The Wire (TV series)
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| The Wire | |
|---|---|
 The Wire promotional art. </small> | |
| Genre | Drama |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| Audio format | Dolby Digital 5.1 |
| Running time | approx. 0:60 (commercial-free) |
| Creator(s) | David Simon |
| Executive producer(s) | Robert F. Colesberry David Simon |
| Starring | Dominic West John Doman Frankie Faison Aidan Gillen Deidre Lovejoy Clarke Peters Wendell Pierce Lance Reddick Andre Royo Sonja Sohn Jim True-Frost Robert Wisdom Seth Gilliam Domenick Lombardozzi Reg E. Cathey Chad L. Coleman Jamie Hector Glynn Turman J. D. Williams Michael K. Williams Corey Parker Robinson |
| Opening theme | "Way Down In The Hole" The Blind Boys of Alabama (Season 1) Tom Waits (Season 2) The Neville Brothers (Season 3) DoMaJe (Season 4) |
| Ending theme | "The Fall" by Blake Leyh |
| Country of origin | USA |
| Original channel | HBO |
| Original run | June 2, 2002–Present |
| No. of episodes | 48 (to date) |
| Official website | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Wire is an American television drama set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created by writer/producer and former police reporter David Simon, the series is broadcast by the HBO cable network in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2 2002, with 37 episodes airing over the course of its first three seasons. Season 4 premiered on September 10, 2006, with the season finale slated to air on December 10, 2006.
The first season's plot centers around the ongoing struggles between police units and drug-dealing gangs in the city's west side, and is told from both points of view. Subsequent seasons have focused on other facets of the city. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how... whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge, [or] a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."<ref name="TAR">David Simon. (2005). "The Target" commentary track [DVD]. HBO. </ref>
The Wire has received critical acclaim for its realistic portrayal of urban life and uncommonly deep exploration of sociological themes, and has been called the best show on television by TIME,<ref name="TIM">TIME: Best and Worst of Television in 2002. TIME. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref> Entertainment Weekly,<ref name="EWB">Gillian Flynn (2004). The Best of 2004. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> The Guardian,<ref name="TG2">Jim Shelley (2005). Call The Cops. The Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.</ref> the Chicago Tribune,<ref>Steve Johnson. "Why HBO's 'The Wire' is the best show on TV", Chicago Tribune, 2003-06-01, p. 1.</ref> Slate,<ref>Jacob Weisberg. "The Wire on Fire: Analyzing the best show on television", Slate, 2006-09-13, p. 1.</ref> and the Philadelphia Daily News.<ref>It's time to get 'Wire'-d - after all, it's the best show on TV. Philadelphia Daily News. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.</ref> However, it has failed to draw an audience commensurate with its press.
Contents |
[edit] Origins
Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on the experiences of his writing partner, ex-homicide detective Ed Burns, in working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. Burns often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at Enron and institutional dysfunction in the Catholic Church, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show."<ref name="SLI">Ian Rothkirch (2002). "What drugs have not destroyed, the war on them has". Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.</ref>
Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the city. He approached the mayor to get approval to portray it bleakly and was welcomed to work there again. Simon chose to take the show to HBO because of their existing working relationship from the 2000 miniseries The Corner. Anticipating a repeat of the arguments with executives that writing such a pessimistic show generated during the run of his NBC program Homicide: Life on the Street, he avoided other networks. Owing to their reputation for exploring new areas, HBO were initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but they eventually agreed to produce the pilot.<ref name="SLI" /><ref>Alvarez, Rafael (2004). The Wire: Truth Be Told. New York: Pocket Books, 18-19, 35-39.</ref> Simon hoped that the show could change the opinions of some viewers but said that it was unlikely to have an impact on the issues it portrays.<ref name="SLI" />
[edit] Themes
Simon draws a sharp line between his program and its influential but thematically very different forebears, such as Dragnet, Hill Street Blues, and Homicide: Life on the Street: "The best crime shows [...] were essentially about good and evil. Justice, revenge, betrayal, redemption. The Wire, by contrast, has ambitions elsewhere. [...] Specifically: We are bored with good and evil. We renounce the theme."<ref>Alvarez 4.</ref>
Realism
The writers strive to create a realistic vision of an American city based on their own experiences. Central to this aim is the creation of truthful characters. Simon has admitted that most of them are composites of real-life Baltimore figures.<ref name="TGU">Richard Vine. "Totally Wired", The Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref><ref>Walker, Jesse (2006). Localist Television. Reactionary Radicals. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.</ref>
In distinguishing the police characters from other television detectives, Simon makes the point that even the best police of The Wire are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve, but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminal they are chasing. Many officers portrayed on the show are incompetent, brutal, self-aggrandizing, or hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. The criminals are not always motivated by profit or a desire to harm others; many are trapped in their existence and all have human qualities. Even so, The Wire does not minimize or gloss over the horrific effects of their actions.<ref name="TAR" />
The show is also scrupulously realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity. Many of the plot points were based on the experiences of Simon and Burns. There have even been reports of real-life criminals watching the show to learn how to counter police investigation techniques.<ref>William K. Rashbaum. "Police Say a Queens Drug Ring Watched Too Much Television" (Subscription required), The New York Times, 2005-01-15.</ref><ref name="RSN">Jesse Walker (2004). David Simon Says. Reason. Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref>
