“The Wire” returns tonight

I think it’s the best thing that has ever been on television. A brutal, clear-eyed, compassionate, profound, and deeply affecting work of fiction that tells some immense truths about the state of American society.

It’s The Wire, and its fifth and final season begins today on HBO.

Heather Havrilesky at Salon: The fifth and final brilliant season of ‘The Wire’ saves America from an avalanche of game shows, reality stunts and reruns:

In the dystopian vision of Baltimore that Simon depicts, personal responsibility and ethical standards are consistently crushed by the greed and thoughtlessness of high capitalism. If those with principles and talent ever manage to wriggle their way into the circles of influence, they’ll inevitably be exposed to countless indignities and insults until their most cherished beliefs and their strong commitment to public service are abandoned for the cynic’s weary sigh. In Simon’s Baltimore, self-serving politicians and careerist law-enforcement officials and scheming drug dealers are cut from the same short-sighted cloth.

And maybe that’s a vision that’s a little too dark for most Americans, who prefer the manic cheer of morning shows and upbeat radio hosts, who chow down Happy Meals and forsake updates on the Iraq war for “Dance War: Bruno and Carrie Ann.” But for those who find almost every single aspect of American culture at this particular moment deeply disturbing, for those who’ve cringed as self-interested blowhards ran our once-at-least-somewhat-honorable nation into the ground in the name of “freedom,” Simon’s vision looks right on the money.

Now typically, self-righteous anger at the state of the world is more likely to yield a rambling, unreadable blog entry than it is to produce a work of art this nuanced and wise and brave and lovely. But in the show’s final season, Simon and his writers don’t just trot out a few new plot twists and wind up for a big ending. No. Every single scene of “The Wire” is meticulously scripted and dramatically riveting. In each scene, we witness a character experiencing a dilemma, infused with passionate impulses, conflicting emotions and inner turmoil. Whether we see a young drug dealer who’s rising in Marlo’s ranks become party to a crime that makes him disgusted with his life or watch a once-idealistic mayor struggle to solve budget problems without selling his principles up the river, Simon and his writers make big, uneasy problems feel intimate and personal. In our day-to-day lives, it’s not hard for most of us to skip the news item about the neglect of our public schools or the endless corporate takeovers threatening to all but eviscerate the richness of American culture. But Simon and his writers force us to look directly at the human face of what it all means, the price we pay in American lives for our sloppy, neglectful policy choices.

Tim Goodman in the San Francisco Chronicle: For ‘The Wire,’ It’s the End of the Line:

“The Wire” tends to hold everyone accountable – cops, lawyers, gangs, parents, friends, the economy, whatever. If there’s an ill, it has somehow been defined in the least obvious, most complex and realistic and moving way somewhere in the episodes of the series. The failure of the media to fully report on the systematic decline – a virtual death – of the city it covers is a natural to both Simon and “The Wire.” He has issues with the industry of journalism and everything goes to hell in “The Wire.” It just makes sense.

In many ways, this timely new story line and the ultimate resolution of others in the series – told with both brutal realism and honest compassion – combine to make it almost too easy for critics to continue the lovefest. What’s not to like? Many newspapers are poisoned by the exact issues – and the types of people – depicted in “The Wire.” Why should cops and lawyers and doctors get all the microscopic attention to their fields and the moralistic soul-searching that comes with it? Journalists and journalism are ripe for exploration and vivisection.

So, yes, that’s good to see – though it’s hard to imagine anyone at the actual Sun being too pleased with the series. And the inevitable coming together of antagonists, protagonists, the loved, the hated, the innocent and the venal as story lines converge on “The Wire” is almost too sublime an enjoyment to adequately describe. If you’ve seen it all so far, there’s no possibility of disappointment (sadness – that’s a different thing entirely, though Simon does allow that one character might possibly find an ounce of joy).

Here’s the thing, though: if you haven’t seen the first four seasons, rent the DVDs. Watch the whole thing, in order, and then watch the episodes that have commentary tracks and listen to what the creator, the writers, the directors, the producers, and the actors have to say. It’s an extraordinary and absolutely essential piece of contemporary American culture.