tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post3829289458707863897..comments2024-03-19T05:50:19.572-04:00Comments on What's Alan Watching?: The Wire, "Clarifications": A kid's gameAlan Sepinwallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-47588925556263949362012-05-12T21:58:44.640-04:002012-05-12T21:58:44.640-04:00I completely disagree about Alma and McNulty. Poor...I completely disagree about Alma and McNulty. Poor Beadie! She was perfect for Jimmy when Jimmy was toeing the line, but now Jimmy is messing up the best thing he could have dreamed of having. <br /><br />Alma made it clear to Jimmy, from their very first meeting, that she was a married woman and was not interested in his advances.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-64304120980237400352012-05-12T21:56:20.769-04:002012-05-12T21:56:20.769-04:00Really? Would it have REALLY been so bad to have ...Really? Would it have REALLY been so bad to have Omar live....somehow? Or at least give him the satisfaction of taking out even ONE of the main players in the death of blind Butchie? <br />I was yelling at the screen for Omar to stay where he was on that island and stay safe, but I knew this would all come to no good end. <br />Still doesn't prevent me from being very upset and disappointed that Omar was able to get little revenge or satisfaction for blind Butchie and that he had to go.<br />I am still hoping to see Levy get his, but with only two episodes left, I doubt that will happen. He will go on as always, profiting from the Baltimore drug dealers.<br /><br />RIP Omar Little. :(Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-75415785839105896962010-12-18T03:04:33.796-05:002010-12-18T03:04:33.796-05:00Was I the only one that thought (and was kind of h...Was I the only one that thought (and was kind of hoping) that McNulty and Alma would hook up at some point this season? I know there are still two episodes left, but it doesn't seem likely the way the story is going. Surely, I thought, a chick magnet like McNulty looking to get media attention and a cute young reporter like Alma looking to move up the newspaper ranks would make a good f*** pair. Darn.VinnyBnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-3795912367765912552010-08-31T06:30:46.955-04:002010-08-31T06:30:46.955-04:00I noticed that the body tag said "decendant&q...I noticed that the body tag said "decendant" instead of "decedant." I had to backup because I read it as descendant at first.Scott Carpenterhttp://www.movingtofreedom.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-49893016695779446832010-08-10T15:54:42.974-04:002010-08-10T15:54:42.974-04:00I really appreciate your comments, but I think you...I really appreciate your comments, but I think you're not nuanced enough when it comes to McNulty. Of course, a lot of what he does is for self-glorification, but there's a lot that he does for real, importante reasons. In the end, though, he doesn't do good, but his intentions are at least mixed. In the end, I would say he is a good guy.channoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-16312213687245057702010-02-23T11:24:32.710-05:002010-02-23T11:24:32.710-05:00I know I'm only 2 years late on this, but I...I know I'm only 2 years late on this, but I've just blown through the entire series of the wire via NetFlix. Here's what I think of Omar's death and why it doesn't make its way into the newspaper: There's not enough room in the paper for it. Too many columns/resources are being allocated to the fake serial killer story. It parallels nicely with the way police resources are being diverted to the serial killer instead of real crimes. Just goes to show how far out of control McNulty's ruse has spun.cazzoduronoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-21162327406992964002010-02-02T03:17:24.492-05:002010-02-02T03:17:24.492-05:00"was it just another metaphor for the dark an..."was it just another metaphor for the dark and convoluted wire-world?"<br /><br />The bit reads "Many Are Trapped for Hours In Darkness and Confusion." It's both a reminder to not be vague in headlines (passive voice and ambiguity doom that one) and a nod to The Wire itself, I think. It <i>is</i> an hour-long show.<br /><br />And Alan, if you read this as you approve it, the links to both the Photobucket account with screencaps of Kenard in S3 and the YouTube of his entrance no longer work.Andy Hutchinshttp://therockabyereview.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-7046058454654521932008-03-06T09:48:00.000-05:002008-03-06T09:48:00.000-05:00Apropos of nothing, except the lengths to which on...Apropos of nothing, except the lengths to which one will go to avoid a deadline.<BR/>We kid, of course, because we care. Can't wait 'til Sunday.<BR/><BR/><B>INT: <I>The Baltimore Sun Newsroom.</I> Early evening.</B><BR/><BR/><B>Gus:</B> "Templeton, I need some react quotes from City Hall for the double dot. Posthaste, sir."<BR/><BR/><B>Templeton</B> <I>Scratches head, glances to the left to see if Alma is at her desk. She is not. Reaches into his Dockers and scratches right testicle. Picks up phone. Dials 1-900-BITES ME.</I><BR/><BR/><B>Automated Sun Operator:</B> "I'm sorry. This call cannot be completed as dialed because of a policy edict from the Evil Managing Editor. Please hang up and dial again."<BR/><BR/><B>Templeton:</B> <I>Mutters to himself </I><BR/>"Damned bean counters. That number worked fine from the phones at <I>The Washington Post.</I>.."<BR/><I>He pretends to continue the conversation anyway.</I><BR/>"You don't say....you don't say....you don't <I>say</I>."<BR/><BR/><B>Gus:</B><I> Leaning back, Bunklike, in his creaky desk chair</I><BR/> "Remember, young Scott, the words of the great Henry Mencken. 'All successful newspapers are ceaselessly querulous and bellicose. They never defend anyone or anything if they can help it; if the job is forced on them, they tackle it by denouncing someone or something else.' So where the hell are my fu@%!^g quotes?"<BR/><BR/><B>Templeton:</B> <I>Hangs up phone, and in the process spills the remains of an almost-empty container of chocolate milk on his Dockers.</I><BR/>"Horse hockey!"<BR/><I>Shouts across the newsroom at Gus, while still wiping slacks with yesterday's metro section.</I><BR/>I just talked to Dick Cheney....I mean, the Serial Killer...I mean, whatshisname, the City Council President. I'll make up some quotes in just a minute."<BR/><BR/><I>Templeton searches for left testicle, to no avail. Types "Lance Armstrong" into Google. Scratches right testicle again. Begins typing furiously with two fingers as sweat soaks through his Kansas City Star t-shirt and stains his plaid button-down...</I><BR/><BR/><B>CU: Computer screen, as the cursor pushes across the void...:</B> "Asked to comment about the allegations, an unidentified source close to City Hall said today, "Sheeeeeeeeeeit, son. Just follow the money. It leads <I>everywhere...</I>"<BR/><BR/><B>CUT TO: EXT Drug Corner</B>Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06431756936363116390noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-46197762130507705102008-03-05T19:41:00.000-05:002008-03-05T19:41:00.000-05:00I love The Wire! It's by far my favorite show on T...I love The Wire! It's by far my favorite show on TV. I'm going to be sad when the final episode airs on the 9th. I'm always happy to meet more fans of the show. Nice blog. Keep bloggingFilm Scholarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12908778823788671762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-56252074654336959162008-03-01T08:29:00.000-05:002008-03-01T08:29:00.000-05:00Mo,Interesting conversation between you and Alan h...Mo,<BR/><BR/>Interesting conversation between you and Alan here.<BR/><BR/>Here is the most relevant scene I could have constructed and included in this season of The Wire regarding the internet and its fundamental influence on newspapering and journalism:<BR/><BR/>INT. GARDEN APARTMENT/ANYWHERE - DAY<BR/><BR/>A MAN, white, early thirties, dressed in underwear, nursing a latte, sits at computer screen. C.U. on screen as he links to Baltimore Sun article to create a cite on his blog. PULL back to reveal MAN, typing furiously. He pauses to scratch his left testicle, then, satisfied, he begins typing again. C.U. on screen as the cursor pushes across the void and commentary ensues,<BR/><BR/>CUT TO:<BR/><BR/>EXT. DRUG CORNER...<BR/><BR/>And so forth.<BR/><BR/>Apart from the phenomenon described above, the construct of the newspaper arc is the same in 1994 as it is in 2008, or 1972 for that matter. The only issue worth any drama or attention at all, in my humble opinion, is how well journalism captures and analyzes our truths, our problems, our world.<BR/>The power that the internet holds over newspapers right now is, of course, the economic preamble to the season five story -- Whiting says exactly that when he climbs a desk and announces the cutbacks at the beginning of the arc -- but it is only the preamble. It is not the story, and given the rather dry scene above, I don't think it could or should be mistaken for the story.<BR/><BR/>The internet does not by and large contribute to first generation newsgathering -- at city council meetings, in courtrooms, on Capitol Hill, in Fallujah. But it skims the froth of commentary and debate and humor and rage from the organizations that provide that first-generation product and in doing so, is skimming readers and advertising and money. And that is what is terrifying if you love newspapers and understand their rare and vital function.<BR/><BR/>Should there have been a line of dialogue in the newsroom where someone told Price or Zorzi to file his copy for the website, rather than the edot, or a scene where one of the reporters declaimed that, "I have to feed my blog and then file a weekender."? Perhaps, if it makes people feel up-to-date. But we might as well have had a newsroom character reading the internet itself. Look, Zorzi's scanning Romenesko! It's accurate, but what does it add, exactly, to a story that is, for better or worse, about whether or not a newspaper is aware of, and capturing, the true nature of its city?<BR/><BR/>Forests and trees, I think.<BR/><BR/>All best,<BR/><BR/>David SimonAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-5513137393195509332008-02-28T21:30:00.000-05:002008-02-28T21:30:00.000-05:00Actually Omar's death is tragic, but not in the wa...Actually Omar's death is tragic, but not in the way that impboy says. It's often said that Greek tragic heroes have "fatal flaws," but this is incorrect. Tragic heroes, Aristotle said, perish for no good reason at all, for reasons outside of their control that they are powerless to change. That's what makes their downfall tragic--because it's undeserved, not the logical consequence of some "flaw." (if it was the latter, we could understand and explain it, and it wouldn't be so sad). <BR/><BR/>This is important for Omar because it underscores how powerless he ultimately is--his death isn't heroic, and it's not the result of his morality and code of honor. It's a dumb accident, the result of being in the wrong place, at the wrong time, near a confused child with access to a gun. In the end, despite his talents he is undone by forces he can't control.<BR/><BR/>Sorry for nerding out on you there but I recently had to teach Aristotle in school, so the shit is on my mind.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-50990991233136297402008-02-28T15:10:00.000-05:002008-02-28T15:10:00.000-05:00But, anyway, my initial point was that the Interne...But, anyway, my initial point was that the Internet doesn't change any of the stories Simon is telling about the newspapers.<BR/><BR/>Gus's editing would be the same whether the story is going on-line or being printed; ditto the wordsmith guy whose name eludes me.<BR/><BR/>Templeton's lies would be just as bad and just as egregious.<BR/><BR/>Alma's stories would be just as naive and under-researched.<BR/><BR/>Whiting and Klebanow would just say, "Nobody wins the Pulitzer for Internet coverage," and Whiting would say something condescending about how Dickensian it all is.<BR/><BR/>Zorzi would be just as surly -- maybe he'd complain a bit more about his story being distributed for free on the Internet. Maybe.<BR/><BR/>So, like I say, I don't see what difference the Internet would make to the story Simon is telling. I mean, I'm sure Carcetti's mayoral and gubernatorial campaigns had/have websites, but we don't need to see them either.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-11949679202838491232008-02-28T15:06:00.000-05:002008-02-28T15:06:00.000-05:00"I don't work in journalism, but my uneducated gue..."I don't work in journalism, but my uneducated guess is that the internet (i.e. free, instant, 24/7 access to information) is the primary reason newspapers are struggling today."<BR/><BR/>It's not, though. The Internet has certainly had an impact, but the problem stems back way further than the popularization of the Internet. (Anything with a failing business model nowadays loves to blame it on free distribution over the Internet.) <BR/><BR/>Newspapers have always, obviously, had to make a profit, but many people in the know point to a specific time (usually some time in the '80's) when profit became the primary purpose of the newspapers and the ever-larger companies that were buying them up.<BR/><BR/>Though it isn't dealing with newspapers, the film "Broadcast News" gets into a lot of this. [Though you can add something there: the news divisions of television channels used to be legally obligated to provide important news -- as Americans, we own the airwaves that they transmit over, but Congress gave them the right to transmit at a far lower rate than they should have to pay, in exchange for providing the news for free... but, at a certain point, the law was changed, and the channels became obsessed with the ratings on news, and chasing ratings is death for real news.]<BR/><BR/>Once profit becomes the main purpose, then they will focus more on stories which will create more profit, rather than stories that are "important". The Internet became a factor, because giving away news hurt the profits of the newspaper, but if the companies hadn't been obsessed with higher and higher profits, the dent would not have been significant, and could have been manageable in various ways.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-60988698179166287632008-02-28T03:11:00.000-05:002008-02-28T03:11:00.000-05:00While I felt at first that Omar's abrupt and unrem...While I felt at first that Omar's abrupt and unremarkable death served as a reminder of his relative insignificance as far as the rest of the world is concerned, I've changed my mind. I mean, even Obama's name-checked the guy, and Simon and Co. recognize the impact Omar's death will have on US, if not on his fictitional Baltimore.<BR/><BR/>Going back to Simon's constant references to Greek mythology, we have to remember the contradictions of a hero. He's superhuman yet ultimately mortal, and always possesses a fatal flaw. For Omar, it turns out to be what makes him stand out amongst everybody else: his code of honor. It's a code that the streets have long since abandoned, and Marlo understands and embodies this world's moral emptiness. He'd easily kill a child, which is something Omar would never do. In that regard, Kenard is the only person in this universe who could kill Omar. You see it in Omar's final scene. Omar sees death come for him, but his morality is his blind spot<BR/><BR/>That's the most depressing thing about this show: one of the few people who remotely approaches good has to be an outlaw (not unlike Bunny in season three or an increasingly reckless Freamon in this season), as broken as the institutions around him are. It's a world where heroes die like dogs and barely get a mention in the paper, while charlatans like Clay Davis are lavishly rewarded for their chicanery.<BR/><BR/>As far as the final scene, I thought the main point there was how in death, we're all the same. No matter what social distinctions separate us, we all end up in the same place. Of course, one can make a political point that Black men often end up there sooner then White men, but all the same, it's Baltimore, and nobody lives forever.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-28685570614992017962008-02-27T23:21:00.000-05:002008-02-27T23:21:00.000-05:00"I don't understand how stories also being posted ...<I>"I don't understand how stories also being posted on the Internet would change the story Simon is telling, one way or another."</I> <BR/><BR/>I don't work in journalism, but my uneducated guess is that the internet (i.e. free, instant, 24/7 access to information) is the primary reason newspapers are struggling today. <BR/>When the story has themes such as doing "more with less," and the general fact that journalism isn't what it used to be, and when the root cause is something so clear, it is strange not to see a single acknowledgemnt of that cause. <BR/><BR/>Urban schools are struggling to educate properly, neighborhoods are lost to the drug trade, blue-collar workers are struggling, law enforcement and politics can be ineffective at making a difference, and so on. There are many differing opinions on the whys and the hows, but they all seem more complex than the fact that there are alternatives to the newspaper today. So why not even mention it once? But perhaps it was still beyond the scope of what could be fit into the shortened season?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-46898859337618981812008-02-27T16:50:00.000-05:002008-02-27T16:50:00.000-05:00I don't understand how stories also being posted o...I don't understand how stories also being posted on the Internet would change the story Simon is telling, one way or another.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-11969452316893998822008-02-27T15:06:00.000-05:002008-02-27T15:06:00.000-05:00yep, agreed, they do mix past and present. I'd tho...yep, agreed, they do mix past and present. I'd thought about that but the examples you bring up reinforced the point well. thanks. <BR/><BR/>Yeah, I also agree that if stevedores and teachers had more media access, those seasons would have been picked apart way more. point taken. <BR/><BR/>Anyway, the web beef wasn't that much of an annoyance this season -- a small gripe that I would have ignored if other stuff hadn't bugged me as well. there was sort of a critical mass of things that I wasn't fond of in that storyline, that was just one of 'em. And I would have let it go had that storyline worked better for me overall. But it's hard to not nitpick a world that you're familiar with. I'm sure if I was a nurse or doctor there's no way I could watch House. Well, maybe House, definitely not Grey's Anatomy.Mo Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01685367085407381479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-78443588036621479922008-02-27T14:56:00.000-05:002008-02-27T14:56:00.000-05:00It's as if Simon wants it both ways -- for it to b...<I>It's as if Simon wants it both ways -- for it to be the Sun of 1994 and the Sun of 2008. It's just one of many stretches that we've been asked to make in that storyline and it may be one stretch too many for me. Your mileage may vary.</I><BR/><BR/>Mo, I don't disagree that some discussion of the Internet would be nice -- especially since Simon, in "The Last Word" documentary and elsewhere, has expressed anger at how newspapers give away their content for free on-line -- but this isn't the first time the show has mixed past with present. The whole deal with the pagers and pay phones from season one was, I believe, taken directly from a counter-surveillance method that Melvin Williams' crew used in the '80s when Ed Burns was part of a task force chasing him. By 2002 (when the first season aired), I'm sure most drug crews had moved on to other methods of secure communication, but Simon and Burns used the pagers because it was a great story. (McNulty or someone else has a line early on expressing surprise that anyone still uses pagers in this day and age.) <BR/><BR/>Some of the Baltimore locals could go into more depth about all the ways that the issues Carcetti and the other politicans deal with actually happened in the city a few years ago or more, but I have no problem accepting them taking place in 2008. <BR/><BR/>As with so many things about the newspaper story, the problem is that it's the first "world" the show has visited where the newsmedia covering the show knows as much about as Simon does. As I've said before, I'm sure there are plenty of Baltimore cops, politicians, drug dealers, stevedores, etc., who could poke holes at the realism factor of those stories; they're just not the ones who buy ink by the barrelful.Alan Sepinwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-69906604173108269852008-02-27T14:49:00.000-05:002008-02-27T14:49:00.000-05:00Thanks, Alan. I've read 4 million Wire stories in ...Thanks, Alan. I've read 4 million Wire stories in the last 6 months and couldn't recall him addressing this, but all those pieces are just a blur in my head. Having said that, I very much look forward to your talk with him. Having seen more of the season now, I have a lot of questions.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I guess that answer transforms my question into a gripe. It seems as though the Wire has done a pretty good job of recreating the Sun newsroom -- circa 1993-95 (Simon's last years there). But all the cutbacks and layoffs etc are happening there -- so clearly it's supposed to be the Sun (or any paper that size) of now. Yes, some layoffs happened in the 90s, but it seems as though that stuff is more drawn from the last few years. <BR/><BR/>I understand it's fiction, but he's also said that he wants his stories to be as close to reality as possible. If the Wire tried to paint a true-to-life portrait of a big-city police department circa 2007-2008, would those officers have access to DNA tests? To wiretaps on cell phones? Of course. It's just common sense. But we're looking at a newspaper that never mentions its web site. In 2008. It sort of defies logic. <BR/><BR/>It's as if Simon wants it both ways -- for it to be the Sun of 1994 and the Sun of 2008. It's just one of many stretches that we've been asked to make in that storyline and it may be one stretch too many for me. Your mileage may vary.Mo Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01685367085407381479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-40089147512178893862008-02-27T09:18:00.000-05:002008-02-27T09:18:00.000-05:00Or are we going to get to the end without one ment...<I>Or are we going to get to the end without one mention of a web presence for the paper? You could ask Simon why that was never discussed at all</I><BR/><BR/>Mo, Simon said in some earlier interviews that he had no interest in dealing with the web (probably because it wasn't a factor when he was at the Sun). That's been one of the bigger complaints from the "Oh, he gets the cops and drug dealers so perfectly, but he doesn't know what he's talking about with journalism" crowd.Alan Sepinwallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03388147774725646742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-21488155131472167632008-02-27T01:01:00.000-05:002008-02-27T01:01:00.000-05:00Perhaps a minor point, but it's bothered me all se...Perhaps a minor point, but it's bothered me all season -- is anyone in the Sun newsroom ever going