There are a finite amount of shows that can be considered the greatest television show of all time. Certainly, a lot of criteria need to be considered before finally coming to a conclusion on what show is even in the running for the title. It’s tough separating drama from comedy, miniseries from a show that went on for ten or more seasons. Do awards and accolades matter? Do ratings or streams matter? How can there be criteria where a show can be considered the greatest of all time when there’s so much to consider and all the shows are just so different. Determining which one actually is the greatest of all time is tricky, but coming up with a list of contenders is insanely tricky. There is one show for sure that deserves to be on the list of contenders though: The Wire.
The Wire, created by David Simon, explores the relationship between various institutions within the city of Baltimore, Maryland, and law enforcement agencies. Each season explores a different aspect of Baltimore such as print media (season five), the illegal drug business (season one), the school system (season four), the seaport union and system (season two), and local government (season three). The main law enforcement unit consists of Detective Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), Lieutenant Cedric Daniels (Lance Reddick), Detective Kima Griggs (Sonja Sohn), Detective Lester Freamon (Clarke Peter), Detective Prez Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost), Herc Hauk (Domenick Lombardozzi), and Ellis Carver (Seth Gilliam). The main unit uses various tools in order to learn more about crime around Baltimore like wiretaps and analysis in order to help crack codes criminals use to communicate. The Wire lasted five seasons originally on HBO and can be watched on HBO Max.
The Wire is a show that never got the credit it truly deserved for what it accomplished. Flying largely under the radar due to low ratings and lack of awards consideration, The Wire is a gritty and realistic view of how crimes are investigated. Baltimore itself feels like the main character, as it’s constantly evolving to stay one step ahead of the police. The Wire deserves praise for a lot of different aspects of the show. The diverse cast is one for the ages as it introduces future stars like Idris Elba, Michael B. Jordan, and the late Michael Kenneth Williams. It props up a lot of different groups to give them the spotlight, specifically storylines involving women, African Americans, and gay characters that weren’t as prevalent when the show came out. There’s a sophistication to all these different segments of Baltimore and what’s even better is that some storylines stick throughout the series, and some fade into obscurity once it’s done. I really like how The Wire sometimes feels like an anthology show but also expands the grasp of what a traditional crime procedural show can be. This isn’t just exploring crime, it’s exploring how crime grows and evolves based on what is happening within the city. The Wire has a lot to say and it’s really effective at saying it in subtle ways without beating you over the head with it. The Wire not only could be the greatest show of all time, but it’s now becoming underrated due to the complexity of the stories, the strong performances among all the cast members, and the legacy it leaves behind as a show that is now getting the appreciation it rightfully deserves.
In honor of The Wire turning 20 years old this month, here are the top ten moments from the show. Spoilers ahead:
10) All The Pieces Matter (Season 1, Episode 6)
Lester is perhaps the unsung hero of the entire series. He is often the most talented and most underappreciated of the entire crew. When given the opportunity to shine, he tries to take full advantage of the situation by being as thorough as possible, outlining why everything matters. This would be an important part of The Wire as a whole, everything matters, and nothing is done simply just to do it.
9) The Chess Tutorial (Season 1, Episode 3)
D’Angelo (Lawrence Gillard Jr.) was one of the great foot soldiers for Avon Barksdale. Moreover, he was also family. So when he’s assigned to work in the projects after running into trouble with the law, he has to prove that he’s worthy to still be part of the organization. He notices Bodie (J.D. Williams) and Wallace (Michael B.Jordan) attempting to play checkers with chess pieces. So D’Angelo takes the opportunity to teach them how to actually play chess. There, he lays down a beautiful metaphor about how chess is like a drug game. This is the moment I realized that this is not at all what I thought it was going to be as a show and has a lot more depth than I was expecting.
8) “You come at the king, you best not miss” (Season 1, Episode 8)
Omar Little’s (Michael Kenneth Williams) introduction into the world of The Wire shows him robbing the crew in the projects early on in season one. His introduction shows him as a pseudo-Robin Hood among thieves, bandits, and murders. Later on in the season when Omar is a targeted man, he proves why he’s still around and how he manages to survive thieving a group of criminals. This icon line might be the most memorable line of the entire series and an unfortunate reminder that no one remains king for very long.
7) Kima admits to whistle-blowing (Season 5, Episode 10)
The unit has had a lot of successes, and a lot of tragedy befall them. There were plenty of times when the unit’s integrity came into question but season five finally broke someone’s back. McNulty and Lester both have a hand in a serial killer case that was fabricated to score more resources for other investigations. Once Kima finds out that the story was fake, she immediately turns them in. Both of them are sent in for “early retirement” for their lapse in judgment and Kima does later admit that she was the one that blew the whistle on them. It was not the break-up I envisioned for this group but at least they all went out still as friends.
6) D’Angelo’s Murder (Season 2, Episode 6)
There were a few deaths in The Wire that was notable for how hard they hit the audience. One that stands out for sure is D’Angelo’s murder while serving a prison sentence. It was a tough moment because D’Angelo wanted to turn over a new leaf. He had a family of his own while also being a direct relative to Avon (Wood Harris). His murder was hard to watch because it was also planned by Stringer Bell (Idris Elba). D’Angelo was a smart and capable man that caught up in the wrong situation. He was murdered for being a snitch, a common theme throughout the seasons, but he was trying his best to do the right thing.
