(Not so) Guilty Pleasures: The Wire

"Let the Game begin" - Jimmy McNulty

The Wire - one of the greatest media achievements ever committed to television.  I will not begin to analyse the discourses or the political climate as many better writers have nailed it completely.

For context, I bought the series quite cheaply (* note 1) and it sat there for a while until Linda and I took the plunge and it was akin to going down the rabbit hole.  We loved it.  Transfixed by the characters, the plotting, the acting but most importantly:  The writing.

I've spoken to a number of people who have watched the series and we all agree - you align yourself to a character but over the course of the series, you always have a soft spot for one and for me, it was Jimmy McNulty.  And of course, Omar

Being of partial Irish descent (with a bit of Scottish and god knows how much American after something I learned prior to the death of my mother about my father's parentage/heritage), I align myself with McNutlty's strangely warped (but at the same time moralistic) view of the world (and the need to jettison morals, or at least dial them down when needed - morals can be noisy, annoying things but they should never get in the way of *not* doing the right thing).

The show cannot be summed up in words simply by myself or anyone - it means different things to different people.  But above all, it was fucking amazing and innovative.  Treat yourself if you haven't seen it and appreciate the subtlety of each season's opening sequence which is designed to reflect the narrative.

Do yourself a favour - view it.  Put it on a wish list or a bucket list.  You will not regret it.

*Note 1 - (I upgraded to the blu-ray recently, which I must add is a thing of beauty)