I don't even no where to begin to explain how much I love The Wire! It's a crime drama that takes place in Baltimore. It takes a gritty look into the lives of everyone from police officers to gang members to drug users to political figures, etc. The writing and acting for this amazing series is down right brilliant. All you have to do is read through the reviews to see how loved this show really is. The consistency of the greatness of this show throughout all five seasons is ridiculous. The gritty attention to detail makes this series feel so real. It's easily one of the best shows of all-time.
759 Reviews
This isn't just a show about crime - this tries to show every aspect of life in a crumbling society
gogoschka-112 January 2014
Along with TV-shows like 'Oz', 'Deadwood', 'The Sopranos' and 'Six Feet Under', David Simon's 'The Wire' was part of a revolution - qualitywise - in television. Although it is very entertaining, this isn't just entertainment; this is art, pure and simple - and the concept of this show was groundbreaking. On the surface, one might think this is a show about crime, but really, 'The Wire' is about the life and soul of a whole city. Every aspect of the city of Baltimore gets its share of screen time, and the way this is done - the writing, the direction, the amazing performances by the terrific cast; the music, the camera work, the realism... I could go on and on - is just outstanding. On par with 'Generation Kill' (no wonder, since the same creative team was behind both), this is as good as television gets.
Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/
Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/
Favorite films: http://www.IMDb.com/list/mkjOKvqlSBs/
Lesser-known Masterpieces: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls070242495/
Favorite Low-Budget and B-Movies: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls054808375/
Favorite TV-Shows reviewed: http://www.imdb.com/list/ls075552387/
As good as everyone says it is!
Supermanfan-1321 September 2022
The Wire absolutely, without a doubt, lives up to all the hype and love it gets. The storytelling is so ridiculously good and that's because that this is one of the best written shows in television history. It's one of those rare shows where every season is just as good as the others. It's ranked #6 All-Time with a 9.3 rating for a reason... because it's absolutely amazing! If you google any "best show ever" list you will find The Wire near the top of every single one. If you've never seen this incredible show then do yourself a favor and go watch it immediately and if you have seen it then go watch it again because it's just that good!
If You Haven't Seen this show, but are considering it, please read my review.
OmarHartwellWhite13 May 2014
This Review is aimed at anyone who has never seen the wire, but may have heard about it from about 3000 people recommending you should watch it. I watched the wire about 3 years ago well after the series concluded, and watched it in the same binge watching way I watched The Sopranos, Breaking Bad, and Game of thrones. I won't compare The Wire to these shows because they are not really comparable other than the fact they are some of the greatest shows ever, but are completely different. The wire isn't about drug dealing, the police, politics, or the education system, it is about the entire city of Baltimore. I'll admit The Wire isn't for everyone, it may be too violent or complex with the vast amount of characters and side stories for some, but I guarantee if you are a film and TV series lover and appreciate writing, acting, and an abundance of interesting characters, the wire is pretty much perfect in these regards. Each Season changes slightly in which facet of the city it will mainly cover, and becomes more complex as the series progresses. This show has without a doubt some of the most interesting characters, and best writing I have ever seen on a series. Even small side characters have intriguing stories that progress throughout the entire series, and I have never seen more attention to detail. This show isn't built up with such high expectations for people who haven't seen it for no reason, watch it , and there is about a 99.99% chance you will become one of those previously mentioned 3000 people recommending it to everyone you know who hasn't seen it.
Hard to put into words how phenomenal The Wire is
TheLittleSongbird22 July 2011
I have seen many brilliant shows, and The Wire is one of them. Even the word brilliant isn't enough to put into words how good this series is. The Wire is incredibly well made, with moody lighting, striking location work that also brings atmosphere and great photography, while the music is very haunting. The Wire with its thoughtful and tense dialogue also has some of the best writing of any show I've seen, the stories are ceaselessly compelling and the characters are rich and unforgettable. All the episodes are superbly directed, and very rarely do you feel cheated at the end of episodes. The acting is superb, Dominic West and Idris Elba are especially brilliant. In conclusion, phenomenal. 10/10 Bethany Cox
Ahead of its time
=G=25 October 2004
HBO's "The Wire", another ground breaking TV crime series from David Simon who grandfathered "Homicide: Life on the Street", raises the bar for crime dramas by dedicating a whole season (13 episodes) to a single story with unparalleled realism. Telling of a motley bunch of detectives who set about to bring down a Baltimore drug ring which supplies a black innercity housing project, the gritty 12 hour first year series slowly develops a broad range of characters from street punks to senators in a world where the blacks and whites of good and evil are reduced to shades of gray and everyone is connected by their humanity for better or for worse. Not the usual cops vs bad guys fare with episodic ups and downs, "The Wire" is one long drama about people which happens in a law enforcement and crime setting. For realists only, this series will require some viewer patience while the complexities of the plot and the characters are developed. One of a kind...so far. (A)
Fantastic
jaoneal20 September 2006
I don't subscribe to HBO. A couple of weeks ago I heard an interview with a young actor from this series on NPR. It was described as a "gritty crime drama" with many Baltimore locals portraying variations on themselves. The interview made it sound interesting enough that I decided to check out the first season on DVD.
After the first few episodes I became seriously hooked and devoted 36 hours of the next ten days to the show.
Having now watched the first 3 seasons, I believe it to be the best television series I have seen.
I do not understand why this show hasn't generated the buzz or the awards of HBO's other series, such as the Sopranos or Deadwood. It is more gripping, faster paced, and more intelligent. The other shows can be a bit plodding, with plot lines that go nowhere, and a few characters I don't much care about. That wasn't the case here.
The show is a cross between the Sopranos and the old NBC show Homicide: Life on the Street. The crime/sopranos side and the law/Homicide side run in parallel. Individually, the parallel plot lines are compelling. In tandem, they are complimentary and brilliant.
There is no way to avoid having "the best show ever" tag sound like anything but silly hype--regardless, what makes this show substantially better than any other realistic and compelling crime or police drama is the fact it is... searching. It doesn't just delve into the individual psychologies motivating these people (ala the Sopranos) or the complex interactions amongst the members of a community (ala Deadwood) it asks "what the hell can be done for all of these people" and points out the problems with any and all of the answers.
It's truly brilliant. If you like intelligent television, I envy the enjoyment you will have watching this for the first time.
After the first few episodes I became seriously hooked and devoted 36 hours of the next ten days to the show.
Having now watched the first 3 seasons, I believe it to be the best television series I have seen.
