RIP Lance Reddick

In shocking news, it has been announced that actor Lance Reddick has passed away at the too-young age of 60. The actor was known for his contributions to a multitude of major TV shows, including The Wire, Fringe, Lost and Bosch, as well as the John Wick movie franchise and the Horizon and Destiny video game series.

Reddick was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1962. His first love was music, and he pursued a musical academic career. He switched to acting in the early 1990s and attended the Yale School of Drama. He started being cast in minor roles in both film and on TV in the mid-1990s and achieved his first breakthrough roles for HBO, by playing Johnny Basil on prison drama Oz (2000-01) and Marvin in The Corner (2001), based on David Simon and Ed Burns's book about the Baltimore drugs trade.

A year later Reddick re-teamed with Simon and Burns for The Wire (2002-08), often cited as the greatest TV show of all time. He was cast in the key role of Cedric Daniels, a promising police officer whose career had been thrown into jeopardy by suspected wrongdoing in a unit he was part of, although he managed to avoid direct punishment. Throughout the series Daniels is torn between playing the career game - which requires politicking, turning a blind eye to some things and knowing the right people - and listening to his conscience and backing his subordinates (particularly wild card Jimmy McNulty) to actually do some good in defeating the criminal gangs in the city. In the series finale, he is unable to square the circle any more and retires from the police force to pursue a career as a criminal defence lawyer. Reddick appeared in more episodes of The Wire than any other actor (58 out of 60 episodes).

His appearance in the critically-feted The Wire made him an in-demand actor and he cropped up in numerous American TV shows of the 2000s and 2010s, usually whenever a serious, authoritative figure was required. As well as numerous guest roles, he co-headlined the reality-hopping thriller series Fringe (2008-13), playing the role of Phillip Broyles across all five seasons. He also had a recurring role on Lost, playing the enigmatic Matthew Abaddon in four episodes in 2008 and 2009.

After Fringe's conclusion, he was cast as Deputy Chief Irvin Irving on Bosch (2014-21), appearing in all seven seasons. He did not return for spin-off/sequel series Bosch: Legacy, which started in 2022. He was also a regular on sitcom Corporate from 2018 to 2019, and voiced the antagonist Thordak in the second season of The Legend of Vox Machina. He also played Albert Wesker in the Resident Evil TV series from Netflix.

In film he mostly played in supporting roles, but won over new fans by playing the role of Charon in all four John Wick movies.

Reddick also built up a cult following with his popular video game roles. He played Commander Zavala in every installment of the Destiny franchise, and both voiced and provided the appearance for semi-antagonist/sometimes-ally Sylens in both Horizon Zero Dawn (2017) and Horizon Forbidden West (2022). He also played Martin Hatch in Quantum Break (2016), which combined live-action TV material with a video game.

Reddick was a prolific performer, and had numerous projects in the can at the time of his passing. He will be seen in the upcoming White Men Can't Jump remake and John Wick spin-off Ballerina, as well as the Disney+ Percy Jackson and the Olympians TV series. Reddick had also recorded both voice and motion capture the expansion Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores, due out next month.

According to early reports, Lance Reddick passed away of natural causes.

A highly talented actor with tremendous screen presence and gravitas, whose serious screen roles sometimes belied the actor's sense of humour (more readily expressed on his social media channels), Lance Reddick will be very much missed, and has gone far too soon.

RIP Michael K. Williams

In shocking news, actor Michael K. Williams has passed away at the far too-young age of 54. The actor was found at his home earlier today. No cause of death has yet been ascertained.

Born in 1966 in New York City, Michael Kenneth Williams trained as a dancer and went on tour with artists such as Madonna and George Michael. His acting skill was recognised by no less than Tupac Shakur and he was cast in the 1996 film Bullet, which marked the start of his acting career. Williams found his casting somewhat stereotyped due to the recognisable scar he had on his forehead, the result of a barfight in his twenties. As a result he was often cast as villains or "heavies."

In 2002 Williams auditioned for a new HBO TV series called The Wire. He impressed showrunner David Simon with a single audition and was cast in the role of Omar Little, a Robin Hood-like figure who robs criminals and drug dealers and distributes money to his community. The role was loosely based on real Baltimore "stick up" figures such as Donnie Andrews. Omar was a "third side" in the show, someone who sometimes worked alongside the cops but sometimes pursued his own agenda that was at odds with them.

The character became a cult favourite in the first season, but exploded in profile in the second after a courtroom scene where Omar justifies his morality whilst serving as the witness in a criminal case. The character was applauded for both being a hardman with a moral code and also a gay man in a notoriously homophobic environment. Williams was nominated twice for an NAACP Image Award for his portrayal of Omar, and in 2008 a pre-election Barack Obama noted that Omar was his favourite character on the show, though not one whose every action he'd approve of. Williams continued to portray the character until the end of the final season in 2008.

The Wire gave Williams tremendous opportunities and he went on to appear in films such as Gone Baby Gone, Life During Wartime and a brief but high-profile appearance in The Road. He had another big role in 12 Years a Slave, and solid supporting turns in Assassin's Creed, Ghostbusters (2016) and The Gambler.

However, Williams became a much sought-after television actor. He had recurring roles on Alias and Six Degrees and a hilarious recurring role as Dr. Kane on Community, among a vast number of guest star roles. It was HBO where he continued to make his home, though, appearing as Chalky White in Boardwalk Empire, Freddy Knight in The Night Of and Montrose Freeman in Lovecraft Country. Each one of these performances attracted critical acclaim and award nominations. From 2016 to 2018 he starred in the well-received Hap and Leonard alongside James Purefoy.

Williams recently completed work on several films, including 892 alongside James Boyega and Surrounded with Letitia Wright, which will now be posthumous releases. Williams is survived by one son.

An actor of impressive range, intensity and charisma, Michael K. Williams will be missed.

All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of The Wire by Jonathan Abrams

In 2002 HBO debuted a cop show with a difference. Rather than wrapping up an investigation in an hour, The Wire's first season followed one complex, sprawling drug case in Baltimore across an entire season. For the second year the show abruptly pivoted to a new investigation in the city docks. Season 3 introduced a strong political storyline, whilst in the show's final two seasons it focused on education and the media. In the process the show built up a portrait of the modern American city and its underclass, the people left behind by industrialisation and automation, and exploited by criminals, governments and corporations alike. It was only after the show ended in 2008 that it became acclaimed as the "greatest TV show ever made," a position it is still quoted in to this very day.

All the Pieces Matter is an oral history of the production of The Wire. Jonathan Abrams tapped an enormous number of people involved in production, from David Simon and Ed Burns, the show's creators, to Idris Elba and Dominic West (its breakout stars) to Michael B. Jordan (who became a star much later). Politicians from Baltimore, studio executives at HBO and pretty much everyone he could find with a connection to the show offer up their thoughts as well.

The book has a number of advantages over previous books about the show. Over a decade has now passed since the show has ended, which allows for much greater reflection. Actors and crew also feel a lot freer to talk about the things on the show that didn't go well: finding out that Lance Reddick really didn't like Dominic West is a surprise (but explains how that dynamic on TV worked so well), as is that Idris Elba reacted the mostly badly to his character being killed off, or that almost the entire writing team utterly loathed the pivot to the political storyline in Season 3 and refused to write any of it, leaving it to just two writers to handle that entire element of the show. It's also a surprise to see that HBO renewed The Wire for two seasons after Season 3, and then tried to renege on that deal after Season 4 (despite its massive critical acclaim and it being the first season to really start generating lots of positive coverage about the show).

It's also interesting to see how the actors were affected by their roles: Andre Royo found playing Bubbles so all-consuming that he barely made it through the five seasons and struggled to adjust to other roles afterwards. Dominic West never felt comfortable with the accent and had an accent coach on hand through the entire show, right up to the series finale. Sonja Sohn was so moved by her time on the show she eschewed a potential Hollywood career to move to Baltimore and set up charities and workshops to help local gets get into acting as a way of getting off the streets. The Wire was an interesting mix of drama, documentary, historical piece and socio-economic analysis, and this book reinforces all of those elements and delves into them in greater detail.

