Best season of HBO's The Wire

i thought 2 was one of the worst of the seasons. 4 was my favourite.

This is actually a tough call for me between 2 and 4, with 3 right there behind those two. 1 and 5 were easily enough eliminated.

4 with 2 close behind, sorry 2

I went with Season Four. I think I rank them this way - 4 >>>>2>3>1>>>>>>>5.

The only reason 2 beats 3 is Nicky's girlfriend's boobs.

head says 4, heart says 2

Four is totally going to take this, but I'm tempted to go for three, since that's really the point where the show starts spinning out onto a whole new level. (Also I was rewatching one of them recently and enjoying the realization that the whole investigation winds up hinging on Bernard-the-cellphone-buyer's girlfriend.)

the scene where lester cons bernard and his chick is great!!

Bernard-the-cellphone-buyer's girlfriend

Bernard's best line - "Man, I can't WAIT to go to jail."

i've argued this before (in fact i'm pretty sure every Wire thread has diverged into a long argument about the relative quality of each season at least once) but 3 for me is the best

B.L.A.M. pretty much OTM, but I'd set it 4=2>3>>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>5.

i'd go 4>>3>2>1>>>>5 (5 is clearly the most muddled but i still think it gets a bum rap, it's got some astonishing bits)

5 wasn't that bad, jeez

5 was terrible and stupid! i think 3=4>2>1>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>5

i didn't like 2 until i saw it a second time though

I think five would have annoyed me no end if I'd been watching it week to week as it aired; as a whole it's, like, yeah, muddled and not as great as the others, but pretty good and satisfying nonetheless

Two has, like, atmosphere

Season 5 was totally not that bad...quite good, actually...but out of the 5, its the one I liked the least.

Now, that said - the Chris/Snoop/Omar parts are awesome. The newspaper parts just drove me crazy.

5 did have some decent moments, but the whole McNulty premise was so g-d ridiculous that I just couldn't throw myself into it like I could other seasons.

1 is a police procedural, 2 is a working-class drama, 3 is the "shakesperean tragedy", 4 is a horror film, 5 is going for institutional satire to some degree

4 will win in a landslide

4
2
3 - v well executed, loses points for being kinda all over the place plot/theme wise
1
5

Can you really deduct points in a season for setting up a payoff in a later season?

4
2
1
3
5

3 > 2 > > 4 > > 1 > > > 5

I think quality of series might actually be propotional to quality of theme song.

I'm in the middle of watching the whole thing beginning to end, but I'm only 3 episodes in.

I'm curious to see if my opinion stays the same.

4-1-3-2-5

the season 5 serial killer thing was a little annoying to sit through (same for the newspaper stuff) but i remember it having some good payoffs

what's wrong with the newspaper stuff? isn't that mid-management newspaper dude also in some weird verizon commercial with little miss sunshine?

My main problem with 2 was that I didn't really care for anyone at the docks apart from Frank Sobokta. Nick and motherfucking-Ziggy can basically go suck a fat one.

yeah but frank come on FRANK MOTHERFUCKING SOBOKTA

And Valchek. That guy is just a SUPREME asshole.

omar otm - Season 4 is totally a horror movie.

creeping doom all the way

but nick's girlfriend and the duck are two of the wire's most beloved characters

isn't that mid-management newspaper dude also in some weird verizon commercial with little miss sunshine?

Flight of the Conchords, more notably, but yes, he seems to do a lot of commercial work. (Also umm pretty sure that's not Abigail Breslin.)

i love making fun of that commercial

I guess it goes with the other Verizon commercial in the same series with the guy who plays Clay Davis

Both with beards, I think!

5 is odd because, you know, it's still miles better than most television. Compare it to the rest of the show though and it sucks balls.

3 > 4 > 2 > 1 > 5.

