Episode 2, Soft Eyes. "I Still Wake Up White in a City That Ain't."

So says Carcetti as he confronts the racial politics of Baltimore, of America, really. Perhaps, as some of you wrote on your blog last night, he isn't the best candidate for mayor: it's not quite clear why he wants the position (though it's hard not to imagine one reason--power), nor is it quite clear yet what he really believes about what needs to be done about Baltimore. What we do know is what Mayor Clayton Royce believes. When asked by Carcetti for two debates in episode one, he replies, "Two debates. Shit. That lost-ball-in-the-high-grass motherfucker Carcetti. He needs to get used to life in the wilderness." Carcetti's reasons may not be transparent, but Royce's are; and we see what Baltimore has been like under his administration, and, implicitly, how it will stay the same should he be reelected.

But for this entry. First, just for laughs (and to illustrate where real power lies in the Baltimore of the series), Senator Clay Davis:



Second: the scene we briefly talked about in class between Marlo and Michael:



1. My first question: in the scene above, knowing what a ruthless murderous man Marlo is, why would he let Michael go so easily? Why not punish Michael the way he has punished nearly everyone who crosses him (such as Lex)?

2. Isabel said in class today, "It's easier to respect Marlo Stanfield than Clarence Royce." In other words, it's easier to respect a cold-blooded drug dealing killer than a legitimate legally elected mayor. Agree or disagree with Isabel's statement, and say why you answer what you do.

3. We were talking--and will continue to do so--about the Baltimore of The Wire. What to you best describes the city that we see in the show--and why?

4. What in today's episode especially jumped out at you--what scene or moment or character or line of dialogue stayed with you so that even now, hours later, you still can see it in your mind or are thinking about it? And why?

Be sure to answer all these questions in 2-300 words.

Episode 1, Boys of Summer. "Lambs to the Slaughter Here."

So we are now into the season. The epigram above--"Lambs to the slaughter here"--is Assistant Principal Donnelly talking about new teacher Prez, but it could apply just as easily to many others in the show, principally, of course, the four boys we meet: Randy, who comes up with the idea of the urine filled balloons; Namond, who has money to pass around (and who hides during the beat down of his friends); Dukie, with his hygene problems; and Michael, who is willing to protect Dukie. Remember how young they look in this episode: by the end of the season, they will not look the same.

Just to remind you of part of what we saw today:



It's a great, funny scene, which, like so much of the show, goes against our expectations. Carver is friendly and respectful of corner boy Bodie; he makes it clear he knows all of Bodie's crew, and jokes with them. McNulty, the uniformed officer, is also friendly and respectful to Bodie. Both he and Carver comment--honestly--on Bodie's intelligence. And Bodie shows his intelligence by making a joke at the expense of Carver's hard-ass partner Colichio, which gets poor doomed Lex to smile even. And, to further emphasize the education theme of the season, this acts as a "teachable moment" for Colichio, as Carver explains why they're not busting the street dealers.
The tone of this show rarely stays even: there's the comedy of the above, the easy camaraderie of the boys, the funny scenes where they are trying to catch the birds, followed by the terrifying moments when we see Snoop and Chris put another unlucky player away--and where we get to see what that 700 dollar nail gun is for.

So, with this introduction:

1. Name one part of the episode that confuses you or leaves you asking a question. Others in class feel free to answer this question or clarify what might be clear to someone else in the class.

2. Name one part of the episode that really jumped out at you, stuck with you. Maybe it is a particular scene, or a particular character, or a particular image. But name it and say what made it so memorable for you.

3. As one of you said at the end of class, it was hard reconciling the plot about Tommy Carcetti and the mayoral race with the other two main plots--how it fit with the school and boys and new teacher Prez as well as the cops taking down Stanfield. That's one reason why this show was never a ratings hit--it's complicated, it doesn't give you the answers, and you have to pay close attention to every part of it. Maybe it is too early to ask this, but what the heck. How does the Carcetti plot fit in or mirror or connect with the other two plots?

4. Finally: what do you think of the show so far?

Folks, you cannot answer all these questions in 2 minutes. To get credit for this entry, you have to answer all these questions. At the same time, I don't expect you to spend an hour on this either. This is indeed short term: but this is also an academic class. Just reminding you that I have expectations of you here. REMEMBER to answer this the comment space which follows. Don't create a new blog entry, as both Anna and Andrew inadvertently did. Write a couple hundred words answering these questions. Be sure they are done by 8:30AM tomorrow.

