Watch movie release

Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews

72 of 73 people found the following review helpful.
I’m still not worthy
By Wheelchair Assassin
Coming off the utter triumph of its first season, The Wire faced a pretty big test in trying to move on without compromising its astoundingly high quality, but having just finished watching I’m pleased to say any traces of a sophomore slump are virtually nonexistent. Once again, the show brings just the right mix of cynicism, humor and tragedy to its stories of crime, punishment, and lives on the edge. I don’t know about the claims on this site that season two is superior to its predecessor, but The Wire’s standards of writing, characterization, and realism are still very much intact. Not to mention, The Wire’s sprawling focus and blink-and-you’re lost complexity are, if anything, stepped up as it juggles multiple, often tangentially related, plotlines over the course of its twelve-hour running time. This season certainly doesn’t see The Wire abandoning its examination of crime in Baltimore’s black ghettoes, but rather expanding the view of its microscope to cover the illegal activities of the (mostly) white working class on the docks of the city’s East Side and the international syndicate that provides their side income. As a result, the reach of the show has become even more comprehensive, stretching from the projects to the docks to the police headquarters to the prison system. At times there’s a bit of a too-many-cooks feel to the events of this season as the show tries to shoehorn the struggles of the disrupted Barksdale-Bell drug crew into the main plotline (in a setup for the third season, it turned out), but that’s a small complaint, as what goes on the screen is still probably the best TV out there.Season two starts with the major players, on both sides of the law, dispersed all around Baltimore, with McNulty and Daniels serving punishment duty as a result of their actions at the conclusion of the first season, Avon Barksdale and his nephew D’Angelo in lockup following their arrests, Omar hiding out in New York waiting to testify in a key murder trial, and Stringer Bell left trying to maintain his and Avon’s housing-project drug empire in the face of serious supply problems. McNulty, especially, has become a train wreck, with his addictive personality and dissatisfaction with his new post on the Maritime Police reaching new heights of self-destructiveness highlighted by an hilarious episode-opening bender that sees him smashing up his car and having random sex with a diner waitress before passing out in her bed. It’s not long, though, before everyone gets back together, as a personal vendetta draws the attention of Major Stan Valcheck (aka Prez’s father-in-law) to the longshoreman’s local led by his old neighborhood rival Frank Sobotka. It does feel a bit contrived seeing the wire team brought together for another case, but seeing them do their thing in all its detail is still just an fascinating as ever when they finally get to it. The show still provides a better look into modern policing than anything I’ve ever seen, from the nuts and bolts of surveillance work to the internecine wrangling that does nothing but impede the actual solving of crimes. Not to mention, there are plenty of shocking moments thrown in to shake up the audience, from a pile of dead bodies in a container at the conclusion of the first episode to some truly cringe-inducing murder scenes to the sight of shotgun-toting street criminal and all-around tough guy Omar making out with his boyfriend.Season two introduces a new cast of villains, led by the mysterious elderly crime lord known only as The Greek and his murderous underlings, who have taken advantage of the local longshoremen’s declining fortunes to turn the city’s docks into their own personal way station for drugs, prostitutes, and God knows what else. It also delves into the hard-boiled existence of a people who, in their own way, have been forgotten almost as much as blacks in the housing projects as the U.S. continues its transition to a middle-class country. In the role of Frank Sobotka, Chris Bauer makes a more than convincing everyman, as we see the character dealing with everything from his crumbling union to his bumbling wannabe-criminal son to his nephew’s increasing involvement in the urban drug trade. As he struggles to keep his local (and his family) together in the face of the tightening scrutiny of the cops and the pressure of the Greek’s crew, Sobotka also becomes increasingly symbolic of the decline of American union labor, but at the same time he emerges as a compelling character in his own right. Frank is a relic and a dinosaur and he’s starting to realize it more and more, but he still fights to maintain as much of his niche as he can, keeping up his determined front even as things fall apart around him. He’s proud of his job and what he’s accomplished, and his grim resolve to resist his declining fortures sends him on an inexorable path to the season’s grim resolution.While they don’t assume center stage as much as in the first season, the Bell-Barksdale crew and many of its central figures are still around to one extent or another, with a whole new set of problems (ranging from the imprisoned D’Angelo’s newfound independence to the aforementioned dearth of quality product) putting Stringer and Avon in major damage-control mode. Left to run the crew largely on his own, Stringer emerges as an even more fascinating and complex character, a villain whose intelligence and calculation are matched only by his ruthlessness; you get the sense this guy would kill his own mother in the name of business. At the same time, though, it’s hard not to admire his single-minded commitment to being the best at what he does, no matter how tough the decisions it requires of him. Watching Stringer work, I couldn’t help but think he would’ve made a great captain of industry if he had been born in the suburbs instead of the projects. This season also sees the start of the rift between Stringer and Avon that would only intensify in the third season. Needless to say, the emergence of this division is handled in the show’s usual organic and realistic manner, with the tension between Avon’s street-soldier philosophy and Stringer’s all-business approach culminating in their vastly different attempts to resolve their supply problems. Fortunately, the problems in the Bell-Barksdale camp do give us viewers Brother Mouzone, a bowtie-wearing Muslim hitman from New York with an odd combination of comprehensive education and seemingly unmatched deadliness, who’s brought in by Avon to protect the crew’s territory and ends up running into some problems of his own involving a long-running grudge between Omar and Stringer.As others have noted, the events of any season of The Wire are difficult to encapsulate in a review; anything anyone can write short of a full-length magazine feature is just going to be a bare-bones outline that comes nowhere near capturing the exhaustive detail that goes into each episode. Suffice it to say, then, that season two is a seamless progression from its predecessor, while at the same time setting up events that continue to unfold even now, two seasons later. It’s just part of an ongoing saga, but at the same time everything that happens in this season is worth watching in its own right. Every season is brilliant in its own way, from the intense, propulsive first to the sprawling, tragic, recently completed fourth, and season two is no exception. If you’ve never seen this show, you’re missing out on the best TV has to offer. Seriously.

