SNOWFALL VS THE WIRE
I’m here to let the chopper sing.
It comes down to this.
Snowfall is in the entertainment lane. The Wire is in the truth lane.
Snowfall focuses on one side versus the other with a solution and answer at it’s climax.
The Wire focuses on multiple institutions and those institutional problems and the fact that there isn’t an answer. It’s all about truth.
I’m not saying The Wire doesn’t have aspects of entertainment & fabrication or Snowfall doesn’t have elements of truth in it but if you seen the countless crack epidemic documentaries you’ll understand what’s real and what’s fabricated on Snowfall and if you’re from Baltimore and understand the drug game or the politics you’ll know what’s real or fake.
The story of Snowfall is based on Freeway Ricky Ross who was supposed to be involved with Snowfall because it was his idea from a movie script he brought to John Singleton. Ricky Ross has gone on the record in an interview and said Snowfall was stolen behind his back after he declined to take a 600K contract to write and direct the film he brought to John and him and John did not have a good relationship after that point. They then paid someone else to write and direct for 2 and half million plus backend pay. Before I found this out I knew this was about Ricky Ross. The lead character name starts with an “F” Franklin. You have Ricky who they called Freeway. The Nicaragua storyline. It’s definitely Rick Ross story.
I’m going to break this down in 7 categories and pick a winner in each category.
PLOT/STORY
WINNER: The Wire.
Snowfall is about a smart kid named Franklin Saint who jumps into the drug game and becomes the largest crack cocaine distributor in the world through the help of a CIA agent who is assigned to help the U.S government fund a war in Nicaragua. Franklin hires his family and friends around his neighborhood and we see the ups and downs of the family business. The template of the story is already built in since it based loosely on true events of the most devastating final blow to the black community which is the crack epidemic.
The Wire is about different institutions such as Police and Education and the effects they have on the streets of Baltimore and the drug game. On the surface it’s mainly the police trying to bring down 2 of the biggest drug organizations in West Baltimore but the story dives into a dysfunctional yet highly willed police officer named Jimmy McNulty wanting to do good police work but runs into different obstacles within the institution he is apart of.
The Wire wins because the story takes the necessary extra step to show the entire picture at large. It gives you a paper trail of why decisions are made and then you see the domino effect. It’s a story of rebels vs rebels. There’s rebels in the Baltimore Police Department who want to do good police work but cannot do it due to their commanding officers agenda. So that creates the battle of police officers who wanna climb the ladder & ranks vs officers who wanna do good police work.
In the drug organization you have rebels who morally do not agree with how the drug game operates and move in the opposite path. On both sides there are good and bad within the groups. So there are 2 fights you’re fighting as the rebel which is your peers and the opposition. This theme sets the story for the entire series and enhances it. The story is more layered and has more depth than Snowfall.
WRITING
WINNER: THE WIRE
This shit ain’t nowhere near close. The Wire’s writing is detailed, subtle, crafty, clever, and circular. It moves in cycles. The 5 seasons of The Wire are centered around a theme each season those themes are
Season 1 = The War on Drugs. Where it shows us the characters and show how both the drug gangs and police are resistant to change.
Season 2 = The Docks/Economics. Where it showed us that there’s a world outside of the characters we grew to love in season 1 and why people take chances in illegal business. The economy fails so many people and creates dysfunction. It’s bigger than race. It’s class.
Season 3 = Politics. Where it constantly shows the government making things worse in the city by trying to fix issues that they caused.
Season 4 = School System/Education. Where it shows what kids are learning have little to no correlation to the life they live everyday and how the education system breeds different types of people whether it’s regular people not in any illegal business or criminals. Education plays a part in what we become.
Season 5 = Journalism/Media. This season theme is exactly what Bunk said “The bigger the lie the more they believe.” That’s how the media works.
Over the course of the series all of those themes connects to one phrase.
“The game is the game”
The very first scene where a witness is talking to McNulty and McNulty asks him “If he always stole the money why did you let him play” the young dude replied “Got to. This America man.” It shows you that it’s a game and anybody can play and the game is able to be rigged, manipulated, played honestly, played with integrity but no matter how you chose to play it comes with a price.
In The Wire’s writing there’s no plot twists. There’s no dramatic build ups for anything. Especially death. It just happens and they move on. There’s no predictable situations or stereotypes. No plot armor. Nothing feels generic or forced. The writing makes the flow of the show so seamless over 5 seasons and it’s all connected despite introducing more and more characters over the course of 5 seasons.
CHARACTERS
WINNER: THE WIRE
Snowfall has good characters. Jerome, Louie, and Reed Thompson are my favorites but The Wire’s characters are like nothing I’ve ever seen. Characters like Prop Joe, Lester, Bunk, McNulty, Stringer, Bubbles, Omar, Marlo every character matters in all 5 seasons. Snowfall issue is that as time went on certain storylines outside of Franklin story and the characters suffered because of it. Reed Thompson storyline started very strong and just fell off. Gustavo and Lucia were really good and then fell off. The Wire doesn’t have that issue.
