Brilliant show. It has been some years now since I last watched it, I'd love to have the time to watch it all over again. The pacing and some of the story arcs in some seasons is challenging - I'm thinking specifically about the season 2 stevedores - I enjoyed the season overall, but found the story arc involving Ziggy a little long. And the narrative skirted the very edge of belief with some of the more absurd elements, ie McNulty's actions season 5's Baltimore Sun arc. But I forgive the absurdity because it's a very effective narrative device that contrasts with the more believable absurdities - those we know must be on the money in how these institutions function.
The characterisation was great. Omar of course is a fan favourite, but Bubbles was interesting in how an 'everyman' of the hard streets found himself at the pivot of so many story arcs. Great show - and yes, one of the few shows where the location is so beautifully rich and textured, basically being a major character in itself.
IMHO, the best way to watch The Wire is to watch S1, then skim S2 to avoid all the stuff about the docks and most of the police angle ( just focus on the Barksdales), then watch S3 and S4 completely ( show hit it's stride, these are the best seasons) and skim S5 ( avoid the newspaper angle, stories)
When The Wire is good, it's phenomenal. When it's bad, it's just bad but covered in care and high production values. I consider it a very honest but a very flawed show.
Had David Simon focused on the schools and pushed out the docks and newspapers and kept the police administration with much less of the detectives, that plus expanding the street side and the Barksdales would have been a much stronger long term narrative.
The timing was fortunate. When The Wire had it's original run, this was when HBO was a true powerhouse and had a stacked original programming lineup. They could afford to carry a show that was a critical darling but wasn't a ratings monster. If it came out today, I don't think it would have fared so well as S2 would have been enough of a quality drop to get it cancelled.
S1 becomes infinitely better after rewatching it after seeing S3 and S4. There are many payoffs later to S1 in future seasons.
The integral difference IMHO was Dennis Lehane ( wrote Mystic River) joined the writing staff in S3 and S4. His overall general tone is evident in those seasons.
Something to note is that Michael B Jordan, Idris Elba, Lance Reddick, Chad Coleman, Michael K Williams (RIP) and Pablo Schreiber would not have their expansive American acting careers without this show.
Larry Gilliard Jr. ( D'Angelo) has the most interesting path. He was in a small but critically acclaimed film, Straight Out Of Brooklyn, by one time wonder Matty Rich. That got him enough buzz to carve out a real acting career. This was before widespread internet and social media buzz. Also this fits the timeline when these kind of movies were given a chance ( independents and stories like Boyz In The Hood). Even PBS was willing to air it , a massive diversion from their themed programming at the time, because it was clear that the major networks would not. Everything in life is timing.
There is about a million ways the actors that sprung from The Wire could have ended up as truck drivers. ( Elba would likely have stayed in BBC shows and been a male model and Schreiber could have leaned on his more successful acting brother Liev, but the rest would have had a rough go of it)
