The Wire (TV Series) Lessons (2002) User Reviews

1x08

[formotog · 8/10 · 7 August 2020]

I can already tell that when this Omar guy starts whistling, you're screwed. This is the first little teaser I think so far of just how good the villains in this show are going to be. I think this episode was possibly the best shot so far, and we're continuing to get such realistic portrayals of the criminal and justice worlds. It's beginning to turn into a whole conspiracy now that the Senator's driver got caught with 20K, and I'm sure McNulty will be all over it. We got more of an insight into the Barksdale crew this episode, and saw just how heartless some of them can be. We got more of a look at Dee too who wants out. This episode was definitely very strong and it's looking like things are only gonna heat up even more

Mid 8

You come at the king, you better not miss.

[Hey_Sweden · 8/10 · 16 December 2022]

McNulty is at the supermarket with his sons when he notices Stringer come in. He then has the kids play a game of "front and follow" wherein they are able to shadow Stringer without getting caught, and ultimately obtain the license plate number of his vehicle. Later, McNulty and Greggs arrest a man leaving the towers with a large amount of cash, only to find out that the man is a driver for a senator, and Burrell leans on Daniels to let the man go. And the unit will realize that they have their hands full dealing with a character like Omar, who is indeed, as Greggs puts it, a loose cannon.

One of the most revealing and effective character details / revelations occurs when McNulty tails Stringer and realizes that he studies economics, showing that Stringer possesses real book smarts and is taking a measured, intelligent approach to his line of work. It's also riveting when Burrell gives Daniels a real dressing-down; anybody who's ever been chewed out by a superior at work should be able to sympathize. But the excellent script by David Simon gives so MANY great moments to characters major and minor; a case in point is when Wallace has a conversation with a young boy about math problems.

There's always time for a dose of humor with this series, in particular the banter between Herc and Carver, and a late sequence with a drunken Bunk as he's obviously tried to hide the evidence of an indiscretion. This viewer has always loved the chemistry between Dominic West (a.k.a. McNulty) and Wendell Pierce (a.k.a. Bunk) in scenes like this.

Omar continues to be a personal favorite character for this viewer, personified in a multi-dimensional manner by the late, great Michael Kenneth Williams.

Eight out of 10.

Great episode of a great series so far

[851222 · 8/10 · 12 October 2023]

Greetings from Lithuania.

8th episode of The Wire called Lessons was another very good episode. The story is constantly moving forward, but reason why I love it is because of characters, dialogs, directing. Setting is great and it really feels like a street movie. There are no heroes here and everyone feels like a real people. Seeing it for the first time at the end 2023 I cal clearly see how The Wire inspired shows like Breaking Bad and etc. You see it and feel it in its settings and characters.

Overall, 7 and 8 episodes were great ones. Story moved and definitely i will watch the remaining episodes.

Front and follow

[MaxBorg89 · 10/10 · 20 February 2009]

With more than half the season over, The Wire's first year gets grittier and more relentless in its depiction of a city struggling to stay alive amidst all the corruption, drugs and murder. The eighth episode also introduces at least one element that will be further analyzed in the following seasons (I'm saying this having recently finished watching Season Three).

The teaser is an unusually light affair, as we get a glimpse of McNulty's personal life when he goes grocery-shopping with his young sons. The playfulness turns into something darker, though, when he spots Stringer Bell in the crowd and asks the boys to play "front and follow" with him. In short, the young ones have to follow Stringer - without getting caught - and get his license plate number, which could be very helpful now that the wiretap has been disabled. The downside is that McNulty briefly loses track of the boys, and there's no way Elena is going to like that.

As far as the rest of the investigation is concerned, things get tense when Burrell threatens to shut down the operation by the end of the week and demands that the unit drop a suspect who was carrying money from a known dope safe-house on the grounds that said suspect works for one Senator Clay Davis. On the other side of the law, Avon learns of unorthodox plans on the part of his associate Orlando, Wallace is still trying to cope with Brandon's murder, and the conflict with Omar gets bloodier.

