The Wire - Season 4 Television Review

I know I only just recently started implementing a new scoring system for my reviews, but I can promise that it's pretty rare for me to hand out "10/10" scores. With that said, this show continues its momentum from the outstanding season 3 run. I had considerable doubts going into this season as it seemed like everything had been wrapped up in the last season. I once again find my expectations blown away as this season essentially opens up an entirely new chapter with all-new characters that essentially turns what was originally a cop show into a tragic coming-of-age tale.

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Where to Find It: 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 four of The Wire was originally released on HBO on 10 September 2006. This season marks the entry of Eric Overmyer as a co-writer and co-producer. For my regular readers, you'll recognize this name as the executive producer for the Bosch series, which also stands out as fantastic police TV. Beyond Overmyer, David Mills also joined the writing team, who was already established as a highly talented contributor via his work on HBO's mini-series, The Corner, which is based off of the book of the same name, which was written by David Simon and Ed Burns. I think it says something about this show that there's so much talented writing behind the camera. I can't help but wonder if this is one of the primary reasons behind the series' success. Season four was nominated for five separate awards, with it winning the "Award for Best Drama Series" at the Writers Guild of America Awards. It holds a 98 Metascore on Metacritic, with a similar 100% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes. I'd like to point out that these rating scores match season three's.

The Story

Autumn has arrived to the streets of Baltimore and that means school is officially in session. Freamon (played by Clarke Peters) and Kima (Sonja Sohn) are continuing their investigation against Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), but the mayoral election between Tommy Carcetti (Aiden Gillen) and the rest of Baltimore's ruling class throws some unexpected obstacles in their way. Meanwhile, we're introduced to a group of Baltimore eighth graders who will each become pulled into Baltimore's rough-and-tumble world. Of the kids, Namond (Julito McCullum) begins his metamorphosis from street kid to drug dealer while his friend Michael (Tristan Wilds) tries to resist the temptations of the streets. Their buddy Randy (Maestro Harrell) gets mixed up in something no child should have to experience, and the last of the foursome, Duquan (Jermaine Crawford), must survive the hopeless poverty that wracks him and his family.

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In a show about drug dealers and homicides, it's hard to believe four grade-schoolers would become the main draw for the entire season

With such a spread-out cast of characters, one would think that this season would become bloated, but it maintains an almost perfect balance of shifting from character to character with no issues. One of the things that really makes this season stand out is that the audience is slowly weaned off the standard police drama that the other seasons were better known for and puts more and more focus on the kids as we're introduced to Baltimore's broken education system. This shift in focus is incredibly risky, but it pays off in spades as the stories behind these four boys is incredibly fascinating to watch. I was reminded of other coming-of-age dramas like Stand By Me, however this is far more enduring and tragic. The unexpected return of characters like Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom), Cutty (Chad Coleman), and Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost) helps form a connective tissue between these middle schoolers and the rest of the show's more established characters.

If the take on Baltimore's school system wasn't enough, this season covers a mayoral election that presents a thoroughly ugly side of the city's politics as we see Carcetti deal with controversial topics like race and even "fake news." I have to admit that it was interesting observing Carcetti's rise in politics as we saw hints of an ugly side in the last season, however we learn a lot more about him through the eyes of his aide, Norman (Reg E. Cathey). The political evolution of Baltimore's city hall injects an element of optimism to many of the characters, but it's on incredibly shaky grounds that leaves the audience waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Special Effects/Atmosphere
Like the previous seasons, this one continues the same artistic flourishes that have become staples in the series' run. Background music is organic and used sparingly while every second of each scene feels necessary and lacking any filler. The schools, rowhouses, and other locales all look perfectly genuine (as I imagine almost all of them are), while the costume design really works too. I've said it before, but the level of world-building in this show is incredible as every character is important and effects the overall plot. I applaud Simon and his crew of writers as its hard to believe television could ever come off as authentic as this show does on so many levels. 

