I recently had a little time to watch something on the idiot box, and after reading Charles Petzold's post about "The Wire", I had to take a look:
The Wire is ostensibly a Baltimore cop show. (David Simon, who created the series, wrote the book A Year on the Killing Streets that inspired the series Homicide.) The title refers to the electronic surveillance that often plays a part in the criminal investigations. Although many of the plot lines involve the Baltimore drug trade, the series has become progressively more ambitious: The second season of The Wire went into the Baltimore docks, and third season investigated the halls of Baltimore political power. For the fourth season, the series is going into the Baltimore public schools. What's remarkable about The Wire is the depth and breadth of its characters. Besides the cops, we become familiar with a wide range of Baltimore citizens, from street kids and homeless drug addicts, right up to the Mayor and those who want to dethrone him. Nobody emerges as much of a hero or as a devil. Many of the the cops are seriously flawed human beings, and even the cold-blooded killers are imbued with a humanity rare in film or television. The writing and ensemble acting would be enough to recommend The Wire, but it is also a raw and uncomprising look at America's underclass, and an indictment of the politics and economics that have led to such widespread poverty and despair. So many "serious" TV series are little more than comic books. (24 readily comes to mind.) The Wire is more real than is often comfortable. The Wire has the reputation of being hard to follow, and that's a fair criticism. It certainly demands some focus and concentration, but is well worth the effort.
The Wire is ostensibly a Baltimore cop show. (David Simon, who created the series, wrote the book A Year on the Killing Streets that inspired the series Homicide.) The title refers to the electronic surveillance that often plays a part in the criminal investigations. Although many of the plot lines involve the Baltimore drug trade, the series has become progressively more ambitious: The second season of The Wire went into the Baltimore docks, and third season investigated the halls of Baltimore political power. For the fourth season, the series is going into the Baltimore public schools.
What's remarkable about The Wire is the depth and breadth of its characters. Besides the cops, we become familiar with a wide range of Baltimore citizens, from street kids and homeless drug addicts, right up to the Mayor and those who want to dethrone him. Nobody emerges as much of a hero or as a devil. Many of the the cops are seriously flawed human beings, and even the cold-blooded killers are imbued with a humanity rare in film or television.
The writing and ensemble acting would be enough to recommend The Wire, but it is also a raw and uncomprising look at America's underclass, and an indictment of the politics and economics that have led to such widespread poverty and despair. So many "serious" TV series are little more than comic books. (24 readily comes to mind.) The Wire is more real than is often comfortable.
The Wire has the reputation of being hard to follow, and that's a fair criticism. It certainly demands some focus and concentration, but is well worth the effort.
Sold.
I watched the first season over the past week and was riveted to my seat. I agree that the level of realism really separates this from other shows on mainstream television (although I pretty much never watch anything but about 10 minutes of CNN a week and the occasional documentary as I am drifting off to sleep.)
I can't wait to see season two, but it has to wait while I finish some other more pressing things.
Source: “The Wire” 4th Season Originally published on Fri, 08 Sep 2006 14:00:00 GMT