Creators:
David SimonCast:
Dominic West, John Doman, Clarke Peters, Frankie Faison, Deirdre Lovejoy, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andre Royo, Sonja Sohn, Seth Gilliam, Aidan Gillen (more)VOD (4)
Seasons(5) / Episodes(60)
Plots(1)
In chronicling a multi-generational family business dealing illegal drugs and the efforts of the Baltimore police to curb their trade, this series draws parallels between these organizations and the men and women on either side of the battle. (official distributor synopsis)
Reviews (4)
Season one: When you walk through the garden. You gotta watch your back.... Excellent. A realistic probe into the drug underworld of Baltimore. The police work here is miles away from the completely fictional solutions presented in the filtered out world of Bruckheimer’s CSI where serial killers are sent to jail on the basis of a broken nail in a can of Coke. This is the unpleasant reality where the biggest fish get off Scott-free (or at worst with the lowest possible penalty) and where the legislative authorities look at cops doing their job like bothersome pests that do more harm than good. We see a police unit where everybody has their qualities, but negatives too. A corrupt cop, a drunk, a squealer, a layabout, an idiot, take your pick. They’ll all get to you in the end. Bunk roolzz. Season two: "They can chew you up, but then they gotta spit you out." The docks. A more picturesque environment and even greater corruption than last season. Which makes season two even more tasty. Fewer drug stories, which means that when one comes up, it’s all the more powerful. The new location does good for Avon and Deem. Meanwhile the excellent Idris Elba as Stringer Bell gets the prize for being the toughest dude. The tidied away Jimmy enjoys his death sentence on the water by destroying stats. And the dockers, those damn dockers - I hated Ziggy from the very start, Frank turned out to be a full blown Robin Hood and Nico at least had a brain, but no instinct whatsoever. Of the newcomers, I like Amy Ryan, Brother Mozoune, but mainly I’m over the moon that Bunk gets more room to perform. I like that scumbag more and more. Season three: "I caught him, Bunk. And he doesn’t fuckin’ know it." The finale of a trilogy, you could say. All the storylines from previous seasons are getting closed in a gigantic finale that, under certain circumstances, could be a happy ending, if this weren’t The Wire. An excellent story. Great characters. The development of all the characters is something that everybody should learn from creators of this show. Even a third year in a row they manage to surprise us (I laughed out loud at the scene in the gay bar) and still convincingly. My favorite, String, gets some more space and you can finally tell what kind of a man he really was. I don’t know if with this third season the show hasn’t achieved its peak, and from now on it will start to decline. We’ll see. Season four: "You play in dirt, you get dirty." Eliminating the two main characters resulted in a slower start. Jimmy and String are resting (both in a little differently) and their replacement with children in the first couple of episodes wasn’t such a good idea, but in the end it turns out that the creators had everything well thought out and they still serve us an absolutely top notch watch. Tommy Carcetti was a very pleasant surprise (don’t try to tell me that his name has nothing to do with Tony Varcetti from GTA: Vice City :) and his campaign to become a first white mayor of Baltimore (almost like the first season of 24, only back-to-front) has a lot of excellent moments. It‘s obvious that with this season The Wire is preparing the ground for the finale. I’m curious if everyone gets what they deserve, especially that fucker Clay “Shiiiieet" Davis. Season five: "What the fuck did I do?" The best season yet, in my opinion. Jimmy was missing in the previous one, but he enters the fifth season in all glory and when him and Lester both get to work, thing starts to happen. When I said that I was entertained by all the previous seasons, in this one I was literary laughing out loud thanks to an absolutely brilliant idea and all the things relating to it. They say that you should stop when you reach the top and the Wire stopped at its absolute zenith (the final goodbye was executed flawlessly). The wheels keeps spinning and on the edge between the light and the darkness is where its the best.
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Ed Burns, a former police officer and teacher, and David Simon, a journalist, have observed Baltimore’s streets long enough to know that most of them are dominated by the criminal business in any form, and the drug business in particular. Years of experience were put to good use in writing the books and also the script for this series. The result is an incredibly complex, sophisticated, and unfortunately also reflective-of-everyday-reality crime drama, pitting special units, assembled by superiors from the unpopular guys to show goodwill to politicians while possibly being able to sink them for their incompetence, against drug dealers. However, don't expect a tale about a bunch of losers who kicked everyone’s ass. This bunch celebrates partial successes but in fact also constantly struggles with how to avoid their feet being pulled from underneath them by the higher-ups, how to keep their temper within the limits of the law, and how not to lose their necks because the other side also suspects and acts. The sophistication of the two worlds, which are equally shared, is the main driving force behind the series. Elaborate characters, with whom you would normally have trouble shaking hands, uncompromisingly draw you into a whirlwind of action that certainly doesn't end with the clacking of handcuffs and the slamming of bars. If you like the CSI series, or anything similar, where the heroes are supplied by modeling agencies to catch a killer based on a forgotten hair or a perfectly focused photo from miles away, feel free to avoid this one. This shatters all romantic notions with unprecedented vigor. From my point of view, its definitely the best series I've ever seen.
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I do not deny that in the ranking of the best crime series, I prefer Breaking Bad with its fascinating story of the moral downfall of its hero; The Wire, however, comes in second place right behind it. The greatest advantage of the thrilling battle between the black drug dealers and the members of the anti-narcotics unit of the Baltimore crime branch is its civility and credibility. The script, which draws you into the world of police officers, criminals, addicts, pushers, and the inhabitants of neglected tenement houses is among the highest quality works in the genre. The Wire can constantly surprise you, keeps you on your toes, and dispels even the last illusions about the functioning of justice in the complex system of American society, where the interests of various parts of the state apparatus, business, and political elite intersect. The victory of justice is often relative and tainted, and its price is high. The war against the drug industry has no end and consists of countless small conflicts, moral compromises, manipulations, and pressure. Watching each episode was a small television celebration for me, and I will definitely return to this series. Overall impression: 95%.
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...all those reality shows and documentaries can go take a walk. Who would have said that the gray daily routines on both sides of the barricades could be depicted so convincingly. So much so that you absolutely understand the actions of both sides, while not identifying with either, although it is quite clear that that’s just the way it is. And not just in Baltimore, but also in circles not involved with crime or the police. You find no clichés here, either genre or series-related. But in spite of everything it works the same as what it is illustrating. Like an addiction that you can’t quit. And so I am becoming more and more addicted to the drizzly Baltimore weather that little fish, big bosses, regular cops and their superiors wake up to every morning, just to go out there and take shit again... It may put some viewers off that the separate seasons don’t work so much as individual episodes, but as a whole; like one long movie with lots of parts, so it’s understandable that if you watch this series in classic “one episode a week" style, you won’t have the stamina to last out to the very end.
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