The Wire, Season 5, Episode 10: -30-

Grade: B+

And so it ends.

The best TV drama to ever exist is over, and all I’ve got to look forward to is more David Milch dramas. Bah.

I’ll save much of waxing poetic about The Wire to others who have done it better, and earlier, than myself. I won’t whine to say it should have gotten more episodes this season (it should) or should have had more seasons (debatable). David Simon has covered a lot of this ground in a few of the interviews he’s done as of yet (particularly this really good one by TV critic extraordinaire/my former college newspaper editor Alan Sepinwall - http://sepinwall.blogspot.com/2008/03/wire-david-simon-q.html). Suffice to say that the show is gone and it sucks that it’s over. MAJOR SPOILERS follow.

As for the last episode, it was very solid, but not extraordinary. In the past, the show has always hit its dramatic peak in the pen0ultimate episode, and the season finale is about the clean-up. The first four seasons have done the mop-up exceedingly well (particularly Season #3). This one seemed a bit forced and overlong, but still contained some great moments.

I was pleasantly surprised that the series finale wasn’t nearly as grim as I had thought it would be. Not everyone ended well, but I had a smile on my face for much of the final half-hour “wrap it up” portion of the show. Many of the characters get the endings the “deserve,” and sometimes it was quite moving, e.g. Bubbles finally deciding that he’s okay with being a good person and going upstairs. Not everyone gets exactly what they want, but most of the time, they’re okay with that. Of course, incompetence is rewarded, but that’s been a constant thread of the show. The fate of Duquan was heart-breaking, but it was balanced by some rotten jerks getting exactly what they deserved. I wanted to stand up and cheer when Slim Charles capped Cheese in the head. Seeing Marlo alone on a dark street corner, desperate to save his own name, unable to enjoy his ill-gotten freedom, haunted by ghosts of Omar, had a poetic ring to it as well.

The complaint that they spent too much screen-time on show how nothing ever really changes is valid. I’m not sure I needed what amounted to a half an hour of “Dukie is the new Bubbles” and “Michael is the new Omar,” etc. Anyway, I’m not sure I buy Detective Sydnor is the new McNulty. Regardless, everything just feels right.

Even though this was the worst season of the show, it was still better than any other single season of most shows that have graced TV, even the really good ones. If you had to press me, I’d say that Season 3 was the best, followed by 4, 1, 2, and 5. It really does suck that I can’t really think of a single show that I’m looking forward to in the future. Well, the only ones have Simon and Burn’s names attached to them.

Ah well, there’s always The Wire DVD sets.