The Wire - "-30-" - 03/09/08 (SERIES FINALE)
 

"...the life of kings." - H.L. Mencken

Synopsis:


Airing: 9:00 PM & 11:05 PM, then tomorrow on ON DEMAND.

Wow. It's been a great run. I saw it once already through alternate means, and I plan on watching it again when it officially airs. Amazing finale. I won't say anything until it's been aired. :)

Some pieces of trivia about this episode (no spoilers):

"–30–" is a journalistic term that has been used to signify "the end" or "over and out" since the Civil War when telegraphers tapped "XXX", the Roman numeral signifying 30, to end transmissions.

Series creator David Simon makes a cameo appearance as a reporter at The Baltimore Sun.

With a running time of 93 minutes (PAD YOUR TIVOs), the series finale is the longest episode of the series.

Marlo deserves to go down and Dukie deserves a happy ending. As Snoop said, though, "deserve's got nothing to do with it," and I have a sinking feeling that neither will happen. Can't wait to see the show.

cheers,

-the Jesus

Man, after seeing that, I definitely need to see it again, hopefully at one of the official air times. I can now say that The Wire is the best show ever made. Yeah, it surpassed my other favorite, Oz, heh.

Refreshing to see this show have an actual ending unlike a certain other show.. Had the feeling that Simon knew exactly where these characters were going to go after the show ended.

"It's all in the game." :sad:

:goodbye:

I sorta hope they end it with Gram Parson's song "Streets of Baltimore" over the credits - but that's probably too obvious for this show.

So sad. So sad.

great, great finale.

Can't wait til it airs to hear everyone's reactions.

I am so pumped up for tonight! Breaking Bad season finale, and The Wire series finale.

I still can't believe that after tonight the show will be finished. What an amazing run!

ABC News had a nice little piece tonight on Michael K. Williams, who plays Omar Little. I can't find it yet on the ABC website.

Oh man, what an ending to a great show.

I loved it, loved it, loved it.

"That's for Joe":banana:

Valchek the new police commissioner:lol:

Loved Jimmy's "wake"

I don't think the ending was much of a surprise as Simon has ended season's before showing the cycle repeating (last year the season ended the same way it began, with Carver chasing off a group of kids)

So Dukie is the new Bubs, Michael the new Omar, Marlo the new Stringer, Chris falls on the sword just like Wee-Bey, and Sydnor is the the new McNulty

Pretty great ending, as expected, everything stays the same, and the game is the game.

I thought Marlo was excellent in this, the actor who played him was great.

And Slim Charles is my idol!

Michael as the new Omar was perfect. Dukie as the new Bubbles was sad. I still don't see why Michael couldn't help him out. The shot of Chris and Wee-Bay at the end was cool. I knew Marlo wouldn't be able to stay out of the game.

I took it that he was out of the game.

He got cut in his altercation, which serves to remind him just how close he came to going down. They then show the new guys talking to the Greeks, which means Marlo did sell them the connect.

Now THAT is how you do a series finale. (David Chase could learn a thing or two.)

Brilliant. Just brilliant. I can't believe that liar reporter stayed on to win prizes while Alma got shipped out, and sad to see Dukie shootin' up.

But--great to see Bubbs upstairs, and Jimmy may be able to have a normal life now that he's out of it.

Stunningly great ending to a superb show. R.I.P.

I'm a bit rusty here but how do you connect Marlo to being the new Stringer?

Stringer tried to be come a legit businessman, puttin' on a suit, etc., like Marlo.

I don't think it was clear at all whether Marlo's in or out. I took it as he was glad to be back in the mix, but it seems open to interpretation.

Brilliant. Can't even really collect all the thoughts right now except to say thanks to Messieurs Simon, Burns et. all for what can now be called THE perfect television series.


-Doc

I understand now. You're right. I just focused on how he left the party to go back to the street corner.

I don't think Marlo is the new Stringer. He gave up his crown and now he's just running a corner. He unlike Stringer knew he couldn't fit in with the suits but he knew that there was no way for him to be king any longer. He's on the streets doing what he loves but on a much smaller scale.

It's more disapointing that Prez gave him the money and let him go, knowing full well what was going on.

You missed one.

McNulty is the new Lester. Doomed to work the next 13 years and 4 months in the Pawn Shop Unit or some similar desk job where he can't do any more damage.

Oh, I found that extremely easy to believe. But then, I can be a cynical bastard at times.

So, when's the season five Blu-Ray coming out? I may be cynical but I'm also impatient.

Count me as one extremely satified with the finale.

I took Marlo's escape from the party and taking of a corner as the beginning of a comeback. He looked comfortable to be back in the streets. Little bit of blood on him, scaring away the hoppers.

Loved two shots of the show. First: the gum residue on McNulty's shoe at his "wake", McNulty now a former gumshoe. Great visual pun. Second: Wee Bay and Chris in the prison yard. Two peas in a pod, swapping war stories.

Good to see Bubbs' redemption complete. Didn't think that Simon had the heart to pull the rug out from under that. Saw Slim Charles coming back on Cheese from a mile away, but it still made for one of the most satisfying deaths of the series.

I'll have to watch the season from front to back again to be sure, but I think it's my least favorite. I think Bill Simmons has it right: it's the worst season but the season with the best moments.

The creators did a nice job of bringing characters back for cameos. Would've liked to see a Bubbs/Kima scene - I always thought they had a great chemistry. I also think that at some point, Donut needed to roll up in a hot car. Either that, or be seen in the lockup, arrested for GTA. I also would've like to see Ziggy. Since Nick was arrested, I thought that the Sobotka thread might come back in some way, with Nick and Zig giving up Vondas and the Greek.

After every season, when major characters fade into the background, the creators were always able to make me care about a new set of people equally if not more, than the main characters from the previous season. I'm not sure that any other show could ever achieve this. Major network shows, like ER, The X-Files, NYPD Blue, and Lost have tried this, but it never felt entirely successful. I think that the commitment to both practical and emotional realism is what set The Wire apart from the other shows I mentioned. It's a testament to the creators' vision, the quality of the writing, and the generosity of the actors that most every character rang true.

The show isn't perfect, and I can't say that I agree with every twist and turn in the plot, especially this season, but taken as a whole, The Wire's five seasons are about as perfect as television gets.

cheers,

-the Jesus

Uh, didn't Ziggy die?