Wired

For quite some time now, I'd been hearing wonderful things about the HBO series The Wire. Just about every television critic says it was the best thing on TV last decade. Some say it's the best thing that's been on television ever. A few talk about it like it might be the single greatest narrative achievement in the history of humankind.

A few months back, while at a friend's house, the subject of The Wire came up. My friend and his wife had recently watched the entire series. I told them I'd been thinking about checking it out for a while. They all but kicked me out of their house right there, telling me, "you need to get out of here and go home and start watching The Wire now."

I hope it doesn't come as a shock to you that nothing could possibly live up to this sort of hype. I've just tonight completed the fourth of five seasons of the show. Since I've made it that far, it must be clear that I don't think the show is "bad" by any stretch. It's at least good enough to keep pulling me through new episodes, and most of the time better than that. But I honestly do not see whatever it is about this show that made everyone go so nuts for it.

The series is about drug crime in Baltimore. Character from politicians to police to dealers go about their business, most doing right by themselves more than doing right. Oftentimes, the story isn't half as important as the behavior of the characters themselves. It's very much like creator David Simon's newest series, Treme, in this regard -- but I have found Treme to be a much superior show. Perhaps it has to do with my reaction to the characters. I find it virtually impossible to identify with most of the characters on The Wire, most being drug dealers, self-interested politicians, and statistics-minded police. You want to see these characters "get what's coming to them" more than you want to see how they'll "get by." The Treme characters, by contrast, I find very sympathetic and engaging.

I suppose this greater level of realism is what drew so many people to The Wire. It's a take on police work that's quite different from most cop dramas on TV, certainly the most popular ones (in terms of viewers) such as CSI, or Law & Order. (Any incarnation of either.) And I acknowledge that it all feels very "real." But it can be very off-putting at times.

In each of the four seasons I've watched thus far, the pace begins at a frustratingly slow level. After about six episodes (half a season), I always found myself at a point thinking, "you know, maybe I'm not going to keep watching this show." But then things would start to pick up, culminating in a particularly strong last couple of episodes. I expect the fifth season to do the same.

...but I do intend to watch the fifth season. I mean, after all, I'd probably give the series a B, overall. It's very well acted. The dialogue is very sharp, and effectively presents different ways of speaking among different classes of characters. There's plenty to like. But I've long since accepted that I'm not ever going to see whatever it is that made so many others fall in such love for this show. It's worth watching, but I doubt it would even make my top 10 list from last decade.