The Wire 5x02 Reaction
Added 2023-11-14 02:06:14 +0000 UTC
Comments
Octavia
Thomas Fahey
2023-12-18 04:33:57 +0000 UTC@Mike - absolutely. As I said, I think as you get deeper into season five, its points become much more apparent and what it's trying to say is as powerful as much that came before (while a lot is more openly satirical, which is a bit of a tonal shift). Season five of The Wire would be an exemplary season of pretty much any other show.
Martin Heron
2023-11-14 23:30:12 +0000 UTCNice breakdown about the realism. I try to keep in mind that while of course it's not 100% realistic at every moment, the most outlandish thing on The Wire is done like twice per episode on pretty much any other show without second thought, so I can forgive a couple stretches of reality here if it's serving the bigger picture well.
Craig Manning
2023-11-14 19:25:05 +0000 UTCMilena saying she's not ready for the show to finish. Bless. 🙏🏾 We ain't ready for you to stop reacting. It's been a blast watching you both.
Chidi.
2023-11-14 16:48:37 +0000 UTCI love that you bring up Hamsterdam because I agree that it's another example of an absurd premise (not legalizing drugs per se, but the idea that a rogue commander could successfully implement it under his superiors' noses) that the show asks us to accept for the purposes of interrogating its theoretical impact. For all the (deserved) credit The Wire gets for being "realistic", every season is a purposeful thought-experiment about the state of the American experiment, and what ideas could solve (or not solve) its problems. Jimmy's proposed solution here -- which we're still going to learn about as the season progresses, but seems obviously farcical even now -- is extreme, but in the context of "What is the show telling us about the nature of systemic disfunction in Baltimore, and by extension America?" it's just as interesting a test-case as a legalized, open-air drug market or a pilot classroom socialization program for corner kids. I understand the impulse to evaluate the story on whether it's believable or in character for Jimmy, but the show has didactic aims here and they're worth engaging with, even if the story does kinda fail the Suspension of Disbelief test compared to previous seasons. (And there is a LOT of other good storytelling to enjoy in the season anyway!)
Mike
2023-11-14 16:47:41 +0000 UTCFor real, as competent as Snoop is, she's also quite naivê at times. But I'm sure a lot of that has to her having to adapt to her environment at an early age. I think emotional intelligence and introspection are dismissed (if not actively disapproved of) by those in the game lest it makes them weak or unfocused, and yet it is arguably the lack of these exact traits that can prove to be a character's downfall (eg. Stringer)
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 14:29:27 +0000 UTCOK, so Lola & Milena think Omar will not only return this season but will also somehow die. OK, interesting, lol! 😜 Meanwhile Scott (or копиле as they call him) is the type of person we've all worked with - ambitious, lazy, entitled, and yet the bosses still like him. Urgh! It's encouraging that Mike's conscience has returned and he's questioning why they need to perform senseless killings. Snoop seems to enjoy killing just for the sake of it but Chris strikes me as different. The look he gives Mike suggests he might understand *why* Mike asks those questions and they now have a shared bond after the killing of Mike's step-dad. Also, Chris questioned whether they really needed to kill Bodie and the risks of trying to get Omar out from retirement so he's definitely more thoughtful about actions and consequences.
Chidi.
2023-11-14 14:21:47 +0000 UTCI think that's both the great thing about this season and where it falls. There's a lot like that putting a bow onto everything The Wire has been doing, making meta-commentary about why they're doing it and why others don't. Everything they're trying to say is *terrible English accent* spot on. But what it creates in The Wire is a final season that feels at times a bit *too* self-reflexive to the point of smug satisfaction, and at others it creates a need to satirise which upends the established pacing and tone of the show. It also doesn't help just how disconnected the journalism stuff is from the rest when it's introduced. At first I felt the same as Milena and Lola did about the election stuff in S4 - I just don't care! What about all the other more engaging stories! Etc etc.
Martin Heron
2023-11-14 14:05:05 +0000 UTCAgree it's more about pacing than plot. I think the key to everything that's missing *before* Jimmy dives into the serial killer nonsense is Colvin. Colvin's a mentor to Jimmy; Colvin got shitcanned trying some wild, illegal stuff for the greater good. I mean, Hamsterdam is absolutely as nuts an idea as the serial killer stuff; but there was like 5/6 episodes properly building up to it. An extra episode here, at least, where Jimmy meets Colvin and reflects on this would've made the serial killer ending to this episode feel like an inevitable progression of his frustrations. Here, it's a quick eureka moment after a single scene earlier in the same episode. It all irons out eventually and I do enjoy season five, but it does just come out of nowhere a bit.
Martin Heron
2023-11-14 13:58:51 +0000 UTCYep! I think most of us said WTF?! when we first saw what he was doing.
Chidi.
2023-11-14 12:44:29 +0000 UTCAt this point in the season we don't yet know what Jimmy's full rationale is and how it relates to Marlo but that'll be made clear later.
Chidi.
