Wire time?
June 1, 2009 6:32 PM Subscribe
I am watching The Wire again, and wondering approximately how much time the entire show covers?
Each season picks up where the other one left off, more or less.
Not really. There's clearly some time between the first and second season, as some characters have been in jail a certain amount of time between seasons. And there's a gap between four and five as well, made explicit by the fact that there has been an investigation between the close of four and the start of five.
posted by Bookhouse at 6:51 PM on June 1, 2009
Not really. There's clearly some time between the first and second season, as some characters have been in jail a certain amount of time between seasons. And there's a gap between four and five as well, made explicit by the fact that there has been an investigation between the close of four and the start of five.
posted by Bookhouse at 6:51 PM on June 1, 2009
I think the show essentially follows real time, which means that the gaps between seasons (or, perhaps more accurately, between when seasons are filmed) echo the gaps in time from one season to the next.
The most substantial gap occured in between seasons 3 and 4 (two years), which I am almost certain is identical to the apparent gap on the show. Remember that at the end of season 3, Carcetti had still not officially entered the mayoral race (which I believe they said was about a year away). At the start of season 4 he is well into it. The Barksdale crew is nothing but a distant memory in season 4, while they had just been busted up for good at the end of season 3.
I believe that most of the major HBO shows followed this same pattern. So the gap between each Six Feet Under season is about a year or so, while the gaps in between Soprano seasons followed the (often substantial) gaps in between the times they were aired. The seasons definitely do not run back to back, like Lost.
posted by hiteleven at 7:31 PM on June 1, 2009
The most substantial gap occured in between seasons 3 and 4 (two years), which I am almost certain is identical to the apparent gap on the show. Remember that at the end of season 3, Carcetti had still not officially entered the mayoral race (which I believe they said was about a year away). At the start of season 4 he is well into it. The Barksdale crew is nothing but a distant memory in season 4, while they had just been busted up for good at the end of season 3.
I believe that most of the major HBO shows followed this same pattern. So the gap between each Six Feet Under season is about a year or so, while the gaps in between Soprano seasons followed the (often substantial) gaps in between the times they were aired. The seasons definitely do not run back to back, like Lost.
posted by hiteleven at 7:31 PM on June 1, 2009
In season 2, Kima's partner gets artifically inseminated, right? By the beginning of season 4, her child is maybe 3 or 4 years old. McNulty's kids are quite a bit older in season 4 than they would be if the timeline were "each season picks up where the other one left off," too. And the mayoral race seemed to leap ahead from seasons 3 to 4.
But honestly I have a hard enough time keeping track of the story...trying to pick apart a timeline on top of that might kill me.
posted by bcwinters at 7:35 PM on June 1, 2009
But honestly I have a hard enough time keeping track of the story...trying to pick apart a timeline on top of that might kill me.
posted by bcwinters at 7:35 PM on June 1, 2009
I stand corrected. Evidently I have to rewatch the series!
posted by dfriedman at 7:49 PM on June 1, 2009
posted by dfriedman at 7:49 PM on June 1, 2009
Each episode is basically set within a few months of when it's shot. There isn't much reference to external current events, but what references there are tend to bear this out, as does the aging of the characters and other chronological cues. So in essence, it takes from 2002 to 2008, about six years.
posted by valkyryn at 8:20 PM on June 1, 2009
posted by valkyryn at 8:20 PM on June 1, 2009
Each episode is basically set within a few months of when it's shot. There isn't much reference to external current events, but what references there are tend to bear this out, as does the aging of the characters and other chronological cues. So in essence, it takes from 2002 to 2008, about six years.
This was my understanding too, albeit with some "give" in timing. So the gaps between seasons range from months to more than a year.
posted by outlier at 3:40 AM on June 2, 2009
This was my understanding too, albeit with some "give" in timing. So the gaps between seasons range from months to more than a year.
posted by outlier at 3:40 AM on June 2, 2009
They've just shown season 2 on the BBC and there are references in there to events in season 1 happening a year ago, or the previous year at least...
And when Freeman, I think, literally closes the box on the 'Docks Case' it's dated 2003
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:26 AM on June 2, 2009
And when Freeman, I think, literally closes the box on the 'Docks Case' it's dated 2003
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 5:26 AM on June 2, 2009
Best answer: A couple of years ago, I started trying to put together a Wire timeline. I never finished, but here's a rough outline.
Season 1 ends around the end of September, 2002. D'Angelo is arrested coming back from the drug run "on or about" 09/17 or 09/19 (I forgot to write down which it was). (Episode 13)
Season 2 begins in late January 2003. According to the cloned computer the cops use to track the shipping, the Atlantic Light was in Baltimore on 01/23. (Episode 06) Bunk mentions that the Atlantic Light (the ship with the can full of girls) was in Philly on 02/05. (Episode 12)
Season 2 ends in late June, 2003. When Frank goes to the union hall to pick up some honest work, the dates of the incoming ships are all 06/2x/03. (Episode 11)
Season 3 begins sometime in late summer 2004. When McNulty looks up Avon's record, he sees that Barksdale was released from Jessup on 09/24/04. In the same episode, Stringer says it's been a year since D'Angelo's suicide and D'Agostino says it's a year until the mayoral primary. (Episode 07)
Season 4 begins about a year after S3. McNulty has been gone from Major Crimes for a year. (Episode 01)
Season 4 ends at the end of 2004. The bodies hidden by Marlo and company are found in the week between Christmas and New Years. (Episode 12)
Season 5 picks up between a year and a year and a half since S4. The detail has been on Marlo for a year (Episode 01) and Bubbles has been clean for 15 months. (Episode 02)
posted by roosterboy at 7:34 PM on June 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
Season 1 ends around the end of September, 2002. D'Angelo is arrested coming back from the drug run "on or about" 09/17 or 09/19 (I forgot to write down which it was). (Episode 13)
Season 2 begins in late January 2003. According to the cloned computer the cops use to track the shipping, the Atlantic Light was in Baltimore on 01/23. (Episode 06) Bunk mentions that the Atlantic Light (the ship with the can full of girls) was in Philly on 02/05. (Episode 12)
Season 2 ends in late June, 2003. When Frank goes to the union hall to pick up some honest work, the dates of the incoming ships are all 06/2x/03. (Episode 11)
Season 3 begins sometime in late summer 2004. When McNulty looks up Avon's record, he sees that Barksdale was released from Jessup on 09/24/04. In the same episode, Stringer says it's been a year since D'Angelo's suicide and D'Agostino says it's a year until the mayoral primary. (Episode 07)
Season 4 begins about a year after S3. McNulty has been gone from Major Crimes for a year. (Episode 01)
Season 4 ends at the end of 2004. The bodies hidden by Marlo and company are found in the week between Christmas and New Years. (Episode 12)
Season 5 picks up between a year and a year and a half since S4. The detail has been on Marlo for a year (Episode 01) and Bubbles has been clean for 15 months. (Episode 02)
posted by roosterboy at 7:34 PM on June 2, 2009 [2 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by dfriedman at 6:36 PM on June 1, 2009