I do not understand why this show hasn't generated the buzz or the awards of HBO's other series, such as the Sopranos or Deadwood. It is more gripping, faster paced, and more intelligent. The other shows can be a bit plodding, with plot lines that go nowhere, and a few characters I don't much care about. That wasn't the case here.
The show is a cross between the Sopranos and the old NBC show Homicide: Life on the Street. The crime/sopranos side and the law/Homicide side run in parallel. Individually, the parallel plot lines are compelling. In tandem, they are complimentary and brilliant.
There is no way to avoid having "the best show ever" tag sound like anything but silly hype--regardless, what makes this show substantially better than any other realistic and compelling crime or police drama is the fact it is... searching. It doesn't just delve into the individual psychologies motivating these people (ala the Sopranos) or the complex interactions amongst the members of a community (ala Deadwood) it asks "what the hell can be done for all of these people" and points out the problems with any and all of the answers.
It's truly brilliant. If you like intelligent television, I envy the enjoyment you will have watching this for the first time.
I used to not understand what whas so great about it
atrevino9021 October 2022
I first attempted to watch this series over a decade ago when I started getting interested in films and tv shows in a major way, but I was still not mature enough to enjoy the more complex kind of TV I see that now. I used to think the show was boring, did not understand half of it, to be fair I am not from USA and some of the language in this show is a little too high level for a non native to understand from both the cops and drug dealers, even now I still don't get a few expressions they do or police terms. I guess I even hated it I only watched the first season and save a few scenes I was mostly bored
Now I feel like my taste has matured a lot since I last saw it, decided to give it another chance, and now I see every scene, every dialogue, every line between the lines and I haven't even finished the first season again and I am loving it, maybe not yet as much as I love Sopranos or Breaking bad which are arguably simpler but very smart, real and entertaining. The Wire does feel more complex on its themes I guess it's too real in a way which is why I thought it was boring the first time, they bother with details normally other TV shows would skip or overlook.
I still think Sopranos is better, it is easier to digest, but without losing that feeling of realism and being relatable on every level, but it doesn't make the wire any less important.
I look forward to finishing it this time and maybe even update my review once I am all done.
Now I feel like my taste has matured a lot since I last saw it, decided to give it another chance, and now I see every scene, every dialogue, every line between the lines and I haven't even finished the first season again and I am loving it, maybe not yet as much as I love Sopranos or Breaking bad which are arguably simpler but very smart, real and entertaining. The Wire does feel more complex on its themes I guess it's too real in a way which is why I thought it was boring the first time, they bother with details normally other TV shows would skip or overlook.
I still think Sopranos is better, it is easier to digest, but without losing that feeling of realism and being relatable on every level, but it doesn't make the wire any less important.
I look forward to finishing it this time and maybe even update my review once I am all done.
Most compelling TV show
SnoopyStyle22 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
This HBO series is incredible. Journalist David Simon takes his reporting experiences to create this crime show about cops and the drug world in the urban Baltimore. It's a complex entanglement of police, politics, and criminals. The different story lines work together. It's filled with great characters. Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West) is the cop obsessed with taking down the drug trade. On the other side are drug dealers Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris) and Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Of course, the most memorable is Omar.
The difference between this and other TV crime shows may be the realism that's invested not just on the good guys, but also the bad guys. The best example is Omar. He's a feared loner gangster, but he's very much a human being. It lasted 5 season, and it's quite compelling throughout its run. Although the loss of Avon Barksdale at the end of the third season did cause some disruptions. There is always a great sense of realism in the show.
The difference between this and other TV crime shows may be the realism that's invested not just on the good guys, but also the bad guys. The best example is Omar. He's a feared loner gangster, but he's very much a human being. It lasted 5 season, and it's quite compelling throughout its run. Although the loss of Avon Barksdale at the end of the third season did cause some disruptions. There is always a great sense of realism in the show.
The Wire is why awards are irrelevant.
rwdelos551725 April 2020
Doesn't get better than this
the_batman090217 September 2021
I heard that during it's initial run that The Wire's creator David Simon had to convince executives to not cancel the show. Take a moment to digest that. Cancelling The Wire... You look at shows today, Riverdale, The Flash... all these PATHETIC shows that keep on running for no reason and The Wire, the GREATEST TV SHOW was almost cancelled.
The Characters are so intricately crafted to mirror relationships on both sides. There is no singular 'main character' but a collection of talented actors playing the role made for them. OMAR LITTLE. One of the greatest television characters.
Show, don't tell. Perfectly executed. The right song at the right time to clue you in. The quote at the start of the episode always, ALWAYS has a deeper meaning than you think.
The Characters are so intricately crafted to mirror relationships on both sides. There is no singular 'main character' but a collection of talented actors playing the role made for them. OMAR LITTLE. One of the greatest television characters.
Show, don't tell. Perfectly executed. The right song at the right time to clue you in. The quote at the start of the episode always, ALWAYS has a deeper meaning than you think.
Captivating storyline with too many great dramatic performances to mention
Ed-Shullivan16 January 2015
My wife gave me the complete series as a Christmas gift and although the television series is more than a decade old now I do not feel it has lost any of its relevancy regarding crime and human nature over this past decade or two.
There are a total of 60 episodes spread out over five seasons and there are just too many great performances and excellent story lines to mention them all. Suffice to say that the two main characters are two Baltimore city detectives. Jimmy McNulty (played by Dominic West) is a white Irish rebellious detective who will screw anyone to get to the criminal he is chasing. Along the way he hurts a lot of his fellow cops, his bosses and lets down his immediate family time and time again. With all his faults though once he gives you that great Irish grin of his all is forgiven, no matter what the circumstances.
McNulty's partner is Detective William Moreland, better known around the station house and the bars simply as "Bunk" who knows McNulty best. Bunk is a heavy set well dressed black cop (played by Wendell Pierce) who likes to chomp on a cigar and drink hard liquor to extremes. Bunk has a lot of life in him, and is considered a cops impression of what a real detective should be. A hard drinking, womanizing, persistent cop who really wants to get the worst criminal elements behind bars serving hard time.
Both Bunk and McNulty have ex-wives and two children but their lives really evolve around the city of Baltimore's urban city corners where drugs are always readily available, and murders are popping up within the walls behind condemned row houses by the dozens. The other two characters who deserve special mention are the drug lords, Avon Barksdale (played by Wood Harris) and Russell "Stringer" Bell (played by Idris Elba). Now these two gangsta's grew up on the city streets of Baltimore like many other city hoods but the difference is they had both street smarts and the will to kill anyone who got in their way. Theirs are interesting story lines throughout the series and keep the audience guessing what they will do next. No spoiler alert so I will defer from giving away too much on their path to destruction.