5) Introduction of Marlo (Season 3, Episode 1)
There weren’t a lot of characters we got to see their full ascent from a nobody to the king of the Baltimore drug trade. The most notable for this evolution was Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), who starts as someone who has his own corner but then he eventually gets all the way to the top. Marlo was a noteworthy villain who takes out the Barksdale gang while also serving as the primary antagonist beyond Stringer Bell. I didn’t think anyone could live up to Stringer but Marlo definitely lived up to the bill.
4) “You gonna help me” (Season 4, Episode 12)
Randy (Maestro Harrell) had a pretty raw deal throughout the course of his arc. He’s in the foster system, trying to do the right things, but ultimately when it came time for him to do the right thing and become a witness for a crime, the streets punish him for being a snitch. When Carver tries to console him at the hospital after his foster home is burned down, Randy is having none of that. When systems and institutions are put in place for them only to fail those who really need them, what can someone in those systems do? It’s a pretty heartbreaking realization that these systems cannot and do not always help those who need them the most, which is why a life of crime sometimes gets vulnerable kids in the first place..
3) Wallace’s death (Season 1, Episode 11)
Wallace’s murder was probably the most difficult death to watch and the one that proved that no one is safe in the world of The Wire. Similar to what happened to D’Angelo, Wallace also met his demise for being a snitch. The key difference though is that Wallace was just a boy. Watching a teenager when he’s faced with death was devastating but also to know that his friends had to be the ones to kill him made the moment even harder. He was even out of Baltimore for a while so he was semi-safe. He just made one too many mistakes that ended up costing him in the end.
2) Bubbles regains his family’s trust (Season 5, Episode 10)
There weren’t a lot of people to actively root for in The Wire. Perhaps the closest thing to an underdog in the series was Bubbles (Andre Royo). We spent most of the series watching him struggle with his addiction and seeing him get so close only to see him relapse time and time again. We see a lot of his struggles while seeing how he helps the unit out by serving as an occasional informant. Bubbles finally break through in the final season by remaining sober. It been a point of contention for Bubbles that he has a strained relationship with his family. To see him get it back after all this time was definitely worth the wait.
1) Avon and Stringer’s talk on the rooftop (Season 3, Episode 11)
The penultimate episode of season three features perhaps the greatest moment of the series between two friends who have simply outgrown one another. Knowing full well they both betrayed one another in different ways, Stringer and Avon start to reminisce about what it was like to grow up together and create their empire together. They drifted apart and this was the somber moment when the Avon drug empire came collapsing to the ground. Not so much in a huge firefight but subtly and quietly. It was a devastating moment, considering everything that happened next: Stringer Bell is murdered and Avon is sent back to prison. The show was never the same after this moment.
Honorable Mention: The basketball game (Season 1, Episode 9)
The basketball game between the east and west sides of Baltimore’s projects introduced us to Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew) but this is the first time that the unit identifies who Avon is. Up until then, they only knew him by name and didn’t know what he’d looked like. This was a huge turning point in their case.
Honorable Mention: “I bleed red and you bleed green” (Season 3, Episode 8)
Tension was boiling over between Avon and Stringer for a while but this was the moment when you realized this is something they may not recover from. Stringer is striving to make the drug trade more like a business but Avon doesn’t want that. Avon has no problem calling him out for that about how they’re moving in different directions. Shortly after this, Stringer was dead and Avon was in prison.
Honorable Mention: Omar is killed (Season 5, Episode 8)
Omar Little is a legendary character, not just in The Wire but throughout all of television. You’d think to some extent or another, Omar would have survived until the end and ride off into the sunset as the antihero of Baltimore. There was no grand blaze of glory or noble sacrifice to be made. Instead, Omar meets his end by a random kid who’s looking to make a name for himself. It was so random and unexpected that you couldn’t help but have your heart broken a little bit when he died. He’s not the noblest person on the show but he was surprisingly the moral center, even for a killer.
Honorable Mention: The ambush where Kima is shot (Season 1, Episode 10)
This represented a vast escalation in the case between Avon’s crime syndicate and the team investigating them. Kima becomes the victim of an ambush on a sting gone wrong. Major Rawls (John Doman) comforting McNulty even though he hates him was a great moment between two enemies while we see the hunt for who was responsible for Kima getting shot. It was a terrifying moment because we didn’t know if Kima would make it out alive.
Honorable Mention: Omar testifies in court (Season 2, Episode 6)
“It’s all in the game” is a line that resonates throughout the show. Omar Little has a specific code that he goes by so when it came time to testify in court about a murder, he followed his code to a T. When he’s pressed by defense attorney and general scum of the earth Maury Levy (Michael Kostroff), Omar lets him have it with a line to end all lines, “I got a shotgun, you’ve got a briefcase. It’s all in the game.” Omar is letting Maury know that the person he’s being portrayed as in court, unreliable, a criminal, and just an overall bad person, is just like him. It was a savage come back and showed how great Omar is.
