Well said, all of it. I wish I had your self-discipline -- I think I'll continue to read, if just for something to focus my frustration on.

Their obsession with what's "realistic" is so irritating -- "The Corner" was realistic... and almost unwatchable. These guys clearly don't WANT to like the show anymore. Maybe because Simon got under their skin with his response to their early posts (which isn't OUR fault!), or maybe just because they're smart asses who think they know everything about journalism but don't realize they know NOTHING about creating a work of narrative fiction.

In the last two episodes, The Wire has regained its form. The newsroom is starting to hit its stride, with the noble characters making cold decisions and being duped, and our fabricator actually seen TRYING (to the point where I was rooting for him to make up some quotes!) The serial killer plotline, which bothered me at first, is starting to pay off -- we're actually ROOTING for it to work now. I LOVE the way Simon explores far fetched, but intellectually viable experiments in his show, with the legalized drug zone of season three, and last season's classroom. It's absolutely unique, and raises the show above anything I've ever seen on television.

These guys are so far off now, that even the moments they single out as the best are wrong. My head still hurts from that overblown Duke/Cutty conversation. And Clay's "Sheeeet" reeked of "catchprase."