The Wire Season 5

Why I bought it: I didn't, but I still felt it merited logging.

Thoughts: I accomplished my goal. I watched 12 straight episodes between last night and today and saved the series finale for tonight. Rather than focusing on kids, this season focused on a newsroom. This, I thought, was a strange call, but the brutality and death featured in this season did its part in making up for the weaker B story. Also, the plot revolving around McNulty in this season is ridiculous. For a series that I assume prided itself on realism, that shit was as surreal as it gets. Still, the characters sold it and made this season great. After completing the series, I can say that The Wire deserves the admiration it receives, but I can also say that this is the most unsatisfying TV show I have ever watched. After 5 seasons of this, I can say that there were no less than 20 things that I really wanted to happen by the end of the series and that not one of them came to fruition. Of the 20, there was 1 thing in particular that I wanted to see happen. And just as a final fuck you, the exact opposite thing happened. This is the most depressing TV show I have ever seen and I don't think I will be able to watch it again. It gave me nightmares and fits of anger. It's a show that will stick with me for a long time, but in this case, I'm not sure that's a good thing. However, I do think it's something everyone should experience.

Should I have bought it: I'm glad I don't own it because I don't think I could handle another time through. TV shows have the opportunity to affect you in a way movies do not because you have so much time to get to know the characters. The Wire takes full advantage of that.