Wednesday, October 10, 2012

"WHY" AIN'T IN YOUR REPERTOIRE NO MORE:  The Game has been raised, and this season's conflicts are apparent in "Refugees" (Sepinwall, Goodman). For so many characters, they want things one way, only it's the other way.

Start on the streets, where if we know one thing about the new Marlo v. Omar conflict, it's that it's only the beginning. Marlo's callous decision to have the security officer biases our sympathies in a way they're not usually tilted in this narrative universe, so when he turns down the New Day Co-Op we really are rooting for Omar to succeed in the poker heist. Unlike the Barksdale Organization, we don't (yet?) have the three-dimensional view to let us see Marlo, Snoop, Partlow et al as anything other than an evil menace.



Lots of talk of Real Po-lice this week, but other than Cool Lester Smooth little actual policing. I do wonder if there will (because there should be) political ramifications to the effective shutdown of Major Crimes so close to an election, and given that Lt. Daniels knows about it, well, won't Carcetti find out soon enough? Odell Watkins, at least?

[Your campaign finance note of the week: "street money" for election day is a real thing, but it is supposed to be raised into the campaign's coffers legitimately and then distributed as petty cash and tracked as the laws require.]

Finally, Cutty, Prez and the kids. This will not end well.

7 comments:

  1. I found Season 4 to be fascinating. I think that I realized that I'd internalized the message of the series when the question I asked myself upon meeting these kids was "Which, if any, of them will be saved?" Before watching Seasons 1 to 3, I don't know that I would have stuck in the "if any" which any TV show that I watched.

    The other thing was noting that there were various people trying to save some kid or another, from different directions: teachers, Cutty, academics, cops, Bubbles, etc. And so many counterforces (drug gangs, financial needs, bad parents, other kids at school).

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  2. What kills me is how much recent research suggests the importance of Head Start and other pre-school programs - meaning even middle school may be too late for a lot of these kids.

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  3. Also: Sly joke that may amuse only me (or maybe I'm the only one who hears the pun) - the song playing behind the scene of the Omar stick-up is "Cissy Strut."

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  4. Marsha12:38 PM

    Adam, can you clarify on "street money"? they seem to also use the term "walking around money" interchangeably, and I couldn't tell if this was Royce just needing extra cash for the campaign without it going through the regular (donation-capped) channels, or whether this money was specifically being raised for cash to be passed out on Election Day.

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  5. Marsha12:50 PM

    The Cutty stuff here about killed me. I love how they have used his time in prison to make him able to be a little naive about how the world he lives in works - the look on his face as he's protesting, "no! This is school! You have to go!" is just torture for me. He was pleased to think that the principal wanted him to do something that might actually help, and it's really all just about making sure they get their funds. And his scenes with Michael are fantastic - I'm sure I'll be devastated by where that story line ends us, but because I'm a complete idiot, I still have hope....

    Bubbles is another one who is killing me. The look that spread over his face as he sees his young protege using a dictionary and and an algebra book and realizing the problem is much worse than he thought... heartbreaking.

    I'm also finding that I'm not observant enough to watch this show. I didn't get that Snoop and Chris killed the security guard until i read Alan's recap. Sigh.

    As I've said before, I find myself much more engaged up front with this season. Maybe it is because I've always been much more attached to the kids on this show than anyone else. That said, what this show needs is more Beadie Russell.

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  6. Adam B.2:39 PM

    I think they bungled the terminology a bit. "Walking around money" is usually state money given to legislators to use for worthy projects in their districts. Or their friends' projects.


    "Street money" is petty cash to be used to pay ground troops on Election Day, which from context is what I believe they meant.

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  7. Working other elections in other jurisdictions, I often heard "walking around money" used exactly the way you're using "street money" -- at least it was used that way by the guys putting the boots on the ground to do the walking around. Who knows what they called it back at campaign HQ.

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