I don't know if I'd say McNulty is the main character, I think this is a true ensemble production. If there's a main character at all, it's the city of Baltimore.
It's absolutely an ensemble piece but McNulty is definitely the main protagonist. He's the closest thing to a main character that a show like The Wire has but doesn't steal the spotlight *at all* and isn't needed to keep the momentum of the story going. Dominic West is billed first in the credits then everybody else follows alphabetically.
@@fujiapples303 ass whooped?? Literally never! Try it out... I only use it when someone decides to stop instead of blow out in front of me and take a left onto the street I'm currently driving on Some people flip me off, most stare blankly, but a good amount of people laugh. It's not like I'm flipping them off. They didn't actually cut out in front of me and force me to brake so it's like a "nice try" gesture
The show is known for hyper realism and yet Omar lives on the edge of legend and realism. He seems like a character so larger than life he should be in Breaking Bad, so feared people run in fear when he walks, but then the show pulls the rug on you when he misses hitting Avon. That tension, the play between fantasy and realism in a realistic setting is super engaging.
I liked your comment on the camera movement, where they'll turn the camera instead of cutting. That paired with the sparse music/score which is almost entirely diegetic really makes you feel like a bystander in the happenings of the show. I've never needed a good reason to rewatch this series but your reactions are a damn good reason, keep up the good work.
I always think the moving shots for long yet brief emotional moments is a very Japanese film level of emoting, it comes from good pause shots in manga and graphic novels. Love this fucking show
Great black dynamite reference at the start. I love how Avon does not call out the ref for the decision he made, but for being too scared to stand up for himself. Really shows where his priorities are. What did the detectives really expect, when chasing a man around on his old stomping grounds? That was not too wise. Also, even if Omar missed, I think that he put the fear in Avon that the man hasn't felt for a while now.
I mean...it's literal luck that Wee-Bey arrived when he did otherwise Avon would've absolutely been dead 😂 That first shot was a head shot that Avon dodged. He was caught slipping heavily and he realized that (hence the advice he finally takes next episode) so he was definitely shook lmao
@@monadreher2428eventhough Avon slipped up originally, his awareness to react saved his life. The second he saw wee bay he knew what was happening. There wasn't a second of hesitation or processing. His street smarts were impeccable and in that moment he was not a little slow or a little late
@@Ross.J47 Yeah this is all true friend no disagreements from me at all. But if Wee-Bey doesn't show then Avon dies. There's no getting around that fact.
Sounded like the boondocks episode about uncle ruckus' past with that scene of Michael B Jordan talking about going back to school: "did I just catch you trying to be shit?!" 😂
This series is amazing: such deep complex character development, plus incredible Police Procedural elements, humor, suspense, the internal divisions within the cops, the internal divisions within the criminals, the drug addicts perspective, the family perspective, the sense of the connections between these elements that every other show just sees as opposites (Herk and Carver chatting with Brody at the basketball game). And this is just the first 9 episodes. Just wait until you can pull back and see this work of art in it's entirety, at the very end of the last season. We are only looking at one little corner of the canvas right now. One might call it's perspective...Dickensian (as in Charles Dickens...wait till the final season)
Always fascinated me how dealers were hated and feared by some, and thanked and feared by others in the same communities. Role models and villains. All the dealers and users in our Dublin projects were white. There were no black people - we were the colonised not the colonisers / but the game, the life, the aspirations or lack of, were exactly the same as urban US. Love your Wire reactions, just drop more regularly please. ❤️👍🏽👍☘️
This a reach, but I kind of see an analogy of the basketball game in this episode with the events of the first Christmas of World War One, when ordinary soldiers on both sides of the Western Front had an impromptu truce, exchanged gifts and played a game of football (soccer). Don’t know if the writers had this in mind, but this series is so multifaceted, subtle and complex it encourages speculation like this. Best show ever, bar none.
Birds swallow pebbles, because it helps them grind down the food in their stomach. The ones he was throwing into the bin seemed a bit large for that though.
One of my favorite season one episodes and quotes: "Maybe we won." I can't describe how much I miss people like Lance Reddick and Michael K. Williams. I've not watched the series since they both passed. It's so weird to think considering how many things I live by, that I first heard come from their mouth on this show.
The next episode is where the slow build ends, and the chaos begins. What other show has the balls to wait until episode ten to show its hand? Masterful. It's also cool that your reaction to this episode will be released around the same time as your reaction to Better Call Saul's Plan and Execution. Similar dynamic - slow, meticulously designed set-ups for maximum impact.
On the first Watch Dogs; I recommend giving it a try with the Living City mod, if you have a good enough PC for that. It's easy enough to install. It adds a lot of emergent gameplay to the game and makes the open world much more reactive. If not, then you'll still enjoy the game, just won't be as reactive Also, if you do play it, I recommend using aggressive combat. It's very curious how the game's design clicks together when you consider it a John Wick simulator and use the mechanics to be stylishly aggressive.