The Acting

In season one, I mentioned that child/teen actors are frequently dangerous for most film/television due to a lack of experience. Season one was the last time this series encountered this obstacle, but this season cranks the difficulty to new levels and delivers across the board. The child actors are all compelling with the main four of McCullum, Wilds, Harrell, and Crawford delivering fantastic performances. I was especially taken with Wilds' portrayal of Michael as he tackles some of the more intense scenes in the season (to be fair, so does McCullum). I hope each of these young men were able to use these roles as spring boards for future careers.

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Maestro Harrell delivers some truly heart-breaking scenes too

Despite him playing my favorite character in the series, I don't think I've really mentioned Clarke Peters in my previous reviews. I'd wager this is Peters' best season yet and I really enjoyed seeing him get more screen-time as I find him to be incredibly charismatic. The same goes to Robert Wisdom, who I genuinely didn't expect to see again after the last season. Wisdom continues to tackle the impossible with his common sense style of acting that I just find incredibly entertaining to watch.

Lastly, I feel like it's time to discuss Seth Gilliam's fantastic performance in this series. I enjoyed seeing him as Carver's Tweedledee to Herc's (Domenick Lombardozzi) Tweedledum, but this season gives Gilliam a chance to evolve and go beyond mere comedic-relief. The handful of scenes he shares with Lombardozzi only enhances just how different his character has become since when we first saw Carver swagger onscreen and I don't think this comparison would stand out as well as it does without Gilliam's great performance. I'm happy he found steady roles on The Walking Dead, but I'm hoping his talents will be put to better use again in future shows too as this season clearly shows that he knows how to act.

The Best of the Best: The tragic and individually unique character development of Namon, Randy, Duquan, and Michael.

The Worst of the Worst: Omar's plot armor.

Calhooey Score: 10/10 - outstanding

Would I Recommend?

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Hell yeah!

I never expected Simon and Co. to outdo the stellar season three, but they do it in style. Season four takes plenty of risks and every single one pays off making this the best of the series so far. I highly encourage people to see this season and if people were on the fence before about this series, I think this only further incentivizes getting into the show.
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• I like that Carver actually listened to Colvin's advice from last season. This is what Community Policing really looks like.
  
• It's insane how long Snoop (Felicia Pearson) and Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe) were able to get away with murdering with impunity. Over twenty bodies...
• I don't think the final count was done, but it looks like Bunk just might win his bet.
• I can't believe how easily Clay Davis is able to keep steps ahead of law enforcement. At this point, I feel like the man is untouchable.
• As evil as Chris and Snoop are, I feel like Herc was the true villain of this season. What he did to Randy and Bubbles hit new heights of screwed up.
• So apparently, Randy is the biological son of Cheese (Method Man) and by-extension nephew to Proposition Joe (Robert Chew). I'm not sure why this wasn't explored, but that's insane.
• I kept waiting for Prez to screw up and am amazed he didn't. Maybe he should've been a teacher all along...
• I feel like Cutty is truly out of the Game at this point since he was foolish enough to challenge a group of gangsters on a corner with such lack of self-awareness.
• RIP Bodie (J.D. Williams), you and your do-rags will be sorely missed.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(1) The Director's Commentary. (n.d.). The Wire season four cover image. Tumblr. Retrieved from: https://thedirectorscommentary.tumblr.com/post/157736160375/the-wire-season-four-the-boys-of-summer.

(2) Goldberg, M. (2012, May 23). Middle schoolers image. Collider. Retrieved from: https://collider.com/the-wire-season-4-review/.

(3) Screencap. (2019). Randy Wagstaff gif. Tumgir. Retrieved from: https://www.tumgir.com/tag/Randy%20Wagstaff.

(4) Boxcutting. (n.d.). Michael smiling gif. Tumblr. Retrieved from: https://www.tumblr.com/tagged/namond+brice?sort=top.