Sunday, March 9th 2008 my favorite television show of all time, "The Wire", came to an end... an ending I must say was satisfying to me. All of the loose ends were tied up and as the old characters retired, went off to jail, or got promoted, you got to see a new generation of detectives, lawyers, and drug dealers coming up. You also got to see the overall message that nothing ever changes and that the system/game is rigged to where nothing can change.
When the show first premiered in the summer of 2002, I watched it (my wife says I will watch anything on HBO) thinking it was just another "cop show". I had watched 'em all... "Law & Order", "Law & Order Special Victims Unit", "Homicide: Life on the Street", Crime Story, Miami Vice, etc. In the first few minutes, it had all of the cliches' of every cop show or movie you've ever seen... an alcoholic maverick detective, Jimmy McNulty, and his black, portly even tempered partner, William "Bunk" Morleland", who solved murders.
Herein lies the rub... we are introduced to the "villians" who you suddenly realize are not all "bad" and are not going to be captured in an hour or even the next hour. You meet D'Angelo Barksdale, a drug dealer with a conscience, who is not sure he wants to be in the "game" but, does so because everybody in the family is involved in the business... his uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale, and his uncle's childhood buddy, Russell "Stringer" Bell, another drug dealer who is not a stereotype. He goes to college, takes business classes, and wants to leave the business one day and go legit.
No other cop show ever showed both the "good guys" and the "bad guys" in such a multi-dimensional light. You soon learn that "good guy" Jimmy McNulty is a great detective but, a functioning alcoholic and a cheating husband... just like "bad guy" Avon Barksdale is a devoted family man of sorts. It was then that I realized I was on to something different here... heros that were flawed and "villians" who, if they were involved in something other than crime, I might actually like as people.
The Wire was also a political show... an angry show... that dealt with what really causes crime, the lack of jobs, sub-standard education, and a political system that can no longer support the people it says it represents. It got all of it pretty accurate. I looked at the fictional city portrayed in this show and felt like I was looking at Philadelphia. They also dealt with the fact that the media is more interested in publicizing the sensational than getting to the bottom of issues that are really important. How many times do you want to read about the color of Britney Spear's panties today? Wouldn't you rather know why your gas is so high? Why you can't afford to drive to the job you're about to lose so, you can try to pay for the house you can no longer afford to live in?
The Wire was more than just an average "cop show". It got it right, it got to the core, and it made you care about all of the characters... cops, lawyers, politicians, drug dealors, stick up boys, and junkies as though you knew them. So, Jimmy McNulty, Lester Freemon, Bunk, Kima, Avon, String, Marlo, Omar, Bubbles, Prop Joe, Snoop, and everybody else... I salute you. Thanks for a wonderful ride. There will never be another show this truthful on TV. I am so gonna miss you guys!!!
When the show first premiered in the summer of 2002, I watched it (my wife says I will watch anything on HBO) thinking it was just another "cop show". I had watched 'em all... "Law & Order", "Law & Order Special Victims Unit", "Homicide: Life on the Street", Crime Story, Miami Vice, etc. In the first few minutes, it had all of the cliches' of every cop show or movie you've ever seen... an alcoholic maverick detective, Jimmy McNulty, and his black, portly even tempered partner, William "Bunk" Morleland", who solved murders.
Herein lies the rub... we are introduced to the "villians" who you suddenly realize are not all "bad" and are not going to be captured in an hour or even the next hour. You meet D'Angelo Barksdale, a drug dealer with a conscience, who is not sure he wants to be in the "game" but, does so because everybody in the family is involved in the business... his uncle, drug kingpin Avon Barksdale, and his uncle's childhood buddy, Russell "Stringer" Bell, another drug dealer who is not a stereotype. He goes to college, takes business classes, and wants to leave the business one day and go legit.
No other cop show ever showed both the "good guys" and the "bad guys" in such a multi-dimensional light. You soon learn that "good guy" Jimmy McNulty is a great detective but, a functioning alcoholic and a cheating husband... just like "bad guy" Avon Barksdale is a devoted family man of sorts. It was then that I realized I was on to something different here... heros that were flawed and "villians" who, if they were involved in something other than crime, I might actually like as people.
The Wire was also a political show... an angry show... that dealt with what really causes crime, the lack of jobs, sub-standard education, and a political system that can no longer support the people it says it represents. It got all of it pretty accurate. I looked at the fictional city portrayed in this show and felt like I was looking at Philadelphia. They also dealt with the fact that the media is more interested in publicizing the sensational than getting to the bottom of issues that are really important. How many times do you want to read about the color of Britney Spear's panties today? Wouldn't you rather know why your gas is so high? Why you can't afford to drive to the job you're about to lose so, you can try to pay for the house you can no longer afford to live in?
The Wire was more than just an average "cop show". It got it right, it got to the core, and it made you care about all of the characters... cops, lawyers, politicians, drug dealors, stick up boys, and junkies as though you knew them. So, Jimmy McNulty, Lester Freemon, Bunk, Kima, Avon, String, Marlo, Omar, Bubbles, Prop Joe, Snoop, and everybody else... I salute you. Thanks for a wonderful ride. There will never be another show this truthful on TV. I am so gonna miss you guys!!!
1 comment:
All those Cock Robbin stories have paid off! You are an excellent writer. I truly enjoyed reading your thoughts on The Wire. I liked the show for all the reasons you stated and I thought Stringer Bell was "too cute." I looking for that Clay Davis now for doing String sooo bad. Your right too about our political system. Perhaps in my old age I've become cynical but I think there is a malicious, racist plan afoot.
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