Projects

I recently finished watching the entirety of "The Wire" and I feel like I just have to write a blog post about that. "The Wire" is known for being one of the smartest TV series ever made, and it certainly is the smartest TV series I've ever watched, followed more or less closely by "Mad Men" and "Veronica Mars". (They're smart too, but a different kind of smart.) It is mainly about Baltimore's drug scene, and it could be considered a crime drama, but it is also about the various institutions that are part of a city. We're talking the media, the education system, the government, etc. We also get to realize that it isn't enough to know who the bad guys are: you need solid proof. But first and foremost, it's about every single person trying to fulfill his own particular needs, and the conflicts that can ensue. Since the series is about Baltimore's drug scene, the street lingo is very much present in every episode. At first, I didn't understand a word of what the characters were saying to each other, even with the subtitles, but I got used to it. I loved seasons one, three and four, and I only had a few problems with seasons two and five. Season two drew away from the black gangsters and focused on the people working at the port, and those people are mainly white. Seriously, I didn't care for the white folks, I wanted the black gangstas back. Season five was a bit too much, but it still broke my heart to think that it was the last season of "The Wire" I could ever get my hands on.

I loved many of the characters, and many of them infuriated me. There are a lot of characters, but if one were to point out one particular character on whom the series seemed to focus on, it would be Jimmy McNulty. McNulty is a cop and a rebel, and those two things don't necessarily fit together. I loved him as a rebel. In season four, he calmed down a little, and I loved watching that too. In season five, he went back to being the rebel I loved, but it wrenched my heart to see him drift away from his tranquil state, in which he was so happy. Bunk was always a great character, but I especially loved him in season five. Cedric Daniels is HOT. I liked Lester Freamon in season one, but he got more and more cocky as the seasons went on. I loved Bubbles, of course. Amongst the gangsters, I particularly loved Bodie, and Snoop was pretty scary. I loved the tension between Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. I know that all this talk about the characters doesn't mean anything to you, but see, I was so invested in "The Wire" that I don't care.

I saw one critic's quote in the back of the DVD sets that says it all: "Either you love 'The Wire' or you haven't seen it."