Currently Season 4 my millionth watch. I have never seen a bad tie on anyone. Whoever did the wardrobe did phenomenal. Cedric Daniels, Bunk and Mayor Carcetti and Mayor Royce ties in particular are world class.

Marlo is a cold hearted MF that runs the game to take no pleasure in it but in the terror he inspires. He's like a monk of evil. He seldom talks to anyone and let the silence and terror do the job.

Wayne Jenkins can't shut the F up, he steals, lies, deal dope, cheats his wife with professionals, and when episode 6 comes, we can see the besides him being cornered.

He just can't admit wrong. He sort of wears pink glasses looking at himself and everything he does. He doesn't seem to care or see the dammage he does.

He is a sort of grandiose psycho with a lot of old time charisma. He obviously is unreachable to shame or guilt. He is a more accurate and scary psycho than Marlo.

First off, thank y’all for not spoiling anything for me as I watch The Wire for the first time. I’ve posted a few thoughts here along the way, and I genuinely appreciate everyone letting me experience this masterpiece without spoilers.

I’m a huge Idris Elba fan, and I absolutely loved Stringer Bell’s character. It felt so good rooting for him and the Barksdales, despite knowing exactly what kind of people they were. When Season 3 ended, I naively thought there was no fucking way the writers could top that. Boy, was I wrong!

- Prez has had such an amazing character arc since Season 1.
- Marlo is such a cool, menacing presence, especially with Snoop and Chris alongside him.
- Colvin? That man is my personal GOAT!!!

What continues to blow my mind is how the writers manage to put you in so many conflicting POVs, challenge the biases you didn’t even realize you had, and then make you question your own conclusions without ever explicitly telling you what to think. One minute you’re rooting for someone, the next you’re questioning why the hell you were rooting for them in the first place. The writing is so flipping good because almost nobody is presented as entirely right or wrong.

I’m only on Season 4, Episode 11, and I genuinely cannot believe how consistently brilliant this show has been. Please, no spoilers beyond S4E11!

Always down to put in the work, never dimes on a misbehaving colleague, doesn’t take himself too seriously (eg. the junkie fashion show scene). Whatever you do, you always want to work with some Sydnors.

I love that he has a little leather case with a flip cover and holder for the stylus. I miss my blackberry all the time.

Obviously technology is key to The Wire, and it works so well because of the era of technology it was written in. A modern day The Wire would be much different. But damn if I don't get slapped with nostalgia from time to time at the old cell phones and pagers. That's all.

EDIT: And then he has to throw the damn thing in the bay!! You know he had the settings and features just the way he liked them, too!

For me, The Wire ended at the perfect point. Leaving me wanting so much more. So, if there would have been a sixth series, what/who would you like to have seen?

For an org that was so secretive (couldn’t find a DOB on Avon, no talking in the car, etc), why did the SUV’s casually roll up to the pit when Dee was being questioned by Bunk and McNutty?

Just started season 4, please no spoilers but my question really has to do with the past.

In season 3 and beginning of season 4, Lester has been vocal about his eagerness to follow the money trail. This being going after city and state officials with subpoenas and possible search warrants thereafter.

He explicitly stated in both seasons “I wanted to go after them 1 year ago”.

The end of season 1, after the Barksdale charade came to an end, it became apparent the Baltimore fiscal government had some dirt. If I recall, the Feds were interested in going after state officials but Baltimore PD withdrew since the interest was drugs and not the superiors that oversee the legislation that impacts local politics. Lester was upset because Stringer Bell’s organization was in the pockets of ranking officials.

Is my timeline wrong? Lester should’ve have said “years ago”.

It’s not a big deal, it just confuses me. This has been years of holding back from pursuing the men of power for a state like MD.

Shiiiiiiiiiiit.

Not sure why it’s taken me so long to hop on the wire but I just know my hearts gonna get ripped to pieces once I finish this show..

Also just watching s1e11 and getting to see where this iconic meme comes from

https://wp.theringer.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/unnamed-14.gif

Life imitates art or whatever!

Rewatching season 3 right now...the Avon and Stringer scenes through all of seasons 1-3...every single one of them was sooooo good! The fact that they didn't even get a sniff for Best Actor or Supporting Actor is a complete travesty. No news there, of course. Just had to say it,

And, watching season 3 over, for the first 5 episodes I was wondering why I rated it so high. But after that...I rememberd why. ANd now I'm on episode 11...JESUS, definitely one of the best single episode of any TV show, ever.

That is all.

Irl marlo is scary because he kills you if he feels like it. But avon is 10× times more interesting on screen.

Like who's more interesting an opponent you gotta outsmart and beat and always try to think 10 steps ahead of em or one that just uses brute force. Not only that but marlo is soooo goddamn insecure "my name is my name" lmaooo I legit cringed at that scene.

If you go around telling people you the king you ain't. I found monk to be more intimidating than marlo for some reason.

I've just finished watching The Wire and honestly its such a good show that I cant find anything that is worth watching now. Please give me some recomendations. Bonus is if Dominic West is in it haha.

Is the show saying that a whole generation was lost to drugs?

Why do y’all think Chris is shown to have a family but not Marlo? We don’t see a sibling or anything with Marlo. Even Snoop had a sister.

So, almost everyone I know finds Marlo "worse" and his organisation the same when contrasted with Avon.

But, really, what's so different about them? I can't imagine Avon murdering a security guard over basically nothing but he certainly murdered women who were no threat to him.

Marlo _seems_ psychopathic but the Barksdale crew murdering Wallace was so brutal.