Lessons is an essential Season One episode because it deals - in part - with the vital subplot of drug dealers (and criminals in general) being involved with officially recognized businessmen or, even worse, politicians. Though he is never seen in the episode, this is also the first time we hear of Senator Davis, who went on to become one of the show's most important - and colorful, judging by certain promos - supporting characters. Whether David Simon and Ed Burns had planned this all along is debatable, given there was no guarantee the show would be renewed for a second season, let alone an additional three, but considering their groundbreaking attention to detail, it's hard to think the subplot was introduced by mistake. It's an early sign of Simon's intention to cover new territory later on, and therefore another confirmation of how different The Wire was, and still is, from other television dramas.

We all have a certain admiration for your do-it-yourself nature

[snoozejonc · 10/10 · 26 March 2022]

Greggs and Carver make an arrest that leads to trouble and Stringer's business ambitions come into focus.

This is an excellent episode with lots of memorable plot and character moments.

We get our first real glimpse of what lies ahead for Stringer and Avon in a couple of great scenes that develop Stringer's character superbly. His depiction as an intelligent and industrious person applying those qualities within the drug trade is great example of the influence of external factors on people. Along the same theme there is a great exchange between Wallace and a young boy as they discuss a math problem.

This episode continues to highlight the systemic problems within command structures with its scenes involving an arrest made by Carver and Greggs and the subsequent fallout involving characters like Daniels, Burrell, McNulty and Phelan. These scenes are brilliantly written and I find them so familiar to my own experiences with senior management, that I actually empathise with the frustrations of these fictional characters.

There is increasing focus on Omar and his scenes, albeit violent, are cleverly made in how they make you sympathise and admire the character for taking a stand and living by his own 'code'. Michael K Williams is on top for as always.

I love the humour associated with various scenes, particularly one character who finds himself in a ridiculously drunken state. It is also underpinned by some quite serious themes and feels very authentic. Also great, as ever, is the banter between Herc and Carver.

All performances are superb, but the standouts for me are Wendell Pierce, Dominic West, Idris Elba, Frankie Faison, and Lance Reddick.

As in all episodes of 'The Wire' there are numerous examples of great visual storytelling. One example of Omar hiding in the shadows, watching his enemies whilst smoking a cigarette always sticks in my head as brilliant filmmaking.

"Count be wrong, they f*** you up"

[RainDogJr · 10/10 · 29 April 2009]

This is a very important hour and it has the stuff "if you go to the drugs you get the drugs but if you go to the money God knows what you will get". Here we have a real prove of why the Deputy never wanted mikes or wires, certainly our guys did nothing but good police work by tracking down a man with drug money, we know the man, Daniels knows the man, the Deputy knows the man and the Senator Clay Davis and that's why that man will have his money back by the end of the day and almost an apologize from Daniels and company. And again I have to write about Daniels, at this point we know what he has done for the case, we know he has been doing a good job however he basically is f***** by the Deputy any time that bastard wants, "chain of command" is sort of a trademark dialog of Daniels but McNulty is simply an outspoken clever bastard who knows what the FBI and the Deputy knows about Daniels and who will shout to Daniels that why he always goes first with the Deputy instead of going with his Major, where is the goddamn chain of command then. For an instance the case was over however when you have Judge Phelan saying to McNulty "who's your daddy now?" you can guess what happened once McNulty and Greggs said to the Judge everything about everything.

My title is a line of a little girl, a line that is said to Wallace after he asked to the girl how she was able to do a big drug business counting problem while she could not do a simple school counting problem, certainly the answer of the girl ("count be wrong, they f*** you up") is simply a brutal one, Wallace remains in silent. This our is also remarkable for having Omar in action once again of course is his revenge, for having the youngest of the McNulty family (McNulty's sons played by Eric Ryan and Antonio Cordova) going after Stringer Bell (and getting valuable information) and a f****** strange and funny scene with McNulty rescuing Bunk after a crazy full of alcohol night in which Bunk cheated his wife and tried to burn his clothes (certainly never thinking that he was going to end with no clothes in the house of an unknown woman!).

Easily the worst episode of the season

[aram-99008 · 6/10 · 15 January 2021]

This episode was very boring and uneventful. It just cuts from one micro interaction to the other and nothing of any weight or importance happens.