Just finished watching the entire series a couple of months ago. Hands-down, one of the best shows I've seen. I hardly ever stick with shows for their entire course, but I couldn't stop watching The Wire. I think I watched the entire 4th Season in one Saturday lol that was ridiculous.
***my bad if this has already been posted*** Despite the fact that Bill Simmons is a ginormous douchebag, he wrote an article dedicated to The Wire at the beginning of this year's NBA Playoffs. Here's an excerpt: If you're interested in the rest of the article, then go here: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/part1/110503&sportCat=nba
Not to go too far off topic but what's everybody's beef with Simmons aside from all his homerism towards all these things Boston? I don't take him seriously but a lot of his columns make me laugh
I think he's funny and witty, but he's an annoying imbecile when he tries to realistically discuss and/or analyze sports. One of the funniest articles I've ever read was written by him a few years ago. It dissects (and rips) the Karate Kid trilogy. Here's the link: http://espn.go.com/page2/movies/s/simmons/020830.html Anyway, back on-topic with The Wire. I have a question. One of my favorite elements of the show was its poetic nature; that is, a lot of the dialogue was subtle and layered, not spoonfed to the audience, made you think. At the same time, some of the dialogue was simply funny and/or arbitrary and the line between these two elements was sometimes blurred. There's a scene (forget which season, one of the earlier ones) where Herc is on a rooftop for surveillance, and he's tossing pebbles, and he asks, "How do you suppose all these pebbles get up here?" or something similar to that. If anyone remembers this scene, then I'd like to know what you make of that line.
For the record, big Simmons fan. I actually haven't given that line a moment of thought. I know what you mean with the subtle and layered dialogue, but that was a line that went right over my head. So now I'm curious what you made of it.
I'm not quite sure, mainly because of the character (Herc) delivering the line. If it's just an arbitrary, comedic moment, then it's fitting because Herc WOULD say something like that and have that random thought. Still, I can't help but wonder if it 'meant' something more; for example, it's just a cycle that occurs, probably always will, and won't ever change (paralleling crime/drugs/politics/corruption) which is one of the show's dominant themes. Either way, the fact that I even contemplate this line is what makes the show so awesome to me.
I finally caught up to this show and saw it all in 1 week. Unbelievable show, just incredible. Being that this series is very fresh to me, I thought I'd share my top 10 favorite characters in The Wire. My favorite characters from The Wire 10) Wallace "Why it gotta be like this?" 9) Frank Sobotka "Why the fuck didn't you tell me what was in that motherfucking can?" 8) D'angelo Barksdale "Let the boy be." 7) Bubbles "Ain't no shame in holdin' on to grief, as long as you make room for other things too." 6) Stringer " That's like a forty degree day. Ain't nobody got nuttin to say about a forty degree day. Fifty? Bring a smile to your face. Sixty? Shit, niggas are damn near barbecuing that mothafucka. Go down to twenty? Niggas get they bitch on. Get they blood complainin... but forty? Nobody give a FUCK about forty. Nobody remember forty, and ya'll niggas is giving me way too many forty degree days. What the fuck?!"
5) Senator Clay Davis "My brother, let's be fair. I'm providing you with the opportunity to go head to head with the state's attorney in a case that's going to be front page news. For all that profile? Sheeee-it, partner, you should be paying me a fee. Seriously, dog, for twenty thousand cash to my campaign committee, I'll get myself indicted federal, let you go to trial on that. Beat the feds like a stepchild and really make a name for yourself. Fuck you? Naw, son, I'm going to make you. Motherfuckers going to be wiping their ass with Johnnie Cochran's memory and carrying your business card in every damn pocket before we done. " 4) Bunk "You moldering motherfucker don't even think about coming back a murder. Don't even think of that shit." 3) Lester Freamon "Same fuck-ups in the same shit detail, workin’ out of the same shithouse kind of office. You people lack for personal growth, you know that?" 2) Omar "Ayo, lesson here, Bey. You come at the king, you best not miss." 1) Roland "Prezbo" Pryzbylewski "Trick them into thinking they aren't learning, and they do."
Stringer Bell: [regrettably] Doesn't seem like I could do anything to change y'all minds. [long silence] Stringer Bell: Well, get on with it, motherfu...
If I had to make a top ten list it look like this: 10. Cutty 9. Chris Partlow 8. McNulty (McNutty) 7. Prez 6. Lester Freeman 5. Marlo 4. Stringer Bell 3. Bunk 2. Michael 1. Omar Little