The author's editorial contributions are minor, as he is far more interested in letting his subjects have their say. This works really well, as the cast and crew of The Wire are erudite, witty and intelligent. It's also fascinating to hear from Ed Burns, a taciturn and essential contributor to the show (he was a soldier turned cop turned school teacher) who's rarely talked about his role on the series.

All the Pieces Matter (****½) is very well-named because it collects together the thoughts of everyone involved in the show, no matter how minor, and shows how those contributions came together to create the Greatest TV Show Ever™. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

The Wire: Season 5 (HD)

On 4 February 2009 I reviewed the fifth season of The Wire. I recently completed rewatching the season thanks to the recent HD re-release, courtesy of HBO, and here's the original review with some updated thoughts.

 
The fifth and final season of The Wire is given the task of wrapping up all the loose ends from previous seasons and also to give space to a new storyline element, that of the media. With the police, criminals, politicians, working class and teachers already covered, moving into the newspapers is the logical next port of call, especially since many of the show's writers cut their teeth as journalists at one time or another.

Thanks to the efforts of the ever-redoubtable defence attorney Maurice Levy, Marlo Stanfield and his crew have avoided jail time, despite being linked to 22 bodies discovered in vacant housing in Baltimore. New mayor Tommy Carcetti wants the murders solved, so the Major Crimes Unit has been reconstituted with most of the old team back in play: Kima, Freamon, McNulty and Sydnor. Meanwhile, Herc has been forced to leave the police and is now working for Levy as a private investigator, and Omar is enjoying a holiday life down in the Caribbean, having apparently left behind the game for good. Unfortunately, Carcetti has inherited a massive education budget deficit from his predecessor and is forced to divert substantial financial resources away from the police to the schools. The Major Crimes Unit is disbanded, and even the street cops find their vehicle maintenance funding being pulled. With the police off his back, Marlo's consolidation of control over the city's drug trade suddenly ramps up to a new and dangerous level and he vows to settle his score with Omar.

With bodies dropping but no funds available to investigate them, McNulty comes up with a scheme to get attention and resources back to the police force but, needless to say, it backfires spectacularly. At the same time, the Baltimore Sun is facing cutbacks but an ambitious young reporter, Scott Templeton, finds unorthodox means of finding new stories that please the bosses but annoy his editor.

The final season of The Wire has a lot of ground to cover, as the police force's attempts to take down Marlo hit a brick wall and a new case rapidly rises to prominence, whilst a whole new facet of the city is explored through the newspaper. Simultaneously, many subplots running from the previous season continue to be explored, such as the continuing trials of the former schoolchildren from Prez's class (although only Dukie and Michael have a lot of screen time this season, Namond and Randy being reduced to cameos) and Marlo's attempt to dispose of the last barrier between him and total control of the city's drug trade. As a result a lot of other storylines fall behind. Carver and Herc appear a lot less than before (although when they do appear, they have some important things to contribute to the show's ending), Prez only has a brief cameo and the school storyline is pretty much abandoned. Cutty also only has a brief appearance, although given that his rehabilitation arc through Seasons 3 and 4 is pretty much complete that is more understandable.

The name of the game this year is resolution. McNulty and Freamon are out for Marlo's blood and plan to bring down his organisation and put him in jail at any cost, and the extraordinary (and increasingly illegal) lengths they go to achieve that are breathtaking. Having played the system for four seasons prior without much to show for it, the two police officers are at breaking point, which isn't surprising. We also see Carcetti, the wonder boy who wanted clean stats and a new dawn for his city, being driven down by the system into the same morass of murky compromises and grey morality that blighted his predecessor. The newspaper storyline is nicely handled, and encapsulates the idea of people trying to do the right thing and getting beaten back for it whilst those who ride and exploit the system can succeed. It's a very cynical view of the world, although one that seems to be depressingly backed up by reality.

But inbetween the cracks there are rays of light. Michael has been put through the wringer in the show's last two seasons and done some very bad things, but towards the end he comes to the realisation that he is in the game but not a gang player, which leads to a very logical end point for him, whilst Bubbles' traumas over the years finally lead him down the path of redemption. It would have been easy for the writers to have had Bubbles rehabilitate at the end of Season 1, but making his journey much longer and more painful before the possibility of a happy ending presents itself results in a more satisfying resolution.

The series ends by showing us the hard-won victories the forces of law and order have achieved, but elsewhere many of the villains are still at large with blood on their hands. Some of the 'good guys' are left broken, or homeless, or without their jobs, or as drug addicts. But some people get what's coming to them, and the series ends with a long, lingering shot of Baltimore, a crime-addled, bankrupt city where the people are just struggling to survive day by day. It was this city, which stands in for pretty much any city in America, that was the real star of the show. David Simon and his writers, directors and actors are to be commended by giving us the definitive portrait of the American city in the 21st Century, and that portrait is not a positive or a happy one. But it has a ring of truth and authenticity to it that no other cop or lawyer show has ever achieved.

Season 5 of the The Wire (*****) is a fitting end-point to the series, and a fine capstone to one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Storylines and mysteries stretching back to Season 1 are resolved satisfyingly, but no easy answers are given and the ending is anything but neat. The season is available on DVD in the UK and USA, and as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA).

Updated Thoughts

The fifth season of The Wire is widely regarded as the weakest. On my original viewing I wasn't too sure, feeling it tied with the second season. However, on this HD rewatch it became clear that the second season was far superior on a rewatch, with my initial scepticism of it coming more from the jarring shift of tone and storyline from the first season. If the second season improves on a rewatch, the fifth season certainly declines a little.

Which is not to say that it is bad, but for the first time in the series it feels like David Simon doesn't really have a lot to say. The decline of print media and well-paid, driven reporters is bad for journalism? Hardly a major revelation. The bosses become the bosses due to a bland willing to compromise and sell out their ideals in the process? The previous four seasons said the same thing and in a much better way. The fifth season doesn't bring much that's new to the table and the newspaper storyline, particularly the bizarre activities of Scott Templeton (who on this rewatch now appears to be mentally ill rather than simultaneously ambitious and lazy, which I think was the original intent), is not really well thought-out. Not to mention that the police storyline, where McNulty crosses the line to secure more funding for the police department, is implausible to the point of being farcical. For a show so steeped in criminal and social realism, these aspects of the fifth season feel unconvincing and even contrived.

Fortunately the show is about much more than that. The war on the street between Marlo Stanfield and Omar is absolutely gripping, driven by fantastic performances and an escalating level of violence and rising stakes that is compelling. Carcetti's decline in moral authority and ability as he loses his earlier idealism and capitalises on disastrous crime and and school issues to try to get into the governor's mansion is also phenomenal, Aiden Gillen bringing all of the snake-oil charm, political nous and wafer-thin charisma that he doesn't to the role of Littlefinger in Game of Thrones (seriously, what is up with that?). Other elements are much reduced this year, with characters like Prez and Cutty being reduced to cameos, but others return to prominence, such as the return of the Greek and his gang from the second season.

When The Wire hits the right notes, even in this more problematic final season, it more than earns its title of the Best TV Show Evaaaah. At its best, the writing and casting and direction are sublime. At its worst, the show loses focus and becomes just another crime show, but still a well-made one. Fortunately, the cast and crew do manage to turn around the moderate decline in quality in the last two episodes of the series and bring things together for an absolutely outstanding finale that really encapsulates what the show is about.

The Wire complete series blu-ray set is available now in the UK and USA and, for anyone who enjoys good drama and good television, is an absolute must-purchase.

