I have to say, “The Wire” just may be the best television series ever, and this season is the best yet. If you have HBO and you’re not watching this, you’re missing something unique. This series, originated by David “Homicide: Life on the Street” Simon, is messy, chaotic, upsetting and sometimes uplifting. Set in Baltimore, the stories are populated with politicians, cops, teachers, drug dealers and kids old beyond their years, left to fend for themselves in an environment where no good deed goes unpunished.
It’s the kids who get to me. Randy, the drug dealer young entrepreneur whose life (and that of his foster mother, Miss Anna) is in danger after diming out a murderer. Michael, whose junkie mother is selling the food that’s supposed to feed him and his little brother Bug. Chiquan. Namond, who puts the charm in Charm City, despite a mother who’s pushing him into the drug world so she can maintain their lifestyle while her husband’s in prison. Dukie, whose parents sell his clothes.. I feel like I know these kids. Every week, I’m anxious to see how they’re handing things - and if they survive.
And there’s Prez, the ex-cop who’s trying his best to teach math at Tilghman Middle School, but keeps getting sidetracked by school district insanity and the casual cruelty that makes up daily life in East Baltimore.
“The Wire” gets the teachers just right: The idealistic ones, the ones who are just marking time, and the ones who’ve learned to work the system without crossing the line. The administrators who warn teachers to harden themselves, or they’ll never last. The funny and poignant scene where Mr. Colvin takes three of his kids to Ruth Chris’ Steakhouse, when it might as well be a trip to the moon…
And there’s the new reform mayor, former city councilman Tommy Carcetti. Just like real-life politicians, Carcetti is an intriguing mixture of idealist and blunt-force pragmatist. Among his other worries, he recently learned of a $54 million school funding deficit and has to cut a deal with the Republican governor who sees him as a potential threat.
The thing about this show is, it’s about our winner-take-all society and the fallout at the fringe. If you want to understand politics and the uses of power, this is a really good place to start. (Remember, Nancy Pelosi’s father and brother both served as Baltimore mayors.)
ah, you almost make me wish i had television programming again! oh well. books for me…and daily show clips online…and writeups like this one.
Just one thing - Randy’s not a drug dealer. He buys candy wholesale and sells it in the school cafeteria, but we’ve never seen him on the corner. He’d probably be good at it - that kid could sell snow to an eskimo. Another thing you might not notice about Randy is that he never curses (neither does Omar, for that matter).
When Randy was trying to sell candy and no one would buy it from him because he was a snitch, I felt as bad for him as if it were my own kid.
I don’t have HBO right now, so I have to wait for the DVDs of Season 4, unless somebody’s been taping it.
The Season Three set was my main entertainment purchase over the summer.
What they do very well in this show is show how hierarchical organizations of people operate, like unions or street drug operations or police departments. And because of that, I thought a few seasons ago that a natural place for the show to go would be the school system. I mean, it’s gotta have its own Valcheks and such, pushing their private grudges, and its gotta have its own McNulties and Rawlses, riding other people’s campaigns for as long as it suits their purposes.
So, after the schools, what’s next, Annapolis Naval Academy? That’s not Ballmer proper, but these guys might make it work. Or maybe the department of public works, in some echo of Boston’s Big Dig scandal?
Personally, I’d like to see them follow the Baltimore Sun through their possible sale. Since David Simon worked there, it would be a natural. You want to talk about tangled hierarchies? City papers are textbook.
Hmmm … a newspaper … Yesssss … (Rubs hands together in anticipation.)
PS: I’ve got nothing against the current James Bond, but how ’bout Idris Elba as the next one?
The Wire was awesome its first 3 seasons—glad to hear it still is. Will catch up to the dvds, since I no longer have hbo for now. If you’ve never tried a dvd set of the series, I must say it’s if anything more impressive to watch a whole story in just a few days.
Elba’d be great, I’ve been wondering when they’d get around to a dark Bond.
Season 5 will focus on the Media. I don’t have a link for you but I’ve read it in multiple places. Obviously the multitude of story lines this season (which I agree has been the best thus far, but every season has been nearly flawless) can not possibly be wrapped up with 2 episodes left, so I’m sure that some of it will be continued in Season 5. we’ll see.