u/Limp_Somewhere6962

I have seen a number of people refer to shows like The Wire, Mad Men, True Detective as slow burn tv shows and I have a bone to pick with that label.

I would say a slow burn tv show is a show that takes a large chunk of It's time establishing characters, plots, establishing the rules of its universe. Most of the scenes in such a show usually takes place at the protagonists home and then gradually expands into said universe, bringing in secondary characters, antagonists, plot twists and then a month later the final episode wraps everything up. I think an actual slow burn would be Fargo, Game of Thrones, and Breaking Bad, Stranger Things.

The Wire, Mad Men, The Sopranos (still haven't watched it) doesn't take time to establish anything; it just gets started.

The Wire starts with a homicide (which is never solved by the way) and then goes on. The show is always introducing new characters and multiple plot points happen simultaneously and in some cases, off camera. I would even argue with the exception off season 2 (the murdered girls) and season 5 (serial killer 🤮) there isn't really a plot, it's story.

Mad Men gets going just as immediately. Gradually we get back-story into our protagonist. But even Don and the rest of the cast have episodic plots that are resolved and there never really is a lead up to anything. The show just keeps going.

True Detective is a slow burn because it follows the convention above.

These shows never really climax they are in a constant state of chub and I think that's a better category

😏😏

Just a thought...

Great episode, truly one of a kind television.

Do you guys think Don really meant the things he said to Pete and Peggy? Would he really chase her forever? Does he really need Pete to keep him looking forward? After a million rewatches, I feel Don would say anything to get what he wants including faking to people how he feels about them just to get them to go with him.

Every show has that moment where the show becomes or lives up to its name or reputation or what it was always meant to be.

Mad Men really becomes Mad Men in Season 4.

Breaking Bad really gets going at Season 3 and True Detective lived in its first season

What's The Wire's?

I'm just going to rave about the dialogue so feel free to move along if you've heard this before.

This shows dialogue is something else. It's organic to the point of being unbelievable. Game of Thrones is famed for its dialogue but everyone sounds so noble born and well bred you couldn't possibly ever speak like that in real life.

Mad Men another great show sounds like every character is competing to deliver the line of the episode. Breaking Bad has one or two memorable lines of dialogue but doesn't really feature in the same category. Sopranos, never watched it. True Detective gave Rust Cole all the good lines but again, you'll never speak like that.

The Wire.

Every conversation could literally be a conversation we have heard or shared between two people or a group in almost exactly the same manner, and the actors delivery is so believable you get the feels listening to them. E.g Kima in the police car when she gets shot at. That panic in her voice and the subsequent panic from Mcnulty and Daniels calling for eyes on her. The resignation in Bunny Cs voice with every line is like a man who has literally seen it all and is completely disillusioned by the system. The younguns in S1 who are all wide eyes about succeeding in the game.

Anyway, the real kicker I find are the 5 or so minutes of monologue or diaogue that almost every character has at some point in the series.

1. Bunk telling off Omar always comes to mind. Bunk seems like such a chill guy but he definitely put the pimp hand down in that episode.

2. Avon B talking next to his incapacitated uncle (father?). "That's life".

3. Deangelo B when he wants to give up the organisation's dealings. The looks on everyone's face as he talks, so engrossing.

4. Kima talking about why she became a cop.

5. Mcnulty talking to his ex-wife after he changes for Beadie.

6. Bubbles...

How do you even start to write such exchanges?!

Anyway thanks for listening, you've been a great audience. Goodnight and don't forget to tip your waitresses.

...you could "magically" change an event, a character's ending or plot point, who what would it be?

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E.g. Wallace not getting shot. Police getting all the funding for OT, etc.

I think one thing perhaps that The Wire doesn't really

go deep into is the prison aspect of the drug trade.

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Season 1: Heavy into the distribution, players, cops, legal system.

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Season 2: Trafficking, investigations, city decay, chain of commands.

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Season 3 -5:Drugs again, organising (or rather dreams of organised) drugs, turf wars/rivalries, investigations, the education system, city politics, death of print, killings, real estate, deals, come uppance, etc

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I really think we could have had Season 5 or six be about the prison aspect, being stuck in an 8 x 6, days slip by, and we could have seen more of Avon and Wee Bey possibly still running things from jail.

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Too boring?

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How realistic are the events that kick off The Wire? Judge Phaelan taking an interest in a case and leading to a semi-full detail?

Do judges have a vested interest in certain criminal cases?

This the scene where Snoop buys the Hilti DX and has that exchange with the assistant.

Does the shop assistant stare at Snoop because he doesn't understand what she's saying or because he actually understands what she's saying and that people might have used it as a weapon?

I didn't really get John's reaction to the food menu during that episode.

Was it because he spent the David's wedding fund after they lost their wealth?