not at all, i am almost done with s2 and my opinion hasn't changed much. lots of it is just way too predictable. I find lots of the acting to be really annoying and overdone. I hate it every time someone makes a joke and they zoom in on everybody's fake laughter. Prez is really annoying. Most of all, the show lacks SUBTLETY. I feel like I am being force fed an emotional response. That said, it is a pretty interesting show. I hope season 3 is better

am I really the only one?

On a side note, watching the wire has helped me appreciate the acting in the sopranos, which was basically flawless. So much amazing acting in that show. Junior? Tony? Carm? AJ? Janice? tony's ma? Holy crap! So many people played their roles to PERFECTION

I'll take the bait and agree here. Upon rewatching TW, I did notice that many things are forced. It's far from THE PERFECT show that so many claim it to be. That said, it's in my top 5 all time, arguably number one, but it still has obvious flaws. I think Deadwood is much more smooth and intelligent. However, it didn't have the public appeal and died an early death.

What I like most of The Wire is the social commentary and issues it portrays.

I'm impressed that you are able to stay so open-minded despite it being your arguable favorite series ever.

I enjoy the social commentary so far, but I also feel that it too is way forced. Like, cool, I get it, these are the bad guys and these are the good guys, and the man is holding them down. I think it has done a really good job of showing how difficult it is to give up the lifestyle of crime

Well at least this post is more reasonable than the one below


I mean I can understand preferring The Sopranos, it's an amazing show, but this is a bit silly. And seeing someone call the acting in The Wire average while including Robert Iler as an amazing actor on The Sopranos is interesting, to say the least.

What can i say, I think he played his character great - but I agree, not the finest example of acting on the Sopranos.

To be fair, I can't say for sure that it's the "acting" on the Wire, but something about the way the actors are instructed or filmed just REALLY gets on my nerves.

Iler did a good job playing AJ, do other people really think otherwise?

You don't understand the show AT ALL.

Wouldn't know, I think he did a good job too.

I think he should have folded pre

actually i think he does quite a bit.

If you think his summary is an at all accurate interpretation of the first season of The Wire, you're just as mistaken as he is.

It's pretty frustrating to see a show as in depth and detailed as The Wire be reduced to a glossed over one sentence summary that seems to miss the point badly when it gets into "the man keeping people down".

No single sentence sums up the Wire. But you think the show has NOTHING to do with "keeping the people down"? Obviously who said that wasn't being academic or scholarly or even thorough with his analysis, but at the basest level, it is somewhat accurate. But people must nit about how much more they "get" the show than other people, and frankly thats what irked me most.

It's a very tired position to take.

I think Robert Iler does a pretty good job myself. Jamie-Lynn Sigler has far more wooden moments imo. In particular it appears that she is so bad at acting upset that the writers had no option but to make her run out of the room and up the stairs every time.

I just think both "the man" and really "keeping them down" are pretty inaccurate.

It's more just about how there are incentives on both sides to maintain status quo. However you define "the man", it's not really an active, conscious thing that's stopping anybody from making progress.

It's the system, the game, etc. It's a perpetual motion machine that by it's very nature keeps itself from being upset.

But mostly it's that somebody complaining about social commentary on a show that exists to provide social commentary is broadly missing the point. Simon's message is obvious and somewhat heavy handed because that's what he set out to do.

Dids,
I think arguing the social commentary on The Wire is poorly executed is a completely valid point. The show does exist to provide social commentary, but complaining about the execution of it is fine. I think the larger problem with Mugatu's post is that he is misinterpreting a key point of Simon's social commentary, which is the ambiguity between good and evil. Once you have such a major misunderstanding of Simon's social commentary it is hard to take any comments about its lack of execution seriously.

I read his interpretation and meaning of "the man" to mean exactly what you said. And I'd be willing to bet that he did as well.

And I don't think he was saying that the shows social commentary sucks or is overblown. I just believe he said the methods used to get it across is heavy handed and over the top sometimes. Theres a difference between the point made and the method used. And I fully agree.

I mean, for example, the chess scene is just LOL bad upon repeated viewings. Or when whats his name goes to the Foot Locker to get a job.

I still think the show, based on its social power alone, makes it near the top of all time. But yes, that doesn't mean I think the show is as perfect in the way it made its points.

Also I have defended the chess scene's heavy handedness in the past and will continue to do so. Part of what they are showing in the chess scene is that the characters need to tie everything in their life back to the game. They cannot relate to anything else.

Plz to stop tarding up Sopranos thread with Wire nonsense?

sorry, but this thread title wouldn't work at all with The Wire.

Noted, though.

If you dislike AJ as a character that's not really a criticism of the actor playing him. Obviously Chase could have cast Richie Aprile Jr as Tony's son and that would have been a more standard bit of casting for NJ mob boss' son. But Chase deliberately cast against type for the AJ character.

I had no problem with AJ. I was just responding to the post in a funny way. Get it, how he played AJ? LOLZ this is a pokers forum? amirite?

I'm here all week

Huh?

It would be awesome if there was a thread where people could discuss the relative merits of The Sopranos and The Wire though...

I thought Iler's acting as AJ was great, and played the part extremely well. Definitely not the best out of anyone else on the show though. As much as I like the wire I kind of agree with a lot of the faults that are being said in this thread. I'm not done with the wire yet but I still think the sopranos has a pretty big edge in both the acting department, and the characters themselves if that makes any sense.

I meant a "subtle moments in the Wire" thread would probably be a fail