The Wire

:

Season 5
  • Network: HBO
  • Series Premiere Date: Jun 2, 2002
Season #: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
User Score
9.1

Universal acclaim- based on 417 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 392 out of 417
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 417
  3. Negative: 16 out of 417
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User Reviews

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  1. MrW.
    Jan 15, 2008
    5
    The show has lost all of its flow with the addition of the "baltimore sun" story line. This is the final season and instead of allowing us to dig in to the characters we've come to love/hate they add in some dry, uninteresting, newsroom crap. It seems to me that HBO is setting up a spin-off show and ruining the wire to use it as a launching pad.
  2. seancriswell
    Sep 8, 2012
    6
    An average end to a great show. The most troublesome arc was Mcnulty's. The Mcnulty we saw from throughout last season was a satisfying conclusion to his character I think. It is hard for me to figure that the writers disagree since they brought him all the way back around to where he was. Then to top it off his colleagues give him a send off worthy of the smart determined detective we sawAn average end to a great show. The most troublesome arc was Mcnulty's. The Mcnulty we saw from throughout last season was a satisfying conclusion to his character I think. It is hard for me to figure that the writers disagree since they brought him all the way back around to where he was. Then to top it off his colleagues give him a send off worthy of the smart determined detective we saw throughout this series. Certainly not the criminal,bungling police he became in this season. Compound that with the chicken fight he gets into with an equally criminal reporter, and you have by far the worst story arc of this series. They did some things right with certain characters this season, most notably Marlo and Bubbles. Also introducing a new character, Gus, who I wish we could have seen in a better story line. The newspaper angle had the potential to be very good, I wish it would have lived up to it. Plenty of shows have gone one season too long, that is my opinion of what happened to The Wire. But when I remember this show, i will remember the glory days, and the plethora of great characters that ran through this series.… Expand
  3. lunanul
    Jun 8, 2016
    5
    Weakest of the 5 seasons (by far). Everything suffers, especially several main characters forced to step far out of character to toe the somewhat silly story line. Very disappointing to start. After a little chewing and forced swallowing, it gets better.

Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best TV Season of 2008
8
#8 Most Discussed TV Season of 2008
6
#6 Most Shared TV Season of 2008

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
89

Universal acclaim - based on 24 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 24
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 24
  3. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: David Zurawik
    70
    While the police story line has never been stronger, the first seven episodes made available for preview contain nothing that matches the emotional power and sociological insight of the show at its best--namely the classroom scenes from Season 4.
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  2. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: David Hinckley
    88
    The episodes that kick off this last 10-show run don't feel perfect. But they almost always feel intuitively right.
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  3. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: John Leonard
    80
    In these last innings, as The Wire ties up its gnarled threads, it also makes its most daring departure yet, introducing yet another institution, and a brand-new cast of characters to disappoint us.
    Read full review
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