Back Up on the Wire

Just a quick follow-up... I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'd been watching The Wire, and had only one season left to go. Well, I've now finished that season. Overall, I'd say my opinion of the show is about the same: I did enjoy it, but didn't see the superlative awesomeness that most of the critics lavish on the show.

Interestingly, while Davíd chimed in to say that he thought the final season was the weakest, I actually ended up liking it the best of all five. Perhaps this is a predictable result, since you can assume that whatever else made a major Wire fan like it less might be just the sort of change of pace that would make someone like me -- less of an enthusiast -- like it more.

There was a shift in the plot in the final season, with the introduction of a major running storyline set at the Baltimore Sun newspaper. Actually, it wasn't really this element that made me like it more. It was different, but also somewhat "the same," in that it felt like it cribbed from other sources. It was mainly a story about a reporter fabricating his stories to further his reputation, along the lines of the real life events portrayed in Shattered Glass. In fact, they even name-checked the infamous reporter in the final episode.

No, what improved for me was the pacing. I mentioned how in earlier seasons, I felt like the first half of the episodes coasted along a bit, taking me to the edge of wanting to abandon the series, only to bounce back and have a really strong back half of the season. This final season was shorter, 10 episodes only instead of 12, and I think as a result, the story was tightened up. Without two extra hours to fill, things started moving almost immediately. By the end of the first disc in the season set, the stakes had been set, and things were moving.

But as I said, my opinion remains about the same overall. The series is worth the time, but I also expect that whatever opinion you form about it after one season's worth is the opinion you'll carry through all the way to the end, should you hang with it.