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In all honestly, I’d never heard of The Wire until one morning last March when I awoke to a blitzkrieg of news articles and segment pieces talking about how amazingly wonderful the series finale had been the previous night. Being the huge spoil freak that I am, I refused to read any of the said articles that mentioned the entire plot was about to be given away in the following paragraphs, but I soon came to the realization that I needed to see said TV show.

Seriously, every spoiler-free article and headline talked about how fulfilling and complete the final season and specifically episode was. I couldn’t find a single negative response to it and in doing some hasty research, I couldn’t find much against the show in general. Here was a show on HBO which critics and fans alike loved and which had been running for the past six years or so. And I’d never fucking heard of it!

I’d been burned by an HBO show before (FUCKING SOPRANOS SUCKED ASS!), but I finally broke down and watched the first season during the tail end of March.

Last week, I watched the final episode of the fifth, and final, season.

One of the top 10 shows of my lifetime? Most likely.

The beauty in the show is it’s realism. The good guys have huge flaws. The bad guys aren’t 100% evil. This isn’t some episode of 24 where all the bad guys speak in a Russian accent and Jack Bauer is God. This is real, where the good guys don’t always win, the bad guys don’t always lose, and sometimes you forget who in the hell is on which side much less who you’re “supposed” to be rooting for.

I told my brother it was like LOST, but in the real world. Everything everybody does screws over somebody else. The police, judges, lawyers, businessmen, politicians, dope dealers, crack addicts, children, teachers, dock workers, and everyday citizens all affect one another. If you think LOST weaves character stories together, you ain’t seen shit yet.

If you’ve already seen every episode, then please feel free to click the “more” link below. Otherwise, go watch the entire first season (their seasons are only 10 or 12 episodes long), become hooked, watch the rest of them, and then come read what I’ve written below.

And just in case you’re too fucking lazy to click on the link above, here’s a short recap from Wikipedia to let you know what the hell you’re about to get yourself sucked into.

The Wire is an American television drama series set and produced in Baltimore, Maryland. Created, produced, and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon, the series was broadcast by the premium cable network HBO in the United States. The Wire premiered on June 2, 2002 and ended on March 9, 2008, with 60 episodes airing over the course of its five seasons.

Each season of The Wire focuses on a different facet of the city of Baltimore. They are, in order: the drug trade, the port, the city bureaucracy, the school system, and the print news media. The large cast consists mainly of character actors who are little known for their other roles. Simon has said that despite its presentation as a crime drama, the show is “really about the American city, and about how we live together. It’s about how institutions have an effect on individuals, and how…whether you’re a cop, a longshoreman, a drug dealer, a politician, a judge [or] lawyer, you are ultimately compromised and must contend with whatever institution you’ve committed to.”

Despite never seeing great commercial success or winning any major television awards, The Wire has frequently been cited by critics as one of the greatest television series of all time. The show is recognized for its realistic portrayal of urban life, artistic ambitions, and uncommonly deep exploration of sociological themes.

Central to the structure and plot of the show is the use of electronic surveillance and wiretap technologies by the police—hence the title The Wire. Salon.com described the title as a metaphor for the viewer’s experience: the wiretaps provide the police with access to a secret world, just as the show does for the viewer.

Without further a due (I still get a small kick out of that)…

HOLY SHIT! YES, YES, YES, AND MORE YES. THAT’S HOW YOU DO A FINAL SEASON!

I’m honestly having trouble trying to process all of the information right now. In fact, if you just watched all five seasons in a short span like I did, you’re probably having even more trouble digesting it all. By the way, did you notice all the throw backs in the final few cut-scenes? I loved the random, show of a chess board. D’Angelo deserved better.

My favorite characters overall? Carver, Bubbles, Omar, Lester, Daniels, Bodie, Sydnor, Pryzbylewski, Bunny, and McNulty. Seriously, how the fuck can you not like ANY of them? When I look at them as a whole, I see one common thread: Competence. Go figure, with my absolute love for the trait. Good or bad, each and every one of them was amazing at what they did and I can respect that.

Watching Bodie and Omar get killed was rough. I kinda saw Bodie’s coming, but Omar! FUCK! I LOVED him and I’m pretty sure I was meant to.

