Rated: TV-MA
Starring: Dominic West, John Doman, FrankieFaison, Aidan Gillen, Deirdre Lovejoy, Clarke Peters, Wendell Pierce, Lance Reddick, Andrew Royd, Sonja Sohn, Jim True_Frost, Robert Wisdom
Created By: David Simon

A young male and a shop clerk are discussing guns: Fully automatic, caliber, recoil and power charge. This would be a unsettling scene except they"re ruminating about nail guns, and this is a hardware store.

The clerk becomes aware of the irony only when the youth compares the nail gun"s usefulness on steel, concrete and wood to bone and the ease of which any gun can kill. The youth hands the attendant an exuberant one hundred dollars above the price tag and walks out with a brand new nail gun. It"s the power that makes all the difference.

This commences the first scene of the fourth season of HBO’s un-relentlessly gritty The Wire. Conceived by Homicide: Life on the Street writer David Simon, with the teaming of urban crime writing demi-gods Ed Burns, George P. Pelecanos, Dennis Lehane and Richard Price; the 13-episode fourth season of The Wire reveals a place where guns and drugs are as much a part of the landscape as streets and buildings.

The show raises the bar on crime drama in much the same way HBO’s similarly gritty OZ did for prison drama. This is a show about institutions, alliances and the broader struggle between them.

The title stems from the word wiretap and surveillance. unfolding like an epic novel with one carefully positioned event after another as it explores the expansive outlook at institutional failure in modern society.

Working on multiple levels, the show essentially allows its audience to turn the lens on its subject matter as it alternates from one side of the law to another while blurring the lines between in the process.

This urban war film focuses on Baltimore, Maryland, and the strength of it, unlike most crime shows, does not center around a single character. This is a broader approach to the urban jungle and its warriors, which is why it could not find a larger audience. It’s a shame really because it is one of the best written shows that audiences haven’t seen. Hopefully it will find a new life on DVD.

Moving to center stage this season are four kids; Duquan “Dukie” Weems (Jermain Crawford) Randy Wagstaff (Maestro Harrell), Namond Brice (Julito McCullum) and Michael Lee (Tristan Wilds); all friends from school who are entering the 8th grade. We’re not allowed to see them as adults whose childhoods have been tossed away. These are normal kids in abnormal situations which gives their plight chilling perspective.

They buy candy with money earned while selling drugs. It would by an idyllic scene in any other film or television show but adding this particular educational institution to the mix deepens the message. The teachers and staff are every bit as corrupt and corrupted.

All the trappings of these institutions are here as well: scandal, drugs, racism—all brought out by human greed, lust, corruption and desire for control. Also added to the mix is a story from the third season focusing on the mayoral race playing out with the same gritty dialogue that is direct and finely stylized. There is no trivial moralizing or relinquishing of its gritty nature to escapism for emotional relief here. The bodies don’t pile up when you expect them to and the difference between corruption of its institutions are reduced to iconic irrelevancy.

With a nearly flawless ensemble cast, taught direction giving the show a neo-realist feel and the direct and fearless writing, The Wire is routinely noted by critics as a show so good it makes the entire experience of television better by its mere existence. With all the complaints about the quality of television today, one would have to factor in The Wire to make it better.

The expansive DVD set includes six audio commentaries with the cast and crew, including creator David Simon, and an exclusive two-part documentary featuring candid interviews with the cast and crew about life in the city of Baltimore.

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Miles   |2007-12-07 15:44:08 "A young male and a shop clerk are discussing guns" Um, Snoop is a young 'female'. Reply 0   0

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."