Saying Goodbye to "The Wire"

I wrote the post below a year ago and am reposting now since I only just finished watching Season 5 (guess unemployment was the rainy day I was waiting for). I am impressed, if I do say so my own self, with how much what I wrote then holds up.

I liked Season 5 but it wasn't my favorite. I loved the newspaper stuff with Clark Johnson (the grammar stuff with the actual newspapermen was of course a real turnon for a word nerd like myself) and seeing how some old faves turned out-Bubbles' redemption is particularly sweet after 5 rocky seasons-but I do have some serious qualms. Chief among these is the whole fake serial killer subplot. I don't question that Jimmy could and would come up with such a thing but I never bought Lester buying into it no matter how badly he wanted to bring Marlo down. I also was more than a little put off by Omar's death. I knew it was unevitable, so had no problems with that, rather it was the way he died that I take issue with. He had been built up as a local legend, 'the cheese stands alone' gunslinger, over the first 4 seasons and I was hoping his death would be a suitable match for his strict code of honor. Having him killed by a kid in an incident that had nothing to do with the rest of the plot might have been realistic and might have furthered what the creators wanted to say about the impermanence of the individual vs the permanence of the problem but it didn't satisfy. Some things from Season 5 that did:

-the interaction between Herc and Prop Joe in Levy's office, a classic "Wire" exchange.
-Prop Joe and Snoop's deaths, unlike Omar's they suited their characters well. Michael & Snoop's last exchange was particualarly poignant.
-I liked seeing so much of Steve Earle's Waylon even if Earle's acting can best be described as tic-ey. And his version of the theme song was a fine one.
-Marlo's reaction when he hears about what Omar has accused him of, finally the emotive payoff viewers have been waited for.
-Jimmy's mock wake-another classic "Wire" moment.

Again, to all involved, hooray and thanks.

So "The Wire" is weeks over and I'm only now writing about it. While I appreciate leaving on their own terms, long before any shark jumping, I am sad to see it go. I've been so bummed that it's taken me this long to try and work out what I wanted to say about it. I can be a slow processor sometimes, when things matter very much. Good thing I'm a blogger and not a journalist.

And my sadness is even premature-since I don't have HBO I have to wait for the DVDs so I actually have one whole season to go. (Though I do know some spoilers, I've been trying to keep my head down but it's hard to keep my head that down.) It sounds like a hardship but I've grown to prefer it that way. The HBO shows I like almost all require the ability to go back to get their full import or to at least catch the lines I miss when I'm laughing too hard to catch them the first time. At this point I can't imagine watching them just once and then having to wait months or years to see them again. (Though I guess it is cable so there probably is a certain amount of repeats. Not like "Jaws" on TNT kinda repeats but still.)

So here, in random order, the top 10 reasons I love "The Wire":

1) Catholic. It's a very catholic show-catholic in the lower case "universal; all inclusive, having broad sympathies; liberal" sense. Alley to State House, corner boy to Mayor-it's all there.

2) Bearing Witness. This phrase has been co-opted by many but it's actually a strict religious term from the Quaker faith, the last of that faith's 5 Stages. "Bearing witness requires that we experience the life of another and then take compassionate action. The actions we take when we bear witness don't have to be large. We change our world by bearing witness to what is in front of us daily. Because everything is interconnected, nothing is trivial or inconsequential. Our small moments of authenticity have large impacts we are often unaware of." Or like it says on "The Wire" soundtrack "and all the pieces matter."

3) Love of Place. I'm not sure what is about Baltimoreans that breeds such loyalty but they do like to represent, don't they? Obviously the makers of the "The Wire" have a bone deep love of the city but it watches like a kind of ragged love that's showing the wear of years . The kind of love that allows them to be critical but also to knock any outsider down who would dare say the same. They're mad, but they haven't given up and the viewer is left with the impression that they never will. Baltimore is not my place, I've never even visited, but I feel I know it because these artists have shown it to me.

4) Funny. It sounds strange given the subject and themes involved but I would say, despite all the praise heaped on it, "The Wire" never got its due for being funny. And not just because comic relief in a good drama is relished because it's thrown into such stark relief by the contrast, no, it's just a damn funny show. Funny in that laugh that catches you by surprise way, like life is funny.

5) Team. Yes, the credit list of the show's participants is long and deep but it seems like everyone involved, from the cinematographers to casting people to probably even craft services were all playing at the top of their game. Insert your own favorite championship team name here __________-the right people at the right time with the right opportunities well, that's when the magic happens doesn't it?

6) Different. Watching "The Wire" is not like watching other shows. If you doubt it remember how you feel watching episode 1 of a new season. You're rusty and out of practice, unused to having to pay attention to every minute. (Like they say, "and all the pieces matter".) What seems like a throwaway line now might very well come back to kick you in the teeth in Episode 12. That's not like other shows-hell, I can fold laundry, blog and still not miss a beat on "House".
(It's not lupus dammit-it's never lupus!)

7) Exclusivity. Always more of a critical darling than a ratings fave, a situation that can breed some fabulous TV if my watching history is anything to go by, "The Wire" has some very passionate fans. Maybe not as many as the makers or HBO would like but passionate none the less. The last time I was home, at a dinner party my folks were hosting, one guest just bursts out in the middle of the meal, apropo of nothing, like he could hold it in no longer, "I think "The Wire" is the best television show ever." Yeah, fans like that might not have made the show any better but they certainly added to my enjoyment of watching it.

8) The Personal. I started watching the show with someone I love and even though things have changed in ways that make it hard to watch now (like a lot of great things it's not so great to watch by yourself without someone to elbow and say "Isn't this great?") it still stands as a part of life together, hopefully one I will fully enjoy again some day.

9) No Unmourned Deaths. Granted I am missing a season but, unless I am overlooking something crucial, there are no unmourned deaths on "The Wire". Sometimes the mourner is a character (McNulty for Bodie in Season 4) and sometimes the viewer via the unblinking eye of the camera (the empty mini fridge in Season 1) but, back to bearing witness, no unmourned deaths. And given it's tenor and the dark subjects it tackles that's an extraordinary achievement-a kind of communion with the audience that goes beyond merely watching a show.

10) Optimistic. That word might seem as misplaced as funny but much in the way being brave is described as someone who is terrified but does it anyway, I think you could say the same for a person made cynical and bitter about a situation who then spends years of their life making art cataloging the ways they were made cynical and bitter. That actually sounds like a kind of cockeyed optimism to me.


So goodbye "Wire". Thanks so much to the creative team who brought it forth. I look forward to enjoying it and perhaps more importantly, being challenged by it, for years to come.