And just like that, it's over. The final montage is one of the most emotional moments I've seen on TV, not because it wraps anything up in a nice bow (or ribbon) but because it restates its general thesis: life is cyclical, and life just goes on. It's the kind of show you never want to see end, really.
Season 5 has some issues with how far off the deep end characters go in making up bullshit but I'll be damned if it isn't close to the best season. It's not a perfect season of TV (unlike, say, Season 2), but it is a perfect season of The Wire.
Final thoughts;
Fuck Cheese.
Fuck Scott.
Fuck Herc right up his ass.
Poor Dukie.
Go Bubs.
"That was for Joe." ~ I love you, Slim Charles. Right up there with Daniels, Bunny, Omar, Kima, Cutty and Bunk as one of the most respectable characters in the show (damn, the list could go on, for a show about moral grey areas there were a lot of shining stars).
Sydnor as the new McNulty and Michael as the new Omar are both threads I wish could get explored more. Sydnor was an underdeveloped character but he had potential and showed signs of being good po-lice. Michael's arc is one of the most complete runs in the show, and carrying on the torch of Omar is drama I desperately want to see. Oh well, The Wire: the Movie dies in my dreams, I guess.
Best episode of the show. One of the best episodes of television, period.
The most endearing moment of the entire series may when Avon agrees to pay for Cutty's boxing equipment. An insignificant but very sincere moment. It also highlights the underlying difference between Barksdale and Bell: Avon is putting money back into the community, Stringer is only focused on getting it out. Not that Avon's motives are completely altruistic but maybe he was the better dude.
That's a fucked up way to begin an episode.
20 years later and Gillian Anderson is still responsible for giving boys everywhere happy dreams.
There's no way Tony is under 18.
Goddamn, now that was an episode of TV. Holy hell.
FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF Courtnety, she sucks so much,
I have a hard time imagining the show gets any better from here.
A perfect episode of TV. Todd pulled this one off.
Over eleven hours of build to the point where the relationship between the quartet really shows its wide fractures.
Naymond gets bitchslapped the way he deserves for picking on Dookie but he is brought immediately to tears. His tough guy/bully persona has worn completely thin.
Michael gets kicked out of the gym - possibly the last refuge from the harsh conditions of his - for sticking up for a friend and putting and end to some needless abuse. His entire character arc may be the show's greatest tragedy because he's capable of so much more but the game has nurtured instead of any of the proper systems ( Michael, not Naymond, should be the one in Colvin's program, he needs that mentor-ship from a positive source instead of getting it from Chris).
Randy is a pariah for doing literally nothing.
And Dookie. Poor Dookie, he's the one who deserved to be adopted (man fuck Naymond) and instead, he's destined to be the new Sharrod. :(
Log lady is alive and well, y'all. Phew!
Very little doubt left in me telling me this is better than Breaking Bad.
Intriguing, very intriguing, although I wish I could get a show about teenagers who didn't worship at the alter of old media (maps, tapes, much retro, so old, wow)
Those were some nice tits.
Who cares if Aziz's parent's aren't good actors, the show uses them to great effect and squeezes some very sincere emotion out of them.
Fuck me, I was not prepared for such a heavy episode - maybe the heaviest episode so far. Basically a season finale worth of content, not sure how the show goes forward from here with 15 episodes left. Gee.
Yo they finally fixed Rob Lowe's hair
Jason Bateman's facial expressions are a thing of beauty. Some of the finest face acting on Netflix.
Stringer Bell is crooked as hell but there's something about watching him legitimise himself that's genuine. "No more hiding, this is in our own name." He's made it.
I denounce God and shift my allegiance to Frasier.
Maybe the most rewarding show on TV at the moment, never fails to entertain me with its ingenious concepts.
Gotta give it points for opening all the lies and throwing them on the table for all to ponder over. It's rare for TV to solve dilemmas like these with actual honesty instead of added melodramatic conceits.
Shame the rest of the episode is full of melodrama of a different kind (traffic accidents, missing kids, drowning).
"She said her pussy hurt from where you grabbed it".
In an earlier episode, Swearengen was quoted as calling some people "bad hombres."
Is Donald Trump literally ripping quotes from Al fucking Swearengen?
Fuck me, that's television at its best.
Most overrated show on TV.
It's beginning to dawn on me that Season 5 works as a meta commentary on TV and as a bit of an indictment on its own audience, or lack thereof. "What's that, nobody's watching? What do people want from a cop show then? I know: serial killers!"
The theme of the cold open to Season 5 was, "this is America, people will believe what they're told."
Here we see our new paper boy, Scott, and old familiar McNulty, both making their stories up. Tall tales is what this season is all about. Bring it on.
Amazing until the end. Maybe not as compelling as Season 1 but the actual investigation goes so much deeper, it's rich and rewarding watching Sergei go down and seeing Bunk and Freamon clear the 14 murders. Satisfying as hell TV.