Wertzone Classics: The Wire - Season 4 (HD)

On 28 December 2008 I reviewed the fourth season of The Wire. I recently completed rewatching the season thanks to the recent HD re-release, courtesy of HBO, and here's the original review with some updated thoughts.

The fourth and penultimate season of The Wire sees the show moving into new territory. At the end of Season 3 the Barksdale organisation was finally destroyed for good, McNulty found himself some happiness and Daniels got a promotion. The goals set out in Season 1 had been achieved. So, where next for the Major Crimes Unit and the players of the game?
 
Season 4 follows several storylines in tandem. The MCU is now chasing down Marlo Stanfield, whose organisation has picked up from where Barksdale left off and now rules over most of the western district of Baltimore. However, their rise to power has apparently been accomplished with virtually no deaths, bemusing Lester Freamon. With the wiretaps also coming up empty, Freamon's attempts to follow the money trail attract the ire of his superiors and pretty soon the MCU is all but shut down and Freamon and Kima end up working in Homicide instead. Elsewhere, McNulty is enjoying the (relatively) easy life as a beat cop, Daniels is heading up his own force and Carver is maturing as an officer, with only Herc apparently resisting any change, at least until he catches the Mayor's eye (in a rather interesting manner) and finds his star rising as a result. But overall the police side of things, at least to start off with, seems pretty quiet.

On the streets Marlo's rise to power has been achieved with the help of his two enforcers, the terrifyingly cold-blooded and ruthless Chris and Snoop, who have come up with a brilliant scheme to hide the resulting bodies from the police. Proposition Joe, who has inherited most of the surviving Barksdale crew, is continuing his efforts to entice Marlo into the cooperative to little avail, so he hatches a scheme to get Marlo on his side by setting up a war between him and the indefatigable Omar. Unfortunately, this leads to a pretty bloody and complicated state of affairs for all concerned.

Elsewhere, Tommy Carcetti is running for the position of mayor, but the race is a difficult three-way contest between him, the incumbent Royce and fellow councilman Tony Gray. Unfortunately, no sooner is the winner in office then they are delivered two massive problems: how to handle the proven incompetence of police commissioner Burrell when they cannot fire him for political reasons, and the discovery that they have a jaw-dropping $54 million budget deficit due to overspending in the schools.

At the same time, Prez, the former MCU member fired from the force in Season 3 after accidentally killing another officer, has started a new life as a maths teacher. His class is noisy, uncooperative, disrespectful and sometimes shockingly violent (one student slashes another's face open with a razor in his first week). However, the primary narrative for Season 4 focuses on four of the students in Prez's class - Randy, Dukie, Namond and Michael. These are all new characters, although with some ties to existing ones: Namond is the son of former Barksdale enforcer Wee-Bey and Michael is a member of Cutty's gym.

The scaling back of the other characters in favour of following these four youngsters around may seem like an odd move, but it pays off brilliantly. Having tackled the police, criminals, politicians, and dockworkers, Season 4 is about teachers, students and the role of education in shaping the lives of the young. Early in the season a divide is identified between those kids who could make something for themselves and the corner kids who don't want to do anything other than stand on the streets and sell drugs to make money, and where the four main characters fall on that divide and how they swap sides and change over the course of the season is fascinating to watch. At first glance Michael seems to be the most positive and promising of the four, but his interest in sports and growing cooperation in class hides a bitter and painful home life that soon leads him into Marlo's circle, whilst happy-go-lucky Randy makes a series of mistakes that prove costly. In fact it's Namond, who is selling drugs from the start and being schooled for a life of crime by his father from behind bars, who undergoes the most interesting and seismic shifts in character, all depicted through the brilliant-as-usual writing and some fine performances from the young actors involved.

Andre Royo as Bubs also has to be singled out for mention, as Bubs hits rock-bottom in this season and Royo's depiction of a man whose already crappy life disintegrates completely is absolutely stunning. At the same time, Dominic West's low availability for the season means that McNulty doesn't appear very much, meaning more screen time for Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Bunk (Wendell Pierce), which is a very welcome move. McNulty does return to prominence in the last two episodes, which set up the direction of the final season pretty well.

The Wire: Season 4 (*****) is as superbly-written, brilliantly funny, expertly-acted and stomach-churningly tragic as ever, except possibly even moreso than the first three seasons. If there is a negative point, it's that Season 4 is the most epic and sprawling season to date, and it takes a while for all the disparate storylines to start pulling together. But when they do, the result is the most powerful and gripping final run of episodes yet. Season 4 of The Wire is available on DVD in the UK and USA and also as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA).

Updated Thoughts

Rewatching the fourth season of The Wire, the question arises: is this merely the greatest season of the show (although it's a close battle with Season 1) or actually the greatest season of any TV show ever made? On a first run it's easy to say no, that the season takes too long to come together in any meaningful way and there are way too few victories. On a rewatch you realise that's the point.

The season is deliberately disjointed: the Major Crimes Unit is deliberately and systematically run into the ground, there's a heavy political storyline with Carcetti running for mayor that feels shut off from what's going on in the street and there's stuff going on in the school that feels disconnected from everything else. Compared to the determined focus and easy-to-determine through-line of the three previous seasons, Season 4 sprawls in all directions.

But the sprawl is an illusion. As Lester Freamon told us in Season 1, "All the pieces matter" and this remains true in the fourth year. Eventually all the little, apparently throwaway moments align with the core storyline of Marlo Stanfield's murderous rise to dominance over the Baltimore underworld impacting on the police, the political system and, most heartbreakingly, in the schools where the young children's best hope for a good life is undermined by an unfeeling system obsessed with statistics over humanity and by street hustlers looking for kids to use as couriers and look-outs. If the season has an emotional core, it's provided by Roland Pryzbylewski, played with tremendous restraint and heart by Jim True-Frost. Prez was the former police officer who shot up a tower block back in Season 1 and idiotically blinded a child for no real reason, but by this season has grown into a more fully-rounded figure. His new role as a teacher in a tough, inner-city school confronts him with astonishing horrors - kids who are clearly emotionally traumatised, abused or mentally disturbed but whom the system refuses to help - but instead of zoning out or quitting like so many others, he tackles the situation head-on and eventually manages to help some (but not all) of his students.

The season is really the story of four of those students - Michael, Dukie, Namond and Randy - and each of their story arcs is told with humanity and skill. The actors are outstanding and the conclusion of each of their story arcs is note-perfect. Only one arguably ends up happy. The ending confronted by Randy is utterly heartbreaking, and the audience sides fully with Detective Carver, formerly a police officer who said he never cared too much and only enjoyed breaking heads, as he finally loses control at the absolute inhumanity and bureaucratic incompetence of the system he works for.

There are so many other moments of emotional perfection, perfect performances, cutting political observation or humour (and for all its reputation as a realistic examination of the modern western city, The Wire can also be the funniest thing on the planet) in the season that it'd be impossible to list them all. Suffice to say, that when the dust settles and the history of the Golden Age of Television is written, this collection of thirteen episodes will almost certainly emerge as its crowning achievement.

The Wire complete series blu-ray set is available now in the UK and USA.

Wertzone Classics: The Wire - Season 3 (HD)

On 20 October 2008 I reviewed the third season of The Wire. I recently completed rewatching the season thanks to the recent HD re-release, courtesy of HBO, and here's the original review with some updated thoughts.

With its third year, The Wire heads back to the streets and unfinished business. As with the second year, the third season opens up another dimension of the city, this time City Hall and the civil and police administration, but the focus is squarely back on the Barksdale organisation and Lt. Daniels' unit trying to bring them down and finish the job begun back in Season 1.

