Chris Bloxham Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 I received the first season for Christmas, I watched it in 2 days. I have bought Season Two and have the final episode to watch tonight. I am also a big Shield fan but The Wire has had me at my DC and HC:TUA books for a while now trying to plan a cop game. The show is phenomenal and I can't wait for Season 3 to hit the shelves in the UK. Between The Wire and The Shield there is so much material (and fine watchin') for a DC game. Need more time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: The Wire Agreed. It's a great show on the same basic subject as The Shield, but from a different sort of perspective/approach. Lots of great inspirational material in both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: The Wire Yah, "the Wire" is great. I'd also recomend "Spooks (MI-5)" and, if you can find them, "The Sandbaggers." Both are fantastic realistic spy shows (especially the Sandbaggers) great for a DC or Danger International campaign. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bloxham Posted January 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: The Wire Just finished Season 2! I've been thinking about it some more and the characters are so well developed. Omar comes to the front of my mind. Sort of a modern Robin Hood, who does seem to live by a code. Differentiating between 'game players' and 'citizens'. Jimmy McNulty the 'born-cop', lives for the job and Irish whiskey. Even the criminals aren't just faceless mooks who end up in bodybags when they double-cross their peers or die in a firefight with police as it shows both points of view (cops/bad guys). In contrast to The Shield where the Strike Team walk the thin blue line like a tightrope, I think you clearly know the good from the bad in The Wire. It just gives you the chance to empathise with the bad... Region 2 Season 3 please! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bloxham Posted January 18, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: The Wire Yeah, being from good old Blighty, Spooks is pretty essential viewing. In fact, I've just bought Season2 for my mum for Xmas. I think English TV has a lot to learn from HBO and the like. The Wire, The Shield, Sopranos, etc are so much more sophisticated than 99% of English TV. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted January 18, 2006 Report Share Posted January 18, 2006 Re: The Wire THE SANDBAGGERS is absolutely superb. Alas that there were only three seasons. Just finished watching Season 1 of MI-5 the other day and enjoyed it. Will get around to Season 2 when it cycles through the ol' Netflix queue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bloxham Posted January 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2006 Re: The Wire The Sandbaggers was pre-me apparently and to be truthful I have never seen or heard of it. After a quick imdb search I am up to speed. The first series is available in the UK presently, I may give it a go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterBaldy Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Re: The Wire I'm not familiar with The Wire...enlighten me please!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 1, 2006 Report Share Posted February 1, 2006 Re: The Wire THE WIRE is an HBO series. There have been, I believe, three seasons so far, of about 12 episodes each; the first two are available on DVD. It focuses on a group of Baltimore cops who overcome a limited budget and an uncooperative, even hostile, police bureaucracy to make big cases. The first season focuses on a major drug dealer who's smart enough that most people don't really know he's operating; the second season on some shenanigans and murders on the Baltimore waterfront (with the drug dealer storyline carrying on as a subplot). I haven't seen the third season yet. The most interesting thing about the series is the humanity, fallibility, and pettiness of not just the main characters, but pretty much everyone they encounter. For example, the entire plot of the second season gets started because a high-ranking police official donates a beautiful new stained glass window to his church... only to discover the longshoreman's union already donated one, so his donation is going to get shuffled off to some lesser window. Incensed that the longshoreman's union would do that, and wondering where it got the money, he launches an investigation out of revenge... though his instincts about where the union could've gotten the money prove quite accurate. Similarly, several of the characters are very fallible, and the captain some of them have to report to is one of the biggest *******s I think I've ever seen on TV. Ironically (and, at the risk of making an NGD-style comment, not surprisingly given Hollywood's politics and ethics), the only characters who consistently come across as sympathetic and "professional" are the criminals. Overall, it's really interesting to see how the main characters, despite their flaws, stick to their principles and overcome the obstacles to get the job done. In sum, I'd say the show is like THE SHIELD in many ways, but not so intense -- it's more low-key, and it focuses on one specific investigation per season in detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterBaldy Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Re: The Wire Ah...that would explain a lot. I don't have HBO...so there is no way that I would have seen it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Re: The Wire I don't have HBO either -- I've watched them on DVD. I was tipped off to them, oddly enough, by Chris Pramas and Nicole Lindroos of Green Ronin, who are big fans of the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsedgamer Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Re: The Wire THE WIRE is an HBO series. There have been, I believe, three seasons so far, of about 12 episodes each; the first two are available on DVD. It focuses on a group of Baltimore cops who overcome a limited budget and an uncooperative, even hostile, police bureaucracy to make big cases. The first season focuses on a major drug dealer who's smart enough that most people don't really know he's operating; the second season on some shenanigans and murders on the Baltimore waterfront (with the drug dealer