Two characters who you can't help but feel compassion for due to their diverse journeys throughout the series are the drug addicted junk man Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins played to perfection by Andre Royo, and the shotgun wielding gay drug thief Omar Little, also played with fearless perfection by Michael Kenneth Williams. Now their lives when involved in any scene are never predictable and you cannot help but root for them to win. Hell, even the cops cut them a lot of slack as they can see that their hearts are big, but their minds are twisted after living on the streets their entire lives.
I could go on and provide details on at least another dozen strong performances by other cops, attorneys, judges, police captains, shipyard workers, and even kids, but I suggest instead that you keep this crime themed television series on your "must watch" list and if you ever want to see a series that captivates the drug crime world of a major urban city such as in this Baltimore story you won't be able to stop watching until you watch at least a couple more episodes before you go to bed far too late in to the early morning hours because it is just that good a dramatic crime series. And isn't that really when the crime comes out? Late at night?
I give it a perfect 10 out of 10 and a MUST SEE for a television crime and dramatic series.
There are a total of 60 episodes spread out over five seasons and there are just too many great performances and excellent story lines to mention them all. Suffice to say that the two main characters are two Baltimore city detectives. Jimmy McNulty (played by Dominic West) is a white Irish rebellious detective who will screw anyone to get to the criminal he is chasing. Along the way he hurts a lot of his fellow cops, his bosses and lets down his immediate family time and time again. With all his faults though once he gives you that great Irish grin of his all is forgiven, no matter what the circumstances.
McNulty's partner is Detective William Moreland, better known around the station house and the bars simply as "Bunk" who knows McNulty best. Bunk is a heavy set well dressed black cop (played by Wendell Pierce) who likes to chomp on a cigar and drink hard liquor to extremes. Bunk has a lot of life in him, and is considered a cops impression of what a real detective should be. A hard drinking, womanizing, persistent cop who really wants to get the worst criminal elements behind bars serving hard time.
Both Bunk and McNulty have ex-wives and two children but their lives really evolve around the city of Baltimore's urban city corners where drugs are always readily available, and murders are popping up within the walls behind condemned row houses by the dozens. The other two characters who deserve special mention are the drug lords, Avon Barksdale (played by Wood Harris) and Russell "Stringer" Bell (played by Idris Elba). Now these two gangsta's grew up on the city streets of Baltimore like many other city hoods but the difference is they had both street smarts and the will to kill anyone who got in their way. Theirs are interesting story lines throughout the series and keep the audience guessing what they will do next. No spoiler alert so I will defer from giving away too much on their path to destruction.
Two characters who you can't help but feel compassion for due to their diverse journeys throughout the series are the drug addicted junk man Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins played to perfection by Andre Royo, and the shotgun wielding gay drug thief Omar Little, also played with fearless perfection by Michael Kenneth Williams. Now their lives when involved in any scene are never predictable and you cannot help but root for them to win. Hell, even the cops cut them a lot of slack as they can see that their hearts are big, but their minds are twisted after living on the streets their entire lives.
I could go on and provide details on at least another dozen strong performances by other cops, attorneys, judges, police captains, shipyard workers, and even kids, but I suggest instead that you keep this crime themed television series on your "must watch" list and if you ever want to see a series that captivates the drug crime world of a major urban city such as in this Baltimore story you won't be able to stop watching until you watch at least a couple more episodes before you go to bed far too late in to the early morning hours because it is just that good a dramatic crime series. And isn't that really when the crime comes out? Late at night?
I give it a perfect 10 out of 10 and a MUST SEE for a television crime and dramatic series.
Life ... as we might or might not know it
kosmasp9 September 2014
We sometimes might wish to be able to hear what certain people are saying. Obviously you can't just do that, even if you are police and you want to convict criminals. You have to prove that those individuals are indeed breaking the law. And even then, you might not be able to get the Wire ... This show takes its time, because it was able to do that. And it's all the better for it. You might not think that a single episode is standing out particularly, but the whole construct is great indeed.
Still even though it has that certain quality to it, you might not like the show, because this is close to reality (criminals not just shooting any cop they see or many shootouts in general). There is still action and still death ... and when that happens the impact is even greater. Because we get to see both sides. The cops and the bad guys .. both have their good sides and their bad sides. Yes even the "bad guys" are not just evil.
I only had a chance to listen to one audio commentary so far (most things were apparent watching the show itself, like no added music other than the one that might be in the scene, i.e. radio car, no flashbacks, except one that had to be done under pressure and so forth ... all adding to the realism of the show), but the show portrays people and they don't feel like characters. It does not happen often that I do remember character names of a show or a movie I watch. Maybe a couple, if I did dig the character/movie ... but with the Wire, I could name at least a dozen.
A great show that takes its time, written based on real life ... but in a good sense. This is really incredible and if you have the stamina to work your way through it, it is more than rewarding ... Changes or not, life is life ... whether someones listening in to you or you're listening (watching) into other peoples lives ...
Still even though it has that certain quality to it, you might not like the show, because this is close to reality (criminals not just shooting any cop they see or many shootouts in general). There is still action and still death ... and when that happens the impact is even greater. Because we get to see both sides. The cops and the bad guys .. both have their good sides and their bad sides. Yes even the "bad guys" are not just evil.
I only had a chance to listen to one audio commentary so far (most things were apparent watching the show itself, like no added music other than the one that might be in the scene, i.e. radio car, no flashbacks, except one that had to be done under pressure and so forth ... all adding to the realism of the show), but the show portrays people and they don't feel like characters. It does not happen often that I do remember character names of a show or a movie I watch. Maybe a couple, if I did dig the character/movie ... but with the Wire, I could name at least a dozen.
A great show that takes its time, written based on real life ... but in a good sense. This is really incredible and if you have the stamina to work your way through it, it is more than rewarding ... Changes or not, life is life ... whether someones listening in to you or you're listening (watching) into other peoples lives ...
As Close as it Gets
jeffronthi23 July 2014
You want to get close to the streets? This is it, and what a true American tragedy it plays out to be. The drama is scintillating, without being sensational. These are real people, in real life, with real struggles, played beautifully by an incredibly talented Dominic West and crew.
True politics, true characters, real struggles, genuine, small triumphs,and a lot of poetic moments that are incidental and not self aware. Gotta love that.
Impeccable. Everything I always wished from a crime drama. Check it out.
