The Wire Review: Is It The Greatest Show Ever?

The Wire remains the most astonishing oversight and underrated show in Television History. When it aired, it won no Emmys, it had no major fan following with the maximum viewership around 4 million, and it lived under the shadow of HBO’s The Sopranos.

It was only after the show ended in 2008 that it started gathering critical acclaim and praise from those who had not seen it. For the last few years, it has been universally recognized as one of if not the greatest show in television history.

Coming from a generation that has considered Game of Thrones to be the epitome of television and hails Breaking Bad for its realistic depiction of a man’s desire and ego, I watched The Wire recently. I’m here to tell you why The Wire is one of the best shows to air on television and why you should be watching it in 2020.

1. Quick Review

The Wire may be classified as a cop show; writer David Simon certainly sold HBO that description to get their approval, but it is so much more than that.

The Wire is a show that examines the heart of Baltimore’s city, exploring the institutions that are supposed to protect and serve the nature and revealing the seedy underbelly of corruption and crime that has killed the American Dream.

The Wire is grounded in reality and has been hailed for its choice of themes, cast and portrayal of characters, the representation of social injustice, and the in-depth vision into the daily life of Baltimore and its citizens.

2. Info & Watch Links

3. Is It Worth Watching?

The Wire is phenomenal in all aspects, and you must undo the cardinal sin of not watching this masterpiece for so long. The Wire was made with extensive research and stars actors that were relatively unknown at the time.

The Wire was not made to win awards, and every new season extension was a struggle between HBO and David, but the final product is certainly worth watching.

If it aired today, it would undoubtedly win countless Emmys and Globes. Let us examine what made The Wire great.

I. What is The Wire About?

Over 5 season and 60 episodes, The Wire told the story about various institutions and aspects of the local government, the Police Department, and the prevalent Drug Trade in the city.

While every season’s setting shifted to highlight a defunct and corrupt institute, the show had a continuous running storyline and characters whose arcs tied all the pieces together.

Featured as a cop show, The Wire focused predominantly on the extensive police work and the clashes between the Baltimore Police Department and the gangs running the drug trade on the streets and corners.

Season 1 starts with the formation of a task force to fight against the violent Barksdale family, heavily involved in the city’s drug trade.

The second season shifted the focus to the city docks and the Seaworkers Union and the real corruption and bribery, which led to several deaths and was the incoming point of the drugs.

Season three showed us the city bureaucracy and the struggle for power, season four, the city’s education system and its failure, and season five, the death of the print news medium.

Throughout the show, the main cast and continuing storylines seamlessly blend to shift the attention of the viewers in a different direction before they realize that it is just as rotten as the first. 

Writer David Simon has said that The Wire is not a show about cops and drug dealers, but about an American city where criminals, police, lawyers, and politicians live together, influencing each other’s lives.

II. Realistic Characters

It is impossible to go into the in-depth cast analysis of The Wire as the show featured a huge collection of main and recurring characters. The Wire has earned praise for its casting as all the actors give heartfelt performances.

You never feel that the show is scripted, and there are no corny lines. The show used several real citizens and prominent figures of the city of Baltimore and ex-convicts in the cast.

Jimmy McNulty, Prop Joe. Bunk Moreland, Omar Little, Lester Foreman, Stringer Bell, Avon Barksdale, Bodie, Greggs, Snoop, Bubbles, the list of iconic characters in the show stretches on and on. Every character has a place in the decaying city of Baltimore that they call home.

No character in The Wire is perfect as you meet brutal and violent patrol cops, paper-pushing and desk-loving detectives, smart and arrogant criminals, and honorable thieves and informants.

Like the other aspects of The Wire, these people feel authentic and truly belong to Baltimore. One can even say that the city is a character in the show.

The Wire gave stars like Dominic West, Idris Elba, and Michael B. Jordan their big breaks and gave the audience several memorable characters.

Another thing that the Wire must be applauded for is the massive diversity in the cast. In the early 2000s, when hardly any studio cast people of color, other than tokenistic characters, The Wire’s cast featured a massive array of people of color.

The cast resembles the demographics of Baltimore’s population, which is around 60% black. The show also uses the opportunity to comment on various social injustices and institutionalized racism that every other show shies away.

III. The Visual Novel Setting

David Simon has described his vision for The Wire as a novel for television. It is a show that takes some time to get going while it introduces us to the major players, but by the time it wraps up, The Wire paints a Dickensian picture of life in the city of Baltimore.

David Simon was a reporter in The Baltimore Sun, and co-creator Ed Burns was an ex-policeman working Homicide turned schoolteacher.

The duo has used their extensive experiences and interactions in Baltimore to form fleshed out characters and storylines for The Wire. This is why the show feels genuine; the characters look and talk like any other person you would meet in the street.

The authenticity of the series cannot be recreated without research and dedication, and as a result, no other show has come close to taking The Wire’s crown.

The show shows you the collapse of The American Dream, how the school systems have failed the youth, how the city’s politicians are either corrupt or helpless, and how the machinery grinds on, with no regard for whom they left behind.

Another remarkable feature of The Wire is that it doesn’t dumb itself down or pause to explain what’s happening on-screen. The viewers are expected to keep up as the series has almost no flashbacks, but several recurring characters and overlapping plotlines. The Wire has a tight script filled with iconic lines delivered by memorable characters.

4. Grade

5. Final Thoughts

The Wire is a remarkable show which still contends for the spot of Greatest Drama of All Time, despite having aired 18 years ago. It is an excellent example of storytelling, writing, and acting.

It is a shame that the show didn’t get the attention and recognition it deserved during its initial airing, but it is no surprise that everyone who watches is blown away. It is a reminder of the best of television, the kind that hasn’t been made in 15 years and will most probably never be.