30 Comments

The Great Believers is a WONDERFUL book! I sat in my hairdresser’s chair and cried as I finished it. Great rec.

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How about that scene with McNulty and Bunk in which the entire dialogue is variations on “fuck.”

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YES!!!!!

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The Wire is a staple in our TV repertoire. I’ve watched it more times than I can count and you are correct that it still remains relevant. The characters are amazing and the storyline is great. It is the inner city kids that break my heart every time. The struggle, poverty and power that keep you locked in to watch.

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I tried starting The Wire multiple times. Never got past the fourth or fifth episode. Whenever one of those social media posts comes up asking "What's something everyone else loves that leaves you cold?" that show is at the top of my list.

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I get it. I still can’t handle The Bear.

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The second season is much better. The first season wasn’t as well put together, but still watchable for me, just kind of stressful to watch though.

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Why do you think that is? I’m curious. What did you not like about it?

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Gotta have Christine McVie to make it work, what a talent…

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She doesn’t get enough flowers

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NO-ONE ever gets enough flowers!!

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That’s beautiful, you’re so right. :) Life is so challenging and we don’t get that much credit for it.

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Was your experience of watching season 4 of The Wire different now that you’re a dad? I remember thinking it was the best season way back when, but that was before I became a mom. Now, could I even handle rewatching it without falling apart? Those kids! ❤️💔

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Agree 100%

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The great break up song from the best Fleetwood Mac album. Sometimes suffering generates awesome work.

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RUMOURS was my soundtrack for 1977-81 and well beyond. a bar on the upper east side/manhattan had a cover band that played fleetwood all saturday night long. that was where you could find my tribe.

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The Great Believers is one of my all-time faves. I lived in those Chicago neighborhoods in the 90’s, and she really captures that whole moment in time.

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Have you ever watched Treme?

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Loved it.

And now that you mention it, maybe I will rewatch…

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I know I'm in the minority, but I love season 2 of The Wire. It gets some flak but I think it really showed what the show was about and showing all of the different facets of Baltimore. Ziggy Sobotka is one of my personal favorite characters, constantly lost and just eeking out an existence trying to find himself. Plus you get Amy Ryan as Beadie who is wonderful. I know it's much more of an aside to the rest of the series but I love it.

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I've found that over the years of my practice, my intake of violent TV, no matter how wonderfully produced, scripted, and acted has really gone down. I do still enjoy them from time to time, but I'm not sure I could make it through all the seasons of The Wire. I have pretty much the same reaction to romantic comedies these days too. Oddly, I do find that truly over-the-top cartoony violence, as in some cinematic universes, much less triggering than something like The Wire.

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I still watch violence on Tv but I do worry about it, even more so these days. I just wonder how it affects me. But it would be hard to avoid since it’s almost always there. But I watch much less television these days. I never liked to watch violence though, I definitely don’t need that.

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The Wire is the best show ever made! Each season depicts one aspect of the drug industry that creates a whole, comprehensive, brutal story of the failures of our systemic downfalls across so many areas, especially children. Best show ever made.

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Great Believers was a wonderful book. I moved to Chicago toward the end of the AIDS epidemic and the book really captured Chicago at that time. It was a really well done book. Made me sad

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Can’t wait to read it. Thanks, Dan!

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The Great Believers is excellent!!! So glad you are plugging. And I have been thinking about picking up the Wire. Oddly I have only ever seen season 2!

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