True politics, true characters, real struggles, genuine, small triumphs,and a lot of poetic moments that are incidental and not self aware. Gotta love that.
Impeccable. Everything I always wished from a crime drama. Check it out.
20 years ahead of its time.
echoman-net17 September 2021
Millennials will laugh at this time capsule of the 00's; Pay phones, pagers, the 00's cars, tiny flip-phones, cathode ray televisions...But this is GREAT TV! Excellent cast and production, story lines that are timeless, and still revelant. Great stuff !
Puts most, if not all, gangster movies to shame
tieman6427 November 2009
Warning: Spoilers
"The Wire" is a 60 hour-long novel, divided into five parts by its five seasons. Deep, complicated and interwoven, the series has a huge cast, all of whom are connected by multiple, overlapping and intersecting plot lines. Though the show initially takes the form of a standard "cops and criminals" tale, it soon becomes apparent that these lowly figures are mere pawns on a vast chessboard, the series gradually expanding to tell the story of an entire neoliberalized post-industrial city, and the institutions that attempt to serve it.
We begin in the The Baltimore Police Department, an institution at the mercy of both a political obsession with the war on drugs and its own endemic incompetence. From here we expand to incorporate life on the streets, observing the street level foot-soldiers, the middle management lieutenants and the upper echelon barons of the drug trade. "The Wire" then turns its gaze to the longshoreman unions at the Baltimore docks, all of whom are suffering from a drop-off in commercial traffic and who unknowingly act as couriers for narcotics coming into the city. We then turn to the public schools, its inhabitants locked in a cycle of crime and poverty. This is a battleground between valiant teachers, disillusioned students and an indifferent City Hall. The series then expands further, turning its sights to the Democratic Party Machine and local newspapers. These institutions are likewise plagued by corruption and back scratching. Indeed, when an idealistic new Mayor comes onto the scene, he is promptly stymied by the crippling deficits left over by his predecessors and by political jockeying in the Police Department.
It is important to note that the series focuses almost entirely on places of work, "The Wire" interested in the way in which the conflicts inside the state apparatus mirror those within the criminal communities. This includes not only the influence of the police on the illegal, subalternized capitalist economy, but also the ways in which the latter (through bribery, loans and money-laundering) underwrites the upper echelons of the state through the circulation of its accumulated wealth (at which point it becomes finance capital).
So "The Wire" portrays a world caught up in an epic Darwinian struggle, the weak crushed whilst the strong are swiftly promoted. If crime as an analogy for business has become so common that it has morphed into an empty truism, "The Wire" at least reflects the fluctuating, noxious nature of contemporary capital. Gangsters who cling to old codes of acquisition are supplanted by savvier outfits who take the form of a kind of all-grasping oligopoly. But as fast as one cartel rises, it is replaced by yet another, each successive cartel more ruthless than the other. Significantly, all these gangsters rely on a mixture of old-style terror cell tactics (few people in the gang know the contacts of anyone else), modern technology and complex codes. This is not organized crime, this is business warfare, the gangs replicating state-like repressive structures that, like a legitimate organization, are ferociously hierarchal and strategically meritocratic.
At its best, "The Wire" is a work of urban anthropology that attempts to show how the "invisible hand" of the market stretches out across an entire city. Unlike most crime films, which zoom in on "one of 8 million stories" (The Naked City), "The Wire" gently zooms out, attempting to trace commodities as they change hands and states. Context is king, but this desire for super-objectivity poses a problem, for the larger the society it attempts to reconstruct and incorporate into its narrative, the less socially explanatory "The Wire's" vision becomes. Everything is wired, everything is connected, but the more we zoom out, the more invisible these wires become.
The cast recognises this, of course. As the detectives "follow the money" throughout the series, they eventually get lost in a world that has simply become too huge, too labyrinthine, for them to process. They trace the money from the streets to the skyscrapers, eventually getting lost in the tangle. It thus soon becomes clear that policing both bolsters an unjust status quo and represents a profound disavowal on the part of the state. Law enforcement (which ignores the circulation of capital) involves the fabrication of the "otherness" of the criminal, whilst the flow of money makes it clear that the supposed "other" is in fact constitutive of the state.
Late in the series, when the detectives find the lair of one gangster, they are surprised to find no signs of crime. This is because the gangster has "laundered" his lifestyle, his money now having no connection to the drug world. This is the legal, whitewashed face of criminality, highlighted by the presence of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" on the gangster's bookshelf, a symbol which effectively links the sanitized world of finance with commodity exchange on the violent streets, capital changing hands, laundered and re-invested ad-infinitum.
So these aren't ordinary gangsters. These are gangsters who study Business Administration and discuss the "elasticity of demand". Success in the criminal world is directly linked to feeding the consumer's desire. But though the gangsters largely supply product to drug addicts, they themselves are addicts, for they ruthlessly desire to accumulate.
But not all "The Wire's" gangsters are the same. Some represent a tendency towards the formation of cooperative dealerships, others care only about self-interest, self-reliance and personal control, whilst others prefer instead to impose their own more neoliberal economy. Finally, there's a gangster called Omar, who represents a more romantic "Robin Hood" version of crime, taking advantage of the mistrust generated between the corporate and competitive styles, using guerrilla tactics to trick and rob local kingpins. On one hand, Omar becomes a local myth in his own short lifetime, but on the other, he violently debunks the myth of original accumulation.
10/10 – "The Wire" has both rendered most previous crime/gangster movies obsolete, and set a trend for all modern crime films.
We begin in the The Baltimore Police Department, an institution at the mercy of both a political obsession with the war on drugs and its own endemic incompetence. From here we expand to incorporate life on the streets, observing the street level foot-soldiers, the middle management lieutenants and the upper echelon barons of the drug trade. "The Wire" then turns its gaze to the longshoreman unions at the Baltimore docks, all of whom are suffering from a drop-off in commercial traffic and who unknowingly act as couriers for narcotics coming into the city. We then turn to the public schools, its inhabitants locked in a cycle of crime and poverty. This is a battleground between valiant teachers, disillusioned students and an indifferent City Hall. The series then expands further, turning its sights to the Democratic Party Machine and local newspapers. These institutions are likewise plagued by corruption and back scratching. Indeed, when an idealistic new Mayor comes onto the scene, he is promptly stymied by the crippling deficits left over by his predecessors and by political jockeying in the Police Department.