Again with the brilliance of this show. The Wire & The Office & Better Call Saul & Always Sunny & More on Patreon! Click here: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema Have a great day y'all!
Damn didn't remember we got introduced to Bub's sister this early and in season 1 too. Bubble's basement arc is probably the most satisfying story arc of the entire show.
I don't know if I'd say McNulty is the main character, I think this is a true ensemble production. If there's a main character at all, it's the city of Baltimore.
True indeed. There is no character that appears in every episode
If there’s a main character it’d be The System imo. In all of its fucked up forms and implementations.
Some people think he's the main character because he's the first one we meet in the series. But you're right, it's an ensemble show.
It's absolutely an ensemble piece but McNulty is definitely the main protagonist. He's the closest thing to a main character that a show like The Wire has but doesn't steal the spotlight *at all* and isn't needed to keep the momentum of the story going. Dominic West is billed first in the credits then everybody else follows alphabetically.
it insists upon itself
Possibly the most quoted line from the series is “When you come at the king you best not miss.” But when Omar comes after Avon, he misses.
That is what you would think. But he would have shot out the lights in the attic bro
I use Avon's finger-wag every time I'm driving and someone starts to pull out in front of my car from a side street but stops abruptly instead
Do you do it in slowmo tho, because it doesn't count otherwise.
I call bullshit.
and how many times you get your ass whooped in this fantasy?
@@fujiapples303 ass whooped?? Literally never! Try it out... I only use it when someone decides to stop instead of blow out in front of me and take a left onto the street I'm currently driving on
Some people flip me off, most stare blankly, but a good amount of people laugh.
It's not like I'm flipping them off. They didn't actually cut out in front of me and force me to brake so it's like a "nice try" gesture
The show is known for hyper realism and yet Omar lives on the edge of legend and realism. He seems like a character so larger than life he should be in Breaking Bad, so feared people run in fear when he walks, but then the show pulls the rug on you when he misses hitting Avon. That tension, the play between fantasy and realism in a realistic setting is super engaging.
MAN this is such a great season of television and the show only gets better. can't wait to see the rest of this season
I liked your comment on the camera movement, where they'll turn the camera instead of cutting. That paired with the sparse music/score which is almost entirely diegetic really makes you feel like a bystander in the happenings of the show.
I've never needed a good reason to rewatch this series but your reactions are a damn good reason, keep up the good work.
Happy to hear this!! More to come my friend
Proposition Joe is such an interesting character imo.
For sure. An in many's
RIP to the great Robert Chew “Look the part, be the part, m- f-“
Prop Joe is GOATED, everyone knows that
Wood Harris is massively underrated.
James: "This is a good show."
Young blood, this is one of the BEST shows! So. Dang. Good.
I love the interactions between Carver and Bodie. They continue to intrigue deep into the show.
Absolutely. Especially considering that Bodie is basically the Barksdale Organization version of Herc and Carver.
I always think the moving shots for long yet brief emotional moments is a very Japanese film level of emoting, it comes from good pause shots in manga and graphic novels. Love this fucking show
Great black dynamite reference at the start.
I love how Avon does not call out the ref for the decision he made, but for being too scared to stand up for himself. Really shows where his priorities are.
What did the detectives really expect, when chasing a man around on his old stomping grounds? That was not too wise.
Also, even if Omar missed, I think that he put the fear in Avon that the man hasn't felt for a while now.
I mean...it's literal luck that Wee-Bey arrived when he did otherwise Avon would've absolutely been dead 😂 That first shot was a head shot that Avon dodged. He was caught slipping heavily and he realized that (hence the advice he finally takes next episode) so he was definitely shook lmao
@@monadreher2428 Yeah, Bey showed Omar that he is not invincible and Omar showed the same to Avon.
@@monadreher2428eventhough Avon slipped up originally, his awareness to react saved his life. The second he saw wee bay he knew what was happening. There wasn't a second of hesitation or processing. His street smarts were impeccable and in that moment he was not a little slow or a little late
@@Ross.J47 Yeah this is all true friend no disagreements from me at all. But if Wee-Bey doesn't show then Avon dies. There's no getting around that fact.
Sounded like the boondocks episode about uncle ruckus' past with that scene of Michael B Jordan talking about going back to school: "did I just catch you trying to be shit?!" 😂
"n word did I just catch you havin dreams an sht?"
Because the Boondocks aired before this episode of The Wire?
You sure about that, sparky?
