Why Everyone Needs to Watch The Wire.

Special Note: There are absolutely NO SPOILERS beyond the very first episode of The Wire. So whether you've seen every episode or haven't seen a single one - Read on!

Don't go in expecting non-stop action, or fast-paced plotting, or cliffhangers at every turn.

This is not that kind of show.
This is not your normal cop show.
This is The Wire.

I'll admit it, I wasn't ready for this show the first time I tried it out. I was a big fan of The Shield, another great (and smart) cop show, but it leans a bit more toward the "fast-paced" end of the spectrum. There's a new case (or two or three) every week, heads are busted, shots are fired, and things get resolved in pretty neat packages.

So I heard about The Wire as the OTHER great cop show on cable TV. So I picked up Season 1.

Then I watched two episodes and unceremoniously threw it aside.

My main complaint? Not much happened. There were a lot of conversations (and they were INTERESTING, well-written conversations) but it didn't seem to be going anywhere.

Boy, was I wrong.

When I finally got my head on straight and started up again fresh, many months later, something finally clicked. The Wire got its hooks in, and it would not let go.

This is the closest thing to real life that you'll find on television. The creators have always called it a "televised novel", and it's true. No other TV show has managed the level of depth in terms of characters, story, and setting found here.

"A Network of Conversations"

A friend of mine by the name of Tina Olivero has said that "business is a network of conversations", and that is so true in the business world and in everyday life as well. Everything we accomplish, every plan, every strategy, every success, and every failure stems from a conversation. And the most important don't always seem it at the time.

The story of The Wire begins with a seemingly innocent conversation. A smart but cocky police detective by the name of McNulty (a charismatic Dominic West) is at the courthouse and sees a local gang member get away with murder. Literally.

The accused is D'Angelo Barksdale, a relative of Baltimore drug kingpin Avon Barksdale. And unfortunately for the justice system, the Barksdale crew is intimidating enough to make the key witness change her testimony mid-trial and say she DIDN'T actually see D'Angelo Barksdale murder a man in cold blood.

This turn of events disturbs McNulty, who is usually the smartest guy in the room (both his greatest asset and his greatest fault). He wastes no time talking to the judge about the Barksdale gang's hold over much of the city's drug trade. The judge is shocked that Mr. Barksdale has managed to stay under the radar, since there is no active investigation into his gang.

McNulty's "innocent" conversation with the judge in the first episode of Season 1 is the basis for the rest of the season, and, eventually, the rest of the show as a whole. Like the tiniest pebbles that can start a huge avalanche, this simple conversation spawns an entire complex detective story. If the first episode seems slow, don't do what I did my first time trying out The Wire. Trust the writers! It takes a while to set up a true masterpiece.

So, back to the story. The judge starts shaking things up in the Baltimore Police Department, forcing the creation of a special detail tasked with investigating Avon Barksdale. And this is where we get our first (and not last) dose of reality.

You know how in most cop shows, detectives get a case handed to them and they work that case like the very fires of hell are nipping at their heels, compelling them to solve the thing (usually in the span of 44 minutes)? The Wire ain't like that either.

"When it ain't your turn to give a f**k"

Everybody in the police department HATES the fact that McNulty laid this doozy of a case at their feet. They don't even have a PICTURE of Avon Barksdale to start with. The police department (for obvious political reasons) needs clearances (a.k.a. solved cases!) in order to look good in the stats. The fact that this Barksdale character is corrupting the very city they live in matters little to the men in charge of the police department because they have their own job to do, and they need to look like they're doing it (superficially at the very least). This theme of politics contrasted against what is morally right is a driving force of the series, and is introduced in this very first episode.

So nobody likes this new case, not even McNulty's partner and best friend, "Bunk" Moreland (a world-weary but always funny Wendell Pierce) who delivers the best quote of the series opener describing McNulty's situation - "giving a f**k when it ain't your turn to give a f**k." The detail assigned to the case is made up of McNulty, a few good narcotics officers ticked off that they've been taken off the streets, and then an even higher quota of useless old clock-watchers waiting for nothing more than their retirement pensions. The detail is stuffed in a basement and, for all intents and purposes, forgotten about. At first anyway.

"The King stay the King"

Meanwhile, The Wire shows us just as much about the Barksdale gang these cops know so little about. For a while, the audience knows a hell of a lot more about what's going on than the police do, which also makes for interesting viewing. We're introduced to the major players of the Barksdale gang through the eyes of D'Angelo Barksdale, the young man on trial in the first part of the pilot episode, and this is no stereotypical TV gang-banger. It's a very nuanced performance by Larry Gilliard, Jr. and he eases us into Baltimore's underbelly by being a bit of an outsider himself.

