The Wire Season 2 Review

Created by David Simon

The Wire did something very strange in its second season, it changed the formula. This is rare for a show with self-contained seasons, as they usually try to keep a similar tone in order to keep the fans happy. Instead, showrunner David Simon realized that they needed to make sure that their second season didn't feel like a rehash of the first season, and so they based it around a completely different aspect of criminal investigation in Baltimore.

Season 2 of the wire finds the targets of the police as being corrupt port unions. The drug dealers of season 1 are still around, but their role is far reduced, functioning much more as a side plot and finding themselves with far less screen time. As well, the police system is changed. Many of the same characters are involved here, but to much different degrees. We see some of the more prominent officers of last season very much on the sidelines, while some previously minor characters have become much more prominent. 

As such, the storyline with probably the most screen time is that of the dock workers. This was a real risk as all of these characters are brand new to the second season. This takes a while to get used to. It is hard to lose the character consistency in this season, and as such the early sections of the season feel very strange. They aren't necessarily bad, but it almost feels like an entirely different show at times.

If fans are patient with this, though, they may find themselves even more satisfied than they could ever expect. This season takes a little longer to really get going than the first did, but it's even more satisfying when it does.  This is not a show where every episode will have an exciting or shocking moment. Many episodes exist simply to put chess pieces in place. However, this patience is payed off, as the final three episodes of this season use every one of these carefully placed pieces to their fullest effects in order to deliver one of the most satisfying final acts ever to grace television. 

I cannot quite say that this season is as good as the first, and I cannot say that it is worse. It is certainly very different, and will likely give viewers, especially the more casual ones, a lot of difficulty in trying to connect to it. However, it still shows the brilliant writing and wonderful acting that the series is known for, and will easily stand up as a perfectly crafted 12 hour film. 

Season Grade: A

Best Episode: Storm Warnings (Episode 10)

Any of the final three episodes could easily be here, but I'm going to go with the one that surprised me most. The Wire is a show built off of delayed satisfaction, and this episode delivers upon that entirely. Storm Warnings takes the season's least interesting character, and in one perfectly directed and performed scene, pays off every second of his screen time, and shows that they knew what they were doing the entire time. This is a show where you really do have to simply trust that the writers know where they're going, and that even if a storyline seems weak, it's possibly going to wind up being the best that television has to offer.