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The Wire season 5

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The Wire
Season 5
DVD cover
Starring
No. of episodes10
Release
Original networkHBO
Original releaseJanuary 6 (2008-01-06) –
March 9, 2008 (2008-03-09)
Season chronology
← Previous
Season 4
List of episodes

The fifth and final season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on January 6, 2008, and concluded on March 9, 2008; it was the show's shortest season with 10 episodes. The series introduced a fictionalized version of the Baltimore Sun newsroom, while continuing to follow the Baltimore police department and city hall, and the Stanfield crime syndicate.

The fifth season aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET in the United States. The season was released on DVD as a four disc boxed set under the title of The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season on August 12, 2008 by HBO Video.[1]

Production

HBO announced on September 12, 2006, that a fifth and final season consisting of 13 episodes—but later reduced to ten—had been commissioned.[2][3][4] Production for Season 5 officially began on April 30, 2007. Filming wrapped early in the morning of September 1, 2007 and the first episode aired on January 6, 2008.[5]

In an interview with Slate on December 1, 2006, David Simon said that Season 5 would be about the media and media consumption.[3] A major focus would be journalism, which would be dramatized through a newspaper modeled after The Baltimore Sun.[6] The theme, according to Simon, would deal with "what stories get told and what don't and why it is that things stay the same."[3]

Issues such as the quest for profit, the decrease in the number of reporters, and the end of aspiration for news quality would all be addressed, alongside the theme of homelessness. In the same interview, Simon indicated that no other theme seemed substantial enough to warrant a sixth season, except possibly the large influx of Latinos into Baltimore. He noted, however, that since no writer on the show spoke Spanish or had any intimate knowledge of the city's Latino population, the field work would be too cumbersome.[3]

At the Night at the Wire event on June 9, 2007, Simon stated that Detective Sydnor is the only character who remains morally clean by the end of the show, but not perfectly since "after all, this is The Wire." He also hinted that Mayor Carcetti might make a run for governor.

The series continued the show's examination of the devaluing of human life and institutional dysfunction.[7] The increased scope of the season to include the media allowed this theme to be explored through an examination of "the people who are supposed to be monitoring all this and sounding the alarm — the journalists."[7] In particular Simon has spoken about the devaluing of the reporter in terms of downsizing a newspaper staff and the management expecting to do "more with less" when he asserts that in reality, you can only do "less with less."[7]

The series realism has been reported as being maintained particularly through the accurate dialogue and use of contemporary slang.[7] Series creator David Simon further expanded on the thematic content of season five in an interview with Fancast/Inside TV.[8] Critic David Zurawik saw the unifying theme of the season as "public and private lies," particularly those perpetuated by the media and told by Jimmy McNulty in protest against cutbacks in the police department.[9] TV Guide writer Matt Roush also saw the central theme as lies and characterized it as "deeply and darkly ironic."[10]

Promotion

A preview for Season 5 of The Wire aired on HBO on October 28, 2007 and was later made available on YouTube.[11] HBO sent critics the first seven episodes on DVD in December 2007.[9][12][13]

HBO's On Demand and multiplatform marketing division approached creator David Simon about producing exclusive on-demand content and three short prequel clips were produced that take place prior to the linear storyline of the show.[14][15] The clips were made available via Amazon.com from December 5 and through HBO's on-demand service from December 15.[14][15]

The first video takes place in 1962 and focuses on the school days of drug kingpin Proposition Joe; the second is set in 1985 and focuses on Omar Little making an early robbery; the third video is set in 2000 and shows the first meeting of Jimmy McNulty (played by Dominic West) and Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce).[16] The clips aired after Season 5 episodes as they premiered starting January 6, 2008.[17]

Locations

At that Night at the Wire event, fans were allowed to tour the Baltimore Sun newsroom constructed for the show. The real newspaper allowed the show to use their name but stipulated that no current employees could appear in the series.[7] The newsroom was an entirely built set constructed at the show's out-of-town soundstage.[7]

The actual Washington Post newsroom was also featured, as one reporter visits for an interview.[18] The Wire is the first production to be allowed to film at the location; even the film All the President's Men about the paper's role in breaking the Watergate scandal had to build a set to represent the paper.[18]

Cast

New starring cast member Clark Johnson as editor Augustus "Gus" Haynes.

It was rumored in August 2007 that Homicide: Life on the Street stars Richard Belzer[19] and Clark Johnson[20] would guest star in the fifth season. Johnson was later confirmed as joining the starring cast to play Gus Haynes,[21] "a city editor who tries to hold the line against dwindling coverage, buyouts, and pseudo-news."[7]The New Yorker described an early scene from the season where Haynes rants about a reporter inserting a charred doll into scenes of fires to eke more sympathy from his readers.[7] Johnson also directed the final episode of the show.[5] In the episode "Took," Belzer made a cameo appearance as John Munch, the police detective he has portrayed since 1993 on Homicide (1993–1999) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2013).

