really opened my eyes into the harsh realities of the urban ghettos and the decline and corruption of the system in america
but hey, at least there was some good things in the end! really thought it was gonna end in nothing but tragedy and depression way back when I finished S2 and then S4
2 > 4 > 3 > 1 > 5
i was able to swallow the fake serial killer storyline and McNulty's downward spiral, by the way! good stuff but the other seasons drew me in more with their much more compelling secondary characters
gotta wonder how people felt about marlo stanfield and crew compared to the barksdales
and how about the way omar went out? not surprising how it's the most shocking death to me, if not the most shocking moment in the entire series period
Quick few notes about my viewing experience: - Season 3 was my first season and I watched it all within one week On Demand. I went in not knowing or remembering too many of the characters going into Season 4, which I watched live. Saw S1 and S2 multiple times before 5 started a year and a half later.
Didn't care at all about Marlo my first time through. I didn't even realize he was in Season 3 until I watched it again. I knew he was a big bad during Season 4, but I didn't care at all about him. It was all about Chris and Snoop and the kids. It wasn't until I watched the first four seasons again that I got a feel for him, and it definitely wasn't until Season 5's finale, until "MY NAME IS MY NAME," that Marlo went from bottom of my character rankings to way, way up there.
Marlo vs. Barksdale
Chris, Snoop, Marlo, and Michael are high up there, but through sheer numbers, the Barksdale Organization wins. Bodie, Stringer, Avon, D'Angelo, Wee-Bey, Wallace, Slim, Cutty.
And for characters rankings... I dunno. It's been so long since I've seen it. Casual top ten though, no order...
Cool Lester Smooth Bodie Carver Bunk Stringer Chris Michael McNulty Daniels D'Angelo
And... hmm... 3 > 4 > 2 > 1 > 5
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"And the theoretical maximum is 2880 messages, so I was only performing at 45.94% posting efficiency." - Luster Soldier
gotta love that final scene with Marlo at the street corner chasing off those two dudes talking up the death of Omar then smiling all alone in his business suit
malyg posted... Second half of 3 > 4 > 1 > 2 > First half of three > 5
This except I'd bump up 5 a lot. 5 is seriously the most entertaining season. I understand the complaints against it but I don't see how it's consistently at the bottom of peoples' lists.
I just finished the entire series a couple days ago. Glad I'm not the only one who felt that Marlo/Chris/Snoop lacked the panache of Avon and Stringer.
Marlo, Chris, and Snoop felt more like forces of evil but they did a good job humanizing them enough with Marlo's desire for street cred, Chris' getting paranoid over Omar and his outburst upon learning about Michael's father, and Snoop's dedication to Marlo and the game
but the Barksdale crew were just more fun to watch!
I think the problem with 5 is less serial killer and more less build-up. Because it's a shorter season, it jumped in so much quicker to the meat and potatoes than the previous four seasons. It felt too... televised, I guess. We need to see more of how **** the budgeting was and put the neck bruising info in a separate episode from McNulty doing the deed.
Oh, and newspaper plots.
From: EndOfDiscOne | #014 Favorite arcs:
1. Stringer/Avon in S3 2. D'angelo's character arc 3. Marlo's rise
1. Stringer/Avon in S3 2. D'Angelo's character arc 3. Carver's maturity as an officer over the five seasons
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"Oh my God MWIS. I just really want to ask, if this is a SMALL CYOA.... what in the name of holy blue christ is a big one?!" - ExTha
From: Mega Mana | #016 I think the problem with 5 is less serial killer and more less build-up. Because it's a shorter season, it jumped in so much quicker to the meat and potatoes than the previous four seasons. It felt too... televised, I guess. We need to see more of how **** the budgeting was and put the neck bruising info in a separate episode from McNulty doing the deed.
yeah, i'm inclined to agree
McNulty being pushed to do something as drastic as that made sense with the history of the higher-ups f***ing up GOOD POLICE WORK (and him) but it happened a bit too fast
and the whole Sun arc which relied on Scott's LIES also felt like it was a wee bit forced since i wasn't convinced enough with Scott's motivation for doing the whole thing so i did not have even the smallest drop of sympathy for the guy unlike all the other flawed side characters in all the other seasons
and it was only really him and Gus who had much of fleshed out personalities out of the whole journalist crew so it was a bit of a drag
1 Bodie's overall arc, from soldier to lieutenant to "tired of the game" to dead
2 Stringer's arc, that one's pretty tragic too. I guess you can lump this together with the Avon/Stringer arc but Stringer as an individual character is what it's really about I think.
and the whole Sun arc which relied on Scott's LIES also felt like it was a wee bit forced since i wasn't convinced enough with Scott's motivation for doing the whole thing so i did not have even the smallest drop of sympathy for the guy unlike all the other flawed side characters in all the other seasons
Yeah that's interesting. Even Marlo and his gang are sympathetic, pretty much every character is. Not Templeton though, he's got no redeeming qualities really. Closest thing the series has to a villain, he's just not supposed to be sympathetic. I guess he's written that way so you'll like Gus more or whatever.
Gus was likeable enough without his pursuit of TRUTH and the writers did a good enough job balancing the hate and the sympathy for the other "unlikeable" characters like Burrell, Rawls, SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE even Clay Davis!