(Unless y'all still wanna talk about that other thing . . .)


Quick Note on Spoilers: I'm only up to Season Three, but I'm not a spoiler-stickler like others may be. For instance, I already know the "big thing" that happens next season. However, because some people have that disposition, you might wanna throw up a "Season ?? Spoiler" warning just in case. And if you still haven't seen the third season and don't want it ruined, leave this post now.

Okay . . . Although I can surely appreciate this season without needing to compare it to the previous two, I guess I have to say that all the reasons why I really liked this one--primarily the rather ingenious 3-D perspective on the drug game that movies or TV seldom offer, especially the street level activity-- are the same reasons I loved the first season and was relatively more lukewarm on the second. But anyway . . .

My only issues this season: the music was less a potent force than it's been in the past; Cheese and his storyline (and Meth's acting) were not up to snuff; and McNulty's relationship with the campaign strategist, while supplying a role reversal of sorts, was cliché (though even it acquitted itself overall by the end). Everything else? Terrific.

Just about every new character introduced proved himself a worthy addition. Colvin was a guy who had reached the end of the line and thought he had nothing to lose. This made him risky by conventional bureau standards, but of course it was those conventions that were failing the city already. In that way, he was honorable in a dishonorable fashion. And losing his high-scale pension was bittersweet but necessary, as was the rather ambiguous response Bubbs gives to him at the end. Next, Carcetti was served well to be a mystery for at least the first half of the season, where you were left wondering who he really was: Another scum politician? Man of the people? Self-serving prick? Trusted ally? In the end, he was all of those, led by ambition, admirable and an asshole for the same reasons. Ultimately, the government storylines were well-handled and thankfully more fleshed out than in S1.

On the street side of things, Slim Charles, especially his voice, fit in nicely as a Barksdale henchman: smart but not ultra-serious like a Stringer and not a showboat like Wee-Bey either. Marlo then was rather quiet and elusive, but that worked well for him. Again, he was ruthless but not exactly in the same way we have seen another player before. I also appreciated how Cutty went back and forth and forth and back with his own moral dilemma. There wasn't just one turn, and even when he got "saved" by the church, he just changed his direction not his style. Each point added complexity to his character. Finally, although we have long since been familiar with Avon and Stringer, watching their two business styles clash over and over was quite thrilling. I knew ahead of time that Stringer was going down, but still it was interesting to be able to trace the fracturing of their relationship and then guess when and how (I still ended up surprised).

Then the finale, aided by a great Solomon Burke track, was a satisfying but not necessarily clean closing of a truly great season. Anyway . . .


The Wire Season 3: 25 Best Moments / Scenes.

25.RELEASED ON P&P (EPISODE 7: BACK BURNERS)
McNulty and unit learn of Avon's parole.

24.MAKE-A-FACE (EPISODE 8: MORAL MIDGETRY)
Herc and dealers play with identity kit.

23.THE GAY BAR (EPISODE 10: REFORMATION)
Rawls at the back table.

22.DEVONNE'S SHOT (EPISODE 10: REFORMATION)
"It needed doing."

21.FROM THE V.A. HOSPITAL (EPISODE 2: ALL DUE RESPECT)
Omar returns in wheelchair.

20.A LIFE (EPISODE 9: SLAPSTICK)
Lester to McNulty: "The job will not save you."

19.OLD EDMONDSON BOYS (EPISODE 6: HOMECOMING)
Bunk and Omar reconvene.

18.KISS THE SKY (EPISODE 4: AMSTERDAM)
Cutty comes back home (with a couple friends).

17.IN THE GYM (EPISODE 4: AMSTERDAM)
Colvin struggles to keep the kids in line.

16.MCNULTY AND BRIANNA (EPISODE 8: MORAL MIDGETRY)
"I was looking for someone who cared about the kid."

15.LET'S BANG OUT (EPISODE 3: DEAD SOLDIERS)
Omar's crew in a shootout.

14.JUSTIN'S BOXING MATCH (EPISODE 11: MIDDLE GROUND)
"You still got plenty to learn."

13.ROUNDUP (EPISODE 5: STRAIGHT AND TRUE)
The drug game moves to Vincent Street.

12.AVON ARRESTED (EPISODE 12: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
McNulty shows Avon that Stringer gave him up.

11.SUNDAY MORNING (EPISODE 9: SLAPSTICK)
Omar and grandmother shot at en route to church.

10.THE ALLEY (EPISODE 11: MIDDLE GROUND)
Omar and Muzone meet back up and team up.

09.I MISS MY DOG (EPISODE 2: ALL DUE RESPECT)
Cheese shoots canine and confesses.

08.CARCETTI INTERRUPTS (EPISODE 12: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED)
" . . . We surrendered to the horrors of the drug trade."

07.CIVIC COMPROMISE (EPISODE 2: ALL DUE RESPECT)
Colvin talks of the paper bag and the poor man's lounge.

06.A MAN WITHOUT A COUNTRY (EPISODE 8: MORAL MIDGETRY)
Avon challenges Stringer, Stringer confesses, and the two fight.

05.WE ARE PO-LICE (EPISODE 3: DEAD SOLDIERS)
Ray Cole's wake.

04.THE TOWERS COME DOWN (EPISODE 1: TIME AFTER TIME)
"The best territory in the city."

03.PREZ GETS A FORTUNE (EPISODE 9: SLAPSTICK)
"A new friend makes himself."

02.NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEALERS (EPISODE 7: BACK BURNERS)
Dark on Vincent Street.

01.STRINGER'S DEATH (EPISODE 11: MIDDLE GROUND)
"I ain't involved in that gangsta bullshit no more."