Thursday, January 20, 2011

TV Review - The Wire, Season 1

To quote Kang*, "Holy flurking schnitt!" I'd heard how good The Wire was, but JFC, that was one good fing season. Wow.

If you don't know, the 1st season of The Wire follows a group of drug dealers and the cops trying to bring them down. It's like an episode of Law & Order, but more realistic (and without the "bong!" sound effect after the title). Just like in real life, the "good guys" have motivations beyond justice or keeping the peace -- they have bureaucratic issues to deal with and supervisors that are more concerned with arbitrary metrics than with doing the right thing**. Well-written, well-acted, with a large cast of fully-developed characters, it grabs you from the first episode and doesn't let go. Don't blame me if you don't get enough sleep for a few nights.

UPDATE: I was going to post this 10 days ago. Instead, I'm ass-deep in the 3rd season of The Wire. Reading this review is like reading a review of crack written by Tyrone Biggums. My lips are white and I'm shaking, I'm hooked. Next on the blog, which Wire character are you***?

* Or was it Kodos?
** As a former Citigroup employee, I have NO knowledge of management harping on arbitrary metrics instead of reality.
*** Hint: I used to be a Freamon, but now I worry that I'm a McNulty.

2 comments:

swcook said...

Damn you. I was just about to do this very same thing.

magpie said...

Yes!! So glad you are watching this. I think an email will have to follow this post.