The majority of the starring cast from the fourth season returned. On the police front, Dominic West returned as Jimmy McNulty[21] with a larger storyline than the fourth season;[22] John Doman as Deputy Commissioner William Rawls;[21][23] Seth Gilliam as Western district Sergeant Ellis Carver;[21][23] Corey Parker Robinson as Major Case Unit detective Leander Sydnor;[21][23] Deirdre Lovejoy as prosecutor Rhonda Pearlman;[21][23] Clarke Peters as veteran Detective Lester Freamon;[21][23] Wendell Pierce as veteran homicide Detective Bunk Moreland;[21][23] Lance Reddick as Colonel Cedric Daniels;[21][23] and Sonja Sohn as Detective Kima Greggs.[21][23]

In the political storyline, Aidan Gillen returned as ambitious Mayor Tommy Carcetti;[21][23] as well as Reg E. Cathey as political aide Norman Wilson;[21][23] and Domenick Lombardozzi as troubled defense investigator Thomas "Herc" Hauk.[21]

In the street, Jamie Hector returned as West-side drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield.[21][23] Also returning for the street storyline were Andre Royo as heroin addict Bubbles;[21][23] and Michael K. Williams as underworld legend Omar Little.[21][23]

Former recurring characters who joined the main cast were Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee,[21] Gbenga Akinnagbe as Chris Partlow,[21] Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems,[21] Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as corrupt State Senator Clay Davis,[21] Michael Kostroff as defense attorney Maurice Levy, and Neal Huff as Mayoral chief of staff Michael Steintorf.[21][22]

In addition to Johnson, joining the main cast in the journalism story line were Tom McCarthy as morally challenged reporter[5] Scott Templeton[21] and Michelle Paress as reporter Alma Gutierrez.[21]

Season 4 main cast members Frankie Faison, Jim True-Frost, Robert Wisdom, and Chad L. Coleman, who played Ervin Burrell, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, Howard "Bunny" Colvin and Dennis "Cutty" Wise, respectively, had recurring but not starring roles in the season.

Other returning guest stars included Steve Earle as drug counsellor Walon;[21] Anwan Glover as Slim Charles;[21] Robert F. Chew as drug kingpin Proposition Joe;[23] Method Man as drug lieutenant Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff;[21] Felicia Pearson as the eponymous criminal enforcer Felicia "Snoop" Pearson;[21] Chris Ashworth as former enforcer for the Greeks Sergei "Serge" Malatov; Wood Harris as fallen kingpin Avon Barksdale; Marlyne Afflack as city council president Nerese Campbell;[21][23] and Amy Ryan as McNulty's domestic partner Beadie Russell.[21] The return of guest stars from past seasons was described in reviews as a reward to loyal viewers.[10]

New recurring guest stars included David Costabile, Sam Freed, Bruce Kirkpatrick, Todd Scofield, Kara Quick, and Donald Neal.[23]

Continuing the show's trend of using non-professional actors and real-life Baltimore figures,[9] several ex-Baltimore Sun reporters appeared in recurring roles.[7] The editor character Rebecca Corbett, played by actress Kara Quick, was named after and based on Simon's former editor at the Baltimore Sun who now works at The New York Times; the real Rebecca Corbett has a cameo near the end of the series.[7] Writer and former political reporter William F. Zorzi gained further screen time after his season 1 cameo.[7]

Steve Luxenberg, the editor responsible for hiring Simon at The Sun, also had a role.[7] Simon's wife Laura Lippman also appeared[7] as a reporter in an early scene alongside Michael Olesker, another former Sun reporter.[9] Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy appeared as a lawyer for corrupt Senator Clay Davis, and former senator and current radio host Larry Young conducted a fictional interview with the character.[9] Former police commissioner Ed Norris returned in his recurring role as a homicide detective with the same name.[9]

Main cast

Crew

Creator David Simon continued to act as the show's executive producer and show runner.[7][23] Nina Kostroff Noble once again served as the show's other executive producer.[23] Joe Chappelle reprised his co-executive producer role and continued to direct episodes.[23] Ed Burns once again served as a writer and joined Chappelle as a co-executive producer.[24] Karen L. Thorson returned as a producer.[23] George Pelecanos produced the sixth episode of the series only - his first production work since the third season.[21][24][25]

