I knew going into The Wire's first season that it was hardly the most acclaimed; the murmurs of 'greatest show of all time' sound like they didn't really appear until season 3 or so. I went back and read Stan and Marissa's posts on the first season (I didn't see one from Keith?) and they were reasonably positive while admitting the show was hyped too much. Marissa was more enthusiastic but also admitted Stan was watching with her, which makes sense- having someone to quickly answer questions about the show as you're watching can help make it more engaging than going in blind. I gave The Wire a few episodes with my undivided attention, but it just didn't do much for me and I spent the rest of the season pulling double-duty on my 3DS as the episodes played. I don't think this is a major fault of mine either- I did the same with Game of Thrones' first season (post coming soon) and was easily able to understand what was going on. The first season of The Wire however was pretty boring- it just felt like a very realistic season-long police procedural. Still though, I'll keep my hopes down for the much-maligned second season- perhaps I'll quickly push through that one soon, then take some time off to cleanse my palate before The Wire starts getting really good by season three.
I can't find any fault with your takeaway after one season, as it's more or less exactly the one I had, right down to the half-attentiveness I paid the latter parts. David Simon (the show's creator) considers the first season to be the weakest, adding that every further season built and expanded upon themes and character arcs that began here; there's a lot of set-up in Season 1, and while some great things happen, yes, the start-to-finish product doesn't really suck you right in the way GoT does.
ReplyDeleteI can't tell you or anyone else how to watch a show, but I'll offer a nugget of advice much like we often do for one another with video games, and it is simply to get invested. Once you're there, the show sucks you right in. But if you're stuck wondering who certain characters are, and how they connect, then conversations - which is what 90% of this show is - will be tough to follow. Take the time to get some name-to-face recognition and organizational hierarchy down pat, and you're all set. My half-watching (Internet surfing, not DS playing) ceased as Season 3 began, and man, am I glad I've had the opportunity to go back and watch Seasons 1 and 2 and enjoy them more a second time.
And yeah, Keith - why no Wire: Season 1 post? Aren't you post-hunting pretty hard right now? Retro-post that shit and let's give this show the Hall of Fame bump it deserves!
Ok, in preparation for The Wire's fifth and final season I decided to go back and rewatch the first four. It took a long time for me to really put all of the faces here with names, and figure out what each character's motivations are and how they related to others, so the first few seasons of The Wire really blended together and didn't do much for me the first time around. Now two seasons into a re-watch, I can say that it got much, much better. It didn't even require me to give it my undivided attention- I've been watching on my computer while playing GTA. Even the disappointing second season when the action moves away from the drug trade and into organized crime in Baltimore's dockyards, made for great television. So my recommendation to anyone struggling to get into this series, is to watch it twice.
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