Toothpick TV

I originally rebooted this old blog of mine as a way to get back into writing because:

a.       My doctor told me it would help me with my head problems, and

b.      A lot of people asked me to open it up again.

Since then I have gotten a lot of positive feedback, which I appreciate, and I have even now begun getting requests to review movies and TV shows. I figured TV would be a nice change of pace, and luckily a friend of mine who is also going through Army medical channels recommended I write one about a show that we both got into in Iraq. It’s a fantastic show about a vigilante serial killer who lives in Miami Florida and stems his bloodlust by only preying on murderers, rapists, and other violent criminals who have slipped through the cracks of the justice system. It stars Michael C. Hall as the title character, who frequently dives into well written expository personal monologues to help the audience both understand and sympathize with his madness, and boasts a great supporting cast of relatively unknown actors as various members of family and police personnel at the Miami Police Department.

I’m talking of course about The Wire, a great candidate for this blog because not only is it often referenced by countless critics as arguably the greatest television series ever made (Time Magazine, Metacritic, Rolling Stone, Washington Post,  Slate.com, and aintitcool to name a few of those lists), but it’s one of those shows that has never enjoyed the widespread commercial success of other Emmy winning, inferior shows such as Two and a Half Men, 24, Will and Grace, and ER. The show is praised for the ultra-realistic portrayal of suburban life in the broken city of Baltimore, and primarily focuses on three driving forces in everyday life on the streets, the “5-0”, “the system”, and “the vigilante”.

Looking at these three forces you may be thinking “Oh, well this is a cop show”, and you would be right, but this show is not another television show of right versus wrong, or black vs. white. The shows’ real strength lies in exploring the ambiguous grey zones that exist within each of these sides. For example, our protagonist is Detective Jimmy McNulty, a gifted detective and damn fine police officer whose personal goal begins as bringing down Avon Barksdale, the king of the drug trade in Baltimore. Jimmy may be a great cop and the driving force behind a noble unit designed to target the drug trade, but to state that Jim is a flawed hero would be an understatement. The man is an absolute mess of a human being, an alcoholic, an adulterer, and a backstabber even to his unit and friends if he doesn’t get his way. His personal issues have gotten him divorced from a woman he truly loved, and every season gets him in hotter and hotter water as he seems to not have any real allegiances to anyone but himself.

On the flipside, Avon Barksdale may be the king of the drug trade in the city, but a clear cut villain he is not.  Avon’s allegiances to his family and his friends are written into the very fiber of his being, and his sacrifices for both are what ultimately created the man he is. His existence in the world was made by simply being the toughest, as he often discusses how he got started by thriving and fighting on the streets. He’s a soldier through and through, and as we peel away the layers of the man Avon is we begin to see that the real danger behind his organization lies in those close to him, not himself. He holds true to beliefs that he developed while deep in the game, ideals such as the “Sunday Morning Truce”, an unspoken rule that his gang will not engage in violence on Sundays. Although the man may be a monster, he is a monster with a conscience, family values, and beliefs.

The entire series explores the grey zones of every character involved, and while around season three we begin to witness the rise of a truly evil antagonist and a well meaning political protagonist both of these people’s goals, ambitions, and image begin to tarnish through the seasons. The antagonist without fear gradually becomes a coward as he rises to power while the knight in shining armor begins to be corrupted by the very system he tried desperately to fix. It’s almost reminiscent of Citizen Kane, but with a much more engaging and relatable setting. There is actually one man on the show who can be considered a truly selfless protagonist, but the values this man learned were from past indiscretions involving corruption on his part, and while this man is a great police officer and a moral compass for his unit his past eventually catches up with him despite his born-again moral standing. Once again, the political system completely shuts down any possibility of this man making a positive change for the city, all because of human greed and ambition.

Speaking of systems, the second major emphasis of the show is exposing how “the system” is broken, but what’s unique is that each season covers a different system in desperate need of repair. Season 1 focuses on the justice system, Season 2 focuses on the union and teamster system, Season 3 focuses on the political season, Season 4 is primarily about the school system, and season 5 deals with the press and media system. Each season explores how these systems have become utterly corrupted by greedy people, and the crime on the streets is oftentimes a result of this corruptions. Innocent characters are dragged into dark places due to circumstances outside their control, and it all stems from the broken and uncaring systems.

Finally we come to the last and, in my mind, the most interesting aspect of the show, the vigilante Omar Little. Omar is a stick-up man who preys on the street level drug dealers, using the money and drugs he has collected to help out the innocent. Now you may be thinking this man is just a modern day interpretation of Robin Hood, but his character and motivations run much, much deeper than that. Omar Little is not a typical stick-up man, he adheres to a strict code of ethics that the majority of both his police contacts and drug dealing nemesese utterly lack. He refuses to allow any harm to come to anyone who is not “part of the game”, he’s polite, funny, friendly, fiercely intelligent, and loves his grandmother. This type of behavior isn’t exactly common for a soldier of the streets, and that’s probably why he is regarded as a mythical being rather than a man on the streets.

