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“The Wire” Returns for Its Final Season

HBO’s critically acclaimed The Wire will return with a bang on Jan. 6, 2008, subverting and complicating the traditional cop show for its fifth and final season. For the uninitiated, the show has always been about the complex inner workings of the city of Baltimore, with special emphasis on the drug wars on the streets. Queer characters, including Det. Shakima “Kima” Greggs (Sonja Sohn), Felicia “Snoop” Pearson (played by herself) and Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), have played key roles in the series since its beginning. Sometimes described by critics as a “novel,” The Wire is famous for its gritty realism and in-depth portrayal of both sides of the law and the other structures in play, such as the mayor’s office, the schools and the Baltimore Sun newspaper. A large, multicultural cast of characters fleshes out the dramas both personal and political, making for satisfying, emotionally honest conflict and development. The new season emphasizes the ways in which the media interacts with and influences the other institutions and power structures in the city. While the theme of the fourth season was education and placed a great deal of the drama in Edward Tilghman Middle School, Season 5 sets much of its action in the newsroom of the Baltimore Sun.

Clark Johnson plays Gus Haynes, an idealistic editor slapped with budget concerns and a ratings-hungry management breathing down his neck, and Tom McCarthy and Michelle Parass are hungry young reporters eager to prove themselves in an increasingly competitive world.

In addition to the new story lines, all major narrative threads begun in previous seasons are carried into and resolved in the final season. Last season’s finale left the Baltimore police still going after Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), a savvy young drug kingpin with a growing street empire. His work controlling the streets of West Baltimore has the homicide department busy trying to identify bodies left in empty row houses, and several detectives are hot on his trail.

Unfortunately, the department has been in turmoil over cutbacks and political jockeying for high positions, leaving important cases in the dust while individual cops strain to do their jobs. Newly elected Mayor Thomas Carcetti (Aidan Gillen) has his hands full with budgetary juggling and corruption in every department, along with the rising crime rate and chaos in the school system.

Meanwhile, Snoop Pearson is going strong as one of Marlo’s top heavies. She and Chris Partlow (Gbenga Akinnagbe) are two of the most prolific assassins on the Baltimore streets, and Snoop is certainly one of the toughest characters on the show. She is played by out lesbian Felicia Pearson, who was convicted of second-degree murder at age 14 and served six years in prison. She later met actor Michael K. Williams at a Baltimore club, and he invited her to the set to meet the show’s producers, who ultimately offered her a role in the series.

Snoop’s sexuality doesn’t come up often, but she displays a butch demeanor befitting the hyper-masculine world of the streets. As one of the most feared assassins in Marlo Stanfield’s camp, she has the respect of all of her male “colleagues.” In previous seasons, the show gave unprecedented attention to the Cheryl/Kima relationship, considering the huge ensemble cast and general skew away from personal lives. Greggs began the show in the narcotics unit and quickly became one of the highest regarded cops in the unit.

After a near-fatal injury, Cheryl convinced her partner to take a desk job while she contemplated pregnancy, which resulted in disaster – Greggs became bogged down in new cases and sexual infidelity while distancing herself from Cheryl. Cheryl had a boy, Elijah, and the pair split over Kima’s cheating and indifferent attitude toward starting a family.

The new season has Det. Greggs hard at work on a triple murder case (which has ties to Marlo Stanfield) in which a small child is the only witness, prompting her to call Cheryl and arrange some time with Elijah. Throughout the season, she connects with her son (who initially knows her as “Auntie Kima”), bringing out her newfound maternal side. Her “player” instincts are nowhere to be seen, lending a sense of maturity and responsibility to a woman who has always been portrayed as a better cop than nurturer.

Greggs is one of the best detectives in the unit, with a cool, professional demeanor and an excellent track record on cases. Though her appearance has evolved somewhat from her early days as a plainclothes cop to her more traditionally feminine style of tailored suits in recent seasons, her no-nonsense approach to work and down-to-earth sense of humor have followed her throughout.

At this point in the series, her sexuality is a complete non-issue to her colleagues, and she’s regarded with a great deal of respect in the male-dominated atmosphere of the Baltimore police headquarters.

In fact, one of the most positive aspects of the show is its consistently positive portrayal of women within the workplace. Though this is less apparent in the street segments (with the notable exception of Snoop), the small but hearty contingent of strong female characters, including Assistant State’s Attorney Rhonda Pearlman (Deirdre Lovejoy), Det. Greggs and Council President Naresse Campbell (Marlyne Afflack) – who has her eyes on the mayor’s seat – is significant.

The new emphasis on the media and its influence on the workings of the city is a particularly smart focus for the show’s final season. The Wire began as a sort of testament to creator David Simon’s experiences as a police reporter for the Baltimore Sun, so putting the newsroom in the spotlight allows the writers to explore some very interesting territory indeed. Simon himself stated on the show’s website that finishing the show with this emphasis “made sense,” since it is the job of the media to highlight and comment on the other issues and problems in society. Brandon Young, Michelle Paress and Tom McCarthy in the newsroom: It quickly becomes apparent that the fictional Sun is as entangled in the web of power and politics as any other institution in the city – from the mayor’s office to the underfunded police and school system. News stories are written that change the face of city policies, affecting every character, and those who author and edit the news are just as human – and corruptible – as any other in the series.

The early episodes of Season 5 paint a bleak picture for the American newspaper, symbolized by Gus’ battle to maintain journalistic integrity as management fights for ratings and a waning readership with puff pieces and overblown murder stories. Even the idealistic young reporters are tempted by the lure of the new regime.

Later developments throw harsh light onto the situation when well-intentioned deceits on the part of a few major characters blow into a full-fledged city emergency. It’s a fascinating commentary on the power and reach of the media, and proves that the series isn’t without a sense of humor, albeit a sarcastic one.

Of course, the newspaper’s failure to address the real problems of the city is a timely reflection of real-world concerns about the American newspaper and the appetite of the media. “If it bleeds, it leads” is uttered on more than one occasion, and not without irony.

All in all, The Wire is one of the most nuanced and complex depictions of city life that has ever appeared on television, and the fifth season looks to be a worthy final chapter. It’s realistic and inclusive, and it presents issues without ever becoming an “issue” show or a platform for any one viewpoint.

Season 5 of The Wire premieres Sunday, Jan. 6, 2008, on HBO at 9 p.m. ET.

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