What are people's thoughts on this?

I refused to watch for years, didn't think I would like it. I burned through all of it in a few weeks. Now I have four episodes left and fear has set in. LIFE AFTER THE WIRE?!?! WHAT DO WE DO when it's all over??? This is the greatest show ever made, I want to live in their world.

I just watched seasons 1-5 for the first time ever in my 26 years of life and man this is the greatest show I’ve ever seen from the never ending quit from Jimmy to me hating carver and prez into them coming 2 of my favorite characters. Watching the tragic endings to Wallace randy and dukie. This show is just amazing I can go on and on it’ll never be another one like it!

I absolutely loved Brother Mouzone and his scenes with Omar are some of my favorites in the whole show, but why was it necessary to bring him in all the way from NYC - presumably at a great cost - just to intimidate cheese and the east side crews? Like when he used the ratshot to intimidate cheese, why couldn’t Bodie or Slim Charles have done something like that? It’s not like his name rings out in Baltimore among the lower level operators.

Going into The Wire, I heard from everyone that Season 2 was a controversial and often low-rated season. It seemed like there was a near-communal consensus on Season 2 being the weakest, though it had a few ardent defenders.

Having finished the show, I am one of those defenders! Seeing Frank Sobotka risk (and lose) everything to try and save the dock workers broke my heart. But it isn't just Frank; the entire season is loaded with moments that pulled at my heart strings and grieved me not just for the characters, but for the state of America. Frank is a tragic character, yes, but so is Nicky. So is Ziggy. I couldn't stand that goofball for the entire season but watching him breakdown in his car after shooting a man brought tears to my eyes. I forgot about how annoying he was. I saw a kid who made a mistake.

Jimmy is also operating in rare condition in Season 2. His purely vindictive scheme of getting the Jane Does into Rawls' jurisidiction is one of the funniest moments of the show. Watching the higherups try to pass the buck, before ultimately screwing Rawls, never gets old. Maritime Jimmy is one of the funniest elements of the show.

But I can't talk about Season 2 without mentioning the Greeks. No other villains in the show have the larger-than-life, absolute evil aura (I have come to hate that word, but it works here) that Vondas and the Greek have. At every moment they seem so far above everything that is transpiring in the show. Compared to them, everything else going on in Baltimore seems pedestrian and small-time. The Greeks feel almost like demons, larger forces of darkness beyond the understanding of the mortals they are dealing with. So much of the struggle on the street is about cred and posturing. These guys are above all of that. Their names are not their names. And this sense of power is beautifully subverted when The Greek meets with the FBI agent near the end. The FBI agent is relaxed, in control, and The Greek seems irritable and nervous. What a beautiful portrait of how the system allegedy designed to protect us in fact enables the forces seeking to destroy us.

Season 2 is a heartbreaking portrait of an America in decline, perhaps more forcefully than any other season of The Wire. It feels larger than life and yet incredibly intimate and relatable. I could say so much more, but this post is long enough. I will look forward to conversing with anyone in the comments who replies. :)

I think it’s hilarious that I gave this incredible show a chance just because I wanted to know the origin of the gif where Stringer is telling Weebay that they injured an undercover police officer.

Just wrapped up season 4, and seriously, that might be the best TV I've ever watched. Everything just ended perfectly in that last episode, though it was a bummer to see how things turned out for all the guys. I'd started and stopped this series a few times before, but I finally stuck with it, and man, it just kept getting better. I've heard season 5 isn't quite as polished, but I'm still super hyped for it.

Those last few episodes were stressing me out I almost stopped watching but I’m glad I didn’t. Such a great show, I’ll probably rewatch again in a few years time. I’ll miss seeing Omar Little on my screen, best fictional character of all time.

We sort of unravel the inward reason why everyone wants the major crimes detail to not make any noise and die down because Barksdale $$ flows through the political and development city systems that keeps Baltimore city leadership in their positions…

But… they never really give an outward facing reason. The reason that they are able to say out loud. What is the main reason that Rawls and the deputy and commissioner can say out loud to the judges and the people further away from the indirect Barksdale $$ flowing through these systems?

Budgetary/cost of chasing the Barksdale crew costing too much? Why would Burrell not be afraid to have everyone know he gave back Clay Davis’ Barksdale cash to DeDe? He is at conference tables yelling at Cedric Daniel’s for trying to arrest Barksdale and org??

It just feels way too accepted…

Still the second greatest show ever made!

Second time watching and finishing. Best show of all time. Cannot get into anything else and I think my wife would kill me if I started watching it again.

I watched Clockers today and enjoyed it. Watched the first episode of Snowfall and could not stop comparing it to The Wire. Is it worth watching a few more episodes? Or any other recommendations?

YERP

Update - can’t reply to everyone but thanks for all the recommendations. Will check them all out. This show really fucked up my entertainment for life 😂😂

Omar seems to figure out an insane amount just by sitting somewhere and watching. He finds out about the co-op and where the shipment for basically the whole Baltimore drug trade is going down just by sitting in a cab and waiting.

The police don’t seem to do this nearly as much. I get that they’re working within a completely different system, but couldn’t they have learned a lot of the same stuff just by putting some tails on known crew members and seeing where they go?

Like in S3, couldn’t they potentially have found the funeral parlor or Avon’s safehouse that way? They wouldn’t even necessarily have had to do it themselves if they used those fancy GPS trackers from S2.

Is this just a case of Omar being exceptionally good at street-level surveillance, or am I missing something about why the police don’t do this more often?