Getting Wired

I've been counting down the days until January like a prison inmate awaiting his release. After nearly a year and a half, HBO's brilliant drama, The Wire, will bless its devoted viewers with ten more episodes before having its number retired alongside the greatest shows of its generation.

Arguably the best show on TV (yes, even better than Kid Nation), The Wire is essentially another show about lovably gruff police officers and their struggle to enforce the law without bending it themselves. Yet, to call it a cop show would be a gross oversimplification. What makes The Wire so interesting is the way it explores the lives of people on the other side of the law, the criminals who on most shows would be reduced to villianous stereotypes but emerge here as sympathetic and likeable, even as they kill, maim, and sell heroin to anybody with a couple of bucks in their wallet. By contrast, the "good guys" aren't always so good. The show's protagonist, Detective Jimmy McNulty, is an alcoholic womanizer who isn't above stepping outside the boundaries of the law to get results. But, like many other characters on The Wire, McNulty's flaws actually make him more likable. It's easy to identify with the these people's weaknesses, especially given the black-and-white nature of television in general, where the heroes are virtuous supermen and the villians depraved psychopaths.

The Wire brings excitement to TV in a way that all the wisecracking doctors and indestructable cheerleaders currently ruling the airwaves never could. Hopefully, the final season can live up to the standards the show has set for itself.