To me this is a performance that doesn’t get talked about enough outside of the diehard fans of the show. He was multi layered. Sure he was def a bad guy but it wasn’t one dimensional. Just a gangsta I suppose.

Why was Valchek and Frank Sobotka so obsessed with this window? What was the significance of paying that church so much money to have a window there?

Watching s3e5 and the cops are dropping off Johnny at Hamsterdam. This part had me cracking up with how earnestly the cop says it and Johnny's look of utter confusion.

Of all the times I rewatched this show, I’ve never understood Cheese’s insult to Bodie. What does that even mean? Help a girl out.

I just finished this series for the first time and what a masterpiece and what a perfect ending. The ending is basically the beginning of the series. All the young kids in the show become one of the main adult characters in the show.

Namond becomes Bunny

Dukie becomes Bubbles

Mike becomes Omar

Marlo becomes Avon

Most of the characters are hard to hate because they are so human, so even if they do bad shit you can understand them. I would include Avon, S1 Bodie and McNultty. But there are a few who you just hate... For me: Cheese, Snoop, Stringer, Namond's mom And extra mention for Herc. He is not a bad person, but he is sooo dumb and inmature and i cant forgive what he did to Randy.

First of all, one of the Greatest pieces of art I've ever seen. The endings are super duper great, only 1 thing confused me.

If McNulty returns Donald to Baltimore, which he is because that's the last dialogue in this show, doesn't it ruin the whole "case is done" narrative? Somebody is going to recognize him, he is hard to miss.

Am I reaching?

He's from the streets. Sleeping with your mentees mom is a big no no. Not cool at all.

Just watched season 4 episode 12 and holy fuck i wanna cry😭😭😭

But nah, RIP to the victim🥺😭

https://www.wbaltv.com/article/police-skeletal-remains-found-vacant-home-southeast-baltimore/60509788

On yet another rewatch and had to rewind to make sure I was hearing it right. When Bubbles meets with Mrs. Donnelly and Sherrod the second time, he says at the end "no bout adout it" instead of "no doubt about it". (Sorry I couldn't find a clip). He doesn't seem to be doing so as a joke.

With this and how he always says McNutty instead of McNulty do you think it was intended to convey something about the character? Could it have simply been an actor mistake?

Such a funny burn from Lester in season 2 😂

Marlo's reputation was mostly based off of Snoop and Chris and the work they put in and the fear created based in his name. When they all got popped and Levy told him Chris was basically never getting out, he seems to come to that realization. All bark, no bite without Chris and Snoop.

I didn't fully appreciate it the the first time around, but allow me to make my case.

Ziggy is an absolute trainwreck and it is obvious from the first scene he's in. You knew a Ziggy in school. He's the kind of person who makes bad decisions because it gets attention By the start of season 2, you know what kind of show the Wire is. Maybe Stringer Bell isn't going to ever face charges for what he's done, maybe McNulty is going to eventually reign in his ego. But a character like Ziggy never stood a chance. This is the kind of show that had Wallace, probably the most sympathetic character in the Barksdale crew from S1, getting gunned down by his only friends. Those bad decisions Ziggy makes result in laughter at the docks, but they can result in a bullet to the head on a street corner of downtown Baltimore. We the audience know this, but Ziggy is just sheltered enough to not understand the gravity of what happens when he's not around people who respect his father.

And let's talk about Ziggy and Frank. Do you know the first scene where Frank talks directly to Ziggy and only to Ziggy? It's Episode 11 when Ziggy is in prison. The only conversation this man has with his son (unless I'm missing something brief earlier) the entire season is after it's too late. Frank obviously preferred Nick to his own son and everyone knew it. When it takes committing murder for Frank to directly acknowledge his own son, is it any wonder why everything Ziggy does is a cry for attention? The impractical sports car, the designer jacket, the freakin' duck on a leash. Aside from Nick (whose shadow he constantly lives in), and Frank who won't give him the time of day, Ziggy's entire social group consists of older dock workers who are laughing at him unless he finds a way to get them to laugh with him. (Aside: it's striking how we never even see Frank stick up for Ziggy when he's being pranked. At no point in time does Frank even try to get the other dock workers to go easy on his son). As Ziggy says himself, he got tired being the butt of every joke. Ziggy's entire life is a recipe for disaster and the chef is Gordon Ramsay.

But all of that is obvious the first time through. What maybe isn't obvious is the creativity and subtlety Ziggy is capable of. Take his plan to steal the cars. It's surprisingly sophisticated. Not only did he get Johnny 50 to cut the fence as a decoy, he accounted for the fact that the specific cars he was stealing needed to have sun roofs so that he could get out of the car once it was in the shipping container. That's the kind of detail you would expect a guy like Ziggy to overlook, get halfway through the heist and then realize he's in trouble.

Ziggy's interactions with the Greeks show he's actually also got a better "business" sense than Nick. He knew when Glekas was trying to lowball both times and understood the value of the cameras and the cars they were selling and proved he had good reason when called Glekas out on it. Nick would have accepted the lowball offer for the cameras were it not for Ziggy.

