Baltimore mon Amour
Finished the fifth and last season of the Wire last week, and am even more convinced than before that this is one of the definitive television shows of the decade.
The journey, at sixty episodes, runs to a conclusion with the methods honed to perfection in the previous seasons. While there is an overlying arc, both to this collection of ten episodes, as well as to the whole collection - it’s not the masterfully laid out plotline that makes this a classic show. No, there’s plenty of smaller, yet meaningful stories told - told via the use of scores of characters, all of whom believable from their first moments on screen. None of them perfect, all plagued with defects.
Indeed, the five year tale of Maryland’s largest city draws to a close just like it has run. Through deception, multiple layers of plans that go awry with friction, through occasional serendipity, and inevitably: through honest detective work that reveals the rot within. The victories tend to be small and come at a price. David Simon’s not as merciless to his characters as, say, George R.R. Martin, but not many of the featured folks can be thought to be assured of any kind of success.
As with the previous season, a whole new perspective is introduced here. The newsroom of the ailing Baltimore Sun provides a lot of insight into how news is reported, and occasionally manufactured. The segments outline the crisis of print journalism, and neatly weave in a clash between cultures. The plotline concerning the cynical newsmen is not as touching as that on the four schoolkids in the previous season, but it does hammer in a powerful message.
There’s been plenty of characters and plotlines in the five year run, and the final episodes tie them all together. Even if some of the participants have not been seen in years, their presence on screen feels natural. And the cycles begin anew - some with new protagonists, some with a return to their former glories. The city remains the same, dysfunctional as ever.
Bring on Generation Kill, David Simon’s next effort.
Otto Sinisalo:
Bodymore Murdaland. But hey, whoa, where did you get S5?
September 19, 2008, 13:03lavonardo:
I actually bought it from Amazon since the delay until the scandinavian release seemed uncomfortably long.
R1, of course.
Shall I put you down as “next” on the list of loaners?
And thanks for the tagline for the show, had to seek out the corresponding image…
September 19, 2008, 14:26