The Wire - The Complete First Season (2002) (5-Disc Set)

The Wire- The Complete First Season

By pete'sbest14  Jun 11, 2008

Pros: Strong hard hitting story lines, superior writing, directing and acting.

Cons: Simply said, way too short!

As a retired English and Drama teacher, I watched the first season casually, thinking how good can this really be. I assure you, whether you agree with it's point of view or not, HBO does excellent work! How each character was introduced each week (and one hour of The Wire is comparable to a SEASON of regular TV), I felt myself more deeply drawn to this seedy side of humanity. It was like passing a horrible accident on the interstate, you want to turn your head and continue, unscathed, but you are compelled to look, to become engaged. McNulty, the very human, flawed Irish Detective could make me laugh and break my heart all in one scene. His performances were absolutely brilliant, as were everyone else's in this amazing series.
The characters are each Shakespearean in depth (the Bard would have loved this), the writing about Baltimore (as this was the chosen large city and backdrop for the story) is superior and naturally the "city" is a huge character itself which reminds us how many people can and do slip through society's cracks, sadly with few caring about them.
The Wire MAKES you care..it challenges you to care; about it's drug lords, it's dirty cops, it's dirty little secrets, it's flawed government employees, and those many who toil at thankless jobs trying to make a difference and how they all intercept daily affecting each other's lives. It raises the bar and compels you to think beyond the safety of your comfort zone.
Though tough to watch at times, it's social commentary is crucially important and I am saddened when I ask someone if they've seen it, they've never even heard of it.
The Wire is THE best drama to have been seen by so few people~ever! If it doesn't win multiple Emmy's it will be a travesty, a blight on whomever stuffs those ballots, but I hope all who were involved with this project know the value of having worked so hard on such a singularly outstanding series~ Bravo!