I don't get the hype around The Wire.

I was at a party last summer and this guy kept going on about how it's the greatest show ever. He was like 'you just have to get past the first season, it gets so deep'. I watched the whole thing and I just didn't see it. The pacing felt off and I didn't care about any of the characters. Has anyone else tried it and just not clicked with it?

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parkerb755mo ago

Whoa, hold up, I gotta push back hard on this one! The Wire is probably the most real thing that's ever been on TV. The pacing isn't off because it's bad, it's off because the show is trying to show you how slow and messy real life actually is in those corners of Baltimore. You gotta care about the characters not because they're likable but because they're so painfully human. McNulty is a trainwreck but damn if you don't feel for him when he's at his lowest. Stringer Bell's whole arc from street guy trying to be a legit businessman is fascinating to watch fall apart. Give it another shot with that in mind, the writing rewards the patience.

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wesley_hart5mo ago

Feel you on this one. I mean, I totally get where parkerb75 is coming from, The Wire really does feel like it's showing you the real, ugly slow grind of things, not some TV version. That Stringer Bell arc you mentioned, yeah, watching him try to play both sides and lose it all was just brutal in the best way. And McNulty, man, he's such a mess but when he's sitting in that bar alone or messing up his whole life, you can't help but feel for the guy. I think people bounce off the show because they want the quick payoff, but it's more like a novel where you have to sit with the discomfort. Props for sticking with it and seeing why it's so praised.

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