[0:00] This video is going to contain major
[0:02] spoilers from the off, so I'm warning
[0:04] you now. Plus, it's been 23 years, so
[0:06] what do you expect? The Wire is one of
[0:09] those TV series that has always been on
[0:11] my radar, but I never truly got around
[0:13] to watching it. When it first aired on
[0:15] TV back in 2002, I was about 6 years
[0:18] old, so there wasn't a chance that I'd
[0:20] be sitting there at 9:00 at night
[0:22] watching Wallace getting his head blown
[0:24] off by two people that he thought he
[0:26] could trust. What I did say there'd be
[0:28] spoilers from the off. However, now at
[0:30] the ripe old age of I'll let you work it
[0:33] out, I thought it was about time that I
[0:35] finally gave a show that's held in such
[0:37] regard and is considered one of the
[0:39] strongest TV series ever made a chance.
[0:42] And boy, am I glad I did. Focusing on
[0:45] the drug trade in Baltimore, we saw the
[0:47] true effect that drugs were having on a
[0:49] community. Barkstdale's organization,
[0:52] politics, the police force, rival gangs,
[0:54] and those that were keeping the trade
[0:56] alive. And with corruption, murder,
[0:59] betrayal, loyalty, the true cost of it
[1:01] all, and the feeling like there was
[1:03] hardly any victory when the season
[1:05] reached its end, it mirrored the reality
[1:07] of the entire situation in real life.
[1:10] So, without further ado, let's explore
[1:12] the first season of The Wire together.
[1:15] I'll be doing this for all of the
[1:16] season, so subscribe and stick around.
[1:19] The core theme of the season, what it
[1:22] felt like the overarching theme of the
[1:23] first season was was that it was all
[1:25] about the cost that the drug trade was
[1:27] having on everybody across Baltimore,
[1:30] which was perfectly summed up by the
[1:31] episode 10, which was titled The Cost.
[1:35] This episode truly allowed us to see the
[1:37] impact from everything that we were
[1:39] watching unfold, whether it be from
[1:41] Barkstdale, Stringer, and their crew,
[1:43] McNalty Ka Wallace Orlando D and
[1:46] Omar. This episode truly leaned into
[1:49] everybody's price that they were paying
[1:51] for being involved on whichever side of
[1:53] the law that it was. And that was a
[1:55] theme that was slowly simmering away and
[1:57] building up throughout all of the nine
[1:59] episodes that came before it. For
[2:00] example, with that specific episode
[2:03] starting with Bubbles looking at the
[2:04] kids playing and having fun in the
[2:06] sunshine and it contrasting with the
[2:08] unhygienic dirty look that he had, it
[2:10] reminded him of how he wasn't able to
[2:12] see his own children due to the
[2:14] addiction that he had. And even though
[2:16] he was trying to get clean, he knew that
[2:18] he still wasn't at that point where he
[2:20] was out of the hole. But that's why he
[2:22] looked for help in chemo. So his cost
[2:24] was what he was doing to himself and the
[2:26] fact that he was isolated and without
[2:28] his family. With Wallace, there was the
[2:30] guilt that he was holding on to inside
[2:31] of him for calling in the location of
[2:33] Omar's boy, Brandon, to string her and
[2:36] ultimately seeing what happened to him
[2:37] and feeling like he wasn't cut out for
[2:39] that life. With KMA, we saw that she
[2:42] ended up taking two shots and was left
[2:44] in a critical condition whilst
[2:45] undercover. For McNalty, he bore the
[2:48] weight of responsibility for Ka getting
[2:50] shot and was also on the cusp of losing
[2:52] the right to see his children because he
[2:54] involved them in the case.
