This weekend I had the opportunity to finish up the 5th and final season of HBO’s The Wire. A phenomenal show. One of the best that I’ve seen in a long time. When I first started watching it a few months ago there was no way I could know how good the program would be, and it lived up to all the hype that people had heaped upon it.
Prior to viewing this series I had no idea of how gritty Baltimore was. I’ve been to D.C. and I knew it could be really run down, and I’ve lived in New York, but seeing all those boarded up buildings really struck me. Then I went to Google StreetView and confirmed the genuineness of the portrayal and was even more impressed.
I blazed through five seasons in under three months, so I imagine that the experience I take away is a little different from the original weekly installments delayed by a months of shooting. On that note, the 5th season seemed a little rushed and not as polished as the previous four. Maybe they knew it was winding down, or maybe I knew it was winding down and had different expectations. Something was a little off, but the seasons was still good and it doesn’t detract from the series as a whole at all.
I saw Stringer Bell getting it early on. To be honest, I think that Idris Elba is a great actor, but that character kind of sucked. I didn’t like him nearly as much as the antagonist that is Michael K. Williams’ Omar Little. I really liked how Wood Harris brought an understated venom to Avon Barksdale. In season 5 when he surprises Marlo at the jail I was really impressed. Good writing and good acting.
Speaking of Marlo … his ending was interesting. Here he has everything that Stringer wanted, but he’s just a thug at heart. As Prop Joe said: “Civilizin’ this boy is gonna take work.” Jamie Hector is a scary-good actor. His quiet demeanor throughout the series really underscored Marlo’s viciousness. He was a really interesting counterpoint to the more brash and flamboyant Avon.
I could go on, but there’s no point. Bottom line: The Wire was a great series. Good acting and excellent writing. David Simon, if you ever read this, Id love to work for you. On that note, if any writers or producers from HBO read this, I’d love to work for you. Your consistently outstanding programming makes T.V. worth watching (Deadwood, Rome?) Keep up the good work.
And if you haven’t put The Wire on your Netflix queue, what are you waiting for?
Wes @ June 30, 2009
So Michael Jackson, the self-styled “King of Pop,” is dead. I’ve been a fan of MJ’s music for a long time, but I could care less that he is now dead. Let’s be honest, the guy hasn’t produced anything of value in over a decade. Not to mention all the crap from his personal life (i.e., the child molestation charges and his not-so-normal relationship with his own children). Basically, Michael Jackson dying just means that I no longer have to hear a sad story of a pop star gone bust and slowly fading into obscurity.
As the media frenzy got revved up about Michael Jackson’s heart attack, his doctor, and the meds, I couldn’t help but think of Farrah Fawcett. Now, don’t get me wrong. Ms. Fawcett was no outstanding actress, but she did take on a controversial topic in The Burning Bed. I respect that. She also became a tireless advocate on the part of anal cancer, the condition that ultimately took her life. By contrast, Michael Jackson just got shot up with drugs every day and conceivably moved further and further from reality.
So here’s the moral of the story. You can be a B-list actress known for 70s sex appeal that is afflicted with a terrible cancer and if you die on the same day as an accused pedophile and former pop star you get eclipsed. America kind of sucks.
Wes @ June 27, 2009