"Poll question: Best penultimate episode of The Wire? (spoilers)" Sun Jun-07-09 11:12 PM by Deebot
Imo the jewel of each season was the 2nd to last episode, generally speaking. Which one hit you the hardest? Which one was the best at setting up the finale?
Cleaning Up, Middle Ground, and That's Got His Own were all written by Pelecanos. What a fucking stud.
I don't know if it's possible to vote against Cleaning Up, but...I just rewatched season 4 and kinda forgot how perfect That's Got His Own is.
I cried like a baby when Carver walked that long hallway away from Randy. Still get a twinge even as I think about it right now even...
>>-the new unit watching Marimow leave > >-"Intimacy can be a quiet conversation. Or fun. Like when you >tickle your partner." > >"Yo, tickle my nuts," > >-scene w/ Namond & his mom > >-Michael & Kenard > >-the Sherrod tragedy > >-Omar & crew jacking the shipment > >-Cheese: "Omar had a commando squad...bitches pulling guns out >they pussies....shit was unseemly, yo" > >-Cutty trying to get Michael back: "Go with your people" > >-Randy: "You gonna look out for me?" > >^^^^^^^^probably the best Wire episode
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Oooo baby I like it raw. Oooo baby I like it RAAAW!(c)ODB- Shimmy Shimmy Ya
21. "RE: nothing in season 5 is the best anything" In response to Reply # 19 Mon Jun-08-09 07:22 PM by Sponge
I think the money trail story (which ran ever since s1) is some of the best things the series brought up.
Bubbles' arc in s5 (again like the money trail, the story began in s1) is one of the best things of the entire series. His NA speech is excellently written and performed.
Lester and Clay Davis' scene is one of my fave of the series.
Bubbles getting to the top of the stairs is one of my fave images of the series.
The fallout from Carcetti not taking the $ for the schools and his political games / maneuvering to get to the governor's mansion is one of the best stories in the series.
I'd also count the nod to the docks with the appearance of the homeless Johnny 50 and the Marlo-Andy Krawczyk scene.
I'm aware that my post isn't contesting your statement because you said "not the best anything" and none of what I list above I'd say is "*the* best" but "some of the best."
27. "RE: nothing in season 5 is the best anything" In response to Reply # 21
>Bubbles' arc in s5 (again like the money trail, the story >began in s1) is one of the best things of the entire series. >His NA speech is excellently written and performed.
we also got the third act of "eight ball girl"
S3 inncoent girl asks politely for an 8-ball S4 tells old face andre that her pimp loves her S5 shares at NA meeting about all the shit she's been through
>The fallout from Carcetti not taking the $ for the schools and >his political games / maneuvering to get to the governor's >mansion is one of the best stories in the series.
yeah and how he rationalized all his inaction by saying he'll deal with it when he gets to Annapolis.
>I'd also count the nod to the docks with the appearance of the >homeless Johnny 50 and the Marlo-Andy Krawczyk scene.
"he's got teeth right?"
I still wish i never saw the preview for that Marlo/Avon scene. That would've been such a great surprise.
I'd also add Butchie goin' out like a G. "you're a tough old man" (c) Chris
44. "don't get me wrong, I really didn't like the season too much" In response to Reply # 19
(relative to the others) but that episode was amazing. It was completely out of place in an otherwise middling season.
I recently watched the series all the way through again, and while I slightly warmed up to season 5, I'm still stuck with the feeling that it would have benefited majorly from a 12-episode length and the absence of 1) the serial killer story and 2) the resentful Baltimore Sun arc (except for Clark Johnson)
23. "Doesn't that ep also have the Naymond/Colvin postscript?" In response to Reply # 18
After a whole season of seeing the other three kids getting chewed-up and spit out by the streets, seeing Naymond make it was the most uplifting moment of the season. And the way Colvin brushed off Carcetti was great.
