I think that Season 5 suffers from coming after season 4. It’s still brilliant televisione - the reporters story is super compelling and Scott’s desperate attempts to progress his career. Bubbles redemption arc is super important for the feeling the show leaves you with. McNulty’s spiral into self destruction. Marlo taking over the world and then losing it. Even Herc’s attempt at a new career is interesting. Carcetti, Daniel’s all going full circle and ending up no where.

My one criticism is the serial killer part irks me a bit - I feel like they push it to far. But I love Keema and Bunks reaction to it all - and what it takes to be good police.

Season 4 is stratospheric in terms of quality. Impossible to beat, but season 5 is still absolutely incredible.

Everyone loves Frank, but to me his relationship with his son was always something that damn near ruins him.

Just how responsible is Frank for the way Ziggy turned out? Because on the surface Ziggy looks like a helpless screwup, but he was actually pretty smart and tech-savvy, there is definitely potential in him, just outside of the docks. The Mercedes robbery got him in jail, but he also handled that pretty well (minus the showboating) before it blew up in his face.

What I'm getting at is that Ziggy is just Namond who never found his Bunny Colvin. Ziggy desperately tries to fit in to the docks, to be a real stevedore, but he can't. He should have gone to community college like his brother, he wasn't suited for that life, and I feel like that's where his father failed him - I believe that the neglect he faced from his father as he was growing up just made him want to be a dockworker more, to finally get his father's attention. I don't think Ziggy is a hopeless loser, I just see him as someone who desperately lacked his father's time and attention, who was constantly too busy with the union, dredging up the canal or whatever. If only he paid his son the attention he paid to the union, who knows where Ziggy might have ended up.

I can't help but blame Frank for the way Ziggy is, and I don't believe it's an uncommon theme, where supposedly great men fail at being a good parent. Anyways, I just feel bad for Ziggy, especially since he reminds me of a friend. David Simon said it himself, everyone knows a Ziggy.

Edit: grammar mistakes

Rewatching season three.

The boys from Hamsterdam who got robbed and are messing around on the face identification software with Herc.

I had totally forgotten about this gem of a throwaway line!

Amazing human story but low key moments of humor definitely keep the balance on The Wire.

In terms of muscle, I would think at the beginning of season one or maybe in late season 3 when Avon is tooling up for war with Marlo. In terms of the business/profit side, is it in early season 3 during the co-op period but before warring with Marlo? In terms of rep, has to be season 1, right?

Honestly, i see some similarities in those two characters. Like, they stay real with their own, no mater how much the game changes. Btw: just finished the wire, what a show.

Everyone asking how Marlo got territory without dropping bodies - nobody asking "Where's Wallace". You'd think there would be a question about missing players.

On my third re-watch now. I’m curious about the relationship between Bugs, Michael, and the father. I cannot remember if/when it states why Michael hates the father so much - was there some kind of abuse eluded to from the past that I’ve missed?

When Michael goes to Chris/Snoop to have the dad killed he’s asked “what’d he do?” and there’s a hard look between Michael and Chris without dialogue until Chris says he’ll do it. Could the silence mean that Chris gets it and/or that Chris was abused as well as a younger person?

Am I reading too much into this and/or did I miss some kind of explanation?

I’m on my 11th ish watch. It’s the best thing ever yada yada……however….. it’s not perfect. 3 things come to mind for now;

1) s2 Jonny goes out to score some more dope to top off. He gets arrested. He’s in court for possession “to wit cocaine”. They’re defo tooting smack, not smoking rocks.

2) s1 the quality of the heroin is bad, string says we gonna spike it with some procaine or caffeine. Why would they spike heroin with caffeine which is a stimulant, or procaine, which is used to bash up coke.

3) S2 early doors when string re ups and it gets dropped in a bag in the print shop; he pulls out one small bag, maybe 1/4-1/2 kilo max. And it’s in a bag, like powder. Not a brick. Even if that bag was full to the brim with bricks of smack that’s only a few kg. These are meant to be big time drug dealers. That bag would last a day, even with all the bash.