It is important to note that the series focuses almost entirely on places of work, "The Wire" interested in the way in which the conflicts inside the state apparatus mirror those within the criminal communities. This includes not only the influence of the police on the illegal, subalternized capitalist economy, but also the ways in which the latter (through bribery, loans and money-laundering) underwrites the upper echelons of the state through the circulation of its accumulated wealth (at which point it becomes finance capital).
So "The Wire" portrays a world caught up in an epic Darwinian struggle, the weak crushed whilst the strong are swiftly promoted. If crime as an analogy for business has become so common that it has morphed into an empty truism, "The Wire" at least reflects the fluctuating, noxious nature of contemporary capital. Gangsters who cling to old codes of acquisition are supplanted by savvier outfits who take the form of a kind of all-grasping oligopoly. But as fast as one cartel rises, it is replaced by yet another, each successive cartel more ruthless than the other. Significantly, all these gangsters rely on a mixture of old-style terror cell tactics (few people in the gang know the contacts of anyone else), modern technology and complex codes. This is not organized crime, this is business warfare, the gangs replicating state-like repressive structures that, like a legitimate organization, are ferociously hierarchal and strategically meritocratic.
At its best, "The Wire" is a work of urban anthropology that attempts to show how the "invisible hand" of the market stretches out across an entire city. Unlike most crime films, which zoom in on "one of 8 million stories" (The Naked City), "The Wire" gently zooms out, attempting to trace commodities as they change hands and states. Context is king, but this desire for super-objectivity poses a problem, for the larger the society it attempts to reconstruct and incorporate into its narrative, the less socially explanatory "The Wire's" vision becomes. Everything is wired, everything is connected, but the more we zoom out, the more invisible these wires become.
The cast recognises this, of course. As the detectives "follow the money" throughout the series, they eventually get lost in a world that has simply become too huge, too labyrinthine, for them to process. They trace the money from the streets to the skyscrapers, eventually getting lost in the tangle. It thus soon becomes clear that policing both bolsters an unjust status quo and represents a profound disavowal on the part of the state. Law enforcement (which ignores the circulation of capital) involves the fabrication of the "otherness" of the criminal, whilst the flow of money makes it clear that the supposed "other" is in fact constitutive of the state.
Late in the series, when the detectives find the lair of one gangster, they are surprised to find no signs of crime. This is because the gangster has "laundered" his lifestyle, his money now having no connection to the drug world. This is the legal, whitewashed face of criminality, highlighted by the presence of Adam Smith's "The Wealth of Nations" on the gangster's bookshelf, a symbol which effectively links the sanitized world of finance with commodity exchange on the violent streets, capital changing hands, laundered and re-invested ad-infinitum.
So these aren't ordinary gangsters. These are gangsters who study Business Administration and discuss the "elasticity of demand". Success in the criminal world is directly linked to feeding the consumer's desire. But though the gangsters largely supply product to drug addicts, they themselves are addicts, for they ruthlessly desire to accumulate.
But not all "The Wire's" gangsters are the same. Some represent a tendency towards the formation of cooperative dealerships, others care only about self-interest, self-reliance and personal control, whilst others prefer instead to impose their own more neoliberal economy. Finally, there's a gangster called Omar, who represents a more romantic "Robin Hood" version of crime, taking advantage of the mistrust generated between the corporate and competitive styles, using guerrilla tactics to trick and rob local kingpins. On one hand, Omar becomes a local myth in his own short lifetime, but on the other, he violently debunks the myth of original accumulation.
10/10 – "The Wire" has both rendered most previous crime/gangster movies obsolete, and set a trend for all modern crime films.
Episodes 1- 60: When it is good it is "awesome", when it is bad it is just "very good" deserves every good thing said about it
bob the moo15 October 2008
I have written individual reviews for each season of this as I have gone through them and, having finished the fifth and final season, I wanted to review the entire series as a finished product which it sadly now is. I came to The Wire as many people have on DVD for the first seasons till I was caught up and joined it on FX UK. It was the constant critical praise for the show that attracted me but I was still wary that it would be mostly hype and that a "good" show would be undone in my mind due to the weight of expectation. The first few episodes offer you nothing like 24's exploding plane to hook you or thrill you and a colleague of mine bailed out after one episode, describing it as "people mumbling for an hour". I can sort of understand this because you do not start watching The Wire thinking "this is awesome" but within 3 or 4 episodes you suddenly realise that you are in the middle of a densely populated story that develops character and plot with the deftest of touches.
It is not one "moment" or a matter of having sufficient good moments to make the show but just the sheer depth and consistency of writing across each and every episode. Season 5 is the only significant loss of this and even when this happens (as it does too frequently in S5) it still leaves a "very good" show. Seasons 1-4 are near perfect though and the show is endlessly complex, intelligent, exciting and thrilling. Again this is not to suggest that it has "big" moments that stand-out such as action sequences (although it does) but that you will be drawn into the story and characters to such an extent that you will find a four minute review of a crime scene with the dialogue variations on the F word to be fascinating and enthralling.
However it is not one or two characters that are well drawn but rather almost all of them are convincing and engaging. West's McNulty is of course the "main" character and his superior, drunken sh1t-stirrer is very real but the show provides just as much fleshing out for minor cops, politicians, drug lords, corner kids, junkies and thieves. Royo's Bubbles is another great character than is very much the emotional heart of the show, never letting us dismiss users as just "junkies". I won't start listing others because it would fill the review but special mention to Stringer Bell, who is wonderful, season 3 in particular. The one exception to the "realism" of the show is Omar, who is a fantastic creation of cocky control and cool he doesn't fit that well into the world created but he is still a lot of fun and the writers ensure that season 5 sees him harshly brought back into the world that all the other characters inhabit. The acting is roundly excellent and fans may have forgotten that the cast doesn't feature many faces you will know apart from a couple from Homicide etc, but yet this approach works because it allows us to only know Elba as Stringer, West as McNulty, Doman as Rawls, Pierce as Bunk and so on. They are well served by the writers and they respond to it accordingly; the only depressing thing is that for many of them they will never have it this good again.
I will not go on about it because I think that The Wire doesn't need my praise and my hype to tell people that it is good. Generally I have found that the best way to do that is to put the DVD in someone's hand and tell them to give it three hours of their time as a start after that few have given up on it but rather have gone on to watch all five seasons. People can tell a product of quality when they see one, and that is what The Wire is. It may have been completely ignored by the Emmys and other major awards but it does and will have the last laugh because this is a show that will stand for decades as one of the finest ever made. Do yourself a favour and get ahead of those who will discover it when it starts topping "best of" lists and give it a chance now because once you are drawn into it you will agree that it is nothing less than awesome.