> And the way >Colvin brushed off Carcetti was great.
especially since Carcetti was clueless about what Colvin was even mad at him for. Carcetti thought it was about Hamsterdam. Colvin looked at him like wow you're even a bigger douche than i thought
30. "a lot of people don't like the Namond resolution." In response to Reply # 23
I've heard people say that it's unfair that out of all the corner kids from S4, he's the only one who made it off the block with a future.
Dukie had an awful life from day one. That kid never caught a break. He deserved a lot better than he got. And we all know how the system fucked up Randy's future. He was the smartest one of them all ( or at least had the most potential). Michael landed on his feet, but he ain't gonna last long in his new line of work. Triggermen don't get old.
But Namond? He was an asshole when they were kids, and he was spoiled rotten by his ignorant ass moms. He had a life of privelege ( for all intents and purposes). If nothing else, he had a roof over his head and food in his stomach. So for HIM to be the one that got a chance at a normal life was fucked up. But I think that might've been the underlying theme. Life ain't always fair...
now or never Member since Oct 27th 2004 3821 posts
Mon Jun-08-09 10:24 PM
"i think it was realistic, tho."
that the most spoiled asshole kid would end up being the one who got out basically he was the only one who cried and bitched until somebody helped him all the other ones didn't do that it's not only realistic, but it's kind of inherently american that he would be the one to get out but that's a whole notha post
37. "i never really looked at Namond's success as a "life aint fair" thing" In response to Reply # 30 Tue Jun-09-09 03:52 PM by Mynoriti
Herc, definitely, but not Namond.
I think by providing an example of what could happen when the 'worst' of these kids is given an opportunity, it helped to emphasize the tragedy of the other kids. in time we came to realize namond's situation was hopeless in its own way, and his character was written as far more than just a bad seed. We also learned over time the infinite potential of the other three, and can only imagine how far they could have gone if given half the opportunity Namond had.
I mean most of us would've liked, and probably figured the success story would've been Dukie, but not only would that have been unrealistic, it would feed into a whole "american dream" fantasy that Simon clearly rejects. in that sense it is a "life aint fair" thing but it's part of a larger point.
40. "sorry, this is just dumb" In response to Reply # 30 Tue Jun-09-09 04:30 PM by Deebot
>I've heard people say that it's unfair that out of all the >corner kids from S4, he's the only one who made it off the >block with a future.
Talented, needy kids are always slipping through the cracks. That's one of the main themes of The Wire. Fuck what's "fair". That aint life.
Namond made it out partly by chance and partly because he had connections. Dukie/most of the other kids don't have connections....so they're not getting out. Seems realistic to me.
34. "Yep. Its absence officially makes this poll huff." In response to Reply # 16
________________________________________________________________________ He is stupid But he KNOWS that he is stupid And that almost makes him smart Let's listen
32. "When Poot grabs him and looks him in the eye...." In response to Reply # 20
powerful. And then when McNulty grabs poot the next day and Poot tells him Bodie got killed because of him....."Leave me alone before you do ME the same...."
35. "I just watched the whole thing again over a couple months" In response to Reply # 33
It never gets old.
At this point, I've probably seen season one like 10-12 times, two 10-11, three 9-10, four 7-8 and five like 5 times. And every time I see a subtle touch I missed before.
Also, I get better at figuring out what the fuck Butchie said every time also.
------------------------------------------------------------------ Boston University: 2009 National Champions
39. "seriously that's a great episode" In response to Reply # 38
it's not Middle Ground but it's so damn good.
the pain of a helpless Frank Sabotka having to watch his scrawny son walk back into that holding cell with dudes three times his size was powerful as fuck.
As much I hated Ziggy's character, I wouldn't have wished that on him.
I really liked the working man's angle that this season magnified. Sobotka was doing dirt to save his union and the grain pier(whatever the hell that was). Meanwhile his son and nephew were so naive they had no idea the road they were on until it was too late.
Bad Dreams stuck with me for a while, but then again a lot of the Wire eps did.
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