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January 06, 2008
Oops. Dead-end where Grace Ct. meets the BQE, Brooklyn.
Happy The Wire Sunday! I'm spending the day finishing off re-watching season 4. There has been no shortage of press in anticipation of season 5--in fact I'd call it a well-deserved media blitz. If you're itching for a taste, here are a handful of links that caught my eye in the past week:
- Matthew Yglesias writes on the theme of despair, and David Simon himself chimes in.
- Mark Bowden's profile on David Simon in this month's Atlantic Monthly
- New York magazine's Vulture has featured brief interviews this week with some of the actors: Andre Royo (Bubbles), Jamie Hector (Marlo Stanfield), and Michael K. Williams (Omar).
- If you, like me **, were a huge fan of Simon's Homicide, you'll be happy to know that Clark Johnson (Det. Meldrick Lewis on Homicide) will have a featured role as newspaper editor this season. Here is a recent NYT profile.
** Several years after an ex and I were a couple, he teasingly reminded me of the night we first hooked up--I had conveniently forgotten about this--when I insisted that we first watch that night's Homicide episode. Worse, it was a recording that I could have watched the next day. Could I be more lame?
Posted by Missy
Comments
No better way to spend a day than a Wire marathon! :)
Episode 51 went up On Demand last week, and Clark Johnson gets a lot of run in it. (You might also recognize the Homicide shoutout at the beginning of the episode. I didn't.)
Posted by: Kevin at January 6, 2008 11:53 AM
Not sure if that was purposeful on your part, but did you see who was responsible for the interview with Jamie Hector?
Posted by: Dan Owen at January 6, 2008 11:58 AM
Kevin - I don't have HBO On Demand so I have to wait until this evening. I'll look for the reference. UPDATED TO ADD: Of course! The photocopier lie detector trick! I think it involved Detective Munch, who has had a second life on one of the L&Os.
Dan - I did see that Bilge was the interviewer! But, no, it wasn't a deliberate shout-out, although yay for Bilge! New York mag's blogs are IMO the best in the city (sorry Gothamist) in terms of general interest.
Posted by: Missy at January 6, 2008 12:37 PM
Initial thoughts on The Wire:
- I'm pulling for you, Bubbles, but it's breaking my heart to see you relegated to a dark, noisy basement. So far, being clean seems just as depressing as being a junkie.
- I'm already loving the supporting newsroom characters. Not sure how they were cast but there's an authenticity to most of them.
- Cacetti's idealism and holding onto his promises despite insurmountable obstacles, acting almost as a renegade by not accepting Annapolis $ and yet a political opportunist all the same
- Dominic West playing drunk: uhh, totally not believable to a cringe-inducing degree, even if we saw McNulty's fall from temporary grace coming from a mile away
- Sgt. Carver continues to be one of my favorite characters. He has the integrity, but does he have the leadership?
Posted by: Missy at January 7, 2008 10:49 AM
Word on the street is the newsroom randoms are ex-colleagues of David Simon (like Carver's boss, formerly Bunny's #2, the *real* Jay Landsmann, a former Simon source.)
1 corrupt politician trumps 22 bodies? Good to know.
Posted by: Kevin at January 8, 2008 12:27 AM
I get a chuckle out of the fact that the real Jay Landsman wasn't a good enough actor to be cast as Jay Landsman.
Posted by: Missy at January 8, 2008 07:19 AM