2023-11-14 12:41:22 +0000 UTC@Mike - agreed, another episode or two would have been perfect - alas they only had 10 episodes to work with. And all things considered did a great thing with it.
Chidi.
2023-11-14 12:39:49 +0000 UTCMaybe it's just because I'm currently watching Better Call Saul, but I can see a similarity between the two Slippin Jimmy's. Think L&M understand him well. I also love the 'Dickensian Aspect' part of this episode. Great meta-commentary and defense of the show. At the time it had critical praise but low ratings, no awards and was given one last truncated season. "I think you need a lot of context to understand anything", "I don't want an amorphous series of society's ills", "To address the problem or to win a prize?" It feels like a mission statement against those trying to put it into a more digestible box.
Mark M
2023-11-14 10:54:05 +0000 UTCplot twist: the greeks are actually serbians and they're connected to funding the serbian president
Ben G
2023-11-14 09:17:52 +0000 UTCLola's face blindness is so funny
Karabo
2023-11-14 08:47:08 +0000 UTCWe are here, the fun and insanity that is season 5 is about to take off. Hold on to your butts, it's going to be interesting
Karabo
2023-11-14 08:41:18 +0000 UTCSo this is why every video starts with "I'm Milena". It was a reminder to Lola this whole time. Congratulations, you solved the mystery.
Orr Malus
2023-11-14 07:38:51 +0000 UTCLola remembered the girl from the car buying drugs? Impeccable memory
Karabo
2023-11-14 07:17:26 +0000 UTCHer complete arc here: https://youtu.be/jHYAAR1fl58?si=8zzWqwmcFPjAqiig
Joe Gaspard
2023-11-14 04:58:01 +0000 UTCRe: Scott Templeton, the fabulist reporter. Scot means bastard in Serbian….and Templeton is the name of the rat in Charlotte’s Web. Ironically, the actor who plays him wrote and directed the best movie ever about good journalists—Spotlight. Check it out.
Joe Gaspard
2023-11-14 04:54:58 +0000 UTCI'm hoping it's up in the morning
M Salam
2023-11-14 04:38:56 +0000 UTCI do truly think he loves the west side and people in it more but he could have just been using it as an excuse, but I definitely believe that a big part of the reason he helped Marlo was to get back at Prop Joe.
Nyeisha Melvina Clark
2023-11-14 04:28:12 +0000 UTCThank You!!! I could talk about this show for Hours so I always loved leaving comments.
Nyeisha Melvina Clark
2023-11-14 04:24:12 +0000 UTCFuck, I'm gonna go cry in a corner now
HenryM
2023-11-14 04:21:16 +0000 UTCShe also has an appearance as a prostitute in Old Face Andre's store.
Mike
2023-11-14 04:12:19 +0000 UTCWe got to that part of the story where people debate whether what Jimmy is doing is out of character or not… personally speaking is a 50/50 for me. I don’t hate it but it does feel a bit out of character for Jimmy to be doing that.
Jack SV
2023-11-14 04:00:26 +0000 UTCAnd kicking a police car like Bodie too!
Jay Craig
2023-11-14 03:38:09 +0000 UTCI think they really needed another episode here separating the beats where Jimmy learns about the post-mortem bruising and when he actually forges the crime scene. We get that he's frustrated with the state of the department, but he could have tried *something* else to "turn on the faucet" first before jumping straight to this.
Mike
2023-11-14 03:37:22 +0000 UTCI've watched every episode of every season of the wire at least 7 or 8 times and never realized that was the same girl who was buying drugs in Hamsterdam. lol
Klein Santana
2023-11-14 03:21:15 +0000 UTCive felt like he was bullshitting marlo with this westside stick together talk... but honestly prop joe is such a punk i can imagine avon truly resenting him lol
medvezhonok
2023-11-14 03:18:54 +0000 UTCI finished Fall of the House of Usher today. Can't wait for LM to start their videos for it. I think they'll really like it.
Damien Fenton
2023-11-14 03:16:06 +0000 UTCLOL right! We all gasped when she said it
M Salam
2023-11-14 03:15:58 +0000 UTCFun bit of trivia but the girl who plays Alma (the newspaper girl) was married to the guy who played D'Angelo in real life.
M Salam
2023-11-14 03:14:46 +0000 UTCWord!
M Salam
2023-11-14 03:13:39 +0000 UTCMaybe they went to sleep and will post it tomorrow. It's quite late over there
HenryM
2023-11-14 03:12:02 +0000 UTC"fucking game's rigged" Jimmy quoting Bodie is enough to make me all melancholic. Were only on episode 2 and I'm grieving this show already
HenryM
2023-11-14 03:08:42 +0000 UTCThat’s why Bunk is my absolute favorite of the cops!!! He’s the only one that holds everyone, criminals and his peers alike to the same standard and doesn’t sugar coat or bends his morals for anybody. He’s not afraid to call Jimmy, Omar, Herc or anyone else on their BS, and he’s always in the right to do so.