Political journalist William F. Zorzi continued to write for the show and guide the political storylines.[7] Acclaimed crime fiction novelist Pelecanos returned as a writer and contributed his seventh episode to the series.[7] Pelecanos's fellow crime novelists Richard Price and Dennis Lehane also returned as writers. Chris Collins returned as a staff writer[7] and contributed his first script.[24] David Mills contributed an episode, completing the writing team.[21]

New star Clark Johnson also helmed the final episode after previously directing the pilot. Other returning directors for the fifth season included Ernest Dickerson, Anthony Hemingway, Agnieszka Holland, Dan Attias, and Seith Mann. Series star Dominic West made his directorial debut. Husband and wife directing team Scott and Joy Kecken were also first time directors on the fifth season.[21]

Reception

The fifth season received widespread acclaim from critics, scoring 89 out of 100 based on 24 reviews on Metacritic.[26] On Rotten Tomatoes, the season has an approval rating of 93% with an average score of 9.8 out of 10 based on 44 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "The Wire goes out with a suitably resonant bang in its final season, craftily maneuvering venturesome motifs and a colorful cast of characters to skillfully understated conclusion."[27]

Matt Roush of TV Guide favorably reviewed the series calling it "brilliantly bleak" and a "landmark series."[10] Brian Lowry of Variety characterised the series' look at the media as the most realistic portrayal of a newsroom in film and television history.[28]

However, Leigh Claire La Berge found that "in the popular press [...] the level of critical anticipation that greeted that season was matched only by the immediate disappointment that followed it", noting that the season is The Wire's most explicitly didactic, the one that most obviously comments on the series's own fictionality, and the one with the least realistic plot.[29] Thus in reviewing the first seven episodes of the fifth season David Zurawik of the Baltimore Sun said that while "there is greatness in the seven episodes," the major newspaper storyline "contain[s] nothing that matches the emotional power and sociological insight of the show at its best."[30] La Berge argued that it is precisely the fifth season's capacity to explore the social construction of realism itself that is the season's most important characteristic.

Awards and nominations

60th Primetime Emmy Awards

  • Nomination for Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (Ed Burns & David Simon) (Episode: "–30–")

Writers Guild of America Awards

  • Nomination for Best Drama Series

24th TCA Awards

  • Award for Heritage Award
  • Nomination for Program of the Year
  • Nomination for Outstanding Achievement in Drama
  • Nomination for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Drama (David Simon)

Episodes

See also: List of The Wire episodes

All episodes except "-30-" were made available by HBO six days earlier than their broadcast date, via On Demand.[16][17]

No.
overall		No. in
season		TitleDirected byWritten byOriginal air dateU.S. viewers
(millions)
511"More with Less"Joe ChappelleStory by : David Simon & Ed Burns
Teleplay by : David Simon		January 6, 2008 (2008-01-06)1.23[31]
522"Unconfirmed Reports"Ernest DickersonStory by : David Simon & William F. Zorzi
Teleplay by : William F. Zorzi		January 13, 2008 (2008-01-13)1.19[32]
533"Not for Attribution"Scott Kecken & Joy KeckenStory by : David Simon & Chris Collins
Teleplay by : Chris Collins		January 20, 2008 (2008-01-20)0.85[33]
544"Transitions"Dan AttiasStory by : David Simon & Ed Burns
Teleplay by : Ed Burns		January 27, 2008 (2008-01-27)1.28[34]
555"React Quotes"Agnieszka HollandStory by : David Simon & David Mills
Teleplay by : David Mills		February 3, 2008 (2008-02-03)0.53[35]
566"The Dickensian Aspect"Seith MannStory by : David Simon & Ed Burns
Teleplay by : Ed Burns		February 10, 2008 (2008-02-10)0.74[36]
577"Took"Dominic WestStory by : David Simon & Richard Price
Teleplay by : Richard Price		February 17, 2008 (2008-02-17)0.57[37]
588"Clarifications"Anthony HemingwayStory by : David Simon & Dennis Lehane
Teleplay by : Dennis Lehane		February 24, 2008 (2008-02-24)N/A
599"Late Editions"Joe ChappelleStory by : David Simon & George Pelecanos
Teleplay by : George Pelecanos		March 2, 2008 (2008-03-02)0.71[38]
6010"-30-"Clark JohnsonStory by : David Simon & Ed Burns
Teleplay by : David Simon		March 9, 2008 (2008-03-09)1.10[39]

