Alright. I'm sold. The Wire is fucking amazing. The degree to which I've enjoyed the past two seasons makes me wonder what the hell I was missing in the first two, and I'm dying to go back and watch those early seasons all over again, preferably with a Wire virgin like my girlfriend or several of my friends. Many people have not only called The Wire the greatest show ever, but have specifically pinpointed Season 4 as the single greatest TV season ever. I'm not entirely sure I'd cosign on that, but I would absolutely put it in my top five without even stopping to wonder what else is in that top five. The Wire as a whole has also absolutely crept up toward the top of my own personal list of greatest shows ever - and this is after being moderately unimpressed by the first two seasons as little as two months ago. The main characters this season included four teenage boys who we'd never seen in previous seasons, a politician who had only been introduced the year prior, a teacher who had been a background character earlier on in the show's history (and not a very likable one until now), and a drug kingpin and some dealers who were also absent in the show's earlier years. I'm being vague to avoid spoilers, but suffice it to say that the majority of main characters from Seasons 1 and 2 have been killed off, locked up, or just written into the background of the show. That The Wire gets it done this year largely on new talent and formerly minor or unlikable characters speaks volumes about the strength of its writing and storytelling. I'm absolutely jumping right into Season 5 as soon as possible, and as I've already said, I hope to soon re-watch the whole series. And given my commitment and focus on my backlog, that is a rare thing indeed. Watch The Wire. Its fans aren't lying. I was a skeptic, and look at me now.
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