How ‘The Wire’ Realistically Addressed the Systematic Breakdown of Institutions All Throughout Baltimore

In the first part of an informative series focused upon the iconic HBO series The Wire, vlogger Thomas Flight examines how the show addressed the systematic breakdown of institutions throughout the city of Baltimore. In order to establish this premise, show creators David Simon and Ed Burns and their stellar team of writers created parallel scenes between members of law enforcement juxtaposed them against scenes amongst gang leaders in order to show how the two institutions operated quite similarly and blurred the lines. They also employed local characters, actors, musicians to give the show a truly realistic feel and sought the advice of subject matter experts simply because the show needed to get it right.

‘The Wire is not a cop show. There isn’t a simple good guy-bad guy dichotomy. We’re introduced to bad police doing the right things for the wrong reasons and gang members who seem to have just as much heart as many of those on the side of the law. evil is not easily rooted out. We can barely tell who isn’t tainted by malevolence. The audience cannot root for order to be restored, because order itself is corrupt.