The Wire - Am I There Yet?

So I started watching The Wire because everybody that has ever watched it seems to think it's one of the best TV shows ever. I am on episode 9 of season 1 right now but the show has not grabbed me. It's not that I don't like it, I do. I intend to finish the first season. I just don't find myself wanting to watch it obsessivley like I did Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones (I think I watched the first 3 seasons of Game of Thrones in about a week; I started watching The Wire over a month ago). I guess my question is when does The Wire "get good"? Was it immediately for most people or does the show "get good" in season 2 or later?

TL:DR - When does The Wire get good?

I have the exact same thing going on with The Wire myself (I'm on episode 6 of season 1, though, only difference). It's not a bad show, but it's not amazing either.

I also started watching it because of how lauded it is, and while I love going back to watch it because of when it was filmed (film technology is noticeably different when you watch anything pre 2008 or so) and I've always loved the way film used to looked over how it often does now. That's really neither here nor there, though. That's just my nerdy preferences =P

There was one really good scene that I really liked (involving the two detectives investigating the crime scene where they had no evidence to go off of besides the pictures of the body). Watching that scene was actually really awesome. It felt like they studied and choreographed that scene to a T with professionals because it felt like watching someone who knows how to do something do it with a relative confidence that is always awesome to watch. It gave me the chills you get when you get to witness something like that. It was really good.

I also really like when they talk about the technology they're using as opposed to high end technology that the FBI was using and the politics of the time around certain priorities. I actually do find that stuff fascinating and nostalgic to watch. It brings me back to when I was in the Army- we had a similar problem where all our tech was decades old and we just had to make do. And on top of that having to shift priorities with the whole war on terrorism and then Iraq.

But, other than that it's mostly just Boston (edit correction: Baltimore) police work (with a lead actor who's clearly not American but trying really hard to do an American accent).

I do also like the portrayal, so far, of the gang they're investigating in Season 1. Having grown up in Los Angeles myself I can actually relate to a lot around how that is portrayed and know some of that stuff first hand is actually legit. The acting is also solid all around when it comes to those guys, and I super appreciate the characterizations because they are believable for me.

So, ya I'm in a similar place as you, OP. I find little sprinkles of real genius in the show here and there, but the majority of it is just another cop show. I'm really curious what it is that makes people love this show so much. A lot of it, from my understanding though, has to do with how they portray Boston (edit correction: Baltimore- not sure why I mix these places up) and the people who live there. I don't know much more than that.

The show is alright, though. I'll definitely keep watching it.

If it hasn't clicked with you by episode 9, it might not be for you. My wife and I both felt that it was a little slow at the beginning, but after 3 episodes, we were hooked. I think part of the show's appeal is that from season to season, the themes can shift dramatically while the characters and overarching story remain the same. It's a really unique, interesting show - and if you like gritty, realistic cop dramas it is definitely one of the best. Since you're already 9 episodes in, you might want to finish season 1 and start season 2 to see if your feelings change. But if it hasn't grabbed you, then it hasn't grabbed you.

I'd say wrap up season 1 and see if you still like it. It is one of those shows where it hasn't really aged well even though it's set in early 2000's. I mean pagers and public phones? Do they still exist?

@i_stay_puft: I think those things are one of the reasons why the show is actually interesting to me haha

Having not seen it before now, myself, I feel the technology is one of the better parts of the show.

Also, yes they do still exist but they're just not as big or useful. There's a pay phone, for example, just down the street from my house, but it's been broken for a few years and no one cares =P

It's in Baltimore. ;)

And I'd agree that the show can be tough to get into. My first attempt at watching was via Netflix mail - one disc at a time. I gave up because it was inconvenient and time-consuming, and I didn't go back until Amazon Prime got it on their streaming service. I've watched the entire series twice now, and I am definitely one of those "it's the best show ever made" people.

@i_stay_puft: Hasn't aged well because it has pagers in first season????

@baconhound: Oh, right. Sorry. Baltimore.

Sounds like you just went in with too high expectations. It's also sort of a product of its time, and these high-end TV shows have grown a lot since then.

