This sentimental motherfucker just cost us money!

[phamos]

My reaction to the Wire finale was generally kinda meh, except for two parts where I shouted out loud:

When Slim Charles shot dumb-ass Cheese: "YAAAAAAAY!"  (That exclamation was accompanied by joyful fist-pump.  I've never been so happy to see someone get brutally shot in the head in my life.  That may also have something to do with the fact that I adore Slim, wish he'd had more to do on the show, and was glad he got his moment to shine.)

When they showed Dukie shooting up: "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  (Dammit, Prez, why couldn't you pull a Bunny Colvin and TAKE HIM HOME WITH YOU.  If you're worried about appearances, you could have just hidden him in your beard.  Your freakishly huge Hemingway beard.)

I was disappointed that they didn't manage to work in one last shot of Daniels with his shirt off.  They have shirtless lawyers in Baltimore, don't they?  I also had my fingers crossed for a last-minute Ziggy cameo somehow -- sad that didn't work out.  Couldn't it have been Wee-bey and Chris hanging out in the prison yard and then Ziggy comes bounding up to them like a dumb puppy, rambling about his drunk duck and his Camero?  That would have made my life.  I guess the Nick Sobotka and Johnny Fifty cameos were all they could pull out from the second season.  Oh well.

I liked everything coming full-circle, but it might have been just a little bit too hit-you-over-the-head full-circle.  I liked Michael as the new Omar, but a lot of people apparently found that unbelievable and/or over the top.  I had to rewind and pause at the Bunk/Kima murder scene, because I was horrified that it was Dukie dead on the street -- it looked like the same shirt he'd been wearing earlier in the episode.  Not that junkie-in-the-stable is really that much better an outcome, but if Bubbles can overcome...it's always possible.  I was convinced before the season when I heard about "homeless killings" that Bubbles was going to die, and since I knew there was obviously going to be a copycat killing at some point I was nervous throughout the whole season.  But, yay happy ending for Reginald!  I think Andre Royo's NA scene in the second to last episode was amazing.  I would be thrilled if he got an Emmy nomination.

The one thing that was a constant through the whole series was that Herc was a stupid asshole who would never learn his lesson or face any concequences.  Glad that held up.  Grr.  Hate Herc.  But at least he didn't actively ruin the lives of any defenseless adolescents this season.  I would personally enjoy a sixth season that consisted entirely of 13 episodes of Carver punching Herc in the face for 55 minutes.  I guess it's vaguely admirable that Carver is still loyal to his best friend even though his best friend is a complete fuckup jagoff.  But still.  Brisket with Maury Levy and then drinks with Carver?  NO HAPPY ENDING FOR HERC, PLZ.  Meh.

The newspaper storyline just didn't mesh with the rest of the show as much as David Simon obviously would have liked.  I thought Clark Johnson was really fantastic, but that doesn't make up for how obvious it all was.  Oh, that's actually another scene where I had a verbal reaction...when they showed Templeton getting a Pulitzer.  I groaned, partly because, ew, Templeton sucks, but partly because, OK DUH WE GET IT YOU HATE MARIMOW AND CARROLL DAVID SIMON DEAL WITH IT AND MOVE ON.  I think David Milch and David Simon should hang out and David Simon can just shout "The Baltimore Sun was mean to me!" and David Milch can shout "I was a junkie! Junkie junkie motherfucker cocksucker Henry James!" and it will be a meeting of the brilliant petulant TV Davids.

Way down in the hoooooooollllle...

Comments

[thatabbygrrl.livejournal.com]

let's all just agree that the newspaper storyline wasn't handled very well and look past it. although it was great to see clark johnson on screen again, that shit with the menken quote on the wall (and having that be the quote for the final episode! what a disappointment!) and the pulitzer and blah was all pretty much a waste of time. i did feel that if they'd had more time and less myopic focus, they might have been able to do something about how the media coverage and public perception was more important than the actual underlying truth (like the coverup of mcnulty and fremon's crap), and how the newspaper is or is not complicit in that. but not enough time and too much grudge to work out, i guess.

i found that kind of detracted from my enjoyment of the finale, to have to wade through the templeton shit (although seeing mcnulty yell at him was somewhat satisfying). and i'm not sure i loved how everything was wrapped up at the end. so, character by character:

* yeah, pres knew he wasn't getting that money back and knew what dukie was headed into. how sad when dukie got out of the car and the junk guy asked "how much" before pres even drove away? oh, dukie.

* michael as new omar - i found this odd. scary that he's still living outside of the law. good that he's choosing not to align himself with any team or leader, with all the questions he had about how marlowe ran his game. but he doesn't have the moral code that omar did, not even close. (would omar have let dukie slip away? not a chance.) so i didn't see a strong parallel there.

* how sad for those 4 boys who started out the 4th season. michael relying on a shotgun. dukie on the junk. naiman escaping only because bunny adopted him. randy - who knows where randy is. is that the odds? heartbreaking.

* go kima, i love you, you rule, yeah. her and carver, for me, were the two who thought that doing their job well and following what they thought was good was the right thing to do. they didn't make big splashes, they just did their jobs. good for them.

* i turned on lester early in the season - just couldn't support him going along with mcnulty, no matter how desperate he was - and so i was pissy that chardene was still with him. he doesn't deserve a happy life carving doll furniture. ditto mcnulty and still being with beadie on the porch. i don't care that you're out of the police force, that's not enough punishment for you. police cannot and should not behave like that. sure, you went and got him back, but you moved a homeless person around like a pawn for your own ends because you didn't consider him a person. that is shitty shitty behavior and should have had way more serious repercussions. rhonda and daniels, though, i thought got out ok, which they deserved. they had to hide some things, sure, but got the best solution from a shitty setup that was possible. and now daniels out of politics and able to stop eating that shit from higher up. good for them.

* boy, is politics a sham or what? (lookin' at you, carcetti, nerisse, rawls, etc.)

* marlowe, oh marlowe. what are you going to do? you have money, but you are a street thug. you can't be avon and you don't want to be stringer (and really, neither would have stringer if he'd known he was getting taken). no options left. boxed himself out of the game.

* and of course, of course - the most evil, the worst, the smarmiest - the lawyer. of course.
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