The Wire

The Wire is one of the most acclaimed television shows ever aired. The awards are numerous. Sitting in the backyard the other day I decided to see what all the hype was about. Using the fantastic streaming service HBO Go I watched the first episode.

As the police detective asks the young man why they let him keep shooting craps with them if week after week he stole the money and ran, ( the young man, the stealer, has just been killed) the man says " You got to, this is America." That in itself is one of only many clever bits of dialogue in the first episode. The show is filmed with a gritty realism that is like the old NBC show Homicide on steroids.

However as good as the episode was, as great as the plot-lines inevitably are, as wonderful and addicting as the show will become over five seasons I reached an easy conclusion. I have no interest in it. Five seasons of real life on the means streets of Baltimore, Maryland, I just do not think I have the need for that.

Life is good if you let the light in. I do not need five seasons of dark. I know this is my decision, and should be taken in no way as a reflection on the quality of the show. Many will say that their are uplifting moments inside the darkness of the show that are more meaningful for the bleakness they rise though. I do not doubt it.

Not for me. Not worth my time. Life is too short to visit that much misery on purpose.