The Wire

[Dr. Insomniac]

Watched the entirety of this show during fall semester, and it was awesome. It is the closest thing to a televised novel that you could ever find. There's like a heaping pile of arcs every season where you have to have absolute focus in order to understand.

And despite how fucking dark the show gets, it's also pretty funny. You get scenes like this interspersed throughout. Honestly, watching this show has made me unable to watch other cop shows, mostly because I know they won't be as good as this.

And for those who haven't seen it.

[Avaitor]

I went to Gorilla Games today and saw that they had season 2 used... along with what I believe is a Chinese print of the first season. The guy there was willing to sell them to me for $10 altogether. I would have hit that up in an instant if it wasn't for the suspicious-looking season 1.

Did I make the biggest mistake ever?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Depends on what the quality of the DVDs are.

[Avaitor]

Well season 2 I'm almost positive is the legit thing. The other one though, I dunno.

[Dr. Insomniac]

You'll be lost if you start at season 2. Not even a recap will help you.

[Peanutbutter]

I want to watch this, but it's not on Netflix. I guess I could buy the first season, but I haven't seen it anywhere in my local Target or Wal-Mart.

[Avaitor]

HBO HATES Netflix. HBO even refused to lend them copies of their shows, movies or mini-series for them to rent, so Netflix has to buy their own copies.

Every now and then, you can find the set of the show for cheap at Target or WalMart or Best Buy, but you have to keep an eye out. Don't be afraid to check out places that sell used DVDs, either. And honestly, even though you get the prequel specials on it, it is cheaper to buy the seasons separately than it is to get the complete series set, so I wouldn't totally recommend that.

[Foggle]

The complete series set is also notorious for having manufacturing problems, so definitely go with the individual seasons. They're usually pretty cheap on Amazon. The prequel shorts barely last longer than five minutes total and aren't even that good anyway.

[LumRanmaYasha]

I bought the first season of The Wire today for about 20 bucks. I usually NEVER have bought a dvd set of a show I haven't ever watched before, but I think The Wire will be well-worth the price. 

[Foggle]

EXCELLENT. You will love it.

[Avaitor]

Yeah, unless you're able to fully concentrate on watching a show on the computer screen, I wouldn't recommend downloading The Wire. The DVD's are well worth the purchase.

[LumRanmaYasha]

My local Best Buy is selling the complete series set for $80 bucks, whereas the season sets are priced at $30. I've heard the complete series set has some manufacturing issues, but since it seems cheaper just to buy that than the remaining seasons at this point, should I go for it, or are the problems with the complete series set really that bad?

[Foggle]

For $80, I'd say go for it. If your copy has manufacturing issues, they'll usually pop up pretty early on from what I've heard, so you can just return it if that happens.

Usually it's actually cheaper to get the season sets though. Surprised Best Buy has the complete series that cheap.

[Avaitor]

I'm on the last season now, and while it's still great, I can see why this season isn't as universally loved as the previous four. McNulty's serial killer storyline is fascinating, especially to see how the rest of the police force follow him along on it, but I can take or leave the newspaper, Carcetti or Marlo stories. But man, they've been setting it up for the last season in an obvious but appropriate way.

Spoiler

Prop Joe! 
Pornstache Nick!

[close]

[Avaitor]

I just finished the show, and yeah, as a whole, the last season was a step down, but the series was one hell of a ride regardless.

I'd give the first season a 9/10, while 2-4 each get perfect 10's, with 5 getting a solid 8. overall, I'd call 4 the best.