The Wire – Season 4 Finale

Season 4 of The Wire follows the stories of many different individuals that live and work in the city of Baltimore. These stories all connect in one way or another and create building blocks for the main concept of the show. In addition, the television show illustrates what life is like for these individuals who are from different parts of Baltimore. Some of these stories include dope dealers pushing drugs on the street corner, a candidate running for mayor of Baltimore, and police officers who work for the Baltimore Police Department.

After watching the season 4 finale, it is clear that The Wire is an informative television program rather than an entertaining show. This is mostly due to the seriousness of the topic and the portrayal of the different stories displayed throughout the duration of the season. The Wire seems to have been well ahead of its time in regards to the way it portrays the lives of individuals. Everything, from living in the streets like Bubbles (Andre Royo) to working as a homicide detective like Jimmy McNulty (Dominic West), gives a vivid illustration as to what life’s really like for people living in Baltimore.

In conclusion, the show’s season 4 finale helps the audience see and understand what life is like through the eyes of someone from Baltimore. Although some might say that the show is too dramatic and dull at times, it is professional in its delivery and gives vivid illustrations rather than over exaggerated acting to deliver its message. The season 4 finale is a perfect example of what makes the show critically acclaimed. Would I watch the show again? Most likely. This is mostly because of the characters, the acting, and the overall illustration of life in the city of Baltimore.

Linda Williams & The Wire

Linda Williams shares about the way The Wire depicts race differently than the media. In today’s era, the media walks a very tight rope when it comes to covering stories that involve individuals from different backgrounds. Many comments have been made towards the media when they state different instances, some in which they only depict one side of a person’s background and fail to depict a proper illustration of a person’s race or community. Aside from these comments, Williams feels that The Wire gives a different depiction of race compared to the media’s idea of race.

The scene that represents this the most is found in the third episode from season one of The Wire. In this scene, one of the individuals explains to two of his friends how to play chess. The scene starts out with D’Angelo (Lawrence Gilliard Jr.) walking up to two of his friends from the neighborhood, Wallace (Michael B. Jordan) and Bodie (J. D. Williams). He sits down with them and begins to speak to Bodie about the situations going on throughout the neighborhood. That is when he also notices Wallace making an unorthodox move on the chessboard. D’Angelo goes on to ask him why he made that move and then proceeds to explain what the purpose of that certain piece was. Wallace later tells D’Angelo that both he and Bodie were simply playing checkers, unaware of how to play chess. D’Angelo explains to Wallace and Bodie the nature of each piece and what they do in the game. In addition to explaining the pieces, he also uses them as metaphors to explain the different statuses of everyone from the king to the pawn.

This scene is the best representation of race because of the relevance it has to what Linda Williams writes. Williams is suggesting that The Wire depicts race differently than how the media portrays certain races. The scene shows a side of an ethnic background that is different from what the media shows at times. It shows an intellectual side to individuals living in tough, urban areas. Every now and again, the media portrays people living in those areas as uneducated and not intelligent enough to know a sophisticated game, such as chess. In addition, the media may link these communities to certain races or ethnicities. In conclusion, the reason this scene is important is because it illustrates exactly what Williams is stressing. The Wire shows a particular race being depicted differently from what the media portrays and gives an illustration to Linda Williams’s argument.