You watch the show primarily for McNulty though. He's the Mr. Bean of Baltimore cops.

Oh, right. Baltimore ;(

I would say that it's probably worth watching to the end of Season 1 since there's only 4 episodes left.

If you don't like, or at least find yourself interested in, the characters, then a lot of what makes the show great is going to be lost on you. The only thing that might turn it around is that the stories wrap up in a way that makes you interested in the characters, so maybe it's worth taking it to the end of the first season.

It's a really different kettle of fish to Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones though. Those shows are all about plot. The Wire is way more about the way characters interact with each other, and building a really detailed picture of a community and how it affects and is affected by the people in it. That's not to say that "plot" isn't an important part of it as well, but it's a lot less about people reacting to situations, and more about the situation in itself. Basically, if that's the kind of experience you're looking for, you probably won't find that in the Wire.

@i_stay_puft said:

It's funny you say that because, to me, he's the worst character in the show haha

(edit: but again I'm only on episode 6 so maybe he... gets better?)

I was hooked from episode 1, but if the show's not for you then it's not for you. I'd say watch up to some of season 2 though. A lot changes from season to season. No two seasons focus on the same theme and major characters in one season become minor characters the next. It's a really different beast from a lot of other big TV shows in my opinion.

You might as well finish the first season. But if it hasn't clicked after that, you probably won't like the rest of the series either.

It starts good, is good the whole way through and then ends good. Also the soundtrack album is really fucking good.

Each season does tend to have its own major theme so there is a chance you may prefer another season more than the first. Or you may just have terrible taste, who knows?

Srsly, I do think you do need to be in the right mood for it. I wouldn't necessarily think of it as pure entertainment in the same way that something like Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones is; that's not what The Wire is trying to be.

Maybe it might not be for you. I personally liked it for its fairly accurate portrayal of life in Baltimore. The first 3 seasons are the strongest with the 3rd season being my favorite.

Personally it's one of my favorite TV shows of all time and I am not into police procedurals normally. Having said that it was definitely a slow burn for me but that should speak to the drama of the plot that an hour long episode can be so mentally exhausting. I feel like the fact that it is set in Baltimore makes it even more fascinating. They're like on the door step on the nation's capital and yet they go to so many lengths to make it look like the shadiest place in the world. Makes me think about the virtues of a capitalist society that are being exploited and abused by drug lords and politicians alike. There's nothing more American than criminals apparently.

It helps that the acting and dialogue is pretty awesome most of the time. The ways some characters die are usually pretty interesting. Not much if any sort of musical score would make it hard to pay attention when there are long scenes of low key ambient noise. I don't know man if it hasn't hooked you by now it might not be your thing. I say at least get to the first episode of season 2 or drop it.

Check out Oz... a little bit of wonky camera in the first season, but man... you're hooked from early on... It's almost hard to explain how fast you connected to some characters in that show

The show is largely about character development, with a backdrop of city politics from the ground up. It is a show that benefits most from watching characters develop. If you don't like the characters, don't watch the show. If you like spending time with the characters but don't feel like the show is grabbing you yet, keep watching.

Comparing it to Breaking Bad or Game of Thrones is unfair in that you are comparing their 'propulsiveness' and how 'exciting' they are. The Wire doesn't attempt to do the same things, in terms of storytelling methods, as these shows. It is much more subdued, and isn't trying to keep you hanging every episode. BB and GoT episodes are like chapters in a thriller novel, whereas the breaks between The Wire episodes are like when a storyteller stops to light a cigarette or take a sip of his or her drink: the breaks don't feel like they are there as storytelling beats, they feel like they naturalistically exist as a requirement of the medium. The show is therefore less immediately propulsive or exciting than BB and GoT.

One method isn't better than the other, and The Wire isn't a 'better' show because it tells its stories differently, it's just a fact that they are different. Again, if you like spending time the characters in The Wire, keep watching. It's one of the most rewarding experiences in television.

And yes, shit goes DOWN if that's what you're waiting for. Season three is when things get really crazy and bodies really start piling up.

The Wire is staggeringly good. An unmatched achievement in television. Breaking Bad and GoT etc. just aren't even close to matching it.

