HBO: The Deuce (David Simon, Premieres September 10th 2017)

[VinylGuy]

Wait....B...did you posted something here?

[spike]

I liked this; I think it has more legs than Treme did when it comes to being a dynamic, fun-to-follow show. Treme was more of a very slow, brooding reflection (but still beautiful in many ways). I think Show Me A Hero is going to be hard to top, though.

so it didn't stink?

[Simple Torture]

I liked this; I think it has more legs than Treme did when it comes to being a dynamic, fun-to-follow show. Treme was more of a very slow, brooding reflection (but still beautiful in many ways). I think Show Me A Hero is going to be hard to top, though.

so it didn't stink?

I certainly don't think so. I think episode 2 was even better: snappier in parts because we've gotten to know the world, but still ponderous where it needs to be.

[@SkitchP]

So I finally got my stupid Firestick to properly stream this and watched the first 3 last night.

Im obviously a Simon fan boy so Im biased but I really enjoyed this. Some of the Pimp stuff seemed a little overdone in the first one, but It's amazing to me how seamless the Franco stuff is with himself. Like it doesnt feel like a cheap trick. It legitimately feels like 2 different guys- both of which are having a great fucking time playing the role.

[@SkitchP]

Yeah, i just watched episode 4 and this show is really great.

[Simple Torture]

Yeah, i just watched episode 4 and this show is really great.

[@SkitchP]

Episode 5, more than any episode in Treme or Show Me a Hero, had a very Wire feel to it. It really felt like we got a lot it was beginning to set up EVERYTHING.

[@SkitchP]

why is no one talking about this. Ive got a problem with you people.

[Mecca]

i just watched all of the episodes. This show is v entertaining.

[Mecca]

im still not 100% on why the mob puts the squeeze on the brother who isn't doing the gambling and he just goes along with taking care of his brother's debt, all while working with him. Kinda seems like a good reason to keep him outta your life

[@SkitchP]

im still not 100% on why the mob puts the squeeze on the brother who isn't doing the gambling and he just goes along with taking care of his brother's debt, all while working with him. Kinda seems like a good reason to keep him outta your life

Im just taking that as a "taking care of his brother" kinda thing. I don't think he would have gone after Vince or hurt Vince. it's just Vince protecting Frankie.

Also, how great is Black Frankie? I love Black Frankie.

[Mecca]

im still not 100% on why the mob puts the squeeze on the brother who isn't doing the gambling and he just goes along with taking care of his brother's debt, all while working with him. Kinda seems like a good reason to keep him outta your life

Im just taking that as a "taking care of his brother" kinda thing. I don't think he would have gone after Vince or hurt Vince. it's just Vince protecting Frankie.

Also, how great is Black Frankie? I love Black Frankie.

there hasnt been enough black frankie

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Mecca]

why is no one talking about this. Ive got a problem with you people.

I watched the first ep and wasn't into it (I loved The Wire and liked Show Me a Hero well enough). This one just didn't grab me out of the gate, and anyway there's too much tv I can't keep up with.

agreed. I'm surprised that no one here is talking about Vice Principals as well.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Simple Torture]

I just never watch this until Tuesday/Wednesday. I really like it a lot. I think it's a bit unfair to always try and rate and rank Simon's different projects against each other, but I also feel like it's just so difficult not to considering the influence he's had on prestige TV. So in that sense, I think it's obvious that this show captures the serialized, exciting build-up feeling of The Wire way more than Treme did--I was always a bit put off by the later seasons of that show seemed to want to shoehorn in the cop storylines because it reminded people of The Wire. The Deuce feels more organic with the ways the different storylines intersect. I look forward to entering this world on a weekly basis.

This week, I really, really liked the scene between Candy and Rodney. You could feel the tension build throughout and I really thought it was going to end with a blow-up or some sort of violence, so the way it just fizzled out was unexpected but totally right for the story. Candy is just so done with the beatings and the physicality that it just would've felt out of character. I'm also interested to see where Abby's story goes, because I get the weird feeling that she's a "tourist" in Vinnie/Frankie/pimps/girl's worlds right now, and it could lead to some resentment down the road. I got a great big smile on my face when Bobby said (paraphrasing) "It pays to go with the union" (RIP Ziggy, I assume).

Black Frankie is a fucking treasure.

And I think about Show Me A Hero weekly, if not daily. I really want to watch that again.

[tragabigzanda]

Whenever there's active promotion on the part of somebody else, whenever I see somebody all dolled up for a fancy photograph and someone's handing out flyers or whenever there's active promotion for something like that, as an imposition on my day, I hate all those people and I want them to fail. I have a visceral reaction to advertising and promotion. There's just something about salesmanship that grates on me on a very base level and I react very negatively towards it. I want those people to suffer and I want their enterprises to fail.

[Mecca]

And I think about Show Me A Hero weekly, if not daily. I really want to watch that again.

That show really bummed me out.

Everybody's got a hungry heart, trag

[Simple Torture]

And I think about Show Me A Hero weekly, if not daily. I really want to watch that again.

That show really bummed me out.

The scene that still gets me is (spoiler because this js a different show's thread):

Spoiler: show

When Alfred Molina's character wins the election for mayor, and at his victory rally he declares that they are going to fight tooth and nail against the unfair housing laws. And then, under his breath basically, he says something like, "And if we can't, that's okay too." Trump does that sort of shit on a semi-regular basis. For a show that came out in 2015, it nailed how racial resentment was about to jumo back into the forefront of the American political landscape.

[@SkitchP]

why is no one talking about this. Ive got a problem with you people.

I watched the first ep and wasn't into it (I loved The Wire and liked Show Me a Hero well enough). This one just didn't grab me out of the gate, and anyway there's too much tv I can't keep up with.

The first episode of a Simon show is literally "here's some characters and maybe what they'll do"
Why would you give up after one episode?