I haven't been able to bring myself to watch When the Levees Broke, yet. Glad to get your rec for it, erika, that'll help next time I try to talk myself into it.

Just mainlined all of Extras in the last several days. Good stuff! I'll have to work my way back to The Office, now, but it's not conveniently instantly available. Probably for the best for my leaving the house plans, really.

It is a great film, with a surprising amount of humor in it. And finally, Spike's level of perma-pissed? Seems to fit the crime. Grim humor, at times, but as a Wirehead, that's kinda how I roll.(And I can say that and be more literal than anyone in the world. Ha!) Mr. Pierce's segment was a highlight though.

Sheeeeeeeeeeit. I've finally seen a Wire episode that wasn't very good.

Really? I kind of loved it. Especially the cameos by the Laura Lippman characters!!! (the detectives from the County)

I haven't read her books, but there was a lot about this episode that seemed uncharacteristically heavy-handed and flat.

Such as:

1. McNulty tampering with evidence happened awfully fast. Sure, he's on a big decline and all, but being a good police has always been the one thing he held sacred.

2. Evil Editor Man really sucks as a character. The critics are right that he's easily the flattest character the Wire has produced, more of a moustache-twirler than Marimow (and I realize that he's based on the real Marimow). When he overruns Gus on the Orioles story, he might as well have stopped to cackle. I mean, seriously, consider the differences between him and Burrell. Burrell's self-serving assholish behavior is all about his ambition, right?

3. I realize they're trying to show the growing reckless disregard of Chris & Snoop, but seriously? A hit on a guy turns into a massacre of everyone around the guy in broad daylight? What happened to the ruthlessly efficient Chris & Snoop who dropped guys almost surgically in the dark of night?

4. Evil Editor going meta: "I don't want some amorphous series detailing society's ills. If you leave everything in, soon you have nothing." DON'T WINK AT ME, DAVID SIMON. AS AWESOME AS YOU ARE, IT'S NOT AWESOME WHEN YOU FLATTER YOURSELF.

I should say that I really loved Avon meeting with Marlo, because all the Westside stuff that means so much to Avon is clearly as foreign to Marlo as a discussion on the details of phlogistan theory. But Marlo's willing to play along. I also loved the woman's story at the NA meeting (but enough with Walon already! He's best in very small doses), and the little eye-exchange between Michael and Partlow right before the massacre.

crap, dude, I bet it's snowing in LA again.

If I was going to put meta in The Wire, it'd be something like "Look at this! You go on for pages and pages and nothing's happened yet!" Because some people I've introduced the Wire to find it like watching paint dry, like, a lot of the time.

Here's an article on the reporter Simon thinks is a fraud: [link]

Another one, same paper, same time-frame: [link]

I totally bought McNulty's making-a-murder. He's not fucking up an investigation that'll let a guilty party go free, he's creating a job for himself that he can control and maybe get some publicity that the real cases haven't gotten. It's a new facet of the character, but not an unbelievable one.

Avon seems like he's laying on the Westside loyalty business thick so he can play Marlo in some way that I haven't figured out.

Bubbles is just killing me. Listen to your sponsor, man.