Tim Goodman. The Bastard Machine : The Wire

"Wire" Ep. 3 [4.3]: "Hey, yo, it's Omar!"

Omar brings a level of gravitas and intrigue to the show's thugs that is hard to top. But this was a great episode of 'The Wire' and there's much to discuss. The main point being that all the real beauty of 'The Wire' at this stage of the season rests with the youngest kids, completely on the verge. They could go one way or another. Some are leaning already. What David Simon and his writers are doing in these first three episodes is not merely capturing innocence a few frames before it's lost, but instead looking at all the institutional obstacles that beat back its chance to blossom. It's clear so far that the point is, well, it's over before it starts. And blaming the kids after the fact is merely pointless police work. All the saving needs to start earlier. Showing us that is where the real heartache begins.
nicely writ.
rg has now watched all of first three seasons on dvd, thr netflix. and passed on to me the last disc, with final two episodes of season three. and, my dream come true, watched the penult 3.11 with me last nite, pausing & explaining who's who & what's going on, without me even having to ask. just what I wanted, in order to get into The Wire, someone to say to me what I am seeing.
so now I know Omar.

and do Tim Goodman's posts here go back to season three? no. starts at beginning of season 4:

Wire" Ep. 1: "There ain't a Barksdale left. You on your own out here."

That's what Slim Charles said to Bodie, not only restating for viewers what transpired since Season 3, but confirming again the idea of change in "The Wire." In David Simon's relentless pursuit of various stories from Baltimore (though the lessons could be for and from any big city), he has now moved on to the school system and, under that microscope, a bigger picture - vulnerable youth at a crossroads, failed by the education system, family, law enforcement, politicians and, finally, a course of history too big to change.

If you haven't already read it, I previewed "The Wire" in the Chronicle a before the season. I'll be deconstructing the whole season here, episode by episode (though probably not as minutely focused as I was on the intricacies of "The Sopranos" and shorter than my "24" breakdowns, which someone at Fox once said were longer than the actual scripts to the show).

Simon, in Season 4, has deftly started weaving back in characters from previous seasons here (when nobody could suss out how he was going to continue telling stories at the end of Season 3, which had so much storytelling closure and character separation). And yet, what he manages over the course of this season is truly amazing, an intricate reintroduction of familiar faces.

David Simon. Thank this man for brilliant television.

this last disc of season three has features including a panel q&a at Museum of Radio & Tv, and one with just Simon at a NY school with journalism students. at MR&T introducer (a curator of tv for the museum) says The Wire is in his opinion the most sophisticated, intelligent, and compelling drama on television.
oh and Simon says that though the "it's not TV it's HBO " tagline is old enough now that we might laugh at it, still it is sort of true. they do what no one else does. says no other channel including basic cable FX would do this. wh is int. would they now? did The Shield start a bit after the wire, in a space prepared by it? or is The Shield less consistently dark? Simon said that when Homicide was on NBC (where he was not involved at first. had simply sold his book of that title to them) they were asking if there cldn't be more life-affirming moments. my impression is that the shield does not have more of that sort of deliberate softening, but I don't know.
I like that NBC and FX are the two mentioned, these are who I feel a fan of.
also int that Simon said in West Baltimore everyone has HBO. so it may come down to, do I pay BG&E or do I pay Comcast, and they'll pay Comcast, so they can see The Wire. (of course I do pause over that, bcs thy are going to need electricity in the first place for the tv right). but that wld be my guess that the people living lives of a sort depicted here would appreciate the show. and Eric Burns (is that right name? cowriter, 20 yrs with Baltimore police, 7 yrs in school system) said that he thinks the rank&file of the police like the show. then, higher up you get, the police dept authorities, they have a problem with it.
and so what was mcorbin's complaint? not to get to full of praise, not to forget that the show is still not actually their story? I don't think I understand why he was critical. does he think the show is good, and just think there is too much reverence for what is good, and his voice is useful as a critic?