Nyeisha Melvina Clark
2023-11-14 03:08:14 +0000 UTCMilena you might need to start wearing a name badge soon so Lola doesn’t forget who you are 😂
David
2023-11-14 03:07:07 +0000 UTCGreat analysis. I've loved reading your responses for this series btw
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 03:02:36 +0000 UTCPrepare to spend most of the remaining episodes asking "What the fuck?"
prolifik5
2023-11-14 03:00:44 +0000 UTCThe crazy jimmy arc
Matheus
2023-11-14 03:00:14 +0000 UTCThe return of one of my favorite characters!!!!! Seriously though I know a lot of people were confused and upset with Avons decision to help Marlo but it makes perfect sense for his character, I hated it as well but then I remembered that Avon lives by the code of “The Game” and in that code if you are The King, you stay the King until you die, go to jail, or someone takes your place. And if you end up in jail and someone else takes your territory, you have to respect it because that’s just the way of The Game. Avon does not like Marlo and if he were to be released tomorrow his first move would be to kill Marlo but as of right now, Marlo holds the crown and Avon respects that. He also blames Prop Joe and the CO-OP for Stringer going behind his back and making decisions that got him killed so he wants Prop Joe to pay for that as well. Also if his choice is between West side people or East side, like he said… it’s West Side always. It’s also basically his way of telling the CO-OP “I told you so”. Because they didn’t side with him about going to war with Marlo from the beginning. What I loved about the scene is that we finally see Marlo ACTUALLY show respect to someone, you could tell he doesn’t respect Prop Joe and he didn’t respect String but he respects Avon, that’s the mark of a True King of the streets, someone who commands respect, even from his enemies. You also get to see that with all of Marlo’s ego and him wanting his name to ring out, he WILL NEVER have the name and authority that Avon carries, he legit needed his help to make moves. It’s the shows way of pointing out who the true “King” is. Like D said in season 1 “The King stays The King”. The amount of disappointment I felt for Jimmy in the last scene is inexplicable, but unlike a lot of people I saw his downfall coming from a mile away since the show started. To me, his season 4 arc always felt fake or hollow to me because we never really truly saw him change, all that happened was String died and he started dating Beadie but that isn’t enough for me to believe he was different so I actually like that the show went down this road for season 5 with him. I’ll never forget in one of the earlier episodes of last season Bunk told him he felt that Jimmy was faking, putting on an act and pretending to be something he wasn’t, and it perfectly describes how I had felt about him too, so this didn’t really come as a shock to me BUT it is a new low that takes the cake as one of the worst things he’s ever done. Season 4 took so much out of me and I grew such an attachment to those kids that when this season started I didn’t know how I was gonna go on without seeing them, so still having Michael and Dukie in this season made me happier than ever, I also LOVE that although Michael is where he is now, and that he has now become a murderer, we see that underneath it all, he is still a good kid with a good heart, and he’s still trying to hold onto some sort of humanity, he won’t lose himself, not just for Bug, but because he doesn’t want that for himself either, such strength from a kid that had to grow up too fast. Most of the adults in this show could never measure up to him.
Nyeisha Melvina Clark
2023-11-14 02:59:40 +0000 UTCDid they forget to post the full reaction?
Rynsen
2023-11-14 02:54:27 +0000 UTCAh yes, Omar. My favourite law enforcement character... 😉
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 02:51:27 +0000 UTCLove Bunk’s reaction, man is the moral center of the law enforcement characters in Homicide (calling out Jimmy and Omar AND Herc on their BS) A lot of people think Jimmy’s decision is unrealistic to his character, I can’t say I agree 100% but I do wish this season had one or two more episodes to flesh out the situation and the context behind his choice My bigger problem is the pacing of this season, I think episodes are a little less tight and engaging and it’s a bit too fast paced in places
space colon
2023-11-14 02:45:02 +0000 UTCThe thumbnail I’ve waited months for
Jay Craig
2023-11-14 02:41:31 +0000 UTCHonestly it could have gone either way with this and the last scene 😅
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 02:19:21 +0000 UTCYour reactions when you saw Avon was priceless! lol
Alwyn Smith
2023-11-14 02:18:52 +0000 UTCI've only seen through 5x03 at this point, but after watching this one I was literally saying "Jimmy what the fuck are you doing???" over and over again. Both not surprised and shocked at the same time.
cosmotron
2023-11-14 02:17:21 +0000 UTCI believe my first reaction was "Jimmy what in the absolute fuck..."
HenryM
2023-11-14 02:16:46 +0000 UTCAlso, throwback to the 4x03 reaction when Lola said "Jimmy would kill people to put on Marlo" and we all had to stay silent lmao
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 02:12:26 +0000 UTCIf I had bet money that this was gonna be the thumbnail, it would have been the safest bet of my life 😄
HenryM
2023-11-14 02:09:52 +0000 UTCAaaaaand we've FINALLY gotten to THAT PLOTLINE being revealed. Now I can finally post the meme that's been in my head since watching this season for the first time: https://i.imgur.com/1eJ9IbZ.jpg
TeaDrinker3000
2023-11-14 02:07:44 +0000 UTC
