While The Wire went off air in 2005, thanks to Professor Paul Schmitz I recently picked up on the series. In fact, I am glad I discovered the series after it aired on TV. Instead of watching it once a week over the span of five years, I am well into the fourth season DVD after two months. The story more engaging and thought provoking. The series details the members and operations of the Baltimore City Police Department. The primary basis is the ability of intelligent officers and Lieutenants to circumvent search restrictions imposed by the Fourth Amendment.
The strongest attribute, and the reason I am increasingly drawn to HBO series is their writers. David Simon and Ed Burns accurately illustrate the struggles and small triumphs of a city police department in America dealing with major crimes and drug/contraband trafficking. Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, The Given Day, Shutter Island) also writes for a few episodes providing a refreshing and grounding experience for Simon and Burns. The Wire is an intelligent and thought provoking alternative to the relatively new genre of crime drama. CSI uses models working in gloriously mysterious labs while "dark, ominous tones" provide the background music. The Wire takes the viewers to the core of police and detective work, sitting in a surveillance car on a city corner for eight hours at a time waiting for one person to enter a building to establish probable cause for a search warrant. I highly recommend the series because of accurate, intelligent and enlightening writing of the financial, personnel, legal, and ethical struggles for urban American police departments.
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