“No one wins. One side just loses more slowly,” according to Roland “Prez” Pryzbylewski (Jim True-Frost) of the HBO series “The Wire.”
“The Wire” depicted life and didn’t hold back. It was often depressing, but accurate. There were good guys and bad apples mixed in with everyone. Gangsters had consciences, while cops and politicians struggled to make the right decisions.
However, “The Wire” ended its five-season run this past Sunday. While the final episode gave viewers a chance to see the various characters’ new paths in life, both the final episode and season failed to live up to the standards set by the first four seasons.
Click to watch the teaser of the finale .
Highlighting the operations of The Baltimore Sun marred the fifth season. It provided some interesting moments, but it progressed slowly. The newspaper characters were either all good or all bad. Multidimensional characters have usually marked “The Wire,” but the fifth season added no one significant.
The finale had some powerful moments, but mainly with characters who had already been established in the previous season. One of the more poignant moments was last season when Duquan (Jermaine Crawford), a boy living in a broken home, borrowed money from his teacher in order to shoot up heroin on the streets. Bubbles (Andre Royo) staying clean and finally opening up to other people was also a cheerful scene in the midst of the ending.
Sympathetic people don’t always live in real life, and the same was true in “The Wire.” The web of lies and corruption that extends from the police department, to politicians, to the newspaper and the courts involves so many people that the truth is never revealed.
Every player makes a deal, and life goes on. New players step up to deal with the connection, drugs are still on the streets and the cops and politicians are still struggling with doing the right thing while looking good for the public in the process.
The ending of “The Wire” held the same significance as the previous seasons. It sent a message that the cycle of drug use, violence and despair plaguing inner cities isn’t ending. The people change but life doesn’t. It’s all in the game.
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