'The Wire' - It gets better after the 1st season, right?

The Sopranos is far better than The Wire. It stands on its own. But back then they were both exceptional.

By 2018 standards I mean there are now have been several shows that are on that level. Sopranos still holds up, The Wire doesn’t.

Also, calm down.

I finally got around to watching both the Sopranos and the Wire about 3 years ago.
I got to episode 8 of season 4 of the Sopranos and stopped, and have had zero inclination to go back.
I thought Sopranos felt dated and is basically just another spin of the typical Italian gangster tale, which was done far better in movies like the Godfather.

The Wire, on the other hand, is much deeper and hasn't been done to death dozens of times previously.

But, that's just my opinion of watching both for the first time semi-recently.
 
‘Middle management means that you got just enough responsibility to listen when people talk, but not so much you can’t tell anybody to go f*ck themselves.’Howard ‘Bunny’ Colvin
 
Same thing happened to me. Stopped trying after the third attempt.
I should say that I first tried watching back in 2009-2010, it wasn't that dated at that point.

The Sopranos, on the other hand, though...
 
Sopranos was boring. Made it up to the third episode and then quit. Maybe it's unfair to dismiss a show on the basis of only three episodes, but that's my own personal rule - If your show doesn't hook me within the first three, it's probably not worth my time.

Anyway, if The Wire hasn't hooked you by the end of the entire first season (which I found to be the show's best), then it's probably not your cup of tea. It's definitely a show that isn't for everyone.
 
Breaking Bad was a fun ride, but it was ultimately written by committee, and pandered it's way out of telling a proper story. By the end it was a great big ball of fan service. The Shield was BY FAR the better story. It created a believable character breaking bad over time, and was masterful in showing just how someone actually trying to do the right thing could gradually do more and more wrong things, to support the altruistic motive that doesn't really exist any more. People talk about character development in Walter White, it was virtually non-existent. He wasn't a person, he was a caricature. Worse still was Jessie. He went from stoned idiot to cunning strategist the second they decided to keep him on the show, it was a prime example of inconsistent writing. Breaking Bad kept writing itself into and out of corners, and it didn't do it very well. They literally created scenes with no idea how they were going to write beyond them, and it left some pretty gaping holes.

The Wire was a complex tapestry of characters that told a layered story about the core issues of the drug trade in Baltimore. With one minor exception it never served the fans, every detail served the story. For this reason, there are people that don't like it. There were no grandiose, ridiculous scenes made for the sole reason of making the fans happy. The Wire had twenty times as much going on and you had to really pay attention. I remember a cartoon talking about the wire, it said "that shit's dense".

I loved Breaking Bad and have no issue with people who preferred it to The Wire, but better? That's ridiculous. The quality of writing and level of story in The Wire crushes Breaking Bad, which should not be in the conversation.

Edit - changed "mastermind" to "strategist".

Most of what you wrote about Breaking Bad sounds like you're talking about a whole different show.

How was Walt a caricature? How did they write themselves into corners or build up to things they couldn't pay off? What you mention about Vic from The Shield doesn't sound entirely accurate either - Vic doesn't break bad overtime, he was already a dirty cop by the time the series begins (in fact his worst sin was in the Pilot), and most of the series is spent with the past repeatedly coming back to haunt him despite his many efforts to redeem himself.
 
@Loiosh

I don't think The Wire is as complex as you and everyone else is making it out to be

Please talk about some of the complex themes in the first 2 seasons.
 
I tried to like it but had to stop midway through the second season. I just couldn't get that into it, trust me I tried considering sooo many people think it's the best tv show of all time.
 
So in the past I've tried to get into The Wire, and failed.

1st attempt - Quit after the 1st episode.

2nd attempt - Quit after the 6th episode.

So this week I've given it a 3rd attempt and just finished the 8th episode.... and I'm bored.

For those who praise The Wire as the best TV show ever, it gets better after the 1st season right? The 1st is setting the table and introducing characters and the themes of the cops/dealers?

