Gruesome scenes, Very dark and depressing at times. A police psychologist pursues a serial killer who tortures homosexual victims in increasingly gruesome ways. Simone Lahbib is a favorite UK actor, but if forced to choose in this series, I'd have to go with Green/ Norris. I just re-watched the entire series, and its amazing how well it still holds up. No worries. Couldnt resist, sorry. Awards I been expressing to folk since 2002 Ps. I wonder what were missing?. And while I tell everyone who will listen that this is the best show ever made I do feel Season 5 had some hokey yet prominent elements. Everyone who complanes about season 5 is just mourning. Surprisingly because i'm usually no fan at all of the serial-killer genre nor the kind of grisly imagery that this show always provides. Robson Green is a great talent, in spite of what his fellow Newcastleian had to say above. Its the best series ever I have been seeing quite a lot of this show on TV lately and i find it surprisingly entertaining. I was lucky enough to have a copy taped from BBC America (cheers, Mom!) All in all, you really gave us a lot to think about. Liz (Michelle Randolph) suffered a miscarriage in the finale, and it now seems she may be unable to have children again. He has a First off, really fantastic article. I am glad you landed Naymond softly but Randy getting beat down again in the group home then showing up for a second in season 5 STILL in a group home- couldnt Carver have at least followed through on ONE good intention and taken him out of that system?! For a mystery/suspense,thriller this show easily surpasses virtually all shows in the genre. "Wire in the Blood" is the story of Dr.Tony Hill (Robson Green), a slightly eccentric clinical psychologist who works part time with the police force of Bradford, England. WebRobson Green (Grantchester, Touching Evil) plays a clinical psychologist called in by the police to help investigate serial killers in this acclaimed mystery series based on the books by Val McDermid. Wow, I cant believe that went over my head too David. Though he shows remarkable insight into the actions of the violent and deranged, he also displays that phenomenal lack of social consciousness that is particular to geniuses and artists (as in "Yes, I just invented nuclear fission, but no, I didn't know I was supposed to wear socks and shoes to this award ceremony."). WebSeason 6. Over a television drama. I found it as an interesting way to dispel the notion that one given group of people is more inclined or indoctrinated to corruption and lies than the other, but also that in any given sector of a society, you will usually find it is those who know that very truth full and well, who perpetuate that lie, in order to make themselves feel better about their shortcomings. Omar and Prop Joe were the last good guys among the bad guys and both of them had to go down, while Snoop the Psycho Bitch who deserved at least a few weeks of good torture gets off easy with a single shot to the head. The systemic problems of the DMV are way too deep and the people in charge are way too invested in their petty self-interests to ever have it another way. I think the biggest problem with Season 5 is that the Sun people were kind of boring and so many of them were one note. Green's vulnerability, intensity and flexibilty in his craft is a complete pleasure. But inflated ego, ultimate smugness, etc? The hit NBC sitcom, The Office, is perhaps one of Peacock's most profitable titles. One last thing though .Duquan. I am your new lord sovereign of buried, latent, subtextual argument. Thank you for telling these stories. This show mattered and it still does. Not because I missed the point about your critique of the journalist world, I got that, but because you sacrificed some of your best characters to get your point across. Producer Chris Miller explains why. Anyway, remember that Colvins 14% were clean numbers (he didnt juke the stats) so 14% is a large increase if you look at it that way. But the rest of you blessed, scribbling souls? Great job started watching a lil when I was in like 4th or 5th grade before I really understood all of it but re watched it recently and its my favorite series. If you took out subjective arguments about popular entertainment, the nation would free up a lot of bandwidth and many repetitive stress injuries would be avoided. Green is, of course, the lead of the show and he is brilliant. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. No story is subject to referendum, at least not in my shop. Really, someone should have put it to Herc, you have to admit. Beautiful. Season 5 was great. Its a subjective matter that isnt worth a good argument, especially if, like me, you dont see the seasons as distinct but cumulative. In this sense, life-imitates-art just as art-imitates-life. Jack and Liz. This makes for some truly unusual and amusing situations, that help bring levity to the gruesome crimes he investigates. Having grown up on the southeast side of PG County inside the Beltway, I can tell you that The Wire was a hit right between the eyes. McNulty crossing the Rubicon with the fake serial-killer angle brought up an appropriate amount of conflict about the age-old Does the End Justify the Means question, but really, to have BOTH Greggs AND Herc sell him out?! The plot simply provided context and structure for socio-political criticism. Its tremendously unfortunate a potentially amazing show was turned into a cute little art project. That was thematic and no one commented on the argument, which I found disappointing. Brilliant! Whenever I watch it is like the whole world stops I am just focused on the TV. Carcetti seemed to both indirectly affirm the beliefs of the more racist/prejudiced white politicians that a white mayor who could possibly whiten up the administration, would weed out the corruption, and at the same time did his best to work with the black members of the citys