[2:56] With Omar, he ended up leaving town
[2:58] because he knew that he wasn't truly
[3:00] safe from Avon, even though a parlay was
[3:02] agreed. And with Alando, it ended up
[3:04] being death because he snitched. So
[3:07] through that episode, the individual
[3:09] cost of the crimes that were taking
[3:10] place was truly felt. And that was
[3:12] genuinely the entire point of the first
[3:14] season. It was about how the selling of
[3:17] narcotics snowballs into this wider
[3:19] issue and organized crime, which ends up
[3:21] fueling murder, testing people's
[3:23] loyalty, losing their lives, and making
[3:25] them do things that they wouldn't
[3:27] necessarily ordinarily do. Essentially
[3:29] putting them in a prison whilst on the
[3:31] outside because if they stepped away
[3:33] from it or went against it, they'd end
[3:35] up dead. I'd say the most impactful
[3:37] moment was definitely when Bod and Poot
[3:40] killed Wallace when Stringer felt like
[3:42] he was snitching. Throughout the
[3:43] entirety of this first season of the
[3:45] show, Bod, Poot, and Wallace were like
[3:47] the three amigos. They had each other's
[3:49] backs and were spending all their time
[3:51] with each other in the pit. But the
[3:53] moment that Stringer wanted to see if
[3:55] Bod was able to step up, Bod didn't
[3:57] think twice about it, knowing that if he
[3:59] didn't do anything about it, then he'd
[4:01] be thrown into question himself, showing
[4:03] the kill or be killed world. But with
[4:05] Poot, the person that didn't want to do
[4:07] it in the first place, he actually ended
[4:10] up being the person that finished
[4:11] Wallace off because Bod couldn't. This
[4:14] showed that even the people that you
[4:15] least expect to participate and be
[4:17] involved still chose to be because they
[4:19] knew what needed to be done even though
[4:21] it hurt them. Another core theme that I
[4:24] feel was explored outside of the cost of
[4:26] what being involved in the world of
[4:28] narcotics and murder in any capacity was
[4:30] the way that no matter what side of the
[4:32] law you're on, the body that you're
[4:34] under, the organization that you're a
[4:35] part of has a way of instilling beliefs
[4:37] within you that ultimately makes you
[4:39] question your moral values and it tries
[4:41] to make you go against them. We saw this
[4:44] obviously with Avon Barkstdale's crew.
[4:46] For example, D'Angelo Barkstdale wasn't
[4:48] cut out for that world, and he was only
[4:50] within it due to the association with
[4:52] Avon, as he was family. He was fine
[4:54] being involved in the distribution of
[4:56] narcotics, but when it came to
[4:58] everything else, such as the murders,
[5:00] you could tell he didn't fit in.
[5:02] However, he never truly spoke up. He
[5:05] just stood there silent, absent, and
[5:07] participated. Take some of the murders,
[5:09] the two innocent witnesses, Wallace, and
[5:12] even Kesha. He was hurt by every single
[5:14] one of them because he didn't want to be
[5:16] around that or have blood on his hands.
[5:19] That's why he empathized with Wallace
[5:20] following what happened to Brandon.
[5:22] However, because he ultimately
[5:24] suppressed how he truly felt and wasn't
[5:26] able to walk away due to the rules that
[5:28] Barkstdale's organization had. Even when
[5:30] he was behind bars and was offered the
[5:32] opportunity of being able to go free and
[5:34] start a new life somewhere else, he paid
[5:36] the highest price and instead was
[5:39] sentenced to 20 years behind bars. So he
[5:42] couldn't express how he truly felt and
[5:44] was stuck there even though he didn't
[5:45] agree with any of it, showing that he
[5:48] was forever trapped. The same could also
[5:50] be said with the police department and
[5:52] the government body. For example,
[5:53] Lieutenant Daniels, Detective McNelte,
[5:55] and their team were constantly facing
[5:57] uphill battles in order to work on the
[5:59] investigation in the way that they
[6:01] wanted to. constantly coming up against
[6:03] red tape, blockages from the higher-ups,
[6:05] and even seeing that within the FBI,
[6:07] they didn't put the same value on the
[6:09] criminals as to what they did. The
[6:11] federal officers were willing to allow
[6:13] Avon Barkstdale to get a lesser sentence
[6:15] despite being the head of this large
[6:17] narcotics empire and responsible for
[6:19] multiple murders if it meant that he
[6:21] could be used as a porn in order to take
[6:23] down the politicians, senators, and
[6:25] government officials that were involved
[6:27] in crime. So, it showed that it wasn't a
[6:29] level playing field across all parties.
[6:31] So on both sides of the law, nobody was
[6:34] ever truly able to be themselves unless
[6:36] they were sitting at the head of the
[6:37] realm. They were almost all up against
[6:39] each other. So it showed that how with
[6:41] the likes of an institution, whether it
[6:43] be above board or on the streets, it was
[6:45] always watching, it was difficult to
[6:47] navigate and it always knew what you
[6:49] were doing, ultimately making you be
[6:51] considered a soldier no matter who you
[6:53] were.
