The Wire - Season 2 Television Review

I've slowly but surely been plugging away at this series, however I've been trying to savor it as I go. There's a lot to examine and I recall this particular season standing out from the others as it makes a pretty big deviation from what I know of the rest of the series. 

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Where You Can Find It: Like season one, this is available on HBO Max, where the entire series is available to subscribers, however one can also rent/purchase each season/episode on Amazon Video.

General Information 
Season two of The Wire was originally released on HBO on 1 June 2003. It received a nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Drama at the Television Critics Awards in 2004. Additionally, the season holds a 95 Metascore on Metacritic, as well as a matching 95% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. I find these high ratings interesting as it clearly outshines the overall reception to the first season. Of course, this season is quite good, but I'm not sure if I would necessarily say it's better than the first season.

The Story

Some months have passed since the events of season one, and nearly everyone is worse off than before. McNulty (played by Dominic West) is stuck working harbor patrol; Daniels (Lance Reddick) is stuck in the basement; and Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale (Wood Harris and Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) are in prison. Daniels' old crew gets re-assembled when a container full of thirteen dead women is discovered on the docks and Major Valchek (Al Brown) of the Southeast District orchestrates an investigation into his rival, Frank Sobotka (Chris Bauer). Like before, the investigation needs a wire and eventually the evidence leads to a whole lot more than anyone bargained for.

Whereas season one focused on the housing projects and Baltimore's drug trafficking problems, this one is mainly about Baltimore's failing shipping industry. Many shows like Sopranos and Brotherhood cover the morose transformation of industrial America into it's current post-industrial version, but this show's use of the Sobotka clan as a microcosm of blue collar America is pretty fascinating. It not only gives the viewers a different section of Baltimore to see, but also a very different (and at times quite similar) frame of mind of some of the city's citizenry.

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Frank and Nick Sobotka

Like last season, there are no clear heroes as we see nearly everyone engage in some semblance of self-destructive behavior. The clearest example of this is Frank's son, Ziggy (James Ransone), however McNulty, Pryzblewski (Jim True-Frost), and even Daniels all engage in some level of this behavior too. Frank's side of the story may not be particularly thrilling to see, however a deeper analysis paints a picture of a man that is willing to brave the darkest of waters in order to keep control of his little corner of the world.

A small flaw I have with this season is that its pacing is incredibly slow. It really takes its time with developing its characters, and while I'd say that nearly everything lines up nicely by the end, it doesn't completely work. Some of the hangers-on from season one didn't seem necessarily relevant to this particular season, although I can understand why they were kept in the larger series. As much as I love Stringer Bell (Idris Elba) and the rest of the Barksdale crew, I don't necessarily think that we needed to see them as much as we did as they are barely even peripherally involved in this season.

Special Effects/Atmosphere
Having driven through (and around) Baltimore, I've seen Baltimore's harbor and can easily empathize with Frank's plight to keep the docks relevant. It all looks relatively rusty and old, and these descriptors encompass much of this season's atmosphere. Just as season one captured the rough-and-tumble appearance of Baltimore's projects and its denizens, this season really shines in how it portrays Baltimore's Polish and eastern European peoples. It's a surprising turn to take considering Baltimore's predominantly African-American focus, and it's something even the show points out at one point.

The Acting

James Ransone (who is originally from the Baltimore area) really knocks it out of the park with his portrayal of the self-destructive Ziggy. We see a wide range of emotions from his character throughout the season, and it's really impressive how he works with other actors during some of the deeper moments. His scene at the pier with Chris Bauer at night was pretty darn good, although I think his best moment was when he's in the interrogation room.

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Ziggy is the classic screw-up

Like season one, Dominic West does an amazing job with McNulty as we see his character hit absolute rock-bottom. His chemistry with everyone else lets West project quite a bit and it was good seeing him deal with his family more in this season as it gave the audience more of a window on McNulty's life. Like West, Reddick was pretty great too, but I think Sonja Sohn (who plays Kima) probably outperforms all of the other cop characters. Her interactions with Melanie Nicholls-King (Kima's girlfriend, Cheryl) were really fascinating to observe as we saw a lot with very few words.

Lastly, I think it's important to at least discuss Pablo Schreiber's performance as Ziggy's cousin, Nick. The character is particularly interesting as Nick is a very bland, blue collar guy that gets in over his head fairly quickly. With that said, it was really remarkable to see Schreiber present this blandness and slowly morph that into what Nick becomes by the end of the season. It's excellently done and certainly deserves some recognition.

The Best of the Best: When Omar goes to court.

The Worst of the Worst: The entertaining but unnecessary Brother Mouzone storyline.

Calhooey Score: 8/10 - Great

Would I Recommend?

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On to season three!

Season two has a slower pace and the occasional unnecessary subplot, but it's still an incredible story worth viewing. I generally think the first season is better, but this is an excellent presentation of the working blue collar middle class in America during the early 21st Century. It's certainly worth watching, and the final episode left me excited for season three.
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• I was pretty shocked that HBO let James Ransone whip his schlong out in full view for one of the first scenes he's in. Glad to see that HBO can be equal opportunity on gratuitous shots.
• The entire scene of Omar's court appearance was both amazing and ridiculous. I feel like he should've been silenced by the judge on numerous points, but Phelan just let him run with it.
• I'm glad he remembered to dress for the occasion too.
• As sad as I was to see D'Angelo die, I was surprised he lived as long as he did. It was good he at least went out having freed himself from his uncle's shadow.
• I honestly don't mind Method Man as an actor, but I just don't know how I feel about him in this particular show. He clearly doesn't look like he belongs where he is, and naming him "Cheese" doesn't really help.
• There's something very disturbing about watching Horse-Face read a porno magazine.
• I felt so bad seeing Ziggy's bird laying dead on the pool table. I'm more distressed about that than him shooting up that store.
• David Simon makes a cameo during the scene where Frank gets arrested. You can see him calling out questions as one of the media reporters when Frank is marched out during his arraignment.
  
• The scene where text messaging gets discussed as the hip new thing really dates this show.
• That fade-to-black of Frank going to meet the Greeks was pretty great. I'm a bit disappointed that his body re-appeared so quickly, but I'm glad it was filmed the way it was.
• I guess the Greek and their FBI mole just get away with it?

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(1) DVDs Release Dates. (n.d.). The Wire season two cover image. Retrieved from: https://www.dvdsreleasedates.com/movies/4333/The-Wire-(TV-Series-2002-2008).html.

(2) Wikipedia. (n.d.). Sobotkas image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover_(The_Wire).

(3) Lovedeluxe. (n.d.). Ziggy image. Tumgir. Retrieved from: https://www.tumgir.com/tag/ziggy%20Sobotka.

(4) Reddit. (n.d.). Ziggy and the bird image. Retrieved from: https://www.reddit.com/r/TheWire/comments/2t7j30/im_making_the_wire_gifs_are_there_any_scenes_youd/.