Season 4 of HBO's "The Wire" has just begun (episode 2 aired last night), and I must say that this show continues to rock my bleak world. The writing is just so strong and although it may irritate some people, I love that it disdains clumsy exposition and demands that the viewer pay attention. It juggles multiple lead and supporting characters, and conveys their voices, better than many if not most books. I shit you not.
On the surface you could say that it's a cop show....police trying to catch drug dealers. But that's really just the setting is uses to depict the modern American city as an institution, and show how it grinds down individuals of all stripes with the false promise of equal opportunity or forced compromise, that good people are capable of doing bad things and bad people are capable of doing good things, and how and why the worst aspects of business, politics, the economy and education are entrenched and resistant to positive change. It sounds depressing, but there is humanity and humor therein. It's really, really good.
The first 3 seasons are on DVD, so you can Netflix them or rent them. And you most certainly should. They are all excellent, and represent some of the best television ever filmed, in my humble opinion. This will be the last of my TV recommendations for a while, but I figure if you're going to watch something, you might as well watch something good.
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