On the flip side? I almost cried when Bubbles was sitting down to dinner with his sister upstairs. After watching him for five seasons, I wanted him to get clean more than anything else. Seriously, a nuclear bomb could have gone off in those final seconds, vaporizing all of Baltimore minus Bubble’s house, and I probably would have been okay with that.

Herc? Templeton? Levy? Clay? Hey guys, guess what? FUCK YOU! ALL OF YOU!

I loved how Michael was the heir apparent to Omar. I loved how Chris and Weebay took the fall like true soldiers. I loved how Sydnor is the new McNulty. I love how it foreshadowed Marlow getting absolutely fucked by being unable to leave the street. Most of all, I loved how McNulty and Lester and Daniels and Greggs and Bunk were all able to stand by their convictions, respect one another for it, and all come out smiling.

Nothing changes though, does it?

Let’s go back to the people I love, though. First off, Carver. Honestly, did ANYBODY grow more over the course of this show than he did? Come on, I dare you to find somebody to replace Carver with the “Most Growth” award. During the first season, he’s bowing to Hurk’s peer pressure and stealing drug money. By the final episode, he’s not only learned how to do police work, but he’s actually evolved into giving a shit about the work itself.

Omar was the shit. Seriously, he could have killed everybody on the show and I still would have loved him. But that wasn’t Omar, he wouldn’t have done that. He had a mother fucking code, a strict honor, and he stood by it. He knew the rules of the game and he never strayed from his convictions. There’s something to be said for that. Hell, he wasn’t even greedy. He knew there weren’t many options in life for a guy like him and so he took the highest path he could. I can respect the hell out of that.

When Bubbles tried to hang himself at the end of season 4, I just about lost it. When he sat down to dinner upstairs, I finally did. How could you not love Bubbles? I can tell you, if I was in the same shoes he was in season 1, I don’t know if I would be able to climb out of them. Every episode he was trying to better himself, even if it was only by pushing a cart around town and selling toilet paper. There were only one or two things I absolutely wanted to see before the end of the series and Bubbles coming upstairs was at the very top of that list.

I like to think that Lester, Greggs, Bunk, and McNulty all remained friends. I think they would have, especially given the police sendoff McNulty received and the way him and Lester forgave Greggs. They all did what they thought was right, whether it be breaking the rules to get a crime solved, standing silent by a good friend, or calling them out on their bullshit. Yet in the end, they all kinda looked at each other and saw only respect for one another. That’s downright cool.

Same for Daniels. He overlooked and covered up for a lot of things, but he finally drew the line at juking the numbers. Good on him.

I hated seeing how only one of the “kids” made it out of the hood with Bunny, but again, you gotta admit that’s the most realistic way it would have gone down. I think seeing Dukie swindle Presbo and then become the new Bubbles was the worst. Here’s to hoping he at least has the same outcome. Presbo only being in the last episode of season 5 was a travesty, but I liked how he had grown into a true teacher.

I gotta say I didn’t see the Sydnor being McNulty’s clone coming, but after I saw it…well, yeah, I buy it. Sydnor ate a lot of shit during his days, and if you remember, he was a hot-shot up and coming that Daniels begged for in the first season. After the homeless murders, he’s been around the block a few times and knows how the game is played. Lester and McNulty taught the boy well and while I wouldn’t have predicted it beforehand, I totally buy him filling McNulty’s shoes.

And then we’ve finally got McNulty. In the very end, I don’t know what he ended up doing with himself. I’m glad he got out of police work altogether. He was okay after the Barksdale case ended (kinda) and I think the only true way to get away from the thrill and the rush of police work was to get out of it all together. I honestly can’t see him doing a damn thing else, but then again, I never foresaw a lot of things on this show. He was a great character though, doing whatever he pleased and damned the consequences. Plus he looks just like my Uncle Mike, which is kinda weird.

It’s tough trying to recap 50+ hours of television and dozens of characters in one post. I just wanted to get this all out of my system for my own benefit. I basically just sat down and pounded all of this out in a few minutes and now that I have, it feels good - almost like I can accept that the show is truly over.

There are only a handful of shows that are so well written and put together that I actually give a rat’s ass about the characters and story. Kudos to The Wire for nudging their way into the group.