The Wire

The Wire
The Wire is an American crime drama television series set and produced in
Baltimore, Maryland. Created and primarily written by author and former police The Wire
reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the cable networkHBO in the
United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002, and ended on March 9,
2008, comprising 60 episodes over five seasons.
Each season of The Wire introduces a different institution in the city of

Baltimore and its relationship to law enforcement, while retaining characters and
advancing storylines from previous seasons. The five subjects are, in
chronological order: the illegal drug trade, the seaport system, the city
government and bureaucracy, education and schools, and the print news media.
The large cast consists mainly of actors who are little known for their other Intertitle from season 2
roles, as well as numerous real-life Baltimore and Maryland figures in guest and
Genre Crime drama
recurring roles. Simon has said that despite its framing as a crime drama, the
show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's Serial drama
about how institutions have an effect on individuals. Whether one is a cop, a Created by David Simon
longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, all are ultimately Starring see List of The Wire
compromised and must contend with whatever institution to which they are characters
committed."[1]
Theme Tom Waits
The Wire is lauded for its literary themes, its uncommonly accurate exploration music
of society and politics, and its realistic portrayal of urban life. However during composer
its original run the show received only average ratings and never won any major Opening "Way Down in the Hole"
television awards. Nevertheless it is regarded by many critics as one of the theme by The Blind Boys of
greatest television series of all time.[2] Alabama (season 1)
Tom Waits (season 2)
The Neville Brothers
Contents (season 3)
DoMaJe (season 4)
Production
Conception Steve Earle (season 5)
Casting Ending "The Fall" by Blake Leyh
Crew
theme
Episode structure
Music Country of United States
origin
Style
Realism Original English
Visual novel language(s)
Social commentary
No. of 5
Themes seasons
Institutional dysfunction
Surveillance No. of 60 (list of episodes)
episodes
Cast and characters
Main cast Production
Plot Executive David Simon
Season 1
Season 2 producer(s) Robert F. Colesberry
Season 3
Nina Kostroff Noble
Season 4
Season 5 Producer(s) Karen L. Thorson
Prequel shorts
Ed Burns
Reception
Joe Chappelle
Critical response
Awards George Pelecanos
Academia Eric Overmyer
Broadcasters Location(s) Baltimore, Maryland
Home media releases
Camera Single-camera
See also setup
References
Running 55–60 minutes
Further reading
time 93 minutes (series finale)
External links
Production Blown Deadline
company(s) Productions
Production HBO
Distributor Warner Bros. Television
Conception HBO Enterprises
Simon has stated that he originally set out to create a police drama loosely based Release
on the experiences of his writing partner Ed Burns, a former homicide detective Original HBO
and public school teacher who had worked with Simon on projects including network
The Corner (2000). Burns, when working on protracted investigations of violent
Picture 480i (4:3 SDTV) (original
drug dealers using surveillance technology, had often been frustrated by the
format broadcast)
bureaucracy of the Baltimore Police Department; Simon saw similarities with
his own ordeals as a police reporter forThe Baltimore Sun. 1080p (16:9 HDTV) (2014
remaster)
Simon chose to set the show in Baltimore because of his familiarity with the
Audio Dolby Digital 5.1
city. During his time as a writer and producer for the NBC program Homicide:
format
Life on the Street, based on his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets
(1991), also set in Baltimore, Simon had come into conflict with NBC network Original June 2, 2002 – March 9,
executives who were displeased by the show's pessimism. Simon wanted to release 2008
avoid a repeat of these conflicts and chose to take The Wire to HBO, because of External links
their working relationship from the miniseries The Corner. HBO was initially Website
doubtful about including a police drama in its lineup but agreed to produce the
pilot episode.[3][4] Simon approached the mayor of Baltimore, telling him that he wanted to give a bleak portrayal of certain aspects
of the city; Simon was welcomed to work there again. He hoped the show would change the opinions of some viewers but said that it
was unlikely to affect the issues it portrays.[3]
Casting
The casting of the show has been praised for avoiding big-name stars and using character actors who appear natural in their roles.[5]
The looks of the cast as a whole have been described as defying TV expectations by presenting a true range of humanity on screen.[6]
Most of the cast is African-American, consistent with the demographics ofBaltimore.
The initial cast was assembled through a process of auditions and readings. Lance Reddick received the role of Cedric Daniels after
auditioning for several other parts.[7] Michael K. Williams got the part of Omar Little after only a single audition.[8]
Several prominent real-life Baltimore figures, including former Maryland Governor Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.; Rev. Frank M. Reid III;
former police chief, convicted felon, and radio personality Ed Norris; Virginia Delegate Rob Bell; Baltimore Sun reporter and editor
David Ettlin; Howard County Executive Ken Ulman; and former mayor Kurt Schmoke have appeared in minor roles despite not
being professional actors.[9][10] "Little Melvin" Williams, a Baltimore drug lord arrested in the 1980s by an investigation that Burns
had been part of, had a recurring role as a deacon beginning in the third season.
Jay Landsman, a longtime police officer who inspired
the character of the same name,[11] played Lieutenant Dennis Mello.[12] Baltimore police commander Gary D'Addario served as the
series technical advisor for the first two seasons[13][14] and has a recurring role as prosecutor Gary DiPasquale.[15] Simon shadowed
D'Addario's shift when researching his book Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and both D'Addario and Landsman are subjects
of the book.[16]
More than a dozen cast members previously appeared on HBO's first hour-long drama Oz. J. D. Williams, Seth Gilliam, Lance
Reddick, and Reg E. Cathey were featured in very prominent roles in Oz, while a number of other notable stars of The Wire,
including Wood Harris, Frankie Faison, John Doman, Clarke Peters, Domenick Lombardozzi, Michael Hyatt, Michael Potts, and
Method Man appeared in at least one episode of Oz.[17] Cast members Erik Dellums, Peter Gerety, Clark Johnson, Clayton LeBouef,
Toni Lewis and Callie Thorne also appeared on Homicide: Life on the Street, the earlier and award-winning network television series
also based on Simon's book; Lewis appeared on Oz as well.[18][19][20][21][22] A number of cast members, as well as crew members,
also appeared in the preceding HBO miniseries The Corner including Clarke Peters, Reg E. Cathey, Lance Reddick, Corey Parker
Robinson, Robert F. Chew, Delaney Williams, and Benay Berger.
Crew
Alongside Simon, the show's creator, head writer, showrunner, and executive producer, much of the creative team behind The Wire
were alumni of Homicide and Primetime Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Corner. The Corner veteran, Robert F. Colesberry,
was executive producer for the first two seasons and directed the season 2 finale before dying from complications from heart surgery
in 2004. He is credited by the rest of the creative team as having a large creative role for a producer, and Simon credits him for
achieving the show's realistic visual feel.[1] He also had a small recurring role as Detective Ray Cole.[23] Colesberry's wife Karen L.
Thorson joined him on the production staff.[13] A third producer on The Corner, Nina Kostroff Noble also stayed with the production
staff for The Wire rounding out the initial four-person team.[13] Following Colesberry's death, she became the show's second
executive producer alongside Simon.[24]
Stories for the show were often co-written by Burns, who also became a producer in the show's fourth season.[25] Other writers
include three acclaimed crime fiction writers from outside of Baltimore: George Pelecanos from Washington, Richard Price from the
Bronx and Dennis Lehane from Boston.[26] Reviewers drew comparisons between Price's works (particularly Clockers) and The Wire
even before he joined.[27] In addition to writing, Pelecanos served as a producer for the third season.[28] Pelecanos has commented
that he was attracted to the project because of the opportunity to work with Simon.[28] Staff writer Rafael Alvarez penned several
episodes' scripts, as well as the series guidebook The Wire: Truth Be Told. Alvarez is a colleague of Simon's from The Baltimore Sun
and a Baltimore native with working experience in the port area.[29] Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco, also
wrote for the show in each of its first three seasons.[30] Baltimore Sun writer and political journalist William F. Zorzi joined the
[29]
writing staff in the third season and brought a wealth of experience to the show's examination of Baltimore politics.
Playwright and television writer/producer Eric Overmyer joined the crew of The Wire in the show's fourth season as a consulting
producer and writer.[25] He had also previously worked on Homicide. Overmyer was brought into the full-time production staff to
replace Pelecanos who scaled back his involvement to concentrate on his next book and worked on the fourth season solely as a
writer.[31] Primetime Emmy Award winner, Homicide and The Corner, writer and college friend of Simon, David Mills also joined
the writing staff in the fourth season.[25]
Directors include Homicide alumnus Clark Johnson,[32] who directed several acclaimed episodes of The Shield,[33] and Tim Van
Patten, a Primetime Emmy Award winner who has worked on every season of The Sopranos. The directing has been praised for its
uncomplicated and subtle style.[5] Following the death of Colesberry, director Joe Chappelle joined the production staff as a co-
[34]
executive producer and continued to regularly direct episodes.
Episode structure
Each episode begins with a cold open that seldom contains a dramatic juncture. The screen then fades or cuts to black while the intro
music fades in. The show's opening title sequence then plays; a series of shots, mainly close-ups, concerning the show's subject
matter that changes from season to season, separated by fast cutting (a technique rarely used in the show itself). The opening credits
are superimposed on the sequence, and consist only of actors' names without identifying which actors play which roles. In addition,
actors' faces are rarely seen in the title sequence. At the end of the sequence, a quotation is shown on-screen that is spoken by a