3 is ridiculously funny like a motherfucking 40 degree day.

mel's boyfriend/newspaper editor/verizon shill is also on DAMAGES playing TOTALLY AGAINST TYPE as a SPOILER ALERT SPOILER SPOILER ALERT corrupt cop

2 has the Omar court scene, and many of the great characters from the first season. It is a nice cross between cop procedural, human drama, and political statement. I own all seasons except 5, and just going by what I find the most appealing to re-watch, I rate them like this: 2 > 3 > 4 > 1. 4 is amazing, but certain episodes aren't exactly good times, and it's probably the least funny season (for good reason).

i thought we did this before..anyways 4-2-3-1-5 imo

4-3-2-1-5

poll should have been 4>3>2>1>5 vs. 4>2>3>1>5

3>1>4>2>5

maybe i'm a total dick but i didn't care about the school stuff in 4 ... i liked the kids and their plots, but the stuff about how hard it is to be a teacher and prez's never-dying optimism seemed pretty played out at this point. though i also liked the newspaper stuff so maybe my opinions are nuts

i think i'd go 3>1>2>4>5, with 3 and 1 being really close and 4 and 5 being really close

Reasons why 2 rules the hardest of all of them:

- The enormous human Frank Sobotka tragedy at the centre of it coupled up with all that changing-nature-of-capitalism stuff
- Pretty much every scene with Ziggy
- All that awesome Bunk/Lester stuff
- I love Amy Ryan
- D'Angelo in the library
- Omar in the court
- BROTHER MOUZONE
- It's the last series without Carcetti in it
- "You and your brother would both be cadaverous motherfuckers"

S3 and S4 are both amazing as well, especially the rise and fall of Stringer, but it suffers from being a bit unfocussed and the Hamsterdam subplot is a bit far-fetched. S4 is better but has too much Prez and not enough McNulty. Also no matter how good the kids are, I can't bring myself to vote for it due it not having Avon and Stringer in it.

I like S2 a lot, so it's really more like S4=S3=S2 > S1 > S5, but if I have to rank, I have to rank.

Right away I can eliminate 3 and 5 because the Hamsterdam and serial killer plots were way too far fetched. The pure fiction of those storylines negated the realism that they so painstakingly try to create in the rest of the series.

I surprised folks are so unenthusiastic about the first season when it has so many classic moments. Still maybe not the best because it took them a while to really find their voice.

So it's down to 2 and 4. Both excellent, but I'm choosing 2. This is actually a bit of surprise to me because I had misgivings about the docks plot the first time around and liked it much more the second. The great thing about season 2 is that it covers so much. The focus shifts to the docks, but it still manages to keep the original plot in focus. The twin tragedies of D'Angelo's death and the failure of the Sobotka family make it a truly epic and sad season more than any other.

Can someone refresh my memory about what happens with the docks and the Greeks after season two? Can't remember ... is the suggestion pretty much that there's a similar arrangement with the guy who was waiting to step up to head of the union?

yo is that bunk watching rebirth at 3:10 in this video?

Totally. I think he lives there.

TV needs more season-spanning police procedurals imho.

1 > 2

i thought i was gonna hate season 2 a couple episodes in, but they really got into a groove and i started liking it more and more as the season went along. feel like i might like it even more a second time. i think ive just got a whole lot more sympathy for barksdale's crew than zobotka's though the greeks were sweet and i hope they're back next season (don't tell me).

nick's girlfriend's boobs cancel out by far the two worst characters on the show so far, brother mouzon and ziggy

this is pretty much otm though eventually i came to have a retrospective fondness for the dock guys like ayo they were alright

the dock guys fucking rule

"...and I don't know why you got Horseface up there."

Astonished at the love of season 3. For me, 1=2=4 >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> 3=5.

It's sometimes hard for me to believe 3 and 5 were made by the same people as the others. Zero coherence, no themes, some dud characters. I can only guess people like it for the same reason they hated the end to The Sopranos--you get some kind of gratuitous closure when Stringer is killed.

