Many fans of the show state that season four is the zenith of THE WIRE I'm in a minority of viewers when I state isn't in fact the greatest show in the history of television . The slow , patient narrative character driven narrative means I find it a television show that's easier to respect to enjoy . My respect however is reinforced after watching season four . The style may not be to my liking but congratulations to David Simon for producing a show where each season is different from one another . Season one revolves around the projects , season two around the docklands , season three around politics both in city hall and the streets and now season four revolves around street kids who've got the choice between bettering themselves through education or becoming caught up in the nihilism of life in the projects
From the opening scene of this season we know things are different - we're introduced to a new character that'll have you scratching your head wondering if the character is male or female ! There's other differences too . McNulty is a peripheral figure and when he does fleetingly appears he's in uniform while detective Prezbylewski has now left the force , works in the school and is now effectively the lead character It's Prez story strand that carries the season as he realises from the start that he's in a tough inner projects school and he might have bitten off more than he can chew summed up when an act of spontaneous violence leaves a kid with a mutilated face . This story strand is never as melodramatic as DANGEROUS MINDS or as feel good as STAND AND DELIVER but remains compelling in its own subtle understated way helped in no small part by Jim True Frost's performance
If there's a problem with the season it's that the school strand and new characters means the rest of the subplots have a seen it all before feel . We're back on the campaign trail with the slimy politicians , Bubbles finds himself between a rock and a hard place , Omar's miraculous luck still holds and police solve cases by searching . It's well written and acted but not as compelling as the main subplot with Prez . There's also a couple of incidents that could have been developed more , namely Herc arresting a minister and a character snitching on his rivals that leads to his death in the final episode
All in all a very enjoyable season with both strengths and weaknesses but mainly strengths . It's easy to see why so many people consider season 4 of THE WIRE to be its finest
From the opening scene of this season we know things are different - we're introduced to a new character that'll have you scratching your head wondering if the character is male or female ! There's other differences too . McNulty is a peripheral figure and when he does fleetingly appears he's in uniform while detective Prezbylewski has now left the force , works in the school and is now effectively the lead character It's Prez story strand that carries the season as he realises from the start that he's in a tough inner projects school and he might have bitten off more than he can chew summed up when an act of spontaneous violence leaves a kid with a mutilated face . This story strand is never as melodramatic as DANGEROUS MINDS or as feel good as STAND AND DELIVER but remains compelling in its own subtle understated way helped in no small part by Jim True Frost's performance
If there's a problem with the season it's that the school strand and new characters means the rest of the subplots have a seen it all before feel . We're back on the campaign trail with the slimy politicians , Bubbles finds himself between a rock and a hard place , Omar's miraculous luck still holds and police solve cases by searching . It's well written and acted but not as compelling as the main subplot with Prez . There's also a couple of incidents that could have been developed more , namely Herc arresting a minister and a character snitching on his rivals that leads to his death in the final episode
All in all a very enjoyable season with both strengths and weaknesses but mainly strengths . It's easy to see why so many people consider season 4 of THE WIRE to be its finest