Erika's right: that is a heavy place to jump in. My first episode was the last of S2, another heavy one, from which I learned: a) I had no idea what was going on and b) I needed to find out, immediately. Luckily Season 1 had just come out on DVD.

>12(?) years

Oh, come now, Mrs. Simon. That's 13 years... and 4 months.

And 11 days. My brain is a strange place. But "I got poetry in me." anyway.(Or maybe he would find correcting my canon mistakes erotic...with all due respect he's got no problem with the sound of his own voice, does he?) OK, so it was an even bigger waste for Lester and Baltimore City than I thought.

Did everyone know Dennis Wise is a real person? I met his wife Malika in cyberspace while she was promoting his novel.(Which he can't, being in Supermax in Yuma...One thing about being in prison in Yuma, you probably can't tell it from being out of prison in Yuma.) I thought this was good if a bit crowded, the way a Simon finale always is. I bet they have to pull them from his hands to fend off that attack of "Just one more thing..." that seems to break out. A moment of silence for our man Bodie, to whom I've always been very attached despite his not being...cool and menacing like Stringer Bell or Omar, nor childish and needing protecting in manner of the 'Fayette Mafia'. But I think that's why I'm so fond of him(that and that way he had of being deep by accident) but when I started watching "The Wire" I was under the impression that I was entering a very alien environment...with time I found we all have our Games, but at first Bodie's Everyguy manner helped me feel comfortable on the street. I don't even know the actor's name...when I see him in Hershey's commercials I say "Hey! Bodie." He does good work. I think the moral is that when our institutions fail, our best hope is to leave room for the individual to take a personal one-to-one interest. Like if they were really interested in child protection* BPD Sargeant* Carver would seem an excellent choice to take Randy home and foster him...what? They were afraid he couldn't pass the background check? Kinda didn't expect Namond to get the best shot, since he was such a smartmouth in school, but that's kind of how it rolls in the Simonverse. You never know who will get the redemption(Not that I'm counting Duquan out completely, or Randy either, poor little victim.) I spent the whole "Corner" thinking Gary would straighten out before Fran, but Fran got clean and Gary O'D.

TastyKake: I really think Simon believes in humanity still, because I think Bubbles is the heart of the Wire-verse, messed up and addicted and all(I'm not sure if I held off posting cause y'all would think that crazy or if some smart-mouthed Austin cocksucker would tie me to my desk to write about it. I was touched that Bubbles even affected Landsman.

Some episode, huh?

All that and the kitchen sink. Heard an interview with Burns on NPR from last month...Terry Gross is really smart but she kind of doesn't get the show. Because she asked, as if not expecting a long answer, "how do you set up a wiretap?" Uh, how many hours you got? Mcnutty Answer: Very carefully.(God, I'd be a scary, scary, man...it's too easy to think like old Bushy Top.)

Ah, Terri Gross is a terrible interviewer, always prone to asking people astonishingly ill-informed questions.

I didn't get much out of the montage this time. And here it's weeks later, and I'm not anywhere close to getting over what happened to Bodie.

Well, if the roles were reversed, ex-murder police Burns would know not to ask "How do you get a job asking famous people shit on the radio?" Because it would take a while...knowwhatI'msayin'. That was his profession, like telling the world she's clever is hers.(Nice work if you can get it, huh?) I like to think I could do better, but I totally hero-worship him...that wouldn't sound much better. But his commitment to not run from the tough stuff is my most inspiring thing, ever. And as a disabled person, I used to flee the i-word like a hopper after "five-oh" because I got for, like, breathing and shit...I'm still not sure I *ever* deserve it, but not as much as i"ve gotten it. But then, I go and get inspired by someone and have to put it back in my vocabulary. That should be in somebody's profile, somehow. ETA: That's almost what I like about Simon-death. Too many shows let the bodies drop without letting us know what we miss when it happens. Everyone who complains that cable makes violence glamorous should watch "The Wire" and see if they still think that. Gonna miss Bodie, as I said, I always had a soft spot for him. You can totally show the waste of murder without having the detectives get bullshit sentimental if you are willing to kill "our" guys to get there.

So, I'm finally making headway in DEADWOOD season 1. It just took a little effort to get re-started and now the momentum is carrying me along.

I made it through SUFFER THE LITTLE CHILDREN before TDS/TCR/bed called, and, YIKES! - both Kristen Bell and Powers Booth were mighty scary in that (Booth gets the edge given the outcome). Poor Joanie. Definitely the harshest thing I've seen on the show up to now (Bullock's fight to the death in PLAGUE was a close second), though it's still small potatoes compared to the street fight in season 3.

Relatedly, Corwood, I absolutely loved Tom Block's deep analysis essay on that sequence in the new HIGH HAT. That's some fine writing (Dana's piece that touched heavily on McCABE was really good too).

How much does Omar need to visit James Dobson's house? "Tofu this, bitch." heh heh heh. There were actual gay stick-up men Ed Burns ran across during his career...Omar was a composite of three different guys.