This week was very interesting for me, I am not very technologically savvy, so there were some difficulties. Social media is not my favorite thing, therefore I tend to stay away from it. Before this course, I have never had a twitter, soundcloud, flickr, or vimeo. It was very interesting learning how to use them, but I finally am getting the hang of it.

Creating the social media accounts was the easiest part, remembering and learning how to use them was a different story.. Once I made the accounts, I spent a good few hours learning how to use them. Flickr was the easiest one for me to figure out, it also was the easiest one to embed in my introduction post. Soundcloud was completely new to me, but now I absolutely love it and what it has to offer. If it wasn’t for this course, I’d be missing out on the cool things it has to offer.

Luckily, before class started, I created my blog on WordPress and got familiarized with it, or else I would have struggled all week! My hardest part was learning how to use WordPress, I struggled getting soundcloud and twitter to successfully embed in my blog. After watching many videos and reading a wide variety of forums, I managed to get it! Once I understood everything, I actually enjoyed it, I never thought I could successfully learn how to do any of this. I can’t wait to learn more in this course!

The Wire

Episode 1 and 2:

When I heard we had to watch The Wire, I was excited because I have heard about it before and now it was assigned. Episode one showed that this show was not a typical police show. My favorite scene from episode one was when Kima Greggs pulled out the second gun from the car, which the other two male cops missed. After reading the discussion, I noticed how McNulty and D’Angelo’s stories were paralleled  which helped me pick up on other things in the next episodes. Such as in episode two, D’Angelo was talking about the guy who invented chicken nuggets probably still sits in the basement making nothing when McNulty and the rest got their office, which is located in a basement. The theme of police corruption became more apparent in the second episode due to all the police brutality. The fact that the police hit the 14 year old kids with the bottom of his gun simply because the cop got pissed off foreshadowed there would be more brutality to come.

The first two episodes were somewhat confusing because I kept getting confused between all the characters. The flashbacks that had occurred really helped me gain an understanding of what was going on. After reading the discussions, I became more aware of the little details that help the show, such as the parallelism. I do like D (D’Angelo), he seems as down to earth as a drug dealer can get. He always seems so caring and is scared of his uncle.

Episode 3 and 4:

Daniels started to seem more sketchy in episode three because he ordered a drug bust, which could harm the case. McNulty was the only one who challenged Daniels by not getting involved in the bust. Little did the police know, Omar stole the drugs from the exact place the police went into the next day. Police brutality became more noticeable when they beat the kid who hit the officer rather than handcuffing him. What took me by surprise was Greggs saw the kid hit the officer and she ran straight over to get involved in the brutality. I completely misjudged her character on that one.  Also, as mentioned in the discussion, the chess game was an important scene. Based on how D’Angelo described the pieces so it’d relate to real life, gave an insight on how things really worked.

Episode four had a few comical scenes such as when all the cops could not move the desk, showing how they were not that competent. Another character that surprised me was when Herc apologized to the Grandmother for how they talked and acted. It was surprising because based on how he acted in the previous episodes, it came out of no where. The  episode also showed Kima and Omar with their significant others. They both parallel each other in the way that they are, the more masculine one in the relationship. I thought it was interesting how they picked Omar to also be homosexual, which took me by surprise, but it really adds to the show.

Episode 5 and 6:

A quote from episode five that really stuck an emotion was:

How they talked about Kima showed signs of sexism starting to occur. I did not like the fact that the only female cop is portrayed as so manly and they make her homosexual. The fact that this show began in 2002, and there are homosexuals making the show feel more realistic, despite the fact the only female cop was made a homosexual.  Another theme became apparent in episode six, paranoia. Avon became so freaked out over someone calling and hanging up. Also, as brought up in the discussion the lighting and set design, set up the episode to give off that vibe. I was amazed at how that little detail can truly make the episode give off that vibe of paranoia. One thing I do like about this show is that is focuses on the older technology, which is refreshing from the modern typical cop shows.

Episode 7, 8, and 9:

In episode 7, seniority and power become an overwhelming theme. Rawls showed his true colors in this episode by having someone spy on him to get his badge. Also with the judge, how he corrected every grammar mistake McNulty made in order to impress Rhonda. When Rhonda left the room, the judge clearly stared at her. I also picked up on how McNulty called her Ronnie, which makes her seem like another masculine female character. After watching/reading the discussion, I realized how they paralleled Daniels and McNulty to show how different they were in social class.

Seniority is yet again a huge theme in episode 8. When Kima told Herc and Carter to go do something, they did not question her. But when Prez asked them to go do the exact same thing seconds before, they told him to go do it. You would think that all cops would be equals and at least try to hear each other out.  I noticed that Wallace and McNulty are paralleled in this episode. They both try to help their kids with something, showing they both have a common ground on how they relate to their kids, through work. Omar becomes a main character in this episode, his whistle really set the tone for the show. Based on the scenery, as brought up in the discussion, it added to the creepy vibe because it was dark and in an alley. Also mentioned in the discussion, how the color shirt matched the robe Bunk wears, was an observation I completely missed.

Episode 9 showed how the police can be corrupted. Herc and Carter were talking about pocketing some money for themselves, but the Daniels noticed money was missing. How the show was built up, it really seemed as if they did pocket it on purpose, but it turns out when the bag ripped, some of the money fell into the wheel barrel.  I really liked this episode because of the basketball game. Everyone from east and west Baltimore stopped everything to go watch a game. Even the two police watched it on their break next the drug dealers they arrested in the past.

 

After the game, I thought the interaction between Daniels and Avon showed how cocky Avon truly is, but Avon is not too tough because he was shaking during the scene where Omar was shooting at him. I thought it was interesting how little Avon was scared about the police, but he is more intimidated by other criminals.

My favorite scene of the first nine episodes was when Bubbles stole the drugs from the tire using a fishing line. It was amazing how resourceful Bubbles can be. I feel like Bubbles adds so much to the show because of his personality and how his attitude can change based on who he is with.