Institutional dysfunction
Simon has identified the organizations featured in the show (the Baltimore Police Department, City Hall, the Barksdale drug trafficking operation, and the stevedores' union) as comparable institutions. All of them are dysfunctional in some way, and the characters are typically betrayed by the institutions that they accept in their lives.<ref name="TAR" /> Simon described the show as "cynical about [its] institutions"<ref name="RSN" /> while taking a humanistic approach towards its characters.<ref name="RSN" />
Surveillance
Central to the structure and plot of the show is the use of electronic surveillance and wiretap technologies by the police—hence the title "The Wire." Salon.com described the title as a metaphor for the viewer's experience—the wiretaps provide the police access to a secret world, just as the show does for the viewer.<ref name="SLN">Dan Kois (2004). Everything you were afraid to ask about The Wire. Salon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref> Simon has discussed the use of camera shots of surveillance equipment, or shots that appear to be taken from the equipment itself, to emphasize the volume of surveillance in modern life and the characters' need to sift through this information.<ref name="TAR" />
Visual novel
Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks. Thus, the viewer needs to follow every conversation closely in order to figure out what's going on and who's who. Salon.com has described the show as novelistic in structure with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.<ref name="SLN" /> Each season of The Wire consists of 12 or 13 full-hour episodes, which form a single narrative. Individual episodes might make confusing and unsatisfying viewing if seen in isolation. Simon chose this structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in and then result in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews,<ref name = "SLI" /><ref>Alvarez 28, 35-39.</ref> describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.<ref name="TAR" />
Social commentary
Simon described the second season as "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class... [I]t is a deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalism is not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many."<ref name="TGU" /> He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws explicit parallels between the War in Iraq and the national drug prohibition,<ref name="TGU" /> which in Simon's view has failed in its aims<ref name="RSN" /> and become a war against America's underclass.<ref>Alvarez 12.</ref>
Writer Ed Burns, who worked as a public school teacher after having retired from the Baltimore police force, has called education the theme of the fourth season. Rather than solely focusing on the school system, the season will look at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside of their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for.<ref name="TVH">Interviews—Ed Burns. HBO (2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref> Burns and Simon see the theme as an opportunity to look at how individuals end up like the show's criminal characters, and to dramatize the theory that hard work is not always justly rewarded.<ref name="BS1">Behind The Scenes Part 1—A New Chapter Begins. HBO (2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-30.</ref>
[edit] Cast and characters
The Wire employs a broad ensemble cast supplemented by many recurring guest stars to populate the institutions featured in the show. A majority of the cast is African-American; this is rare in U.S. television dramas, but it accurately reflects the demographics of Baltimore.
The show's creators are also willing to kill off major characters, so that viewers cannot assume that a given character will survive simply because of a starring role or popularity among fans. In response to a question on why a certain character had to die, David Simon said, "[W]e are not selling hope, or audience gratification, or cheap victories with this show. The Wire is making an argument about what institutions—bureaucracies, criminal enterprises, the cultures of addiction, raw capitalism even—do to individuals. It is not designed purely as an entertainment. It is, I'm afraid, a somewhat angry show."<ref>David Simon (2003). David Simon Answers Fans' Questions. HBO. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref>
[edit] Principal cast
The major characters of the first season were divided between those on the side of the law and those involved in drug-related crime. The investigating detail was led by Lieutenant Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick) who faced challenges balancing his career aspirations with his desire to produce a good case. The detail was launched by the actions of Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), whose insubordinate tendencies and personal problems overshadowed his ability. Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) was a capable lead detective who faced jealousy from colleagues and worry about the dangers of her job from her domestic partner. Her investigative work was greatly helped by her confidential informant, a drug addict known as Bubbles (Andre Royo). Like Greggs, partners Thomas "Herc" Hauk (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam) were reassigned to the detail from the narcotics unit. The duo's initially violent nature was eventually subdued as they proved useful in grunt work, and sometimes served as comic relief for the audience. Rounding out the temporary unit were detectives Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost). Though both initially appeared to have no talent for tough police work, Freamon proved a quietly capable investigator with a knack for noticing tiny but important details, and Prez turned out to be a natural at his desk job.
These investigators were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned with politics and their own careers than the case, Maj. William Rawls (John Doman) and Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell (Frankie Faison). Assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman (Deidre Lovejoy) acted as the legal liaison between the detail and the courthouse and also had a casual relationship with one of the officers. In the homicide division, Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce) was a gifted, dry-witted detective partnered with McNulty under Sergeant Jay Landsman (Delaney Williams), the jovial squad commander. Peter Gerety had a recurring role as Judge Phelan, the official who started the case moving.