Season 3 opens with Avon Barksdale still in jail, but his parole hearing is coming up. His friend and collaborator Stringer Bell has guided the crew through some lean times and formed a 'co-op' with several other gangs which has led to them making some serious money but at the cost of sharing each other's turf. However, a new player, Marlo Stanfield, is on the way up and is not interested in sharing his territory with anyone else. The stage is set for a series of bloody showdowns and bodies dropping on the streets, to the growing discontent of the police. Lt. Daniels and his unit are forced to drop their investigation into Bell (begun at the end of the second season) to concentrate on the war, unaware that the two are connected. This war is complicated by the re-emergence of Omar Little, who has sworn to bring down Bell for manipulating him into shooting an innocent man (in the second season) and for the murder of Omar's lover back in the first season.

At the same time, an ambitious white city councilman, Tommy Carcetti, is planning to run for mayor, although his prospects in a city with a majority black population seem poor. Connecting these two storylines is a highly controversial initiative launched by police Major Colvin to move the drug dealers off the street corners into three abandoned city blocks where the police will turn a blind eye to their activities so they can concentrate more on murders and crime prevention elsewhere. The 'Hamsterdam' storyline, apparently inspired by the 'legalise drugs' movement, is a stunning and surprisingly even-handed piece of social commentary. There is also an ongoing subplot following the attempts of former Barksdale enforcer Dennis 'Cutty' Wise to go straight after spending fourteen years in prison.

Season 3 is tighter than the second season, as it is able to link the storylines together more effectively. The trials of the Barksdale gang were largely removed and separate from events on the docks, creating a disjointed second year that only started coming together towards the end. The new characters, both on the streets and in the city hall, are also more directly tied to the storylines that have gone before and are stronger as a result.

Thematically, the idea behind Season 3 appears to be that of failed reform. The failure of the city's drug prevention strategies encourage some radical, out-of-the-box thinking from Major Colvin. Whilst his policy is initially successful, it leads to a whole host of knock-on effects which are beyond his powers to address, and give a rather depressing impression that, indeed, no one man can make a difference to the system. The breathtaking cynicism and corruption of the political wing of the city is depicted, with Carcetti determined to reform the system from the inside, again with apparently little hope of success. Stringer Bell's attempts to reform himself and his friend Avon on his release from prison into respectable businessmen provides the season with its main narrative spine, but again does not have a happy ending. That said, there are moments of hope, with Cutty's attempts to go straight finally garnering some success and McNulty's attempts to straighten out his personal life ending on a positive note.

The ending of the season seems to be a little more definitive than the prior two, but the writers take care to leave enough loose ends untied to be pursued into the fourth year, with the candidates for mayor squaring up, several of the gang leaders still very much at large and the police unit once again finding themselves heading off in separate directions.

The Wire: Season 3 (*****) follows up on the first two by being just as dramatically intense with some superb characterisation, brilliant acting and some finely-judged moments of comedy to balance the darkness elsewhere. It is available on DVD in the UK and USA, and as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA).

Updated Thoughts

Rewatching the third season of The Wire, it's impossible to see its message as being anything other than "Be careful what you wish for..."

The season is dominated by McNulty's dogged pursuit of Stringer Bell, his determination to finish the work begun back in Season 1 when Avon was arrested. Avon's unexpected early release halfway through this season only reinforces McNulty's mission. On an initial viewing - especially knowing that David Simon thought there was a good chance this was the final season of the show and wanted to bring at least some resolution to things - this worked well. On a reviewing, knowing what happens next, it's downright brilliant.

Stringer and Avon's downfall paves the way for the rise to power of Marlo Stanfield, a scarily focused and utterly relentless psychopath lacking even the facade of honour and civility that Avon had and the business common sense possessed by Stringer. This makes you want either the detail to fail in their mission to defeat the Barksdale crew, or for them to hold off just long enough for Avon's people to win the street war. Of course, it doesn't happen. More tellingly, it's interesting to see Avon's growing respect for Marlo and his tactics over the course of the season, seeing something of himself (perhaps incorrectly) in the young Stanfield. This explains Avon's decision to help Marlo from behind bars in later episodes, which on a first viewing came a bit more out of left field.

Foreknowledge of later seasons also makes other story points resonate much more strongly: Cutty's personal odyssey from criminal enforcer to boxing mentor, Colvin's desire to give something back to the community (and not just for the sake of his pension, as he protests) and, most prominently, Prez's ill-advised mistake in the final episodes which completes his police story arc begun in the first season and sets him on the road to the schools, and the tragically powerful fourth season.

Season 3 of The Wire, already one of its strongest years, improves immeasurably on a reviewing and is also enhanced by its presentation in HD. If you thought Hamsterdam at its worst was hard enough viewing before, it's got nothing on when every nook and cranny is shown up in widescreen.

The Wire complete series blu-ray set is available now in the UK and USA.

Wertzone Classics: The Wire - Season 2 (HD)

On 14 October 2008 I published a review of the second season of The Wire, HBO's masterpiece about the corrupting effects of American institutions (political, legal and criminal) and the destruction of the American labouring classes. Here's an updated re-review based on the new HD release of the series on Blu-Ray.

When The Wire started it was easy to see it as just another cop show, until its overwhelmingly high quality lifted it onto another level. After all, the narrative of Season 1 was simply that of cops versus drug dealers, with some murky political dealings on the side but these were left relatively unexplored. Season 2, however, shows creator David Simon's real plan: he is trying to craft the definitive portrayal of the turn-of-the-century American city. Like a Grand Theft Auto game (only with less gunplay and more, infinitely better dialogue), progressing onto Season 2 'unlocks' another chunk of the city, this time the docks and a new cast of characters, including Eastern European criminals, the unions and their families, and introduces an important new thread to the tapestry of the show.

At the end of Season 1, Lt. Daniels's unit successfully cracked the Barksdale case, but political infighting between different police departments saw arrests made prematurely. Whilst Avon and D'Angelo were sent down, the evidence against Avon was flimsy and his time inside was limited, whilst back on the street the formidable Stringer Bell has been put in charge. Meanwhile, Daniels has been booted down to work in the evidence lock-up and McNulty has been sent over to the harbour patrol, to his extreme annoyance, whilst Freamon and Bunt are working in homicide. When McNulty fishes a dead girl out of the harbour and port authority police officer Beadie Russell uncovers thirteen corpses in a freight container, the police's attention is turned to the harbour. This garners the interest of Commander Valchek, who is anxious to bring down the head of the stevedores' union, Frank Sobotka, after his union raises more cash for the local church's new stained-glass windows than Valchek's.

Season 2 of The Wire sprawls slightly more than the first season, a result of the story having to incorporate a large number of new characters and locations whilst at the same time keeping tabs on the characters from Season 1. The project gangs, Stringer Bell, Omar and so forth are firmly on the back-burner for the season, with their story forming a subplot that clears up some loose ends from the first season and sets up the events of Season 3, where they return to prominence. Whilst characters such as Omar and Bubs get limited screen time as a result compared to the first year, at least they don't vanish altogether. Luckily, the new characters are a good match for the originals. Union politics and the gradual loss of American industry and hands-on labour are covered in a fascinating manner. Frank Sobotka (played by Chris Bauer) is the character whom the season's themes centre on, showing how an essentially decent man who values loyalty and fair play is gradually morally eroded, ground down by the city institutions and effectively destroyed, whilst the start of the same process is shown happening to his nephew Nicky (Pablo Schreiber). On the law-enforcement side, Amy Ryan makes a good impression as Beadie Russell, the working beat officer who is pulled into the detective unit formed to investigate the port situation and finds herself out of her depth, until she steps up. On the street side of things, the fascinating character of Brother Mouzone (Michael Potts) is introduced very late in the season, as more pieces are set up for the third year.

The Wire remains dramatically intense, with several deaths (one in particular) and shocking plot developments meaning you don't know who is safe, or who can be trusted. The show's black sense of humour is retained (the entire investigation starts due to a personal feud between Valchek and Sobotka over whose union gives more money to their local church), the fascinating investigative tactics used by the police are expanded upon and the increasingly bleak portrayal of the modern American city is balanced by a few decent characters and moments of hope.