congress, businesses, police force and school systems, etc. Lasher appears and asks her to stop and let him do her bidding. I may be the only one who remembers how he blew two critical moments in the Port case during season 2 all due to his general stupidity and self-centeredness- along with being responsible for Randys torment due Herc selling him out to find the camera he lost AND poor Bubbles getting brutalized on the street over and over for the exact same reason. But the fifth-season story arc began with a wonderful bit of adversarial reporting on deadline good, clean newspapering it was. BTW please make enough money to buy The Baltimore Sun and give it the love it so desperately needs. Not as cavalier as his "Touching Evil" series; his "Wire in the Blood" character of Tony Hill is much more reserved, quirky, and, being a criminal profiler, is more internalized with his processing of information. All 24 episodes are great! Love The Wire. Dr. Hill comes up with detail after detail about the perpetrator, without any more explanation of how he did it than Sylvia Browne, psychic, ever gives. Every cut back to that newsroom made me almost fast-forward save for not wanting to miss something that is important to the rest of the story. The school system has been teaching test questions to improve No Child Left Behind scores, and to protect the mayor politically and to validate a system that is failing to properly educate city children. David Simon, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun for thirteen years, is the executive producer of HBOs The Wire. I think it is, but Id like to hear your opinion on this. I'm a big fan of good,clever mystery. Not that your intention with this blog was to do that. We sucked. My husband watched this series on HBO, I must of been working. "Wire in the Blood" is the story of Dr.Tony Hill (Robson Green), a slightly eccentric clinical psychologist who works part time with the police force of Bradford, England. He has a reputation of taking small seemingly unconnected facts puzzling them together and providing a profile for the police to follow. I guess I will have to reflect on why I could easily accept Hamsterdam and not the phony killer. If season five didnt work for you, then it didnt work for you. Thinking back on Season 5, theres an interesting dynamic I think I picked up and just would like to know if it was intentional or if Im just reading too much into things. What is most unfortunate is that your scathing and accurate critique of Washington D.Cs left armpit (with PG County being its right) and really the entire D.C. area will always be written off as great entertainment and remembered as one of the best shows ever on television. But youre entitled to enjoy one thing more than another, and youre even entitled to wonder about a filmmakers or writers motivations and standing, whether or not you actually have any evidence of its relevance or not. . A moment for one I wondered what you thought of new local titles which seek subscriptions from the community as well as community involvement in their storytelling. 7.2 (359) Rate. Over the past five seasons it has consistently presented detailed Many found it hard to relate to or invest in. The bodies are then found in areas Then when people point out the garbage it becomes oh-so esoteric. A moment for one last question: Sure there was a fabulist and, yeah, he snatched the big prize. He has a reputation of taking small seemingly unconnected facts puzzling them together and providing a profile for the police to follow. And why would carcetti suddenly give them all the money? You dont like the last season of a television drama, feel free to venture an opinion. If I didnt know the show was set in Baltimore it just as easily could have been set in Lanham, Capitol Heights, District Heights, Temple Hills, Forestville. But Ill get back to the journalism angle momentarily. I started college as a J-student and later moved to English. Copyright 2018 David Simon. In series 1-3, Hermione Norris played Detective Inspecter/Chief Inspecter Carol Jordan of Bradford CID, who managed to rein Tony's scattered abilities and make sense of them. To argue about whether Whiting is more venal or one-dimensional than Valchek? We don't recommend this series. I found this series especially delightful because Robson Green's character lives within the confines of his own mind. If your a fan of the genre and have not yet discovered Dr.Tony Hill I recommend that you do. Why would he care about the homeless? I came late to The Wire, having heard many great things about it from others over the years. I fucking love this show. Really? I felt it was entirely too unrealistic and borderline offensive to the shows entire structure. Dont get me wrong, its great for you and the other writers/producers/actors/HBO- but even the best portrayal of life in the Charm City wont be enough to change anything. That being said, I think what was really being pointed out here, is that the sorts who were under the feeling that the blacks were ruining the city, more or less knew quite well that such levels of corruption in the legal bodies was not limited by race, as Season 5 shows, and that just like w/ many of the black characters, many of the white characters benefit professionally for their lies, cover-ups and stat-jukings. Brilliant series. Even as a child I remember sifting through the paper wondering what a presidential blowjob has to do with anything important. Thank you for such an amazing show. Another topic for another time, but dont wait on our news media to report it. David-I just finished the entire series in about a week. Has the city cleaned up. And being a refuge from a newsroom, I thought I was over my grief at the death of real journalism. Criminal Psychologist Tony Hill assists The Police with all manner of complex and disturbing crimes. I cant bring myself to use words like the worst, or the weakest, when duscussing a series that is so well