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For many years folks have recommended this series to me, but I had resisted for fear of it being too depressing. As others have pointed out, Season Two is the weak link (I have not yet seen Season Five but I surely will). See it because seeing it helps you understand how bad it really is - the various worlds that The Wire is depicting. Nothing else that I know of.
And what does it depict: the ugly innards of bureaucracy; the extraordinary cultural malignancy that dominates so much of inner-city American life; the incredible obstacles confronting anyone who truly wants to make a difference; the cameraderie that develops when good people get together and really try; the hardship that will visit those who speak truthfully when few really want to hear the truth; the enormous wasted talent and energy of those who ravage our urban communities with their drugging and their vacuous violence and promiscuity; and the strange and perverse allure of it all. I could go on and on, but the short of it is this - see it. What else produced for the small screen can make those claims. Well, it is pretty depressing, but it is also a wrenchingly honest depiction of inner city dysfunction that pulls few punches. It is also well acted, beautifully shot and directed and it is both illuminating and riveting.
It is as if Dickens was reborn and wrote for HBO. And while it is a gloomy view - how could it not be and still be honest - it is also peopled by such a wide array of characters many of whom are so wonderful that when all is said and done the show does not screech -"GIVE UP" but rather "PAY ATTENTION.". but see it all.
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