Andrew Abbot

The first thing about this show that has always jumped out at me is the brutal honesty involved in each and everyone of the episodes. No matter the topic that the show confronts it always portrays the topic in the most straightforward way and does not gloss over any aspect of the topics. Another thing that caught me about the introduction to the show is the amount of depth in each of the characters. Each character in the show is fully explored, and even after only the introductions I already feel like I know the characters on a personal level.
The conversation in class was refreshingly in depth and considerate. Everyone managed to chip in and no one seemed displeased with the discussion. While technically the entire conversation was about the American Dream, I really enjoyed that we explored the connections to the economy and other aspects of the US today. Every time someone expressed an opinion someone else would have either a response or a continuation and there was never an awkward silence.
I found the opening section of the fourth season brutal and depressing in that such a young girl would be involved in such a dangerous and violent profession. Clearly education was not the most of her worries. I thought that the reaction by the salesman was telling, and although simple, indicative of the reaction that I would have had given the situation.

Anna Currey

In the shows recaps, all the characters seemed very corrupt and damaged. They weren’t always self-interested. The drug dealers frequently made sacrifices for their allies, but there was a lot of violence, and loose moral codes.

I disliked the mayor the most, because he was affluent yet he manipulated other people’s lives and deceived people to further his career. Sometimes I feel more forgiving of people’s wrongdoings if it seems like they do them out of desperation. He didn’t seem desperate, just power hungry. I don’t know if that is worse than someone who commits a crime out of desperation.

During class today, I was struck by how everyone agreed that the American Dream flawed. I think that America probably offers more opportunity than most other places, which is why it has that reputation. Immigrants who come here searching for the American dream consider the available jobs, often manual labor, as success. When we cracked down on illegal immigrants, there was a lack of labor in Georgia. The problem with the American dream is partly that Americans don’t want to work hard in the way that is available. This is why when we don’t have illegal immigrants we have no one to harvest crops. I count myself as part of this problem, because I’m certainly not planning on doing manual labor as a career. Instead, I’m going to enter the super competitive market for jobs that fulfill my definition of success.

It was funny in a grotesque and dark way. The reaction of the white salesman was funny, but at the same time I was just as shocked as him by her violence. Snoop seemed so nonchalant and uncaring; I really couldn’t figure out what motivated her. When she gives the salesman 800 dollars, it’s clear she’s not in it for the money.

"It's All in The Game." Recaps of Seasons 1-3 of The Wire

For those of you who are new to this series, you are about to enter into a complicated, complex, messy narrative. This is not your run-of-the-mill television series: this is not Glee, this is not Seinfeld, this is not The Closer. You will be thrust into a story that has three distinct story lines: 1. The efforts of the Baltimore police to take down a drug dealer named Marlo Stanfield and his organization; 2. The mayoral race between the incumbent and an ambitious young white city councilman ("white" included here only because Baltimore, as you will quickly see, is a predominantly black city); 3. The way four middle school boys navigate their way through school and the world they live in--the poor West Side of Baltimore. What will interest us, among many things, in our discussion of this series is how these three distinct stories come together: how they become, in effect, one story.

That's just for starters, though. This is the fourth season of the series, so much has happened before it begins. We'll be talking about this, too, whenever anything is not clear because of what has happened previously in the series (there will be a lot of this at first: less as we go on). But to get you started on the background of this season, please watch the following recaps and read the synopses of the seasons here on Wikipedia. Doing this will help. So...

Season One:



Season Two:



Season Three:



Now that you have both read the synopses and viewed the recaps, I would like you to answer the following questions here on the blog:

1. Your reaction to what you have read and watched--in particular, what jumps out at you about this show from this introduction to it? What grabbed you--what intrigued you?

2. What jumped out at you from today's conversation in class? Any particular point or comment or concept that stayed with you, that got you thinking?

3. Finally: here is the opening of Season Four which introduces us to Snoop and her partner Chris Partlow, killers for Marlo Stanfield, drug king of West Baltimore. What is your reaction to this scene? How does it get this season going in terms of the theme of education?



Write a couple hundred words answering these three questions. Be sure to have them done by the beginning of school tomorrow. Tomorrow we will begin the season.