But, I can totally get why people wouldn't be able to see what all the fuss is about.

I consider season 4 to be the greatest achievement in television I have ever seen, but to each their own :). It's interesting to watch each season since they all approach different themes and to see how the show shakes things up.

I felt similarly with season 1; just felt like a slog. I don't know if I just got used to the way the show progresses or what but at some point I just couldn't stop watching. The characters are amazing. The themes are intricate and engrossing. Also, as a life-long Baltimoron it was good to see an unabashed portrayal of the city I love/hate. There is no sugar-coating here; David Simon was a reporter here for years and he knows all the city's secret shames and also has an eye for why we're all still loyal to it. This city breaks my goddamn heart constantly, and yet I'm proud of it. Stockholm Syndrome most likely...

Anyway season 2 is so much better than the first, with a real barn-burner of an ending. I highly recommend this show to everyone, even people that aren't that in to it at first. Omar is THE SHIT.

There are very very very few whiz bang attention grabber episodes of that show. It's primarily dedicated to accurate world building and nuanced characterization. It IS one of the best TV shows ever created. That's purely fact. Still, I was bored to tears through most of that first season and only stuck with it out of obligation to a friend. I can't say for certain when it gets "good" because it's all really good. I just know that it felt like a run of the mill police procedural right up until the moment it didn't. I've seen the entire series three or four times now and still occasionally toss on an episode at random.

If you don't like it, you're probably not missing anything or watching it wrong. It might not be for you and it most certainly was of a time and place slightly behind when it originally aired.

I had a similar issue when I watched The Sopranos a couple months ago (for the very firs time). It was good, but I enjoyed Mad Men and Breaking Bad more. And there in lies the problem. If I had watched The Sopranos in 1999 when it was released, it probably would've blown my mind. Same with you and The Wire. In 2002, I bet The Wire was an incredible TV (I haven't seen it), but since then, a lot of incredible TV shows have come out. So anyone who missed these early trend setters for riveting TV shows, might not be all that impressed.

The thing about The Wire is that each season is a build up to a thing that happens towards the end and ill you have the whole picture it's hard to say whether you'll love it or just like it.

Also I'd say seasons 2, 3, and particularly 4 are the most highly revered ones. Season 1 is just kinda setting the table for later.

If you don't like season 1 of the Wire you probably aren't going to like the other seasons. After watching the whole of the show about a year ago I found the first season to be the best part of the show. The structure they build basically falls apart very quickly as the show goes on. While I liked it as a whole it is like a lot of shows: if the introduction period doesn't grab you, you're probably not going to like it.

I guess I agree that it sets the table but I found seasons 2 and 3 were nowhere near as interesting as what they built in season 1.

@lukeweizer: I watched for the first time in 2008. Still awesome. The Sopranos is just an OK show whose gimmick was being the first big premium cable show. The Wire's gimmick is being well-crafted.

I thought the first few episodes of season 1 dragged a bit, but then I got pulled in. Only to be jarred by the shift of characters initially in season 2. Once I got the hang of how it all fit together there was no turning back and it has been my favourite show since.

Just two weeks ago I had some time off, spend it all re watching The Wire for the 3rd time. Was totally not my plan but a random youtube video set something in my brain.

Everyone says the first season is the best and the second season is the worst... but honestly it did not grab me until season 2. I think the set up for season 2 is really interesting and it was something I felt you could only appreciate after you get through season one. I know that's kinda vague, but you know... spoilers!

I'd say wait till you are a few into season 2. I'm sure The Wire isn't for everyone, but damn... to me it is leaps and bounds above everything else.

I watched the pilot of the Wire maybe three times in different moments in life until it really grabbed me. Once it did though, it became (and remains) one of my favorite works of art ever.

Don't go into it expecting the thrill of Breaking Bad, it won't have cliffhangers, no exciting montages, etc... It's pace is much more alike to reading a book, it takes its time to tell really complicated themes.

Maybe you're not in the mindset for it right now, just like I wasn't when I first tried it. You might as well finish the first season now, but I wouldn't push myself to watch it if I wasn't enjoying it. A rewatch down the road would be much more recommended.

