The Wire, best show ever? 'True dat'

I'll warn you here, this blog won't do this TV show justice. Why? Well firstly, its been too long since I've blogged and second, I feel like this bite-size blog on why you should watch The Wire won't cover everything and will miss out key things. That's the problem with this show, I could talk about it all day, and have much to the annoyance of people who haven't seen it. It makes me look like an educated buffoon if you will

I bought on a recommendation of a mate. That recommendation was "It's the greatest TV series I've ever seen, it's like a novel." I was sceptical, surely it can't be that good and off the back of watching Season 1, I look very foolish.

The Wire, set in Baltimore takes a intricate look at the city's infrastructure. You get to see both sides of the law: the police and the drug dealers that plague the streets. In further seasons, the shift focuses on to other aspects of Baltimore, such as politics, media and the school system. It soon becomes clear though that this series isn't as simple as good vs evil. Each character has his or her flaws and other psychological issues to deal with. All the cast are fairly unknown which is amazing considering the level of acting on show, which shows how well people are cast.

Here's a quick look at the main characters in the show.

The main protagonist within the series is Jimmy McNulty, played by Brit Dominic West. He is quite possibly the most annoying hero I've ever had the misfortune to know. His policing method is unorthodox (and he's specifically told to be orthodox), such as using his kids to stalk drug dealers, and due to this he's hated by the majority of his fellow homicide detectives. He's also a womanising alcoholic. But you still like the guy, at times, which is credit to the writers, since he's such an arsehole.

His right-hand man is Bunk Moreland played by Wendell Pearce. He's also known for his drinking and infidelity, but at least he keeps it secret unlike McNulty. The man is probably my favourite 'good' guy in the series, purely for the lines he has and the fact he's always smoking a cigar at investigation scenes. The essence of cool.

My favourite scene of the season involves these two investigating the scene of a murder


The main player of the drug dealers is Avon Barksdale (Wood Harris) who controls the Barksdale organisation on the West Side. His second in command is Stringer Bell (another Brit, Idris Elba) and the two have built a massive empire of businesses off the back of the drug trades. They work a very complex system in the towers and in The Pit, where Avon's nephew, D'Angelo (Larry Gillard Jr) leads the rest of the foot soldiers.

There's so many other characters within the show, all of which deeply thought out. Two great characters are Omar Little (above played Michael K Williams) who is effectively a Robin Hood type of character who steals from the drug dealers and is always toting a shotgun around the streets. He's gay and is probably the only character who prefers poetry to profanity. My other favourite character is Bubbles (Andre Royo) who's a snitching drug addict, who'll find any way to get his fix.

The plot is too deep to mention in full detail, but, in Jens Lehmann terms, it is about squad of police officers try bring a case against Barksdale's drug empire but within that there are so many subplots that thinking about all of them makes my head explode. Plus I wouldn't want to ruin any of this great show for you. (Intrigue is the best thing trust me)

It doesn't hold back; it's as raw as it can possibly get. Drug taking, gangland shootings, sex scenes, none of them at all censored and in as much gory detail as possible. But that doesn't mean the script isn't rock solid and intellectual. Its one of the best thought out screen-plays of certainly this decade, possibly of the last 30 years. At times, it is so complex that I put the subtitles on (and that doesn't make me stupid, I like to hear everything just to be sure).

So in conclusion, watch The Wire for gritty drama that will keep you hooked for the best part of several weeks. Stay tuned for my series 2 review of the Wire which I will do at some point.

Pictures courtesy of Roo Reynolds on flickr - http://www.flickr.com/photos/rooreynolds/

and soulsick http://www.flickr.com/photos/suslik/