All this just adds to the tragedy of his character. He's not just a complete fuck up. In a different world, he's the kind of person who would go to business school and make a hundred million dollars in the stock market with Jordan Belfort. Still end up in jail, funnily enough.

But yeah, great writing, well-acted. Surprising depth. Ziggy is great. That is all.

Anyone else notice that “True Detective” borrowed a line (almost verbatim) from “The Wire”? In Wire (Season 2, ep. 7) Bunk and Freamon are slamming some brews at a bar and Bunk responds to a question from Freamon with the statement: “I’m just a humble motherfucker with a big-ass dick.” Then, in “True Detective” (Season 1, ep. 1), Marty answers a question by one of the interrogating detectives with the statement: “Oh, I was just a regular guy…with a big-ass dick.”

Dude literally worked in the strip club, was cool with the ladies and wanted to be a drug dealer probably because the attention and respect they get from their peers instead of even needing the money. And just like Avon said after he got beat up if he needed more money they would of most likely have gave it to him.

According to you which season has the best intro?

Hello everyone, I'm from Spain and a few weeks ago I saw The Wire for the first time and I would like to know if the dubbing in other non-English speaking countries has such a terrible dubbing, I saw the first season in Spanish and everything was correct, until the second season same voice actors for different characters. This takes you out of the series completely, until I decided to watch it on V.O.S.E and it was the best decision of my life. I would like to know if it is the luck and misfortune that it can only be enjoyed in English or are there countries where they have a good dubbing?

Ok, I’m still slightly frustrated when the kid couldn’t figure out the math problem even though he was able to figure out the corner situation (real life problem) in his head. Like I’m still stuck on that part and frustrated for Wallace. Anyone else?

When this show came out it was hyped up so much. I was live posting other shows while they aired, in places like SomethingAwful. I didn't have the time to watch this one then, but commentary at SA really raved about how awesome this show was. I Decided to binge it recently. I gotta say I'm struggling. There are some interesting plot lines, but this just is having the feel of any typical crime procedural of the time, with extended story lines for the principals (criminals and police) involved. It's mostly hum-drum drug/violence crime and investigation stuff. I don't see the character development or nuance I remember the hype raving over, either, and some of the characters are particularly static (McNulty, for example). The commentary on society's priorities mostly seems pretty shallow and obvious, too.

I have a feeling this is gonna be downvoted to hell, but it's my honest take on the show, and given all the hype I feel like I'm missing something. Maybe you all can help me see it. Or maybe it's just a case of "it's not for everyone," and I'm in that category?

In case it matters, some series from near the same time that I rave over and re-watch regularly: The Sopranos, Deadwood, Carnivale. I thought Oz and Six Feet Under were pretty good, too, but it's been forever since I've watched them.

Gotta be one of my favorite dialogues in the whole show

“Those are my fries”

“Bitch everything I say you hear backwards, fries are mine boy “

*Herc eats the fries *

Go ahead , eat the fries you fat fuck see if I fucking care 😂😂 like a child yo

Whole time they wonder why no one takes them serious 😂

I am on rewatch ( for the fourth or fifth time), season 3. And despite of knowing what an absolute a***le person Stringer is,everytime I just wish he would figure out a way out of the looming disaster.

I hate Simon for casting Idris😞

Dude would’ve been living the dream

Turning 25 next month, so I've been binging all the classics I haven't seen yet before my bday. Finished The Sopranos 6 weeks ago, immediately started the Wire. Yes, I ate that shit in 6 weeks. OMG. As good an experience as the sopranos if not better. I'm so shook and I got a huge blues now that it's finished. But wow what an intense and amazing show. Cried a bunch of times. 10/10 for me. Pure art. My favourite characters: Omar, Prez, Lester Freamon, Bubs. Huge shoutout to Frank Sobotka too.

In a series as hard hitting and true to life as ever committed to television, this is honestly the most heartbreaking moment for me.

Dukie and Bug saying their goodbyes. Both having lost so much already but having those months (years?) living together, Dukie even taking care of Bug while Michael was running with Marlo's crew.

And then now having to say their goodbyes because of Michael's actions and none of their own fault.

I wept like a mfer.

Dude just waltzes into a police station and steals a van. Old school style as well, with the hot wire and all.

Just noticed on a rewatch the guy who gets interviewed by that psychiatrist and Colvin was in the crew that runs of Naymond and he was with Sherrod when he beats up Naymond.

A couple of thoughts a few eps into season 1

1. While McNulty, Greggs, and Freamon are constantly describing the Barksdales as incredibly organized elite criminals, Omar is usually disparaging them as sloppy and raggedy. The cops can never find the stash but Omar always knows. In previous watches I got annoyed with the broken record of the cops talking about how smart the Barksdales are, but now I realize it was showing us that even the best of the best detectives are not very good and can't keep up with the street. Another good piece of commentary on the failures of American institutions to adequately address problems.

2. As the show ages out of current affairs and into history, it's starting to have more significance for me as an artifact of the time. Particularly what it was like to work in a public bureaucracy in an era of ascendant neoliberalism and austerity. People are always hunched over obsolete equipment in poorly lit rooms at shitty hours. They're often alone, and lonely. It connects back to my first observation-America really thought it could get away with dismantling it's public services over the course of several decades.