The Wire is an American television drama set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created, produced, and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series is broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, with 50 episodes airing over the course of its first four seasons. The fifth and final season, which encompasses 10 episodes, premiered on January 6, 2008.
The plot of the first season centers on the ongoing struggles between police units and drug-dealing gangs on the west side of the city, 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] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you’ve committed to.
From the Wikipedia entry on The Wire.
The Wire is a show that is strangely addictive. I really enjoyed how the Barksdale investigation encompassed the first few seasons. This is something that never really happens in TV. The same investigation spanning three seasons? Anyway, the fifth season still uses elements from the first season. I think it’s a great show. I also enjoy how in the fifth season, Simon plans on featuring the media and how it impacts the city.
Warning: Spoilers ahead.
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The show starts out a drug addict named DiDi giving a speech. She tells how deep she went to get her fix. Reggie is there.
They ask him to share as well. He has been clean for 15 months. He can’t about where he is right now.
Lester and Freeman are the only two detectives in the major crimes squad, which was recently disbanded due to budget cuts. The city has to cut everywhere in order to make the schools work.
Chris tells Marlo that the surveillance is down. The heat is off. Snoop is eager to get busy again. Marlo gives them some marching orders.
Reggie’s sponsor is trying to get through to him about letting go of things of his past. Reggie doesn’t want to listen.
McNulty is on Rhonda’s ass for the way that the major crimes squad was disbanded. It’s McNulty’s turn to take a case. He goes down into the parking lot. He tries to get a car. The car he gets has a flat tire. He’s pissed.
Carcetti is getting briefed by his staff. Naresse is making Carcetti look bad. Carcetti is getting ready to run for governor.
McNulty arrives at the scene on a bus. The uniform has trouble believing it.
The Sun wants to write a series on the state of the schools. Scott, the hungry news reporter, gets picked to run point on the story. Scott gets picked once more by another boss to run another story that Gus was thinking of giving someone else.
Lester is busy surveilling someone.
McNulty is waiting for his case to be autopsied. The coroner is backed up. He hears the story of another case, on how it’s not possible to tell if some wounds are post-mortem on a fresh corpse.
Marlo visits Barksdale. He was actually wanted to see Malatov, but Barksdale intervened. Marlo needs the Russian connection to cut out the East side dealers. He wants 100K sent to his sister in order to do business.
Lester meets Jimmy. He says that Marlo is getting sloppy because they know the heat is off. Lester thinks that the case only needs a few weeks and a few bugs in order to break. McNulty says that Daniels can’t even give them that.
Scott’s baseball story is going nowhere.
Bubbles gets a meal from the soup kitchen. A woman has to be warned not to hit her child.
Scott got a good story about a kid in a wheelchair who didn’t have the money to get tickets from scalpers. Gus can’t find anything on the kid. There isn’t any evidence that leads to the story. There isn’t even a photo. Gus wants more. He won’t run the story without anything more. The editor-in-chief says that the story will go on the front page.
McNulty and Lester ask the Feds if they want the Stanfield case. The Feds don’t want the case. It’s something personal. No federal agency will take the case.
Clay Davis is pissed that the indictment will go forward.
Chris and Snoop start doing their work. They hit a corner. Michael is in tow. Chris continues schooling him on being an enforcer. Another soldier is getting killed for badmouthing Marlo. Michael has to watch the back. A kid escapes. He doesn’t shoot him.
Marlo comes to see Barksdale and Malatov again. It has something to get a message to the Greeks.
McNulty is philandering again. He’s hung over and at work. He started drinking on the job as well. Jimmy is dressing up a corpse in order to make it a murder. He wants the time to work on the Stanfield case. Bunk has trouble watching. Bunk leaves. He wants no part of this. McNulty continues to manhandle the corpse. He told Bunk that he wants to plant the illusion of that a serial killer is loose in Baltimore.
Kima is called to the scene where the shooting happened. She finds a boy hidden in a closet.
Reggie asks the soup kitchen operator if he can help out. He says that Reggie can serve the food. Bubs is reluctant but he helps out. Reggie’s sponsor is putting pressure on him to share with the NA group.
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