Edit - I've heard spoilers throughout the years, so don't bother with the cute "Have you got to the point that ______ dies?"

I didn't really get hooked until around the 3rd season. I thought it was good, but I can name quite a few other series that I enjoyed more. Great show, but imo overrated.
 
Most of what you wrote about Breaking Bad sounds like you're talking about a whole different show.

How was Walt a caricature? How did they write themselves into corners or build up to things they couldn't pay off? What you mention about Vic from The Shield doesn't sound entirely accurate either - Vic doesn't break bad overtime, he was already a dirty cop by the time the series begins (in fact his worst sin was in the Pilot), and most of the series is spent with the past repeatedly coming back to haunt him despite his many efforts to redeem himself.

I'm far too tired to do these questions justice.

Walt/Heisenberg was Jekyll/Hyde. There was no real nuance to his development as a character, and the show was too weak to let him really be the bad guy, and kept having him resolve situations using flashy super-heroics (and really, really bad science). The Shield was far more realistic and while Vic was at his worst in the first episode of the series, the writers did a fantastic job of showing how he got to that point over time. He never tries to redeem himself, he rationalizes his circumstances and motivations until he finally breaks.

One example of how Breaking Bad wrote themselves into a corner was the chain gun in the trunk. They put it there to spice up that one scene without any idea what they were going to do with it, and the final result was a pretty ridiculous finale. Another example would be Jessie. He was a dimwit who they'd planned on killing, but once he became too popular to lose, he developed keen strategy. Seriously, go back and look at just how stupid he was.

I loved Breaking Bad in the beginning. However, the more popular it got, the more it went off the rails for me.
 
@Loiosh

I don't think The Wire is as complex as you and everyone else is making it out to be

Please talk about some of the complex themes in the first 2 seasons.

No, sorry. I'm not going to write an essay on this; if you don't think it was complex, fine.

Every season added layers of character interactions, which carried through to the end of the series. Each season also had a unique theme, which was added to the previous themes and blended into the story as a whole. Name another straightforward show (not a mystery of the week show where they just throw distractions at you) that was more complex. The Wire addressed the drug problems in Baltimore from five different and complimentary angles.
 
No, sorry. I'm not going to write an essay on this; if you don't think it was complex, fine.

Every season added layers of character interactions, which carried through to the end of the series. Each season also had a unique theme, which was added to the previous themes and blended into the story as a whole. Name another straightforward show (not a mystery of the week show where they just throw distractions at you) that was more complex. The Wire addressed the drug problems in Baltimore from five different and complimentary angles.

Sure that's all true

But I don't find the show hard to follow or understand

It doesn't require any effort other than watching to really understand whats going on
 
If you compare True Detective to The Wire

I would say True Detective is wayyy more complex than The Wire is
 
I'm far too tired to do these questions justice.

Walt/Heisenberg was Jekyll/Hyde. There was no real nuance to his development as a character, and the show was too weak to let him really be the bad guy, and kept having him resolve situations using flashy super-heroics (and really, really bad science). The Shield was far more realistic and while Vic was at his worst in the first episode of the series, the writers did a fantastic job of showing how he got to that point over time. He never tries to redeem himself, he rationalizes his circumstances and motivations until he finally breaks.

One example of how Breaking Bad wrote themselves into a corner was the chain gun in the trunk. They put it there to spice up that one scene without any idea what they were going to do with it, and the final result was a pretty ridiculous finale. Another example would be Jessie. He was a dimwit who they'd planned on killing, but once he became too popular to lose, he developed keen strategy. Seriously, go back and look at just how stupid he was.

I loved Breaking Bad in the beginning. However, the more popular it got, the more it went off the rails for me.

-What nuances would have satisfied you? He fell in love with being a criminal and feeling like he was important for the first time, and the darker sides of his psyche began to manifest themselves more and more the longer he succeeded at it. After killing Gus, he went full Heisenberg/narcissist mode.

