The Wire

The Wire is a cop show on steroids. It is brilliant & daring in scope. Calling The Wire a cop show may be massively underselling it's value. Generally, I can't stand cop shows. They bore me with their linear development. Spoon-feeding of information is the usual pattern. Followed by the inevitable arrest of the bad guy. Couldn't care less. The Wire is something very different.


The Wire combines multiple viewpoints. It is a dissection of the roles that certain people have chosen/must outwardly display. The inevitable corruption exposed by this is the greatest strength of The Wire. It pulls no punches. It does not glorify any particular profession in this urban quagmire. Season 1 purely concerns the 'drug trade'. An excellent example of ideology gone horribly wrong - the War on Drugs. I believe that even if one stands on the side of the War on Drugs, one may learn valuable lessons. As a method of rising above poverty/anonymity, it is a peerless path. It offers the quickest route to money & power. The risks are many. However, in a culture that supposedly holds the ideal of individual autonomy & enterprise as its headstone - a crippling hypocrisy is revealed by The Wire.

The dialogue is at times very hard to follow. In particular, the street language & it's dialects. The reward for learning the language is immense. It allows the characters to express complexity in simple terms. Also, in a concise manner. The storyline can also appear too weighty. Again, the reward for comprehension is in itself sufficient. If confusion appeared, I was happy to drop that story arc & concentrate elsewhere. I had total faith that I would understand enough and be able to connect the threads when necessary. In short, any other approach is piecemeal & insulting. Any other approach leads to predictability, linearity & one-time viewing. All highly negative qualities. The Wire deftly avoids all of these pitfalls.

The Wire is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to." David Simon - head writer & creator.


STARRING: Dominic West, John Doman, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, Larry Gilliard, Jr., Wood Harris, Deirdre Lovejoy, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn, Chris Bauer, Paul Ben-Victor, Clarke Peters, Amy Ryan, Aidan Gillen, Jim True-Frost, Robert Wisdom, Reg E. Cathey, Clark Johnson, Tom McCarthy, Seth Gilliam, Domenick Lombardozzi, J. D. Williams, Michael Kenneth Williams, Corey Parker Robinson, Chad L. Coleman, Jamie Hector, Glynn Turman, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Neal Huff, Jermaine Crawford, Tristan Wilds, Michael Kostroff, Felicia Pearson, Michelle Paress, Isiah Whitlock, Jr.

WRITERS : David Simon, Ed Burns, David Mills, Richard Price, Dennis Lehane, George Pelecanos, William F. Zorzi, Chris Collins


DIRECTORS: Joe Chappelle, Ernest Dickerson, Joy and Scott Kecken, Dan Attias, Agnieszka Holland, Seith Mann, Dominic West, Anthony Hemingway, Clark Johnson

True Blood

True Blood. I was very hesitant before I sat down to watch the first episode. Sure, I've always loved a good vampire film. Lost Boys, Interview with the Vampire. I was worried that the age of the vampires may have passed me by. You know, things like being an outcast ; partying all night; immortality; the undying lust of any & all partially Satanic girls. "You can have all of this, you
just need to feed, Miiicchhhaaaaelllll"


The lead character is Sookie. I had a good chuckle when I worked out that translates to 'Sucky'. A sex, vampire & infant joke all rolled into one. I didn't mind that, it was amusing. Sookie has the power of telepathy. She can hear people's thoughts. This worked very well. She was a virgin (oh, how predictable. Xtra nudge re: her name. Furthermore, a virgin who always selects the smallest piece of clothing and exposes her knickers constantly. I reckon they planned 15 of these shots an episode - in case we missed it - the point being her pent up, bursting desire) & was constantly turned off at key moments with boys. Very funny & a neat way of legitimizing the virginity. Bill, the main vampire, she is unable to read his thoughts. This makes him many multiples more desirable. A good building block.

I enjoyed the modern setting. A Japanese company has designed a synthetic blood, 'True Blood'. Vampires may now feed without killing. The scene is set for a 'coming out' of vampires across the world. No longer must they live in shame or prejudice, hiding behind nightfall. It reminded me of Star Trek. I am constantly amazed how ST manages to transform differing alien races etc into an allegory (an aphorism, perhaps). The middle layers of this process may not work, and can be hilariously bad at times. However, once allowed to wash over, the lower layers communicate the desired message. In short, it works if one allows it to.

