The Wire

One of my favorite tv shows that I have ever watched is a show called The Wire. This show was on HBO and it almost broke my heart when the credits came on for the final episode of the series. There was more originality in The Wire than you might be able to imagine. Even though it's a police drama, you have never seen a police drama like this.

This tv series takes place in Baltimore. Almost every single second of every episode is filmed in Baltimore. There are five seasons of the show, and each season focused on a different part of Baltimore. The first season concentrates on the Projects. The police try to reduce drug trafficking by focusing on the ghetto area where drug dealing takes place. The second season explores the ports. The shipping industry is big in Baltimore, and like most major cities is the reason why it became a major city. The third season focuses on the bureaucracy, government, whatever you want to call it. The fourth season deals with the school system, and how it becomes involved with crime. Lastly, the fifth season is centered upon the media, or more specifically the Baltimore Sun. The creator of the show, David Simon, actually worked for the Baltimore Sun in real life. Also, it is called The Wire because the police try to bring down the bad boys through some sort of way of infiltrating their communication.

Because of the numerous facets of Baltimore that The Wire shows, the amount of characters is almost unfathomable. Let's compare The Wire to a show that you're probably familiar with. In the show Seinfeld, there are four major characters; obviously Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer. IMHO Newman is the most recognizable minor character. So, the most well known sitcom of all time has only five characters that really stand out. Yes, there were others, but just not as memorable. Well, let me list off all of the characters that I can off of the top of my head in The Wire. I promise that I'm not looking at a list as I type this up:

Jimmy McNulty, Shakima "Kima" Greggs, Carver, Lester Freamon, Bunk Moreland, Herc, Cedric Daniels, Bodie, Poot, D'Angelo Barksdale, Wee-Bey Brice, Namond Brice, Avon Barksdale, Frank, Nick and Ziggy Sobotdka, The Greek, "Bunny" Colvin, Carcetti, Mayor Royce, Clay Davis (my least favorite), Cheese Wagstaff, Brother Mouzone, Omar Little, Slim Charles, Stringer Bell, Marlo Stanfield, Chris Partlow, Snoops Pearson (my favorite), Bubbles, Michael, Cutty, "Dukie" Duquan, Randy, Prezbylewski, Scott, Commissioner Burrell, Little Kevin, Prop Joe, etc.

Now why is this? The Wire unapologetically has so many areas to cover and so many people that even the main characters are more like supporting roles than lead roles. But, trust me, all of these individuals truly have some very defining moments, which is why I remember so many of their names. Along with showing police business, there is a large amount of "criminal business." The Wire focuses extensively on the work that the criminals themselves do. It's like NYPD BLUE and The Sopranos combined together.

One fact about Baltimore is the very high percentage of blacks. The city's population is roughly 65% African-American. Are there some white people in The Wire? Sure there are. But the show is composed mostly of black people. Because of this, this show is sometimes featured on the tv channel BET. This fact might give you the wrong impression. This show really has nothing to do with racism. It's not about blacks hating whites, or whites hating blacks. It's about people living and working in the city of Baltimore.

When I watch a show or a movie, sometimes, I think back to a situation that I find particularly interesting. In The Wire, there are a number of unique incidents that are thought provoking and require our keen intellect to understand. **SPOILER WARNING** One example was when a bunch of drunken fools went to the projects and stirred up some trouble. One of these fools punched a kid and cost him his eye. The next morning, Cedric Daniels then scolds these men, and demands a confession as to who did it. When you watch what happened, you just feel in your bones the necessity for the guilty one to confess. It might be hard to understand this, all the more reason to watch it, but man it does mean something. When the human heart and the human mind combine to cause everything that we do, especially in unfamiliar situations, that is intelligence at work. **SPOILER WARNING** Another very interesting (and kind of funny) moment was how the police apprehended the one and only Wee-Bey Brice. There is something that they do to lure him into a trap, and the great thing is they knew exactly how he would react to their trap.

The amount of content, creativity and so on put forth in creating The Wire is unlike almost anything. Every episode starts with a meaningful quote that you will hear in the episode. It also shows what person will say it to help learn the characters' names. My favorite quote that I ever saw was
"Deserve ain't got nothin to do with it." -Snoops Pearson
Also, to symbolize the fact that each season is very different from the others, each season's opening song is a different style from each other. The words and lyrics are exactly alike, but the musicians, the instruments, the tempo, etc. are all different. Also, The Wire is Barack Obama's favorite show of all time. His favorite character is Omar Little. I will choose to not give my opinion of Obama, and his opinion isn't necessarily relevant as to whether or not you should check The Wire out. The real reason why The Wire might be worth your time is how great it really is.

The Wire both bent and broke the rules that television shows had. From the complete shift in each season's focus, to the vast cast of characters, The Wire was solid gold, or even platinum, and will always be one of my favorites.