Ever since the cable channel's debut, HBO has been considered a destination for prestige television and there are few series' more emblematic of this than The Wire. Television has entered a golden age and there are countless groundbreaking dramas that compete for the audience's attention. David Simon's The Wire is nearly two decades old, yet it's still viewed as a high mark for HBO's programming and the modern television drama.
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The Wire utilizes David Simon's real-life experience to craft a meticulous crime drama that doesn't just focus on Baltimore's overwhelming drug trade, but on Baltimore itself and its changing stability. Each season of The Wire focuses on a different pillar of Baltimore, which culminates in an intricate series that still generates endless discussion over which of its seasons is the best.
Updated September 10, 2022 by Daniel Kurland: It's been several decades since The Wire ended, yet it's still routinely held up as the gold standard of dramatic television and how to effectively build a realistic world over time. HBO has certainly had bigger dramas since Game of Thrones, but few have captured the patience, nuance, and character development of this mosaic of a television series. HBO may never top The Wire, but it's a series that still invites plenty of debates over which season is its best.
The Wire deserves tremendous respect for the atypical approach that it takes to each of its seasons. Every new year of the series tackles a different fixture of Baltimore's community, while it continues to explore the existing pieces of the puzzle that have already been set up. This structure is at its most jarring in season two when the audience isn't yet familiar with the growing scope of the series. Season two initially feels like a very different show, but it's supposed to create this dissonance to emphasize the isolation and distance that McNulty feels as he's shipped off to the marine unit. An engrossing story is told through Baltimore's dock workers and characters like Ziggy and the struggling Sobotka family become the heart of the season.
Season two takes some time to get moving and it creates curious tension as McNulty longs to reunite with his old team, especially while the Barksdale Organization begins to regroup and look towards the future. Season two is definitely The Wire's dark horse season, but still phenomenal television that's an indispensable chapter in the series' saga.
There are an abundance of crime dramas and this was just as true when The Wire first debuted back in 2002. The methodical drama expands upon the themes and ideas that David Simon previously explored in the foundational series, Homicide: Life on the Street. The wire narrows its focus on Baltimore, specifically with a rag-tag police unit that focuses their efforts on a growing drug trafficking enterprise.
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The Wire doesn't spoon-feed its audience and it explores a wealth of characters on both sides of the law. The initial pacing in the first season may seem too plodding, but it's essential to establish the meticulous perspective that The Wire applies to not just police procedure, but also the intricacies of the drug trade.
The takedown of the Barksdale Organization culminates in a thrilling fashion, but The Wire's first season is just as satisfying when it comes to the introduction of its phenomenal cast. McNulty, Greggs, Daniels, and Bunk all feel real and like breaths of fresh air from the sanitized cops that typically fill police procedurals.
The final season of The Wire extends the series' growing point of view to Baltimore's newspaper industry and how journalism feeds into the perception of crime. Simon has extensive experience in journalism, but this new tangent feels the most ancillary out of any of the pivots that the series takes, even if it still has plenty to say on the matter.
Season five of The Wire is by no means poor television, but it's also largely considered to be a step backwards from what the other seasons have to say. Season five's positive reception on IMDb has more to do with how it's the series' shortest season at only 10 episodes as opposed to the 12- and 13-episode seasons for the rest of the run.
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Despite its misgivings, season five of The Wire still goes out on top with a perfect series finale that ties together five seasons of themes and shows that Baltimore's destructive cycle is destined to repeat itself. The fabricated serial killer storyline that McNulty and Freeman get themselves into is The Wire at its sloppiest, but it's still a decision that makes sense in the context of the series.
There are growing pains present throughout The Wire's second season, albeit ones that are necessary to arrive at the phenomenal season three. McNulty's eventual reunion with the Baltimore Police Department and the familiar faces from season one is incredibly cathartic and adds a renewed sense of urgency to the drug trade epidemic in season three. The police department feels prepared, but a thrilling, violent turf war develops between the Barksdale Organization and the fresh blood assembled by Marlo Stanfield's crew.
The conflict between these two drug organizations, as well as the introduction of the autonomous zone, "Hamsterdam," are The Wire at its best. However, season three also dips its toes into politics as Tommy Carcetti eyes power through the mayoral election. He boldly promises plans of reformation to the damaged city. Season three ties together so many threads from the first two seasons and picks up the pacing.
The Wire sets an impressive precedent in season three, but the unexpected decision to unpack Baltimore's underfunded educational system turns out to be the gift that keeps on giving. The season's unflinching look at the volatile schools in Baltimore is enlightening, but the material hits even harder since it takes Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, who was a punchline as a police officer, and turns him into an empathetic educator who becomes a strong audience surrogate.
It's inspiring to see Prez find his calling and attempt to reform this new institution only to learn that it faces just as many frustrating bureaucratic setbacks as Baltimore's police department or mayoral office. The eye-opening look at education is season four's centerpiece, but the episodes also chronicle the Stanfield Organization's dominance of the drug trade and Mayor Carcetti's difficulty to stay on top of it all.
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