Now that I’m all caught up on the DVDs, I thought I’d just mention that if you haven’t watched The Wire, HBO’s drama about the effects of the drug trade on the city of Baltimore, you must go out and rent it or buy it immediately. I skipped it when it premiered on HBO way back in 2002, and I’m kind of glad I did, because it afforded me the opportunity to watch the first three seasons over a couple of months.
Is The Wire better than The Sopranos or Deadwood? Maybe. Is it better than everything else I’ve ever seen on television? Definitely.
You can expect that when season five of The Wire begins, there will be extensive blogging on that topic in this space. In the meantime, I’m just hoping that HBO airs season four again or releases it on DVD.
One interesting thing about The Wire is that renewal was always iffy. Season one works as a self-contained story, season two is a story that’s mostly independent of season one, and season three wraps up most of the threads from season one and the final episode of season three could have easily worked as a series finale.
If you do watch the DVDs, be sure to check out the extras as well. Any episode with commentary from series creator David Simon is not to be missed.
The last point I’d make about the show is that it is truly a love letter to the city of Baltimore as it really exists in the eyes of the writers. You can’t watch the show and not fall in love with Baltimore, ugly as it is. It makes me wish someone would write a really good show about Houston, my favorite deeply flawed city.