Critics have spoken and the Wire has received rave reviews pretty much across the board. You could even go so far as to say that the Wire is the greatest crime drama ever made. And if you did say that, these just might be your reasons.
Critical Praise
To begin with, the Wire has received critical praise the likes of which crime dramas never see. Its complexity and nuance raise it above its peers, if other crime dramas can lay claim to being in the same class as the Wire. While crime dramas are often seen by critics as being passable at best, the Wire has been compared to great literary works.
The Main Character
The main character in the Wire is not a person but the city itself. Baltimore, Maryland is the central setting and theme here as the show delves into various aspects of life in this city. There are dozens of characters all serving to tell the story of Baltimore.
Shades Of Grey
The Wire does not rest on clear divisions between right and wrong or tidy endings that solve problems. The Wire lives in a real world where the morality of situations is ambiguous at best. In the Wire, decisions are not made for the viewer, they are left unmade. Art should provoke thought, after all.
Realism
These stories are simultaneously fabricated and unerringly true. The storylines that play out on the Wire are those that take place on the streets and in the buildings of Baltimore every day. The stories of this crime drama do not create truth so much as they expose it. This truth was already there but now it can be seen by those who are not currently living these truths.
Uncompromising
In addition to show truths, the Wire does not choose which truths to show. Or at least it does not limit itself to the more pleasant, or at least less offensive, parts of the criminal world. This has lead some to criticize the show for presenting a negative view of life in Baltimore when these critics should realize that this negativity is born from accurate retellings. The Wire is the greatest because it does not cater to those who would wish to lighten its mood to avoid telling the whole truth.
Challenging
The Wire is not a show that you sit back, watch, and have everything handed to you. It requires thought and consideration. It is meant for the thinker because, as its creators intend, it is meant to be a form of literature played out on television. Its writers are actually novelists and this fact gives the show both credibility and depth.
DVD Sales
Years after its first series came out, the sales of even this DVD continues to be high. The other series of the Wire continue to perform similarly.
The Wire is the greatest crime drama ever made. It is gritty, real, and literary. There is more going on in any episode of the Wire than can be discovered in one viewing and this complexity makes it great.
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