-I agree about Jesse, although you are overreacting. He only really came up with two brilliant plans - the magnet and the logistics of the train robbery - and to be fair, it's not as if stupid people are totally inept and can never have anomalous moments of brilliance (though the train robbery was definitely a stretch.) And they kept him on the show because they loved Aaron Paul and thought his performance of Jesse was too great to kill off in the first season. That was long before he became popular with fans, and certainly long before he became a "keen strategist" as you put it.

-I thought Breaking Bad's finale with the M60 was great. Even better knowing that you can actually put together a gun like that in real life if you have the proper tools for it. Sure, managing to get all of the Nazi's in one place the way he did was a little bit of plot convenience, but you could level the same criticism at The Shield at times (as well as most shows.)

-Vic did try to redeem himself. In S4, he tried to show the higher ups that he deserved the chance to lead the Gang Task Force, and in 5-7, he was trying to prove he deserved to remain a cop after the higher ups wanted him gone in a matter of months. After the Strike Team reconciled in S4, Vic said from now on they got nothing hanging over their heads. He wanted to put most of his corruption behind him.
 
I have the attention span of a fly and it took me YEARS to get through.

I think people suffer when they try to binge it. It's definitely a show that is better digested over time.
I binge-watched the shit out of it the 1st time & loved every second. This is one of those situations for me where I can't fathom someone having a different opinion from me. Ridiculous I know, but this show is that damn incredible imo.
 
I finally got around to watching both the Sopranos and the Wire about 3 years ago.
I got to episode 8 of season 4 of the Sopranos and stopped, and have had zero inclination to go back.
I thought Sopranos felt dated and is basically just another spin of the typical Italian gangster tale, which was done far better in movies like the Godfather.

The Wire, on the other hand, is much deeper and hasn't been done to death dozens of times previously.

But, that's just my opinion of watching both for the first time semi-recently.
Well said. This is how I felt as well.
 
So in the past I've tried to get into The Wire, and failed.

1st attempt - Quit after the 1st episode.

2nd attempt - Quit after the 6th episode.

So this week I've given it a 3rd attempt and just finished the 8th episode.... and I'm bored.

For those who praise The Wire as the best TV show ever, it gets better after the 1st season right? The 1st is setting the table and introducing characters and the themes of the cops/dealers?

Edit - I've heard spoilers throughout the years, so don't bother with the cute "Have you got to the point that ______ dies?"
It all goes downhill after D dies.

The care taken with the story is the part that makes it standout. Season 1 is cool. Season 2 I didn't enjoy as much, but 3 is different than either, as is 4 (which a lot of people like a lot).

Finding the themes, and whatnot is one of the best parts of the show. But you have to see the big picture to be able to do that.
 
The scene when he is in the car after the incident with Gleikas is some of the best acting I ever seen on television. I know a lot of people dislike Ziggy but that has more to do with how well James Ransone played the character. Best damn television I have ever seen

My first viewing of the Wire was a year after the show finished airing and I thought it was pretty good. Decided to go back a year after that and rewatch it and that was when I realized just how good the show truly was. I am now about to start my 6th viewing of the whole series. It is by far my favorite television show with Breaking Bad coming in at a very close second.

yea Ziggy was awesome he was such a believable fuck up. the whole point of his arc was what happens to a punk kid when he fucks up and lacks a safety net add his his families ties to crime and his need to be a badass and how everything falls off the rails he is season 2s Wallace.

anyway Maui got lucky if zig was properly hydrated he would have dropped that fuck like a sack of potatoes.
 
The Supranos was always more of a black comedy for me so I don't really see a direct comparison to The Wire.
 
The Sopranos is far better than The Wire. It stands on its own. But back then they were both exceptional.

By 2018 standards I mean there are now have been several shows that are on that level. Sopranos still holds up, The Wire doesn’t.

Also, calm down.
What dumbass show do u think holds up to The Sopranos and if you say Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones, I'll smash ur face in.
 
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