The Wire was an American police procedural and crime drama series created by David Simon for HBO. It ran from June 2, 2002 to March 9, 2008 for five seasons.
Series summary[]
The series begins with the Baltimore Police Department's Western District putting together a special detail of homicide and narcotics detectives to investigate the murder of a state witness who had testified against a member of the infamous Barksdale crew of drug dealers. The first season splits its focus between the detail's investigation and the operation of the Barksdale crew, from the lowest detectives and dealers to the management at the top of both institutions. In doing so, it reveals how the police political system is set up to maintain the status quo, not to effectively tackle crime, and how corruption and moral cowardice creeps in further up the food chain. Later seasons look at Baltimore's failing blue collar industry, its political leaders, its school system and, in the final season, its journalists.
Notable members of the vast and diverse cast include Dominic West, who plays Jimmy McNulty, a brilliant detective and terrible human being; Idris Elba as Stringer Bell, the brains behind the Barksdale operation; Michael K Williams as Omar Little, a stick-up man who considers it a point of honor that he only robs from drug dealers; Sonja Sohn as Kima Greggs, an openly lesbian detective whose work conflicts with her private life; and Clarke Peters as Lester Freamon, the soft-spoken but sharp-as-a-knife detective who quietly pieces it all together.
Westphall connections to The Wire[]
- In "Took", detective John Munch, formerly of Homicide and at that point a regular in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, makes a guest appearance at a bar. He comments that he used to own a bar in Baltimore too - a reference to a subplot that ran through several seasons of Homicide. As he was a regular in SVU at the time of the appearance, it counts as an SVU link, not a Homicide one.
Incidential connections to The Wire[]
- In the episode "That's Got His Own", one of the characters mentions a Baltimore drug dealer named Junior Bunk - Junior Bunk was a minor but important character in Homicide: Life on the Street.
Disputed connection to The Wire[]
- In the Euphoria pilot episode, Rue Bennett jokingly lists some gang members she knew, all of which are characters from The Wire including Omar, Marlo, Avon, Brother Mouzone, Bodie, and Stringer.