The Wire Season Five, Episode #1 Review

Grade: A-

I firmly believe that “The Wire” is the best TV shows ever created. I’m hardly the first person to write this statement and the show’s virtues have been extolled by writers much greater and prominent than myself, but I would also like to note how few, if any, missteps this series has made. Even other “great” series, including ones without the fetters of prime time network control, have been this flawless for this long. Even during their glory days/early years, shows like “Sopranos,” “Six Feet Under,” and “Homicide” were never consistently good as any season of “The Wire.”

But sadly, this great show will son come to an end, with the first episode of the final season premiering on Sunday night. HBO has once again decided to make each episode available through OnDemand close to a week in advance, and I recently took advantage of this fact. The decision to do so has always struck me as odd, but whatever. So this review is only really sort of early. And of course, future episodes of the series are already available as torrents. The situation irks me to no end, because they are many idiots out there intent on spoiling the plot twists for those of us who don’t want to know. That being said, I pledge to keep my reviews as spoiler free as possible while discussing my feelings.

So, yeah, now on with the review: Season 5 shows “The Wire” is still at full strength. The first scene stands tall among the show’s best intro segments ever. Yes, it feels like it was ripped straight from David Simon’s original “Homicide” book (which it was), but it really captures what I imagine will be the theme for the entire season. As the show continues, Simon and company continue to do what they have always done with the first episode of every season: slowly re-introduce the recurring characters and let the story unfold as to what they’ve been up to for the past year. Nothing ever feels forced.

And as always, the show shifts from the law enforcement to the criminal to the political worlds effortlessly, all the while building on and inter-connecting each storyline. As the season starts, things arn’te going well in Baltimore: Crime is on the rise. The city is deep in debt. The Mayor, last seen bright-eyed and bushy tailed while promising a day new day in the city, already looks weak and ineffectual a mere year into his term. And the Baltimore PD is close to mutiny, after being promised the world, but now being held captive to a budget crunch and the Mayor’s political ambitions.

And most surprisingly, the Major Crimes Unit looks defeated and close to pathetic. After spending a year literally chasing West Side crime boss Marlo Stansfield around the city, they’re no closer to catching him than they were a year ago. The unit’s days have become a ghetto version of “Groundhog Day.” They knew everything he’s going to do and everywhere he’s going to go, but they still doggedly follow him in hopes of a break. All the while, Marlow is getting comfortable in his power and has some dangerous ambitions of his own.

And in the midst of all these swirling plot-lines, they introduce a new theme: The life and times of the Baltimore Sun newspaper. I’ll admit even as a former reporter, I was a little apprehensive about the introduction of the newspaper angle. But then again, I wasn’t initially enthusiastic about Season #4 school angle, and the plotlines that emerged were as captivating as anything they’ve done. The first episode shows a pretty decent look at the average news day in a major metropolitan newspaper, and shows how a daily act of journalism can unfold in a newsroom. No doubt things were get more complicated and prickly as the season progresses.

It saddens me that I now only have nine more new episodes of “The Wire” to enjoy. However, if the final season continues with the same quality of this first episode and the four preceding seasons, what more can I ask for beyond five seasons of consistently brilliant television?