Work Text:
Two episodes left of S5, The Wire - which had a total of 10 episodes in all. And this is really a heartbreaking season. Far more grueling in some respects than S4.
They just killed off one of my favorite characters! Omar! And by Albert, the little kid. It was so sad and so heartbreaking. My jaw dropped. I more or less expected Omar to get it - but not that way.
And Beadie's lecture to Jimmy...reflects Omar, who is forgotten. Both Jimmy and Omar leave and risk everything, to get Marlo Stanfield, and end up destroying themselves.
Beadie tells Jimmy that family is what matters in the end. That's who is at your wake. (Here's the thing - we all die alone. And none of us are going to give a damn when all is said and done who pops up at our wake or funeral. We aren't there! So that little speech seemed a bit silly to me - and totally Denis Lehane - he did the same bit in Mystic River and I had the same reaction. Wakes are for the people left behind, not for the dead. We aren't honoring the dead, we're honoring our memory of them, our pain at their loss.) Not sure Beadie can forgive Jimmy for what he's done. But forget Beadie...
Kima - went straight to Lester and reacted in the same way that Bunk did. This is wrong.
It really is a noir tale - following the Conradian Heart of Darkness narrative trope to the letter - or for that matter Shakespeare's Propero and Hamlet....when fighting monsters, make sure you don't become them. Or look into the abyss, the abyss looks back in to you. Jimmy, Lester, and Omar all look into the abyss...their tale is a heart-breaking one. Yet from the beginning we see the signs.
There's a few funny bits - the whole FBI analysis of the serial killer - is dead to rights, McNulty. Which makes McNulty incredibly uncomfortable. His response to Kima - is "they are in the ballpark."
Right now, my only hope is Marlo Stanfield goes down. And Snoop, Paltrow and Cheese with him. I fear for Michael...who is being paralleled with Namond. Just as Bunny Colvin is paired with Pryz.
And to a degree McNulty is paired with Greggs, and Bunk with Lester.
The writing is tight. Although I think they went a bit far with the serial killer case. They are obviously making fun of the CSI's and other police procedurals. Go so far as to have the Director of the FBI show up and brag about it. McNulty and Greggs state they've done Homicide for years and have never seen a serial killer. It's true. Serial killers are actually fairly rare...most homicides are done by someone you know, drug deal gone bad, domestic dispute, robbery...or gang related. But the media likes the serial killers so blows it out of proportion, often embellishing the facts - which is what David Simon and company are making fun of.
I'm not positive - but I think Episode 8 - Clarification by Denis Lehane was nominated for an Emmy and may have won one. Episode 7 was written by Richard Price. Personally, I thought the episodes in S4,3 and 1 were better - but truly great tv shows often don't get noticed until their last season. Sad but true. [ETA: No, it wasn't nominated for an Emmy, none of the Wire was. What's odd about the Wire is it never got nor was it nominated for an Emmy, and yet Grey's Anatomy was (the Wire is so much better written - I've watched both). Kind of makes it hard to take the Emmy's seriously.]