the wire 119x180 TV Show Review: The Wire

When you walk through the garden

‘The Wire’ is the best show that has ever been shown on television in the last two decades. I can’t think of another show that has affected me as much as this one. Plunged in a world where monstrosities like ‘Gossip Girl’ and ’90210′ have world-wide audiences I have sometimes lost faith in today’s television industry ever coming up with something that has any merit or value. In fact, most television shows today seem to cater only to idiots who can’t figure out where the space bar is on their keyboard(Assuming that they’ve found the power button).  ‘The Wire’ however has redeemed the television industry with it’s sheer brilliance. The fact that it doesn’t seem to be very popular even though it has some of the best reviews out there makes me want to knock every ‘Moment of Truth’ watching numbskull on the head. You might say that a person’s tastes are subjective and that opinions shouldn’t be forced onto another person. And I’d agree with you about that, except for this one show. I’m as devoted to ‘The Wire’ as Jehova’s Witnesses are about the Bible.

If you’ve only watched the first few episodes of The Wire you’ll probably be forgiven for

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Chess and the Drug Trade

thinking it’s your typical cop and robber kind of show, with the good guys chasing the bad guys and all that jazz. But there’s much more to it than that. This show is truly multi-layered. ‘Multi-layered’- a word primarily used by dicks who like to use big words and add false dimensions to things that aren’t worth talking about, but I can’t think of a more appropriate word more literally appropriate to this aspect of The Wire. Multi-layered seems to be the only word that will fit. It’s not about the good guys fighting the bad guys. It takes this theme to a whole new different level. Every aspect of the Baltimore City Police vs The Baltimore Drug Cartel is looked at realistically and at many different levels. The audience doesn’t get to choose sides. Through it’s masterful characterizations that would make Shakespeare applaud in delight you are made to see everybody’s point of view- from the Mayor of Baltimore to the homeless addict. This is what good writing is about! Add a few unique

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Bubbles the homeless philosopher

characters and you have the recipe for an excellent viewing experience. A womanizing cop going against the system to fight the drug trade, a homosexual vial-stealing Robin Hood, a Mayor forced to go against his campaign promises because of tedious city politics, a Harper magazine reading hit man, a journalist who makes up stories, a homeless drug-addicted philosopher take this show where no show has gone before.

The script is brilliant though you might have some trouble following the different accents if you’re watching the show without subtitles. Even the street hoodies seem to make some profound observations about life on the streets and so on. Here’s an example:

McNulty: Let me understand. Every Friday night, you and your boys are shootin’ craps, right? And every Friday night, your pal Snot Boogie… he’d wait til there’s cash on the ground and he’d grab it and run away? You let him do that?
Man On Stoop: We’d catch him and beat his ass but ain’t nobody ever go past that.
McNulty: I gotta ask ya: If every time Snotboogie would grab the money and run away, why’d you even let him in the game?
Man On Stoop: What?
McNulty: If Snotboogie always stole the money, why’d you let him play?
Man On Stoop: Got to. This America, man.

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Cops doing some recon

The visuals are stunning. The architecture of the different parts of the city are aesthetically depicted, making one feel that he knows and feels Baltimore even if he lives half a world away. The plot is complex and sometimes bewildering, but everything fits at the end(unlike Lost). And the twists are terrific! At one point in the show the police department is seriously under-funded because the Mayor is under pressure to bail out the public schools of the city. Our hero McNulty- the womanizer cop who takes his job a little too seriously decides to fake a serial murder. He starts tying red ribbons on the wrists of corpses of homeless people and tampers with evidence to make it seem like a murder. He leaks the story to the press who have a field day reporting the rise of a new serial killer. The Mayor is forced to fund an investigation dealing with this sudden rise in strange murders. Mcnutly redirects this money into real investigations, enabling the police to combat crime once again.

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Omar

My favorite character is probably Omar Little. This shotgun slinging homosexual makes a living by robbing drug dealers. Whenever he steps out on the streets there’s a cry of “It’s Omar yo! Get out of here!” followed by people running away and hastily closing doors. The street thugs cower in fear, gun at the ready as Omar stalks them whistling ‘a hunting we will go’.

I seem to have written 832 words without once mentioning wire tapping. Well, there’s a lot of that! The way the criminals communicate constantly changes through the seasons as the street thugs become wise to the fact that they’re being tapped. Through sheer ingenuity and luck the police department manage to get the upper hand each time. But, they never do triumph completely.
I’d rate it 9/10 overall. 10/10 if HBO decides to continue the show! Five seasons is too few for a show this great!
I’m going to end with one more quote from the show(for no good reason), Aite
Mcnulty: All those mopes in bracelets and not one of them named Osama.