Product Description
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In the projects. On the docks. In City Hall. In the schools. In
the media. The places and faces have changed, but the game
remains the same.
Review
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The Wire: The Complete First Season
After one episode of The Wire you'll be hooked. After three,
you'll be astonished by the precision of its storytelling. After
viewing all 13 episodes of the HBO series' remarkable first
season, you'll be cheering a bona-fide American masterpiece.
Series creator David Simon was a veteran crime reporter from The
Baltimore Sun who cowrote the book
( http://www..com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0804109990/$%7B0%7D ) that
inspired TV's Homicide ( http://www..com/b/?node=13745601 ), and
cowriter Ed Burns was a Baltimore cop, lending impeccable
street-cred to an inner-city Baltimore saga (and companion piece
to The Corner
( http://www..com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00009ATJZ/$%7B0%7D )) that
Simon aptly describes as "a visual novel" and "a treatise on
institutions and individuals" as sed to a conventional
good-vs.-evil procedural. Owing a creative debt to the
novels of Richard Price (especially Clockers), the series opens
as maverick Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West, in a
star-making role) is tapping into a vast network of drugs and
death around southwest Baltimore's deteriorating housing
projects. With a mandate to get results ASAP, a haphazard team is
assembled to join McNulty's increasingly complex investigation,
built upon countless hours of electronic surveillance.
The show's split-perspective plotting is so richly layered, so
breathtakingly authentic and based on finely drawn characters
brought to life by a perfect ensemble cast, that it defies
concise description. Simon, Burns, and their cowriters control
every intricate aspect of the unfolding epic; directors are
top-drawer (including Clark Johnson, helmer of The Shield's
finest episodes), but they are servants to the story, resulting
in a TV series like no other: unpredictable, complicated, and
demanding the viewer's rapt attention, The Wire is "an angry
show" (in Simon's words) that refuses to comfort with easy
answers to deep-rooted societal problems. Moral gray zones
proliferate in a universe where ruthless killers have a logical
code, and where the cops are just as ambiguous as their targets.
That ambiguity extends to the ending as well; season 1 leaves
several issues unresolved, leaving you begging for the even more
impressive developments that await in season 2. --Jeff Shannon
The Wire: The Complete Second Season
It hardly seems possible, but The Wire's second season is even
better than the first
( http://www..com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002ERXC2/$%7B0%7D ). The
"visual novel" concept of this masterful HBO series is taken even
further in a rich, labyrinthine plot revolving around the
longshoremen of Baltimore's struggling cargo docks, where
corruption, smuggling, and murder draw the attention of detective
McNulty (Dominic West). What follows is a series of events which
at first seem unrelated (including 13 bodies found in a cargo
container), and then the ongoing effort to topple the drug empire
of "Stringer" Bell (Idris Elba) and the imprisoned Avon Barksdale
(Wood Harris), whose business is suffering from short supply,
high demand, and disruption of distribution. The dutiful
diligence of a Marine Patrol Officer and the moral outrage
of the longshoremen's union leader are also factored into the
suspicious goings-on at the loading docks, and what unfolds in
these 12 episodes is an American crime epic easily on par with
the Godher saga. Yes, it's that good.
Detailed synopsis is pointless; The Wire must be seen, heard, and
absorbed to fully appreciate the way in which over 40 characters
are flawlessly incorporated into a sprawling but tightly
disciplined plot that deals, in the larger sense, with the
deindustrialization of America and the struggle of longshoremen
in a changing economical climate. Offering a privileged and
occasionally frightening glimpse of the inner workings of
shipping ports and cargo transports, The Wire is also a detailed
exposé of organized crime and blue-collar corruption, and an
authentic, well-informed study of political maneuvering among
and city officials. There's not a single false note to be
found in the cast, direction, or writing of this phenomenal
series, hailed by many critics as "the best show on television."
With all due respect to HBO's other excellent series, The Wire
tops them all. --Jeff Shannon
The Wire: The Complete Third Season
With volatile issues of Baltimore city political reform as its
narrative focus, the third season of The Wire superbly maintains
the series' astonishingly consistent status as the greatest
"novel for television" ever created. While the Baltimore
department's wire-tapping investigations continue to monitor the
intricate and now legitimately fronted drug ring of Russell
"Stringer" Bell (Idris Elba, smooth as ever), detective Jimmy
McNulty (Dominic West) continues his loutish ways, navigating
through a series of shallow sexual conquests while doing some of
the best cop-work of his career. Stringer's ex-convict partner
Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris) is back in the picture and bent on
eliminating a drug-dealing competitor named Marlo (Jamie Hector),
and Baltimore P.D. Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom)
tries his own defiantly independent brand of street justice by
essentially legalizing drugs in "Hamsterdam," where isolated
sections of the city are established as open drug-dealing zones,
utterly without the knowledge or approval of Colvin's superiors.
As city councilman Tommy Carcetti (Aiden Gillen) plots his own
ruthlessly ambitious strategy for the mayor's seat, Baltimore
officials, McNulty's wire unit, and the entire Baltimore P.D.
stand poised for the inevitable fallout from street-level and
executive-level manipulations of power.
