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Originally Posted by Severian

The Wire season 2. I still don’t entirely get the “best-show-of-all-time” praise. Fine show though. I guess.

it's about realism, not escapism, and about how the world *really* works. it's nearly a documentary, but with characters instead of "real" people, drama, and frequent comedic relief.

maybe that's not your thing, and that's okay. everyone has their preferences.

i'm not normally for psychological realism, which is what american fiction is mostly about: the individual, their petty troubles, their morality, the me me me me me... this is mostly boring (to me, lol) as a premise. not always though. mad men for example was about psychology and morality (lies). and sopranos was bigger, it was about psychology (the mother) and morality (crime) but also more broadly about ethnicity and culture/subculture and assimilation, which gave it a social edge. and breaking bad, again, was mostly about psychology and morality: walt, jesse, skyler, mike, gus, hank, saul, etc... are based purely on psychology and they make moral choices that have clear consequences (too clear, perhaps).

but the wire is the sort of stuff that lukács theorized about, after what balzac wrote. it's about all sectors of society, and about how individuals fit into the larger mechanisms of things.

and yes, there are some great characters in it. in fact, almost too many. jimmy mcnulty and bunk moreland and omar little and stringer bell and prop joe and bunny colvin and lester freamon and bubbles and the fucking creepy marlo stansfield and kima and cedric and ronnie perlman and brother mouzone and bodie and naymond and his exploitative mom and shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitt, so many others, so many othersm burrell, nerese, rawls (lmfao), valchek... mr prezbo! hahaha. avon and d'angelo. cheese. the boxer guy. dukie and his friend what's his name. the banger girls what's her name... snoop? the disappearing homeless guy. the entire newspaper cast. the school principal that makes everyone shut up... the fucking greek! brrrrrr... mcnulty's wife and kids. kima's partner. the stripper. cedric's wife. omar's boricua boyfriend. omar's grandma! omar's blind banker, what's his name... it's an entire world, an entire city. cops, lawyers, judges, councilmembers. children... but these are not isolated characters in their "personality" bubbles. they inhabit a certain medium, and they affect (or fail to affect) each other through it. because here... the medium is the message, lol. it's the fucking medium that this is all about. the "environment". the connections, the institutions that shape them and their relationships.

ultimately the wire's greatest epiphanies are about the way that things all come together to make the world as it is-- like we're solving a big case trying to find the culprit. no dragons, no wizards, no capes, no superanyone, no spaceships, no talismans or potions, no god, no miracles or deus ex-machina, no science fictions, no dazzing forensic technologies or bones or numbers, and most importantly, no goodies and baddies. only ordinary people in their ordinary places, coming together ordinarily to make the ordinary world we have, because of the systems we have, and the incentives and punishments we offer. and from this ordinary world, a genocidal horror emerges.

this sort of presentation is *extremely* unusual in american culture, because we are habitually brainwashed into focusing on our own individual lives, via the indoctrination of romantic comedies and hero tales. "me" culture. but the wire is something else. it's about the big "it", or the big "what", or the big "how". extremely groundbreaking for television. nothing else like it, before or since.

so "best of all time" in the sense of providing something unheard of in american culture, absolutely yes. it's in a category of its own. and we have enough--more than enough--of the rest. perhaps there are other more entertaining things out there: flashier, sexier, more thrilling, funnier, more addictive, with more tits and ass, more besutifully filmed... sure. but none are as good in showing what this one shows, and in such entertaining fashion.

i mean, few even dare try. social examination leads to marxism, lol, or so the big donors believe. big donors don't believe that society exists, they want "achievers", not "systems." 'merica! we have only individuals. be moral, and all will be good! hence the focus of television on "crime". crime is about morality, yes? and criminals will be caught! special units, crime scene investigators, genius detectives... all is well in the world when morality prevails. and so we are appeased with the illusion that immorality is under control. a little world is easy to control. catch the criminal, all is well again, order a pizza.

but the wire does a beautiful bait and switch! it says hey come here and look at this "crime" and be thrilled! drug people bad! let's catch them! but then it gives you police corruption, impunity, sociology, bureaucracy, "stats", perverse incentives, window dressing, political jockeying, epiphanies about the world, broad perspectives... and suddenly... who is the criminal? who is the bad one? how much moral choice do we have in our lives? what do you mean you aren't sure who are the goodies and who are the baddies anymore? what do you mean maybe the individual moral choice doesn't matter for society because always someone will fill that immoral role? what if the moral person gets punished and the immorals get the prizes? what??!!

so much better than the saccharine "lessons" and platitudes of the usual prime time "me" dramas.

now, this is not to say there's a lack of suspicion in american culture. we have plenty of paranoia, and conspiracy theories, and stoner logic about all sorts of things from antivaxx to morgellons to chemtrails. we live next to the x files cultural bubble.

but the xfiles and the conspiracy world always externalize the threat! it's always "them"--the aliens, the rich, the corrupt, the psychopaths. "they live" (funny movie). the body snatchers. not human!

nah nah nah... the wire reminds us that it's us collectively who are doing all the damage. and yes, immoral choices at the levers of power are responsible for much of that. but at the same time, those aren't reptile aliens: they are just us, occupying those positions, being sorted by the systems we have set up for ourselves. we demand that they do those things, or we fire them. we reward psychopaths and put them in power.

btw second season is my least favorite. otoh i believe it was demonrail's favorite. i get that "descent of the white working class" thing, and the outrageous bullshit of the replacement of productive industry with hipster gentrification as "economic development". but i just could not stand frank fucking sobotka and his perma-angry face hahahhahaha. he had just one damn facial expression.

 

the man is a good actor btw, i believe this was on purpose/by design. there really are people like that, lol. but whatever reasons they may have to be that way, i don't like them, haha.

anyway, on rewatch, his was a very good story. maybe the least sexy one of all the stories, but a very good one, and a key component of the larger whole. and on the ethnic/cultural aspect, to bring back to sopranos, slavo once said here something to the effect that the dispute between valchek and sobotka was true to the character of the slavic people, and he recognized them, hahahaha.

anyway, patience, this is just one of the many layers of the onion. much is yet to unfold and connect and make sense. all will be revealed. hang in there, if you can. if not, then it's just not for you, just move on guilt-free to something you like more ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

or, you know, just enjoy it, but if not as much, that is okay too.