His uncle Avon relegates D'Angelo to a "management" position in The Pit, a housing project where teens hand out drugs, watch for cops, and take the cash like old pros. We soon realize that these are not your stereotypical one-note criminals either. These are smart men running a successful business. The hierarchy is much like a chess board (a metaphor from a little later in Season 1) where the "King" (a.k.a. Avon) is protected at all costs. This means that Avon is so far removed from the actual drug-dealing that, as you watch the first season, you'll start thinking that our down-and-out detectives are NEVER going to take him down.

The writers take us deeply into both sides of the story and the fun is in watching it all play out.

I was considering writing a few essays, one covering each season of The Wire, but I quickly reconsidered because, frankly, anyone who has read this far just needs to watch the show and be as surprised and enthralled by the twists and turns as I was. You will not regret it!

"And all the pieces matter"

This is a cop show that starts at the bottom (way, WAY at the bottom) and works its way up to show you the WHOLE scope of a case over an entire season, something every other cop show before this one was afraid to do. And they don't just retry the same formula with the following four seasons - quite the opposite, actually. Each season wrenches open the world of The Wire even further, showing us the drug dealer's supply chain (Season 2), their political ties (Season 3), the school system's relationship with the drug trade (Season 4), and finally, the effect of the media on the whole mess (Season 5).

Entire books can be (and have been) written about this multi-layered show. I haven't even mentioned some of my favourite characters, including the mild-mannered genius Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters), the drug addicted police informant Bubbles (Andre Royo), and Baltimore's "Robin Hood" style stick-up man Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), just to name a few. I haven't mentioned how the first case goes from "forgotten in the basement" to a sophisticated surveillance operation. I haven't mentioned some of the great moments in the first season (all of them pitch perfect because they are set up so well by the amazing storytelling), simply because I want you to discover all this for yourself.

This could be the most challenging show you will ever watch, but I guarantee you it will also be one of the most rewarding. And if you want to discuss it afterwards (and you will), you know where to find me.

Conchords are Back!

Here's something I haven't done in a while: a TV review!

Earlier today I discovered that my TV gets HBO Canada, and, even more fortuitously, the season 2 premiere of Flight of the Conchords was coming on at 11:30! I was excited. If you don't watch this show yet, you should. It's about a self-described "two-man novelty band" - Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement - two unassuming gents from New Zealand who deliver some amazingly funny lines and clever songs as they (barely) try to make a name for themselves in New York City.

As the episode begins, the boys are still on the outs with their manager, Murray (played with perfect innocence by Rhys Darby). To use an old Newfoundland expression, Murray is as useless as tits on a bull. He has zero knowledge about band management, the music industry in general, and... actually... he's clueless about everything. Bret and Jemaine finally fire him as their manager, and he spends the rest of the episode trying to win them back.

There are a lot of great moments:

• Murray's song at the beginning, where he manages to find plenty of words to rhyme with "rejected". Starts out quietly, until Murray steps out onto his balcony for a great panoramic view of NYC (the show seems to be saying: "We have a budget now!"), where Murray switches his singing style to a loud opera voice (think Pavarotti on steroids). Funny stuff.
  

• Sight gags! Bret makes some "band merchandise", stuffed Conchords dolls, but neglects to tell Jemaine where he acquired the denim used for the tiny doll clothing. A cushion makes a casual return to the library. The boys dress up like toothpaste popping out the tube for a commercial. Plenty of great visual moments.
  

• Mel's back! I thought she was lost forever to the Crazy Dogggz (is that enough g's?), but the Conchords one-and-only fan from Season 1 came back on the scene. Played with a scary combination of cheerfulness and spite (seriously!) by Kristen Schaal, she's only in one quick scene but it's a great one! You will feel bad for Doug (her long-suffering husband) once again.
  

• Dave's back! Seemingly the Conchords' only friend, Dave (Arj Barker) owns a nearby pawn shop and is always macho-posturing and dishing out life advice. He is awesome in this episode as he teaches the guys a lesson on "making a deal" and sells Bret a 25-cent pen for four dollars. "You need to learn the whole lesson," indeed.
  

• New intro! Not a huge deal, but Season 2 has a new opening that I kinda dig.
  

• Of course, Bret and Jemaine! Yes, they're as deadpan and random as ever. Their conversation about what women like is a classic.
  

The not-so-great:

• The song at the end about angels gettin' it on in heaven was weird, even for these guys. Their funniest songs are the ones where they capture real-life events or bits of speech that seem so natural (the "hey, I would say that!" type of stuff). This one is a little too "out to lunch" to really work. Plus, as a Neil Gaiman fan, I also know that angels don't have a gender, or reproductive organs for that matter. I'd be able to forgive the nit-picky details if the song was funnier.
  

