A tribute to The Wire

Two years ago I was introduced to the best television show ever made: The Wire. I was behind the times and didn't start watching until Season 4 had just ended. This show consumed me. It was brilliant, smart, and most of all entertaining. The character development of the show was awesome. You felt like you actually knew these people. I watched the final ever episode last night and felt like an era had ended.

Not many people know about The Wire...at least in my circle of friends. I do my best to spread the word because this show deserves to be watched by all. The show is based on Baltimore, MD and the drug trade. The best part is that the show successfully shows points of view from the drug dealers and from the police. And with that you grow to love both the dealers and the cops in the show.

The cops: Daniels, Carver, Herc, McNulty, Freamon, Kima, Bunk, Sydnor, Prezbo, Ralls, Jay, and Bunny Colvin. These are the men in blue that you grew to love over the 5 seaons.

The dealers: Avon Barksdale, Stringer Bell, Slim Charles, Prop Joe, Bodie, D'angelo, Poot, Michael, Naymond, Wee Bay, Omar (awesome), Bubbles, Marlo Stanfield, Chris Partlow, Snoop, Cutty, Cheese Wagstaff. These were the "ganstas" of the show. They would put a bullet in your dome without hesitation.

Then there were just those involved such as the politicians: Clay Davis, Thomas Carcetti, Frank and Nick Sobotka.

When you think about it, this is an awesome list of characters and I'm probably only scratching the surface. But over the course of 5 seasons, we got to know all about these characters. You almost grew to love them all, no matter if they were good or bad.

The show is basically 1 huge movie that never gets boring. Season 1 starts us out in the project apartments where the low level slingers do their work. You are introduced to the middle management in the drug trade and the 2 kingpins that put it all together, Avon Barksdale and Stringer Bell. Together, they took over the best drug areas in West Baltimore and started an empire. However, they felt constant pressure at the top because their product was sub-par and they knew it. However, they held the best real estate and that's what kept them going. Meanwhile the police start a new investigation unit and Barksdale is the #1 name on the list thanks to McNulty stirring up a little shit as he always does.



Season 2 was my favorite by far. This season takes us to the docks and explains how the drugs get into the country and how they make it into the hands of the dealers. The dock workers are an awesome group of characters in themselves. Nick and Frank Sobotka were my favorite characters of the entire series and they did all their work in season 2. The cops end up chasing down dock workers, but find out that the rabbit hole goes much deeper as they get into some real gangster stuff.



Season 3 takes us back out into the streets. Avon is back in business and wants his corners back. However, while in jail, Stringer has been running things more like a business and business is good. Stringer is more worried about getting in a connect to the good dope while Barksdale is looking to get his corners back. The cops are still chasing Stringer, but he's keeping his nose clean by doing more and more legit business, distancing himself from "The Game". This season introduces us to the politics of Baltimore. The politicians are even more criminal than than the drug dealers.




Season 4 stays in the streets, but gives us more of a perspective from the children's standpoint. With Avon and Stringer out of the picture, new blood Marlo Stanfield takes over all the good real estate. All the drug dealers form a co-op as well, getting a good connect to the best dope and pooling their money together to get the high volume deals. Marlo resists this co-op because he is a gangster at heart, but eventually goes along with it. However, he's constantly looking for a way to go out on his own. This time, the cops are chasing Marlo and his crew. A crew which is putting down a lot of bodies, but nobody can find them.



Season 5 is the final season of the saga. This season is more from the media side of things as we get a glimpse into the Baltimore Sun. we see that some of the children from season 4 have grown up and gotten into the game, some have gotten out. McNulty and Freamon are tired of the Baltimore PD's financial difficulties handed down by the mayor. They device a scheme to fund their own investigation into Marlo Stanfield to take him down once and for all.



If you've never watched The Wire, you are missing out. Fuck The Sopranos, Lost, 24, Grey's Anatomy, ER, whatever. The Wire has them all topped.