So I've finished the first four seasons of The Wire and I'll probably be cozying up to anybody with HBO On-Demand so that I can watch the final season. I've never watched a show where I was more invested in the characters and the ebb and flow of their lives. Producer/writer David Simon has shot to the very top of my "people I'd like to have a three-hour lunch with"-list.
Season Four was such an accurate portrayal of the issues facing our public education system from the classroom all the way up to the city council chambers. The story-line never struck a false chord or overplayed its hand. How the creators of this show managed to juggle three major plot threads plus innumerable subplots boggles the mind when you actually begin mapping the various plot progressions in your head. Not one uninteresting narrative thread among the bunch.
Through four seasons The Wire has mined nearly every aspect of the modern urban metropolis. What began as a show about the seemingly intractable drug trade in our inner-cities, has grown to encompass politics, education, our transitioning economy and (currently) the media. The show doesn't sermonize: it merely lays out the issues and gives views from a few different perspectives. And it's not just that the show subverts your expectations of what the characters do, what choices they make, etc.; there is genuine depth to even the minor characters. The show never makes things easy. I love it.
This isn't just great television; it's thought-provoking television. I've refrained from talking about specifics until I've finished watching the whole thing. All I can do now is suggest anyone who hasn't do himself a favor and check out The Wire.
No comments:
Post a Comment