The Wire -Episode 4 - Old Cases
Jun. 14th, 2011 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatBriefly...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.
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.
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Date: 2011-06-15 06:38 pm (UTC)Strangely (or not at all given the nature of the Wire)though, for me the outstanding characters really are some of the "bad guys". They stay with me and even after three rewatches there's always something new to catch, a new light on them, a little trait, a new depth or something else that messes with my previously established order amongst favourites.
Seems to me you're now firmly engaged on the road of addiction. Waits patiently for you.:-)