So there we have it, Flight of the Conchords Season 2 is off to a great start with a funny half-hour that flew by in a flash.

Thanksgiving

My grandmother doesn't recognize me anymore.

This may seem like a depressing thing to discover on an otherwise cheerful Thanksgiving weekend, but I've been expecting it for a while. My grandmother's memory has been getting hazier and hazier over the past few years, to the point that now she's literally living her life one moment at a time. She functions and communicates within each moment surprisingly well, but is unable to connect the present with something that happened even 5 minutes ago.

My aunt, uncle, and myself visited Nan this past weekend at her retirement home in the small community of Harbour Main. As we walked into a busy sitting room we knew exactly where to find her. She was sitting in the back corner of the room watching people come and go.

The three of us sat around her and started to talk. My Nan was always a social butterfly, and she relished the chance to have a chat. And chat she did.

She told us she put up all the Halloween decorations in the windows. (She didn't.)

She said she was out to mass in the morning after the priest had to come and get her. (She wasn't.)

She pointed at one of the old ladies in the home, called her "Aunt Deet", and said she was looking quite well. Aunt Deet was a relative who died before I was even born.

But boy, through it all she hasn't lost her ability to carry on a conversation.

My aunt reached over and touched her hand to quiet her down for an instant, and said "Alright Mother, I'm going to put this bag of sweaters in your room because it's getting colder out now and you're going to need them."

"Dear, did you bring my t-shirt too?" my Nan asked. "The last time you were over I think you took my t-shirt."

We all looked around - no one knew about this mysterious t-shirt.

My aunt left the room and it was just me, my uncle, and my Nan. Before we could start the conversation up again, a big, stocky gentleman walked into the room and Nan instantly cried out: "My, he's after getting to be some size, isn't he?!?"

Me and my uncle looked at each and grinned awkwardly, wishing the back wall of the room would consume us somehow. Luckily, the stocky gentleman was good-natured (as most Newfoundlanders are) and as he sat down he looked over at my grandmother and called out with a smile: "So how are you today, my love?"

My Nan responded, "I'm the best kind, and thanks for asking!" Her social skills are still in tip-top shape, thankfully.

My aunt returned and conversation carried on a little more until Nan was prompted to say my name. My aunt asked ever so gently, "Mother, who is this young man? What's his name?"

My Nan looked at me for a few seconds, hesitated for another few seconds, and I just had to say something. "Well, my hair is a bit different, that's probably why you don't recognize me!" With that my Nan reached out her hand and mussed up my hair a little bit.

We let the conversation drift off in other directions after that, and eventually it was time for dinner. My Nan loves dinner time, so this immediately got her attention. Before I left, though, I just had to say one last thing.

"Remember Nan, you used to call me 'Mark G'. That's what you always called me, when I was little."

Her face lit up, and the words rolled off her tongue: "Mark G". She said it with a big smile.

And then it was off to dinner for her, and back to the world for me. It was a strange day, yet I was feeling thankful. A part of me is always going to be there in her memory, even if it's always an image of a shy, brown-haired, little boy. She may never again be able to comprehend that I am now a 25-year-old man.

But me and my grandmother made a connection there, in that fleeting moment, and for that I am giving thanks.

Dirty Old-Fashioned Politics

I'll make it clear from the start that I've never been a fan of Sarah Palin. I don't normally wax political on this blog, but I just read a story from the Palin camp that makes my blood boil.

Palin has just accused Barack Obama of having ties to a domestic terrorist.

Does that sound just a TAD unbelievable to you as well? Apparently Obama served on a charity board with a University of Illinois professor who used to be a member of an anti Vietnam War militant group called "Weather Underground". The anti Vietnam War movement raged while Obama was but a small child, but Palin doesn't concern herself with such things (I believe they're called "facts"?).

The truly scary part is this: replace the words "domestic terrorist" with "communist" in Palin's accusation above, and we're into Red Scare territory. The fear-mongering tactics used by Joe McCarthy in the 50's are not as far from today's world as we would like to think.

The recipe is simple (and remains the same):

1) Take one respected public figure.
2) Add one obscure tie to a member of an extreme left-wing group.
3) Mix and serve to the public.

That Republicans haven't learned a lesson from McCarthyism is unfortunately not a big surprise to me. The real question now is: can the American Public learn from the past and not give in to reactionary scare tactics like this? I, for one, think so. I sign off now with a quote from a much greater man than myself: "Good night, and good luck."

