The Wire - Final Season - Episode 1

By Winston • January 8, 2008

Official Bar Score:

Okay, so I tried this a while back with the final season of “The Sopranos”, which ended up starting mildly well but then tapered off into absolute ridiculousness, to the point where I lost all motivation to follow, write about, and ultimately watch the end of what was once my favorite show. To that end I blame David Chase and the rest of the people behind the show. They forgot what ultimately made the show special and tried to cater to the “Six Feet Under” crowd. And I say that only because I would like to hammer home the point that I in np way shape or form blame HBO.

That is an important point because, for the most part, the original programming department of Home Box Office seems to let the artists behind even their most wildly popular shows have control, which in turn allows the creators to go in whatever direction they like, which includes making their shows overbearingly pretentious. To be fair, “Six Feet Under” always had this element and it worked well of the time and it’s final season and in particular the series finale were reasonably well done enough to be considered a proper send off. This was not so with “The Sopranos”, where the realism was ditched in favor of needless examinations of the effects of homosexuality on the mafia and ludicrous dream sequences that were mostly unwatchable. In the end, the blame for any shortcomings lies in the creators, not the outlet, something that cannot be said about such things as the music industry and Hollywood. I may or may not be totally off base in my assessment, I’m just calling it like I see it. But where those shows failed by taking advantage of their freedom, “The Wire” has always managed to succeed, sticking to the formula that makes it special and keeping it ultra fresh and powerful each season.

Because of that, “The Wire” has been my absolute favorite TV show… ever. The show captures you and endears you to the characters, regardless of what side of the law they are on. It manages to humanize everybody, from the most cold hearted gangster to the most idealistic police officer. Everybody is flawed, which allows the viewer to identify in some way with the characters. It focuses on race, crime, poverty, love, happiness, despair, fear, ambition, loyalty, heart, deceit… if it is a part of being a human being, it is part of the viewer experience. The deep nature of the show combined with it’s format of one continuous story with each episode being a chapter make “The Wire” one of the most rewarding television shows ever created. You don’t watch “The Wire”, you feel it.

So on January 6th, 2007 HBO aired the first show of the final season. I was excited, but saddened at the same time, knowing that this is something not likely to happen again for a very long time. Episode 1 picks up from the end of last season. The Major Case Squad is still trying to nail Marlo, Chris, and Snoop for the 22 bodies dumped in the vacant houses, but due to Marlo’s crew methodical way of doing things that do not involve anything but verbal communication they cannot wire tap anything. In short, they have nothing to go on but the hope that at some point they will slip up or a pattern will emerge. The dedication is still there, however budget problems have cut overtime pay to police officers while Mayor Carcetti pumps what little money the city does have into the schools, so therefore morale and motivation are on the verge of extinction in Major Crimes, and throughout the rest of the police department for that matter. Problem after problem is arising, making it hard for the police to do anything to help Carcetti keep his platform promises of lowered crime rates. Hoping to make matters more difficult are an antsy bunch of jaded and bored reporters at The Baltimore Sun, who start to come across evidence that the city of Baltimore could quite possibly be in more trouble that they realized. Oh yeah, like the promos are advertising, McNulty is drinking again.

The episode was a typical season opener, tying up some loose ends, advancing previous story lines, and establishing new ones. There are no really shocking moments, but it establishes everything very well and is a good watch. I am particularly intrigued about what direction the media aspect is going to go. They did an excellent job of integrating the problems of the school system into the story last season, so I don’t expect that to be an issue. The potential for it is high (the editor is a cool character and seems pretty standup). McNulty is back to old form, so it ought to be an interesting season. There were no Omar sightings, but as Marlo becomes more and more powerful you can bet he will find a way to bring him out of retirement at some point in the season (after all, what is “The Wire” without Omar?). The show is better judged as a whole than as individual episodes, but as season premiers go it was decent. Until next week…