This week's TV

Through the miracle of video on demand, Emory and I watched last Sunday's episode of The Wire tonight. The thrust of this season is politics, focusing on Stringer's moves towards legitimacy, Carcetti's bid for mayor, and Major Colvin's new theory about fighting the drug war. What I perceived to be a lackluster second season is much improved by what I now perceive to be the series' focus; it wishes to focus not on the drug trade exclusively, but on the city of Baltimore and what makes it tick. The first season was drugs, the second season was unions, and now we're moving on to politics. An interview I read with co-creator David Simon quoted his as saying The Wire is "a visual novel," and I'm inclined to agree. It can't be taken on an epsidoe-by-episode basis, but must be perceived as a whole. I mean hell, it's got so damn many major characters that HBO had to put up a chart on their official website. Check it out. Netflix the first season now that it's out on DVD. You won't be sorry.

I just have to admit that I have simply become a sucker for long-form visual storytelling. But more on that later.

Through the miracle of Matt taping every damn show on every damn network every week (shit, man, just get Tivo) I saw this week's Veronica Mars once the Wire viewing was over. This show has totally hit its stride. This episode was paced to within an inch of its life but never actually felt rushed, plus the ongoing murder subplot was fleshed out with a series of really well-done flashbacks depicting Veronica with her old friends. This episode, above all the others thus far, shows how Lilly's death has completely fucked up most of the major characters' lives. Please watch this show. It's not too late. Plus, there was almost no voiceover. It's so nice when a series follows the basic 'show, don't tell' rule. I'm looking at you, Desperate Housewives.