Very Well Put
Posted by TFG on February 27th, 2008
Omar is Dead, and Life as We Know It Seems Drab and Barren
Amen, brother, amen. I purely hate to see Omar gone. I was just thinking, when Omar walked into that store, that if Omar didn’t make it out of this season alive, it would be at the deadly hand of some shorty trying to make his bones, and he would never see it coming. Then, kaboom! It was kind of weird for me there for a couple of seconds.
I’ve got a strange relationship with The Wire. I watched it mostly off and occasionally on over the years, but I never really got into the whole thing. Too tangled up, too many plot lines, too many characters, the same problem with any five-year long serial for a newbie. But Pete was insistent, so I downloaded all the first four seasons, and watched them over the course of four weeks. It is, unquestionably, brilliant. I do, unquestionably, feel sorry for the dude who writes it. I have to wonder if there is even a single ray of happiness that has penetrated his soul. But like Cormac McCarthy, another world-renowned nihilist, I think the answer is Yes, and Simon’s just showing off. But my only point is, Damn that’s some dark shit. I think I would recommend that you take a little time to soak up all five seasons at a reasonable pace after this one’s over.
And I’m not sure that I’ll ever watch it again, but if I do, it’ll be from start to finish. It really is that well-done and deserves that level of attention.
February 28th, 2008 at 8:17 am
Boy, I hate to do “me too” comments and posts, but there it is. I got hooked on The Wire at the start, tried mightily to get everyone I knew on it and failed miserably. In the final analysis, I suspect that it beats the snot out of the Sopranos.
There is no way in hell McNulty (I don’t remember how to spell it.) is going to come out and stay a cop, though. And the media apologists that squawk about lack of reality in the faked-up, hyped-up, stories? Methinks they protest too much.
February 28th, 2008 at 10:36 am
I love it. Clearly the best show that’s ever been on TV. It is dark and unrelenting, but incredibly well done and not for folks who cannot maintain an attention span longer than 2 minutes. There are so many little plot threads that only get resolved episodes or even years later. I think it is too dark as Mr. Simon and friends seem to believe that everyone is completely corrupt, but that’s just me. I’m glad they are wrapping up because this year is way out there with the faked serial killer, the Stephen Glass-like reporter, illegal wiretaps, and now maybe Freamon looking to get paid. I sure hope that’s a setup for Senator Davis.
I have all the DVDs and have watched them a couple of times now. I may write a very long essay on the themes and threads, or not. On the other hand, the more I learn about him, the more I think David Simon is a world class butthole. But that’s a story for another day.
You can make a case that Omar was really the heart of the show, with the good, the bad, the ugly, the evil, the underclass, etc. He will be missed, but for goodness sake don’t put him on a pedastal for his few shreds of humanity. They do not adequately compensate for his murders and other miscellaneous mayhem with a shotgun, his drug dealing, or his perjury. Remember what Omar said about Bailey when he got killed? Well, the same applied to him. And given that McNulty is perhaps his biggest advocate, well, enough said. The Bunk had Omar pegged correctly.
Anyway, McNulty is telling far too many people for this to remain a secret much longer. In fact, telling anyone other than Freamon was a mistake.
But I digress.
February 28th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
whew, started off on this post and thought you were gonna go all negative on the show.
i just wanna say me too.
i don’t know that i’ve ever watched any show this gripping or real, per se.
February 28th, 2008 at 11:27 pm
You asked for my predictions earlier, and I don’t know that I have many, considering there are only two episodes left. One thing seems certain: Kima is going to fink to Rawls/Daniels about the whole thing. I was also thinking, as I watched the reaction of one of the FBI agents at Quantico, that they were going to try and make McNulty for the murders. It still might happen, but not if Kima brings the whole thing down.
I can’t believe there are only two episodes to go. And I’m glad my nagging had a positive effect.
February 29th, 2008 at 3:34 pm
And lest we forget, one of the all-time best theme songs, Tom Waits’ Down in the Hole. An excellent rendition by The Blind Boys of Alabama in Season 1, Mr Waits’ own perfect version in Season 2, a passable version by the Neville Brothers in Season 3, and utterly forgettable, unmelodic rap/techno craptastic versions in Seasons 4 and 5. That may be best reason to end this year, hard to make this tune less melodic or unlistenable than they have now.
By the way, the original song is off Tom Waits’ Frank’s Wild Years, which is in my top ten ever CD/album list for popular music. If you don’t have it, get it. You may have to listen to it a couple times to appreciate it, but the man can write and play some music.
February 29th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
utterly forgettable, unmelodic rap/techno craptastic versions in Seasons 4 and 5
I agree about Season 4, but that’s Steve Earle singing it this season.