Take Marlo Stanfield and Dookie for example. Now in any other show Dookie would’ve been just another face but the depth and message of his character exceeds any character on Snowfall and Dookie is a SUPPORTING character. Dookie represents everything The Wire is.
Dookie is introduced as a kid that’s in the friend group but not accepted. He’s smarter than his peers. He understands life more than his peers. Dookie is the opposite of his surroundings. He has a great relationship with his teacher but it’s cut short because he is forced to go to high school early because of his intelligence. It shows you that even if you do the right thing in any institution in Baltimore you wont be rewarded. He then becomes a dealer but he’s trash at it so he takes care of Michael’s little brother full time and is paid for it and he’s not in the streets no more and you think Dookie will be fine since he’s doing the right thing but again after Michael makes his move Dookie’s hope for a better life is snatched and he’s back on the streets. He did the right thing again and was not rewarded again. Dookie was killed by the writers without physically dying. A sweet kid that was swallowed whole by the streets of Baltimore and the institution of education. There was no build up. It was just a slow death that flew undetected. A beautiful character with an ugly life.
Marlo Stanfield might be the most complex character I ever seen mainly because his dialogue on the show in 3 seasons I don’t think exceeds 45 minutes. He’s a character that’s very black and white but complex. He only cares about The Crown/Power. An example is the security guard confrontation in season 4.
Marlo’s vice outside of being a killer is gambling. He doesn’t drink or smoke so he gambles. He lost 6 figures in a hood poker game and he could rob the money back cause he’s bout it but he respects the game and the O.G’s he plays with. He feels powerless after he loses so he walks to the corner store and steals 2 suckers while looking directly at the store security guard to instigate a confrontation. It symbolizes “yeah the O.G’s run the poker game but I run the streets watch this.” The security guard confronts him outside. Now Marlo does this because the outcome is win/win for him. If he steals the sucker while the guard is looking and the guard does nothing then Marlo looks at it like “Yeah. You aint gone do shit because I run the streets.” If the guard confronts him Marlo can kill him and send a message to the hood of what happens if you confront him even if he’s wrong. He wields power either way. Power is Marlo’s drug and after that poker game he lost his high. He went to that corner store to get another hit of power. It’s subtle writing and amazing characters like this that puts The Wire in another stratosphere.
CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: SNOWFALL
Snowfall does have The Wire beat in this category. The first 2 seasons of Snowfall were shot so beautifully I assume it was because John Singleton was involved before his untimely passing but visually Snowfall is probably one the best shows ever shot. The Wire is no slouch in this category but they tend to focus more on subtle shots that has meaning underneath them. It’s very sneaky.
MOMENTS
WINNER: THE WIRE
The 3 moments that stand out to me on Snowfall are Franklin’s Car speech to Leon. Leon’s speech to Franklin in the county jail and Franklin disrespecting his mother breaking her heart. Now those are all centered around Franklin. The Wire has moments with damn near everybody. Marlo’s jail speech. Bunk and McNulty’s crime scene where they only used the word “fuck” to interact with each other. Snoop and the hardware store employee interaction where he’s explaining a nail gun to her and she’s able to understand what he’s talking about because she’s comparing the conversation to the workings of an actual gun. D’Angelo and Stringer scene at the jail. Avon and Stringer rooftop scene. Chris Partlow snapping in season 4. Bodie and Poot decision at the end of season 1. There’s too many memorable moments in The Wire.
PERFORMANCES
WINNER: THE WIRE
Omar’s performance. Bubbles performance was insane. Stringer Bell performance was legendary. D’Angelo, Wallace, Bodie, McNulty, Daniels, Chris Partlow. The acting on The Wire is some of the bet I’ve ever seen.
On Snowfall I think the best performances come from Jerome, Franklin, Louie, and Reed but those performances aren’t enough compared to The Wire top performances.
REALISM
WINNER: THE WIRE
Now this can fall in the lane of preference because some viewers value just the entertainment aspect and some value if the writing feels real as if it could happen in reality.
Both shows have fabrication but The Wire wins this because they casted better than Snowfall. This is where Ricky Ross would’ve been vital for Snowfall but they passed on hiring him. There’s an actual former Baltimore Police commissioner that’s a character on The Wire. David Simon the show creator worked for The Baltimore Sun for 12 years. Simon’s partner Ed Burns is a former Baltimore Police Detective and writer from Baltimore. Snoop did time for murder in Baltimore and was born and raised in Baltimore. Prop Joe is from Baltimore. They’ve had so many extras and real life extras that were street legends in Baltimore in the show and if they’re not from Baltimore they’re from the other DMV areas. The reason why The Wire feels so real it’s because they stuck to Baltimore roots not just in terms of location but in terms of people and culture. I’ve never heard anybody from Baltimore say that The Wire was not Baltimore. It’s the best show that’s depicted the city it takes place in.
This isn’t a debate. Things are getting outta hand and I had to do what I do best and that’s tell people why they’re wrong.
I like Snowfall even though the latest season was kinda average to me but c’mon man. We gotta keep it 100. The Wire is the greatest show ever created. Snowfall does not come near that. At all.
Peace
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