The Detail

Greetings from Lithuania.

Second episode of Wire in season 1 very involving and super realistic. And this is what enjoyed the most when watching this legendary show for the first time now in 2023. Very realistic setting, characters that feels real and dialogs that sound authentic. All of this is set on streets which gives sense of reality. And after two episodes I think I'm hooked and will continue to watch it. Acting is also excellent in here and already I saw many familiar faces who will get recognition later like Idris Elba.

Overall, first two episodes set up characters, time and place and i'm in.

I only bought Season 1 of THE WIRE because my local TARGET had the DVD package on sale for $13.00. I never watched this show when it was on the air, though I often heard good things about it.

Well, the pilot episode was okay, but not that great. This episode is the one that really electrified me. In particular, the sequence where the stupid, corrupt, racist cops go down to the housing projects at 2 AM and begin randomly taunting the ghetto population, in effect "daring" them to come out and fight.

The thing that makes this scene so explosive is that it's never quite what you expect. First you figure the stupid cops will find drugs on the first two guys they search. But they don't. Then, when the really vicious white cop hits the black kid with his pistol, you think he'll get in trouble. But he doesn't. Instead the people in the building start throwing things out the windows at the cops. And little by little, the feeling of the situation changes, from cop show drama to something much more disturbing. It almost feels like live footage from Iraq or Afghanistan, where Americans, knowing nothing of the local culture, count on their guns and badges to make them feared. And the locals, instead of being intimidated, slowly turn the tables as the momentum shifts and the invaders become the victims.

You can't even watch this show without having all kinds of disturbing connections form in your mind. I won't do the usual thing, and break down all the great actors in the cast, I will just say that all of them are amazing. Except maybe Dominic West as Jimmy McNulty, the maverick cop. He's a little too James T. Kirk for me. But other than that, the cast is as amazing as the writing is explosive and realistic.

I sure wish Season 2 was on sale at TARGET, but now I'm probably going to get held up at AMAZON instead!

The crew of detectives come together and begin work on 'The Detail'.

This is an excellent episode that sets up the coming narrative and has some great character moments.

We get a bit deeper into the personalities of the main characters here, particularly the police officers who are portrayed as a diverse and flawed and group. They feel realistic and as far away from the usual Hollywood depiction of cops as it gets.

Cedric Daniels dominates the episode as an important character, shown with a tremendous amount of pressure coming from all directions. He is written and performed in an incredibly authentic way. Seemingly an honourable person with strong values, but not above compromising when put in a difficult situation. Ground level command positions are often the most difficult jobs in organisations, with very little thanks from anyone and this character embodies it. There is a great exchange of dialogue between Daniels and his wife that puts his role into perspective in a quite philosophical way and at the same time hints at her ambition.

There are some cleverly written parallels between characters, with D'Angelo and McNulty both going against the grain on their respective sides of the game. They even pout in the same childlike way when they don't like what they hear from authority figures.

My favourite scene involves D'Angelo enlightening his fellow dealers about the chicken McNugget. This is an awesome exchange of dialogue that is fabulously written and nicely performed.

The general dialogue throughout the episode is as strong as ever. Plus the humour is good, with Bunk and McNulty, Rawls, Herc and Carver all on top form with some great material.

As ever with 'The Wire' it shows the command structures within organisations for what they are and this for me is the best aspect of most episodes. The scenes of the fallout from something that Judge Phelan gets involved in are so recognisable in real life.

Visually it is full of cinematic storytelling. The orange couch, the basement office, McNulty's apartment, Daniels' stately home are all beautifully captured. The strongest sequence from this perspective for me though is the boozed up visit to the tower block that goes wrong.

For me it's a 9.5/10 but I round upwards.

The needle starts to move a little bit. The greatest thing about this episode is how they manage to make every character feel like a real person. In this episode, we get some of the best written dialogue I have ever heard on a TV show. There's an entire conversation revolving around chicken mcnuggets, and it just adds that much to make every charcter feel more real. These guys feel like real people, not like characters in a TV show. I liked how it also shows that the lines between good and bad aren't always so well defined.

When the witness that accused the drug dealer D'Angelo Barksdale in court for committing the murder is found dead, Det. McNulty leaks the information to Judge Phelan that releases the information to the press. Lt. Daniels sets his worthless team in motion while trying to get better detectives for the investigation. Meanwhile Det. McNulty and his partner Det. William 'Bunk' Moreland bring D'Angelo Barksdale to the Police Department to press him to be whistle blower and disclose the murderer in his organization that killed the witness.

"The Detail" is a great sequel of "The Wire". Lt. Daniels is feeling how difficult will be the investigation with a worthless team of detectives, but he is in a very difficult situation to resign his position. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "The Detail"