Extrait de “Dead Soldiers” (S03E03 de The Wire)
Ray ‘Old King’ Cole is laid out in his Sunday best on the pool table, a bottle of Jameson in one hand and a cigar in the other. Many of his colleagues in the Baltimore Police Department are there, including a scattering of the faces which have become familiar to us. One of these is oversize homicide detective Landsman, who rises to give the eulogy.
‘We are Po-leece… so no lies between us. He wasn’t the greatest detective and he wasn’t the worst. He put down some good cases and he dogged a few bad ones, but the motherfucker had his moments, yes he fucking did…’
Not much further into his speech, Landsman loses it, and in the embarrassing hiatus Freamon of the wiretap unit says, ‘For Christsake, Hugh, play the fucking song already.’ The barman presses play on the cassette deck and a banjo and tin whistle intro strikes up. Fans of the Pogues will recognise the first notes of ‘The body of an American’. The intro is craftily looped to allow Landsman to rally with a joke and finish off his speech.
‘Was he as full of shit as every other sad sack motherfucker wearing the badge of Baltimore City po-leece? Absa-fuckin-lutely. His shit was as weak as ours, no question…’ But ‘he was called. He served. He is counted – Old King Cole.
Landsman stands down and all join with the unmistakeable voice of Shane MacGowan to sing the first verse of the song.
- Been there. Might return there if I stop lending out my boxset.
“Way Down in the Hole” par DoMaJe, version utilisée comme générique dans la saison 4 de “The Wire”.
Well, I beg your pardon, walk the straight and narrow track
If you walk with Jesus, he’s gonna save your soul
You gotta keep the Devil way down in the hole
He’s got the fire and the fury at his command
Well, you don’t have to worry if you hold on to Jesus’ hand
We’ll all be safe from Satan when the thunder rolls
We just got to keep the Devil way down in the hole
All the angels sing about Jesus’ mighty sword
And they’ll shield you with their wings, and keep you close to the Lord
Don’t pay heed to temptation, for his hands are so cold
You gotta help me keep the Devil way down in the hole
| — | “Way Down in the Hole” de Tom Waits, générique de “The Wire”. |
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“The Wire: Season One - Better Late Than Never?” par Nathan Rabin sur The A.V. Club (January 25th, 2010) (merci à Patrick!) Comme l’auteur, je m’y suis mis récemment, intrigué moi aussi par tout le bien qu’on en disait ici et là. Et il ne m’a pas fallu 3 épisodes pour, à mon tour, être emballé. Un format, plus long qu’à l’accoutumée, avec 55 min, qui laisse la place à un rythme plus lent que dans les séries policières traditionnelles ; une narration réaliste, intimiste et intelligente à la fois avec des répliques mythiques (“Happy now, bitch ?” -Bunk), des personnages magistraux (Omar Little, Stringer Bell) et d’autres plus effacés qu’on voit néanmoins grandir, mûrir et parfois tomber et enfin une ville, Baltimore, dont on explore les facettes les plus troubles saison après saison. Croyez-moi, la fantastique réputation de The Wire n’est pas usurpée et c’est sans l’ombre d’une hésitation que je classe cette série au même plan que The West Wing et Battlestar Galactica dans mon panthéon personnel. |

















