The Wire - Hard Cases: American Dreamin'

The Wire: Hard Cases

Season Two, Episode 4

Directed By: Elodie Keene

Written By: Joy Lusco, from a story by David Simon and Lusco

            The Wire is a show primarily about those we barely notice, and “Hard Cases” is one of the best displays of that theme. There are people all around us that we barely notice as we go about our lives, and it is ever so easy to forget that these people have lives as well. It really shows that this is the first episode in which someone else besides David Simon and Ed Burns have gotten a story credit, that being Joy Lusco (who also wrote last season’s “The Hunt”). Ms. Lusco began her career doing a documentary with her husband Scott Kecken on produce vendors in Baltimore. This is a woman who isn’t just interested in the illegal activities, but the day to day activities. 

            The best story in tonight’s episode is thus the story of Nick, the nephew of Frank, who has sort of come off as a reasonable middle man character so far. Tonight, we get much more of his life. He lives with his parents, who don’t approve of his girlfriend, and maybe don’t even know he has a young daughter. He wants to provide the best for them, and early in the episode gets chastised by Frank for helping Ziggy sell the camera (Ziggy meanwhile continues to be a grating element of the season since he is simply so unlikeable). We get to see the life that Nick grew up, his now alcoholic father and just-barely-with-it mother, and thus decides to reach into some “pocket money.” Nick believes in the American dream, and like we learned in the first moment of The Wire, “This is America, man. You gotta let him play.”

The Wire - Sentencing: Land of the Free

The Wire: Sentencing

Season One, Episode Thirteen (Season Finale)

Directed By: Tim Van Patten

Written By: David Simon and Ed Burns

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to see the total coverage. Assume spoilers for the episode.

            At the end of season one of David Simon’s extraordinary drama The Wire, I’m reminded of our opening scene: a story about a man who kept getting dealt into a craps game, even though everyone knew he would steal the money. “This is America, man,” the witness told McNulty. Everyone has to have a stake, and at the end of the day, the same wheels keep on turning.

            “Sentencing” may not actually be as dark and depressing as I suspected after watching “Cleaning Up,” but in finding the balance between resolution and dissolution, Mr. Simon, along with his co-writer Ed Burns, have found something more profound: life goes on, and the institutions of America are built on that premise. Would be better to do nothing? To keep the status quo? McNulty asks himself that question as he watches a portion of the Barksdale crew walk behind bars for minimal sentences. We’re not sure, and neither is he.

The Wire - The Cost: Showtime

The Wire: The Cost

Season One, Episode Ten

Directed By: Brad Anderson

Written By: David Simon, from a story by Simon and Ed Burns

Read out “The Wire” Project here. Read about the previous episode here, or click here to see the total coverage. Assume spoilers for the episode.

            When shows like The Sopranos and later The Wire came along, it’s easy to forget they really attempted to do something that was seen as insane in the television world: tell stories. Now I don’t want to say that shows from beforehand didn’t attempt to do that—Buffy the Vampire Slayer had an intricate cast of characters and a complex plot, and of course Twin Peaks really changed everything and then some—but it was HBO that really pioneered the idea that television could tell stories like cinema, and not waste a minute. There’s no place for “drug dealer of the week” on The Wire, and I’d be surprised if we ever get a bottle episode.

            And in “The Cost,” we really get the ball rolling on the numerous plot developments this season. I’m not sure whether David Simon knew he was going onto four more seasons, or for that matter one, so much of this episode is set up for the final three hours. But what an intense hour it is! “The Cost” opens in perfect bliss, and ends in total ugliness and shock. Much of the tone of this thrill ride comes from director Brad Anderson, a no name in 2002 who has gone on to make some great thrillers like The Machinist and Transsiberian.