I'm sad that Namond's mother has no love for the boy. I get the feeling he'd eventually come to do well in an environment that expected him to...I dunno, Do Right in some way.(but of course this show ain't about that, exactly, is it?) Anybody trying the '80 degree strategy on me would have got what the Ed books call an unintended consequence. My stomach does not deal with heat in a very gracious manner, and it was far worse when I was young like that. So, yeah, of course I live on the surface of the sun. Sometimes I think God's rules are Simon rules. Sheeit. I think Zenobia is probably crazy smart. Not easy to control, but how many really smart people really are? Especially considering how many valid reasons she probably has to be, well, pissed all the time. And girlfriend did have a total point about the welfare office. I'm completely acknowledged to be "deserving" and yet if some genie were to come to me and say "Erika, you'll never have to be evaluated again, but in exchange we will take ten years off your life," I would totally think I got the better end. That is how much those appointments suck. And I am a "Good" client, nsm with the under-the-table jobs or boyfriends slipping me ducats. And I'm quite obviously fucked-up and shit, right? And I wasn't raised to be hard. My mother hoped with all her heart not to give me her McNutty-like, uh, "authority issue" and raise a little respectful citizen. I was completely unprepared for the constant disrespect you get just for being poor. And I am a blonde, blue-eyed, posterchild of a person who learned how to use multiple forks and "whom"(Which has caused me *no end* of shit, incidentally, as bureaucrats decide that my being smart is really "being smart". Which it mostly is not...maybe a little, as I adopt the family motto "I Fight Authority...Authority Always Wins" but I'm a writer. It'd be bad for my reputation and my self image to speak in the "don't got no" way they expect. Because it might be cool to be an O.G. but I see nobody lining up for...you should excuse the expression, "white trash".) And I no longer know quite where I'm going with this, but this season has been a very emotional experience for me, despite my being very far from West Baltimore in many ways.

this season has been a very emotional experience for me, despite my being very far from West Baltimore in many ways

No. kidding. This episode nearly killed me, even with the funny sections.

It was, Jen. I think we're free to post in this thread as soon as something's aired in the U.S. - it's NAFDA.

Last night's episode of The Wire was a tour de force of extremes. It began with a corrupt police cruelly breaking a child's fingers (for crashing a stolen SUV while fleeing the police) and ended with a previously unflappable drug enforcer beating a pedophile to death in a blind rage, two scenes so violent that even a Wire-o-phile like me found them difficult to watch. In between, and hell, even during these scenes, the show packed enough quiet subtle wordless reveals to stock a Jane Austen novel.

"Walker? Walker be evil." I was fine till I heard the finger snap, then...

Okay, clearly I must start catching up on the Wire on DVD. However, that's going to be a while, as the netflix queue and piles of other DVDs we have yet to watch is big.

Damn it.

Don't start with the last ones first. But I'm thinking you'll love it, but my love is not rational. It is a comedy/drama/cop show/ meditation on social issues and a love story(of Baltimore). Oh, and sometimes it's like...The Office.(Fuzzy Dunlop?) But one wonders why a snapping finger hastened that conclusion. Occasionally you're callous and strange, Sean.ETA: I say this every year, but honestly I think these are the best ones yet. Which is too bad in one way as I miss George P.'s instinct for action and he's gone back to novels, but other than that...

But one wonders why a snapping finger hastened that conclusion.

The finger of a child no less. But you answer your own wondering, Bunk:

Occasionally you're callous and strange, Sean.

Thank you. I take that in the nicest possible way.

A tiny thirteen year old car thief, actually. Donut. I've watched a lot of cop show violence but that actually made me wince and turn away. Much like I was actively affected by that delivery lady getting blown away. Even though by TV standards I've seen more death than Pol Pot. But on The Wire, it always *counts* you know?

Oh, indeed.