The Wire: Season 2 (*****) takes slightly longer to get going than Season 1, but remains gripping, intelligent and adult television and the climax is much harsher. It is available on DVD in the UK and USA, and as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA).

Updated Thoughts

If you want to start a flame war between usually reasoned, intelligent fans of The Wire, you can challenge them on what is the weaker season: the second or the fifth. The results can be quite interesting. Of course, they're both fantastic, but I think most would agree they're a tiny notch below the other three in quality. The move away from the established cast in Season 1, the introduction of a lot of new characters with time limitations on fleshing them all out and the lack of resolution to the storyline about the Greek and his gang of criminals are all issues when compared to the first season's flawless pacing, characterisation and plot construction.

At least, they are on an initial viewing. On a re-watch, the season improves from being pretty damn good with a few minor issues to being almost the equal of those around it. Knowing how the Greek and his dealings play into the bigger story of Baltimore from the later seasons helps a lot, as it introduces more of an element of tragedy into proceedings: if the cops had arrested the Greek and his gang, a lot of what happened in the seasons that followed would not have been possible. Similarly, the elimination of D'Angelo feels like a mere tying-up of a loose end from the first season, but in fact sets up a series of plot points and events in Season 3 that will have huge ramifications.

In fact, few elements are not improved by a rewatch. James Ransome's performance as Ziggy still feels a little belaboured in some scenes, but beyond that, this is a collection of highly watchable, smartly-written, brilliantly-acted and often unexpectedly hilarious episodes.

The move to HD also benefits this season immensely, with so much of the action taking place in huge industrial wastelands, on container ships and against other, large-scale backdrops which are improved by the move to widescreen.

The Wire complete series blu-ray set is available now in the UK and USA.

Wertzone Classics: The Wire - Season 1 (HD)

On 8 October 2008 I published a review of Season 1 of The Wire, David Simon's five-year ode to the death of the American Dream and the corrupting effect of institutions. I recently completed a rewatch of the season, this time in HD from the official Blu-Ray release. The original review is reprinted below along with some updated impressions.

The Wire is, at first glance, Yet Another Cop Show, about a group of disparate and conflicted police officers working to bring down criminals who are often not much better than they are. Yawn. However, there are two things that mean that people should take this seriously. Firstly, it's made by HBO who, up to a couple of years ago anyway, seemed physically incapable of making something unless it was absolutely gripping and awesome. Secondly, it's the creation of former police writer and journalist David Simon, whose previous show was the brilliant Homicide: Life on the Street.


The Wire kicks off on the mean streets of Baltimore, Maryland, in 2002. A murder case against a young black man named D'Angelo Barksdale collapses when one of the witnesses is scared into retracting her testimony. The furious judge learns from homicide detective Jimmy McNulty that D'Angelo is a junior member of a far-reaching criminal gang run by his cousin, the extremely elusive Avon Barksdale. This gang controls all the drug supplies on the west side of the city, and are protected by a labyrinth of legit front organisations. Determined to get some payback, the judge uses his influence to have a special joint homicide-narcotics unit formed to bring down the Barksdale gang, with McNulty assigned and an up-and-coming officer named Lt. Daniels placed in charge.

The investigation into the Barksdale organisation by the unit forms the backbone of the first season of the show, but that's just one side of the story. We also get to see the investigation from the POV of the criminals themselves, most notably D'Angelo as he finds himself free but busted down to supplying the lowest of the estates, as well as the kids who work for him. A dangerous, unpredictable third faction is also in play in the form of the one-man army Omar Little, a criminal whose personal code means he can only steal from other criminals. The police try to form an alliance with Omar to bring down Barksdale, but their erstwhile ally has an unfortunate tendency to blow away the criminals they're trying to get locked up, which makes this a difficult task.

The appeal of The Wire is hard to explain to those who haven't seen it. It's fairly slow-moving (although never dull) in places and arguably takes two or three episodes to really kick in. It's also pretty unforgiving if you miss an episode. Flashbacks to prior episodes are non-existent, and plot points and character and emotional arcs often turn on a single conversation from several episodes earlier. You need to pay attention here. Luckily, that's made easy by the tight writing, the ingenious methods the criminals go to avoid being caught and the even more intelligent methods the police need to use to investigate them, and the acting. It'd be almost impossible to single out any of the actors for praise. British actor Dominic West has the closest thing to a central role as McNulty, and handles the character very well, but Lance Reddick (more recently seen as the enigmatic Abbadon in Lost) holds every scene he's in as the formidable Lt. Daniels. Clarke Peters develops his character of Lester Freamon from almost a background role to that of the most intelligent and confident officer on the team in a natural and impressive manner. John Doman's constantly-infuriated performance as McNulty's commanding officer and eternal nemesis Major Rawls has to be mentioned as well.

On the criminal side of things, British actor Idris Elba (formerly seen as Vaughn in the excellent Ultraviolet) impresses as Stringer Bell, Avon Barksdale's trusted number-two man, and Larry Gilliard Jr. provides the main criminal POV as 'D' Barksdale, as he tries to claw his way back up the organisation amidst growing concerns about how the family does business. For most people - including Barak Obama - the stand-out performances in the show belong to two of the more morally ambiguous characters, namely Michael K. Williams as the dangerously unpredictable Omar and Andre Royo as 'Bubs', a street informant struggling with his own drug addiction. Royo's performance was so convincing that whilst filming he was offered a heroin fix by a passer-by who thought he badly needed it, and later referred to this as his 'street Oscar'.

The cast is uniformally brilliant (the above barely scratches the surface of the quality performances and characters on display here), the writing is fantastic and the show is, surprisingly, very funny. Whether it's the stories of some mind-bogglingly stupid criminals, or the ridiculous difficulties the team faces at getting a desk into their basement office, or Bubs' methods of identifying suspects for the police observers, the show has a jet-black vein of comedy which gives several laughs per episode. This is necessary because the show can be quite bleak, showing as it does wasted young lives amidst the crumbling tenements of a poor city, and a lot of the characters die in rather unpleasant ways over the course of the investigation. The investigation also ends messily, and the fates of many of the characters is left wide open for the second season.

The Wire: Season 1 (*****) takes a couple of episodes to build up a head of steam and get you into its headspace, but once that's done it never lets go. The show is available on DVD in the UK and USA, and also as part of the complete series box set (UK, USA). Fantasy writer Joe Abercrombie waxes lyrical on the show here, whilst British TV critic Charlie Brooker has a video appraisal here.

McNulty in full-on smug mode is even more supremely punchable in 1080p

Updated Thoughts
It's been seven years (!) since I watched the first season of The Wire and I was concerned that I would have forgotten too much about the show to enjoy one of its oft-reported key features, the fact that on a rewatch you pick up so much material that flies over your head in the initial viewing. In fact, it didn't take too much past McNulty's opening eulogy to Snot Boogie (the first, but a long way from the last, murder we see on the show) for the entire season to reassert itself in my head. There's not too many shows that can do that, but this is one that stays with you through the years.

On a rewatch, the first thing that impresses is how tightly written and meticulously constructed the series really is. There is not a single wasted breath, pointless line of dialogue or redundant moment in the entire season. The season is beautifully bookended by looping things full circle (Stringer Bell's respectful - if sardonic - acknowledgement of McNulty's intelligence in the finale reflecting McNulty's angry congratulations in the opening episode) but the finale also moves things forward and keeps stories in play for the second season. The characterisation is absolutely stunning, with even the most seemingly irredeemable character given their moments of humanity: Rawls decisively taking charge of the crime scene investigation after Kima is shot and his reassurance of his sworn nemesis McNulty afterwards gives him a depth matched by only one other scene in the entire series (and knowing that about Rawls...changes nothing at all, because it's completely irrelevant). Wee-Bey may be a totally murderous, ruthless killer, but it's hard not feel a momentary twang of sympathy or respect when he stands up and takes the fall for the entire drug gang in the finale, knowing he will never see freedom again. This is given more resonance by knowing what he does in Season 4: the man, for all of his despicable attributes, has his code.

