What's Alan Watching?: The Wire, Season 1, Episode 2, "The Detail" (Veterans edition): One of the stylistic choices that Simon and Robert Colesberry insisted for this show was -- with one yearly exception, for the montage near the end of each season finale -- to eschew the use of any music that didn't come from a practical background source. No score, no songs that appear as if from nowhere. If the song doesn't originate from the sound system at a club, or somebody's car stereo (as in this episode's use of 'American Woman' during the terrible trio's middle of the night arrival at the high-rises), it can't be used. Eventually, the producers would find ways to bend their own rules -- there's a montage midway through season two that's scored to Johnny Cash's 'Walk the Line,' but it's justified because the character who appears at the beginning and end is listening to it on a portable stereo like in Lost, Hurley on the beach listening to song on his discman & that song closes out the epis, nice scene, then same thing round campfire ~ next epis -- but for the most part, the lack of musical cues helps the show's aura of realism, as well as Simon's desire not to hold the audience's hand and tell them how to feel at any given moment.
-In a subsequent episode of Season One I noticed them bending the 'no unnatural music' rule. It's the scene where Avon makes a visit to the Pit crew, I believe to reward Wallace for spotting Brandon. He comes in, in slow-motion to very stylized background music yes I wonder whether Simon wanted this & why that as far as I can tell did not belong anywhere organically. Having watched all the seasons and being very accustomed to the no-music style, I found it very jarring!
--Indeed, thanks for reminding me of Avon's entrance into the Pit. It's maybe the only time in the series where they completely violate the rules. With Prez's "Walk the Line"cork board montage in season two, or Cutty jogging through a lot of election day drama to "Move On Up" in season four, they at least made a pretense of playing by the rule, and the season-ending montages are a built-in exception. Avon's entrance...? Well, I guess we can study it further when we get to that episode.


What's Alan Watching?: The Wire, Season 1, Episode 5, "The Pager" (Veterans edition)
...Coming up next Friday (or possibly Saturday, depending on how my early-week vacation wreaks havoc with my schedule): "The Wire," in which a bug gets placed, Wallace hands out snacks, and Avon pays a visit to the Pit. so that's in epis 6 "The Wire": Brandon's bloodied body is discovered in the pit. Wallace gets even more unsettled about the situation after Avon rewards him for his part in Brandon's murder. that's the scene where Avon has come down to the pit. The detail gets a wiretap running.