could be the tagline of this show.

Jonathan

Homicide isn’t as gritty as the wire since it was network tv but it was revolutionary for its time taking the cop show from a procedural to a work place drama. And the acting and roll of guest stars is fantastic. It’s a good counterpoint to the wire because while the wire focuses on the most impoverished areas of Baltimore Homicide deals more with the various middle class neighborhoods and cops that just do their job. The reality of the city is a mixture of the two.

steve borden

Baltimore probably usually hits the 250+ homicides a year. So McNulty jamming the department up on a year old murder, while he probably has more recent murders to work is enough to piss off your boss, but having him go to a meeting with his boss unprepared is one way to get on Rawls shit list and now homicide is down 2 detectives for the foreseeable future if Jimmy gets his way and they actually work the case. Dee is Avon’s nephew, cousin (cuz) isn’t necessarily blood related the way they use it, basically somebody you grew up with and your parents were probably close with their family. Unc can be used in a similar fashion but to usually the Og’s on the block who take you under their wing and show you how to move and look out for you when your coming up. In some situations it may be an actual blood relative, but can just be the older guy from the block that you grew up watching him do his thing around the way.

JVTrickypants

I absolutely LOVED season 1, but for some reason tried getting through season 2 a couple of times and just couldn't. So I'm glad you're doing this as I'll try again as you guys go along!

MrRuss50

This is #1 on my list of all time greatest tv shows. West Wing is #2. Game of Thrones and Sopranos on the top 5 list also so this is an amazing lineup you guys are currently putting out. Not sure where I'll find time every week to keep up but sure am excited to see you begin this journey.

Roland Cooke

David Simon took a note from the studio suits and went against his better judgment to appease them by putting in the Gant courtroom flashback at the end. He ended up regretting that, since he knew his audience would be smart enough. It doesn't happen again, no more handholding.

Pam Nail

So excited for you to get to this show! If you haven't already, you should definitely turn on the subtitles. Really helps with absorbing the names and getting through the dense dialogue and accents. That quick black and white flashback of the witness was something David Simon was pressured to add in at the last minute. People were afraid audiences wouldn't remember who the man was. He HATED that kind of handholding and vowed never to do it again.

dys
>>148552280

Every time I rewatch this episode, that flashback at the end seems so out of place because this is a show that has IMMENSE trust in its audience and never again does flashbacks or recaps of any kind.

dys
>>148549781

To be fair if the Barksdale crew are dropping 10 bodies a year, in the long run stopping them would be more than worth having one single prior year case jam up their stats.

dys
>>148543921

Fortunately the police department is the only organization in this show that applies to (he said sarcastically)

Youtalkingtome
>>148552280

I didn't wanna say anything. It's the only thing in the episode that stood out of place for me. I think most people knew after the courtroom scene that ending was inevitable.

Youtalkingtome
>>148552609

It did feel out of place but at least they put a stylistic flourish on it lol. Can't wait to see what this show evolves into

trenton gragg
>>148528846

At the time on television, The Wire was competing against shows like The West Wing, The Sopranos, 24, Six Feet Under and Lost. HBO definitely put more of its awards push behind The sopranos and Six Feet Under.

John Marnell
>>148552126

Season 2 is definitely the hardest to get through just because it's the one that introduces the conceit of "let's introduce a new focal point of life in Baltimore this season" and there's a lot of heavy lifting that goes along with that. When you know that's what you're getting in seasons 3-5 it's easier to go along with it. IMO* season 4 of The Wire is the greatest single season of any TV show ever so it's going to be very, very worth it for you to come on this journey! *By IMO I mean "in the opinion of 90% of people who have seen The Wire" I am not special for having this take lol

Ingemar Svensson
>>148527835

Was the same for me. Completely hooked by the pilot. You called it a procedural but that is mostly associated with "case of the week" shows while it was clear from the get go that this was gonna be a slow burn that was gonna take it's time with the case.

JENNIFER ELIASON

It is a true gift to rewatch my two favorite TV shows of all time (The West Wing and now the Wire) with your commentary!

Mithroch

You sons of a... I'm never going to be able to cancel my Max sub if you keep watching their best shows.

Rozenn Keribin
>>148543921

Joe: "I do want to see how poverty plays into this as well..." Me: "Ah yes, the Dickensian aspect"

Rozenn Keribin

Yay, the Wire ! :D Good time for a rewatch. I think it's interesting and maybe a bit depressing how Kevin comments that it's different from any police show he's ever seen. It definitely was unlike any police show anyone had ever made when it came out and I think it was foundational in its influence on a lot that came after... but I'm not sure what it says about TV that one can still say in 2024 that it's unlike any police show one's ever seen. Maybe part of it is that its influence wasn't so much on police shows per se but more on "crime" shows. I'm also seeing in retrospect it's part of a genre of police story I kind of like but don't think it's that common - other examples off the top of my head include obscure things like Manna Francis' "The Administration" series and the Italian show "Zen" - which one might describe as "police procedural in a world where the police are so corrupt it puts all the usual tropes of police procedurals in question, and the intrigue isn't just about the protagonist solving the crime mystery but also about managing the politics of the system". "The Wire" is a marginal example because the canonical form I have in mind is completely cynical about the protagonist accepting the corrupt system & working within it, and McNulty doesn't do that. But the aspect where half the point of the story is seeing the protagonist try and wring a standard crime mystery plot out of a police system that's not really about solving crimes fits.

Youtalkingtome
>>149315909

I'm sure it's also influenced certain films as well. We're not big tv guys so seeing a show like this is crazy different than say Law and Order.

Daniel Lydford
>>148552280

I thought the flashback worked because it showed us D'Angelo Barksdale's internal conflict, and angst, which sets up some of the character development that is to come.

Daniel Lydford

Michael B. Jordan was about 15 when this series premiered.