Dangling from The Wire

Sharon Wheeler

 

I have got withdrawal symptoms like you wouldn't believe. After five months, the BBC have finally finished screening all five series of The Wire. And I am bereft.

I have the concentration span of a gnat, and almost never stick with TV shows. But it's a tribute to the sheer power and the glory that was this stunning drama that I didn't miss a single minute of any of the 60 episodes. And, after a short period to regroup, I intend to watch it end to end again, thanks this time to the DVDs.

The Wire's been called the best drama that no one's ever seen, due to it being screened on some small cable channel. BBC2 did it no favours, scheduling it in the graveyard slot of 11.20pm, and not showing it on the same nights every week.

It was a sprawling, lush, deep feast of a show which never patronised the audience but, instead, treated them like intelligent adults and expected them to do some work. At times it felt more like a novel than a TV drama – and it’s perhaps no surprise that some of the top crime writers, including George Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Richard Price were on the writing team.

I do owe Pelecanos a small but not terribly heart-felt apology, as I have no regrets about watching a lot of the episodes with the subtitles on. And it's not a matter of black or white characters – I couldn't understand a word they said in The Sopranos (except for "you fat fuck!") An American friend of mine watches Dr Who and Torchwood with the subtitles on. If you are devoted to a show, you don't want to miss a single grunt…

Almost a week on from the final episode, and I am still trying to marshal my thoughts. So here are some scattergun early comments on why The Wire kept me glued to the sofa for five months when usually I'm leaping up and wandering around after five minutes…

• One of the show's greatest strengths was the way it blurred the moral boundaries. Which may account for why I reckon Omar, the unconventional gangster, is the coolest thing on the planet…

• It acted, too, as a window on American society, ripping away the bullshit and examining social, political and cultural issues with a merciless eye. If you want to be simplistic, you can say that series two was about the docks and series four the education system and series five focussed on newspapers.

• Series two was probably my favourite, with series four a very close second – some of the scenes about the waste of children's lives were absolutely heart-breaking. Ironically, the newspapers one was patchy for me. I adored the media angle – particularly from a UK vantage point where we don't have the fixation on winning awards – but found some of the serial killer storyline somewhat eye-rolling.

• Whatever Clarke Peters (Lester Freamon) is on should be available on the NHS – I remember seeing him in the TV show The Professionals 20 years ago, and he hasn't  aged a scrap. And kudos to those British and Irish actors (Dominic West, Idris Elba and Aidan Gillen) for making believe they were an American cop, a Baltimore drugs baron and an Italian-American politician respectively.

• The theme tune was different versions of the Tom Waits gospel-style song Way Down in the Hole. Best by miles was the dance-tinged one in series four, done by an unknown young Baltimore band Domaje. My least favourite was that by Steve Earle (a musician whose work I've enjoyed in the past) as he sounded like he was singing it off an autocue.

• I believed in every one of those characters for every moment on the 60 episodes. And that’s the mark of great drama.

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100000005437335]

I LOVE The Wire. We were late catching onto it but when we did, we watched ALL FIVE SEASONS back to back. It took a few months - but wow. The best writing - the most incredible storylines and characters that still haunt me. One of my favorite scenes is when Snoop gets shot and she's worried about her hair. Love it!

[Lartonmedia]

Hi Hannah. I think watching it back to back is the way to go. And I definitely agree about the characters and the storylines. Oddly enough I was thinking of that line of Snoop's earlier. And the scene that hit me was when Bunk went to the children's home to try to persuade Randy to talk to him. I think the waste of children's lives was one of the most moving parts of the whole drama.

[bookwitch]

I'm only halfway through series 1, due to having too much to do, but will get there in the end. We missed about three episodes in the recording however. And I came to the conclusion that subtitles weren't necessary. It's not my hearing that's iffy; it's just that I need a dictionary to understand what the words mean.

[Lartonmedia]

Keep going -- it's definitely worth it!

Oddly enough the slang didn't bother me -- I worked most of it out. And once I got used to the voices I dispensed with the subtitles. I think it was the speed of some of the accents I couldn't catch at the start.

[Lartonmedia]

Keep going -- it's definitely worth it!

Oddly enough the slang didn't bother me -- I worked most of it out. And once I got used to the voices I dispensed with the subtitles. I think it was the speed of some of the accents I couldn't catch at the start.

[Dana King]

My Beloved Spousal Equivalent and I just recently watched all 60 episodes a second time. It will probably be an annual occurrence for us, at least for a while. The best thing I can say about it is, when the last episode finished, I still had the feeling all those people would continue to live their lives. We just weren't going to get to watch them anymore.

[Lartonmedia]

That's a really good way of putting it, Dana! And I like the idea of an annual re-watch. A friend of mine re-reads War and Peace every Christmas, so I don't see why I can't re-watch The Wire!