The Wire -Episode 4 - Old Cases

[shadowkat]

Briefly...That was one of the most brilliant pieces of television that I've seen. And the best Cop Show/Criminal Procedural bit I've seen. It was better than Homicide.

There's three brilliant sequences in this episode. Actually four. No, make that five. The writing in this show - that is how you write a police procedural dialogue folks. If you want to know how to write good television scripts and not paint by numbers? Rent The Wire.

A really famous bit, that is so realistic that it blew me away. (An aside - while in law school and prior to law school, I did a lot of internships such as orders of protection, public defender, housing authority, legal aid, etc.) Two homicide detectives come to a crime scene, and figure out how a woman was shot. The only word of dialogue stated is variations of "fuck". The scene is exactly how cops do investigative work. And it's entertaining. I was riveted. I kept rewinding.

Watch The Wire - and you will understand why I can't watch any of the police procedurals on television which include Bones, CSI, NCSI, Castle, Law & Order, Criminal Minds, etc..all of which repeat the same formula, same dialogue, same situations, same mysteries and never take any risks.

Whoa. Just Whoa. That episode blew me away. And Lester is my new favorite character.

How is it possible for a tv series to just get better with each new episode? Usually it's one good one, one okay one, one good one, one so-so, one good one, one horrifically bad one.

Although HBO tends to be fairly consistent. There is something to be said for just doing 10-13 episodes a year as opposed to 22. Cheaper, and the writer's don't get burned out as quickly.

Comments

[liz-marcs.livejournal.com]

Lester is basically a modern day Sherlock Holmes without the personality problem or drug addiction. I *lurves* me Lester. There's a scene at the end of S4 that's right up there with the "famous Fuck scene" that centers on Lester. That moment when the lightbulb goes off over his head before he even opens his mouth is a beautiful thing to watch.

Clarke Peters, who plays Lester, is one of Simon's "stable of go-to actors". He's in The Corner (a predecessor mini-series of sorts that ran on HBO that's sort of prequel to The Wire that focuses on Baltimore addicts based on Simon's book of the same name) and he's current in Treme. And even though you recognize his face, the characters he plays are so wildly different from one another.

The problem with picking a favorite character in this show is that it's bloody impossible. Just when you think you've at least settled on someone not to like...*wham*...something happens to change your view of the character.

I remain, as ever, envious of your first watch on this series...

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hee. The discovery of a rich well written story is always the best part. People have been rec'ing it to me for years. My brother sent the DVD of the First Season to my parents one year as a Xmas present, but they haven't found the time to watch. And when I'm done there - they are never in the mood.

Simon's first series was Homicide Life on the Streets - I think. And he may have used the same actor there as well. The actor looks familar. Although a lot of the actors from The Wire are popping up in The Good Wife (the closest broadcast tv has come to this type of story since Homicide.)

There's three brillaint scenes with Lester in episode 4 - one, he's calmly watching the cops try to wedge a desk into the room and fail miserably,
two, he figures out the whole bit about the payphones and gets the pager number of D. And three, when he tells his back story to McNulty, after McNulty got the scoop on Lester from his partner, Bunk.

The problem with picking a favorite character in this show is that it's bloody impossible. Just when you think you've at least settled on someone not to like...*wham*...something happens to change your view of the character.

I'm noticing that. These characters are so well-drawn and complex. Also unlike most tv shows...it's a diverse, multi-racial, multi-size, age, realistic cast and not a bunch of pretty magazine cover models who all look alike and are all between the ages of 20-35.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

Also unlike most tv shows...it's a diverse, multi-racial, multi-size, age, realistic cast and not a bunch of pretty magazine cover models who all look alike and are all between the ages of 20-35.

I once read an interview with David Simon where he talked about casting Homicide. The studio asked him to cast some young, pretty, well-known actors. So he called them up and told them:
"We just cast one of the lead roles."
"Is he well known?"
"Yes."
"Who?"
"NED BEATTY."

:D

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

LOL!! I love it.

Simon likes to reuse people - he hired Melissa Leo, and then cast her again apparently in Treme.

Loved the cast of Homicide. Yaphett Koto, Andre Braugher, Melissa Leo, Reed Diamond (he was pretty), Ned Beatty, and several others I'm drawing a blank.

Casting is about 50% of it. Hill Street Blues had good casting as did St. Elsewhere, MASH, and Game of Thrones does. The Wire has excellent casting.