On the other side of the investigation was Avon Barksdale's drug empire. The driven, ruthless Barksdale (Wood Harris) was aided by business-minded Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Avon's nephew D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.) ran some of his uncle's territory, but also possessed a guilty conscience, while loyal Wee-Bey (Hassan Johnson) was responsible for multiple homicides carried out on Avon's orders. Working under D'Angelo were Poot (Tray Chaney), Bodie (J.D._Williams), and Wallace (Michael B. Jordan), all street-level drug dealers. Wallace was an intelligent but naïve youth trapped in the drug trade, and Poot a randy young man happy to follow rather than lead. Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), a renowned Baltimore stick-up man robbing drug dealers for a living, was a frequent thorn in the side of the Barksdale clan.
Season 2 introduced a new group of characters working in the Baltimore port area, including Spiros Vondas (Paul Ben-Victor), Beadie Russell (Amy Ryan), and Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). Vondas was the underboss of a global smuggling operation, Russell an inexperienced Port Authority officer and single mother thrown in at the deep end of a multiple homicide investigation, and Sobotka a union leader who turned to crime in order to raise funds to save his union. Also joining the show in season 2 were Nick Sobotka (Pablo Schreiber), Frank's prodigal nephew; Ziggy Sobotka (James Ransone), Frank's troubled son; and "The Greek" (Bill Raymond), Vondas' mysterious boss. As the second season ended, the focus shifted away from the ports, leaving the new characters behind.
Season 3 saw several previously minor characters assuming larger roles, including Detective Leander Sydnor (Corey Parker Robinson), Bodie (J.D. Williams), Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew), and Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom). Colvin (for whom Herc and Carver were now working) commanded the Western district where the Barksdale organization operated, and nearing retirement, he came up with a radical new method of dealing with the drug problem. Proposition Joe, the East Side's cautious drug kingpin, became more cooperative with Avon's gang. Sydnor, a rising young star in the police department in season 1, returned to the cast as part of the major case unit. Bodie had been seen gradually rising in the Barksdale organization since the first episode; he was born to their trade and showed a fierce aptitude for it.
New additions in season 3 included Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), an ambitious city councilman; Mayor Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman), the incumbent whom Carcetti planned to unseat; Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), leader of an upstart gang seeking to challenge Avon's dominance; and Dennis "Cutty" Wise (Chad Coleman), a newly released convict uncertain of his future.
Season 4 saw four young actors join the cast: Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems; Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff; Julito McCullum as Namond Brice; and Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee. The characters are friends from a West Baltimore middle school. Another newcomer was Norman Wilson (Reg E. Cathey), Carcetti's deputy campaign manager.
[edit] Plot synopsis and episode list
[edit] Season 1
The first season, which began airing on June 2, 2002, introduced two major groups of characters—the Baltimore police department and a drug dealing organization run by the Barksdale family. The season followed the investigation of the latter over its 13 episodes.
The investigation is triggered when detective Jimmy McNulty meets privately with judge Daniel Phelan following the acquittal of D'Angelo Barksdale for murder after a key witness changes her story. McNulty tells Phelan that she had probably been intimidated by members of a drug trafficking empire run by D'Angelo's uncle, Avon Barksdale, having recognized several faces at the trial, notably Avon's second-in-command, Stringer Bell. He also tells Phelan that nobody is investigating Barksdale's criminal activity, which includes a significant portion of the city's drug trade and several unsolved homicides.
Phelan takes issue with this and complains to senior Police Department figures, embarrassing them into creating a detail dedicated to investigating Barksdale. However, owing to the department's dysfunctionality, the investigation is intended as a façade to appease the judge. An interdepartmental struggle between the more motivated officers on the detail and their superiors spans the whole season, with interference by the higher-ups often threatening to ruin the investigation. The detail's commander, Cedric Daniels, acts as mediator between the two opposing groups of police.
Meanwhile, the organized and cautious Barksdale gang is explored through characters at various levels within it. The organization is antagonized by a stick-up crew led by Omar Little, and the feud leads to several deaths, bringing further police attention. Throughout, D'Angelo struggles with his conscience over his life of crime and the people it affects.
The police have little success with street-level arrests or with securing informants beyond Wallace, a young low-level dealer and friend of D'Angelo. Eventually the investigation takes the direction of electronic surveillance, with wiretaps and pager clones to infiltrate the security measures taken by the Barksdale organization. This leads the investigation to areas the commanding officers had hoped to avoid, including political contributions. When an associate of Barksdale's is arrested by another team and offers to cooperate, the commanding officers order a sting operation to wrap up the case. One detective is seriously hurt in the operation, triggering an overzealous response from the rest of the department. This causes the detail's targets to suspect that they are under investigation.
Wallace is killed by his childhood friends Bodie and Poot, on orders from Stringer Bell, after leaving his "secure" placement with relatives and returning to Baltimore. D'Angelo Barksdale is eventually arrested with a large quantity of drugs, and learning of Wallace's murder, is ready to turn in his uncle and Stringer. However, D'Angelo's mother convinces him to rescind the deal and take the charges for his family. The detail manages to arrest Avon on a minor charge and gets one of his soldiers to confess to many murders. Stringer escapes prosecution and is left running the Barksdale empire. For the officers, the consequences of antagonizing their superiors are severe, and Daniels and McNulty are both assigned to nightmare jobs as punishment.
