One of my biggest regrets as a lover of film and television is that I have never seen a single episode of what is widely considered the greatest television genre of all time, THE WIRE. About a week ago I decided to change this. While taking my nearly weekly trip to Best Buy to scour for deals that match (or, on the rare occasion beat) the prices on Amazon, I came across the complete series of THE WIRE on sale for around 100 dollars. Seeing as the newer version (2011) has an MSRP price of about 200 dollars, this roughly 50% deal when taken with the added instant gratification was impossible to pass up. So hear I am, sharing my episode by episode thoughts with you, as I slowly discover the wonders of THE WIRE.
Since I heard about the show many years ago I have been avoiding basically any kind of major details about it as a way to prevent unnecessary spoilers. That being said, I knew little about what to expect when I popped in the first disk of the show. The first thing that struck me was the overall grittiness/realism to the show. These was little glitz and glamour to what I was watching yet there was a definite magnetism. That being said, there's not a ton I can actually say about that show. Not because it was poorly done or confusing, however. There is just simply so much to take in. It is clear even one episode in that this is not your average, run-of-the-mill television series. The narrative already seems to flow much deeper than a lot of shows that have been on TV for years.
From what I can gather, of all the character introduced, the two main focuses thus far (that is the main person on both sides of the law) appear to be McNulty, the homicide detective and D'Angelo Barksdale, who we see getting off from a murder charge due to his connections with a local drug crew. That being said there are tons of other characters to keep track of, who I am still trying to keep straight and remember their names. Perhaps this confusion as to who is working with who and where this person and that person's loyalties lie is the point. Nothing seems to be black and white in the America of THE WIRE. It is a world in the wake of the attacks of September 11th (a jarring reminder a decade removed from the tragedy) and it seems that something has been irreparably damaged. And that seems to be the theme that at least this first episode is trying to get at. The theme of there being an order to things, a way of going about criminal organizations and the police force that, when questioned, seem like they will rear up against those who are questioning. And the two that seem to be questioning the most? That's right, McNulty and D'Angelo.
It is clear that when McNulty goes to the courtroom to watch D'Angelo's case and subsequently talks to the judge about all the related homicides, he has stirred something up that no one wanted stirred. To use a line from the episode, he gave a fuck when it wasn't his turn. And I think that's what's going to power the show forward. Just as McNulty is beginning to question how the police do business (e.g. Rawls getting incredibly upset when a case from a year ago is brought up, because it has no bearings on the stats for this year), Barksdale is beginning to question how the drug crew he is running with does business (seen most poignantly in the final scene when the man that identifies him in court is murdered simply for testifying against him in court). These two individuals do not fit into the machine. They are two malformed cogs and it's going to be very interesting to see what these cogs do to the machine as a whole.
That being said, just a couple of other things to briefly mention is that I love pretty much every character I've seen so far (and by love I mean either actually love or love the acting). I really enjoy the comic relief of the two cops that work with Kima Greggs (Ellis and Herc) as well as Kima herself. I also love the mysteriousness and shadow that is cast by Stringer Bell and it will be interesting to see how he fits into everything. I also find it interesting that the number two men are shown as doing all the dirty work for their bosses (Bell for Barksdale's uncle and Rawls for Burrell). It'll also be interesting to see how much they play into that.
But that being said, I am off to watch the second episode and maybe 3 and 4, so I can have more to talk about. Will report back soon, but hopefully I won't be heard on....THE WIRE.
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