The Wire, Season 2, Episode 1. First Time Watching reaction

[@bridgetlehane9562]

Other amazing HBO TV - Deadwood. You two would LOVE discovering that

[@beatsbyjxckk2]

Love that the cat joined and watched for a bit too

[@LukeIsyourfasha]

I always say the main character of the wire is the city of Baltimore.

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

That's funny. That's what David Simon says too.

[@BennyBlancoNL]

I always say , let people find out for them self. Stop thinking you know more

[@TrulyMadlyShallowly]

And everyone clapped

[@monadreher2428]

Yep. And this is the season that best exemplifies this. They really start setting up the blueprint for the what the show is as a whole with this season.

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

Look at it as every season adds another layer of Baltimore

[@chanelo4918]

I agree every season tells an important story that weaves together in the end

[@chidiumeh]

Shout out to Al Brown - the actor who played Stan Valchek - who died in January 2023.

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

Deadwood is up there as one of the greatest.

[@Slateking]

For the prestige television question, I will recommend Generation Kill. It’s only like 6 episodes, and you will recognize some faces. Really good show

[@NeilLewis77]

Generation kill is a hidden gem. Directed, written and produced by the people that made.....the wire!

[@laurensb1b]

@@NeilLewis77 Honestly, anything David Simon was involved in is worth a watch.

[@TzunSu]

Absolutely. By far the best war show ever made, it even beats out Band of Brothers for me. The book is amazing too.

[@xgenux]

Deadwood would be the next HBO top tier show I'd think.

[@monadreher2428]

Agreed. If not Deadwood then definitely Boardwalk Empire.

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

Essential HBO shows (in no particular order): This, Deadwood, Rome, Boardwalk Empire, Sopranos, Silicon Valley, Entourage, True Detective (season 1), Band of Brothers, The Pacific, Show Me A Hero. And that doesn't even get into the middling or inconsistent shows that are still worth seeing.

[@TrulyMadlyShallowly]

Rome. The best show on the cusp of that Golden Age that everybody loved and they all now forget to mention.

[@TrulyMadlyShallowly]

And they should definitely watch Band of Brothers

[@dudermcdudeface3674]

@ I forgot From The Earth to the Moon. Beautiful miniseries.

[@notthestatusquo7683]

Generation Kill too. Same writers as the Wire and Ziggy's in it too.

[@monadreher2428]

HBO has a whole roster of top tier shows. It's actually kind of unfair tbh 😂 Oz and Band of Brothers are definitely must watches in particular Oz since it's the beginning of the golden age. However Deadwood, Six Feet Under and Boardwalk Empire are all HBO TV at its absolute best.

[@eltedioso]

Ugh, season 2 is SO good.

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

Yes, I am so here for this. Prepare to watch the greatest season of TV ever written.

[@laurensb1b]

Sobotka!

[@jagwolf8079]

Nah, that's season 4... But this one's great too, though

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

@jagwolf8079 the mainstream choice. Those who actually "get it" know this is far superior.

[@BennyBlancoNL]

​@@jagwolf8079its always a curtain type of person that hypes up season 2. You know the type...

[@smithblack100]

​​@@Chris-ImperialAerosolKidI love season 2 but the funny thing about your comment is that it is by far the most "mainstream" American drama season.The wire is a tragedy. Season 4 is its crescendo

[@thomasmilligan7141]

I would recommend Deadwood.

[@chrisb.8758]

Nice job spotting the legit Baltimore accent on McNulty’s partner on the boat. To me there are 3 examples in the show of hilariously thick and legit Baltimore accents on characters played by actual locals and he’s the first one. The other two show up a little later.

[@zebzamboni]

Snoop, obviously. Having trouble placing the third.

[@chrisb.8758]

@ yeah, that’s my bad. There are two very different Baltimore accents that kind of have separate histories and evolutions. There are a lot of good examples of the “black” Baltimore accent from locals in the show that were cast into roles of varying sizes - Snoop like you said, but to give an example of someone they’ve seen, Prop Joe also. (Also the guy from the rival crew who got into an argument with Bodie in the season 1 finale, I don’t even think he has a name) I was thinking of the other “white” Baltimore accent which is a whole different thing, and I think there are really 3 that stand above the rest. Diggins (McNulty’s parter) and 2 others they haven’t encountered yet. I’m hesitant to mention character names in case they consider that a spoiler, I don’t really see how it would be but I also know they won’t read any of the comments if they’re told there are spoilers in here so I don’t want to be the guy that ruins it in case their moderator disagrees.

[@trimanx123]

The other big prestige HBO shows I can think of are Deadwood, Six Feet Under, Oz, In Treatment, White Lotus, Insecure, Band of Brothers, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Leftovers. I've only seen a few of those, but Deadwood I'd put pretty high on my all-time tv list.

[@coolin4now]

Thank you for mentioning Oz. So many people forget or just don't know where it all kind of started.

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

IMO it's a very close 3rd behind sopranos which is a close second to the wire.

[@pandre5458]

Oz is the OG HBO Drama and probably one of the most slept-on shows because of how old it is (being non-HD with dated editing) and its dark content, but no show I've seen packs so much into each episode (sometimes too much).

[@a6ruled]

Nice reaction. Good chat. Solid edit. Looking forward to the season.

[@joelpartee594]

This Season’s Down In The Hole is the original, the brilliant Tom Waits. “This guy’s a screwup” “Shut up!” - Ziggy has entered the chat. When I finally got around to seeing The French Connection, my reaction was “Oh, The Wire is TFC: The Series”

[@RenegadeReplicant]

Season 2 is a masterpiece. Like Season 1, it takes a while to build its pieces up. People tend to feel polarized by it, imo, because they're so caught up in the characters in season 1 and aren't open to a new storyline. I felt that way initially when I first watched it and then on a re-watch I LOVE season 2. And I'll say this, Frank Sobotka is one of the best characters on The Wire and Chris Bauer gives a lifetime performance. It takes a little while to truly see it, but its worth the journey.

