Wallace....nooooooooooo!

Brutal. Wallace is dead. Shot by his best friends.

I'm pretty upset right now.

Wallace was the kid in all of us. One of those characters who makes you think those on the street aren't that bad. we fancy that we could be Wallace, we could handle the money. I could be on that sofa with D'angelo. He brought out the soft side of those around him too.

He played with the big boys - but deep down you knew he was innocent...too innocent. He certainly did bleed soda. Thing was he was clever, too clever to be in the game and we all knew it. Watching him you just wanted to scream 'get out!!', 'go to college', 'stay at your grans house', 'don't take smack'. But the lure of the game was too much for him.

In the end it was the fault of the Baltimore PD that killed him. They took their eyes off him and he had been tainted. There was only ever gunna be one outcome.

They go out for burgers and he's acting like a kid. The other two can see it, they know they have to step up. But you think Poon's gunna save him. He's his best mate for gods sake, but in the end it's alwways the closest to you who fuck you over. The moment you see the Tupac poster you know it's all over.
Still, i did almost shed a tear.

RIP Wallace

The Cost

Bubbles sits on a park bench, anxiously looking around. His face is scarred from years of heroin abuse, his complexion is flaky as is his state of mind. His fiddling fingers tell a story; he doesn't know what to do with himself. His playful, youthful self relates to the children playing in the sunshine, on the lush grass they laugh and blow bubbles (Bubbles' innocent-sounding name contrasts starkly with his well-worn appearence). Instead of the bullet firing guns used by the street crews they are playing with bubble-guns, harmlessly releasing streams of floating spheres of joy.
In another part of the park Bubbles' contemporaries hover around in dark clothing, moving shiftily, communicating with obtuse body language and hand gestures. A guy who could be Snoop Dogg walks past bubbles and greets him, pulling him out of his reflective daze. These people know Bubbles from years of hanging around the same streets but are they really his friends? The lure of the addiction is too much for him and there is no-one to turn to, the one person who promises to help him says she'll call tomorrow...if only she knew what would happen to her that night, she wouldn't have made a promise she couldn't keep.

Game Day

I thought Wallis would deal with shit in a sensible way but oooooh no, he's only gone and started takin drugs. Simultaneously my favourite character Bubbles is tryin to come off. He should watch Trainspotting!

Basketball match episode -Game Day- is wicked. Literally so much stuff happens. The way they turn D'Angelo's stripper girlfriend is so much like Adriana in Sopranos - though she's no where near as hot. The Wire is seriously lacking in any hot girls, a big dissapointment.

Pistol Whipping and Tucker Whacking

The opening camera shot of episode 6 'The Wire' is great - a crane shot panning up from Omars boyfriends dead body on a car bonnett. reminded me of that great shot in Jackie Brown where the crane pulls back from the car and then accross to the car park when some guy's in the boot - here's the one I mean.



Love how the music fades out and comes back in here, and it's always great to see Chris Tucker get made to shut the fuck up.

It's followed by Tarantino style long shot, following our young dealer around the house wakin his family up. My god I hat that one cop who looks like Quentin Tarantino - the one who pistol whipped the guy a few episodes ago. He's a cock.

This episode is definately the best so far - the battle between McNulty and the lard ass Homicide cops is fraught. Filled with conflicting priorities. People really want to piss McNulty off and hit their targets for arrests. It's a great power battle and of course McNulty wins out in the end.

Simultaneously our young kid drug dealer (Wallis) has internal wrangling over his responsibility for the death of Omars boy. The advice from D'angelo - "just let that shit go" "don't think about it". When they boast about their killings they mythologise them - turning them into stories so they don't have to deal with the reality of what they've done...

One inconsistency I spotted: When McNulty vistis the scene of the murder it's wet - for the rest of the episode it's stupidly hot!

Something funny: http://whatsontv.co.uk/blogs/tvspy/the-wire/premier-league-players-who-look-like-characters-from-the-wire/

The King is always the King

In my opinion one of the best Chess metaphors ever is in episode 2/3. When i saw the chess set I groaned, too often chess is used in a film as some kind of half arsed way of showing a character being intelligent, or to introduce a theme of tactics/strategy that will run in the film. Possibly the worst example of this is in Independence Day where Jeff Goldblum plays chess with his dad, as a not to subtle hint that the aliens are 'strategically' positioning their air craft.

Jeff Goldblum: It's like in chess: First, you strategically position your pieces and when the timing is right you strike.

wow. genius. (my favourite line: "What has unanimously been agreed as the front of these spaceships" is of course over Washington - the capitol of the USA.. american egos eh!) Not forgetting the classic heaven chess scene in Bill and Ted and in the finale of X-men.... anyway, there are so many examples of terrible chess moments in films (Bill Wall helpfully lists 1715 examples here). that I thought The Wire was loosing it. It turned out to be great, D'angelo proved his superior intelligence (on TV/films chess ALWAYS indicates intelligence) by knowing the rules (the others are using a chess set to play draughts), whilst also demonstrating the way the drug runners operate. I thought it was great.

Those asshole cops got what they deserved when they went into the projects at 2am, hehe, that was definately a highlight. While the drug dealers are playing chess, the police are behaving like thugs...

The Target - My First Episode

Wow! definately hooked after Episode 1. People told me it would take 3 episodes to get into but I was drawn in after the opening scene. The discussion on the steps introduces the way the show will go on - the meeting point of Law and Crime. The parrallels between the two words are there for all to see - internal politics, loyalties, incompetency...

I imagine the writers must have been crack addicts at one point. It's tempting to say 'it's so realistic' but having never sat off my tits on crack in a room consisting of a mattress and some broken plaster, I can't really.

Not sure if I like our main protagonist yet, I'm sure I'll get to know him pretty well, I'll keep you updated on that one.

Episode Highlight: "Money be Green"

The Start

OKay so I'm going to watch The Wire. From the beginning. Never before have I heard people talk about a show in such a way so my expectations are pretty high. I know virtually nothing about it except that it involves crime and is, according to everyone I've ever spoken to, the BEST SHOW EVER! Numerous friends have tried to sit me down to blast through the box sets, but instead I've got my hands on the whole thing and I'm gunna watch it after work, on my own. The only true way to appreciate such a thing.
The Sopranos has set the standard, and is my most beloved programme. the mix of drama, tension, action and politics is so addictive. Lets just hope this 'Wire' business can live up to that.

Currently my favourite shows of this type are:
Sopranos (obviously, I'm a bloke)
Carnivale (RIP)
Prison Break (for sheer adrenaline)

I've not even seen 5 minutes of it, so tonight I shall get my first helping of The Wire. Will my life be the same? I'll keep you updated...