Beyond the terrific writing, measured pace and awe-inspiring construction of the story, there is the absolute howl-inducing sense of humour. There's the single greatest crime scene investigation scene in filmed history (TV or movies), the desk-moving scene, the fishtank episode, McNulty's handling of Bunk's (very minor) betrayal, Bub's crazy schemes to get drug money, Omar's apology for killing an important witness (and McNulty's resulting attempt to measure his own morality) and the banter of the kids in the low rises. This is balanced out elsewhere by the tragedies: what happens to the witnesses in the opening court case (even the one who plays ball with Stringer), the fate of Bubs's friend and the absolute gut-punching of Wallace's rise and fall in favour.

Later seasons may be more complex and more layered, but the first season of The Wire has a tremendous focus and story-telling purity to it that makes it my favourite of the five, and easily one of the greatest seasons in the history of television (absolutely no hyperbole required). The high definition makeover is technically stunning, and in fact David Simon's concern that the show would suffer from losing its grainy documentary look doesn't really materialise. An on-the-streets documentary about Baltimore today would be shot in HD, and in fact the grimmer aspects of The Wire take on a stronger resonance when you can see the streets, the corners and the dusty police offices in much clearer detail.

The Wire complete series blu-ray set is available now in the UK and USA.

THE WIRE hits Blu-Ray on 2 June

The Wire, the HBO series once described by Charlie Brooker as the "Best TV series since the invention of radio," is getting its long-awaited Blu-Ray release on 2 June this year.

The show has been remastered in high definition and widescreen under the supervision of creator David Simon and the show's original editors. Although Simon has been vocally sceptical of the remastering idea, it turns out that, when done, it mostly worked quite well, although Simon noted some scenes where the composition was damaged by expanding it so they reframed and cropped where necessary. It is unclear if the new Blu-Ray release will given an option to watch in HD in the original aspect ratio.

Also up in the air is the price for the UK version. The American version is a hefty $199.99, which directly translates to £133. That's considerably more than The Sopranos complete Blu-Ray box set was on release (£99), for a significantly shorter series (60 episodes to The Sopranos' 86). The box set includes all of the previous special features from the DVD release as well as some new material. HBO's press release follows:

“One of the most daring dramas in the
history of the medium” -The Baltimore Sun

“One of the great achievements in television
artistry” -San Francisco Chronicle

THE WIRE:
THE COMPLETE SERIES
BLU-RAY WITH DIGITAL HD

Acclaimed Series Available for the First Time
on BLU-RAY Disc with Digital HD June 2, 2015

Loaded with Bonus Content Just in Time for Father’s Day Gift Giving

All 60 Episodes Beautifully Re-mastered in 16×9 Full Frame HD

New York, NY (March 5, 2015) – In the six years that have passed since the conclusion of the HBO seriesThe Wire, the critically acclaimed drama has turned into a worldwide phenomenon that has been hailed as “the best show in the history of television” by MSNBC. This summer, the series will make its highly anticipated debut on Blu-ray disc for the very first time. The 20-disc box set featuring all 60 episodes of the hit series in a stunningly re-mastered 16×9 full-screen HD format is showcased with newly redesigned box art.The Wire: The Complete Serieson Blu-ray with Digital HD ($199.99) is loaded with an exciting slate of bonus materials, including four behind-the-scenes documentaries, three prequels that explore life beforeThe Wire, and an all-new cast and crew Q&A from the Paley Center for Media’sThe Wirereunion event.The Wire: The Complete Serieson Blu-ray with Digital HD will be in stores June 2, 2015 – just in time for Father’s Day and summer binge watching – and is a must-have for all TV connoisseurs!

The Wire depicts an American urban dystopia, framed in our time, in which easy distinctions between good and evil and crime and punishment are challenged at every turn. In five successive seasons, the series depicts a Baltimore in which institutional prerogatives, economic inequalities and a brutalizing drug war confound the efforts to advance the city and its people. The series’ first season lays out the futility of the drug war, while the second highlights the deindustrialization and the death of the working class. The third season introduces the city’s political culture and lays out the forces that stand in the path of actual reform. The fourth season addresses the educational system and the actual opportunities that remain to coming generations. The fifth and final season examines the media culture and its role in perpetuating the status quo. Amid all of this, carefully drawn characters on both sides of the law and from a variety of Baltimore cultures move forward as best they can, human to a flaw, struggling against a system that seems weighted against civic progress.

HBO confirm plans for THE WIRE in HD

HBO have confirmed their plans for the HD re-release of The Wire. They had been planning to release the new version of the show in November, but those plans were put on hold when series creator David Simon and producer Nina Noble got in touch and offered to lend their help to ensuring that the re-mastering job was of the highest possible quality.

Rumours that Omar will be replaced by a CGI muppet and that Stringer will now 'fire first' cannot be confirmed at this time.

That work is now complete and HBO Signature will begin showing The Wire on Boxing Day. They will air show in five marathons, one season per day, before releasing the HD version of the series through iTunes and other digital sellers on 5 January 2015. A Blu-Ray release of the series will follow in the summer.

To create the new version, HBO re-scanned the entire original film stock and re-edited the series from scratch. Complications were found in that, whilst the original show was shot on film, it had not always been 'protected' for widescreen, with the result that light stands, equipment and sometimes extras could be found lurking in the edges of the widescreen image. Initially it appears that HBO was planning on using cropping to eliminate these issues (although this does result in the loss of image from the top and bottom of the screen) but after further consideration instead used CGI and digital painting to remove these elements. Although more expensive, this does result in a superior image.

David Simon has always been negative about the idea of displaying the show in widescreen, feeling that it loses something of the original documentary feel. However, he did change his mind when seeing how certain scenes (such as the longshoremen gathered around a fallen comrade at the end of Season 2) were much-improved in widescreen. Other scenes suffered, with Simon noting that the exchange between Wee-Bay and D'Angelo outside a diner in the very first episode became distracting with too many elements introduced into the edges of the shot. In these very rare cases, cropping appears to have been used to re-focus the attention of shots on the characters. On his blog, Simon has indicated that it would be "nice" to have the show in HD but in the original aspect ratio (a compromise achieved highly successfully by the Star Trek: The Next Generation Blu-Ray releases), but it is unclear if this option will be available on the forthcoming new box set.

Re-releasing The Wire in HD may not matter much to the show's existing legions of fans but it will ensure the show's long term survival, and should help it win over a new audience of modern box set bingers who've been put off by the original version's grainy visual quality (ignoring how much that adds to the effect).

HBO remasters THE SOPRANOS and (maybe) THE WIRE in HD

HBO has confirmed that it has remastered The Sopranos in high-definition for release on Blu-Ray next week. Whilst the first and sixth seasons had previously been available by themselves, HBO will be releasing the whole series on 8 September.

Slightly more confusing is the situation with The Wire. The video below has been reportedly running on HBO for the past several weeks, suggesting that a HD repeat run of the series will begin this Thursday on HBO Signature. TV Guide and a few other listings magazines have backed this up, but the HBO schedule itself only has films and a re-run of Boardwalk Empire in that slot for the next few weeks.

The situation is also confused by the long-running debate over whether The Wire should be shown in widescreen. The series was certainly filmed in widescreen but it was an editorial decision that it should be shown in the old 4:3 standard TV aspect ratio, as it made the series look more like a documentary. Creator and showrunner David Simon has also been against the series being remastered, feeling that making it look too glossy would run against the ethos of the show. However, HBO would likely be the ones making the final decision and would feel that HD versions of the two most critically-acclaimed shows in its library (Deadwood and Rome already have Blu-Ray releases, whilst newer shows like Game of Thrones are released on Blu-Ray as a matter of course) would be huge sellers. HBO have also released widescreen standard-definition versions of the first two seasons through Amazon's instant streaming service, which have been well-received.