character during the episode. The three exceptions were the first season finale which uses the phrase "All in the game", attributed to
"Traditional West Baltimore", a phrase used frequently throughout all five seasons including that episode; the fourth season finale
which uses words written on boarded up vacant homes attributed to "Baltimore, traditional" and the series finale, which started with a
quote from H. L. Mencken that is shown on a wall at The Baltimore Sun in one scene, neither quote being spoken by a character.
Progressive story arcs often unfold in different locations at the same time. Episodes rarely end with a cliffhanger, and close with a
fade or cut to black with the closing music fading in.
When broadcast on HBO and on some international networks, the episodes are preceded by a recap of events that have a bearing
upon the upcoming narrative, using clips from previous episodes.
Music
Rather than overlaying songs on the soundtrack, or employing a score, The Wire primarily uses pieces of music that emanate from a
source within the scene, such as a jukebox or car radio. This kind of music is known as diegetic or source cue. This practice is rarely
[35]
breached, notably for the end-of-season montages and occasionally with a brief overlap of the closing theme and the final shot.
The opening theme is "Way Down in the Hole," a gospel-and-blues-inspired song, written by Tom Waits for his 1987 album Franks
Wild Years. Each season uses a different recording and a different opening sequence, with the theme being performed by The Blind
Boys of Alabama, Waits, The Neville Brothers, DoMaJe and Steve Earle. The season four version of "Way Down in the Hole" was
arranged and recorded for the show and is performed by five Baltimore teenagers: Ivan Ashford, Markel Steele, Cameron Brown,
Tariq Al-Sabir and Avery Bargasse.[36] Earle, who performed the fifth season version, is also a member of the cast, playing the
recovering drug addictWalon.[37] The closing theme is "The Fall," composed by Blake Leyh, who is also the music supervisor of the
show.
During season finales, a song is played before the closing scene in amontage showing the lives of the protagonists in the aftermath of
the narrative. The first season montage is played over "Step by Step" by Jesse Winchester, the second "I Feel Alright" by Steve Earle,
the third "Fast Train" written by Van Morrison and performed by Solomon Burke, the fourth "I Walk on Gilded Splinters" written by
Dr. John and performed by Paul Weller and the fifth uses an extended version of "Way Down In The Hole" by the Blind Boys of
Alabama, the same version of the song used as the opening theme for the first season. While the songs reflect the mood of the
sequence, their lyrics are usually only loosely tied to the visual shots. In the commentary track to episode 37, "Mission
Accomplished", executive producer David Simon said: "I hate it when somebody purposely tries to have the lyrics match the visual.
It brutalizes the visual in a way to have the lyrics dead on point. ... Yet at the same time it can't be totally off point. It has to glance at
what you're trying to say."[27]
Music by the Celtic punk band The Pogues is used throughout the series. The band's song "The Body of an American," which is
always played at detectives' wakes at Kavanaugh's Bar, occurs in three episodes. In the episode "Dead Soldiers," the song "Sally
MacLennane" can be heard when Bunk and McNulty are drinking on the street outside Kavanaugh's Bar. The song
"Transmetropolitan" is heard in the opening sequence of the episode "Duck and Cover" during season two, where McNulty crashes
his car while drunk.
Two soundtrack albums, called The Wire: And All the Pieces Matter—Five Years of Music from The Wire and Beyond Hamsterdam,
were released on January 8, 2008 on Nonesuch Records.[38] The former features music from all five seasons of the series and the
latter includes local Baltimore artists exclusively.[38]
Style
Realism
The writers strove to create a realistic vision of an American city based on their own experiences. Simon, originally a journalist for
The Baltimore Sun, spent a year researching a Homicide Police Department for his book, Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets,
where he met Burns. Burns served in the Baltimore Police Department for 20 years, and later became a teacher in an inner-city
school. The two of them spent a year researching the drug culture and poverty in Baltimore for their book, The Corner: A Year in the
Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. Their combined experiences were used in many of the storylines ofThe Wire.
Central to the show's aim for realism was the creation of truthful characters. Simon has stated that most of them are composites of
real-life Baltimore figures.[39] For instance, Donnie Andrews served as the main inspiration of Omar Little.[40] Martin O'Malley
served as "one of the inspirations" forTommy Carcetti.[41] The show often cast non-professional actors in minor roles, distinguishing
itself from other television series by showing the "faces and voices of the real city" it depicts.[42] The writing also uses contemporary
[42]
slang to enhance the immersive viewing experience.
In distinguishing the police characters from other television detectives, Simon makes the point that even the best police of The Wire
are motivated not by a desire to protect and serve, but by the intellectual vanity of believing they are smarter than the criminals they
are chasing. However, while many of the police do exhibit altruistic qualities, many officers portrayed on the show are incompetent,
brutal, self-aggrandizing, or hamstrung by bureaucracy and politics. The criminals are not always motivated by profit or a desire to
harm others; many are trapped in their existence and all have human qualities. Even so, The Wire does not minimize or gloss over the
horrific effects of their actions.[1]
The show is realistic in depicting the processes of both police work and criminal activity. There have even been reports of real-life
criminals watching the show to learn how to counter police investigation techniques.[43][44] The fifth season portrayed a working
newsroom at The Baltimore Sun and was described by Brian Lowry of Variety magazine in 2007 as the most realistic portrayal of the
media in film and television.[45]
In a December 2006 Washington Post article, local African-American students said that the show had "hit a nerve" with the black
community, and that they themselves knew real-life counterparts of many of the characters. The article expressed great sadness at the
.[46]
toll drugs and violence are taking on the black community
Visual novel
Many important events occur off-camera and there is no artificial exposition in the form of voice-over or flashbacks, with the
exceptions of two flashbacks – one at the end of the pilot episode that replays a moment from earlier in the same episode and one at
the end of the fourth season finale that shows a short clip of a character tutoring his younger brother earlier in the season. Thus, the
viewer needs to follow every conversation closely to understand the ongoing story arc and the relevance of each character to it.
Salon.com has described the show as novelistic in structure, with a greater depth of writing and plotting than other crime shows.[26]
Each season of The Wire consists of between ten and thirteen episodes which form several multi-layered narratives. Simon chose this
structure with an eye towards long story arcs that draw a viewer in, which then results in a more satisfying payoff. He uses the
metaphor of a visual novel in several interviews,[3][47] describing each episode as a chapter, and has also commented that this allows
[1]
a fuller exploration of the show's themes in time not spent on plot development.
Social commentary
Simon described the second season as "a meditation on the death of work and the betrayal of the American working class ... it is a
deliberate argument that unencumbered capitalismis not a substitute for social policy; that on its own, without a social compact, raw
capitalism is destined to serve the few at the expense of the many."[39] He added that season 3 "reflects on the nature of reform and
reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate against the forces currently
arrayed against individuals." The third season is also an allegory that draws
explicit parallels between the Iraq War and drug prohibition,[39] which in
Simon's view has failed in its aims[44] and has become a war against America's
underclass.[48] This is portrayed by Major Colvin, imparting to Carver his
view that policing has been allowed to become a war and thus will never
succeed in its aims.
Writer Ed Burns, who worked as a public school teacher after retiring from the
Baltimore police force shortly before going to work with Simon, has called
education the theme of the fourth season. Rather than focusing solely on the "Murderland Alley" is both realistically and
school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the bleakly portrayed.
community that are affected by problems outside of their boundaries. Burns
states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that
.[49] Burns and Simon see the theme as
children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for
an opportunity to explore how individuals end up like the show's criminal characters, and to dramatize the notion that hard work is
not always justly rewarded.[50]
Themes
Institutional dysfunction
Simon has identified the organizations featured in the show—the Baltimore Police
Department, City Hall, the Baltimore public school system, the Barksdale drug
trafficking operation, The Baltimore Sun, and the stevedores' union—as comparable
institutions. All are dysfunctional in some way, and the characters are typically
[1] There is also a sentiment
betrayed by the institutions that they accept in their lives.
echoed by a detective in Narcotics—"Shit rolls downhill"—which describes how
superiors, especially in the higher tiers of the Police Department in the series, will Play media
attempt to use subordinates as scapegoats for any major scandals. Simon described Barack Obama and David Simon
the show as "cynical about institutions"[44] while taking a humanistic approach discuss Simon's inspiration forThe
toward its characters.[44] A central theme developed throughout the show is the Wire, including the breakdown of
effective policing in the War on Drugs
struggle between individual desires and subordination to the group's goals.
Surveillance
Central to the structure and plot of the show is the use of electronic surveillance and wiretap technologies by the police—hence the
title The Wire. Salon.com described the title as a metaphor for the viewer's experience: the wiretaps provide the police with access to
a secret world, just as the show does for the viewer.[26] Simon has discussed the use of camera shots of surveillance equipment, or
shots that appear to be taken from the equipment itself, to emphasize the volume of surveillance in modern life and the characters'
need to sift through this information.[1]
Cast and characters