[edit] Season 2
The second season of the show, along with its ongoing examination of the drug problem and its effect on the urban poor, examined the plight of the blue-collar urban working class as exemplified by stevedores (longshoremen) in the city port, as some of them get caught up in smuggling drugs and other contraband inside the containers that their port ships. In a season-long subplot, the Barksdale organization continues its drug trafficking despite Avon's imprisonment, with Stringer Bell assuming greater power.
McNulty harbors a vendetta against his former commanders for reassigning him to the marine unit. When fourteen young unidentified women are found dead in the port area, he makes a point of proving that they were murdered in his commanders' jurisdiction. Meanwhile, police Major Stan Valchek gets into a feud with stevedore union leader Frank Sobotka over competing donations to their old neighborhood church. Valchek demands a detail to investigate Sobotka. Daniels, having impressed the Major with his work on the Barksdale case, is assigned to lead the detail.
As with the previous season, the targets of the investigations are explored and fully realized as characters. Life for the blue-collar men of the port is increasingly hard and work is scarce. As union leader, Sobotka had taken it on himself to reinvigorate the port by convincing politicians to support much-needed initiatives. Lacking the funds needed for this kind of influence, Sobotka had become involved with a smuggling ring. Around him, his son and nephew also turn to crime, as they have few other opportunities to earn money.
It becomes clear to the Sobotka detail that the dead girls are related to their investigation, as they were in a container that was supposed to be smuggled through the port. They again use wiretaps to infiltrate the crime ring and slowly work their way up the chain towards The Greek, the mysterious man in charge. But Valchek, upset that their focus has moved beyond Sobotka, gets the FBI involved. The Greek has contacts inside the FBI and starts severing his ties to Baltimore when he learns about the investigation.
After a dispute over stolen goods turns violent, Sobotka's son is charged with the murder of one of the Greek's underlings. Sobtoka himself is arrested for smuggling; he agrees to work with the detail to help his son, finally seeing his actions as a mistake. However, the Greek learns about this through the FBI and scuppers the case against himself by having Sobotka killed. The investigation ends with the fourteen homicides solved but the perpetrator already dead. Several drug dealers and mid-level smuggling figures tied to the Greek are arrested, but he and his second-in-command escape uncharged and unidentified. The Major is pleased that Sobotka was arrested; the case is seen as a success by the commanding officers, but is viewed as a failure by the detail.
Across town, the Barksdale organization continues its business under Stringer while Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale serve prison time. D'Angelo decides to cut ties to his family after his uncle organizes the deaths of several inmates and blames it on a corrupt guard to shave time from his sentence. Fearing D'Angelo working with the police, Stringer covertly orders him killed, faking it as a suicide. Avon is unaware of Stringer's duplicity and mourns the loss of his nephew.
Stringer also struggles with the loss of his drug suppliers and bad quality product. He again goes behind Avon's back, giving up half of Avon's most prized territory to a rival named Proposition Joe in exchange for a share of his supply. Avon, unaware of the arrangement, assumes that Joe and other dealers are moving into his territory simply because the Barksdale organization has too few enforcers. He contracts a feared hitman named Brother Mouzone. Stringer deals with this by tricking his old adversary Omar into believing that Mouzone was responsible for the vicious killing of his partner in their feud in season one. Seeking revenge, Omar shoots Mouzone, but realizes Stringer had lied and calls 911. Mouzone recovers and leaves Baltimore, and Stringer is free to continue his business with Proposition Joe.
[edit] Season 3
In the third season, the action focused back on the street and the Barksdale organization but expanded the scope to include the political scene. In addition, a new subplot was introduced to examine the potential positive effects of legalizing the drug trade within the limited boundaries of three uninhabited city blocks — referred to by the malapropism "Hamsterdam." These were continuations of storylines hinted at earlier.
The demolition of the towers that had served as the Barksdale organization's prime territory pushes their dealers back out onto the streets of Baltimore. Avon Barksdale is released from prison early, as promised for his role in unveiling the cause of the inmate deaths. Stringer Bell continues his reform of the organization by cooperating with other drug lords, sharing with one another territory, product, and profits. But Stringer's offer is met with a curt refusal from Marlo Stanfield, leader of a new, growing crew. Against Stringer's advice, Avon decides to take Marlo's territory by force, and the two gangs become embroiled in a bitter turf war with multiple deaths.
Omar continues to rob the Barksdale clan wherever possible. Working with his new boyfriend and two women, he is once more a serious problem for the organization. In a heist gone wrong, one of Omar's crew is shot and a Barksdale enforcer is killed. The violence related to the drug trade makes it an obvious choice of investigation for Cedric Daniels' now-permanent Major Case Unit.
Councilman Tommy Carcetti begins to prepare himself for a mayoral race. He manipulates a colleague into running against the mayor to split the black vote, secures a capable campaign manager, and starts making headlines for himself.
