Is the wire coming back or is that it (1 Viewer)

[Tommy Ceez]

The ending was semi-open ended and yet provided all the closure for the show to never appear again. Is this definitally, maybe or definatlly not coming back?

If it is over I loved the fact that the final shot was of the biggest bad-ass in TV history, Omar.

 

[Lee L]

Well, they did call it the Season Finale not series or just finale and with the story openings they left I am hopeful that there will be another season. It would be nice to know one way or another though.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I was wondering something similar: Is next season going to follow the same characters or are they going to develop an enitre new cast revolving around another case?

I must say, after really disliking the first episode, the series just got stronger and stronger. Hats off to HBO for developing another winner.

 

[RobertW]

i think that's it. from interviews i've read with david simon, it was conceived to be a one shot, limited series with a definite ending.

from those interviews, it ended pretty much the way i expected it to, morally ambiguous with no clear cut winners or losers, and life in the city going on much as it had before. after all the police work that was done, everything ends up pretty much back where it began; bubs back on the product, the guys in the dealer chain move up to take the places of the guys who went to jail, they get promoted from the terraces to the towers, new young kids are recruited to become runners, and taught the ropes by the old hands.

the cops go back to their old haunts, although some move up and some are moved out. freamon gets another shot in homicide. i expected that footcop they showed at the end to be mcnulty, not santangelo. i can't believe mcnulty ended up on "the boat". didn't freamon warn him not to say that was where he didn't want to go, for he would surely end up being sent there? and, the return of omar!

still, a great ending to a great series, i was just riveted to this final episode the whole time. the series started slow, in part because it was slow building, and also cause it took a while to figure out who was who and their relationships to everyone else. can't wait for the dvd box.

 

[BrettK]

There is an article and interview at The Washington Post where Simon makes it pretty clear The Wire should be returning for a second season, hopefully with most of the same police, but a different target. Sounds like it should be announced within a week or so.
Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Aug26.html
Online Chat w/ Simon: Link Removed

 

[Bill Kane]

Nicely summed up, Robert. (HBO will rerun Tonight and Tuesday).

HBO does call it Season Finale, but even on the HBO-The Wire fan-base Community Board no one seems to have an inkling if there’s a Season Two. Brett astutely notes that David Simon is "confident" of a second season, but it's up to HBO.

On this one, I can let it go and move on. Bal’more “life” or the game keeps on goin’ and that’s the way it is. This series came from David Simon’s 1980s and '90s newspaper reporting and book and I think it’s had its shot. Not to say I wouldn't watch "Season Two." Simon's hook is that for a police series, it's never neatly answered at the end of the hour.

Now “Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under,” carry sustainable plotlines for me and I look forward to new seasons.

 

[Piers C]

BrettK,
Thanks for posting the links to the WP article & online discussion with Simon! I came across the article but had not been able to find the transcript of the chat. The chat provides the most solid info of a potential season 2 (and maybe more...).

Bill - Although nothing is for sure I would expect HBO to up for at least another season. But doubt they will have the same full cast as this first season.

I have to say that HBO's online community forum is a pain to navigate so I have not spent much time there.

I never got into "The Corner" but will give it a second chance when it comes out on DVD.

 

[Andres Munoz]

I started watching around mid-season and was hooked from that moment on. I liked this series a lot and really hope there's a second season.

But because I missed a lot of the early episodes, I have a few questions.

1. Who is Omar?
2. Why did McNaulty end up in a boat?
3. Who was the footcop at the end again?
4. So that particular case is over? Whatever happened with the deal they had going with D'Angelo?
5. Was Carver getting promoted at the end? Why was the Deputy Comissioner looking at him like he wanted to kill him?

 

[Jeremiah]

First off, this show was one of the greatest shows I have scene; the case was flat out awesome and I liked all of the characters. Only if their wasn't a bunch of politics involved, they would of brought down that whole crew, but it was more real like the way it ended though.

Andres, Omar was the guy who robbed Avons' stash house twice, and Avons' crew killed Omars boyfriend and buddy.

I am not sure why McNulty is on the boat but it definantly has to do with the first half of the show. The toy making cop told McNulty that one day they will ask you were don't you want to go regarding assignment and I am not sure if McNulty wanted t be on a boat or was to self involved to have paid attention to the cops advice. I need to watch the earlier eps again.

The foot cop was a cop that McNulty's homicide boss wanted to have snitch on McNulty but the guy never did.

D'Angelo's deal feel through because he ended up taking the rap and not ratting out his Uncle, plus the Feds were going to handle the case so no witness protection was going to happen.

I don't think the deputy commisioner had that look, it was more a good job and here is your promotion for being my rat.

I just don't know how they will be able to make another season because everyone has their new assignments. McNulty's on a boat, Carver is a Sgt(I think), the Toy maker is now in Homicide, Daniels and the white cop are the only pair left from that job.

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

My personal opinion is he wanted to be on the boat. I think he, like Freamon, did not want to be stuck behind a desk. At least, out on the boat, he's still in the mix, if very far removed.

 

[BrettK]

I just don't know how they will be able to make another season because everyone has their new assignments. McNulty's on a boat, Carver is a Sgt(I think), the Toy maker is now in Homicide, Daniels and the white cop are the only pair left from that job.

If they want to, they can write back anyone... don't forget, the whole task force came from completely different departments to begin with (homicide, narcotics, "pawn shop"...)