The Wire employs a broad ensemble cast, supplemented by many recurring guest stars who populate the institutions featured in the
show. The majority of the cast is black, which accurately reflects thedemographics of Baltimore.
The show's creators are also willing to kill off major characters, so that viewers cannot assume that a given character will survive
simply because of a starring role or popularity among fans. In response to a question on why a certain character had to die, David
Simon said,
"We are not selling hope, or audience gratification, or cheap victories with this show. The Wire is making an argument
about what institutions—bureaucracies, criminal enterprises, the cultures of addiction, raw capitalism even—do to
[51]
individuals. It is not designed purely as an entertainment. It is, I'm afraid, a somewhat angry show".
Main cast
The major characters of the first season were divided between those on the side of
the law and those involved in drug-related crime. The investigating detail was
launched by the actions of Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), whose
insubordinate tendencies and personal problems played counterpoint to his ability as
a criminal investigator. The detail was led by Lieutenant Cedric Daniels (Lance
Reddick) who faced challenges balancing his career aspirations with his desire to
produce a good case. Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) was a capable lead detective who
faced jealousy from colleagues and worry about the dangers of her job from her
domestic partner. Her investigative work was greatly helped by her confidential
informant, a drug addict known as Bubbles (Andre Royo). Like Greggs, partners
Thomas "Herc" Hauk (Domenick Lombardozzi) and Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam)
were reassigned to the detail from the narcotics unit. The duo's initially violent
nature was eventually subdued as they proved useful in grunt work, and sometimes
served as comic relief for the audience.[26] Rounding out the temporary unit were
detectives Lester Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski (Jim
True-Frost). Though not initially important players in the operation, Freamon proved
Dominic West (pictured here in 2014)
a quietly capable and methodical investigator with a knack for noticing tiny but
starred throughout the series as
important details, and Prez turned out to be a natural at following paper trails and his
Jimmy McNulty.
persistence when dealing with seemingly unbreakable codes paid of
f eventually.
These investigators were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned

with politics and their own careers than the case, Deputy Commissioner Ervin Burrell (Frankie Faison) and Major William Rawls
(John Doman). Assistant state's attorney Rhonda Pearlman (Deirdre Lovejoy) acted as the legal liaison between the detail and the
courthouse and also had a sexual relationship with McNulty. In the homicide division, Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce) was a gifted,
dry-witted, hard-drinking detective partnered with McNulty under Sergeant Jay Landsman (Delaney Williams), the sarcastic, sharp-
tongued squad supervisor. Peter Gerety had a recurring role as Judge Phelan, the official who started the case moving.[26]
On the other side of the investigation was Avon Barksdale's drug empire. The driven, ruthless Barksdale (Wood Harris) was aided by
business-minded Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). Avon's nephew D'Angelo Barksdale (Larry Gilliard Jr.) ran some of his uncle's territory,
but also possessed a guilty conscience, while loyal Wee-Bey Brice (Hassan Johnson) was responsible for multiple homicides carried
out on Avon's orders. Working under D'Angelo were Poot (Tray Chaney), Bodie (J. D. Williams), and Wallace (Michael B. Jordan),
all street-level drug dealers.[26] Wallace was an intelligent but naive youth trapped in the drug trade,[26] and Poot a randy young man
happy to follow rather than lead. Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), a renowned Baltimore stick-up man robbing drug dealers for a
living, was a frequent thorn in the side of the Barksdale clan.
The second season introduced a new group of characters working in the Baltimore port area, including Spiros "Vondas" Vondopoulos
(Paul Ben-Victor), Beadie Russell (Amy Ryan), and Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). Vondas was the underboss of a global smuggling
operation, Russell an inexperienced port authority officer and single mother thrown in at the deep end of a multiple homicide
investigation, and Frank Sobotka a union leader who turned to crime to raise funds to save his union. Also joining the show in season
2 were Nick Sobotka (Pablo Schreiber), Frank's nephew; Ziggy Sobotka (James Ransone), Frank's troubled son; and "The Greek"
(Bill Raymond), Vondas's mysterious boss. As the second season ended, the focus shifted away from the ports, leaving the new
characters behind.
The third season saw several previously recurring characters assuming larger starring roles, including Detective Leander Sydnor
(Corey Parker Robinson), Bodie (J.D. Williams), Omar (Michael K. Williams), Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew), and Major Howard
"Bunny" Colvin (Robert Wisdom). Colvin commanded the Western district where the Barksdale organization operated, and nearing
retirement, he came up with a radical new method of dealing with the drug problem. Proposition Joe, the East Side's cautious drug
kingpin, became more cooperative with theBarksdale Organization. Sydnor, a rising young star in the Police Department in season 1,
returned to the cast as part of the major crimes unit. Bodie had been seen gradually rising in the Barksdale organization since the first
episode; he was born to their trade and showed a fierce aptitude for it. Omar had a vendetta against the Barksdale organization and
gave them all of his lethal attention.
New additions in the third season included Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen), an ambitious city councilman; Mayor Clarence Royce
(Glynn Turman), the incumbent whom Carcetti planned to unseat; Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), leader of an upstart gang seeking
to challenge Avon's dominance; andDennis "Cutty" Wise (Chad Coleman), a newly released convict uncertain of his future.
In the fourth season, four young actors joined the cast: Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems; Maestro Harrell as Randy
Wagstaff; Julito McCullum as Namond Brice; and Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee. The characters are friends from a West Baltimore
middle school. Another newcomer wasNorman Wilson (Reg E. Cathey), Carcetti's deputy campaign manager.
The fifth season saw several actors join the starring cast. Gbenga Akinnagbe returns as the previously recurring Chris Partlow, chief
enforcer of the now dominant Stanfield Organization. Neal Huff reprises his role as Mayoral chief of staff Michael Steintorf having
previously appeared as a guest star at the end of the fourth season. Two other actors also join the starring cast having previously
portrayed their corrupt characters as guest stars—Michael Kostroff as defense attorney Maurice Levy and Isiah Whitlock Jr. as
senator Clay Davis. Crew member Clark Johnson appeared in front of the camera for the first time in the series to play Augustus
Haynes, the principled editor of the city desk of The Baltimore Sun. He is joined in the newsroom by two other new stars; Michelle
Paress and Tom McCarthy play young reporters Alma Gutierrez and Scott Templeton.
Plot
Season 1
The first season introduces two major groups of characters: the Baltimore Police Department and a drug dealing organization run by
the Barksdale family. The season follows the police investigation of the latter over its 13 episodes.
The investigation is triggered when Detective Jimmy McNulty meets privately with Judge Daniel Phelan following the acquittal of
D'Angelo Barksdale for murder after a key witness changes her story. McNulty tells Phelan that the witness has probably been
intimidated by members of a drug trafficking empire run by D'Angelo's uncle,Avon Barksdale, having recognized several faces at the
trial, most notably Avon's second-in-command, Stringer Bell. He also tells Phelan that no one is investigating Barksdale's criminal
activity, which includes a significant portion of the city's drug trade and several unsolved homicides.
Phelan reacts to McNulty's report by complaining to senior Police Department figures, embarrassing them into creating a detail
dedicated to investigating Barksdale. However, owing to the department's dysfunction, the investigation is intended as a façade to
appease the judge. An intradepartmental struggle between the more motivated officers on the detail and their superiors spans the
whole season, with interference by the higher-ups often threatening to ruin the investigation. The detail's commander, Cedric Daniels,
acts as mediator between the two opposing groups of police.
Meanwhile, the organized and cautious Barksdale gang is explored through characters at various levels within it. The organization is
continually antagonized by a stick-up crew led by Omar Little, and the feud leads to several deaths. Throughout, D'Angelo struggles
with his conscience over his life of crime and the people it af
fects.
The police have little success with street-level arrests or with securing informants beyond Bubbles, a well known West Side drug
addict. Eventually the investigation takes the direction of electronic surveillance, with wiretaps and pager clones to infiltrate the
security measures taken by the Barksdale organization. This leads the investigation to areas the commanding officers had hoped to
avoid, including political contributions. When an associate of Avon Barksdale is arrested by State Police and offers to cooperate, the
commanding officers order the detail to undertake a sting operation to wrap up the case. Detective Kima Greggs is seriously hurt in
the operation, triggering an overzealous response from the rest of the department. This causes the detail's targets to suspect that they
are under investigation.
Wallace is murdered by his childhood friends Bodie and Poot, on orders from Stringer Bell, after leaving his "secure" placement with
relatives and returning to Baltimore. D'Angelo Barksdale is eventually arrested transporting a kilo of uncut heroin, and learning of
Wallace's murder, is ready to turn in his uncle and Stringer. However, D'Angelo's mother convinces him to rescind the deal and take
the charges for his family. The detail manages to arrest Avon on a minor charge and gets one of his soldiers, Wee-Bey, to confess to
most of the murders, some of which he did not commit. Stringer escapes prosecution and is left running the Barksdale empire. For the
officers, the consequences of antagonizing their superiors are severe, with Daniels passed over for promotion and McNulty assigned
out of homicide and into the marine unit.
Season 2
The second season, along with its ongoing examination of the drug problem and its effect on the urban poor, examines the plight of
the blue-collar urban working class as exemplified by stevedores in the city port, as some of them get caught up in smuggling drugs
and other contraband inside the shipping containers that pass through their port.[39] In a season-long subplot, the Barksdale
organization continues its drug trafficking despite Avon's imprisonment, with Stringer Bell assuming greater power
.
McNulty harbors a grudge against his former commanders for reassigning him to the marine unit. When thirteen unidentified young
women are found dead in a container at the docks, McNulty successfully makes a spiteful effort to place the murders within the
jurisdiction of his former commander. Meanwhile, police Major Stan Valchek gets into a feud with Polish-American Frank Sobotka, a
leader of the International Brotherhood of Stevedores, a fictional dockers' union, over competing donations to their old neighborhood
church. Valchek demands a detail to investigate Sobotka. Cedric Daniels is interviewed, having been praised by Prez, Major
Valchek's son-in-law, and also because of his work on the Barksdale case. He is eventually selected to lead the detail assigned just to
investigate Sobotka; when the investigation is concluded Daniels is assured he will move up to head a special case unit with
personnel of his choosing.
Life for the blue-collar men of the port is increasingly hard and work is scarce. As union leader, Sobotka has taken it on himself to
reinvigorate the port by lobbying politicians to support much-needed infrastructure improvement initiatives. Lacking the funds
needed for this kind of influence, Sobotka has become involved with a smuggling ring. Around him, his son and nephew also turn to
