The Wire
"Listen carefully."
HBO MaxTold from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated.
Season 1
On the drug-infested streets of West Baltimore, there are good guys and there are bad guys. Sometimes you need more than a badge to tell them apart. Season 1 follows a single sprawling drug and murder investigation in Baltimore — one that culminates in a complex series of dangerous wiretaps and surveillance.
Season 2
McNulty's on harbor patrol. Daniels is in the police-archives dungeon. Prez is chafing in the suburbs. Greggs has a desk job. The detail may be on ice, but corruption marches on . . . and a horrific discovery is about to turn the Baltimore shipping port inside out. Setting up in the wake of the first season's joint homicide/narcotics detail that exposed a major drug operation — and left its members stigmatized and reassigned — the second season expands to include not only familiar drug dealers, but a group of longshoremen and organized crime members who are caught up in a major homicide case.
Season 3
The heat is on in Baltimore. The drug war is being lost, bodies are piling up, and a desperate mayor wants the tide turned before the election. But the police department hasn't got any answers. Wiretaps haven’t worked. Neither have stakeouts or street busts. With the demolition of the Franklin Terrace towers, Stringer Bell and the Barksdale crew have been forced to improvise. But no matter how hard McNulty and the detail try, the dealers always seem to be one step ahead of the game. It’s time to change the rules.
Season 4
In the projects. On the docks. In City Hall. And now, in the schools. The places and faces change, but the game remains the same. A new story begins. This year, while expanding on storylines introduced in previous seasons — including the new vocations of several characters, the rise of a new drug empire, and the city's imminent mayoral election — the series expands its focus into Baltimore's school system, providing an inside look at the role of the urban educational system in shaping young people's lives. This storyline is played out through four new young characters, each of whom faces difficult choices amidst the temptation of crime and easy money.
Season 5
In the projects. On the docks. In City Hall. In the schools. And now, in the media. The places and faces change, but the game remains the same. In the fifth — and final — season, the series expands its focus into the media — specifically the role of newspapers in big-city bureaucracy — as it follows a newspaper staff as they struggle to maintain integrity and meet deadlines in the face of budget cuts and staff reductions.
Cast (371)
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Directors
Ernest R. Dickerson
Director
Ages 50-56
Joe Chappelle
Director
Steve Shill
Director
Ed Bianchi
Director
Ages 60-65
Dan Attias
Director
Ages 50-56
Clark Johnson
Director
Ages 47-53
Agnieszka Holland
Director
Ages 53-59
Tim Van Patten
Director
Ages 42-48
Alex Zakrzewski
Director
Anthony Hemingway
Director
Ages 25-31
Elodie Keene
Director
Ages 53-58
Brad Anderson
Director
Ages 38-43
Clement Virgo
Director
Ages 36-41
Peter Medak
Director
Ages 64-70
Rob Bailey
Director
Christine Moore
Director
Seith Mann
Director
David Platt
Director
Joy Kecken
Director
Milcho Manchevski
Director
Ages 42-48
Rob Baieu
Director
Thomas J. Wright
Director
Scott Kecken
Director
Leslie Libman
Director
Jim McKay
Director
Ages 40-46
Robert F. Colesberry
Director
Ages 56-62
Dominic West
Director
Ages 32-38
Gloria Muzio
Director
Writers
David Simon
Writer
Ages 42-48
David Simon
Story
Ages 42-48
Chris Collins
Story
Chris Collins
Writer
Ed Burns
Story
Ed Burns
Writer
George Pelecanos
Writer
Richard Price
Writer
Ages 52-58
Dennis Lehane
Writer
Ages 36-42
Joy Kecken
Writer
Rafael Alvarez
Writer
Eric Overmyer
Writer
Ages 50-56
William F. Zorzi
Writer
David Mills
Writer
Ages 40-46
Shamit Choksey
Writer
David H. Melnick
Writer
Kia Corthron
Writer
Producers
Cinematographers
Original Language
en
Spoken Languages
Mandarin, English, Greek, Spanish
Production Countries
US
Production Companies
Blown Deadline Productions, HBO