 

[Wayne W]

Great show! I watched every episode and it continued to get better and better. I thought the season finale was one of the best I've seen. It really wrapped up the season and left the door open for the future. It is amazing the level of character development with not only the key players, but the smaller characters. I can't say enough about the quality of HBO's original series. I really hope they continue with a second season. By wrapping up the current season (instead of the usual cliffhanger) I think the show will be able to continue to be interesting with each new assignment (for each season). I can't wait to see where the next assignment will take us. On a final note I don't think they could have had a better ending than they did with Omar!
True classic in the making.

 

[RobertW]

i don't think mcnulty wanted the boat. he sure didn't look too happy at the end. and if i recall, he and freamon were having a talk in the earlier episodes about how freamon came to be on the pawn shop unit. freamon asked him where he would least like to go if reassigned, and mcnulty said "the boat". that's when freamon told him about how he was called into his commander's office one day and asked that question, and told mcnulty,(paraphrased) "don't ever tell them that's where you'd least like to go, because that's where they'll send you", which is how he ended up at the pawn unit.

which is why it surprised me to see mcnulty get the boat. i thought he would have told them someplace where he wouldn't mind going to, figuring that's where they'd send him.

 

[Piers C]

I don't think there is an answer to that question right now -- its left ambiguous -- and that's the beauty of the show!

As other's have pointed out , you may recall Freamon's warning to McNulty in explaining how he ended up in the pawn shop division, after speaking out against police corruption. It went something along the lines of be careful what you tell them when they ask you where do you want to be re-assigned! Freamon's mistake was that he said he wanted to be out on the street, be a beat cop, just don't put him behind a desk. As we know, that's exactly what happened to him - the Bureaucracy put him behind a desk at the pawn shop division!

When Major Rawls asks McNulty the exact same question in episode 13 they cut before we hear the reply. So the audience is really left to wonder as the season closes with the last shot -- McNulty on the back of patrol boat looking less than happy as it cruises off into Baltimore harbor. Bunk & Freamon's send-off don't provide us with much info...but it doesn't look like any kind of celebration. If anything, the bottle they throw him looks like an effort to help him take the edge off his misery...over the case? new assignment? all of the above? We just don't know!

McNulty is smart but he is also hard headed. It would have been in keeping with his character, to have ignored Freamon's warning. It would have also been in his character to trick Rawls into giving him the least worst transfer, so to speak.

There are certainly worse places to be than a boat on the Chesapeake Bay! I didn't recall that McNulty had suggested this as one of his career alternative during his discussion with Freamon, but I'll assume RobertW is right on this point. Especially since supervision is probably minimal and he gets to have his bottle. At the close of the season, its easy to think that McNulty would want to be isolated from everything. Especially when at the end of the court scene he says: "What have I done?"

However, we also know that McNalty thrives on showing everyone how smart he is. That's tough to do on a patrol boat. In his code, being "real police" would not be sitting on a boat. I have no experience with police work on the Baltimore harbor, but I imagine there is not much opportunity to bust real hoods, at a Avon/Stringer level.

So was it his decision to re-assigned to the harbor or did he make the same mistake as Freamon? We just don't know!

When so much of TV is spelling everything out for the audience, the Wire has been refreshing for letting a lot be pretty ambiguous. The audience has had to do some work too, which I think explains the slow start and the increase of interest as the season went on. I really hope it comes back for a second round. Maybe we will find out more about McNalty's response to Rawls' question.

 

[Piers C]

RobertW,
Sorry I mis-read your post! You're saying that you recall McNalty replying that the boat was the worse assignment. Like I said I don't remember, but I'll defer to your better memory. Makes sense that Simon would have provided a clue earlier in the season!

 

[RobertW]

yeah, you're right in your explanation of freamon's situation. he told them he wanted to be on the street, not at a desk, so they sent him to a desk just to screw with him.

but i'm pretty sure when freamon and mcnulty were drinking together in an earlier episode, freamon asked mcnulty what the worst possible assignment he could think of would be, and mcnulty said "probably the boat".

so now that i think about it, maybe when he was asked where he wanted to go, mcnulty said the boat, following freamon's example that they'd send him to the exact opposite of where he really wanted to go. he figured if he said he really wanted the boat, they'd send him somewhere else. but this time, he got sent right where he asked to go. the place he least wanted to end up. the final joke on him.

 

[Jeremiah]

Robert, IMO that logic doesn't hold up. Rawls asked McNulty where he doesn't want to go, not where does he want to go. Also, if they were really going to give McNulty a choice assignment I bet he would of been able to get off the boat once he was assigned.

 

[Bryan S]

I think McNulty winding up on the boat was self imposed exile. He didn't seem to happy the way the case went and he blamed himself for Kima getting shot.

 

[Piers C]

RobertW,

Someone who has the episodes did a check to the details of the exchange between Freamon & McNulty, that we all have been discussing above.

Apparently no mention of "the boat" anywhere at all in that scene at the bar.

Here is what Freamon says:

"Detective, when they ask YOU where YOU want to go,
and they are going to ask you where you want to go.
Do yourself a favor. Keep your mouth shut."

 

[RobertW]

hmmm. my memory must be going. although i can swear there was an exchange with someone where mcnulty mentions the boat. maybe early, when he's with bunk. perhaps the time when he and bunk were out drinking, when bunk picked up that girl.