crime, as they have few other opportunities to earn money. It becomes clear to the Sobotka detail that the dead girls are related to
their investigation, as they were in a container that was supposed to be smuggled through the port. They again use wiretaps to
infiltrate the crime ring and slowly work their way up the chain towardsThe Greek, the mysterious man in charge. But Valchek, upset
that their focus has moved beyond Sobotka, gets the FBI involved. The Greek has a mole inside the FBI and starts severing his ties to
Baltimore when he learns about the investigation.
After a dispute over stolen goods turns violent, Sobotka's son Ziggy is charged with the murder of one of the Greek's underlings.
Sobotka himself is arrested for smuggling; he agrees to work with the detail to help his son, finally seeing his actions as a mistake.
However, the Greek learns about this through his mole inside the FBI and has Sobotka killed. The investigation ends with the
fourteen homicides solved but the perpetrator already dead. Several drug dealers and mid-level smuggling figures tied to the Greek
are arrested, but he and his second-in-command escape uncharged and unidentified. The Major is pleased that Sobotka was arrested;
the case is seen as a success by the commanding of
ficers, but is viewed as a failure by the detail.
Across town, the Barksdale organization continues its business under Stringer while Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale serve prison time.
D'Angelo decides to cut ties to his family after his uncle organizes the deaths of several inmates and blames it on a corrupt guard to
shave time from his sentence. Eventually Stringer covertly orders D'Angelo killed, with the murder staged to look like a suicide.
Avon is unaware of Stringer's duplicity and mourns the loss of his nephew.
Stringer also struggles, having been cut off by Avon's drug suppliers and left with increasingly poor-quality product. He again goes
behind Avon's back, giving up half of Avon's most prized territory to a rival named Proposition Joe in exchange for a share of his
supply. Avon, unaware of the arrangement, assumes that Joe and other dealers are moving into his territory simply because the
Barksdale organization has too few enforcers. He contracts a feared assassin named Brother Mouzone. Stringer deals with this by
tricking his old adversary Omar into believing that Mouzone was responsible for the vicious killing of his partner in their feud in
season one. Seeking revenge, Omar shoots Mouzone but, realizing Stringer has lied to him, calls 9-1-1. Mouzone recovers and leaves
Baltimore, and Stringer (now with Avon's consent) is able to continue his arrangement with Proposition Joe.
Season 3
In the third season, the focus returns to the street and the Barksdale organization.
The scope, however, is expanded to include the city's political scene. A new subplot
is introduced to explore the potential positive effects of de facto "legalizing" the
illegal drug trade, and incidentally prostitution, within the limited boundaries of a
few uninhabited city blocks — referred to as Hamsterdam. The posited benefits, as
in Amsterdam and other European cities, are reduced street crime city-wide and
increased outreach of health and social services to vulnerable people. These are
continuations of stories hinted at earlier.
The demolition of the residential towers that had served as the Barksdale
organization's prime territory pushes their dealers back out onto the streets of
Baltimore. Stringer Bell continues his reform of the organization by cooperating
with other drug lords, sharing with one another territory, product and profits.
Stringer's proposal is met with a curt refusal from Marlo Stanfield, leader of a new,
growing crew. Against Stringer's advice, Avon decides to take Marlo's territory by
force and the two gangs become embroiled in a bitter turf war with multiple deaths.
Omar Little continues to rob the Barksdale organization wherever possible. Working Idris Elba portrays Stringer Bell
with his new boyfriend Dante and two women, he is once more a serious problem.
The violence related to the drug trade makes it an obvious choice of investigation for
Cedric Daniels' permanently established Major Crimes Unit.
Councilman Tommy Carcetti begins to prepare himself for a mayoral race. He manipulates a colleague into running against the
mayor to split the black vote, secures a capable campaign manager and starts making headlines for himself.
Approaching the end of his career, Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin of Baltimore's Western District wants to effect some real change
in the troubled neighborhoods for which he has long been responsible. Without the knowledge of central command, Colvin sets up
areas where police would monitor, but not punish, the drug trade. The police crack down severely on violence in these areas and also
on drug trafficking elsewhere in the city. For many weeks, Colvin's experiment works and crime is reduced in his district. Colvin'
superiors, the media and city politicians eventually find out about the arrangement and the "Hamsterdam" experiment ends. With top
brass outraged, Colvin is forced to cease his actions, accept a demotion and retire from the Police Department on a lower-grade
pension. Tommy Carcetti uses the scandal to make a grandstanding speech at a weekly Baltimoreity
c council meeting.
Dennis "Cutty" Wise, once a drug dealer's enforcer, is released from prison alongside Avon. His struggles to adapt to life as a free
man show an attempt at personal reform. Cutty tries to work as a manual laborer and then flirts with his former life, going to work for
Avon. Finding he no longer has the heart for murder, he uses funding from Avon to purchase new equipment for his nascent boxing
gym.
The Major Crimes Unit learns that Stringer has been buying real estate and developing it to fulfill his dream of being a successful
legitimate businessman. Believing that the bloody turf war with Marlo is poised to destroy everything the Barksdale crew had worked
for, Stringer gives Major Colvin information on Avon's weapons stash. Brother Mouzone returns to Baltimore and tracks down Omar
to join forces. Mouzone tells Avon that his shooting must be avenged. Avon, remembering how Stringer disregarded his order which
resulted in Stringer's attempt to have Brother Mouzone killed, furious over D'Angelo's murder to which Stringer had confessed, and
fearing Mouzone's ability to harm his reputation outside of Baltimore, informs Mouzone of Stringer's upcoming visit to his
construction site. Mouzone and Omar corner him and shoot him to death.
Colvin tells McNulty about Avon's hideout and armed with the information gleaned from selling the Barksdale crew pre-wiretapped
disposable cell phones, the detail stages a raid, arresting Avon and most of his underlings. Barksdale's criminal empire lies in ruins
and Marlo's young crew simply moves into their territory
. The drug trade in West Baltimore continues.
Season 4
The fourth season concentrates on the school system and the mayoral race. It takes a closer look at Marlo Stanfield's drug gangwhich
has grown to control most of western Baltimore's trafficking and Dukie, Randy, Michael, and Namond – four boys from West
Baltimore – as they enter the eighth grade. Prez has begun a new career as a mathematics teacher at the same school. The cold-
blooded Marlo has come to dominate the streets of the west side, using murder and intimidation to make up for his weak-quality
drugs and lack of business acumen. His enforcers Chris Partlow and Snoop conceal their numerous victims in abandoned and
boarded-up row houses where the bodies will not be readily discovered. The disappearances of so many known criminals come to
mystify both the major crimes unit investigating Marlo and the homicide unit assigned to solve the presumed murders. Marlo coerces
Bodie into working under him.
McNulty is a patrolman and lives with Beadie Russell. He politely refuses offers from Daniels who is now a major and commanding
the Western District. Detectives Kima Greggs and Lester Freamon, as part of the major crimes unit, investigate Avon Barksdale's
political donations and serve several key figures with subpoenas. Their work is shut down by Commissioner Ervin Burrell at Mayor
Clarence Royce's request, and after being placed under stricter supervision within their unit, both Greggs and Freamon request and
receive transfer to the homicide division.
Meanwhile, the city's mayoral primary race enters its closing weeks. Royce initially has a seemingly insurmountable lead over
challengers Tommy Carcetti and Tony Gray, with a big war chest and major endorsements. Royce's lead begins to fray, however, as
his own political machinations turn against him and Carcetti starts to highlight the city's crime problem. Carcetti is propelled to
victory in the primary election.
Howard "Bunny" Colvinjoins a research group attempting to study potential future criminals in the middle school population.
Dennis
"Cutty" Wise continues to work with boys in his boxing gym, and accepts a job at the school rounding up truants. Prez has a few
successes with his students, but some of them start to slip away. Disruptive Namond is removed from class and placed in the research
group, where he gradually develops affection and respect for Colvin. Randy, in a moment of desperation, reveals knowledge of a
murder to the assistant principal, leading to his being interrogated by police. When Bubbles takes Sherrod, a homeless teenager,
under his wing, he fails in his attempts to encourage the boy to return to school.
Proposition Joe tries to engineer conflict between Omar Little and Marlo to convince Marlo to join the co-op. Omar robs Marlo who,
in turn, frames Omar for a murder and organises attempts to have him murdered in jail but Omar manages to beat the charge with the
help of Bunk. Omar is told that Marlo set him up, so takes revenge on him by robbing the entire shipment of the co-op. Marlo is
furious with Joe for allowing the shipment to be stolen. Marlo demands satisfaction, and as a result, Joe sets up a meeting between
him and Spiros Vondas, who assuages Marlo's concerns. Having gotten a lead on Joe's connection to the Greeks, Marlo begins
investigating them to learn more about their role in bringing narcotics intoBaltimore.