It is not one "moment" or a matter of having sufficient good moments to make the show but just the sheer depth and consistency of writing across each and every episode. Season 5 is the only significant loss of this and even when this happens (as it does too frequently in S5) it still leaves a "very good" show. Seasons 1-4 are near perfect though and the show is endlessly complex, intelligent, exciting and thrilling. Again this is not to suggest that it has "big" moments that stand-out such as action sequences (although it does) but that you will be drawn into the story and characters to such an extent that you will find a four minute review of a crime scene with the dialogue variations on the F word to be fascinating and enthralling.
However it is not one or two characters that are well drawn but rather almost all of them are convincing and engaging. West's McNulty is of course the "main" character and his superior, drunken sh1t-stirrer is very real but the show provides just as much fleshing out for minor cops, politicians, drug lords, corner kids, junkies and thieves. Royo's Bubbles is another great character than is very much the emotional heart of the show, never letting us dismiss users as just "junkies". I won't start listing others because it would fill the review but special mention to Stringer Bell, who is wonderful, season 3 in particular. The one exception to the "realism" of the show is Omar, who is a fantastic creation of cocky control and cool he doesn't fit that well into the world created but he is still a lot of fun and the writers ensure that season 5 sees him harshly brought back into the world that all the other characters inhabit. The acting is roundly excellent and fans may have forgotten that the cast doesn't feature many faces you will know apart from a couple from Homicide etc, but yet this approach works because it allows us to only know Elba as Stringer, West as McNulty, Doman as Rawls, Pierce as Bunk and so on. They are well served by the writers and they respond to it accordingly; the only depressing thing is that for many of them they will never have it this good again.
I will not go on about it because I think that The Wire doesn't need my praise and my hype to tell people that it is good. Generally I have found that the best way to do that is to put the DVD in someone's hand and tell them to give it three hours of their time as a start after that few have given up on it but rather have gone on to watch all five seasons. People can tell a product of quality when they see one, and that is what The Wire is. It may have been completely ignored by the Emmys and other major awards but it does and will have the last laugh because this is a show that will stand for decades as one of the finest ever made. Do yourself a favour and get ahead of those who will discover it when it starts topping "best of" lists and give it a chance now because once you are drawn into it you will agree that it is nothing less than awesome.
A strong cantidate for the greatest TV series of all time.
therskybznuiss27 May 2021
Just about everything except the last season, in my opinion, is nearly perfect.
I just watched Robert F Colesburry's The Corner, which is like a proto-The Wire and it reignited my love for this series, and I just had to get out here and show my love for this series.
I seriously think that this will be one of those shows that are looked back on in 100, 200 or 300 years from now and be studied for it's themes not just of crime and addiction and despair, but of compassion and from a Film Producers standpoint, just damn-good organic production and storytelling combined.
It's so unconventional, there is nothing else like it, and for it's uniqueness and just damn brilliant statements and conclusions I think it's (at least) a few decimal points better than Breaking Bad, or even the Sopranos. Though it's different enough in theme to not really be fair to compare it to them, at least as crime drama's.
I just watched Robert F Colesburry's The Corner, which is like a proto-The Wire and it reignited my love for this series, and I just had to get out here and show my love for this series.
I seriously think that this will be one of those shows that are looked back on in 100, 200 or 300 years from now and be studied for it's themes not just of crime and addiction and despair, but of compassion and from a Film Producers standpoint, just damn-good organic production and storytelling combined.
It's so unconventional, there is nothing else like it, and for it's uniqueness and just damn brilliant statements and conclusions I think it's (at least) a few decimal points better than Breaking Bad, or even the Sopranos. Though it's different enough in theme to not really be fair to compare it to them, at least as crime drama's.
Like a great novel
sinistre11113 May 2005
Season 3 of The Wire ended like a great novel, in a series of great novels, about crime, politics, "po-lice" and personalities in the City of Baltimore. The Wire truly has no equivalent on American TV, more akin to something like the British miniseries Traffik, or Robert Altman's Short Cuts, but really in a class by itself. The show also doesn't fetch the ratings of HBO's other blockbuster series, like The Sopranos or Deadwood, but so far the network has stood behind what is indisputably a creative / artistic success. Viewers accustomed to having a Tony Soprano or an Al Swearingen to latch onto may be daunted by The Wire's 2-dozen or so "main" characters, all given equal importance within multiple story lines. The concurrent tales all buoy one another, and as the season draws to a close, they begin to merge and compliment each other in unexpected ways. No detail is too small to not be done with great care, and no significant threads are left to hang, which also speaks to the brilliance of the writers.
The Wire is no less than a dramatic triumph, and I can't wait for a new season.
The Wire is no less than a dramatic triumph, and I can't wait for a new season.
Superb: TV needs more shows like The Wire
Tweekums11 September 2009
I'd heard of The Wire long before it was finally aired on British network television, all of the things I'd heard were good. Often glowing reviews lead to high expectations which aren't quite met... that wasn't the case here, The Wire lived up to its reputation as one of the best television shows ever. It helped that all five series were shown over a few months as opposed to five years so there was no opportunity for the viewer to lose track of who was who in the large cast.
At first glance it might appear that the this is just another cop show but it is far more than that, not only does it show both sides of crime, which is unusual, it shows how that crime permeates through the City of Baltimore: politicians want the statistics massaged so it looks like they are doing something about the ever constant crime but don't want to supply the money to do something really useful, the schools where the children are being taught how to pass the tests but not learning anything that will help them escape the life in the drug trade they seem to be destined for and a political system where everybody is just trying to get into higher office and keep it once they get there.
With a large cast played mainly by actors I didn't know it might be expected that it would be hard to keep track of who was who. Luckily the cast all did a great job so that even though I couldn't remember every name it was easy to remember how they fitted into the story. While I don't think there were any weak actors there were many who stood out; Dominic West brought a degree of humour to the series as Detective McNulty, Idris Elba as "Stringer" Bell, the drug dealer who wanted to keep things low profile and businesslike rather than a constant war and Felicia Pearson who was brilliant as "Snoop", a senior member of one of the drug dealing gangs who thinks nothing of killing anybody who even vaguely threatens them. I have a feeling that a lot of the cast will go on to become well known in many roles as they have proved themselves so well here.
I certainly recommend this to anybody who enjoys serious drama that isn't of the "case of the week" variety, be warned however there is a lot of swearing and violence that some viewers may not be comfortable with although none of it seemed gratuitous to me. While it may not have won awards I am certain people will still be talking about this years after the programmes that won the awards are forgotten.