With thanks to BBC News. Click on the pictures to visit the Wikipedia entries on both political figures.

Is Life a Really a Battle?

All I knew going in was this: it's a game where Japanese school kids have to kill each other off one by one.

The movie is Battle Royale (2000) and it was somehow EXACTLY what I expected, and then somehow became a little bit more.

The setup is quick and painless: it's Japan of the seemingly near future and for a somewhat hazy reason the government has instituted the "BR Act" - every year a "Battle Royale" takes place where a randomly chosen group of school children (yes, children) are stranded on an island and have to kill each other until there's only one survivor left.

The Grade 9 class at the start of the movie comprises 42 children. This number quickly dwindles down, and down.

Some kill out of fear. Some kill out of anger. Some kill by accident. Some kill themselves. And a select few kill out of pure evil.

It's got all the grisly death scenes you expect from a survival horror movie like this, but this is NOT your normal horror movie.

Imagine all the little Junior High storylines you lived through - but all ending in death. The passionate crushes, the fighting between cliques, the loners with a bone to pick, and the seemingly unbreakable friendships - all ending in the most brutal and final of ways. We get to see tiny glimpses of these stories (especially the stories of young love) and of course, the bittersweet endings.

The movie begs a lot of interesting questions, with the main one being: what would YOU do if you were thrown into a situation like that?

Can intelligence get you out of a violent situation, or is violence the only way? Is life really a game, more dependent on random chance than skill or smarts? If your life is at stake, would friendship and love be meaningless?

Like I said - not your normal grisly horror movie. I recommend it.

Falling

I had the strangest dream last night.

I was watching someone jump out of an airplane. And for some reason it looked a lot like Hurley from Lost. He was a big guy, anyway. It was the usual "looking at him from above" angle, but the unusual part was that he clearly wasn't wearing a parachute.

So I felt like this was going to be a grisly one.

But then - another skydiver edges into the frame and gets behind Hurley, wrapping his arms around his chest. Must have a parachute on, I thought. But no - he wasn't wearing one either. 5 or 6 more skydivers enter the frame and they all form a chain behind the other 2. Once again, there's not one parachute among them. So now there's a chain of 8 skydivers in a sitting position falling quickly toward the ground.

As they approach the inevitable landscape below, the "camera angle" changes to one from the ground. The chain of skydivers is getting closer and closer to the ground. But as they close in, they start to decelerate. Once they're about a foot from the ground, they're almost floating in place. They land softly, all sitting together in a chain.

Part of me wants to analyze this - do our dreams give us insights into great truths that our conscious mind can only hint at? Was this dream trying to tell me that the only path to salvation is the human connections we form with those around us?

Quite possible. And even more possible is that every dream is just our brain "taking out the trash" of the day, filtering out thoughts, images, and impressions in a completely random fashion - strung together as little "stories" only because our conscious mind is still barely hanging on, trying to make sense out of the senseless?

There's no answer to that. It's one of the few mysteries left in our modern world, and it's not something that we should take for granted.

Amazon-nesia

am·a·zon·ne·sia
–noun
Complete or partial loss of memory relating directly to purchases from online retailer Amazon.

I love Amazon-nesia.

Saw a package today from Amazon addressed to me and couldn't for the life of me remember what the hell I ordered. I'm not sure if that's good / that's bad / I need help.

I enjoy it. It's like Christmas morning every time I open a package from Amazon. "Past Mark" (a very wise man who doesn't mind spending money) buys these lovely gifts for "Future Mark" (a forgetful man who reaps all the benefits). Thank you Past Mark.

So what was in the package today?

1. The Best of the Black President - Fela Kuti

Not enough people know the name Fela Kuti. I was first introduced to his music in France back in 2005 and it blew me away. It's an amazing (and hard to describe) mixture of Jazz, Funk, Rock, and African sounds with the 70's stamped all over it - and it is PURE fun to listen to. This guy is just as good as Bob Marley, and I do not say that lightly.

You have GOT to hear this.

2. Spaced - The Complete Series

I'm a massive fan of Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, so as soon as I heard that the series that made him famous was FINALLY out in a North America friendly DVD - I had to pick it up. I haven't read too much about it in my attempt to approach it as unspoiled as possible, but it seems like every review of Spaced includes the word "AWESOME". Probably a good sign. It's pegged (pun NOT quite intended) as the ultimate geeky British comedy, so I'm sure I will enjoy it immensely when I do watch it...

...RIGHT after I finish The Wire Season 4. God, that show is amazing. I'm sure Amazon-nesia will kick in again soon when Season 5 arrives at my doorstep. Future Mark will thank me.