Freamon discovers the bodies Chris and Snoop had hidden. Bodie offers McNulty testimony against Marlo and his crew, but is shot
dead on his corner by O-Dog, a member of Marlo's crew.[52] Sherrod dies after snorting a poisoned vial of heroin that, unbeknownst
to him, Bubbles had prepared for their tormentor. Bubbles turns himself in to the police and tries to hang himself, but he survives and
is taken to a detox facility. Michael has now joined the ranks of Marlo's killers and runs one of his corners, with Dukie leaving high
school to work there. Randy's house is firebombed by school bullies for his cooperation with the police, leaving his caring foster
mother hospitalized and sending him back to a group home. Namond is taken in by Colvin, who recognized the good in him. The
major crimes unit from earlier seasons is largely reunited, and they resume their investigation of Marlo Stanfield.
Season 5
The fifth season focuses on the media and media consumption.[53] The show features a fictional depiction of the newspaper The
Baltimore Sun, and in fact elements of the plot are ripped-from-the-headlines events (such as the Jayson Blair New York Times
scandal) and people at theSun.[54] The season, according toDavid Simon, deals with "what stories get told and what don't and why it
is that things stay the same."[53] Issues such as the quest for profit, the decrease in the number of reporters, and the end of aspiration
for news quality would all be addressed, alongside the theme of homelessness. John Carroll of The Baltimore Sun was the model for
.[55]
the "craven, prize hungry" editor of the fictional newspaper
Fifteen months after the fourth season concludes, Mayor Carcetti's cuts in the police budget to redress the education deficit force the
Marlo Stanfield investigation to shut down. Cedric Daniels secures a detail to focus on the prosecution of Senator Davis for
corruption. Detective McNulty returns to the Homicide unit and decides to divert resources back to the Police Department by faking
evidence to make it appear that a serial killer is murdering homeless men.
The Baltimore Sun also faces budget cuts and the newsroom struggles to adequately cover the city, omitting many important stories.
Commissioner Burrellcontinues to falsify crime statistics and is fired by Carcetti, who positions Daniels to replace him.
Marlo Stanfield lures his enemy Omar Little out of retirement by having Omar's mentor Butchie murdered. Proposition Joe teaches
Stanfield how to launder money and evade investigation. Once Joe is no longer useful to him, Stanfield has Joe killed with the help of
Joe's nephew Cheese Wagstaff and usurps his position with the Greeks and the New Day Co-Op. Michael Lee continues working as a
Stanfield enforcer, providing a home for his friendDukie and younger brother Bug.
Omar returns to Baltimore seeking revenge, targeting Stanfield's organization, stealing and destroying money and drugs and killing
Stanfield enforcers in an attempt to force Stanfield into the open. However, he is eventually shot and killed by Kenard, a young
Stanfield dealer.
Baltimore Sun reporter Scott Templeton claims to have been contacted by McNulty's fake serial killer. City Editor Gus Haynes
becomes suspicious, but his superiors are enamored of Templeton. The story gains momentum and Carcetti spins the resulting
attention on homelessness into a key issue in his imminent campaign for Governor and restores funding to the Police Department.
Bubbles is recovering from his drug addiction while living in his sister's basement. He is befriended by Sun reporter Mike Fletcher,
who eventually writes a profile of Bubbles.
Bunk is disgusted with McNulty's serial killer scheme and tries to have Lester Freamon reason with McNulty. Instead, Freamon helps
McNulty perpetuate the lie and uses resources earmarked for the case to fund an illegal wiretap on Stanfield. Bunk resumes working
the vacant house murders, leading to a murder warrant against Partlow for killing Michael's stepfather
.
Freamon and Leander Sydnor gather enough evidence to arrest Stanfield and most of his top lieutenants, seizing a large quantity of
drugs. Stanfield suspects that Michael is an informant, and orders him killed. Michael realizes he is being set up and kills Snoop
instead. A wanted man, he leaves Bug with an aunt and begins a career as a stick-up man. With his support system gone, Dukie lives
with drug addicts.
McNulty tells Kima Greggs about his fabrications to prevent her wasting time on the case. Greggs tells Daniels, who, along with
Rhonda Pearlman, takes this news to Carcetti, who orders a cover-up because of the issue's importance to his campaign.
Davis is acquitted, but Freamon uses the threat of federal prosecution to blackmail him for information. Davis reveals Maurice Levy
has a mole in the courthouse from whom he illegally purchases copies of sealed indictments. Herc tells Levy that the Stanfield case
was probably based on an illegal wiretap, something which would jeopardize the entire case. After Levy reveals this to Pearlman, she
uses Levy's espionage to blackmail him into agreeing to a plea bargain for his defendants. Levy ensures Stanfield's release on the
condition that he permanently retires, while his subordinates will have to accept long sentences. Stanfield sells the connection to The
Greeks back to the Co-Op and plans to become a businessman, although he appears unable or unwilling to stayfof
the corner.
As the cover-up begins, a copy-cat killing occurs, but McNulty quickly identifies and arrests the culprit. Pearlman tells McNulty and
Freamon that they can no longer be allowed to do investigative work and warns of criminal charges if the scandal becomes public.
They opt to retire. Haynes attempts to expose Templeton but the managing editors ignore the fabrications and demote anyone critical
of their star reporter. Carcetti pressures Daniels to falsify crime statistics to aid his campaign. Daniels refuses and then quietly resigns
rather than have his FBI file leaked.
In a final montage, McNulty gazes over the city; Freamon enjoys retirement; Templeton wins a Pulitzer; Carcetti becomes Governor;
Haynes is sidelined to the copy desk and replaced by Fletcher; Campbell appoints Valchek as commissioner; Carcetti appoints Rawls
as Superintendent of the Maryland State Police; Dukie continues to use heroin; Michael becomes a stickup boy; Pearlman becomes a
judge and Daniels a defense attorney; Bubbles is allowed upstairs where he enjoys a family dinner; Chris serves his life sentence
alongside Wee-Bey; the drug trade continues; and the people ofBaltimore go on with their lives.
Prequel shorts
During the fifth season, HBO produced three shorts depicting moments in the history of characters in The Wire. The three prequels
depict the first meeting between McNulty and Bunk; Proposition Joe as a slick business kid; and young Omar.[56] The shorts are
available on the complete series DVD set.[57]
Reception
Critical response
All seasons of The Wire have received positive reviews from
Metacritic ratings per season
many major television critics, several naming it the best
contemporary show and one of the best drama series of all time.
The first season received mainly positive reviews from
critics,[63][64] some even calling it superior to HBO's better-
known "flagship" drama series such as The Sopranos and Six Feet
Under.[65][66][67] On the review aggregation website Metacritic,
the first season scored 78 out of 100 based on 22 reviews.[58] One
reviewer pointed to the retread of some themes from HBO and
David Simon's earlier works, but still found it valuable viewing
and particularly resonant because it parallels the war on terror
through the chronicling of the war on drugs.[68] Another review
postulated that the series might suffer because of its reliance on Season 1 Season 2 Season 3 Season 4 Season 5
profanity and slowly drawn-out plot, but was largely positive Rating 79[58] 95[59] 98[60] 98[61] 89[62]
about the show's characters and intrigue.[32]
Despite the critical acclaim,The Wire received poor Nielsen ratings, which Simon attributed to the complexity of the plot; a poor time
slot; heavy use of esoteric slang, particularly among the gangster characters; and a predominantly black cast.[69] Critics felt the show
was testing the attention span of its audience and that it was mistimed in the wake of the launch of the successful crime drama The
Shield on FX.[68] However, anticipation for a release of the first season on DVD was high atEntertainment Weekly.[70]
After the first two shows of season two, Jim Shelley in The Guardian, called The Wire the best show on TV, praising the second
season for its ability to detach from its former foundations in the first season.[33] Jon Garelick with the Boston Phoenix was of the
opinion that the subculture of the docks (second season) was not as absorbing as that of the housing projects (first season), but he
[71]
went on to praise the writers for creating a realistic world and populating it with an array of interesting characters.
The critical response to the third season remained positive. Entertainment Weekly named The Wire the best show of 2004, describing
it as "the smartest, deepest and most resonant drama on TV." They credited the complexity of the show for its poor ratings.[72] The
Baltimore City Paper was so concerned that the show might be cancelled that it published a list of ten reasons to keep it on the air,
including strong characterization, Omar Little, and an unabashedly honest representation of real world problems. It also worried that
the loss of the show would have a negative impact onBaltimore's economy.[73]
At the close of the third season, The Wire was still struggling to maintain its ratings and the show faced possible cancellation.[74]
Creator David Simon blamed the show's low ratings in part on its competition against Desperate Housewives and worried that
expectations for HBO dramas had changed following the success ofThe Sopranos.[75]
As the fourth season was about to begin, almost two years after the previous season's end, Tim Goodman of the San Francisco
Chronicle wrote that The Wire "has tackled the drug war in this country as it simultaneously explores race, poverty and 'the death of