We'll probably find out what's up with The Wire soon, whilst the release of The Sopranos is definitely happening.

Update: According to American TV critic Alan Sepinwall, The Wire has indeed been remastered in HD and HBO are planning a marathon broadcast. However, it has been delayed to an as-yet undetermined date. So it's happening, but not just yet.

Happy 10th Birthday to THE WIRE

Ten years ago today, The Wire began airing on HBO. The series never got high ratings but won immense critical acclaim, and thanks to support from HBO's top brass it lasted for five seasons and sixty episodes, despite a high budget (by the end of the third season, the series budget had reached $50 million a season). Since the show ended in 2008 its popularity has only increased, with more than 1 million DVD box sets sold in the UK alone.

A (very) small number of The Wire's major characters.

The reasons for The Wire's success are fairly straightforward: excellent writing based on real police procedures and investigative techniques; strong and memorable characters; and a thorough exploration of the systems and institutions of the modern American city, both legal and criminal. It also had a biting, black sense of humour. The show also never pulled its punches. If a storyline required the death of a long-running major character, they would die. There was no filler and even minor, almost glossed-over details could turn into major revelatory plot moments several episodes later. The show also changed its focus every season to retain a degree of invention and freshness each year, whilst retaining a core cast of characters. Ultimately the show's message was that life goes on and the systems meant to help people rarely do so, sometimes making things worse, and that even the most well-meaning reformer will inevitably get trapped by the system and their ambitions quashed. Despite this cynical message, the show also showed that people will go on and live their lives the best they can, despite and often in spite of their circumstances.

All in the (fantasy roleplaying) game. Via Literatigamereviews and created by Mighty Godking.

As part of the 10th anniversary celebrations, Maxim has an excellent article here featuring contributions from several of the writers and actors who worked on the show. Well worth a look.

The Wire: Truth Be Told by Rafael Alvarez

Ah, the humble episode guide. Once a solid mainstay of bookshop TV sections all over the world, now hunted to the brink of extinction by the internet. Publishers have had to rethink how their handle TV tie-in books now. A recap of each episode and a cast list doesn't cut it any more, and these books now require more interesting and original content if they are to be successful.


Truth Be Told attempts to be a guide to The Wire that falls into the latter bracket and is somewhat successful. The book rises above the episode guide norm by being written by an actual writer from the TV series (he wrote three episodes for the show) and featuring interviews with the production staff behind the show, as well as some of the actors. There are essays about elements of the show ranging from its realism, its reception by Maryland politicians and a feminist analysis of the series. The Wire's creator and showrunner, David Simon, provides an introduction and there is a long interview between him and author Nick Hornby about the inspiration behind the series.

The standard episode guide format can still be found in this book, with brief (and, it has to be said, rather un-detailed, missing elements such as the blink-and-you-miss-it outing of Rawls in Season 3) recaps of each episode and cast and crew listings. Frustratingly, there isn't a 'behind-the-scenes' section for each individual episode, meaning that as a guide to a TV series it falls way behind the quality of Terry J. Erdmann's Deep Space Nine Companion (still the gold standard for TV companion books).

Much more interesting are the overviews for each seasons, when Simon and other writers and producers give their thoughts on what they were trying to achieve each year, the side-essays and a number of character profiles. These range from the predictable to the insightful, and the feminism essay needs a special mention for the way the writer tries to square the show's limited use of female characters (which could be regarded as problematic) against the real sexism inherent in the institutions the show is depicting (i.e. can you depict real institutions which notably underrepresent women without becoming part of the same problem?).

Ultimately, Truth Be Told (***½) is more than the standard TV episode guide fluff, but ultimately it feels like it has the right idea but doesn't go far enough. Profiles for all of the major characters rather than a handful would have been a start, perhaps with more attention to detail and more in-depth coverage of each individual episode. As it stands, it's a solid companion piece to the TV series, but not an essential one. The book is available now in the UK and USA.

Big name for Littlefinger

Well, relatively. Aidan Gillen, well-known to viewers of The Wire and Queer as Folk, has been cast in the crucial role of Littlefinger on Game of Thrones.


Aidan Gillen, born in 1968, rocketed to attention as the controversial character of Stuart Alan Jones in the Russell T. Davies series Queer as Folk in 1999-2000. In 2004 he was cast as Councillor Tommy Carcetti in the third season of HBO's The Wire, the most critically-lauded television drama of the last decade. Gillen remained on the show until its final episode, taking Carcetti from a naive, young councilman to the somewhat jaded mayor of Baltimore, sacrificing his ideals on the altar of political opportunism.


Lord Petyr Baelish may be the least powerful noble lord in all of Westeros, with his holdings and property consisting of a tiny tower on the smallest of the Fingers (the various peninsulas making up the coast of the Vale of Arryn). Hence his nickname, 'Littlefinger'. However, he is a financial genius, able to rub two coins together to make fifty, and has risen through the ranks to become King Robert's Master of Coin, a key advisor to the King and a central position at court as he controls the royal coffers. Littlefinger is also a childhood friend of Lady Catelyn Stark, and a potential ally of the Starks at court in King's Landing. However, Littlefinger's true motives and goals remain debatable.

Excellent news, and near-perfect casting.

HBO will air GAME OF THRONES alongside TREME next year

HBO has renewed the New Orleans-set drama series Treme for a second season merely hours after the first episode aired in the United States to large ratings. Treme, from the same team which made the epoch-defining sociological drama The Wire, is set in New Orleans three months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the city in 2005 and follows several inhabitants of the city as it attempts to rebuild.


At the same time, HBO head of programming Michael Lombardo has said they plan to bring the show back next spring at the same time Game of Thrones will debut. Whether the two shows will be 'paired' in the traditional television manner (an established, hit show is used as a lead-in for a new drama or vice versa) or simply air in the same week remains to be seen, but it does reinforce the previously-given dates of between March and May 2011 for transmission of the first episode.

Lombardo gave praise to the additional scripts coming in for Thrones, and confirmed that reshoots would be needed for the pilot (presumably referring to the recasting of Catelyn Stark, with Jennifer Ehle being replaced by Michelle Fairley). Interestingly, he suggested such reshoots would be 'nothing major' despite widespread reports that HBO are looking for a new actress to fill the role of Daenerys Targaryen, suggesting that Tamzin Merchant (who played the role in the pilot) is moving on from the project. The potential recasting of Daenerys would certainly be 'major', necessitating the reshooting of the entire Morocco section of the pilot. However, it is possible that Lombardo's comments are merely meant to reflect HBO's faith and backing in the show and their commitment to the project regardless of some of the reshoots that may be required.

The Arc of Truth: Part 4

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

At the start of the 21st Century, the story arc had begun to dominate dramatic television after some hesitancy on the part of the networks throughout the preceding two decades. The arrival of DVD in 1998 saw a marked change in attitudes to television, with people now buying up entire seasons of a TV show at a time, and this format made appreciating long-running storylines more practical. Not just genre television but big, mainstream shows like Friends were now employing long-running storylines which millions of people were able to follow weekly with no problems.


Despite this, there was a curious failure to follow in the footsteps of Babylon 5 and create a show with a pre-planned story arc with a beginning, middle and end. Most shows continued to make it up as they went along, sometimes effectively but more often leading to confusion and pacing problems. A show which fits into this bracket, and one of the most successful arc shows of this decade, is 24. Beginning in late 2001, 24 is presented in real-time, with each season taking place over the course of one day as counter-terrorist agent Jack Bauer fights off various terrorist threats to the United States. Over the show's seven seasons to date, Bauer has fought Middle Eastern terrorists and domestic enemies and saved LA from nuclear attack, being devastated by a bio-weapon and various other threats.

