The Wire is no more

The Wire was finally put to bed tonight. I've been a faithful watcher since Episode one in 2002 and honestly, I'm sad to see it go. It was truly one of the best shows on television and not just because it was about my hometown. The Wire was more than just a police show. With most police shows they paint the police as the good guys and the criminals as the bad guys. That's all you get. It showed us that those categories are not as black and white as we would like to believe them to be. It showed us that no avenue is exempt from corruption. From the criminals, to the police department, to the government, to the school system and on down to the media.

It was exciting for me to see my city on television. The show gave the country a little slice of the hometown I've grown to love. Before The Wire, many people probably would have never even thought about Baltimore. This city isn't really known for much. I mean not that we want to be known for the drug trade and violence but it is what it is. It's always really been a city that people passed through on their way to or from other cities. It was exciting for me to see scenes on the show that I caught being filmed while I was working downtown in the courthouse. Or to see the building where I worked on television. Call me a dork but it was exciting to me. lol I hated that they blocked off our area while filming though. It was a pain in the ass when it came time to go home at 5:00.

The Wire kept it real... From the characters, to the storylines, to the dialogue, it was all real. Many of those characters I feel like I know them in real life. I know somebody who is a Bubs or a Kima or a Bodie and on down the line. This reminds me of a conversation in my Criminal Investigation class in undergrad. My teacher mentioned that The Wire is the most real television show about our field. He mentioned that The Wire is actually a little too real because it gave away too much information. It revealed a lot about police tactics and undercover work and criminals watching the show picked up on that.

I wasn't totally happy with the way that the show ended (as far as some of the characters fates went); however, I do think that they did a good job of summing up all 5 seasons. There are rumors of some spinoffs and possibly a movie (which would be a prequel since many of the characters are dead now) for the future. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I hope this show opened peoples eyes to what's really going on in the urban cities across this country. There are people who live the lives we saw on The Wire every day. Usually not by choice but out of neccesity. If America is supposed to be such a great country, there is no excuse for it. Things need to change. There is definitely a better way.