I can see that. But for me the second season was where it really clicked. I liked how it grew from a cop and drug dealer show to a show that looked at a bunch of aspects of life in a city, and I felt it only got better at delivering really impactful moments as seasons went on and the characters and setting got more fleshed out and the whole thing had more... depth and/or history to it.

While I liked the increased scope of the show I just felt that it got away from what made the first season compelling. It certainly still ranks higher than a majority of TV.

Man HBO really had some great stuff, both Oz and The Wire are on my top shows list for sure.

So I think it took me maybe 5 or so episodes to 'get into it'. I think it's the point when you know enough of the characters to be able to follow what is happening.

Good to hear that you plan to finish Season One. It doesn't need to be 'the greatest thing you have ever seen' for you to give Season 2 a shot further down the line if you have the inclination to. I would recommend keeping with it, even if it's not a priority.

I didn't really get addicted to Breaking Bad until Gus was introduced, and then I loved it.

I'm of the belief that if the first scene of the first episode didn't immediately hook you for life you're a weirdo. But I was also 13 when the show premiered, made sure to watch it every week and re-watch each prior episode of the series before every new season, and was basically raised on that show / heavily influenced on my social and political beliefs by that show.

It's less a show I enjoyed, more a foundational pillar of my humanity. So I'm biased.

Yeah comparing The Wire to Breaking Bad or GoT is definitely starting yourself on the wrong foot. Breaking Bad is more or less the TV equivalent of a summer popcorn flick. It's an often cartoony, fast paced blockbuster and a portrait of a single character (and it's great). Game of Thrones is also a blockbuster, in a different way. It leans heavily on plot twists and gratuitous violence and sex to keep people engaged in what is otherwise a quiet, dialogue heavy show (and it's great). The Wire is an entirely different beast (and it's great).

It shares a connection to Breaking Bad in that it has elements of a crime drama, and it shares a connection to GoT in its large ensemble and focus on complex interpersonal relationships. That's more or less it, and you have to approach it with different expectations. The Wire is a very slow burn, presented in a relatively realistic, blunt, often harsh style. It slowly zooms out over time to give you a more and more comprehensive look at how deeply its vision of Baltimore is affected by the drug trade. It presents a huge, complex web of crime that encompasses all walks of life. If that sounds appealing to you there's a good chance you'll dig The Wire the deeper you get into it. But you do need to be in for a pretty specific kind of entertainment, so it totally makes sense if you still don't want to watch.

The Wire is good right from the start. Absolutely fantastic series. Easily in the running for greatest of all-time.

Stick with season one but if it hasn't grabbed you by the end then, personally, I'd move on to another show.

I think The Wire is the second greatest TV show ever made but different strokes (The Wire's even better than Different Strokes) for different folks etc.

@ares42: Wait, what are the modern shows which are meant to be better than The Wire? If you say Breaking Bad I'll cut myself. Never have I been more disappointed with a TV show I gave 2 whole seasons to grab me.

I didn't see The Wire when it was originally broadcast because I don't think it was broadcast in the UK, or if it was it ended up on some obscure satellite channel that nobody had. But eventually the BBC picked it up in around 2008 or 2009 and showed 5 episodes a week (Mon-Fri) and I was utterly hooked. I wouldn't say instantly hooked because the first episode I felt a bit over-whelmed, I struggled with the accents of a lot of the street kids and had problems remembering which character had which name because there were so many of them introduced all at once. But as someone else said above by about the 3rd episode it had all clicked in to place for me. I could tell which one was Herc and which one Carver, and I quickly became invested in those characters. And one of the biggest characters you came to love was the city of Baltimore itself, warts and all.

Maybe The Wire is of its time but I really don't want to believe that. It felt like a TV show that treated you like an adult. It was like watching a book almost, it was dense, you really had to pay attention to follow it. It wasn't a show designed for you to livetweet #RainsofCastamere during it and I'd like to think there's still room for something like that alongside more light stuff. And don't get me wrong, I enjoy those shows too. But it was a show that demands your attention and if you give it what it asks then it rewards you tenfold. In that sense it felt a lot like the BBC version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, and another 1980s British TV show, Edge of Darkness (which was made in to a shitty Mel Gibson film in the '00s).