See more pics of Lizzy Caplan @ Girls of TV

I must point out my stumbling block. I was entertained by the central 'love' story. I was somewhat disturbed, however, by the apparent need of Sookie. She required herself to fall in love with Bill in order to understand the man. By extension, she couldn't understand him until they had sex. Granted her age etc, I tried to give this idea grace. It ended up annoying me though. In the writing, this required Bill to be given overt noble qualities. After all, for a vampire to be worthy of a young virginal Sookie, he 'must' have these qualities. Small yawn. (It kind of
works against the tolerance message the rest of the show espouses)

Also, the programmed moral pauses grated too. Whenever Bill did something that appeared morally questionable, Sookie fell out of love. Insert 5 or 10 minutes of Bill doing his best to explain his reasoning followed by Sookie's immature reactions. Hell, I know this is genuine stuff in real life, but she came across as a 13 or 14 year old in these interactions. He was always noble behind the possible appearance of not being so. I am a little jaded from the naive girl paired with wordly man set up. Of course, this imbalance needs to be corrected later. It is an inevitable step, that in most writing does not appear to respect the audience. Sookie must catch up excessively fast. Most movies etc will give us a visual montage of a wide past. Scene of main character thoughtfully posed on backyard lawn etc. They are usually finger down the throat moments. In True Blood it was a case of indigestion. Enter telepathy. I guess that's a compliment.

Bill must also have his 'dark' side exposed. Behind which must lurk a hulking 'light' yet again. a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key.
Easiest to do it gradually.

The positive points are greater than perhaps I am letting on. I enjoyed it. Good, updated vampire fare:

Season 1 - Onion TV says 7

I believe I may have spoiled the first 20 minutes of episode 1 only. The themes talked about are, without any intended negativity, stock standard & transparent.

See more pics of Lizzy Caplan @ Girls of TV

True Blood stars Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer & Lizzy Caplan.
True Blood is directed by Alan Ball.
True Blood is screened on the HBO network.

The Sopranos

The show excels in it’s slowness. The leisurely episodes are the best. Half the time, the Sopranos gets sidetracked by its plot. Someone gets shot. Someone runs. Who cares? Despite this it is head and shoulders above other commercial offerings.


Granted, the opening episode to a season should be it’s slowest. This one was a treat. The principal actors, Tony (James Gandolfini) and Carmela (Edie Falco) are sensational. Most of their acting is without talking. A rare gift. The writers seem to indulge the intellect of their viewers. To watch Tony & Carmela say one thing while doing another is almost unique. I am too used to being spoon fed – and hating it.

If you are new to this show, do not worry. The plot is of small significance. What you should be watching is the relationship between the main characters. That is where true drama lies. Anything else is wrapping.

The best scene in new episode – Carmela in the water with her niece. A horror story has been recalled in which a 3 year old died while at a pool party surrounded by adults. Tony’s sister is petrified. This scene is an excellent, realistic powerplay. Tony’s sister panics and demands her daughter to get out of the water. Carmela is keeping her perfectly safe, not even water to the waist. The daughter says no repeatedly to her mum. Mum turns it into “Don’t you ever say no to me.” She plucks her daughter out of the water. Carmela is standing there listless. Tony’s sister takes her daughter away and comes back. She continues to make small talk while Carmela is still in the water, splashing in a bored manner. Eventually Carmela gives up and sits down next to Tony’s sister. Tony’s sister rambles on and on in a circular manner until an argument ensues.

Absolutely brilliant. The manner in which the characters ignore each other’s needs and wants is so human and real.

Review is for episode 1, season 5.

Jamie Lynn-Sigler Pics

I enjoyed the series ending episode. The uncertainty over whether Tony died or not was a good move. Sopranos helped to redefine television. It was not the first to do so, however, it's reach was far. Thankyou to the popularity of this show for seeping the realm of movies into television. The greatest point to take away from this is: Episodes were not designed as stand alone packages. A resolution was not reached. I was nothing but impressed by this approach.

To suddenly abandon this basic, quality approach at the series end would have been a travesty. The end was dissected in massive proportions. For starters, that is a display of the hold Tony & Carmela had over people's lives. I may as well end by saying that true fans of the show could only applaud the direction taken in the last episode. Perhaps non-applauders deserve the more regular fare on daily offer.

Onion TV says : 8.5 out of 10

Girls of TV: Jamie Lynn-Sigler