Of course, this is just the tip of a very large iceberg, as The
Wire continues its labyrinthine yet tightly controlled chronicle
of over 50 characters, major and minor, who are all flawlessly
woven into the fabric of these 12 remarkable episodes. For season
3, series creator David Simon continued to recruit a top-drawer
lineup of reputable writers (including novelists Richard Price,
Dennis Lehane, and George Pelecanos) and directors (including
Ernest Dickerson, Tim Van Patten, and Agnieszka Holland), and by
the time a major character is killed in the season's penultimate
episode (arguably the series' finest yet), it's clear that The
Wire has earned its crown as the most ambitious and intelligent
crime drama in the history of American television. DVD extras are
excellent, as usual, including five illuminating episode
commentaries (an absolute must for devoted fans of the series), a
Q&A session with cast & crew moderated by renowned TV critic and
author Ken Tucker, and a classroom conversation with Simon that
delves deeper into the creative process of the series. Having
deservedly earned its renewal for a fourth season (out of a
projected five, according to Simon), The Wire delivers surprises
enty (keep a close watch for startling revelations) while
proving, yet again, that cable-TV is the place to be for anyone
seeking respite from the relative mediocrity of mainstream
network programming. --Jeff Shannon
The Wire: The Complete Fourth Season
Even if you missed the first three seasons (the character guides
and thorough episode recaps on HBO's website are recommended),
and with only one season left, it's not too late to get in under
The Wire. In fact, season 4 is an accessible introduction for
those who know The Wire only by its street cred as arguably the
very best show on television. For them especially, this season
will be, as befitting its theme, a real education. Without
resorting to melodramatics that other ratings-challenged series
employ to gain that frustratingly elusive audience, The Wire
shakes things up this season in a way that is true to the series
and its characters. A major character, Dominic West's McNulty,
plays a minor role as a contented street cop and family man,
while a former supporting player, Jim True-Frost's Roland
Pryzbylewski, goes to the head of the class as a new eighth grade
teacher at beleaguered Edward Tilghman Middle School. It may take
a couple of episodes to orient yourself to the Baltimore
backrooms, squad rooms, classrooms, and street corners where The
Wire's intense dramas play out, and new viewers may miss
something in character nuance, but they will easily grasp the big
picture. A politically motivated shake-up sends Major Crimes
detectives Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Greggs (Sonja Sohn) to
Homicide. The gloves come off in the mayoral race between black
incumbent Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman) and idealistic white
challenger Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen). Gang leader Marlo
(Jamie Hector) quietly and deliberately becomes the city's new
drug kingpin, managing to subvert all surveillance efforts.
Meanwhile, while "Prez" tries to reach his students, four highly
at-risk kids will be drawn into the drug trade.
Mere synopsis does not do The Wire justice. The series deftly
juggles its myriad storylines and characters, all of whom make an
impression, from Marlo's cold-blooded enforcers, Snoop (Felicia
Pearson) and Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe), to boxing instructor
"Cutty" (Chad L. Coleman), determined to keep his young charges
off the corners. There is not a false note in the performances or
the writing. Richard Price (Clockers) and Dennis Lehane (Mystic
River) again contributed episodes. That this series has only been
nominated for only one Emmy (for writing) is a travesty. As
engrossing as the finest novels and in a class by itself, this
isn't television; it's The Wire. --Donald Liebenson
The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season
A barroom toast to Det. Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), a one-man
good cop/bad cop, offered in The Wire's final episode could very
well serve as this series' epitaph: "When you were good, you were
the best we had." Season five bears witness to this. The 10
riveting, wrenching episodes focus on yet another beleaguered
Baltimore institution, The Baltimore Sun daily newspaper, whose
staff, much like the , is forced to do more with less. One
editor (Clark Johnson) struggles to maintain the paper's
journalistic standards in the face of declining ad revenues,
employee buyouts and bureau closures. An ambitious reporter (Tom
McCarthy) undermines him by taking a page out of the Stephen
Glass/Jayson Blair playbook, manufacturing sensational quotes,
and eventually, whole stories, while bean-counter management
encourages its rising star and keeps its eye on the (Pulitzer)
prize. Meanwhile, on the streets, the year-long investigation of
rising drug lord Marlo Sansfield (Jamie Hector) and the 22 bodies
found in "the vacants" has been discontinued and morale is
at an all-time low (the money promised to the department has been
diverted to the schools). McNulty manufactures a serial killer
case that will have far-reaching repercussions in the mayor's
office, where Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) is ing a run for
governor a mere two years into his term. "I wonder what it would
be like to work at a real station," McNulty rages at one
point. The Wire, as ever, is all about real. It's a gritty and
unflinching look at life in one of roughest districts of a
"broke-ass city." There is street justice for some characters,
and street injustice for others. Some meet sad, sudden, or
shocking ends that defy TV convention. Referring to Marlo,
McNulty declares early on, "He does not get to win; we get to
win." The hard-earned victories are mostly small, or come with a
price. Not that The Wire does not offer glimmers of hope. Bubbles
(Andre Royo) struggles to maintain his sobriety (Steve Earle
portrays the leader of his 12-step program and also does the
theme song honors this season), and the final episode features a
cameo by Jim True-Frost as the once overwhelmed teacher, "Prez,"
who now seems to have the hang of the job. The ratings-strapped
and criminally Emmy-snubbed The Wire has always been a critic's
darling with a passionate fan base. To the show's credit, it did
not make itself more accessible in its final season
(consequently, its send-off did not receive near the fanfare of
The Sopranos or Sex and the City). That should not dissuade
newcomers to the show. It is heavy lifting, and if you're just
joining The Wire, a visit to the show's official website for
orientation is recommended. But buy it, watch it, and be patient.
It's so worth it. From the masterful storytelling to the peerless
ensemble, it just doesn't get any better than The Wire. But
that's not exactly news. --Donald Liebenson