The Wire

I know everyone and his uncle has been going on about the greatness of The Wire, and they’d be absolutely correct. I’ve just finished watching season 2, and it just keeps getting better and better- more complex, more nuanced, more emotionally engaging, and more funny (incidentally, the humour is not something many commentators seem to have picked up on). The addition of the docks and union politics to the interplay of cops, drug dealers and city hall has created a whole new series of interconnections and facets that will no doubt be elaborated on in the next season, to which I am greatly looking forward.

Here are some links to interesting Wire things on the internet:

• little things writing about a draft essay comparing The Wire to a video game.
• Lengthy New Yorker profile of writer-in-chief David Simon.
• Even lengthier profile of Simon in the Atlantic Monthly, looking at Simon and The Wire from a specifically Baltimore perspective.
•  New York Times blog on what real thugs think of the Wire.
• Slate on why the Wire is great.
• The always excellent Charlie Brooker interviews cast members, and talks about the show on a Youtube clip from his Screenwipe show.
• All kottke.org’s many entries on The Wire, with much further linkage.

Enjoy- please post further links of interest in the comments below!