HBO
Some say it’s the greatest TV show ever made. Most of y’all haven’t seen it. And now it’s gone. The Wire Series Finale airs on Monday night (March 10) and it’s one of the most significant milestones in television history. This show is that good. It will influence TV writers for generations to come. It will be a set text for any writer or producer who seeks to push the boundaries of what TV can achieve, what TV can be. Emotionally, intellectually, dramatically it’s as complete a work as you can imagine. People will be watching the show for years to come and unlike The Sopranos, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Deadwood they didn’t disappoint with the finale.
"The Wire will influence TV writers for generations to come. It will be a set text for any writer or producer who seeks to push the boundaries of what TV can achieve, what TV can be."
Perhaps the most memorable scene in the final show was Michael sticking up Marlo‘s moneyman as he emptied out his safe. Could it be that Michael has stepped in to Omar’s role as the stickup kid with a conscience? It makes sense. You so desperately want him to survive. You want him to get the fuck out of Baltimore, the corners, the low rises and the hoppers. He may not be long for this world but a kid with his talents, with his leadership skills who knows what he can achieve?
"He took shit for this on the series and on the forums but that bog Irish bastard Jimmy McNulty is an American hero who tried to make a difference."
Jimmy McNulty really did lose his fucking mind in season five and, possibly, I think it’s the most sense he’s made in the entire series. Faking a serial killer who preyed on the homeless to funnel money into the department then siphoning off cash and manpower to real murder investigations that City Hall shut down? Genius. Lester Freamon setting up an illegal wiretap on Marlo Stanfield and his crew being the most significant action funded by McNulty’s chicanery. He took shit for this on the series and on the forums but that bog Irish bastard Jimmy McNulty is an American hero who tried to make a difference. And guess what? He did.
"Dukie is now a smackhead – his entrance into drug addiction mirroring Bubbles’, just is Michael’s career as a rip-and-run artist mirrors Omar’s. The characters change, but the game stays the same."
It’s been a bloody season with some big names buying the farm. Proposition Joe took a bullet behind the ear from Chris Partlow as Marlo looked on almost orgasmically at the spectacle. Omar got blindsided by a 9 year-old kid; Snoop got killed by Michael as she rode him to his execution. That traitorous piece of shit Cheese who sold out his uncle Prop Joe to Marlo finally got his from Slim Charles in the final episode. Bubbles finally achieved redemption, clean of drugs, out of the game and looking forward. Dukie is now a smackhead – his entrance into drug addiction mirroring Bubbles, just as Michael’s career as a rip-and-run artist mirrors Omar’s. The characters change, but the game stays the same.
"The multimillionaire mass murderer is now a businessman, scoping out properties on the waterfront with the help of his lawyer. Ain’t that a bitch?"
With the fake serial killer scam busted, McNulty and Freamon are off the force, only avoiding a charge because the mayor wants to avoid the scandal. There’s frantic dealmaking with Maurice Levy representing the Stanfield crew. Marlo walks on condition he leaves the game but Chris Partlow must fess up to the 22 murders in the rowhouses and that means life without parole. Marlo tells the other city dealers that he’s through with this gangster shit and wants to sell the connect to the Greeks for $10 million. The multimillionaire mass murderer is now a businessman, scoping out properties on the waterfront with the help of his lawyer. Ain’t that a bitch?
"Intelligent, passionate and angry, it was a politicised tour de force, a diagnosis of what’s gone wrong in America’s legal system, schools, police departments and a devastating riposte to the phoney war on drugs."
This was a phenomenal show. The characterisation, the plotting, the themes were all about as strong as they could have been. Intelligent, passionate and angry, it was a political tour de force, a diagnosis of what’s gone wrong in America’s legal system, schools, police departments and a devastating riposte to the phoney war on drugs. Television will never be the same again. What this show achieved is historic and we are privileged to have been around to witness it.
The best thing about it: Omar Devone Little RIP.
The worst thing about it: The unremitting cruelty.
The verdict on The Wire Series Finale: Unfeasibly great television.
Marks out of 10: 9.5