11 June - Wire & Hanging up

Toph had bought the complete set of the Wire because he kept reading this is the best series ever, even better than the Sopranos (oh no it isn’t). So we watched 3 ep. in one go and are surprised by the accolades. Toph keeps saying it’s really slow and I say yes, that’s why people like it, it’s counter to all that fast stuff, plus I think Prison Break was slow (though can’t say as never watched more than 1ep.), the Sopranos had long contemplative bits but yes, these are stretched further still. The following evening we try ep .4, still don’t like it but there’s satisfaction in getting to know the characters and watching for what the makers are trying to achieve. So of course it is surprising when the following evening Toph says shall we try ep. 5?

What?? You’re getting drawn in whether you want or not I tell him. Sort of reluctantly we’re up to ep. 8. Though am tempted to look at the remaining 5 ep. titles as they give you a clue in the title right? We’re suspecting bent cops in the pay of the crims. That much is clear but the chief bent cop suspect would be too easy to identify of course so we must work out what else is going to happen. Is this the right way to watch series or should you abandon second guessing as it may all be Twin Peaks in the end ie shit (in terms of plot?)

A quick look at the official site reveals just that; series one will leave us with chief crim not caught. HA! I knew it. A quick read of next 4 series’ outlines reveals they’ll follow various other characters in other directions (and prob. still don’t get chief crim and I’ll find it all very unsatisfying so am not going to bother. As they say in the show ‘Am not feeling it’ (if I was in any doubt about where this all ‘Are you feeling me’ shit has come from, well, now I know. Such a shame that they all start off well (Lost, Heroes, 24) and then it gets stretched too thin to hold the attention of an older person. Back to books it is.

Though cutting lose at series 5 is probably not too long? I think the natural end would be series 3 for most, but I can see the networks leaning on the producers/writers to exploit the cash cow just a little bit further still and everyone has new cars to buy, houses to renovate and it’s easy to say yes but then scramble around for plot. If you go on long enough, say to series 12, you can rehash previous plots endlessly (they must do that in all those other things like casualty, the bill , ER etc) and nobody much cares? It’s like life which repeats itself and so does the life of your friends so expecting something new from TV is a bit much perhaps. Ultimately maybe people just watch for the characters/actor but that Dominic West doesn’t do it for me and none of the others either…. Nah, me and the Wire didn’t last long. Like watching paint dry...