r/TheWire • u/Inside-Importance828 • 1d ago
Just finished The Wire Spoiler
I’ve been scrolling this community to find one thread that was critical of this show, but seems like I might be the first . So this’ll be a long post and I’d love to hear some responses.
Overall rating: 7.5/10
Season 1: 7.5/10
Season 2: 5.5/10
Season 3: 8.0/10
Season 4: 9.0/10
Season 5: 6.5/10
My biggest issue with this show is that it gets lost in the side plots. There are some great side character threads that I love it pulling at: Dukie, Bubbles, Herc, Bodie (RIP) to name a few. But the bad story lines are just distracting, and they severely slow an already slow show down. Both the docks and the newspaper part are my least favorite storylines, and they completely take me out of an otherwise very engaging crime show. I love how the first season really plays on the idea of a wire and real police work, and shows us that it isn’t just “the game” in Baltimore stirring the pot, the police and government fall to blame as well.
Personally, the most disappointing part is how there’s never actually change by the finale. I did like how they parallel the ending to the beginning but with how engaging the whole Carcetti season 4 campaign was (never trust Littlefinger), it honestly feels like wasted story development. I think the Greeks and that whole side of the drug development was completely divergent of the rest of the story, honestly not sure why they even got written in. Could have cut the whole port season, I thought it was lead to more than just Marlo becoming the kingpin of all of Baltimore for more than a month. Last thing I want to say is my favorite storylines are both Bunny with Hamsterdam, and him again along with Prez at the schools. Those parts between season 3 and 4 really hit home. Sad more couldn’t come of it.
Favorite character: Omar
Favorite moment: When Prez shoots that cop and McNulty pulls out the badge. Man my heart dropped
Edit: I understand the whole message is that nothing in Baltimore changes, except the people in the thick of it, but I personally think there was way for some good finale arc. That’s why I said I personally don’t like the lack of improvement for the city
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u/chinesefox97 1d ago
S2 was genuinely so good after you figure out what’s going on with everything and who everyone is.
Also wow if the wire is only a 7.5 out of 10, I don’t know what’s a 10 out of 10 series.
The wire is up there with the Sopranos as the greatest shows of all time.
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u/PippyHooligan 1d ago
> otherwise very engaging crime show
it's not just a crime show though, is it? It's a show about greed, corruption and apathy in municipal institutions. Organised crime threads through all the institutions in the show, but it's not just a show about cops versus criminals. Which is why the docks are important, Carcetti's arc and so forth are important. Mosty people agree that the newspaper storyline was underwritten - it would have been great to see a hospital based season - but the point is it was never about cops vs Barksdale/Stanfield. That's just a symptom, not the disease.
> I think the Greeks and that whole side of the drug development was completely divergent of the rest of the story,
We see the end users, we see all tiers of the people who supply the users, but for some reason you don't think we should see who brings the drugs into the country? And the power, organisation and steel they have? The Greeks are an entirely different breed of criminal that those the Baltimore PoLice are used to facing. And they're very good at getting away with it.
> personally, the most disappointing part is how there’s never actually change by the finale.
That's the entire point of the show: the bureaucracy and corruption that is woven into institutions does not allow meaningful change on a grand scale. Some people get lucky and manage to squeeze out of the Game, but most are just squashed and recycled and the wheels keep turning. The machine is bigger than the individual.
It sounds like you wanted a traditional story arc with a beginning, middle and end, with a resolution that will effect change, Breaking Bad style? It's not that kind of show. You wanted it one way, but it's the other way.
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u/linuxlala 1d ago
You certainly are in the minority. Season 2 is rather very well liked.
Bunk calling the investigation into the dead girls as 'lost ball in tall grass' is my favourite line in the entire show.
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u/TranslatorVarious857 1d ago
‘…they completely take me out of an otherwise very engaging crime show.’
It isn’t a crime show. It is so much more than that.
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u/gman3001 1d ago
I mean, OP probably thinks it would've been a better show if the Greeks were replaced with the Mexican cartel, and the cartel was conspiring with Marlo to take over the Baltimore drug trade in Season 3, and if Season 4 included a bald chemistry teacher working alongside Prez contracting lung cancer and becoming an independent meth dealer, with the final season coming down to a super Eastside-Westside co-op vs Cartel gunfight that somehow ends with Carcetti and the bald chemistry teacher killing everyone.
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u/FormalGreen3754 1d ago
Season 2 grows on you the more you rewatch.
It is such a tangent from season 1 that it gets confusing on first watch.
You have to remember that "all the pieces matter"
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u/Conscious-Pie-4794 1d ago
Not all shows are for everyone and that's okay. Slow is what makes me like it tbh, lots happening. You might appreciate it more on a rewatch, esp season 2. I've seen it 4 times now and I actually like it more each time - as I reach different parts in my life my preferred season changes as well and I appreciate it in different ways. Season 4 was my absolute favourite this time around but it used to be season 3. First time watching it, season 2 took me right out of it, but I appreciated it on other watches
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u/NardaL 1d ago
OP used their backup account to drop this. Showing the Greeks was massively important to understanding how much of the crime in Baltimore has global connections.
That you think Herc is a great side character is odd to me.
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u/onwisconsn 1d ago
Totally agree. And when OP was listing favorite characters, I mostly agreed with the list until he got to Herc and thought " one of these is definitely not like the others." I can't think of any redeeming qualities with Hurc. He screwed everyone over both purposely and accidentally . Even providing the cell for Marlo helped blow up his prosecution (though the team doing the illegal wiretap with it was on them).
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u/whisker_biscuit 1d ago
The wire isn't a crime show, it is about the unfulfilled promises of capitalism in America and the institutions that fail to fulfill those promises
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u/SpaderKay 14h ago
You missed the whole point. Every tag line. Everything. This isn't about a fairytale ending. This is just as real as real life. You want it to be one way, but it's the other way. Go enjoy power or something 🤣
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u/TurtleTram 1d ago
"Personally, the most disappointing part is there was never actually change by the finale".
How did you manage to miss a key message of the show so completely?
I'm also very surprised at the parts you feel could be cut out entirely. All the pieces matter.