Hello and welcome to our second installment of Entertainment To-Go. I wish I could tell you that we've kept up the reading streak. We are still reading a lot, but not as frequently. You can thank our friends Chrissy & Nathan for that. They were so kind to ship us DVDs of the first and second seasons of HBO's The Wire.

Let us step back a second and explain our TV situation briefly: it's complicated. We do not have a TV. We do not stream shows and movies because it eats up data, which we buy through Verizon, which is insane expensive. It basically means we haven't seen TV in a very, very long time. We don't know what movies are playing. We haven't seen that cute new commercial with the dogs in it. I've nearly forgotten what Charlie Rose looks like (tell me he's still keeping This Morning alive with his tennis shoes and dry humor...).

So we've reverted back to the good ol' days of watching DVDs. Where's a Blockbuster when you need it, amiright?

We have a newfound appreciation for Redbox. Believe it our not, we tried this service for the first time a few months ago. I always thought it was a strange concept given that you can download or stream pretty much any movie nowadays. But now we get it! If you don't have internet, then Redbox is a dream. Since we've discovered this service, we have watched:

Look at this cast! LOOK AT IT. Should have been a better film. But it just wasn't. Sorry.

TRUTH - A terrible movie. Do not watch this. Also: I think Dan Rathers and team got it wrong.
JURASSIC WORLD - Also a pretty bad movie. But whatever, we enjoyed it. We're still nostalgic for the originals.
THE BIG SHORT - Enjoyed it. Very funny - who'd have thought?
DADDY'S HOME - We had company and needed something that we thought would be enjoyable for all types. But it's a terrible comedy (loosely using this term) with Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. DO NOT WATCH.

Now let's get to it: THE WIRE. We always wanted to start this show, but were nervous. We find that watching shows at least a decade old but not old enough to be "retro" can be difficult. Technology has come so far. When it comes to watching people use pagers and big cell phones, it's hard to settle in. But we gave it a go because we wanted to finally "be in" on The Wire social commentary like everyone else. And without many other entertainment sources and a free box set of DVDs, we were sold.

It was a bit of a slow start for us on both seasons, but we've really come around on it. We are now through both seasons 1 and 2. Here are our main thoughts / reactions:

Look at my moody picture of us watching The Wire on Carson's computer. I know, it's pretty great.

Mel

Why do they keep letting those two dork cops mess stuff up? I wouldn't want them on my team. The bald guy is a total sexist.
Hey, isn't one of those guys on The Walking Dead now? Doesn't he play the priest? Weird(!)
Hey, isn't that one dude the dad on Suits now?
McNulty kind of sucks. Did this actor do anything else post-Wire?
Why is the lawyer hooking up with McNulty? That won't last.
McNulty's wife had her own USA show for a while. That's cool.
I really like D. I hope he doesn't get in trouble.
I like that the guy who makes wooden furniture is seeing that former stripper. They seem to be pretty good for each other.
WHY DID THEY HAVE TO SHOOT THE KID?! WHY DIDN'T HE STAY AT HIS GMAS!!?? UGH.
Season two is off to a slow start. I like the new copper they introduced that patrols the ports.
The one dude in season 2 plays a psychopath that hassles Olivia Benson in Law & Order SVU later in life.
Season 2 got pretty good there like halfway through, huh?
Let's go to Baltimore.

Entertainment To-Go: The Wire, Season 1 | Local Color XC

Carson

The theme song dates this show right off the bat, which was my main hesitation starting the show in 2016. All the electronic beeps incorporated into the song make me feel funny.
Mel isn't a big fan of McNulty, but I think he's a pretty lovable loon.
That being said, McNulty looks like the kind of guy who was made for TNT or USA, not HBO. Sorry McNulty, I know that's unfair.
Huge props to the show for diving completely into the projects, rather than just using it as a foil for the "good guys." I think that's really where The Wire shines, at least in the first season.
McNulty and the Dad from Suits drink....a lot. Every time I see a TV show or movie where these dudes are just downing entire handles of whiskey, I think to myself, "I would literally die." I sometimes get a hangover just watching people drink too much.
Who wants a beer?
Why does every show assume that strippers really want to be doing something else? Maybe they just like the gig and are making good money at it!
I'm going to keep watching this show, but I won't pretend that I've enjoyed watching this series more than some of the more contemporary stuff on AMC or HBO. I feel sort of like I'm reading a classic: I tell myself it's interesting and good, but I'm really just waiting for it to end. Sorry, Thoreau, but you're boring!

If you own seasons 3, 4 or 5 of The Wire and want to ship them to us, please do! We'll give you our next address. We are dying to get to the newspaper season...

Oh, one more thing. Carson reminded me that we did watch one other non-Redbox movie at our friend's house in South Carolina. The 1983 classic The Big Chill. We'd just visited Savannah and met producer Stratton Leopold (of Leopold's Ice Cream!) and wanted to see something he'd worked on. It was okay in my opinion. Timing on movies in the 80s was just different.

On the next Entertainment To-Go we'll share with you the list of reads we've been breezing through on the road. Get ready to share your fave book recos!