103 of 110 people found the following review helpful.
Something perfect just got BETTER…
By JunkyardMessiah
How do you improve on perfection? Ask David Simon and co., because Season Two of THE WIRE somehow managed to surpass the flawless first season. I love this series. It’s THE SHIELD with a brain, it’s HOMICIDE with balls, it’s THE SOPRANOS in the ghetto, it’s HILL STREET BLUES in the 21st century. In short, it’s the best of all TV worlds, all rolled into one, and thus, comparable to nothing else out there.Season Two takes us into a world that is seldom seen, and never before explored in this depth on TV– the world of dockworkers/longshoremen. If you had told me that I’d come to be fascinated by the lives of a bunch of doughy Polish dockworkers in Baltimore, I’d have laughed at you. Well. Cut to five minutes after the season two Wire finale: I was blubbering like a baby, brought to tears by some seriously epic storytelling, thoroughly invested in the triumphs and tragedies of these men.Hats off to anyone and everyone involved in this show– you’re doing GREAT work!

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful.
A great show gets even better
By Craig
The second season starts with a classic cop show scenario – McNulty, now working for the marine unit, pulls a young girl’s body out of the water. From there, another season of perfection unfolds. It’s not fair to give spoilers in these reviews, but suffice to say that the show moves once again with its unhurried pace, building towards some kind of resolution. And who knew that they could make the tribulations of a bunch of stevedores seem so interesting?Once again, Dominic West anchors possibly the best cast on TV, with continued great work from Idris Elba and the rest of the group. Season two also brings the welcome return of Michael Williams as Omar, who I think we were all sad to see leave during the first season.The writing is whip smart, and all of the varied directors do an excellent job. It’s a credit to the show that it always manages to keep the same feel despite input from so many different directors. West and Williams both provide audio commentaries, but this set isn’t about the extras – it’s about the show.If there was any doubt about this show’s lasting power, it should be erased with the second season. It’s truly one of the best shows to ever grace television.

See all 177 customer reviews…

Ebb Tide (song) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
“Ebb Tide” is a popular song, written in 1953 by the lyricist Carl Sigman and composer Robert Maxwell. An instrumental version by organist Kenneth W. Griffin was …

ebb tide: Definition from Answers.com – Answers – The Most Trusted …
ebb tide n. The receding or outgoing tide; the period between high water and the succeeding low water.

ebb tide – definition of ebb tide by the Free Online Dictionary …
ebb tide n. The receding or outgoing tide; the period between high water and the succeeding low water. ebb tide` n. the reflux of the tide or the tide at ebb; ebb …

Ebb Tide Restaurant
Enjoy delicious Cape Cod Cuisine in one of the Ebb Tides five intimate dining rooms. Built around an original Cape Cod sea captains home, the Ebb Tide serves …

ebb tide (oceanography) — Encyclopedia Britannica
ebb tide, seaward flow in estuaries or tidal rivers during a tidal phase of lowering water level. The reverse flow, occurring during rising tides, is called the flood …

Ebb Tide Resort, Seaside Oregon
Seaside Oregon Hotel & Resort, located directly on the prom in Seaside. The Ebb Tide Resort is the perfect choice for your next beach vacation. Click here for rates …

Ebb Tide – Home
Ebb Tide Trio, Music, Acoustic Music, Tecumseh,Michigan

ebb: Definition, Synonyms from Answers.com
ebb n. Ebb tide. A period of decline or diminution: ‘Insistence upon rules of conduct marks the ebb of religious fervor’ (Alfred North Whitehead)

Ebb Tide Bed & Breakfast – Tranquil Ucluelet B & B accommodations …
Ebb Tide Bed & Breakfast is a tranquil ocean-front retreat offering accommodations in beautiful Ucluelet near Long Beach on Vancouver Island British Columbia.