Official RedsZone Television Viewing Thread

[MWM]

Man, Burrell and Rawls are the sleaziest characters in The Wire. I really dislike this guys.

[Strikes Out Looking]

Originally Posted by MWM

Man, Burrell and Rawls are the sleaziest characters in The Wire. I really dislike this guys.

The Wire is the greatest show ever.

My son watched it with us -- he was recently doing a public service with his youth group in Baltimore and just happened to be in the neighborhood that housed Prop Joe's shop. He and another kid were Wire fans and were giddy -- the other kids just thought they were nuts.

[foxfire123]

Anyone else watching Full Metal Jousting?

[Redsfaithful]

Downton Abbey is really good. Wife and I just sped through the first season in 2 nights.

[Sweetstop]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Downton Abbey is really good. Wife and I just sped through the first season in 2 nights.

i've mentioned downton abbey here before. my husband and i saw the final episode of season 2 sunday night. needless to say, we're hooked. although, british period pieces generally make him run from the room, he really likes this about as well as i do. season 3 will provide shirley maclaine as the grandmother from america. she and maggie smith will be a hoot together..can't wait.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

Downton Abbey is really good. Wife and I just sped through the first season in 2 nights.

Great show. The second season is even better than the first, IMO. I found a place online I could watch it.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Strikes Out Looking

The Wire is the greatest show ever.

My son watched it with us -- he was recently doing a public service with his youth group in Baltimore and just happened to be in the neighborhood that housed Prop Joe's shop. He and another kid were Wire fans and were giddy -- the other kids just thought they were nuts.

I went on a little The Wire binge last week when I wasn't feeling well and through the weekend. Finished season 2 and 3 and am a few into season 4. Season 2 was pretty good, but not near as good as 1 or 3.

Season 3 was pure genius, just incredible. The whole Hamsterdam story line was fascinating, and a brilliant way to explore the subject of legalization of drugs without coming off as promoting an agenda. I love the Major Colvin character. I also love how there are few sacred cows on the show with both Stringer Bell and D'Angelo being axed and Avon heading off to prison.

I hated to see D'Angelo go as I really loved his character and would have liked to see a continued exploration of how he evolved. I think he's one of the best characters of any show I've seen. I was also fascinated by the evolution of Stringer Bell and how serious he was about becoming a legit business man only to be played by the system and coming to the realization that he's just a gangster. Just great stuff all around. I can't say enough about how amazing season 3 was.

I like how season 4 is starting and am already dreading when I'm done watching. I've never been this engrossed in a TV show before. The silver lining is that I'll stop dreaming all night about being on the streets of Baltimore.

[Redsfaithful]

Season 4 moved me to tears a few times. Can't say that about any other tv show I have ever watched.

[Chip R]

Originally Posted by MWM

I was also fascinated by the evolution of Stringer Bell and how serious he was about becoming a legit business man only to be played by the system and coming to the realization that he's just a gangster.

I thought Avon's description of Stringer was very apt: "Not hard enough to be a (gangster) and maybe, maybe not smart enough for business." No doubt Stringer was a bright guy but he was really never true to himself. Avon may have been a gangster but he knew it and accepted it and didn't pretend to be anything else. But, as you'll see in Season 4, Stringer - as bright as he was - may have not had much of a choice to be a legitimate businessman.

[Caveat Emperor]

The consistent theme of seasons 1-3 is people rising and falling when they step out of their "place" in the grand scheme. Stringer, D'Angelo, the Sobotkas, Jimmy McNulty, Major Colvin, etc. -- all characters who rise and fall because they don't respect their place. Stringer is a hoodlum who wants to be an entrepreneur, D'Angelo is a soldier who wants to be big player, Ziggy and Nick Sobotka are dockworkers who want to be millionaires, Jimmy McNutly thinks he's smarter than everyone he works for and can't respect the chain of command, Major Colvin thinks he can solve the crime problem by legalizing it.

But, during that time, who are the people who are the survivors? They're the people who never try to be more than they are. Bunk Moreland. Omar Little. Lester Freeman. Bubbles. They accept their role in life and they live their role.

I love the Wire. I need to go back and re-watch it sometime. The first 3 seasons are outright television perfection. Seasons 4 and 5 are fantastic in their own way, but 1-3 are magic.

[Redsfaithful]

I agree, but I'd add that the theme I took away is that capitalism will grind you down, and institutions are unchanging and uncaring.

Also, I think D'Angelo wanted out entirely more than he wanted to be a big player.

[Caveat Emperor]

I don't think it's Capitalism -- it's "The System."

On the street slinging, at the police precinct, in city hall, on the docks -- the system always wins.

[MWM]

Originally Posted by Redsfaithful

I agree, but I'd add that the theme I took away is that capitalism will grind you down, and institutions are unchanging and uncaring.

Also, I think D'Angelo wanted out entirely more than he wanted to be a big player.

Agree about D'Angelo. I think he was a guy who had visions of being something out in the "legit" world. The scene where he took his girlfriend (or wife) to the fancy restaurant and he was really focused in on whether or not the people there knew "who he was" was the scene that most defined his character, IMO. He looked around and saw what he could be, but didn't know how to get there. I recall him once talking about how his grandfather was a big player in the street world; his uncle was the kingpin, his mother groomed him for it even. But it wasn't him. He was conflicted. He had aspirations of being a highly successful individual. That was one of his innate characteristics. He just thought that the only way to have it was through the streets. His desire for success wound up winning out over his desire to not be in the world he was stuck in - at least until it was too late to change it.

As for the theme, one that kept coming to mind as I've watched is that our "system", however you define it, is nothing more than a bunch of individual motivations and competing agendas that are always competing against what's right. People in positions of influence are constantly having to find a balance or to choose between what's best for them and what's best for those they represent....or what's right.

Burrell and Rawls are great examples. When choosing between what would help their own careers and what needed to be done to combat the crime problems in Baltimore - the job they're being paid to do - they chose their own interests. When you play that same scenario out across the macro of our government and economic system, you have America. The desires of the few wind up winning out over the interests of the many.

[Redsfaithful]

Originally Posted by Caveat Emperor

I don't think it's Capitalism -- it's "The System."

On the street slinging, at the police precinct, in city hall, on the docks -- the system always wins.

Yeah, "The System" might be a better choice of words, although I'd argue it's the same thing since capitalism is our system in this country. But similar problems as the ones you see on The Wire would probably arise under other systems.

I read a lot of comparisons with The Wire and Charles Dickens, but I always thought Dostoevsky was just as valid.

Not trying to make this a political conversation, but that's tough with this show.

[Ohayou]

This forum needs spoiler tags.