The Wire - Season 5 Television Review

All things must come to an end, and sadly this applies even to The Wire. I've attempted to savor each episode leading up to this, but when I finally reached this final season, I found myself binging, which certainly didn't help the shortened allotment of episodes. It's crazy to realize that this show aired over ten years ago and how much has changed (as well as how much hasn't).

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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 five of The Wire was originally released on HBO on 6 January 2008. It is the final season of series, as creator, David Simon, felt there were no other aspects of Baltimore that he felt qualified covering. For the Simon fans out there, this season marks the return of two previous actors from Simon's old show, Homicide: Life on the Street. Richard Belzer returns for a cameo appearance as the omnipresent Detective Munch, and Clark Johnson joins as both actor and director. It's interesting to see Johnson come back as he directs the final episode, but also directed the pilot of the series. Season five received a Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series at the 60th Primetime Emmy Awards, along with a bunch of other nominations from both the Television Critics Association and Writers Guild of America. It has an 89 Metascore on Metacritic, as well as a 93% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes.

The Story

Despite Mayor Carcetti's (played by Aidan Gillen) plans to improve Baltimore Police Department, massive budget issues cause the city's police to cut most of their programs including Freamon's (Clarke Peters) Major Crimes Unit, which is still investigating Marlo (Jamie Hector). With little to no funding, an off-the-wagon McNulty (Dominic West) concocts a scheme to get the department the funds he needs. This scheme sucks in the journalists of the Baltimore Sun (a fictionalized version of the real one), which may just bring the failing paper the fame its senior staff so badly wants.

I feel as though it's rare when a show manages to wrap its story up as neatly as this one does as this season covers every base before the final closing credits. Like the previous seasons, this one looks at a specific aspect of Baltimore, which is its news media. One would think that considering all of the journalists on the show's writing team, this would be the most authentic season yet, and although it still retains its genuine identity, the characters in the Baltimore Sun's story arc aren't all that interesting beyond a couple. Two of them definitely shine through as reporter, Scott Templeton (Tom McCarthy), and editor, Augustus "Gus" Haynes (Clark Johnson), present a fascinating tale on the ethics in journalism.

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The "Sun Papers" take center stage in this season

Anyone who watched the previous seasons had to have known that McNulty wouldn't be able to stay out of trouble, however I find his return to his season one antics comes off a little stale in this season. His actions definitely make sense for his character, but I feel as though the audience lost out on seeing how/why he fell off the wagon as he's already returned to drinking by the time the season opens. With that being said, this is a small gripe, and it felt somewhat nostalgic to see the show come back full-circle from where it began.

Special Effects/Atmosphere
With every season, this show has grown in scope and size, and I continue to be impressed with how the show always managed to realistically capture whatever it set its sights on. We went from the streets and precincts of previous seasons to schools and city hall. In this season, we extended even further to journalist buildings and homeless shelters. As always, it just works perfectly, and I found myself taking this genuine style for granted when I tried watching other shows like Law & Order: SVU.

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You don't even want to know what McNulty is up to in this season...

Like previous seasons, this one also ends with a bit of a montage, and I feel as though it's arguably the best one. We get a return of the series' main theme, "Way Down in the Hole," and revisit all the corners, offices, and lots that we saw before. The ending montage has a lot to say and although I think it was a tad on-the-nose at times, I found it really enjoyable to reflect on how far the show had come in five seasons. It made me melancholy to know that this was the end.

The Acting

I can definitely see why Clark Johnson earned such a good reputation with David Simon while on Homicide: Life on the Street. We don't see too much of his character throughout this season, but I really appreciated the old-school journalist style he brought to Gus. I've never been remotely involved in the reporter business, but Johnson made his character relatable and enjoyable to watch.

Although one could argue that season three is McNulty's most central season, Dominic West arguably does his best in this season as his chemistry with nearly everyone is sublime. It goes without saying that he continues to do a wonderful job when partnered with Wendell Pierce (who plays Bunk), but I actually really treasured the scenes West had with Tom McCarthy's Scott Templeton. McNulty and Templeton are both particularly slimy in this season, and although their shared scenes are few, each one was incredibly memorable.

The Best of the Best: That moment when McNulty and Scott both realize they're not the only liar in the room.

The Worst of the Worst: Some retreading of old storylines like McNulty's alcoholism.

Calhooey Score: 9/10 - fantastic

Would I Recommend?

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Goodnight to the hoppers, the po-po, and the hustlers!

David Simon concludes the final chapter of his most recognizable series with panache and it's great to see how everything ties together. I've heard anecdotally that this season is a bit of a step down from the previous ones, and I would admit this is somewhat true, but it's still incredibly good and deserves a watch. 
-------------------------------------------------Spoiler Comments-----------------------------------------------------

• I get that Proposition Joe viewed Marlo as a sort of protégé, but it seems weird that he handed Marlo the keys to the kingdom when it was abundantly clear that Marlo had no sense of loyalty to Joe.
  
• With that being said, I figured Joe would be the one character sure to survive to the end of the series.
• I loved that scene of Kima saying "good night, Moon" at the windowsill with her nephew.
• Although I was sad to see Omar die, I was also glad that his plot armor finally wore out. I really liked how anticlimactic his death was presented.
• Lester Freamon arguably comes out of this show better than everyone else. He got the bad guy; got the smoking hot girlfriend; was able to retire; and basically suffered no consequences for joining in on McNulty's conspiracy.
• RIP Cheese. You lived far longer than I expected.
• It was shortly after I finished this season that Baltimore State's Attorney, Marilyn Mosby, announced the city would decriminalize drug possession, prostitution, trespassing, and other minor charges. She made this announcement just days after news came out that her and her husband were being investigated for corruption. The Game continues...

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------
(1) Wikipedia. (n.d.). The Wire season five cover image. Retrieved from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire_(season_5).

(2) Franich, D. (2018, March 9). Baltimore Sun image. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved from: https://ew.com/tv/2018/03/09/the-wire-finale-10-year-anniversary-essay/.

(3) Tassi, P. (2015). McNulty image. TVOM. Retrieved from: https://www.tvovermind.com/wire-season-5-missed-mark/.

(4) Wisniewski, C. (2009, April 10). Kima's goodnight image. Reverse Shot. Retrieved from: www.reverseshot.org/symposiums/entry/403/wire.