The Wire: A Series Review

Rose told me I'd love The Wire.  She was right.  She said it was a great show and that I'd be caught up in fabulous dialogue and I was, but there are three other reasons that this HBO Series haunts my thoughts, three reasons I'm going to explain without giving away any spoilers: 

1. While it's a magnificent modern story, it's told in the classic hero's journey style.
2. It feels real - the setting, characters, situations, and story all feel as if somewhere it's playing out in real life.
3. It fulfills my own obsession regarding the potential transition of the novel as television series.

The Hero's Journey

Joseph Campbell, noted for his study of the monomyth, posited that all the greatest stories from cultures worldwide had similar elements and could be framed by a structure called the hero's journey.  In this journey a reluctant hero, usually an outsider from his own kind, must undertake a hazardous journey where he confronts the demons of the world and the demons in his own mind.  In The Wire there are three separate heroes from three distinct societies in modern Baltimore, Maryland. 

The first is Jimmy McNulty, an Irish detective who has an aversion to authority and doesn't care what bridges he burns in his obsessive quest to close a case. Not just any case though, McNulty must solve the big case, the important case, in order to exorcise his self-destructive internal demons of alcoholism and relationship sabotage.  Throughout the series you get the feeling that he's always on the ledge windmilling his arms to keep from plummeting to his death.  In his journey, McNulty has to fail more than he succeeds and he has to come to terms with the fact that he's not going to make that big score without help.  He has to discover somewhere within his nature the ability to be loyal and he has to accept his own fallibility before he can really do some good.

The second hero is a junkie named Bubbles.  His journey is all too common, it's the rock bottom dive of addiction and the struggle to drag himself up one day at a time. He's our advocate for the victims of the drug society, ignored by authorities until there's an exploitation opportunity, abused and bled dry by dealers and thugs.  From Bubble's perspective we learn the true meaning of despair and yet we also see the few shreds of beauty in war-torn Gangland, U.S.A.  Precisely because he'll never be missed if he dies, because there's never-ending line of junkies to take his place, we're tied to Bubbles.  We're seeing him as a human being with the potential to journey back from the depths of Hell and rejoin our America.  He has the farthest to go and the most difficult tasks ahead of him, Bubbles is the quintessential underdog.

The third hero at first appears anything but.  He is Omar Little and his self-described occupation: "I robs drug dealers."  He's a stick-up man; Jesse James of the drug community.  He hits dealers and money men and all the corner boys scatter when he walks down the street.  "Omar's Coming," is a common refrain as the boys scatter like roaches encountering bright light.  He carries two trademark weapons, a pistol-grip 12-gage shotgun and a Desert Eagle 50 caliber pistol.  Omar's journey is that of a hero with a code.  He's one of the most honorable characters on the show and despite his role as an obvious outlaw, he doesn't break that code for any price.  It's true that he's a predator, the most dangerous shark in the bay, but he's also the force that balances good and evil, for who else are the drug dealers going to fear?  Oh, did I mention that Omar is openly gay?  Flaming and scary as hell, especially when he wants to go out for his Honey Nut Cheerios.

I've never seen a story that successfully brought three separate heroes along their quests and managed to interweave these stories until now, until The Wire.  In that way it's masterful, exceeding the master, James Joyce and his classic hero narrative, Finnegan's Wake.

The Wire Feels Real.

David Simon was a police reporter at The Baltimore Sun for twelve years.  It's this experience that gives the story and creative concept its validity.  But it seems that wasn't enough for Simon to create the show.  Various consultants and crew members come from the very societies showcased in the series. He has former drug dealers and cops and junkies advising him on what it's like, how it feels, how it looks, sounds, and smells.  The show is nothing if not detailed.  There aren't grand cops and robber shootouts or magnificent courtroom closing speeches because in real life a shootout lasts only long enough for a bullet to find a target and rarely does a case make its way to the courtroom when out of court settlement is expedient. 

When Bubbles pushes his shopping cart down the street, you hear the needles crack under his beat-up shoes. When Omar appears out of nowhere to respond to a message on the street, he scares you, you can smell his sweat and nicotine.  When Stringer Bell meets with his developers you can feel the tension like a man out of place, trying to fit in.  It's like Deadwood was in its attention to detail. 

The Novel as Television.

Simon is an experienced book author (Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets, The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood) and when it came to The Wire he “saw it as a visual novel, with each season a distinct chapter exploring an aspect of inner-city life.” 

That's what I've often said, that a great novel can only really be told visually through a series-length television show.  A two or three hour movie can't do justice to the characters, plots, subplots and tension of a novel.  The Wire has proven it, because this is the perfect vehicle for telling this perfect story. 

Enjoy it.  It's a beautiful piece of art.

- rick, fan, writer.

bonus:  This is a scene from The Wire.   Omar's reputation precedes him.  In the last few seconds, he encapsulates his entire character's creed in two brilliant lines. 

 

 

Comments

[a rose is a rose]

it WAS the best thing on tv - period.

your review was THE best review i've read on the wire. i believe i've read just about all of 'em too. my favorite was reading some of the boards (i think that's what they're called) where the 'real' peeps were commenting on the story lines.

shows like the wire are too few and too far between. unfortunately, there is never a lack of steamin' crap out there (b.j. and the bear? manimal? the dukes of hazard? walker texas ranger - i hope everyone knows the mighty chuck norris actually is SINGING the theme song. the list really is endless).

i'm glad you enjoyed the series rick.

[jane]

I watched the first disc of the first season of The Wire. I liked it, but didn't LOVE it. I might put it back in my queue...

One friend told me I had to watch more, had to give it a chance. I don't know. I think tv should pander to me, I don't need to be all nice and "give it a chance." There's so much else to do.