I know it's an old show (2002-6) and I'm coming late to it, but crikey, this is an amazing series. I could not find a thread on it in the Org, so thought I would start one to sing its praises. I had heard it described in the UK as superb TV and when my brother said to believe the hype, I gave it a try. Five series later (four on DVD) and I have got to say - it is the best TV series I have ever watched.

I was struggling to think of the best adjective to describe the Wire and the one that sprung to mind was supplied by the show towards the end of its final series - Dickensian. The wonderful story telling and colourful characters remind me a lot of Dickens at his best. There's been a lot said about the realism of the show - and it was based on first hand experience of a Baltimore journalist and a policeman. But I am not sure I fully buy that, either in itself or as an explanation for the programme's quality. A rather downbeat realism gives the programme depth and makes for satisfyingly complex narratives, but what really stands out is the story-telling and the character work. Each season takes a central story arc and gets you familiar with a cast of characters, then through their actions slowly builds up the tension as they move to an often tragic conclusion. It's far too neat, colourful and plain dramatic to be considered realistic, but it is amazing TV.

The characters are as vivid as those in Dickens, including a junkie whose attitude on life resembles that of a Buddhist monk (Bubbles); a female gang enforcer described by Stephen King as the most terrifying woman on TV (Snoop); a drug lord who takes nightclasses in economics and reads the Wealth of Nations (Stringer Bell); a gay stick up artist who preys on drug dealers (Omar); and an utterly incompetent policeman whose mindless foul ups leave the viewer screaming at the screen for his head (Herc). The acting is outstanding, sometimes delivered by actors with real life experiences not so different from those of the characters they are portraying on screen.

As an example of the show's use of realism and colourful depiction of characters, there is a passage in the series creator's non-fiction book Homicide about autopsies and how small calibre weapons often do terrible injuries as the bullet moves inside the body in surprising directions (while large calibre weapons are more likely to have a straight exit). As a passage of non-fiction, this is mildly interesting. But in The Wire, the author gives that observation to the female enforcer, Snoop, who casually makes it to a mortified salesman in a hardware store. The observation both characterises Snoop's as a chillingly casual killer and also adds a delicious element of black humour with the contrast between the appalled reaction of the salesman and Snoop's obliviousness. A youtube video of the clip is here (video and user comments include bad language):

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 


As the clip shows, the programme is often very funny, if with a dark humour. (A scene where two leading cops read a crime scene to solve a murder using only the F-word had me laughing uncontrollably.)

In the first series, and over the show as a whole, the underlying focus is police versus drug dealers. In some ways, it is a typical cop show, so the viewer will be rooting for the police as they investigate despicable crimes committed as part of the drug trade. But it does give the drug dealers humanity, individuality and charisma (or sometimes a terrifying absence of charisma, Marlo ). To the police, it gives a smoothering layer of commanding officers and politicians who frequently sabotage real policework for political ends. Later seasons add in to the mix stories about dock workers (S2), politicians (S3), schools (S4) and journalism (S5). Each season, you think you can't possibly get as involved in these new characters and their stories as much as you did the drug dealer stories from Season 1, but amazingly you do. It really is masterful story telling.

Aside from Dickens, the other point of reference I have is Hill Street Blues. In some ways, The Wire is a continuation of that show's style of intercutting stories of an ensemble cast and making the viewer work to keep up with what was going on. Many shows have done it since, but the Wire is very much in the same setting of a grimey cop show. What the Wire does better is the depiction of those on the other side of "the game" and in maintaining much stronger story arcs. It's not a show that could go on forever, with standalone episodes or soap style endless narrative loops. It had some stories to tell, told them superbly and came to an end.

I'd recommend the show to anyone willing to invest the time to watching it (10-12 hours per season). It's not the kind of thing you could really appreciate by watching casually - my wife wandered in and out while it was on TV, but never found it to be engaging. But if you put in the time, it can be a very rewarding experience.