[6:54] The importance of Wallace. For me,
[6:57] Wallace was arguably one of the most
[6:59] important characters in this first
[7:01] season. It's not like we were Wallace,
[7:03] but he was the most innocent character
[7:05] in all of this. He was 16. He was on the
[7:08] streets working, and he hadn't truly
[7:10] been exposed to the consequences of his
[7:11] own actions just yet. So when he phoned
[7:14] in about the location of Brandon and he
[7:16] saw the dead body that had been tortured
[7:18] throughout the night and was thrown out
[7:19] of a window onto a car, he felt that
[7:21] weight of responsibility on his
[7:23] shoulders to the point where we once saw
[7:25] a young man that had life within him
[7:27] slowly looking at the other side of the
[7:29] dollar bill. And he himself started
[7:31] using, trying to escape his mind, which
[7:34] was reminding him of what he felt that
[7:36] he'd done. This was almost a gateway
[7:38] into seeing how the likes of Bubbles and
[7:40] other addicts end up buying off of them
[7:42] and using. It showed how one thing in
[7:44] your life goes bad and then you end up
[7:46] in that pit that you're trying to climb
[7:48] out from. For the longest time, all
[7:50] throughout this season, we saw small
[7:52] moments which would lead to Wallace
[7:53] questioning if he wanted to be there.
[7:55] And he witnessed firsthand the effect
[7:57] that being in the pit had on those that
[7:59] were around him. for example, he was the
[8:01] only person that seemed to care for the
[8:03] young kids of the pit, making sure they
[8:05] were fed, getting them ready for school,
[8:07] and sending them on their way. However,
[8:09] when one of them couldn't do a simple
[8:10] maths equation, but was able to work out
[8:13] how to deal because they said that if
[8:14] they got their count, they'd get messed
[8:16] up. That was one of the final things
[8:18] that showed Wallace delight because he
[8:21] saw how these kids were being messed up
[8:22] and introduced to this dangerous world
[8:24] from the moment that they could walk,
[8:26] talk, and speak. With Wallace going to
[8:28] the police, then to his grandmother's,
[8:30] and then ultimately returning back to
[8:31] the pit because he felt like he couldn't
[8:33] function outside of it. It almost showed
[8:36] the hold and the effect that that place
[8:38] had on him. Functioning in normal
[8:39] society around normality wasn't what he
[8:42] knew. Not because he didn't want to, but
[8:44] it's because he simply couldn't. He
[8:47] didn't know how to operate in that
[8:48] world. It's like in Shaw Shank when
[8:50] Brooks got released from jail after
[8:52] decades and he didn't know how to
[8:53] function anymore. That was Wallace in
[8:55] the real world outside of the pit.
[8:57] However, with him returning back home
[8:59] after showing that he tried to flee. The
[9:02] rules that Barkstdale and Co had needed
[9:03] to be followed. And even though he was
[9:05] young, even though he didn't mean to do
[9:07] no wrong, there was still a price that
[9:09] needed to be paid, which is why he was
[9:11] ultimately killed by his two best
[9:13] friends. Wallace is a character that
[9:15] wanted out, but simply didn't know how
[9:17] to find a way. And even though he wanted
[9:19] change and was on the cusp of getting
[9:21] that freedom that he desired, when he
[9:23] had it, he didn't know how to cope with
[9:25] it. So it showed that when these people
[9:27] were being brought into the game at a
[9:28] young age, it meant that they stayed
[9:30] there because if they left, they'd have
[9:32] nothing and they wouldn't know what to
[9:34] do. Wallace died because he wanted
[9:36] better. And that's the harsh reality of
[9:38] it. He wanted exactly what D did.