References

  1. ^ "The Wire - 5th & Final Season: Release Date, Bonus Material, Cost & Early Package". TVShowsOnDVD.com. April 2, 2008.
  2. ^ John M. Higgins (September 12, 2006). "HBO Renews The Wire". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved January 25, 2012.
  3. ^ a b c d Meghan O'Rourke (2006). "Behind The Wire". Slate.com.
  4. ^ David Mills (February 28, 2007). "Just to tease you fans of The Wire…". Retrieved March 14, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c Wiltz, Teresa (September 3, 2007). "Down to "The Wire": It's a Wrap for Gritty TV Series". Washington Post. Retrieved September 3, 2007.
  6. ^ Steiner, Linda; Guo, Jing; McCaffrey, Raymond; Hills, Paul (August 2012). "The Wire and repair of the journalistic paradigm". Journalism. 14 (6): 703–720. doi:10.1177/1464884912455901. S2CID 146157813.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Margaret Talbot (October 15, 2007). "Stealing Life". The New Yorker. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
  8. ^ "One on One with David Simon". Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  9. ^ a b c d e f David Zurawik (2007). "Fact and fiction, down to The Wire". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  10. ^ a b c "Urban Renewal for L&O and The Wire". TV Guide. 2007. Archived from the original on May 8, 2008. Retrieved December 19, 2007.
  11. ^ "Preview of The Wire Season 5". Retrieved November 2, 2007.
  12. ^ Charlie McCollom (2007). ""The Wire" returns". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  13. ^ Kevin Thompson (2007). "Merry Christmas to me! "The Wire" comes early!". Palm Beach Post. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Andrew Wallenstein (2007). "HBO's "Wire" plugs in VOD vignettes". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on May 27, 2008. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  15. ^ a b Sean O'Neal (2007). "HBO offers free "Wire" prequels". A.V. Club. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  16. ^ a b Oscar Dahl (2007). "HBO releases three prequel videos for "The Wire"". Buddy TV. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  17. ^ a b "HBO'S 'The Wire' Preps Back Stories: Three short films will precede launch of fifth season in January". EUR Web. 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  18. ^ a b Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts (June 5, 2007). "The CIA Has A New Man On a Special Mission -- to Hollywood". The Washington Post. Retrieved October 20, 2007.
  19. ^ Oldenburg, Ann (August 5, 2007). "Belzer character Munches more scenery". USA Today. Retrieved August 8, 2007.
  20. ^ "Just to tease you fans of "The Wire"..." Undercover Black Man. February 28, 2007. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af "About the Show". HBO. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  22. ^ a b "HBO Re-Hangs 'Wire' in January". Zap 2 It. 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "HBO's Award-Winning Drama The Wire Returns to Movie Central and The Movie Network For a Fifth and Final Season". Movie Central. 2007. Retrieved December 7, 2007.
  24. ^ a b c "Season 5 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2007.
  25. ^ "The Wire season 3 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
  26. ^ "The Wire: Season 5". Metacritic. Retrieved February 23, 2011.
  27. ^ "The Wire: Season 5". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved November 14, 2021.
  28. ^ Brian Lowry (December 21, 2007). "'The Wire' gets the newsroom right". Variety. Retrieved December 22, 2007.
  29. ^ Leigh Claire La Berge, 'Capitalist Realism and Serial Form: The Fifth Season of The Wire, Criticism, 52 (2010), 547--67 (at pp. 549--50); DOI: 10.1353/crt.2010.0046 [repr. in Reading Capitalist Realism, ed. by Alison Shonkwiler and Leigh Claire La Berge (Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 2014), pp. 115--39].
  30. ^ "'The Wire' loses spark in newsroom storyline". Baltimore Sun. 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2007.
  31. ^ Yanan, Travis (January 8, 2008). "Last Night's Results: Sunday 1/06/08". Programming Insider Feedback. Archived from the original on March 13, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  32. ^ Yanan, Travis (January 15, 2008). "Last Night's Results: Sunday 1/13/08". Programming Insider Feedback. Archived from the original on March 19, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  33. ^ Zurawik, David (January 24, 2008). "Viewership for HBO's 'The Wire' declines". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  34. ^ Yanan, Travis (January 29, 2008). "Last Night's Results: Sunday 1/27/08". Programming Insider Feedback. Archived from the original on February 1, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  35. ^ Zurawik, David (February 21, 2008). "HBO's "The Wire" -- where did the audience go?". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 29, 2008. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  36. ^ "TOP SÉRIES DU LUNDI 4 AU DIMANCHE 10 FÉVRIER 2008". AlloCine Blogs. February 15, 2008. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  37. ^ Yanan, Travis (February 20, 2008). "Last Night's Results: Sunday 2/17/08". Programming Insider Feedback. Archived from the original on February 27, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  38. ^ "TOP SÉRIES DU LUNDI 25 FÉVRIER AU DIMANCHE 2 MARS 2008". AlloCine Blogs. March 7, 2008. Archived from the original on July 20, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  39. ^ Levin, Gary (March 11, 2008). "Nielsens: 'Runway' finale rules on cable". USA Today. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
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