The Wire
August 16th, 2012 | Back to Blog Listing

The Wire
Final Season Box
After years of having this show on my list, I finally started and quickly completed "The Wire". Needless to say, the show definitely lives up to the hype that it's been given by the world. The characters are fantastic and the story is deep. But there's also an element to the show rather atypical to most writing styles of today. "The Wire" does an amazing job at telling a balanced view of society up and down the socioeconomic ladder.

At first it seems the show is simply about homicide detectives trying to bust up dangerous drug rings (for murdering people). But this is only at first glance. It doesn't take long before the viewer is completely immersed in so many facets of real-life that it becomes impossible to take one side or another. Everything that happens is well justified; it's just a matter of perspective. There's no one stereotype applied to any of the characters because just like real-life, they all have their own unique perspective, views, and talents to offer the world (or at least the story in this case).

The show is not a typical dichotomy of good versus bad. Rather, it's a well-told story about the human condition and how a handful of misunderstood social problems are essentially destroying the United States (and likely other parts of the world). In my own opinion, this destruction is mostly because the topics are so misunderstood. I like to think the show brings some clarity to them to the viewer.

Regardless, it's a wonderful show and I would highly recommend it.

On the scale of my favorite television dramas, I'd have to rank it behind Breaking Bad, Battlestar Galactica, and probably Game of Thrones (pending the next three seasons). But it definitely deserves to be seated in the top 5 best shows I've seen.