[@anthonynunyabizness9989]

New to the channel and loving it. I came for the arrested development reactions, but I subscribed for the photo of Toby Ziegler in the background! Haha

[@manzell]

Nothing compares to The Wire. NOTHING. You're right. It's perfect TV.

[@pedromarques2077]

Deadwood and The Newsroom are two other brilliant HBO shows.

[@jamesflames9134]

A classic HBO series that doesn’t get enough attention now is Big Love! Would love to see a channel take that on

[@djnkosi]

Greatest show of all time. Enjoy guys!

[@earforenglish5867]

Deadwood. Best writing ever.

[@raulgrijalva16]

Bodie has driven not on camera but when he left the detention center he stole a car.

[@MrReedSL]

I implore fans of The Wire to check out Oz (HBO's first hour-long dramatic series). The same person did the casting for both shows (resulting in a lot of overlap in the two casts). It's also just a fascinating, brilliant show, and really helped paved the way for The Wire, Sopranos, etc.

[@threesixteen3757]

I'm gonna comment another HBO show that hasn't been mentioned yet, The Corner

[@LukeIsyourfasha]

"kings of prestige television" absolutely agree. veep is hilarious. Please watch Silicon Valley at some point...in my opinion one of the greatest comedies ever.

[@laurensb1b]

Its crazy to me how overlooked Silicon Valley is, another great Mike Judge comedy

[@david4883]

Chris Bauer not getting awards love for playing Frank Sobotka is a crime. But I guess that goes for tons of roles in this show, as well as the show in general.

[@timgreenwald1043]

I didn't like this season when I first saw it. but after seeing the show as a whole it's actually good on rewatch.

[@fordhouse8b]

I hope you enjoy the most underrated season as much as I did.

[@kevinmassey1164]

RIP Key Bridge

[@alexmckee4683]

"HBO is the king of prestige television"; absolutely, AMC tried to take the crown but didn't quite get there. Other networks barely need be discussed. "I don't know how you do season 2". On a lesser show, the gang would be back together in episode 1. On this show, things are never that contrived and are (nearly) always earned.

[@E-vanstyless]

you guys are going to love ziggy ..

[@TalynOne]

I think liking or disliking ziggy decides if you like or dislike this season.

[@lauz-im3ov]

Every time I watch this season I have more feelings about Ziggy. He's a fuck-up but it's sad.

[@percyweasley9301]

Watch *Downton Abbey* It's a Emmy winning British series, absolutely amazing, you will not regret if you try it ❤❤❤ The show has beautiful women 😊

[@wuphat]

Ah, S2. Some will say it sucks and those people are wrong.

[@jagwolf8079]

The show is full of regular people trying to advance their careers, regular people trying to save their asses and make their lives a bit easier, regular people with good intentions making bad or even terrible decisions, regular people just trying to live regular lives... and all of them getting caught up in the consequences of their own actions. I don't think it's that the system is flawed, I think it's just human nature.

[@jakehoule8105]

Great HBO Series: The Night Of Mare of Easttown Treme Hacks The Newsroom Flight of the Concords Boardwalk Empire Chernobyl Six Feet Under White Lotus True Detective Barry Deadwood

[@MrReedSL]

Oz

[@Chris-ImperialAerosolKid]

Bored To Death, Eastbound and Down, Entourage, Girls, High Maintenance, How To Make It In America, Together, Curb.

[@alexmckee4683]

Upvote for Treme, hardly anyone talks about that show. Not easy to do reactions to with all the music though, so we're unlikely to ever see any reactions.

[@MikeBlizzard-g9u]

Massive shout out to Treme

[@saturdaysequalsyouth]

When it first came out S2 was seen as a mild disappointment but looking back I think it's genius.

[@pandre5458]

While season 2 is my least favourite Wire season it's still amazing TV and better than most shows. Since you guys love HBO so much maybe you should check out Oz HBO's first drama, it's first episode sets the tone so well that you'd know from episode 1 whether or not you'd like it or be able to stomach it because it does have a lot of violence. Plus I think you'd be the only channel to react to it.

[@silverstream5140]

Anyone who doesnt rate season 2 is a fool, you guys will love this one!

[@a6ruled]

I think if you watch them all once then S2 comes out last (if S5 doesn’t throw you off). But on the second go around…

[@guyhenderson405]

DEADWOOD

[@tonymeyers9079]

Ziggy grows on you after a while.

[@TalynOne]

No he doesn’t, he’s the jar jar binks of the wire universe

[@tonymeyers9079]

@@TalynOne JarJar also grows on you

[@TalynOne]

@@tonymeyers9079 that’s called Stockholm syndrome.

[@laurensb1b]

i dont care what anyone says, I love Ziggy. A legend of the docks

[@thegrimner]

Always pay special attention to the first scene of every season as it more or less lays out the theme . On the first season, it was street violence, here, we saw the white cops talking about the time in the 70s when their parents got laid off from their blue collar jobs. Also, the main reason this season got some hate was really because when it came out, people had trouble seeing the bigger picture and seeing it as part of a bigger whole. That and at the time, many fans who came into the show precisely because it was one of the first to shed a light on the day to day of poor black neighbourhoods felt betrayed and feared the show was gonna move away from that. Michael K. Williams too was reportedly very upset and even confronted David Simon about what he thought was gonna be the new direction, and only really calmed down when David Simon explained the plans he had for the show.