the American working class,' the failure of political systems to help the people they serve, and the tyranny of lost hope. Few series in
the history of television have explored the plight of inner-city African Americans and none—not one—has done it as well."[76] Brian
Lowry of Variety wrote at the time, "When television history is written, little else will rival 'The Wire.'"[77] The New York Times
called the fourth season of The Wire "its best season yet."[78] Doug Elfman of the Chicago Sun-Times was more reserved in his
praise, calling it the "most ambitious" show on television, but faulting it for its complexity and the slow development of the
plotline.[79] The Los Angeles Times took the rare step of devoting an editorial to the show, stating that "even in what is generally
acknowledged to be something of a golden era for thoughtful and entertaining dramas—both on cable channels and on network TV—
The Wire stands out."[80] TIME magazine especially praised the fourth season, stating that "no other TV show has ever loved a city so
well, damned it so passionately, or sung it so searingly."[81] The website Metacritic, which gathers reviews from news sources and
translates them into a percentage score, assigned The Wire's fourth season a weighted average score of 98%, the second highest score
for any television season in Metacritic history (withthe fifth season of Breaking Bad being the first).[61]
Several reviewers have called it the best show on television, including TIME,[81] Entertainment Weekly,[72] the Chicago Tribune,[82]
Slate,[53] the San Francisco Chronicle,[83] the Philadelphia Daily News[84] and the British newspaper The Guardian,[33] which ran a
week-by-week blog following every episode,[85] also collected in a book, The Wire Re-up.[86] Charlie Brooker, a columnist for The
Guardian, has been particularly enthusiastic in his praise of the show, both in his "Screen Burn" column and in his BBC Four
television series Screenwipe, calling it possibly the greatest show of the last 20 years.[87][88] In 2007, TIME listed it among the one
hundred best television series of all-time.[89] In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked The Wire as the ninth best written TV
series.[90] In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Wire as the sixth greatest show of all time.[91] In 2013, Entertainment Weekly listed the
show at #6 in their list of the "26 Best Cult TV Shows Ever," describing it as "one of the most highly praised series in HBO history"
and praising Michael K. Williams's acting as Omar Little.[92] Entertainment Weekly also named it the number one TV show of all-
time in a special issue in 2013.[93] In 2016, Rolling Stone ranked it second on its list of 100 Greatest TV Shows of All iTme.
Critics have often described the show in literary terms: the New York Times calls it "literary television;" TV Guide calls it "TV as
great modern literature;" the San Francisco Chronicle says the series "must be considered alongside the best literature and
filmmaking in the modern era;" and the Chicago Tribune says the show delivers "rewards not unlike those won by readers who
conquer Joyce, Faulkner or Henry James."[76][78][94][95] 'The Wire Files', an online collection of articles published in darkmatter
Journal, critically analyzes The Wire's racialized politics and aesthetics of representation.[96] Entertainment Weekly put it on its end-
of-the-decade, "best-of" list, saying, "The deft writing—which used the cop-genre format to give shape to creator David Simon's
."[97]
scathing social critiques—was matched by one of the deepest benches of acting talent in TV history
Former President of the United StatesBarack Obama has said that The Wire is his favorite television series.[98] The 2010 Nobel Prize
in Literature Laureate, Mario Vargas Llosa, wrote a very positive critical review of the series in the Spanish journal El País.[99] The
comedian turned mayor of Reykjavík, Iceland, Jón Gnarr, has gone so far as to say that he would not enter a coalition government
with anyone who has not watched the series.[100]
Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead, is a strong follower of The Wire; he has tried to cast as many actors from it into the
television series of the same name as possible, so far having cast Chad Coleman, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Seth Gilliam, and Merritt
Wever.[101]
Awards
The Wire was nominated for and won a wide variety of awards, including
nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Drama
Series for "Middle Ground" (2005) and "–30–" (2008), NAACP Image Award for
Outstanding Drama Seriesfor each of its five seasons,Television Critics Association
Awards (TCA), and Writers Guild of America Awards (WGA).
Most of the awards the series won were for season 4 and season 5. These included
the Directors Guild of America Award and TCA Heritage Award for season 5, and
the Writers Guild of America Award for Television: Dramatic Series for season 4, David Simon accepting thePeabody
Award for The Wire at the 63rd
plus the Crime Thriller Award, Eddie Award, Edgar Award, and Irish Film &
Annual Peabody Awards.
Television Academy Award. The series also won the ASCAP Award, Artios Award,
and Peabody Award for season 2.[102]
The series won the Broadcasting & Cable Critics' Poll Award for Best Drama (season 4) and won TIME's critics choice for top
television show for season 1 and season 3.
Despite the above mentioned awards and unanimous critical approval, The Wire never won a single Primetime Emmy Award nor
received any major nominations, except for two writing nominations in 2005 and 2008. Several critics recognized its lack of
recognition by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.[103][104][105] According to a report by Variety, anonymous Emmy voters
cited reasons such as the series' dense and multilayered plot, the grim subject matter, and the series' lack of connection with
California, as it is set and filmed inBaltimore.[106]
Academia
In the years following the end of the series' run, several colleges and universities such as Johns Hopkins, Brown University, and
Harvard College have offered classes on The Wire in disciplines ranging from law to sociology to film studies. Phillips Academy, a
boarding high school in Massachusetts, offers a similar course as well.[107][108] University of Texas at San Antonio offers a course
where the series is taught as a work of literary fiction.[109] In an article published in The Washington Post, Anmol Chaddha and
William Julius Wilson explain why Harvard chose The Wire as curriculum material for their course on urban inequality: "Though
scholars know that deindustrialization, crime and prison, and the education system are deeply intertwined, they must often give
focused attention to just one subject in relative isolation, at the expense of others. With the freedom of artistic expression, The Wire
can be more creative. It can weave together the range of forces that shape the lives of the urban poor."[110] University of York's Head
of Sociology, Roger Burrows, said in The Independent that the show "makes a fantastic contribution to their understanding of
contemporary urbanism", and is "a contrast to dry, dull, hugely expensive studies that people carry out on the same issues".[111] The
series is also studied as part of a Master seminar series at the Paris West University Nanterre La Défense.[112] In February 2012,
Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Žižek gave a lecture at Birkbeck, University of London titled The Wire or the clash of civilisations in
one country.[113] In April 2012, Norwegian academic Erlend Lavik posted online a 36-minute video essay called "Style in The Wire"
[114]
which analyzes the various visual techniques used by the show's directors over the course of its five seasons.
The Wire has also been the subject of growing numbers of academic articles by, amongst others, Fredric Jameson (who praised the
series' ability to weave utopian thinking into its realist representation of society);[115] and Leigh Claire La Berge, who argues that
although the less realistic character of season five was received negatively by critics, it gives the series a platform not only for
representing reality, but for representing how realism is itself a construct of social forces like the media;[116] both commentators see
in The Wire an impulse for progressive political change rare in mass media productions. While most academics have used
The Wire as
a cultural object or case study, Benjamin Leclair-Paquet has instead argued that the "creative methods behind HBO's The Wire evoke
original ways to experiment with speculative work that reveal the merit of the imaginary as a pragmatic research device." This author
[117]
posits that the methods behindThe Wire are particularly relevant for contentious urban and architectural projects.
Broadcasters
HBO aired the five seasons of the show in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2008. New episodes were shown once a week, occasionally
skipping one or two weeks in favor of other programming. Starting with the fourth season, subscribers to the HBO On Demand
.[118] American basic cable networkBET also aired the show. BET
service were able to see each episode of the season six days earlier
adds commercial breaks, blurs some nudity, and mutes some profanity. Much of the waterfront storyline from the second season is
edited out from the BET broadcasts.[119]
The series was remastered in 16:9 HD in late 2014, and the HD remasters debuted on HBO Signature, airing the entire series
consecutively, and on HBO GO on December 26, 2014. The HD versions became available for purchase on various digital platforms
[120][121][122]
on January 5, 2015, and were released on Blu-ray on June 2, 2015.
In the United Kingdom, the show has been broadcast on terrestrial television on BBC Two,[123] although controversially it was
broadcast at 11:20 pm[124] and catchup was not available on BBC iPlayer.[125] In a world first, British newspaper The Guardian
made the first episode of the first season available to stream on its website for a brief period[126] and all episodes were aired in
[127]
Ireland on the public service channelTG4 approximately six months after the original air dates on HBO.
CraveTV in late 2014.[128]