Everywhere Omar crusades people talk about him like he was a creature of myth, gang bangers and innocent bystanders both telling stories of heroism and courage about the stick-up man. He whistles “A Hunting We Will Go” into the darkest parts of the worst neighborhoods, armed with nothing more than his sawed-off shotgun, bulletproof vest, and fierce intellect to keep him safe from the hundreds who want him dead. He has been named the “Best/Greatest/Most Interesting” character in the history of TV by many magazines and articles, and to this day he is regarded by many as the most well developed bad ass to ever grace TV. Oh, and by the way, he happened to establish this reputation while being gay, but his actions and mannerisms are never treated as simple plot devices for a reason to over-compensate for his diminished reputation on the streets due to being gay.

All of these facets and characters are well written and believable, and while the writing of the show does a great job creating a slate for these characters it’s the actors who did an amazing job making them into memorable people. The acting in this show is top notch, admirably performed by an entire cast of “unknown” actors. Dominic West and Idris Elba, both rising stars in Hollywood thanks to this show, are resplendent in their leading roles, and the colorful and diverse supporting cast is masterfully acted, but two stars help propel this powerhouse of acting into the stratosphere.

The first is Lance Reddick as Lt. Cedric Daniels. Anyone fortunate enough to be watching Fringe will know him as Agent Phillip Broyles, and you may recognize him as Matthew Abaddon from the much more popular show Lost, but as great as he is in both of those shows it is a pale comparison to the brilliant performance he turns in during his five season of The Wire. Reddick plays his role as a dedicated and competent police officer trying to climb the ladder with a quiet dignity, but also a severe and dangerous hidden edge which he reserves for his enemies. He has this sort of quiet intimidation about him that it’s almost inhuman, and he uses it to perfect effect as the leader of a specialized major crimes unit. He also happens to have quite possibly the coolest voice in Hollywood right now, and I have no idea why this man hasn’t been catapulted into Hollywood spotlight after being primed for it for so very long.

The second major performance of the show comes from Michael Kenneth Williams, who plays the morally guided stick-up man Omar Little. Omar is one of the best written characters on the show, but the character wouldn’t be half as interesting to watch if Williams hadn’t played him so perfectly with the severe, methodical, and intelligent edge he seems to bring effortlessly to the table. Williams strikes a perfect balance of intelligent intimidation, and quirky sense of humor, and the true reason for his feared reputation stems from his intellect over his strength. In fact, for being feared as the best gun on the street we rarely see Omar pull on people, further proof that great tension isn’t just the creation of countless action scenes. Omar Little is widely regarded as one of the greatest TV characters of all time, and President Barrack Obama has even stated that Omar is his favorite TV character of all time:

“I gotta say Omar’s a great guy. That’s not an endorsement. That is not an endorsement. He is not my favorite person, but he’s a fascinating character– a gay gangster who only robs drug dealers and then gives back. But he’s the toughest, baddest guy on the show, and he’s gay. He’s a fascinating character.”

In addition to great characters, the show also excels due to good direction. The majority of the show is shot using traditional flat and wide angle shots, but some scene construction is so well done and executed that it perfectly conveys the thought process of each and every character. On top of that we have perfectly paced and delivered comedic relief, oftentimes strung together with a brilliantly directed scene that it creates an original and unique scene. I remember one such scene where Jimmy and his partner Bunk go through a house reconstructing a crime scene and looking for clues, not saying anything but “F**K” the entire scene. This scene is almost ten minutes long and that’s the only word they say, and it comes off so brilliantly and original that I have never seen anything like it in film OR television.

As great as this show is however, it has faced its’ fair share of problems. Due to its’ ultra-realistic portrayal of the real and hard lives of people on the street it was hard for the show to secure a dedicated audience, especially when the majority of audiences seem to enjoy shoving popcorn in the face and laughing at Will and Grace. People tend to not like being taken out of their comfort zones when watching TV, and I can understand why. After all, why would I want to watch a mirror of my world when I’m trying to escape it by watching Charlie Sheen talk about having sex with hookers on Two and a Half Men? However, this show is one of those rare milestones in American television where should you overcome your discomfort at the idea of watching something so gritty, you will be rewarded by what is easily the best scripted, best character driven show to ever be played on television. It’s a rich and exciting story, told through the eyes of both sides of a conflict, and to ignore it would be a colossal mistake.

10 out of 10