The Wire.......

I have always had an interest in true crime, but true crime TV shows (like Law and Order) totally get on my nerves because they are unrealistic and cheesy. Lucid Memes turned me on to the HBO series The Wire, and we have been watching up to season two.

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From Wiki:

Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. They are, in order: the drug trade, the port, the city government and bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is "really about the American city, and about how we live together. It's about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how whether you're a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge or a lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you've committed to."

source

A few interesting bits of info to note:

- The show was conceived and written by David Simon, who is a former police reporter. Unlike the mainstream crime dramas (CSI, Law and Order) the Wire attempts to create realistic views of how the system works.

- The realism is so poignant that it has been said that criminals watch the Wire to learn how the police gather pertinent information, to avoid being caught in their crimes. (I had heard that shows like L&O/CSI were bad for the justice system, because juries think that those shows are real...that DNA evidence can be obtained in a commercial break, etc...this show isn't so much about forensics (although it does cover the topic) It is much deeper than that.



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Yes, I think I have to see this series.

I will give you fair warning. I am NOT a TV watcher, but this show is addictive. Seriously, ask Lucid what he's doing tonight lol.

Yeah, I've been hearing about how good this show was for years. I don't think any person that's seen it, had told me that this show wasn't the best that they'd ever watched. So I finally decided to crack into it, and it did not disappoint. It takes a reductionist view of the underbelly of city corruption. Examining the criminal underworld, organized crime, judicial and political fraud, the prison system, crooked cops, the breakdown of the middle class, and the misleading education system and newsmedia institutions. But perhaps above all, the War on Drugs is exposed for the waste of time and human lives it really is. The institutions that claim to oppose the drug trade are simultaneously the institutions that aid the narco-business in almost every way possible.

We're only a bit more than halfway through the 2nd season, so no spoilers if anyone's already watched lol. 3 more seasons to go! woot!

Just finished watching the 3rd season last night and it seems that a good portion of the story has just wrapped up to a large degree. It was quite amazing the tangled web the story weaved and experiments the writers explored with. I'm just glad I can watch it online and the episodes back to back instead of week to week when the show was still on air lol. I hear seasons 4 and 5 are better...is that even possible?

The whole series was amazing. Sadly it ended, but at least it did not drag on and lose its expectations.