The Wire; Hook Up

The Wire is not simply the best show on television, it is the best show ever on television.

And season 4 begins Sunday night.

The complexity and depth of the characters cannot be matched, and they're real. None of this Tony-Soprano-flashback-to-the-bed-and-breakfast shit. This shit is real.

And, I think the only other city where it could possibly be filmed would be New Orleans.

The parallels between Baltimore and New Orleans are many. We're both seafood cities, and if you ever read The Corner, or watched the HBO miniseries, you know all about Gary McCullough. You rooted for him. You loved when he got the job at the crab house, and you cried during the epilogue.

You can see how the war on drugs has gone wrong in Baltimore, and if you live in NOLA, you can see how it's gone wrong here.

The inner harbor in Baltimore has been a site of much gentrification, and the shipping industry has largely abandoned the city. And the gentrification meant that people have been priced out of the neighborhoods they grew up in.

Sound familiar?

But most importantly to The Wire, Baltimore has problems with their public schools, open air drug markets, one of the highest murder rates in the country, and corrupt politicians.

Echo...echo...echo...echo.

People say that The Wire hasn't gotten bigger ratings because they have a predominantly black cast.

Please, tell me that ain't true.

But it probably is. It probably is.

It's just about the best damned cast on television, but I honestly believe that Tweety's cab driver could not care less about watching 1) a show with a lot of black people, 2) a show that requires you to think (what other show comes with easy-to-print pdf org charts?), 3) a show where everything isn't neatly wrapped up at the end of the hour, 4) a show that requires you to follow the storylines, and 5) a show that doesn't always have happy endings.

The best thing about The Wire is, by far, the writing. I dare you to predict anything. Anything. Who'd a thunk they did that to Stringer Bell. But they did. Nothing, and nobody gets in the way of story.

I have had many reactions to good drama. Laughter, tears, outrage.

The Wire is the only show that every made me puke.

When Wallace was offed by Poot, I physically got sick. I couldn't believe it.

Nancy Nall has the weekly update for all the Wireheads, with some occasional insider info.

So if you're looking for drama that can have this kind of impact, and if you want to see a city that has problems and features remarkably similar to New Orleans, then hook up to The Wire.

Comments

[Ray]

I miss Wallace. *sniff*

[saintseester]

I don't get HBO, so I won't get a chance to check it out.

[bigshot]

Thanks for your recommendation on the Wire a while back. I spent all summer watching the first three seasons and agree with you that it is the best show ever.

[jeffrey]

Um.. the best show ever on TV is MST 3K..... maybe The Simpsons... Just sayin'. As for the Baltimore-New Orleans connection... I've recently imported a Marylander and am still trying to help her feel at home.. although who feels at home here post-K. But sometimes we drive around town together and she tells me exactly what such and such neighborhood is analagous to something in Baltimore.. so you may be on to something.

[Mark C.]

First episode is already on on-demand, if you have that.

It always freaks me out hearing the british accents whenever jimmy and string are interviewd.

[dangerblond]

Ashley, I still want to borrow the DVDs of the first seasons. You have made me interested in this show, but I can't jump in in the middle.

Also, another New Orleans - Baltimore coincidenza is that Blaze Starr, Earl K. Long's stripper girlfriend, moved to Baltimore after she left New Orleans and opened the Two O'Clock Club there.

[Ray]

You definitely can't jump into the middle of this one. You can kinda sorta watch Season 2 in isolation since it shifts to the longshoremen, but then you'd be lost again in Season 3 when it moves back to the projects.

[ashley]

Ray, I haven't watched the first episode of this season yet, but I've heard it can be watched standalone. Your opinion?

Mac, yeah, it's hysterical when you realize that String and Jimmy are British actors. Every now and then I catch the AbFab where the male prostitute sprays dick-numb on his tongue. That was Idris Elba, our Stringer Bell.

Jeffrey, would you buy the best drama ever on TV?

Bigshot, glad you liked it.

Blondie, get in touch with me and I'll hook you up.

Ray, I miss Wallace, too. In an interview with David Simon, someone asked "what happened to those kids that Wallace was taking care of?" Without being flippant, Simon said "What do you think happened to them".

The war on drugs is about as effective as the war on terrorism.

[ashley]

Seester: It's intense. Maybe you can rent the DVDs or get them from your library?

[Ray]

I haven't seen it yet. I want to try to get back into the Sunday night ritual and watch it on schedule, since I've been blowing off HBO Sunday nights for a year now.

Knowing that the actor who plays McNulty is really British, it was hilarious when he had to go undercover in the Russian brothel pretending to be an English businessman and his "fake" English accent was so bad.

[saintseester]

Yeah, I can rent them somewhere. That is actually how I watched LOST before I got a DVR. It is impossible for me to get to actually sit and watch a show when it actually airs, without tons of familial interruptions!

And for the record, my favorite series ever (so far) was Babylon 5. Especially up through the culmination of the shadows plotline.

[jeffrey]

I would like to say that the best drama in TV history was the 2006 New Orleans Mayoral Debate Series.... but we all know that was more comedy than anything

[jordan 2011]

Beautiful!!! You truly have an eye for colour.

[radii supras]

I also follow through Google Reader!