simply the best
"THE WIRE - THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON" can't and doesn't stand alone. To appreciate it, you have to watch the preceding four seasons as well. But to own the DVDs of all five seasons is to have a treasure of the highest value. If no new TV shows were ever made, I could continue watching THE WIRE for the rest of my life and still get something new out of it each time I watched. It's complex, nuanced, tragic, funny, thought-provoking, frightening, entertaining -- a string of priceless gems. It's a combination of Anthony Trollope and Greek tragedy, and all together, it sums up the hope, hopelessness and humanity of an American city at the beginning of the 21st century. My highest recommendation is less than it deserves.

Great series...not so great final season
Everyone writing a review for the final season of "The Wire" is giving it great praise. But, I believe that the final season was very weak. The newspaper storyline did nothing for me because we didn't get to know the newsroom characters better. Storylines didn't get time to fully develop. Like in one episode Cheese gets his uncle killed before you know what has happened. The death of Omar didn't go off so well, you didn't even see him limping when he goes to into the store. I believe if they have more episodes and time to work with we're really arguing about this season being as good as season 1 or 3. I had know problem with Omar dying even though he was a great character but his death seemed out of place how they filmed it. Everyone can say how good the series has been but you have to admit this is not the explosive final season everyone was expecting. There were only 10 episodes and there should have been 13. I believe the writer's strike had something to do with it. A better season five and there's not doubt this show could be getting alot of buzz and winning an Emmy for just the body of work. Just one man's opinion.

One of the best series on TV? More like one of the greatest stories ever told.
I'll begin this review as a review of the series, then move on to Season 5 in particular:

I have long thought that some of the best stuff on TV can be found among HBO's Original Series. I'm a big fan of some of HBO's better known dramas including Rome and The Sopranos, as well as of some lighter fare such as The Ali G Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Strangely, I'd barely even heard of The Wire until about a year ago, when a friend of mine (who generally has very good taste) was raving about it. At his suggestion, I purchased Season One on DVD. I was hooked about half way into the series, and I eagerly devoured Seasons 1-4 on DVD just in time to catch Season 5 as it aired on HBO. I can't pay this series high enough praise - to me, it transcends the TV medium, and rather than compare it to other TV series, I'd rank it up there as one of the greatest stories ever told (or rather the greatest stories I've had the good fortune of reading, hearing, or viewing). Many reviews rave about The Wire as an excellent TV Series, though in my opinion this excellent work would more appropriately be compared to an epic novel than to anything on the small screen.

The Wire has rightfully been praised for, among other things, 1) it's realism and 2) it's excellent character development, but what really sets The Wire apart is its tackling of complex, timeless themes such as poverty, suffering, lawlessness, and the underlying forces (such as beuracracy, corruption, and greed) that lead to the ultimate failure of the system to correct these issues. The Wire takes a close, and very critical view of how our political, educational, media, and law enforcement institutions fail to eliminate the poverty and drug problems that plague Baltimore. As in most great epics, the lines between good and evil aren't clear as there are drug dealers we sympathize with and even respect, and police officers we despise (and vice versa). There are cold-hearted killers who live by strict, even admirable ethical codes (Omar) and those on the other side of the law with such a disregard for any such ethical code (Mayor Carcetti) it makes the viewer sick, especially given the parallels with too many real world figures.

As I touched on before, The Wire's realism is another attribute worth noting, as this series pulls off "realism" better than any fictional TV series I can recall. Granted, I'm an upper middle class nerd who's lived a coddled life, so I may not be the best qualified reviewer to comment on the realism of a show about drug dealers in the West Baltimore projects, but to me it achieves realism in a way that many if not most television (as well as big screen) dramas fail. It isn't over dramatized. It doesn't have that polished, studio feel of most TV but rather the gritty feeling of the streets of Baltimore. The cops look and generally act like cops (they don't look like models; they live in crummy apartments and work in filthy cubicles; some battle alcohol problems or deal with boring, tired relationships). The "bad guys", similarly, look and act like rational participants in "the game" would be expected to in real life. This point ties in with the excellent character development - and in fact a few of the roles are played not by career actors but by real world products of the Baltimore drug game (The Deacon and Snoop stand out as notable examples).

Ultimately, The Wire succeeds to such a degree as a Series because, as the creators put it in one of the bonus features that came with Season 4: The Wire isn't made by people with careers in the TV business. As a result, it doesn't feel like television, but rather, like great storytelling.



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And Season 5 specifically:

I won't say much about Season 5, as I don't think it's useful to spoil the plot. I will say that Season 5 is every bit as good as the Seasons that lead up to. McNulty's character makes some pretty bold choices early in the season, and it's unclear whether he's a desperate man on a downward spiral or the only man willing to do what needs to be done, potentially sacrificing himself in the process.

The "side plot" in Season 5 focuses on the newspaper (The Baltimore Sun), much as Season 2 focused on the stevedores and Season 4 explored the school system. Not surprisingly, the newspaper is as disfunctional as the schools or the political system - an under-staffed local rag that desperately tries to put together any "story" they can sell while missing the real story right in front of their eyes (that is, the story that we as viewers have been enjoying for the past 5 seasons).

A handful of new characters are introduced, and a battle of ethics takes place at the newspaper much like that we've seen unfold at the PD for four seasons now, with the Baltimore Sun's version of John McNulty (Gus) sticking to his old school ideals of telling the truth while glory seeking newcomer Templeton makes up his own truth, with few visible consequences. The hunt for Marlo continues and, the highlight of the story, the clash between Marlo and Omar Little (the best character in the series, in my opinion) really heats up. As far as action and suspense are concerned, Season 5 doesn't disappoint.

By ending the series with Season 5, the producers wrap up the story quite well. In too many cases, otherwise good TV Series go on too long, driven by greed or perhaps the egos of the producers instead of by the story, and fade into mediocrity (the Sopranoes) or into convoluted, meandering storylines (Lost). By having Season 5 wrap up the series, while the producers do leave us wanting for more, they ultimately leave us with the feeling of finishing up and closing a long, satisfying book. No, not all the threads are tied up, some are left loose, and the Baltimore we leave behind at the end of Season 5 isn't much different than we found it in Season 1. But we are left with the satiated feeling of finishing a complete story, well told and well concluded.

Goodbye
I cant believe its over, I think this show was the most realistic show ever. I read Mr Instability and it had stories from the set of the show

McNulty, Bunk, and Kima's last year at Hogwarts
A bittersweet dénouement to an epic tale of good, evil, and coming of age. And while I feel the series never fully recovered from the death of kindly old Professor Bell at the end of Season 3, this is still some of the best television you'll ever see. I'm going to miss you, Voldemore, Harryland!