I am so in love with this show. Love it even more than the Sopranos. We also watched The Shield. Started watching Homocide and Oz. But nothing comes close to The Wire. Awesomest awesomeness.

gang names seem kinda '90s

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Thursday, May 28, 2009 1:15 PM (10 months ago) Bookmark

So this revive is to the subconversation about gang names from a year ago, but I figured I'd bring up Black Guerilla Family, since they're in the news this week.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/bs-md.hermann-bgf-indictment-20100413,0,5438346.story?page=1

guess I shouldn't have given up after s3

halfway through season 4 now and it might be my favorite yet

I adore this show. I just rewatched Season Four. Knowing what happens to Duquan in Season Five makes this especially poignant; I teared up.

hiyo five years late

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2010/oct/14/life-wire/?pagination=false

o man i know.. i love lorrie moore but i really really dont need to read anything more abt the wire at this point

We need a best image from opening montages poll

always into stringer unzipping d's gf's jacket

S3 - completely forgot about Prez shooting the black cop, holy shit

I rewatched s1 and s2 recently, s2 was way way better than I remembered it, the whole thing with the docks/Sobotkas was masterfully done

it was funny, I remembered the s1 e1 being such a boring painful switch from the barksdale crew and the streets and it felt the same way this time but once he season gets into it, and especially by the last few episodes it is just amazing

it was funny, I remembered the s1 e1 being such a boring painful switch

s2 e1 rather

Yeah, I remember being

http://i.imgur.com/2HYcebt.jpg

What the hell is this shit.

lol yes like are we really talking about stained glass donations to a church

Yeah from a distance it's all about s2

yea in many ways I do think it's the best

oh no you guys i don't have time to run through this series again and this talk isn't helping

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhX7hvzlaGc

xp - I started like ten days ago and I'm halfway through S3

Fucking hivemind... Randomly decided to pop in s1 e1 - five days later I'm 3 deep in season two. Fucking love this show.

Season two might be the most important of the show, it's the one carefully putting down the foundation for an extended run, after season one ends pretty conclusively. I rewatched it a while back and was surprised at how great it was as well. But once you get to season four, it's pretty clear what's best. Those episodes are amazing.

Ha, wife and I just jumped into S3 after many years away. Still really great and so much easier to pick up in the little things the second time thru!

I've said this somewhere before but I still can't bring myself to rewatch S4, just too emotional to hang out with those kids.

And it's harder to watch when you already know where their arcs go.

That said, I re-watched s4 last year then had to stop after 1 ep of s5 because it's just too corny

I watched a new Hannibal Buress netflix special the other night, and there's a bit about how his dad is just now getting around to watching the wire and enthusiastic about it and Hannibal didn't want to spoil the fact that S2 is the worst season, and I was like what? Season 2 is soooo underrated. Don't know if it is the best, but it's really good.

Snoop buying the nail gun is the best cold open ever.

S5 is the only one I haven't rew... re-screened, I'm curious how that's going to go as a binge vs. week to week.

there are plenty of good parts in S5.

Snoop buying the nail gun is the best cold open ever.

Cold open for the season, right?

S5 had moments but in some ways everything has been SO PERFECT albeit DEVASTATING up to that point that it can't help but disappoint

I have to agree with Hannibal - season two is the low point for me.

And it's still phenomenal as far as low points go.

ha I read on wikipedia that when s2 was rebroadcast on BET most of the docks shit was cut out

That would make it a pretty short season

Seriously. That's like 60 mins tops without the polishes.

I just got to the ep where D departs, btw. Down as I may be on this season - that shit still breaks my heart.

He was who he was, and he did what he did.

did these come out on16x9 format yet?

The Frank Sobotka "we used to build shit" stuff didn't play as well this time around but Nick and Ziggy are such wonderful tragic characters.

One of the details that pisses me off a lot is how the FBI gets involved immediately once it becomes about 'union busting', but does nothing against crime in general. Season 2 is a whole lot about skewed interest.

4 eps into S5, just starting the serial killer bit. Newsroom stuff is a little less strident than I remember, but still not very good (aside from Gus's acting), the parallels are way too blunt. Wish the emphasis had been more on city politics behind the police cutbacks instead of police and paper response.

RIP Ziggy

Also my favorite character in Generation Kill. Really sad.