You know those evenings when you just can't find anything to watch. You start stuff but it doesn't grab you or you've just spent an hour scrolling through netflix to no avail. Then you move to your shelf. You start to scan your film collection, your TV boxsets. Nothing is catching your eye. Noth......... then you see it. The show that you know will hit the spot.
But no, you've seen it too many times. It offers nothing new to you. There's so much new stuff you could watch instead, if only you could find it. It's 60 hrs you'll never get back if you start......but now it's calling to you. You take it down off the self. You think to yourself "Don't fuckin do it. If you start you won't stop." Then the box is opened. Disc 1 is out and then in the player. The title screen pops up. You press play.
AND you're watching The Wire again.
It's been around 5 years since I last watched it. It's like seeing an old buddy again after an age. It's comfort food for the eyes. The main story all comes back to me fast but one of the joys of this show is in the small details, the stuff you forgot all about, the supporting characters that had long since departed your head. The Snotboogie story that opens the show. Herc and Carver trying to move the desk. The injoke pairing of Polk and Mahone. It's almost like watching it afresh except this time you know you're going to love it. You don't have the trouble you had the first time, the confusion of trying to follow it's labyrinthine storyline or remember who's who in it's massive cast.
It's one of those rare shows that rewards repeated viewing. Seemingly silly plot points and convoluted storylines make perfect sense on another viewing. Character choices become more understandable and character traits become recognisable. When you know what's going to happen you can just relax and let it wash over you instead and taxing your brain trying to understand what's happening. The Baltimore slang is second nature now and you aren't sitting there wondering "what the fuck is a G-pack?" or what a hopper is or why stash houses are necessary.
Plus you get to see your faves again. The Bunk and his dodgy ethics. Omar and his strict moral code. Kima and her no nonsense ways. McNulty the fuckin eejit. Wallace, ahh poor doomed Wallace. His scenes are especially hard to watch when you know what his future holds but it's fun watching a baby faced Michael B. Jordan lighting up the screen. Ahhh it's just so good. One of the few perfect shows. OK, the last season isn't the best but as a whole it's a phenomenal achievement. Dozens of shades of grey. Good guys you hate. Scumbags you end up caring about. A show that's as complex and layered as it's possible to be yet one that's exceedingly entertaining at the same time. It never feels like a chore. It's just brilliant.
Now to watch it til my eyes bleed. Hello Baltimore, hello low rises, hello Inner Harbour, hello Pennsylvania & Gold, hello Orlando's Gentlemen's club. It's good to be back.
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