The Wire--All Good Things...

HBO's The Wire begins its final ten episodes tonight as it returns for its last season. Unlike the Sopranos, The Wire is a somewhat unknown crime drama to the main populace. However, also unlike the Sopranos, The Wire is a television series that will go down in history for its extreme excellence. The Wire tackles inner city issues with more ardor than any other television series I have ever seen. The Wire matches the extreme intensity as shows like The Shield and Rescue Me from FX. It goes into inner city Baltimore and shows a very lifelike and realistic view of just how badly that part of the city is messed up. And unfortunately, it is also a realistic portrait of the problems of all our our large cities, as this is not a problem of just West Baltimore, but of the entire country. Even in Chicago, by my opinion one of the greatest cities in the world, we have a south side which looks different than West Baltimore, but the players are all playing the same game. Like Baltimore, Chicago's inner city schools are in in ruins. I'm sure most large cities in the US face these same issues that The Wire spotlights.

Each season The Wire adds a new dimension to the show giving us an even deeper view into inner city of Baltimore with each new episode of every season. Season One The Wire focused on the Baltimore Police Department and the prevalent drug trade that mired the city. Season Two they moved to crime from the Baltimore Ports focusing on what is being smuggled into America through the ports. Season Three The Wire wrapped up some loose ends of the drug trade family (The Barksdale Family), they also introduced politics and an up and coming purveyor who quickly took the Barksdale's place. Season Four focused on the major issues with Baltimore's inner city schools and also delved very deep into a race for Mayor of Baltimore. Season Five, The Wire incorporates a major Baltimore newspaper and it appears in the remaining ten episodes that it will tie everything together for a grand finally.

The Wire has the potential to have a blockbuster of a finale as writer/creator David Simon really knows how to tell this gripping story. Simon is a former police reporter and has worked in or Baltimore his entire life. Realism is of extreme importance to Simon which might make The Wire hard to watch if you have kids or hate to see vulgar language, graphic violence, political scandal, etc. The Wire pulls no punches from its cast of police, street criminals, drug abusers, politicans, etc. It shows both the glamorous and the ugly side of all those different possible professions/trades.

Based off the first episode its tough to tell what exact direction The Wire is going to go, but its very easy to tell its going to be a roller coaster ride through urban West Baltimore, and as with every great television series, All Good Things Must Come To An End.