The series became available in Canada in a remastered 16:9 HD format on streaming service
Home media releases

Release dates
Season Episodes Special features Discs
Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
October
April 18, May 11, Three audio commentaries by crew
1 12, 13 5
2005[130] 2005[131] members
2004[129]
January
October 10, May 3, Two audio commentaries by cast and
2 25, 12 5
2005[133] 2006[134] crew members
2005[132]
Five audio commentaries by crew

members
August Q&A with David Simon and Creative
August 8, February 5, Team, courtesy of the Museum of
3 13, 12 5
2006[135] 2007[136] Television & Radio
2008[137]
Conversation with David Simon at
Eugene Lang College, The New
School for Liberal Arts[27]
December August Six audio commentaries by cast and

March 10, crew members
4 4, 13, 13 4
2008[139] "It's All Connected" featurette
2007[138] 2008[140]
"The Game Is Real" featurette
Six audio commentaries by cast and

crew members
"The Wire: The Last Word" – A
September February documentary exploring the role of the
August 12,
5 22, 2, 10 media 4
2008[141]
2008[142] 2010[143] "The Wire Odyssey" – A retrospective
of the first four seasons
The Wire Prequels
From the Wrap Party Gag Reels ...
December February
December Collects the previously released box-
All 9, 2, 60 23
8, 2008[145] sets
2008[144] 2010[146]
[5][6][147][148]
The DVD sets have been favorably received, though some critics have faulted them for a lack of special features.
The series was remastered in 16:9 HD in late 2014, became available on iTunes, and was released as a complete series Blu-ray box
set on June 2, 2015.[120][122]
See also
References
1. David Simon (2005). "The Target" commentary track(DVD). HBO.
2. Sources that refer to The Wire being praised as one of the greatest television shows of all time include:
Traister, Rebbeca (September 15, 2007)."The best TV show of all time"(http://www.salon.com/2007/09/15/best_

show/). Salon.com. Retrieved March 7, 2008.
"The Wire: arguably the greatest television programme ever made"(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/50
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ww.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=hbo71206.htm). World Screen News. 2006. Archived fromthe
original (http://www.worldscreen.com/newscurrent.php?filename=hbo71206.htm)on June 17, 2008. Retrieved
September 10, 2010.
119. "BET's editing butchers 'The Wire' story line"(http://www.dailybruin.com/index.php/article/2007/04/ibets_editing_butc
hers_wire_story_linei). The Daily Bruin. 2007.
120. "HBO(R) Unveils New High-Definition Re-Mastering of A
ward-Winning Hit Series "The Wire(R)" " (http://www.thefuto
ncritic.com/news/2014/12/02/hbo-unveils-new-high-definition-re-mastering-of-award-winning-hit-series-the-wire-4353
14/20141202hbo03/). HBO. December 2, 2014. Retrieved December 2, 2014.
121. Obenson, Tambay A. (December 26, 2014)."Marathon of New High-Definition Re-Mastering of 'The Wire - Shadow
and Act" (http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/marathon-of-new-high-definition-re-mastering-of-the-wire-full-seri
es-starts-today-on-hbo-20141226). Indiewire. Retrieved December 29, 2014.
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Series' " (http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Wire-The-Complete-Series/20837). TVShowsOnDVD.com. Retrieved
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124. "The Wire – Episodes from 2009"(http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jnwlc/episodes/2009). BBC Two. April 23,
2009. Retrieved April 23, 2009.
125. "Why No Wire?" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/bbcinternet/2009/03/why_no_wire.html). BBC. April 23, 2009. Retrieved
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126. Brook, Stephen (July 20, 2007)."Guardian website to stream The Wire"(https://www.theguardian.com/media/2007/ju
l/20/theguardian.digitalmedia). The Guardian. London. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
127. Carrol, Jim (July 30, 2008)."On The Record on The Wire is now in session"(http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/onthere
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128. Elliott, Josh (December 3, 2014)."Bell Media unveils CraveTV premium streaming service"(http://www.ctvnews.ca/e
ntertainment/bell-media-unveils-cravetv-premium-streaming-service-1.2130622)
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148. James Poniewozik (August 14, 2006)."5 stellar series to catch up with on DVD"(http://www.time.com/time/magazin
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Further reading
Peter L. Beilenson & Patrick A. McGuire, T
apping Into the Wire: The Real Urban Crisis, Johns Hopkins University
Press 2013, ISBN 978-1-4214-1190-3
Sherryl Vint, The Wire. Wayne State University Press 2013,ISBN 978-0-8143-3590-1
Tiffany Potter (ed.), C. W. Marshall (ed.): The Wire: Urban Decay and American Television. Continuum international
Publishing Group 2009,ISBN 978-0-8264-3804-1
Rafael Alvarez: The Wire: Truth Be Told. Simon & Schuster 2004,ISBN 0-7434-9732-5
Brian G. Rose: The Wire. In: Gary Richard Edgerton (ed.), Jeffrey P. Jones (ed.): The Essential HBO Reader.
University of Kentucky Press 2008,ISBN 978-0-8131-2452-0, pp. 82–91 (online copy, p. 82, at Google Books)
Peter Dreier, John Atlas: The Wire – Bush-Era Fable about America'sUrban Poor?. City & Community Volume 8,
Issue 3, pp. 329–340, September 2009 online
( copy)
Helena Sheehan, Sheamus Sweeney:The Wire and the World: Narrative and Metanarrative
. Jump Cut, 51 (Spring
2009), ISSN 0146-5546 (online copy)
Play or Get Played – Exclusive interviews with David Simon and cast members.
Ten Thousand Bullets – An interview with George Pelecanos.
George Pelecanos on The Wire and D.C. pulp fiction – A supplement to "Ten Thousand Bullets."
"The Rhetoric of The Wire" Movie: A Journal of Film Criticism, No.1, 2010
Gang and Drug-Related Homicide: Baltimore's Successful Enforcement Strategy
– Ed Burns discusses some of the
investigations and individuals which inspiredThe Wire.
A collection of interviews withWire cast members – Interviews include Michael K. Williams, Lance Reddick, Robert
Wisdom, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Isiah Whitlock Jr. and more.
Reason Magazine Interview with Ed Burns– The Wire co-creator talks about howBaltimore inspires and informs
The Wire, and opinions on the "War on Drugs" from his and other co-creators' experiences.
The New Yorker Profiles David Simon – A long profile article aboutDavid Simon with info about season five as well
as his next project.
Maxim Interrogates the Makers and Stars ofThe Wire – A large 2012 interview with David Simon, Ed Burns, other
crew, and most of the principal cast members.
Bill Moyers Journal: David Simon (on The Wire) part 1 on YouTube, part 2 on YouTube
External links
Official website
The Wire on IMDb
The Wire at TV.com
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The Wire

Each season of The Wire introduces a different institution in the city of

Conception HBO Enterprises

Cast and characters

These investigators were overseen by two commanding officers more concerned

CraveTV in late 2014.[128]

Home media releases

Five audio commentaries by crew

December August Six audio commentaries by cast and

Six audio commentaries by cast and

Traister, Rebbeca (September 15, 2007)."The best TV show of all time"(http://www.salon.com/2007/09/15/best_

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