The Wire discussion thread - contains spoilers - Page 24

The real reason to hate the journalism subplot is because the characters are entirely 2-dimensional. True Journalists vs. corporate *******s only out for profit. Never really went deeper than that. Stood out as super lazy on a show where virtually every other character was far more nuanced.

I'd agree this is probably the worst part of S5. Sure, the first couple of times I watched S5 I hated the McNulty story, but now its not even really annoying. It's just a small bit over the top.

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07-25-2016 , 02:00 PM

#578

tiltstermc

old hand

Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,708

Completely agree about Simon being too close to the journalism part. To me, the serial killer storyline fit with McNulty's character arc. The major problem was when Lester became a part of it, I felt it was much more a betrayal of his character. As someone else said, S3 had a drug free zone that went undetected for awhile, so this was not that much more absurd than that story.

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07-25-2016 , 02:25 PM

#579

72off

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 67,827

^ agree

S5 hate overblown tho, it's not that bad, and there's some pretty good stuff in there

S1 is pretty rough around the edges, but it might have the best characterization
most everyone pretty 1D after that

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07-25-2016 , 03:39 PM

#580

cbboy

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 4,655

S5 has one of the funniest scenes imo. The scene where McNulty tells the lying journalist that he's making stuff up is hilarious.

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07-25-2016 , 03:43 PM

#581

Mr. Muckit

old hand

Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 1,238

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buff Disciple

S5 reminds me of the post-Larry David seasons of Seinfeld; they were more absurd, and seemed to drift away from the tone of the first six or so seasons, but they were good nonetheless. The serial killer plot was obviously absurd, but it was used as a tool to illustrate faults in police investigation and media coverage. Marlo was an actual serial killer who had disappeared 20+ bodies, as well as openly killed another handful. He was making the streets completely unsafe, but because he wasn't a sensationalized killer for the media or public officials to care about, MCU was pushed to the side and their resources were diverted elsewhere. Media doesn't care about black on black street crime, but they were willing to take a very unsubstantiated, but sensationalized story and run with it. Cases that should get the full attention of the law don't, while 'fake' cases and stories do.

Sure, the foundations of the serial killer plotline were shaky at best, but overall it made a net positive on the show. Also, while I think there were better options, McNulty's frustration boiling over into a drastic event like the serial killer plot line makes sense based on the previous seasons and his brash nature. And keep in mind that S3 was about a cop lying to his superiors and setting up a semi legal drug trading zone. That was almost as absurd as anything in S5, and yet S3 is easily one of the best seasons of anything ever made.

This. Very insightful post.

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07-26-2016 , 01:35 AM

#582

Victor

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Jul 2003 Posts: 72,267

Quote:

Originally Posted by tiltstermc

Many big cities have such zones going on right now

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12-09-2016 , 02:02 PM

#583

billstraightener

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 4,081

I got myself an early Xmas present, the Whole box set on Blu Ray for like $40.

Currently re-watching for like 3rd or 4th time.

You really do notice small nuances that you missed earlier.

Spoiler: