We need to have a serious discussion on season 5 of The Wire

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

McNulty's storyline was easily the worst in the history of the series. It is so unforgivably ridiculous it derails the show. The stuff with the newspaper wasn't the most compelling because of the milquetoast performances from the actors in the news room. The story itself was actually fine...it was the actors (or how they were directed). These performances:

were so got damn boring compared to the rest of the world...

compare them to ANY of the police on the show. Are any of the above as memorable as these randoms:

no. The actual performances from the news reporters made the show more boring. Freakin Santangelo > the news room.

The marlo/prop joe/Co-Op story, as well as the extension of the story about the youth were both strong. And Bubbles was the MVP of the entire season, with season 5 bubbles being maybe the best single season performance of the series. Legitimately top tier.

 

[Mr. Manhattan]

Season 5 was saved by the Omar hunting Marlo, and Mike storyline
I didnt care for any poitics, newpaper, and police story other than Clay Davis outsmarting the courtroom with bullshyt
Very rushed and forced

 

[MenacingMonk]

Straight up, I don’t feel bad for Gale getting got in BB. Dude was a shytty stooge at The Sun.

 

[heart]

I just finished my first re-watch and I can't believe I forgot how ridiculously outlandish season 5 is. Maybe I tried blocking it from my memory, but man, it left I bad taste with me this time around. It's like they made it unnecessarily complex and didn't think it through.

-The Newspaper storyline: in the final season they decide to give a story about a shytty reporter making up stuff. This didn't need the time or focus on when the show is coming to an end. I'm not saying the newspaper shouldn't have had a role, but they coulda did it better and with little time to cover this side of things (more on that later).

-Prop Joe: you're gonna tell me a vet of the drug game, someone who's seen plenty of people come and go in this business, was so naive to Marlo? Dude was warned multiple times about him, yet still put him on game. How you gonna introduce Marlo to your main connect because you want the guy to have reassurance? If you're gonna do that with him, might as well let others in.

-Cheese's Betrayal: came out of nowhere and felt like a cop out. There's only one scene I can point at where Cheese may have had an issue with Joe (where Joe tells Marlo Cheese isn't in the Co-Op and has no say, basically), but there wasn't even a proper build-up to the tension between the two. So Cheese decides to become a soldier for Marlo after he was already a soldier for Joe? Why? More money? Ask for a raise.

-McNulty's character arc: didn't have to go down the way it did. The homeless story didn't need to happen. If they wanted to show him go back to fukking up they coulda did a better job. Show him fighting temptation to revert, then make him fukk up. It woulda been better writing to show his downward spiral instead of, "hey, let's start the season where he's knee deep in the shyt. "

-Marlo Plot Armor: absolutely hated how this guy was portrayed as untouchable. At least with Avon and Stringer we saw how smart they were. All Marlo did was bark orders and it looked like Snoop and Chris were the brains more than him.

-The Connect: so these dudes are just gonna let some new guy come in and take over? After years of smooth sailing with Joe they're gonna trust the new kid? You don't destroy a business relationship where things have been good.

A lot of people give shyt about season 2, but season 5 is the weakest and disappointing. Hell, watching this season made me appreciated Boardwalk Empire's season 5, another show I watched again recently; BE S5 is a much better season on re-watch.

Season 5 coulda just focused on Omar vs. Marlo with the police budget cuts and newspaper involvement playing a part in it. Bodies coulda been piling up and innocent victims caught in the crossfire. McNulty coulda made a connect with a writer to dish the dirt and bam, wiretap is up. Not only that, but they coulda gave Omar a glorious death instead of punk ass Kenard doing it. Marlo had an issue with his name being shyt on, so they coulda had dude get reckless because Omar was just eating him up. That's all that had to be done.

I agree with you about the Prop Joe/Marlo angle. That was always baffling to me. At the height of the drug wars Joe was always seen as the smaller little cousin to the Barksdale empire but he rose to more power when Avon went down.

Point is he was always seeing things way before they were to happen but he couldn't see Marlo coming for his head. Even before Marlo ordered him to be killed, he told him "I'm not the SON type"...

Joe had the westside and had shooters but in almost every scene with Marlo/chris. Joe moved very cautious and with fear and Marlo knew it..
Slim warned him, other members of the Co-op warned him as well.

Also I agree with you on how the connect; They made good money with Joe and seemed to be okay with Marlo taking him out but even towards the last scene with some of the other guys sitting with them, they only cared about the money not the people.

And the whole media story and lester helping mcnulty was irritating too. Everyone wanted the big showdown with Marlo/Omar and everyone hated Marlo's character. Overall it wasn't a bad season but I did find it extremely irritating at times looking back..

 

[MenacingMonk]

I agree with you about the Prop Joe/Marlo angle. That was always baffling to me. At the height of the drug wars Joe was always seen as the smaller little cousin to the Barksdale empire but he rose to more power when Avon went down.

Point is he was always seeing things way before they were to happen but he couldn't see Marlo coming for his head. Even before Marlo ordered him to be killed, he told him "I'm not the SON type"...

Joe had the westside and had shooters but in almost every scene with Marlo/chris. Joe moved very cautious and with fear and Marlo knew it..
Slim warned him, other members of the Co-op warned him as well.

Also I agree with you on how the connect; They made good money with Joe and seemed to be okay with Marlo taking him out but even towards the last scene with some of the other guys sitting with them, they only cared about the money not the people.

And the whole media story and lester helping mcnulty was irritating too. Everyone wanted the big showdown with Marlo/Omar and everyone hated Marlo's character. Overall it wasn't a bad season but I did find it extremely irritating at times looking back..

That “son” line from Joe was terrible. How you gonna shade GOAT Charles like that? Slim was closer like that to Joe than Marlo.

The last scene with the connect made sense because Marlo sold it to them since he was “out of the game.” Without Marlo the Greek doesn’t have anyone in the city to sell to. I wouldn’t really say it was about the money because they were already doing fine with Joe.

 

[hex]

The terrible serial killer stuff aside, the Prop Joe/Marlo thing that people keep mentioning was one of the worst parts of the season.

I mentioned it way back in 2012:

Barksdale Organization vs Stansfield Organization

A weak Avon had turned the tide in the war and had Marlo in his sights to finish him off. Why wouldn't we assume that Avon at his peak would win? Because a rookie marlo got avon shot, and caught on to his plan and killed one of his bytches. :yeshrug:

www.thecoli.com

Fred.

 

[feelosofer]

I thought season 5 was ok. I just thought the storylines needed more time to breathe.

 

[WesCrook]

Marlo was supposed to be convicted initially.

In the final montage, Marlo was approached by Weebey and Bird.

They decided to do away with it, obviously.

 

[Duke Dixon]

Still like it more than season 2

My viewpoint might be biased though. I used to go over to my cousins crib after SNF and watch the Wire and Def ComedyJam afterwards. I started in season 4 and 5 then watched the series. I wish I could forget the show and watch it from the beginning.

 

[3xplatinum]

Marlo was supposed to be convicted initially.

In the final montage, Marlo was approached by Weebey and Bird.

They decided to do away with it, obviously.

When was this?

 

[Numpsay]

At no time did I ever think we were going to get a Marlo/Omar showdown. At best a shoot out with Snoop and Chris was the best we were going to get and it is what we got. I appreciate the Wire for not following a hollywood formula and keeping shyt more grounded in that aspect. The fake serial killer/newspaper story line was stupid though, but other aspects of the season made up for it IMO.

 

[WesCrook]

When was this?

David Simon had mentioned it shortly after the show's run.

There were quite a few initial ideas and conclusions that got scrapped.

 

[darealvelle]

I dont understand the hate for season 2. That season is glue for the whole show. Probably the most important season.

 

[kdslittlebro]

A lot of people give shyt about season 2, but season 5 is the weakest and disappointing.

stop the S2 slander

I dont understand the hate for season 2. That season is glue for the whole show. Probably the most important season.

I understand mf’s are married to the Barksdale storyline and the hand-to-hands, but S2 is what makes Baltimore the main character, and the idea behind it is what makes it my GOAT.

 

[darealvelle]

stop the S2 slander



I understand mf’s are married to the Barksdale storyline and the hand-to-hands, but S2 is what makes Baltimore the main character, and the idea behind it is what makes it my GOAT.

I agree!