At first glance it might appear that the this is just another cop show but it is far more than that, not only does it show both sides of crime, which is unusual, it shows how that crime permeates through the City of Baltimore: politicians want the statistics massaged so it looks like they are doing something about the ever constant crime but don't want to supply the money to do something really useful, the schools where the children are being taught how to pass the tests but not learning anything that will help them escape the life in the drug trade they seem to be destined for and a political system where everybody is just trying to get into higher office and keep it once they get there.
With a large cast played mainly by actors I didn't know it might be expected that it would be hard to keep track of who was who. Luckily the cast all did a great job so that even though I couldn't remember every name it was easy to remember how they fitted into the story. While I don't think there were any weak actors there were many who stood out; Dominic West brought a degree of humour to the series as Detective McNulty, Idris Elba as "Stringer" Bell, the drug dealer who wanted to keep things low profile and businesslike rather than a constant war and Felicia Pearson who was brilliant as "Snoop", a senior member of one of the drug dealing gangs who thinks nothing of killing anybody who even vaguely threatens them. I have a feeling that a lot of the cast will go on to become well known in many roles as they have proved themselves so well here.
I certainly recommend this to anybody who enjoys serious drama that isn't of the "case of the week" variety, be warned however there is a lot of swearing and violence that some viewers may not be comfortable with although none of it seemed gratuitous to me. While it may not have won awards I am certain people will still be talking about this years after the programmes that won the awards are forgotten.
Best TV Series Ever Made?
ezraaaa8 May 2021
Here's my rating with some little review for every season:
Season 1: 8.5/10 (Impressive start, although the plot feels so slow)
Season 2: 9/10 (Masterpiece of storytelling)
Season 3: 10/10 (Omar Little the champions of people)
Season 4: 11/10 (is this a real life? Is this just fantasy?)
Season 5: 9.5/10 (such a perfect conclusion)
Season 1: 8.5/10 (Impressive start, although the plot feels so slow)
Season 2: 9/10 (Masterpiece of storytelling)
Season 3: 10/10 (Omar Little the champions of people)
Season 4: 11/10 (is this a real life? Is this just fantasy?)
Season 5: 9.5/10 (such a perfect conclusion)
Outstanding series in every possible way
85122217 December 2023
Greetings from Lithuania.
I was so glad that i have not seen "The Wire" before and only started to watch it at the end of 2023. After finishing all 5 seasons in like 2 months time i can only say - leave the best for the last. "The Wire" is outstanding TV series - one of the very best that i have ever seen. It clear to me know why is this show is in Top 10 list - the world, character, writing, directing and stories it told were as gritty authentic as it could possible be. The writing was on a another level in "The Wire". All 5 seasons were superbly interesting and distinguished. All of them told stories that are as real as they can be.
Overall, there isn't enough stars in 10 stars rating system that be rated here. "The Wire" is an outstanding series in every possible way, and if you by any chance have missed it, do yourself a favor and see it. Its a real masterpiece.
I was so glad that i have not seen "The Wire" before and only started to watch it at the end of 2023. After finishing all 5 seasons in like 2 months time i can only say - leave the best for the last. "The Wire" is outstanding TV series - one of the very best that i have ever seen. It clear to me know why is this show is in Top 10 list - the world, character, writing, directing and stories it told were as gritty authentic as it could possible be. The writing was on a another level in "The Wire". All 5 seasons were superbly interesting and distinguished. All of them told stories that are as real as they can be.
Overall, there isn't enough stars in 10 stars rating system that be rated here. "The Wire" is an outstanding series in every possible way, and if you by any chance have missed it, do yourself a favor and see it. Its a real masterpiece.
One Of HBO's Best
Signet19 August 2002
If you have missed THE WIRE, you have missed one of 2002's best television productions. The acting is superb, the writing is fantastic, and the direction is elegant. This is the armored underbelly of Baltimore at its most grim, accurately depicted and wonderfully detailed. This isn't merely great television, this is great drama, with heroes and villains who are never all good and certainly not all bad. The performances are, without exception, marvelous and everybody involved with this magnificent series deserves to be honored when they start passing out the awards.
One of the best series ever... and grimmest
Teyss11 April 2017
Warning: Spoilers
"The Wire" is widely considered as one the best series ever, and by many critics as the best. Despite its title, its topics are much more varied than wiring criminals and fighting drugs: criminality in general, law, ethnicity, crisis, politics, education, media, etc.
On all these issues, the tone is pessimistic. First about narcotics: the war on drugs is useless; new dealers replace those who are imprisoned; kids are enrolled young in illegal activities; addicts are not really helped out of their dependency. Other problems are numerous: murders, human trafficking, corruption, poverty, foreclosures, etc. The depiction of Baltimore is representative of decaying post-industrial cities, even though the entire series was shot before the 2008 crisis. As such, it exposes the failures of our so-called modern societies.
Echoing the grim context, individual lives are generally not joyful. We rarely see couples and families enjoying themselves together; they essentially argue. Happy scenes, if any, are short. None of the jobs is really exciting; professional relationships are regularly tense. Having a good time is usually getting drunk.
Regardless, "The Wire" has many qualities, some of which are briefly described below.
-----
The limits of "The Wire" are those of most series. Action is sometimes repetitive, since it runs for hours, and a few events are far-fetched, to maintain attention on the long term. Mostly, editing is fast, which is paradoxical for such a long series: instead of fully developing a scene, it frequently switches to another one; even in the same scene, shots are brief. This is somewhat an easy solution to maintain pace. The fact there were 27 different directors for 60 episodes probably did not help: it sometimes feels as if they wanted to stick to a set style instead of developing a personal vision, which partly relies on creator David Simon who wrote 51 of the episodes.
Nevertheless, "The Wire" is now a major classic among series. Not a feel-good watch, but definitely engrossing.
On all these issues, the tone is pessimistic. First about narcotics: the war on drugs is useless; new dealers replace those who are imprisoned; kids are enrolled young in illegal activities; addicts are not really helped out of their dependency. Other problems are numerous: murders, human trafficking, corruption, poverty, foreclosures, etc. The depiction of Baltimore is representative of decaying post-industrial cities, even though the entire series was shot before the 2008 crisis. As such, it exposes the failures of our so-called modern societies.
Echoing the grim context, individual lives are generally not joyful. We rarely see couples and families enjoying themselves together; they essentially argue. Happy scenes, if any, are short. None of the jobs is really exciting; professional relationships are regularly tense. Having a good time is usually getting drunk.
