The Wire - McNulty, Bunk and Kema on the case

Well I am now into season four of The Wire and once again its just as brilliant as it has been from day one. The way the story just develops effortlessly from year to year is stunning.

I received the first series from a friend about six months ago and popped the first disc into the player and since then I have been hooked. Its funny, its violent, its real and its like you are watching a living, breathing city in full view on your TV screen. Nothing is left unturned, every little bit of dialogue means something that could happen two episodes down the line, or even in another series!

I have never been much of a fan of TV series as I always found that they dragged and you end up losing interest after about the second series. Lost, 24, Hero’s spring to mind when thinking about this.

But with the Wire you have a new point of focus in each series, while still running in the background are the trials and tribulations of the main bulk of the cast. A great example of this is the way McNulty’s character evolves through the show. He starts as the gritty detective who doesn’t abide by the rules, then in series two he is a patrol man on the docks, then its back to detective work and then finally in series four he has gone back to a ‘on the beat’ policeman. Its an interesting way to develop a character and must be a headache for the writers.

Omar from The Wire

You also have the brilliant cameos from guys like Omar who is the gangster with a heart and his main aim is to rob drug dealers of their stash and cash. Its a brilliant twist on the typical gangster mould. You also have the overweight, but sharp as a tack detective Jay Landsman who will do anything to get the cases closed. These guys float in and out of the whole show, but when they are on they are pivotal to the flow of the story.

So now just one episode into series four and I am sure I will be glued to the TV screen at every opportunity!

If it’s a lie, then we fight on the lie. But we gotta fight