to discuss or mention the paper's web site? Web traffic? Or are we going to get to the end without one mention of a web presence for the paper? You could ask Simon why that was never discussed at all (I haven't seen eps 9 and 10, so I don't know if it is brought up at any point). <BR/><BR/>Here's another question for Simon -- does he think that Lester and Jimmy were justified in doing what they've done? Does he think it was a valid strategy for dealing with the obstacles they faced? <BR/><BR/>I read the interview Newsweek's Devin Gordon did with Simon and was intrigued by Simon's response to the last question, in which Gordon described this season as "Everyone pretty much goes nuts." <BR/><BR/>Simon responded (in part): "The season is about the chasm between perception and reality in American life and how we are increasingly without the tools that allow us to recognize our true problems, much less begin to solve them. Everybody goes crazy? Who? McNulty? Freamon? They quit playing by the rules in a rigged game. That's almost a form of sanity, self-destructive as it might turn out to be."<BR/><BR/>Not a question, but I was also a little mystified by what Lester wants -- just to have Clay Shaw answer questions that will help Lester with future investigations? He just wants facts and figures and names and dates, but off the record, so to speak? I almost wonder if he wants it more for his own personal knowledge -- he's seen enough to know that whatever he found out probably wouldn't result in any real convictions. <BR/><BR/>I actually just watched this episode on Tuesday -- I know! The Wire! But dad was in the hospital. So... he's out now. Anyway, I knew something huge was up because of the number of comments on Alan's Wire recap this week. Even so, I didn't see the method of Omar's death coming. Yes, it makes total sense within the Wire's worldview. Still. Damn. I knew it couldn't last with him, but I still didn't want it to go that way. All in the game, I spose. <BR/><BR/>For all my nitpicks and problems with this season, I will miss this show a lot. Not just for creating a character like Omar, whose death literally left me slackjawed, but for making me laugh out loud minutes later during McNutty's FBI profiler summary.<BR/><BR/>High point of the episode -- Bunk's look of delight when he knew he had real evidence on Chris Partlow. He's my favorite character, I have to say. Er, Bunk, not Chris.Mo Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01685367085407381479noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-3423637345780586862008-02-26T23:59:00.000-05:002008-02-26T23:59:00.000-05:00Maybe you could ask Simon if he thinks Baltimore c...Maybe you could ask Simon if he thinks Baltimore can be saved? It sure seems to be a hopeless place a lot of the time.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-84464474826843909962008-02-26T23:28:00.000-05:002008-02-26T23:28:00.000-05:00Nispero, I kept expecting to see Bunny appear to h...Nispero, I kept expecting to see Bunny appear to help out Carver with the map but didn't connect it with Bunny's "where are you?" line. Good catch.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-55316634333550838152008-02-26T21:31:00.000-05:002008-02-26T21:31:00.000-05:00I enjoyed how Sydnor came to his directions epipha...I enjoyed how Sydnor came to his directions epiphany on a street that looks identical to Bunny Colvin's block--Colvin who was famously obsessive about knowing one's location at all times.<BR/><BR/>A question for Simon: How about asking him his thoughts on the pessimism of the show? As the series has expanded from a close study of a single institution (the police and the corner) to something that includes the schools, police, professional media, the homeless, etc., that bleak vision--that "nobody lives forever," that honest people are punished--weighs much more heavily, because it seems to encompass a whole society. Does the Wire give us any way out of this?<BR/><BR/>Nice recap, thanks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17517257.post-39784547053612505042008-02-26T20:58:00.000-05:002008-02-26T20:58:00.000-05:00Alan --Your speculation about Kenard doing in Omar...Alan --<BR/><BR/>Your speculation about Kenard doing in Omar may have been subconscious, but it was clearly set up. In the scene in the previous ep when Omar confronts Michael, the camera takes in all the corner boys, but lingers last on Kenard, staring down Omar. Or lingers on Kenard last, staring at Omar's back as Omar limps away. Chase (and the director) dropped a big hint right there, though in not such an obvious way.TuckPendletonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09205887129563034955noreply@blogger.com