The Wire: The Complete Series [DVD] [2008]

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What we got was a series as darkly funny as it was compelling, with a comic book-style pace, gore that never felt too gory and a queer subtext to boot. Levy ensures Stanfield's release on the condition that he permanently retires, while his subordinates will have to accept long sentences.

Meanwhile, police Major Stan Valchek gets into a feud with Polish-American Frank Sobotka, a leader of the International Brotherhood of Stevedores, a fictional dockers' union, over competing donations to their old neighborhood church. Sherrod dies after snorting a poisoned vial of heroin that, unbeknownst to him, Bubbles had prepared for their tormentor.Colvin commanded the Western district where the Barksdale organization operated, and nearing retirement, he came up with a radical new method of dealing with the drug problem. John Carroll of The Baltimore Sun was the model for the "craven, prize hungry" editor of the fictional newspaper. Earle, who performed the fifth season version, is also a member of the cast, playing the recovering drug addict Walon. His enforcers Chris Partlow and Snoop conceal their numerous victims in abandoned and boarded-up row houses where the bodies will not be readily discovered. Across town, the Barksdale organization continues its business under Stringer while Avon and D'Angelo Barksdale serve prison time.

The cliffhangers, the crimson-black humour and the stream of richly satisfying antagonists (most memorably John Lithgow in season four) make resistance impossible. Another city native and independent filmmaker, Joy Lusco, also wrote for the show in each of its first three seasons. Stringer also struggles, having been cut off by Avon's drug suppliers in New York and left with increasingly poor-quality product.Margaret Atwood’s tale of near-future oppression was never going to make for a sunshine-and-rainbows kind of show. The show's creators are also willing to kill off major characters, so that viewers cannot assume that a given character will survive simply because of a starring role or popularity among fans.