Coming to the end of his career, Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin decides to achieve some real change in the neighborhoods he has long been responsible for. Seeing the spread of drug dealing into previously unaffected areas following the destruction of the towers, he assumes the task of containing the problem. Without the knowledge of central command, he sets up areas where drug trade would go unpunished and cracks down on any traffic elsewhere. His scheme achieves his aims and reduces crime in his district, but is eventually exposed to his superiors and city politicians, including Carcetti, who uses the scandal to make a grandstanding speech. With top brass outraged, Colvin is forced to cease his actions, accept a demotion, and retire from the department on a lower-grade pension.
Dennis "Cutty" Wise, once a drug dealer's enforcer, is released from prison alongside Avon. His struggles to adapt to life as a free man show an attempt at personal reform. Cutty tries to work as a manual laborer and then flirts with his former life, going to work for Avon. Finding he no longer has the heart for murder, he eventually uses funding from Avon to set up a boxing gym for neighborhood youths.
The detail learns that Stringer has been buying real estate and developing it in order to fulfill his dream of being a successful legitimate businessman. However, his lack of experience in the field leads to failure, so he reluctantly refocuses on the drug trade. Believing that the bloody turf war with Marlo is poised to destroy everything the Barksdale crew had worked for, Stringer gives Major Colvin information on Avon's weapons stash. But Stringer is himself being betrayed by Avon: Brother Mouzone had returned to Baltimore and tracked down Omar to join forces. Mouzone tells Avon that his shooting must be avenged. Avon, still furious over D'Angelo's murder (Stringer having finally confessed the truth), and fearing Mouzone's wrath, informs Mouzone of Bell's upcoming visit to his construction site. There, Mouzone and Omar corner him and shoot him to death.
Colvin tells McNulty about Avon's hideout, and armed with the information gleaned from selling the Barksdale crew pre-wiretapped disposable cellphones, the detail stages a raid, arresting Avon and most of his underlings. Barksdale's criminal empire lies in ruins, and Marlo's young crew simply moves into their territory. Thus the drug trade in West Baltimore continues with little change.
[edit] Season 4
On September 10, 2006, The Wire returned for a fourth season, expanding its scope again to include an examination of the school system. Other major plots include the mayoral race that continues the political storyline begun in season three, and a closer look at Marlo Stanfield's drug gang, which has grown to control most of western Baltimore's trafficking.
The show introduces Dukie, Randy, Michael, and Namond, four boys from West Baltimore, as they enter the eighth grade. At the same school, Prez has begun a new career as a math teacher. Despite mentorship from the more seasoned faculty, Prez has difficulties maintaining order and keeping his students focused in the chaotic and sometimes violent classroom. Namond, and later Michael, work as drugrunners for Bodie, who has had middling success selling Proposition Joe's product independently.
The cold-blooded Marlo has come to dominate the streets of the west side, using murder and intimidation to make up for his weak-quality drugs and lack of business acumen. His enforcers Chris Partlow and Snoop leave their victims in boarded-up row houses, causing frustration for both the major crimes unit investigating Marlo and the homicide unit assigned to the murders. Marlo coerces Bodie into working under him, and attempts to bring Michael into the organization as well.
Daniels, now a major commanding the Western District, has offered promotions to McNulty, but McNulty has found peace working as a patrolman and living with Beadie Russell. Detectives Kima Greggs and Lester Freamon, as part of the major crimes unit, investigate Avon Barksdale's political donations and serve several key figures with subpoenas. Their work is shut down by Commissioner Ervin Burrell at Mayor Clarence Royce's request, and after being placed under stricter supervision within their unit, both Greggs and Freamon request and receive transfer to the homicide division.
Meanwhile, the city's mayoral primary race enters its closing weeks. Royce initially has a seemingly insurmountable lead over challengers Tommy Carcetti and Tony Gray, with a big war chest and major endorsements. Royce's lead begins to fray, however, as his own political machinations turn against him and Carcetti starts to highlight the city's crime problem. This propels Carcetti to victory in the primary, and he easily wins the general election to become Baltimore's new mayor. Carcetti's desire to reduce crime leads him to restrict Burrell's duties and promote the more competent Daniels, whom he intends on later appointing Commissioner.
Other familiar characters become involved in the same middle school where Prez works. Bubbles takes a homeless teenager named Sherrod under his wing, and encourages the boy to attend class. Howard "Bunny" Colvin joins a research group attempting to study potential future criminals while they are still young. Dennis "Cutty" Wise continues to work with boys in his boxing gym, and accepts a job at the school rounding up truants.
Prez has some small successes with his students, but some of them start to slip away. Disruptive Namond is removed from class and placed in the research group, where he gradually develops affection and respect for Colvin. Randy reveals to the assistant principal knowledge of a murder in a moment of desperation, leading to his being interrogated by police and thereafter labeled a "snitch" by his classmates. Michael is unresponsive to the adults around him, including Prez, Cutty, and Bodie, who all see promise in him. When Michael feels he must make his hated stepfather leave home in order to protect his little brother, he calls on Marlo, the only authority figure whom he thinks he can trust. Snoop and Partlow thus kill the boy's stepfather.
