IT'S BALTIMORE. NO ONE LIVES FOREVER: Maybe we just should've called it a rest at the end of 2012, because "Not for Attribution" pretty unambiguously feels like the worst episode of The Wire which we've seen to date. As much as Sepinwall tries to defend it as black comedy, McNulty's nutty serial killer scheme is just so out of whack with the sober realism (with occasional darkly comic touches) of the rest of the Wire universe that I cannot enjoy it, and so much of the rest, including a Baltimore Sun universe which is new to us on this show, nevertheless feels been there, done that with nothing particularly compelling about it.
Butchie's death was sad, and yes, it was good to see Omar again (and Clay's driver, Day Day Price), and to have Michael, Dukie, and Bug acting like kids for once. But please, tell us, veterans: does this get better, or should we just blaze through and get this over with?
It does get better, though the 5th season is probably my least favorite and its worth forging through.
ReplyDeleteI have such complicated feelings about season 5, to the extent that I stopped reading weekly reviews at the time it aired because the overwhelming feeling was so negative and I wanted to form my own opinion. There's good (and important) stuff in the season, and ultimately I found it perfectly entertaining and felt that the way it wrapped up the season and the series justified the time spent, even if it wasn't at the level of previous seasons. I also felt that if I was willing to see how the show played on reality with Hamsterdam, I could stick through the serial killer story.
ReplyDeleteThe good news is that it's a short season, so if it's killing you, you're wasting fewer hours of your life. But you wouldn't be alone if you wanted to blaze through it. I've honestly given up on shows for less.
Well, the season (and series) ending montage is to die for.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, though - there's good stuff in there. I particularly recall enjoying the Bubbles storyline in Season 5. It's definitely a step down from the first four seasons, but do forge onward. (Also, even if the Sun storyline was somewhat... unsubtle?... I thought the actor who played Gus did a really nice job.)
Unsubtle doesn't really begin to describe it.
ReplyDeleteAnd absolutely no Bubbles this week, which didn't help matters any.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I wasn't the only one.
ReplyDeleteI'll forge on because I'm interested in a few of the story lines - the Burrell/Rawls/Daniels stuff is very interesting, and as Russ notes, I still care about Bubbles. But much of the rest is starting to feel either warmed over or ridiculous. The idea that Lester would go along is so much worse than McNulty going off the deep end....
I'll keep watching - even at its worst, The Wire is still better than the vast majority of TV shows - but if we want to collectively (I mean, it's just you, me, and Watts left doing it weekly, right?) speed things up to get to Breaking Bad sooner, I'm game.
It definitely gets better. Just give Simon time to tie it all together. While it's not as good as the fourth season, it's not as ridiculous as the third.
ReplyDeleteI have a special affinity for this episode since while a number of scenes throughout the series were filmed in my (then-) neighborhood, this one takes place on my street. When Alma goes to buy a paper, she checks a dispenser in front of a building I almost lived in (and across the street from one I did) and then goes into a market where I got lunch three or four times a week for years. While they filmed this I was in a bar less than 100 feet south of the market. So, um, there's that.
Gus was played by Clark Johnson, who also directed four episodes of the series... including the pilot and the finale.
ReplyDeleteSeason 5 also gives us David Costabile as Klebanow. And we would later know and love Costabile and his mad karaoke skillz as Gale Boetticher on Breaking Bad.
Yes. This. I can't really defend the serial killer storyline - although there is an OUTSTANDING scene involving it a bit down the line - but there is so much other great stuff in the season to make up for it.
ReplyDeleteI strongly disliked season 5, largely because of the "McNulty fakes a serial killer" storyline, which I found to be against everything I loved about The Wire (and completely unbelievable). I also never really latched on to the people at the Sun. But what stayed with me from season five, and what made it worth it, was seeing Bubbles' story play out. And Omar.
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on being disappointed that Lester went along with it. That's not the Lester I met in Season 1 - so did the character change? Or is this sloppy writing? If it's the former, then I want to see more of how that change happened. If it's the latter, I want to smack someone with a wet noodle.
ReplyDeleteIt's especially weird that Lester's down with the plan when Bunk is mighty disapproving.
Except (as others noted) that Lester did spend 13 years (and 4 months) in the Pawnshop division because he tested authority.
ReplyDeleteRight, but there's a difference between testing authority - which I assume is stuff like not following chain of command, asking forgiveness not permission, etc. and making up evidence.
ReplyDeleteAs a vet, the last 3 or 4 episodes definitely deserve their own thoughts. There are also some really memorable scenes throughout all the episodes. And the finale is one of the better series finales. You eventually deal with the serial killer storyline. And I personally never got the hatred of the Sun arcs. I ultimately don't love season 5 like the others but found it enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteAs a real time watcher back in the day, having a year-plus off between the end of season 4 and the start of season 5 made season 5 easier to enjoy too, as opposed to starting it immediately. More time and space between them and more willingness to enjoy the last ride.
I don't remember how I felt about season 5, episode-to-episode. But I do remember I loved the ending, the final few episodes, anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to talk about resolution of this storyline without spoiling anything, but at least it's appropriate to say that by this point Simon is clear enough about what McNulty and Freamon's reasoning is. The homeless people are dead and don't even have their own loved ones to mourn them, so why not use them to get the resources to do some good elsewhere? But I agree that the execution is crude, and it's weird that Bunk is the only one clear-eyed enough to see right through both the logic and the practical problems.
ReplyDeleteAnd as Kristen Schaal's marginalized husband on Conchords, and I believe as a psychiatrist or divorce lawyer on one episode of Mad Men, making him one of the lords of Sunday Night Quality TV.
ReplyDeleteHe showed up on The Good Wife; not sure about Mad Men. So your point is still valid. Costabile also had a surprisingly large role in Lincoln, and was one of the many, many things I loved about that movie.
ReplyDeleteIt is tough going at times, and is by far the least of the Wire seasons. Mostly to me it's that although the McNulty after, say, S2 might have concocted this scheme, it doesn't seem right for what we saw last in S4.
ReplyDeleteBut, as has been said, there are some lovely final moments, a curtain call for most everyone, and a Bubs moment that yet again makes me choke up.
Funny enough, despite the fact I think the fifth is the weakest season, there are probably more moments that stick with me from it than from any other season.
ReplyDeleteA brief note to agree that, despite the serial killer storyline (which is awful), the fifth season is still worth forging through. There are a couple of other storylines, chiefly Bubbles, that are worth it.
ReplyDelete