As for the tech in the show being out-dated, eh. I don't think that distracts from anything anymore than a lack of mobile phones hampers The Godfather. It's a show set in '00s Baltimore. If it was set in 2015 Baltimore then it'd look set but it's not so I don't see how that could be a problem.

Its a show you really have to stick with. Somewhere down the line it really grabs you, and you didnt even know it happened. Typically I feel you should watch something when its out to really understand and appreciate it. Older/dated stuff usually taints the quality and perception of the material. I watched it for the first time a 4-5 years ago and still walked away feeling it was one of the best shows ever made. Its an odd show though. Its not overly dramatized. The plots arent insane, or trying too hard to be something, or leaving you with crazy cliff hangers at the end of every episode. The chars are just very real people in real situations. I ended up loving it, and respecting it in an artistic fashion for that. The show has been called a love letter to Baltimore, and thats what it really is.

It's a very different format than most TV shows.

I loved it from minute 1 myself, but the popular analysis is that The Wire is structure like a novel. Individual episodes (chapters) very rarely have their own arcs and plots, unlike the vast majority of all TV shows. And as others have mentioned there's very little that is bombastic and sexy in this show, again, that is diametrically opposed to how most TV shows are made. The Wire doesn't give a fuck about good looking babes, nice shots of scenery or fancy montages with ultra violence in them and in general is slower and more sober.

I'd say that The Wire is more like Civilization vs Breaking Bad being a Call of Duty type. One is about slow, long payoff, the other is about moment to moment satisfaction with some long term hooks.

@obikwiet: Once I realized that it is a very deliberately slow paced show that is supposed to have large servings of mundane ice cream, I actually started enjoying it more. Mind you I stopped halfway through season 2 and I haven't gone back, so take that for whatever it's worth.

I came here to mention this scene in particular. All these years later and it still sticks out as one of the best ever. Plus there is only 1 word of dialogue between the 2 characters.

Also this show introduced me to Idris Elba which led me to BBCs Luther which Ill be forever grateful.

@forkboy: I'm not saying there are better shows, but the budgets and cinematography for these kinda series has changed quite drastically. What we're seeing these days are getting closer and closer to full movie productions. When The Wire came out it broke new ground, but since then the boundries have been pushed much further.

Season 1 episode 1.

If you don't like Season one you DEFINITELY won't be watching season 2. DOCKS. STEVEDORES. FEEL THE EXCITEMENT!

I'm finally doing the same. I'm on Season 2 right now. I love it, I think it's one of the best shows I've ever seen - but at the same time, it definitely does not inspire "binging" or excitement in the same way that BB did or GoT does. It's just a slow burn, a portrait of the characters (and even more so, the city). I'm enjoying making my way through it at a leisurely pace, but if you're not feeling it in the first season it definitely doesn't really "pick up" and become an action serial in season 2, so it just might not be for you. That's totally cool, too! I feel that way about the Sopranos - just never clicked for me, whereas everyone describes it as one of the best shows of all time.

Yup, that's the scene that really sold me. One of the best scenes I can think of in television, it just encapsulates everything so perfectly.

I was hooked fairly early in. The Wire has some of the best written characters ever put to any medium. It's not about the spectacle, it's about the minute to minute minutiae of the lives of people in a fucked up city.

I watched it awhile back, and I never could figure out why people thought it was so great. It's fine, and there are things I liked about it, but overall I was just uninterested/bored a lot. I get that people say it's a pretty accurate portrayal of real life in Baltimore, but maybe that was my problem. I don't want to watch TV/movies to see real life. I watch TV/movies to get away from real life.

I thought it was addictive from the get go,although it does get kinda boring in the second season.

I would say that you are past the point where it gets good.

Side note: I think Breaking Bad sucks.

This is kind of a weird thing to say. It is a product of it's time just like any other movie or show that wasn't made in the present.

Do you watch a period movie and don't think it holds up because there are no cars? Do you watch a movie made in the 70's and don't think it holds up because they don't have the internet?