Craig Zablo

The Wire: Season 1 (2002)

Created by: David Simon

Teleplay by: (eps. 1-4; 6; 8; 10) David Simon from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns; (ep.5) Ed Burns from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns; (ep. 7) Rafael Alvarez from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns; (ep. 9) David H. Melnick, Shamit Choksey from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns; (ep. 11) Joy Kecken (as Joy Lusco) from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns; (ep. 12) George P. Pelecanos from a story by David Simon, Ed Burns;

Directed by: Clark Johnson (eps. 1-2; 5); Peter Medak (ep. 3); Clement Virgo (eps. 4; 12); Ed Bianchi (ep. 6); Joe Chappelle (ep. 7); Gloria Muzio (ep. 8); Milcho Manchevski (ep. 9); Brad Anderson (ep. 10); Steve Shill (ep. 11); Tim Van Patten (ep. 13)

Stars: Dominic West, Idris Elba, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Lance Reddick, Wood Harris, Sonja Sohn, Wendell Pierce, Frankie Faison, Andre Royo, Deirdre Lovejoy, John Doman, Peter Gerety, Seth Gilliam, Domenick Lombardozzi, Clarke Peters, Jim True-Frost, Michael K. Williams, Hassan Johnson, J.D. Williams, Clayton LeBouef, Delaney Williams, Richard DeAngelis, Wendy Grantham, Michael Kostroff, Michael Salconi, Callie Thorne, Maria Broom, Robert F. Chew, Michael Hyatt, Melanie Nicholls-King, Nat Benchley, Tom Quinn, Fredro Starr, Jarvis George, Jeorge Watson, Brian Anthony Wilson, Doug Olear and Michael B. Jordan.

Tagline: None.

The Plot…

Baltimore Homicide Detective Jimmy McNulty is upset when D’Angelo Barksdale beats a murder rap.  McNulty sees an opportunity when he speaks to an old friend, who happens to be a judge with political influence.  McNulty informs Judge Phelan that D’Angelo Barksdale not only beat the murder rap, but even worse, Barksdale’s uncle runs a major drug operation in the city.

Judge Phelan decides to put pressure on the mayor and police commissioner.  Blindsided by the judge, because McNulty skipped the chain of command, the Deputy Commissioner of Operations, the Narcotics Unit Commander and the Homicide Unit Commander are called on the carpet.  The judge expects results.

The decision is made to create a small task force.  The unit will be made up of a couple of rookie cops, some veteran officers who scrape by, a good street cop, and McNulty.  The team will be led by Lieutenant Cedric Daniels.  Daniels understands that his superiors made the task force  for show.  They want the squad to wrap up quickly with a few busts to appease the mayor.

As the group comes together, they struggle to become a team.  But soon the squad comes realize that they’ve been given a chance to make a difference.  They plan to take down the Barksdale organization.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

The Wire looks and feels real.  The characters (major and minor) are well rounded.  In fact some of the smaller roles (both police and criminals) are played by real-life police and criminals.  Some of the characters are based on real-life people and events.

The character of Omar was so popular that his role was expanded and he appeared in all five seasons.  Despite being a cold-blooded killer, Omar lives by a code.  Ironically he is more honest than many of the cops.  Also, Omar is the only major character to never curse.

The series is well written, well directed and well acted.  So many of the unknown actors (when the series started) went on to have great careers.

In my review of The Last of Us Season 2, I wrote, “I’ve never seen a lead character that has irritated me as much as Ellie did.”   The Wire‘s McNulty gives Ellie a run for her money.

I love that the series spends as much time with the criminals as the cops.  It’s interesting to see both groups struggling to stay one step ahead of the others.

I loved season one.  On to season 2.

The Wire: Season 1 (2002) earns 5 of 5 stars.