The Wire is the best show on TV. Ever. This last season may have been its best, with the addition of the public school storyline. The 12th episode was the greatest single bit of television I've ever seen. It's excellence was because it cashed it on all those plots and subplots that the writers built block by block over the previous 11 episodes. Never a wasted line, never a miscast character. It's raw, brutal and explicit at times, but only when the situation calls for it. Yet today, it wasn't nominated for a single Emmy. It wasn't even among the 10 shows that were in the "semifinals" for Best Drama consideration. This is a crime.
If you haven't seen the Wire, I would strongly recommend watching it from the very beginning. Though each season is like it's own novel, there are too many references you'll miss and too many characters that's you'll misjudge if you hop into a later season. I started with Season Four and then watched everything from the beginning. I'm going through Season Four again after watching 1-3 and I can't believe how much I missed. A fair warning though, it takes about 3-4 episodes to get into the show, because there are so many characters to follow and understand. Characters on all sides of the game defy stereotype and you will find yourself neither completely liking or completely disliking any single character. You have to watch it closely, because lines uttered in the first or second episode may not be important until the final episode of the season. Don't try to watch it on BET, they have removed entire storylines to make way for commercials.
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