(20) - TV in Images

So I created these four images recently. I've been super bored and been playing around with Photoshop. Not the greatest. Doesn't take a lot of talent, just a lot of patience. The first two are tributes to THE WIRE and the other two have to do with LOST. Let me know what you think!

Click on the images to enlarge them for better detail!

The Wire Series Finale :-(

The dreaded Sunday has finally came. First of all, it's my last day of Spring Break, but more importantly, The Wire airs its last episode tonight on HBO at 9pm (95-minute episode). It's the longest episode they've made, it's more of a movie, but nonetheless, this could be one of the saddest Sunday's I've ever experienced. I'll post tomorrow with more thoughts on the episode and the show. Please tune in.

Omar Little, R.I.P.

So the episode officially aired last Sunday. Omar Little is dead. Arguably the best character on The Wire, Omar Little was gunned down in a convenient store while trying to buy a pack of cigarettes. He was shot in the back of the head and was killed instantly. He was shot by a young kid, Kenard, who was a corner boy and was "part" of Marlo's crew. Seldom seen in season 4 and 5, Kenard perhaps made the shot heard round the world. No other shot in The Wire's history was larger than that gunshot. Well, to be fair, I'll put it up for debate between Kenard's killing of Omar and and Omar and Brother Mouzone's killing of Stringer Bell in season 3. Either way, Omar was in the show from the beginning, and to see a character taken out like that, it's just heartbreaking.

Omar was definitely not a saint. He was a "bad guy," but at heart he was a good guy. He had a code and he lived by it -- only go after people within the game. Anybody else just is not worth it. He took it upon himself to "police" the other bad guys when he felt they were getting too powerful. When the Barksdale crew was running wild in the first couple seasons it was Omar giving them trouble, and through Season 4 and season 5 Omar was giving Marlo trouble. It was almost as if he was attempting to level the playing field so everyone could have a chance at dealing, making sure not one group had a monopoly. Now obviously that was not his goal, but it was a side effect of his actions.

Omar lived off of his reputation on the streets. He knew that no one would face him man to man and shoot him. His reputation had grown to mythic proportions. It was amazing he lasted as long as he did on the streets. His death, annoying as it was, was a necessary occurrence on the show. David Simon and Ed Burns strived to make The Wire as realistic as it could possibly be, and to have Omar survive throughout the entire series would not have been the most realistic thing to happen. Stickup guys like Omar normally don't live past the age of 25, let alone 30.

And thinking about it, the way Omar died was the only way he could have died. Omar lived by a code, and he would have never think about taking out a kid unless he knew for a fact he was in the game. He took a look at Kenard and thought about him, but then just went on about his business, only to be shot in the back of the head. Being shot in the back is also a key point because no one would shoot him face to face, it would only have to be in the back. And having a kid do it just makes it all the more realistic. Kids get dragged into the game earlier and earlier because they have no choice but to join. Kenard was no exception.

My friend and I argued over Omar's death for over a week and we still have no been able to find common ground. He is so totally against how Omar met his fate. We were both sad when Omar was killed, but I thought it was an OK sendoff where he didn't agree. We both agreed he had to die, but just differed in how he should've went out. The big shootout would have obviously been a better choice for him to die, but it would not have been the correct choice in trying to keep the show as realistic as possible.

Omar will always live on.

Weekend Backtrack: All-Stars & Wires

Well the weekend is over, and I'm not sure what to think of it. Friday I stayed in and ended up doing work for my midterms coming up. Saturday I did the same thing, but that was more of a staying in because All-Star Saturday was that day, and man, was that something else. And Sunday was the All-Star game as well as the next installment of The Wire. Let's break it down.

ALL-STAR SATURDAY
We can skip the team shootout and skills competition (although it is worth nothing that Deron Williams now holds the record in a flawless final round against hometown hero Chris Paul) and jump straight into the Three-Point Competition and Dunk Contest. The only thing really worth noting for the 3-Point Competition is that Jason Kapono is the best pure shooter in the league. Last year I attended All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and during the competition the section I was in was assigned to Jason Kapono, meaning if he won the contest then we would win a "special prize." So I cheered for Kapono and he won and I won a free shirt, was pretty cool. Naturally this year I am going for Kapono again because he didn't let me down last year, and he didn't this year. He made the final round with a first round 20 and then in the finals tied the record of 25. He's tied with Larry Bird. Now that is pretty freakin' sweet. Then that was done, bring on the dunks.

Finally, creative thought is back. No more doing what the older dunkers did in "new ways." Creative, original thought, has returned in the form of Gerald Green and Dwight Howard. Moon and Gay are high flyers, but they're creative image was not as bold as Green's or Howards. Gerald Green and the Birthday Cake. He placed a cupcake at the top of the rim before the dunk and lit a candle. Then threw the ball up to himself, caught the ball, blew out the candle, and then dunked the ball. Showing this from the point of view from the backboard was actually pretty amazing. Check it out.

That should've had a higher score, but his dunk didn't top Howard's dunks.

With three dunks that I can say are three of the best dunks I've ever seen, Howard proved that big men can fly through the air. I can't even describe the dunks, just check out the video.



ALL-STAR GAME
The All-Star game was pretty sweet. I didn't watch the last quarter of it because I had prior obligations, but I watched the highlights and what a game it was. The West crawled back into it and almost took the cake led by Chris Paul's 16 points and 14 assists. But Ray Allen's 14 fourth quarter points, including three straight 3's, and LeBron's power dunk, were just too much to overcome. Sidenote: After the first quarter I said the score would be 131-129; the actual score ended up being 134-128, not too shabby. LeBron was named MVP for the second time in three years. Fun, fun game.

THE WIRE
Episode 7, titled "Took," aired last night. However I had already watched that last week so I was looking forward to episode 8 that would come on HBO On Demand Monday morning at 12am. "Clarifcations" was, to say the least, surprising. I really can't ruin anything for you, because well, something monumental happens that I did not see coming until literally the second before it happened. I am extremely distraught over this and I can't in my right mind post the spoiler here because it would be doing you fans an injustice. I'll talk about what transpired next week after it officially airs on HBO at 9.

Lost and Others

Second Lost is on tonight, titled "Confirmed Dead." Tonight features the flashbacks of the 5 boat people who are supposed to be there to rescue the Losties, but I'm pretty sure that won't be happening anytime soon. As good as the premiere was I'm hearing that this episode is much better, which is exciting. "The Other 48 Days" is a similar episode to this one, as we get a back-story from people we haven't yet seen on screen. Should be lots of fun.

Unfortunately I'm missing tonight's episode, but I will be watching it tomorrow afternoon (or later tonight if I'm up for it), and will be posting my reactions after that.

Also on this weekend:

The season finale of Friday Night Lights which could end up being the series finale, as awful as that sounds. I'm hearing rumors of a pregnancy scare that no one sees coming. Hopefully the NBC execs don't terminate this beauty. Friday at 9pm on NBC.

Episode 6 of The Wire, which I've already seen. Another brilliant episode, but that mean's we're one closer to the series finale, which just sucks. Omar begins to strike back at Marlo's people, and we see Marlo taking the reigns after Prop Joe died. Freamon cracks the code by which Marlo and his people are communicating, but it will be much harder to actually get a tap on that. Carcetti starts to show the media and Baltimore what he's planning to do about the serial killer who's preying on the homeless....which McNulty and Freamon made up, with some help by Scott Templeton, the reporter who makes up his stories. And now Gus is onto his scent. Sunday at 9pm on HBO.