The Wire

A decade late to the game, I started watching HBO's 'The Wire' a few months back. It took me a couple of months to finish the 60 episode series. But it was well worth it. The first season started off as a police procedural which takes on the drug traffickers in the city of Baltimore in Maryland. It involved the cops trying to bring down drug dealers in the high rise projects of Baltimore. I thought the whole series was about drug dealers. But the show turned out to be more ambitious than that. It takes the lid off of the city of Baltimore and lays bare in elaborate detail the forces that makes the city what it is including law enforcement, poverty and life of crime, politics, education system, the working class of the city - all with the backdrop of the drug trade especially in the poorer and broken neighborhoods of the city. The show is engrossing and thrilling. I have been asked how it compares with Breaking Bad. Even though Breaking Bad was very exciting, it has many situations which are sometimes beyond the limits of plausibility. The Wire is an absolutely realistic portrayal of many walks of life but they are all within the realms of possibility. Even though it is the story of Baltimore, many critics have raved that it captures essence of any big city in the USA.

There is a big cast of interesting characters played to perfection by the actors. Snoop, Bubbles, Carcetti, Lester, Stinger are just a few of the unforgettable characters.

It is being touted 'The best show ever'. It is not an exaggeration.