[edit] Season 5
HBO announced September 12th, 2006 that they have commissioned a fifth and final season, ordering 13 episodes. David Simon indicated in a recent interview he pitched an idea to HBO executives about the fifth season to revolve around the media.<ref name="B&C">John M. Higgins (2006). HBO Renews The Wire. Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved on 2006-09-13.</ref>
[edit] Critical response
The first season received positive reviews from critics,<ref name="TCA">Television Critics Association Introduces 2003 Award Nominees. Television Critics Association. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref><ref>The Wire: The Complete First Season. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref> some calling it superior to HBO's better-known "flagship" drama series such as The Sopranos and Six Feet Under.<ref>Alan Sepinwall. "Taut 'Wire' has real strength.", Newark Star-Ledger, 2006-08-06, p. 1.</ref><ref>Aaron Barnhart (2006). 'The Wire' aims higher: TV's finest hour is back. Kansas City Star. Retrieved on 2006-10-01.</ref><ref>Leslie Ryan (2003). Tapping The Wire; HBO Police Drama Tops TelevisionWeek's Semiannual Critics Poll List. Television Week. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> One reviewer felt that the show was partially a retread of themes from HBO and David Simon's earlier works but still valuable viewing and described the series as particularly resonant because it parallels the war on terror through the chronicling of the war on drugs.<ref name="BP1">Robert David Sullivan (2002). Slow Hand. Boston Phoenix. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> A more measured review postulated that the series might suffer because of its reliance on profanity and slowly drawn-out plot, but was largely positive about the show's characters and intrigue.<ref name="TMD">Todd Weiser (2002). New HBO series The Wire taps into summer programming. The Michigan Daily. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref>
Despite the critical acclaim, The Wire has received poor Nielsen Ratings, which Simon attributes to the complexity of the plot, a poor time slot, and heavy use of esoteric slang, particularly among the gangster characters.<ref>David Simon (2004). Ask The Wire: David Simon. HBO. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref> Critics felt the show was testing the attention span of its audience and felt that it was mistimed in the wake of the launch of the successful crime drama The Shield on FX.<ref name="BP1" /> However, anticipation for a release of the first season on DVD was high at Entertainment Weekly.<ref>DVD Request of the Week. Entertainment Weekly (2003). Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref>
The Guardian described the second season as even more powerful than the first and praised it for deconstructing the show's central foundations with a willingness to explore new areas.<ref name="TG2">Jim Shelley (2005). Call The Cops. The Guardian Unlimited. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.</ref> One reviewer with the Boston Phoenix felt that the subculture of the docks failed to come to life as well as that of the housing projects. However, the review continued to praise the writers for creating a realistic world and the array of interesting characters presented in it.<ref>Jon Garelick (2004). "A man must have a code"—listening in on The Wire.. Boston Phoenix. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.</ref>
At the close of the third season, The Wire still struggled to maintain its ratings and the show faced possible cancellation.<ref>Dana Stevens (2004). Moyers Says "Ciao" to Now, but HBO had better not retire The Wire.. Slate Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-07-25.</ref> Creator David Simon blamed the show's low ratings in part on its competition against Desperate Housewives and worried that expectations for HBO dramas had changed following the success of The Sopranos.<ref name="NYD">Marisa Guthrie (2004). The Wire fears HBO may snip it. New York Daily News. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> The critical response to the third season remained positive. Entertainment Weekly named The Wire the best show of 2004, describing it as "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV." They credited the complexity of the show for its poor ratings.<ref name="EWB" /> The Baltimore City Paper was so concerned that the show might be cancelled that they published a list of ten reasons to keep it on the air, including strong characterization, Omar Little, an unabashedly honest representation of real world problems, and its unique status as "broadcast literature." They also worried that the loss of the show would have a negative impact on Baltimore's economy.<ref>Brent McCabe, Van Smith (2005). Down To The Wire: Top 10 Reasons Not To Cancel The Wire.. Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref>
As the fourth season was poised to begin, almost two years after the previous season's end, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle wrote that The Wire "has tackled the drug war in this country as it simultaneously explores race, poverty and 'the death of the American working class,' the failure of political systems to help the people they serve and the tyranny of lost hope. Few series in the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none — not one — has done it as well."<ref>Tim Goodman (2006). Yes, HBO's 'Wire' is challenging. It's also a masterpiece.. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref> Meanwhile, The New York Times called the fourth season of The Wire "its best season yet."<ref>Virginia Heffernan (2006). Higher Learning in the Drug Trade for Four Baltimore Students. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2006-11-30.</ref> Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times was more reserved in his praise, calling it the "most ambitious" show on television, but faulting it for its complexity and the slow development of the plotline.<ref>Doug Elfman (2006). It's not easy to tap into 'The Wire'.. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref> The Los Angeles Times took the rare step of devoting an editorial to the show, stating that "even in what is generally acknowledged to be a something of a golden era for thoughtful and entertaining dramas — both on cable channels and on network TV — The Wire stands out."<ref>Los Angeles Times (2006). High 'Wire' Act. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2006-09-06.</ref> The website Metacritic, which gathers reviews from published news sources and translates them into a percentage score, has assigned to The Wire's fourth season a weighted average score of 98%, the highest for any television show since Metacritic began tracking them in 2005.<ref>Metacritic (2006). Wire, The (HBO) - Reviews from Metacritic. Retrieved on 2006-09-16.</ref>
