The Wire: Episode 3, "The Buys" (Veterans edition)
...it took a while to really appreciate how great the show was. For some, that revelation didn't (or won't) come for another episode or two. For me, it was the chess scene contained right here in "The Buys." y this epis more engaging: the chess scene, the McNulty & Greggs interaction.

During our post-finale interview, Simon and I talked about how all three characters in the chess scene eventually wound up dead at the hands of their employers.
D'Angelo, Bodie, Wallace.

-Everything that we've seen from Bodie makes him seem like an arrogant punk who spits too much, then the Wallace incident happened and I thought I was right. But by the end I wanted him to run off that corner with Poot instead of standing strong. The slow moving pace and patience that the series requires creates a better understanding of characters and motivations. By the end, I knew Bodie as a person. He was no longer just an archetype but a friend, just maybe not a good firend. He was a friend that would definately let you down from time to time and make your life harder. But it is this emotional investment in the characters that I think, for me at least, makes the series so unique.
-Still, it is hard to forgive him for Wallace.
-In fact, it's Poot that ends up being the cold one in this situation, contrary to what we would think leading up to this scene.
-I feel like i'm looking through photos of a dead relative still. It's all too fresh.

-Arguably the most series-defining moment of the episode is where D ask Stringer "Where does it all go, the money?" Knowing how much it played a role in season 3 (the best season of the television ever, in my opinion), its a small nod to what is too come.


What's Alan Watching?: The Wire, Season 1, Episode 4, "Old Cases" (Veterans edition)
the pre-credits scene w the desk wedged in the door. it's very funny, esp if y watch knowing Lester's smarter than these other guys put tgthr & therefore knows what's wrong, and a commentary on inefficient bureaucracy.

What's Alan Watching?: The Wire, Season 1, Episode 3, "The Buys" (Veterans edition):
much less to Omar's introduction than I remembered, though Michael K. Williams' delivery of "Well now..." while watching the cops roll out of ThePit foreshadowed the "Indeed"s & other bon mots fr Omar in future episodes.