Television Series Review: The Wire
“The Wire” is one of the best television shows ever produced depicting the battle between drug dealers and law enforcement. The show focuses on the inner workings of the police department and drug wars in Baltimore. As gritty as “The Shield” the series goes deeper into the world of the drug lords, the neighborhoods run by drugs and the effect it has on people who live there. Seen from the view of both police and drug dealers this series puts poverty, governmental corruption and law enforcement systems under a microscope. The story follows the inner workings of drug dealers, the police department, union workers on the docks, local government, school systems and newspaper and media in Baltimore. There is gut wrenching drama as well as comic moments, times where you will find yourself rooting for the good guys as well as the bad guys and sometimes not being able to tell which is which. “The Wire” will keep you on the edge of your seat, it will not disappoint.
The entire cast is excellent, with fine individual performances by all the actors involved in the series. Emmy awards should have gone to the performances of Andre Royo as the drug addicted homeless man Bubbles, Michael K. Williams as drug thief Omar Little and Clarke Peters as Detective Lester Freamon, the under appreciated detective investigating the drug wars from the streets to the top of Baltimore government. Each of these performances were layered, intelligent, sensitive performances deserving accolades, brilliant work from Royo, Williams and Peters. Actors who were also standouts in their performances in the cast include Dominick West as Detective McNulty, Lance Reddick as Lieutenant Cedric Daniels, Sonja Sohn as Detective Kima Greggs, Idris Elba as Stringer Bell, Robert Wisdom as Howard ‘Bunny’ Colvin, Robert F. Chew as Proposition Joe, Aidan Gillen as Congressman Tommy Carcetti, Larry Gilliard Jr. as D’Angelo Barksdale, Julito McCullum as Namond Brice and Amy Ryan as Officer Beadie Russell.
There were a few actors who used American accents in the cast, two of which were a total surprise to me since I’m generally good at catching accents from my theater days. I heard a glimpse of an English accent from Dominick West in the first few episodes and verified he was English. Watching the DVD extras during the seasons I found out from the interviews that Idris Elba was from the UK and Aidan Gillen was from Ireland. Best American accents and acting as an American other than Hugh Laurie. I may have to give best American accent to Idris Elba, beyond the American accent he also had to incorporate street dialect and slang into his performance: flawless in accent and impressive to say the least.
The casting director did an outstanding job in casting actors in this series, it is wonderful to see such a diverse casting in “The Wire”. Everything about this series is top notch, especially the direction and writing of the episodes. Viewers should note there is depiction of drug use, nudity and violence in this series. This is a must see television series, if you haven’t seen “The Wire” rent it and get ready to be challenged.
2002-2008. Created by David Simon, written by David Simon and Ed Burns. Starring Dominic West, Lance Reddick, Sonja Sohn, Andre Royo, Michael K. Williams, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Seth Gilliam, Domenick Lombardozzi, Idris Elba, Wood Harris, Aidan Gillen, John Doman, Robert Wisdom, Jim True-Frost, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Frankie Faison, Delaney Williams, John Doman, Jamie Hector, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Felicia Pearson, Robert Wisdom, Michael Kostroff and numerous other talented cast members.
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