I have watched 80% of The Wire, the HBO cops vs drug dealers show. I can confirm its reputation: good screenwriting, seeming realism (how would I know). They had year long themes, including a season where the public schools role in drug culture was implicated, a year where real estate developers were featured. The Mayor's office and the Baltimore Sun are shown extensively too. In the end, it hooks people because it is a great soap opera, made greater because it frequently kills off main characters. Also, it answers a question you might have had: "why is selling drugs an appealing vocation?"
I think and talk about the show all the time now (maybe annoying to people around me). The chart below is an attempt to exorcise some of my obsession. It is a 2-D graph (click larger) of the characters. First, are they good people, second, are they conventional company men or are they mavericks?

AWESOME. But how is Snoop at all a conventional character? In the sense that she's a hired killer? I'm also not so high on Mayor Carccetti as you are...
Posted by: Albert | July 13, 2009 at 06:18 PM