Regardless, "The Wire" has many qualities, some of which are briefly described below.
- The series adopts a convincing documentary style, based on factual experience and extensive research: actual events, overlaying plots, linear stories without flashbacks (only two minor exceptions), authentic settings, credible characters, great attention to details (notice for instance the constant realism of background noises). Important and/or charismatic characters are purposefully eliminated, because plot consistency is more important than role continuity.
- There essentially is no soundtrack, accentuating the documentary genre. However, at the end of each Season summarising the main characters' fates, music climatically emerges with an all the more compelling impact.
- It shows appearances are misleading: knowledgeable and apparently respectable persons can be felons. Levy skilfully uses the law to protect murderers he knows are guilty. Stringer follows business classes and develops a legitimate business to launder money. By contrast, D'Angelo has values despite his limited education and crimes. Additionally, the series progressively evolves: for instance the honour code respected by the Barksdale clan and the co-op falls apart when Avon and Stringer betray each other, then explodes as Marlo imposes terror.
- It highlights ethical ambiguities and compromises. McNulty uses Omar's false testimony to convict a killer (Season 2). Bunny reduces crime by creating Hamsterdam, a drug heaven... or hell? (Season 3) The school improves education by segregating students (Season 4). Symbolically, policemen and criminals present many similarities: they speak the same language with numerous f-words; they sometimes interact like accomplices; officers go undercover in the streets; they have resembling activities (drinking, loitering, assaulting, meetings with a chairman, pressure to improve results, trailing suspects).
- It is not Manichean. First, there are "villains" in every category of the population: inhabitants, policemen, felons, politicians, etc. Also, main characters are complex. Dedicated policemen usually have a flaw: McNulty is arrogant; Daniels has a shady past; Carver steals money; Herc eventually helps Levy. Most guiltlessly beat up suspects. The police hierarchy is cunning but cynical and manipulative. Conversely, most criminals have class, notably Stringer and Omar. Bubbles is friendly but pathetic. Carcetti is greedy but wants to improve the city. Editor Gus is bullying but righteous. At the very end, Marlo fights: we understand he is not just a show-off, but grew up in the streets. Characters evolve, notably children in Season 4 who have very different outcomes in Season 5.
- It illustrates the struggle between individuals and the system: how mostly decent people are oppressed by economic conditions and heartless organisations, of which hierarchy is only the visible part. Money is a persistent issue. To react, individuals sometimes go rogue. Dockworkers smuggle to compensate for the lack of activity (Season 2). Policemen use tracking devices without authorisation. McNulty and Freamon forge evidence to increase resources (Season 5). Eventually, nothing changes: the powerful and corrupt are rewarded (Carcetti, Nerese, Davis, Rawls, Valchek, Templeton, Marlo, Levy); the powerless and virtuous are punished (McNulty, Freamon, Daniels, Bunny, Gus, children). To carry on, the system requires truth to be manipulated, not exposed.
- To partly offset the permanent tension, humour is omnipresent. Dialogues feel at the same time real and to the point. Some are quite philosophical, even in unexpected places (e.g. the literary club in jail in Season 2, Episode 6).
- The series develops a powerful overall structure. Each Season is dedicated to a topic (respectively drugs, docks, politics, education, media) and integrates as well previous topics (except the docks which are specific). This culminates with Season 5 which condensates them in a final climax. The last Season also loops with the first: Season 1 showed a code-breaking wire that failed to indict the Barksdale clan; Season 5 shows a code-breaking wire that succeeds in capturing Marlo's gang. Yet at the very end, we go backwards: Valchek is the new Burrell; Michael is the new Omar; Duquan is the new Sherrod with another Bubbles; Marlo is loose; Levy will protect other criminals. The only good news are Namond succeeding and Bubbles being accepted by his family.
-----
The limits of "The Wire" are those of most series. Action is sometimes repetitive, since it runs for hours, and a few events are far-fetched, to maintain attention on the long term. Mostly, editing is fast, which is paradoxical for such a long series: instead of fully developing a scene, it frequently switches to another one; even in the same scene, shots are brief. This is somewhat an easy solution to maintain pace. The fact there were 27 different directors for 60 episodes probably did not help: it sometimes feels as if they wanted to stick to a set style instead of developing a personal vision, which partly relies on creator David Simon who wrote 51 of the episodes.
Nevertheless, "The Wire" is now a major classic among series. Not a feel-good watch, but definitely engrossing.
The best thing on TV today
chrisneill15 January 2005
Possibly the best thing written for television ever; certainly the best to come out in the last 25 or so years.
"The Wire" escapes the melodramatic pitfalls of shows like "the West Wing," "Six Feet Under" and even "The Sopranos" (which are all smartly written--or rather have had their moments of greatness).
Here is a show which over the course of 37 hours weaves together scores of very tautly detailed characters. It's not easy to watch--and its certainly challenging. But it is surely worth it.
The story unfolds in Baltimore and is a study on the effect of institutions on its members: police, politicians, criminals, addicts.
Some may find the show didactic. This is understandable because its creators make heavy usage of allegory (for instance, seasons three's not-so-subtle criticism of the situation in Iraq).
Didactic or not, the show forces its viewers to think about and hopefully start a larger discussion of the issues it touches upon: the failure of the drug war, the gradual extinction of the American worker and the dangers of a presumptive, preemptive war.
Hats off to creators David Simon and Ed Burns (a retired BPD detective) for creating one of the most interesting, daring shows in the history of television.
Let's hope HBO renews it for another 26 episodes.
"The Wire" escapes the melodramatic pitfalls of shows like "the West Wing," "Six Feet Under" and even "The Sopranos" (which are all smartly written--or rather have had their moments of greatness).
Here is a show which over the course of 37 hours weaves together scores of very tautly detailed characters. It's not easy to watch--and its certainly challenging. But it is surely worth it.
The story unfolds in Baltimore and is a study on the effect of institutions on its members: police, politicians, criminals, addicts.
Some may find the show didactic. This is understandable because its creators make heavy usage of allegory (for instance, seasons three's not-so-subtle criticism of the situation in Iraq).
Didactic or not, the show forces its viewers to think about and hopefully start a larger discussion of the issues it touches upon: the failure of the drug war, the gradual extinction of the American worker and the dangers of a presumptive, preemptive war.
Hats off to creators David Simon and Ed Burns (a retired BPD detective) for creating one of the most interesting, daring shows in the history of television.
Let's hope HBO renews it for another 26 episodes.
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