This series is amazing: such deep complex character development, plus incredible Police Procedural elements, humor, suspense, the internal divisions within the cops, the internal divisions within the criminals, the drug addicts perspective, the family perspective, the sense of the connections between these elements that every other show just sees as opposites (Herk and Carver chatting with Brody at the basketball game). And this is just the first 9 episodes. Just wait until you can pull back and see this work of art in it's entirety, at the very end of the last season. We are only looking at one little corner of the canvas right now.
One might call it's perspective...Dickensian (as in Charles Dickens...wait till the final season)
"This is a real good show". Quite possibly the closest to "perfect" a TV series will ever get.
Always fascinated me how dealers were hated and feared by some, and thanked and feared by others in the same communities. Role models and villains.
All the dealers and users in our Dublin projects were white. There were no black people - we were the colonised not the colonisers / but the game, the life, the aspirations or lack of, were exactly the same as urban US.
Love your Wire reactions, just drop more regularly please.
❤️👍🏽👍☘️
Usually this kind of character development and dialogue is found in novels, not tv shows.
This a reach, but I kind of see an analogy of the basketball game in this episode with the events of the first Christmas of World War One, when ordinary soldiers on both sides of the Western Front had an impromptu truce, exchanged gifts and played a game of football (soccer). Don’t know if the writers had this in mind, but this series is so multifaceted, subtle and complex it encourages speculation like this. Best show ever, bar none.
Omar came at the king and MISSED!!!🤣
@4:55 that's the power of Black Dynamite... the quotes that will stay with you for decades.
Perhaps the best series ever made.
Birds swallow pebbles, because it helps them grind down the food in their stomach. The ones he was throwing into the bin seemed a bit large for that though.
One of my favorite season one episodes and quotes: "Maybe we won." I can't describe how much I miss people like Lance Reddick and Michael K. Williams. I've not watched the series since they both passed. It's so weird to think considering how many things I live by, that I first heard come from their mouth on this show.
"Dude's about to have a Jimmy Neutron moment." lmao I understood that
The next episode is where the slow build ends, and the chaos begins. What other show has the balls to wait until episode ten to show its hand? Masterful.
It's also cool that your reaction to this episode will be released around the same time as your reaction to Better Call Saul's Plan and Execution. Similar dynamic - slow, meticulously designed set-ups for maximum impact.
Been waiting for you to get to this one, Waylon's one of my favourite characters in all of TV 💜💜💜
Andre Royo can act his butt off
I feel like pebbles on roofs has something to do with rain protection.
It is. Pretty much additional layer of protection and it looks nice. It is actually pretty hard to walk on ;)
6:11 maaan if u dont getcho ass back in dem corners 🤣
Show doesn’t judge - just opens a window on a game where everyone plays the part they are dealt.
8:42 is where i worked for a number of years over on Preston
Yes. Chinatown
Would love u watch passenger 57 and cool runnings
Steve Earle... Real life addict and lost his son Justin to addiction. Great musicians both.
that was a shame to see. you know the kid saw his dad and viewed him as an addict and couldn't change himself.
On the first Watch Dogs; I recommend giving it a try with the Living City mod, if you have a good enough PC for that. It's easy enough to install. It adds a lot of emergent gameplay to the game and makes the open world much more reactive. If not, then you'll still enjoy the game, just won't be as reactive
Also, if you do play it, I recommend using aggressive combat. It's very curious how the game's design clicks together when you consider it a John Wick simulator and use the mechanics to be stylishly aggressive.
Which has nothing to do with The Wire, since it aired well before Watchdogs.
So disrespectful. Shame on you.
love the reactions. this show has NO MAIN CHARACTER.
5:05 Try watching Deadwood you’re gonna be cutting out that word 5 times a scene.
Omar came at the king and he missed
Please React To (Breakdown - 1997) & (The Edge - 1997)
Again with the brilliance of this show.
The Wire & The Office & Better Call Saul & Always Sunny & More on Patreon! Click here: www.patreon.com/jamesvscinema
Have a great day y'all!
Stay out of the comments on this (The Wire S1E9) there’s some messed up spoilers.
Actually, Baltimore is the main character.
I love Lance Riddick, but my boy Avon dangled his balls in front of his chin and he could not say nothing.
React to the penguin series I just watched your ‘the Batman’ reaction and a few other videos on the channel
Damn didn't remember we got introduced to Bub's sister this early and in season 1 too. Bubble's basement arc is probably the most satisfying story arc of the entire show.
Don’t spoil it!
@@williamdavis8076 Don't worry I won't spoil Bubble's death until we get to it.
@@MamadNobariLol
Jimmy Neutron moment lol
What..?
How would The Wire writers be referencing Jimmy Neutron when it hadn't been created yet??
6fifty-eighth.
A little slow, a little late
This. If Wee-Bey hadn't showed up...literal curtains.
16:52 Wait till you reach season 4, he's basically non-existent in that season.💀