[edit] Awards
| Status | Year | Award | For |
|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | 2002 | TIME Magazine's Best/Worst List | Top Television Show<ref name="TIM" /> |
| Winner | 2003 | Peabody Award<ref>George Foster Peabody Award Winners. University of Georgia. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref> | N/A |
| Winner | 2003 | American Film Institute Award | Television Program of the Year<ref>AFI Awards 2003: Television Programs of the Year. American Film Institute. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref> |
| Nominee | 2003 | Edgar Award | Best Television Episode |
| Nominee | 2003 | Television Critics Association | Program of the Year<ref name="TCA" /> |
| Nominee | 2003 | Television Critics Association | Outstanding New Program<ref name="TCA" /> |
| Nominee | 2003 | Television Critics Association | Outstanding Achievement in Drama<ref name="TCA" /> |
| Winner | 2004 | ASCAP Award | Film & Music TV Award |
| Nominee | 2004 | Television Critics Association | Outstanding Achievement in Drama<ref>Television Critics Association Introduces 2004 Award Nominees. Television Critics Association. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref> |
| Voted | 2005 | Broadcasting & Cable Critics Poll | Best Drama |
| Nominee | 2005 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series<ref>Emmy Awards: TV Drama Nominations (cached). Emmy Awards Online. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref> |
[edit] Production
[edit] Casting
The casting of the show has been praised for avoiding big-name stars and providing actors who appear natural in their roles.<ref name="SMG">Chris Barsanti (2004). Totally Wired. Slant Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.</ref> The looks of the cast as a whole have been described as defying TV expectations by presenting a true range of humanity on screen.<ref name="NPR">Bill Wyman. The Wire The Complete Second Season. NPR. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref>
The initial cast was put together through a process of auditions and readings. Lance Reddick received the role of Cedric Daniels after auditioning for several other parts.<ref name="HT1">Joel Murphy (2005). One on one with... Lance Reddick. Hobo Trashcan. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref> Michael K. Williams got the part of Omar Little after only a single audition, although the character was originally slated to appear in just seven episodes before dying.<ref>Joel Murphy (2005). One on One With Michael K. Williams. Hobo Trashcan. Retrieved on 2006-08-04.</ref>
Several prominent real-life Baltimore figures, including Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., Rev. Frank M. Reid III, former police chief Ed Norris, and former mayor Kurt Schmoke have appeared in minor roles despite not being professional actors.<ref name="BSU">David Zurawik. "Local figures, riveting drama put The Wire in a class by itself", The Baltimore Sun, 2006-07-12, p. 1E.</ref> "Little Melvin" Williams, a Baltimore drug lord arrested in the 1980s by an investigation that Ed Burns had been part of, has had a recurring role as a deacon since the third season. Jay Landsman, a longtime police officer who inspired the character of the same name, has played Lt. Dennis Mello in several episodes.
[edit] Crew
Besides creator David Simon, much of the creative team behind The Wire are alumni of Homicide as well as HBO's prison drama Oz and Emmy-winning miniseries The Corner. Stories for the show are often co-written by Ed Burns, a former Baltimore homicide detective and public school teacher who has worked with David Simon on other projects including The Corner. Another The Corner veteran, Robert F. Colesberry, was executive producer for the first two seasons and directed the season 2 finale before passing away due to complications from heart surgery in 2004. He is credited by the rest of the creative team as having a large creative role for a producer, and Simon credits him for achieving the show's realistic visual feel.<ref name="TAR" /> He also had a small recurring role as Detective Ray Cole.
Writers for The Wire include three acclaimed crime fiction writers from outside of Baltimore: George P. Pelecanos from Washington, Richard Price from the Bronx and Dennis Lehane from Boston.<ref name="SLN" /> Reviewers drew comparisons between Richard Price's works (particularly Clockers) and The Wire even before he joined.<ref name="AMZ">Jeff Shannon. The Wire Complete First Season on DVD. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> In addition to writing, Pelecanos served as a producer for seasons 2 and 3. Staff writer Rafael Alvarez penned several episodes' scripts, as well as the series guidebook The Wire: Truth Be Told. Alvarez is a colleague of Simon's from The Sun and a Baltimore native with working experience in the port area. Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco Kecken, has also written for the show in each of its 3 seasons.<ref>Alvarez 10.</ref>
Directors include Homicide alumnus Clark Johnson,<ref name="TMD">Todd Weiser (2002). New HBO series The Wire taps into summer programming. The Michigan Daily. Retrieved on 2006-07-19.</ref> who directed several acclaimed episodes of The Shield,<ref name="TG2" /> and Tim Van Patten, an Emmy winner who has worked on every season of The Sopranos. The directing has been praised for its uncomplicated and subtle style.<ref name="SMG" />
[edit] Episode structure
When broadcast on HBO and on some international networks, the episodes are preceded by a recap of events that have a bearing upon the upcoming narrative, using clips from previous episodes. Each episode begins with a cold open that seldom contains a dramatic juncture. The screen then fades to black while the intro music fades in. The show's intro sequence then plays, a series of shots concerning the show's subject matter that changes from season to season, separated by fast jump cuts (a technique rarely used in the show itself). The opening credits are superimposed on the sequence, and consist only of actors' names without identifying which actors play which roles. At the end of the sequence, a quotation that will be spoken by a character during the episode is shown on-screen. Progressive story arcs often unfold in different locations at the same time. Episodes rarely end with a cliffhanger, and normally close with a fade to black and the closing music fading in. During season finales, a song is played before the closing scene in a montage showing the major characters' lives continuing in the aftermath of the narrative.