written. I do honestly feel that way about the ending but telling you that personally (digitally, whatever) was completely asinine and unnecessary. True, the top editor had to get up on a desk amid the deluge of the internet and the declines in circulation and advertising. To have the city editor saying such things would have been, well, arch. What a way for a series to go out. i do not like hyped up shows, because of an innate sense of superiority which makes me believe than anything that other people like cannot be good. But what is particularly interesting is, aside from McNulty, many of the white characters in the season engage in almost the same amount and level of corrupted games as their black counterparts, in some cases moreso. But if we give upthen what? Thank you for your ridiculously worthwhile contributions to humanity. Both are similar, and both are very good. In closing, I missed you Mr. Simon, coming to do a panel at my school Washington State University in 2012 I think it was, because I had no idea about the show at that time. The finale was weak/unsatisfying: I feel that the people who express this opinion dont quite understand the type of storytelling that you were going for. I realize that this is ten years too late to be of any practical use, but I just thought Id throw it out there. In the annals of time, you documented as close to the reality of the DMV as you could get away with, its just too bad that people will always be calling it fiction., (*this is a better-edited version of my prior comment). However, of the many detective series that my wife and I have watched, British, French, Scandinavian, Icelantic, this series has the sickest, most graphic murders in every episode. I couldnt believe the level of writing and literary presence of this show. Note to the producers: Have Robbie Coltraine guest as "Cracker" character in a future episode assisting Hill and Jobson! Its admittedly easy enough, if you are writing a fictional television show, to sit in a diner booth or on a bar stool with a police lieutenant or an assistant principal, an assistant states attorney or a political functionary and have them tell you the good dirt, knowing as they do that fiction is a safe abstraction. I knew in my bones as he walked up to the convenience store something bad was going to happen. And again, great work on this terrific series; dont let the naysayers get to you on Season 5, I found it every bit as good as the previous 4. I found the season 2 a bit less interesting the first time, but I really dont know why, maybe because I was focused on characters like Avon etc, and the guys on the docks were less cool at first sight. Robson Green is incredibly impressive (and maybe a little bit scary) as eccentric psychological profiler Dr. Tony Hill, and Hermione Morris does a great job as tough DI Carol Jordan, a woman in what is still very much a man's world. There were still good journalists in our make-believe newsroom, and they did some good work just as there are still such souls in Baltimore and every city laboring in similar fashion and to similar result. I did enjoy everything else about Season 5. Its a subjective matter that isnt worth a good argument, . Its not garbage, they just dont get it. The biggest pisser-offers for me in the series were the assclowns in the police department who clearly dont give a shit about what actually happens to actual people. And, just like the black counterparts, almost all of them gain some level of career advancement, be it Rawls promotion to superintendent, Pearlmans to judge, Hurks ascension in the legal realm (admitably his is more honest than the others, since he wanted the same things McNulty and Freamon wanted, and he actually suffers the consequences of his mess-up in Season 4), Carcetti, Templeton, etc. ), [] own slashed staffs and cutbacks, leaving a major metropolitan newspaper that wound up as Simon acerbically noted at the time missing the whole []. you could give me! Well now, its been a week since The Wire s final episode and a certain calm has descended, leaving a little less agita and a little more reflection. Other than Breaking Bad. The Mermaids Singing: Part 1: Directed by Andrew Grieve. The story the music the acting is just so damn beautiful. I binged watch all 5 seasons, The Wire is the best tv series in tv history. I have an unanswered question about the ending and it appears as though there is (or should be) a sequel to this? I have to say I loved the Wire the first time I saw it. A few months ago I decided to give it a go and, as you can imagine, I fell in love. I think not. No television series has ever lived with me the way The Wire has. Incredible. For me, the series is not about the individual seasons. S6, Ep0. The third episode not quite as strong a story as the first two, perhaps has something to do with the fact that it was not based directly on the books of V. McD. Cmon, its okay to smile. And remember the part where you saw the lady outside selling snowballs, the postal carrier was able to deliver mail, people were outside hanging laundry so you could tell that the 14% drop was substantial in that district. Ok, maybe I can believe that McNulty would come up with a silly story to get the wire going, maybe, but Lester? This is really a two part TV series.. the first three seasons with Green and Norris.. bit.ly/1780gxl .. in the leads, and the second three with Green and Lahbib.. bit.ly/13Pgcqi .. In the end, Carcetti, despite being white, was not able to avoid the same trappings of stat-juking number games and political favoritism as his predecessor, Royce, or the mayor before that. Jordan is done in a tasteful way. In this case, our lead character is Dr. Tony Hill. It's quite dark, with just enough wit to keep you from falling over the edge into the great abyss. It was as good as I remembered and then some. We certainly expected more attention from the media. 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