Wire Season 3 Marathon

This past weekend, from Saturday noon to Sunday morning 2am, six souls gathered in the basement of an academic building to watch 12 episodes of one of the great American television shows. "The Wire," season three, pizza, cold medication, and chalkboard diagrams came together to create a perfect environment to view the brilliant HBO series.

For those of you unfamiliar with "The Wire," head over to HBO and read up...then WATCH IT. Granted, this is not a series for everyone. Deathly allergic of spoonfeeding information, the writers of this show (featuring a former Baltimore City detective, a Pulitzer Prize/Emmy Award winning creater, and several acclaimed crime fiction writers) create a dark, cynical world without clear moral boundaries and ever murky plotlines. The worlds of crime, police, and politics interconnect until you need a diagram to chart the progress of the story. This is not a show for the one and done procedural fans, as cases are not solved in the confines of a single episode; additionally, no case ever finishs up in the neat little bow that typifies network crime shows such as "Law and Order" or "CSI."

Enough platitudes, the viewing featured some notable of the Hopkins world, including ClimberDF and Nu-Gel KG. We had folks come down from NYC and Philly for the viewing, and I attended with an illness and a bottle of DayQuil. After a delayed start, caused by KG coming late from D.C. (no excuse offered), we watched the show. I took notes, but here's all I really need to say about the season:

• A strong season: an excellent departure from season 2's focus on the dock workers, we return to the drug trade in the ghettos of Baltimore. A controversial plan by a Major in the Western Precinct, the hubris filled downfall of the drug kingpins from Season 1, and the evolution of several characters, most notably Prez and Freamon. The storylines were more labyrinthian than ever, with so many characters that it was hard to keep it all straight. However, to the credit of the writers and editors, the show never seemed too out of step. Sure, there were scenes where there were questions and head-scratching, but on the whole, a great story told in 12 parts.
• This is the only way to watch the show: all in a row with fellow fans. This is like a 12 hour movie, and watching only one episode, waiting for a week for the continuation would drive me crazy.
• The boys really liked any scene with McNulty, Bunk, Omar, and Brother Mouzone. Interesting points, the mentor/student relationship between Freamon and Prez, the surprise moment in the gay bar, and the redeeming journey of Cutty.