[edit] Music
Audio samples of The Wire (media help)
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The Wire is unique in utilizing almost only diegetic music; that is, all music must emanate from a source within the scene.<ref>Alvarez 239-242.</ref> For example, police bars play Irish music, while the street gangs play gangsta rap in their cars. This rule is occasionally breached, notably for the season-ending montages.<ref name="MUS">On The Corner: After Three Seasons Shaping The Wire's Background Music, Blake Leyh Mines Homegrown Sounds For Season Four. Baltimore City Paper (2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-23.</ref>
The opening theme is "Way Down In The Hole," a gospel-and-blues-inspired song originally written by Tom Waits for his 1987 album Franks Wild Years. Each season uses a different recording of it against a different opening sequence, with the theme being performed, in order, by The Blind Boys of Alabama, Waits, and The Neville Brothers. Season four's version of "Way Down In The Hole" was arranged and recorded specifically for the show, and is performed by a group called "DoMaJe", made up of five Baltimore teenagers: Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown, Tariq Al-Sabir, and Avery Bargasse.<ref name="MUS2">"The Wire" on HBO: Play Or Get Played, Exclusive Q&A With David Simon (page 16) (2006). Retrieved on 2006-09-30.</ref> The closing theme is "The Fall," composed by Blake Leyh, who is also the show's music supervisor.
[edit] Broadcasters
- See also: List of The Wire episodes
HBO aired the first three seasons of the show in 2002, 2003, and 2004, respectively. New episodes were shown once a week, occasionally skipping one or two weeks in favor of other programming. The fourth season began on September 10, 2006. However, subscribers to the HBO On Demand service will be able to see each episode of the season six days earlier.<ref>The Wire, Def Comedy Jam Set For On-Demand Premieres. World Screen News (2006). Retrieved on 2006-07-22.</ref>
In the United Kingdom, the show has been broadcast on FX. In Ireland, the show is broadcast on TG4. In Australia, the show has been broadcast on the free-to-air Nine Network and is currently broadcast on the cable television channel FOX8. It also airs in France, under the title Sur écoute ("wiretapped") on the pay channel Jimmy. The Polish channel TVN shows the series under the name Prawo ulicy ("law of the street"). The Swedish public service network SVT has shown the first three seasons of the series. In Israel, the show is broadcast on the Xtra Hot channel, under the name HaSmuya (הסמויה - The Covert [Unit]). The show airs in Canada, on The Movie Network and Movie Central channels. In Finland the series is shown on Subtv and MTV3 channels under name Langalla ("On the wire").
The Wire will also be shown on BET starting in January 2007.
[edit] DVD release
| Season | Release Date | Additional Information |
|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | October 12, 2004 | The DVD boxset included all 13 episodes of the first season along with 3 audio commentaries on episodes by David Simon, George P. Pelecanos and Clark Johnson.<ref name="AMZ" /> |
| Season 2 | January 25, 2005 | The DVD boxset included all 12 episodes of the second season along with 2 audio commentaries. One commentary featured actors Dominic West and Michael K. Williams while the other focused on the contribution of the late producer Robert F. Colesberry, featured executive producer Karen Thorson and editor Thom Zimny.<ref name="AM2">Jeff Shannon. The Wire Complete Second Season on DVD. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-21.</ref> |
| Season 3 | August 8 2006 | The DVD boxset included all 12 episodes of the third season along with 5 audio commentaries. There are also 2 featurettes, Season 1 and 2 recaps and promotional spots.<ref>The Wire Complete Third Season on DVD. Amazon.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-22.</ref> |
The first two seasons have also been released on DVD outside the U.S., including in the United Kingdom, Ireland, mainland Europe and Australia. All three seasons have been released on DVD in Canada.
The DVD sets have been favorably received, though some critics have faulted them for a lack of special features.<ref name="SMG" /><ref name="NPR" /><ref>Jason Clark (2006). The Wire: The Complete Third Season. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2006-08-01.</ref><ref>James Poniewozik. "5 stellar series to catch up with on DVD", TIME, 2006-08-14, p. 72.</ref>
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- The Wire — Official HBO website
- Gang and Drug-Related Homicide: Baltimore's Successful Enforcement Strategy — Ed Burns discusses some of the investigations and individuals which inspired The Wire.
- Ten Thousand Bullets — an interview with George P. Pelecanos.
- George Pelecanos on The Wire and D.C. pulp fiction — A supplement to "Ten Thousand Bullets."