[9:41] The cyclical nature of it all. One thing
[9:44] that I thought this first season got
[9:46] across really well was the cyclical
[9:48] nature that was clear to see for
[9:49] everybody involved. For example, the
[9:52] ending was relatively anticlimactic in
[9:54] the sense that even though Avon
[9:55] Barkstdale was caught, he only got a few
[9:57] years behind bars. And even though he
[10:00] was going to jail, it didn't stop
[10:01] anything at all on the streets. This is
[10:04] because Stringer Bell was going to be
[10:05] heading up the operations in his
[10:06] absence. The streets were still going to
[10:08] be supplied, murders were still going to
[10:10] be taking place, and corruption was
[10:12] going to carry on being present. We even
[10:14] saw with the likes of Bubbles, he ended
[10:16] this season essentially right back where
[10:18] he started in the very first episode on
[10:21] the gear and going up to a dealer so he
[10:23] could get some, despite spending most of
[10:25] this season being conflicted about where
[10:26] he was in life and actually wanting to
[10:28] kick it, better himself, and have a
[10:30] relationship with his family. But the
[10:32] sad reality of this world was that there
[10:34] was always going to be a steady supply
[10:36] there for Bubbles to be tempted by. He
[10:38] was even ashamed as he told McNalty not
[10:40] to tell Kea, but he just couldn't help
[10:42] himself. That was one of the saddest
[10:44] moments in the season for sure. Then
[10:46] when you look at the detectives, there
[10:48] was still more work that needed to be
[10:50] done in order to even make a dent. When
[10:52] you look at the amount of murders that
[10:54] were solved, that were pinned on people
[10:55] and also the sheer amount of people that
[10:57] they put behind bars. It was just a
[10:59] stones drop in the ocean when it came to
[11:01] the ripples that it was causing and the
[11:03] impact that it actually made. Showing
[11:05] that no matter what they did, there was
[11:07] always going to be more that needed to
[11:08] be done. Even when we saw the two crews
[11:11] fighting towards the end of the season,
[11:13] if Barkstdale were going to be shut
[11:14] down, somebody else would just move in
[11:16] on the pit. So, there was always just
[11:18] going to be this repetitive cycle that
[11:20] would likely never be eradicated. Death
[11:22] or jail is the only way to break the
[11:24] cycle, and it's a harsh reality. a
[11:27] review of the season. All I can say is
[11:30] that I'm a fool for waiting so long to
[11:32] watch The Wire. I don't know why it took
[11:34] me so long to finally put it on and
[11:36] immerse myself within the world. The
[11:38] story is so gripping, and you find
[11:40] yourself enjoying whatever part of the
[11:41] law that you spend your time with. The
[11:43] casting in this show is simply
[11:45] phenomenal, too. From McNalty to Keema
[11:47] to Daniels to Stringer to Barksdale to
[11:50] Omar to Wallace, there's not a single
[11:52] performance in this show that doesn't
[11:54] hold up to the name that they
[11:55] essentially went on to become decades
[11:57] later. I didn't know a young Michael B.
[11:59] Jordan was in the show, and when I saw
[12:01] him, I questioned what it'd be like. But
[12:03] genuinely, he's one of the strongest
[12:05] performers in the show. I'd say my
[12:07] favorite characters in the first season
[12:08] are Omar, McNalty, Stringer, D, Wallace,
[12:12] and Bubbles. I know there's a lot, but
[12:14] it's difficult to whittle it down
[12:15] because the performances were so strong
[12:17] and there was something about most of
[12:19] them that you could just latch on to.
[12:21] One thing that I feel allows this show
[12:23] to thrive is the 13 episode structure
[12:25] that it has. Whilst back then it didn't
[12:27] feel out of the ordinary to get that
[12:29] amount, but in today's world 13 episodes
[12:31] in a season would be seen as a luxury as
[12:34] sometimes we only get six per season
[12:36] now. The same HBO only commissions seven
[12:39] episodes for The Last of Us. So, I feel
[12:41] like that says a lot. I've not actually
[12:42] watched season 2 and beyond of the show,
[12:44] so I'm intrigued to see where it's going
[12:46] to go. As I'm watching it, I'm going to
[12:48] be releasing videos on the channel at
[12:49] the end of every season. So, if you
[12:51] enjoyed this one, please do subscribe so
[12:53] you can watch along with me and share
[12:55] your thoughts in the comments, too. For
[12:57] now, season 1 has been and gone, well,
[13:00] 23 years ago. And I'd say that the
[13:02] season holds up to its reputation in
[13:04] 2025, as it did in 2002. That's how you
[13:07] know it's definitely a gem. Also, if you
[13:10] want to see more classic TV series being
[13:12] broken down, then I've put a playlist
[13:14] below for when I covered Band of
[13:15] Brothers. I've got Chernobyl down there,
[13:17] too. If there are any other older shows
[13:19] that you'd like to see on the channel,
[13:21] then please let me know in the comments
[13:22] below. Thanks for tuning into this video
[13:25] and I'll see you in the next