storyline carrying on as a subplot). I haven't seen the third season yet. The most interesting thing about the series is the humanity, fallibility, and pettiness of not just the main characters, but pretty much everyone they encounter. For example, the entire plot of the second season gets started because a high-ranking police official donates a beautiful new stained glass window to his church... only to discover the longshoreman's union already donated one, so his donation is going to get shuffled off to some lesser window. Incensed that the longshoreman's union would do that, and wondering where it got the money, he launches an investigation out of revenge... though his instincts about where the union could've gotten the money prove quite accurate. Similarly, several of the characters are very fallible, and the captain some of them have to report to is one of the biggest *******s I think I've ever seen on TV. Ironically (and, at the risk of making an NGD-style comment, not surprisingly given Hollywood's politics and ethics), the only characters who consistently come across as sympathetic and "professional" are the criminals. Overall, it's really interesting to see how the main characters, despite their flaws, stick to their principles and overcome the obstacles to get the job done. In sum, I'd say the show is like THE SHIELD in many ways, but not so intense -- it's more low-key, and it focuses on one specific investigation per season in detail. I also love the show. I probably don't have to tell you that real life law enforcement officials can be just as petty and fallible as those portrayed in The Wire. I have been in the field for twelve years now, and I am often left aghast at what passes for leadership and common sense. I have also been involved in situations that are almost exactly like some of the idiotic nonsense they show in that show, they just aren't resolved as dramatically for the most part. I remember thinking that the writers must have talked to a lot of real cops, prosecutors and city government types when I watched the show. I think that they do a better job portraying the realities of police work, good and bad, than The Shield does. I think the Shield is a little overplayed, but I can identify real life counterparts to every cop and prosecutor character on The Wire. During the longest three months of my life, I partnered with a guy that could be McNulty in both looks and behavior. I so want to do a write-up of Brother Mouzone or a close facsimile. He would be great in a DC game, or even a DC:TAS game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Re: The Wire Oh, there's no question that there are cops and prosecutors like that out there. I ran into a few when practicing law. But also plenty of generally dedicated and competent ones -- and to be fair, The Wire shows us a few of those as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapsedgamer Posted February 2, 2006 Report Share Posted February 2, 2006 Re: The Wire Oh' date=' there's no question that there are cops and prosecutors like that out there. I ran into a few when practicing law. But also plenty of generally dedicated and competent ones -- and to be fair, The Wire shows us a few of those as well. [/quote'] Agreed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorPse Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Re: The Wire I believe that the team that does The Wire also did Homicide: Life on the Streets... an awfully nifty cop drama that went off the beaten path. Those guys love Baltimore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CorPse Posted February 28, 2006 Report Share Posted February 28, 2006 Re: The Wire I saw a couple of mentions of Spooks/MI-5 above... does anyone know if they ever did a Season 3. (SPOILER ALERT!) All I remember is the lead character sort of wandering off into the ocean at the end of Season 2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bloxham Posted March 19, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: The Wire Well just to hijack my own thread and give it a new lease of life, The Sandbaggers! WOW! I'm halfway through the first series and it is great! Definitely should be checked out if Espionage or Danger International is your thing. Has anyone read Queen & Country by Greg Rucka, it owes a lot to The Sandbaggers and is equally fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParagonAlpha Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: The Wire I believe that the team that does The Wire also did Homicide: Life on the Streets... an awfully nifty cop drama that went off the beaten path. Those guys love Baltimore. You're right on this one. I stumbled across the Wire one late night thanks to On Demand right after season one finished. I was hooked. Dominic West has proven to be one of the most underratted actors I've seen lately. His character Det. Jimmy McNulty is such brought to such life. It's like looking in on a real person. Idris Elba is amazing as "Stringer" Bell, the major bad guy in the first two season. I just wish there would have been more scenes with these two in them together. The Wire is amazing. As matter of fact I plan on using the idea or "Amsterdam" for my "Gotham"-esque Champions game I'm working on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: The Wire More Sandbagger info can be found here: http://www.opsroom.org/index.html It's not updated often, but for a website about a 30 year old show with only about 24 episodes it does pretty good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mallet Posted March 19, 2006 Report Share Posted March 19, 2006 Re: The Wire I saw a couple of mentions of Spooks/MI-5 above... does anyone know if they ever did a Season 3. (SPOILER ALERT!) All I remember is the lead character sort of wandering off into the ocean at the end of Season 2. Yah, Season 3 is now out on DVD here in North America (well in canada for sure, I don't know about the US) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Long Posted March 20, 2006 Report Share Posted March 20, 2006 Re: The Wire Netflix still lists the Season 3 availability date as "Unknown," but if it's available in the Great White North hopefully it'll make its way down here soonly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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