The Wire, season 1, episode 5: just jump the 5!

I value few things in storytelling as much as I value the unexpected.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at http://www.quartertothree.com/fp/2017/05/23/wire-season-1-episode-5-just-jump-5/

That is one of my favorite things about David Simon’s work in general and this show in particular.

OMAR COMIN’!

Sorry Thom but it’s Bodie, not Brodie.

Like!

Hah, I love this part:

Finally, as I watch The Wire, I can feel draining from me the awareness that Idris Elba has a British accent. With each episode, that fact get more and more remote.

Not only because it’s true, but because I’ve been rewatching it along with you and I’m finding the opposite to be true of Dominic West.

When I first watched The Wire I’d never seen (or at least remembered) Elba or West in anything else, and it was a minor revelation to learn they both have English accents. As Elba’s profile in Hollywood rose, his natural accent quickly became the norm in my mind.

But watching it again, I’m impressed how there’s almost no trace of it in Elba’s performance here, and on the flip side noticing more and more instances where West’s accent comes through.

I noticed West’s accent was off right from the start. Funny, it seemed to get worse as the show went on. But at the time I had no idea Elba was British.

Aiden Gillen (Irish actor, also on Game Of Thrones) also did a good job with the American accent.

Reminds me of the True Blood cast with many Europeans playing Americans.

Wonder how many British shows set in British cities have a large amount of American actors playing Brits?

I’m looking forward to hearing him again on my re-watch, because I also didn’t know he wasn’t American when I first saw The Wire, but his accent has been all over the place in things I’ve seen since (including GoT).

The melody Omar whistles is also used for ‘A Hunting We Will Go’ :)

And now I have to start the wire again, after I finish my re-watch of friday night lights.

Wow, I don’t remember that exact shot from Terminator.

I think Tom’s nailed it on the head. It’s also why I’ve rewatched The Wire 3 times over the years. The characters are so human, and the interactions between them are so real, that repeated viewings are always rewarding. The importance of the plot fades away, leaving me to enjoy the brilliantly written, and acted, individual scenes. Also, in a show about drug dealing, addiction, urban decay, police brutality and the destruction of the American working class, it’s also pretty fucking funny. I was hooked from S01E01 when Bunk and McNulty were drinking whiskey by the train tracks and Bunk tells how he shot a mouse in his house with a service revolver. Then we see him at work the next day completely hungover. Classic.

I love how even Prez, who seems initially like a fairly one-note character, has an incredibly meaningful character arc–perhaps one of the best in the entire series.

Much better! Thanks, Banzai!

And just a reminder that I’m mostly skimming these threads, if even that, because I don’t want my spoilerphobia to interfere with any conversations that might happen.

-Tom

Or, why I love The Godfather.

I have the entire serie in bluray, and this post is making me want to watch it again.

I can see first images of the serie in my head, mcnulty talking with the kid about the murder, and how something that was normal for their no normal life turned dramatic.
I must resist!

Give in! At least rewatch season one as Tom goes through it!