Given the limitations of the format, it would be logical to assume each season was pre-planned in some depth. However, each season is in fact written on the fly (with the notable exception of the seventh, which was delayed by a year due to the 2007 US Writer's Guild strike, giving the writers time to complete all the scripts and revise them before production resumed). This is especially notable in Season 1 during a rather odd storyline in which Jack's wife becomes amnesiac, a 'filler' storyline introduced to pad out the narrative for several additional episodes. This approach is problematic, leading to some dubious writing decisions, but on the other hand it does help give the show its trademark air of barely-controlled chaos. 24 became a huge hit show and a massive seller on DVD, showing the widening appeal of the story arc format.

The dominant television production company of the 2000s was almost certainly HBO. The Home Box Office cable channel had started life as a premium movie and sports channel but soon deviated into producing original, high-quality television programming. Free from the restrictions of regular network television (including no ad breaks), HBO could feature nudity and swearing and its shows were not limited by the traditional network production schedule, meaning that several years could elapse between seasons if deemed necessary. Critical acclaim was also deemed almost as desirable as high ratings. In short, HBO and several similar networks (such as Showtime, AMC and Starz) became famous as the homes of cutting-edge and original drama that the regular networks couldn't show.


The jewel in HBO's crown was The Sopranos, which began airing in 1999 and ran for eight years. The story of a mobster family in New Jersey, The Sopranos won great acclaim, significant ratings and huge DVD sales. The series had a number of story arcs which ran across its length, but the show stunned audiences with its final episode in 2007 which had several storylines still in-progress when it suddenly and abruptly cut to black fifteen seconds before the scheduled end of the episode. The show's creator, David Chase, had decided that some kind of neat conclusion would be unrealistic and simply chose to pull the camera and the audience out of his characters' lives almost at a random moment rather than with some kind of meaningful ending. Critics were divided, a lot of fans were pissed off and other writers loved the artistic daring of the maneuver. This kind of ending would probably have been challenged rather more thoroughly on a network show, but thanks to HBO's preference to give their showrunners greater artistic freedom they let Chase deliver his vision without hindrance.

Throughout the 2000s several other HBO shows garnered critical and commercial success, such as the WW2 drama Band of Brothers, the New York comedy series Sex and the City, the partially-improvised Curb Your Enthusiasm (from Seinfeld's Larry David, again complete with season-long story arcs) and the unusually death-fixated Six Feet Under. A 2003 show named Carnivale was notable for its pre-planned storyline, meant to sustain the series over six seasons. Creator Daniel Knauf saw the series as a trilogy consisting of three 'books', each lasting two seasons. With the show's expense not being reflected in its ratings or critical acclaim, HBO failed to negotiate a budget cut with Knauf and Knauf chose to end the show with the second season, completing the first 'book' of the story with some closure but also many storylines still in progress. Two further HBO series, Deadwood and Rome, also had ambitious storylines (planned to some extent) but were both cancelled due to creative and budget problems, leading to HBO garnering a bit of a reputation as a station that kills shows prematurely.


Luckily, this reputation was eroded by the successful conclusion of HBO's other great masterpiece, The Wire. Airing for five seasons between 2002 and 2008, The Wire was the creation of David Simon, whose Homicide: Life on the Street series had been a success despite significant network interference and constant pressure to dilute the reality of life on the streets of Baltimore for a mass audience. Simon took advantage of HBO's greater artistic freedom to create a much bleaker, less compromising but also altogether more human series with complex characters, extremely detailed storylines and an unusual sociological commentary. The result was one of the greatest achievements in the history of television drama, meticulously constructed with each season mapped out in advance (and ideas and plans for later seasons being generated right from the start). The show won immense plaudits and, despite modest viewing figures for HBO, became a big-seller on DVD. The Wire seemed to reinforce the argument made by Babylon 5 that if you have an arc series you need to plan the story out in advance to get the best results.


Further reinforcement for this concept came from a source almost completely diametrically opposed to HBO's The Wire. Avatar: The Last Airbender was an animated show airing on Nickelodeon, running for 61 episodes from 2005 to 2008. But it also had a complex, pre-planned story arc, this time running for three seasons and depicting the attempts of the evil Fire Lord to conquer the world and the emergence of an 'Avatar' who can use all four forms of elemental magic to oppose him. Avatar won critical acclaim (even from adult viewers) for its occasional dark moments, its sense of humour and its logical and well-thought-out storyline that was delivered in a relatively timely manner and concluded with a generally satisfying finale.


In 2003 the American Sci-Fi Network (now SyFy) resurrected Battlestar Galactica, the 1978 show which was an early example of an arc-driven SF series. The new series, a total reboot of the concept, ran for four seasons and 75 episodes airing between 2003 and 2009. Roughly the first half of the run of the show was greeted with universal acclaim and kudos for its grittiness, its multi-faceted political commentary and its excellent acting and effects. However, the second half, starting a few episodes into its third season, was plagued by long inter-season delays, writing and pacing problems and some very odd story-turns. A loyal audience hung in there, hoping to see the show come to as barnstorming and satisfying a conclusion as its beginning. Instead, the final episode was lacking in logical coherence and several long-running mysteries, for which definitive answers had been promised by the showrunners, were simply not resolved at all. The finale shattered the previously strong fanbase into warring factions, between those dissatisfied with the outcome and those who believed the show was being ambiguous as a deliberate artistic statement, but the latter POV lost credibility when producer Ronald D. Moore confirmed that they made the show up as they went along and included ideas because they were cool or crazy rather than because they necessarily made sense. Whilst BSG's early seasons remain jaw-dropping examples of television space opera at its very best, its ending seriously tars the quality of the whole series.

The last major arc show of the 2000s, and one whose ending will determine how it will be seen in the grand history of television drama and arc shows alike, is Lost. Beginning in 2004, Lost's final episode will air in May 2010. JJ Abrams conceived the show with a strong opening premise: an airliner crashes on a remote Pacific island and forty-eight of the passengers and crew survive. As the show progresses, it becomes clear that the island is not just an island and other people dwell on the island with their own agendas.


Abrams was (and remains) a very respected 'ideas' man, but his history in delivering satisfying long-form storytelling was patchy. His previous show, Alias, had a very confused central story and petered out rather than coming to a satisfying conclusion, in a manner not dissimilar to the earlier X-Files. Fans feared that Lost would suffer the same fate, and after penning the pilot it indeed appears that Abrams did not have strong ideas for the overall shape of the series, although his co-writer and producer Damon Lindelof did have a few ideas for what was really going on. Abrams departed shortly after the pilot and Lindelof and his new writing team sat down and thrashed out a background concept and story for the series, but were hamstrung by not knowing how long the show was going to run for. This meant that major storyline developments came slowly and many filler storylines had to be introduced to keep the series ticking over. Dissatisfied with this as they moved into the third season, they convinced ABC to allow them to set an end-date for the show. With this achieved, the second half of Season 3 saw a marked improvement in quality and the dispensing of the filler material. Seasons 4 and 5 won additional critical plaudits as the storylines slowly begun to be tied together for their conclusion in the forthcoming sixth and final season (which begins airing at the start of February). How successful the finale is remains to be seen.

This brings the story of the story arc-driven TV series up to date. Today it's a normal component of television drama. From Desperate Housewives to Doctor Who, the use of ongoing storylines and recurring plot elements is now standard, but the pre-planning of such story arcs remains strangely the exception rather than the rule. Battlestar Galactica's creative failure at the last hurdle was unusually problematic, but the mildly tedious filler elements that 24 is occasionally forced to throw up and Lost resorted to in its late second and early third seasons show that mishandling or not planning your storyline in advance can be a bad idea. Lost's later, greater coherence and tighter storytelling is an excellent example of how giving a TV show direction and purposes can improve its quality, whilst Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Wire both show that pre-planning can be the key to ensuring your show ends strongly. It now remains to be seen if Lost matches the quality of their finales, and if future TV shows will learn from their success.