This is an entry into the Virgin Diary I’ve been looking forward to for quite some time. I’ve heard for years now that The Wire was one of the best all time television shows, but I’d never taken the time to watch. That’s all going to change now, as this summer I’ll be covering at least the first two seasons. My goal is to tackle two episodes each Tuesday. As deep and complex as the show is said to be, there might be an entry or two that focuses on a single episode.
CliqueClack has offered up a Virgin Diary of The Wire before, authored by Beyond the Wall buddy Bob Degon. If you’re reading along with me, I’d also recommend following his take as well.
Episode 1, “The Target”
“Why’d you let him into the game?”
“Got to. It’s America, man.”
Believe it or not, I love getting dropped into a story in progress. The opening hour of The Wire had no “new show tricks,” excuses for some character to spout off a bunch of exposition for the benefit of the audience. Instead, we were thrown into a story with a bunch of different characters and, for the most part, had to suss out on our own who was who and what was what.
The downside to that approach, especially considering the depth of the characters and the story itself, is that it will take some time to really get one’s footing. Jimmy McNulty is obviously the lead. Did he know the shitstorm he was stirring up when he talked to Judge Phelan? I’d like to think so, that he was pushing buttons hoping to get a response, but it didn’t seem like he wanted to be on this particular detail. Is he a good cop with no clue of how the office politics game is played, or just one who doesn’t care about rocking the boat? We shall see.
Of all of the other characters introduced, I’m most interested in D’Angelo. He certainly went for a ride in this episode: being on trial for murder, to being released, then demoted, and then finally to seeing a man who testified against him murdered. Between that and the dressing down he received from Stringer for going easy on the druggies that scammed him, you can tell he’s got some type of problem with the life he’s leading. It will be interesting to follow that particular arc.
I’m watching the series via HBOGo, and I was more than a little surprised to see that it was displayed in 4:3 instead of 16:9. I know 2002 was about the time most of television was transitioning to widescreen and HD, but I would have figured HBO would have been ahead of that curve.
Dumb question for those guest start hunters like me: Was that Mary Mara playing the lawyer getting twisted up in court?
Episode 2, “The Detail”
“The Detail” was more about developing the story. The players and the sides are firming up, and I’ve got to say, there’s not a whole lot to like about the good guys. McNulty screws up often as not, between the drinking and his poor political decisions with the judge. The majority of cops on the detail are worse, exemplified by the light night visit to the Towers. How many different kinds of stupid were those guys?
At least Kima seems to have her head on straight. The scam with Bubbles and the hats was pretty smart, and she seems to have the confidence of Lt. Daniels. There also seems to be some mutual respect building between her and McNulty, which will probably last until she witnesses him falling down a hill drunk.
Something that was said in the first episode came back to me while watching D’Angelo take his child and girlfriend to his uncle’s party: How did this guy’s dominion grow so large without anyone in the Baltimore Police Department knowing about it? Is BPD that out of touch with what is going on in their town?
I did miss the allusions to 9/11 that were in the first episode. The FBI’s decision to divert resources to the War on Terror away from the War on Drugs will benefit Avon to the detriment of the Detail – not that the FBI and BPD seemed to be working that closely before. McNulty might have had a friend at the FBI Field Office, but he didn’t seem like a frequent visitor.
Daniels is a much smarter guy that I gave him credit for. I originally thought the Deputy Ops Commander was truly supporting the team, but Daniels’ conversation with his wife very succinctly spelled out all of the ways the situation was stacked against him. His wife Marla was whip-smart too, and I loved her spin on the classic turn of phrase with “you cannot lose if you don’t play” line.
Clacked by Ivey West 
on Jun 05, 2012 @ 15:30 EST5EDT
Yay! I’m excited that you’re watching this, and that you have “committed” to doing at least the first two seasons. They are so different, but they are both great. I think you may have to continue after watching the first two.
I agree with you that it takes a little while to become acclimated to the show’s “throw you in there” style and understand fully what’s going on. This is definitely not a show you can half-watch while playing on your computer or phone (which is what I’m sometimes guilty of). Every time I re-watch the series I pick up new things. Can’t wait to read more of your reactions.
I rewatched on the treadmill recently. It was at least as fun as the first. I think you will like it.
I watched this last year in the course of a couple months (exercising & lunches) via HBOGO … I think you’ll benefit from watching in more rapid succession since as you noted the charchters are deep and in addition there are so many little continuity pieces dropped into many of the episodes. By the way, each season deals with a different aspect of crime & corruption in Baltimore … My prediction is that you won’t stop at season 2 … :)
*POST AUTHOR*
Oh, I don’t plan on stopping at the end of Season 2, but unless I go through the episodes more quickly than 2 a week (for the purposes of this column), I’ll likely finish about the time the fall season premieres.