The best season of HBO’s The Wire stands up against any season of a TV show ever, and even the cast agrees on which one they think is the best. One of the greatest TV shows of all time, The Wire needs little introduction. A fictional story about drugs, crime, and bureaucracy is more real than any documentary.

While it is not an anthology series, every season of The Wire is focused on a different aspect of Baltimore, whether that be gang wars, police bureaucracy, the unions, the press, or the public schools. Each season has a case to be ranked number one, but one is commonly ranked above the rest.

The Wire Cast Thinks Season 4 Is The Show’s Best

Season 4 Depicts The Plight Of Baltimore’s Youths

According to some members of The Wire cast, season 4 is the best season of The Wire (via CinemaBlend). In season 4, we’re introduced to one of the saddest and most affecting storylines in the whole series, and it’s not a coincidence that it involves kids. The public school system of Baltimore is in the crosshairs of this 13-episode season.

Four critical new characters are introduced: Jermaine Crawford as Duquan “Dukie” Weems, a competent student with a homelife stricken by drugs; Maestro Harrell as Randy Wagstaff, a clever class clown and foster child; Julito McCullum as Namond Brice, Wee-Bay’s (Hassan Johnsonson) son; and Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee, a soft-spoken young man suited for the gangster life.

Their experiences in the school system and on the street are shown in grim detail, and only one of the boys gets out. This season, more than any other, shows just how many barriers there are to the people born into this life. Police and teachers are useless in the face of generational trauma infecting these kids.

Beyond the harrowing school storylines, The Wire season 4 also depicts the growing violence in Baltimore. Gang battles have always been a problem in The Wire, but Marlo Stanfield’s (Jamie Hector) brand of warfare is particularly gruesome. The old guard, even those on the wrong side of the law, no longer recognize this world.

What The Wire Actors Have Said About Season 4

This Season Is More Relatable Than Previous Ones

In an interview with CinemaBlend, a few of the actors in the series mentioned season 4 as their favorite. Dominic West, who plays Detective McNulty and surprisingly does not appear in much of season 4, said the season was his favorite,

“Because it’s about kids, so it’s so much more dramatic and emotional and the stakes are so much higher. And because those actors who were playing those kids were so brilliant. And also, because I’m hardly in it. (laughs) I do think season 4 was the high point, was perfection. It was meant to be a book that David (Simon) persuaded Ed (Burns) not to write, so it was the perfect coming together of that writer’s room, as well.”

The stakes are certainly much higher this season. Before, the characters who did the worst things in The Wire were generally adults with a few rough exceptions, but in season 4, we’re forced to watch how those adults grew to be who they are in the first place. Jamie Hector also chose season 4 and said,

“I’m very passionate about early childhood education, and so (the show) shining a light on the disparity between certain communities getting a great education and or not. Having a child in private school or not having a child in private school, and seeing the difference in education and the passion of the teachers and the professors, and the resources that all should have. So if you could magnify that season, that would be fantastic.”

Marlo had a major role in The Wire season 4, so it’s telling that the reason Hector finds this season so great is for reasons other than his own storyline. The problems with young people in bad environments are problems that extend far beyond Baltimore. It’s something many people can sadly relate to.

Andre Royo, who plays Bubbles, also said season 4 was his favorite season,

“When the fourth season came, it became a social show about the Middle class and the school systems. And then anybody from every race was like, ‘It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your kids are?’ No matter what race you are, you cared about your kids. And that show just took us to a different level, so to speak.”

Though The Wire holds a mirror up to contemporary issues affecting society, you can watch it and say, “This is going on in a place far from me. My home isn’t in Baltimore. I’m nowhere near the drug trade.” But Royo makes a good point about season 4: the issues surrounding kids touch everyone.

Why The Wire Season 4 Is A Television Masterpiece

This Season Brings Home One Of The Main Points Of The Series

By the time The Wire season 4 rolled around, it was already considered an excellent series. Season 4 pushed it over the edge into the “masterpiece” arena. The season has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, tied with season 3 for the highest in the series. On rewatch, it’s even better.

The Wire season 4 hammers home more than any other season, the main, crucial point of The Wire. It is not one corrupt cop, one violent drug dealer, one greedy politician, or any other singular entity fomenting this chaos in a city like Baltimore; it’s everything all at once converging.

There is no one single solution to drug trafficking, crime, instability, and trauma, and trying to untangle one thread can very well leave you in a worse spot than where you started. Just ask Randy, who has to choose between not having a home or being a snitch, and then ends up losing both ways.

One ray of hope does make The Wire season 4 more palatable, and thus a better season of television, and that’s Namond’s story. Bunny Colvin (Robert Wisdom) takes a liking to Wee-Bey’s boy and sees a future for him off the streets. Even Wee-Bey has to admit that Colvin has a point.

By the end of The Wire, Namond is one of the few characters whose life improved after the show. It might be impossible to completely fix the ills plaguing somewhere as complex as Baltimore, but Colvin reveals one step you can take, and that’s offering a hand where and when you can.

It may not be permanent, it may only save one life, but if you can find a way to help someone when the situation is dire, then that’s one more person not dragged down into the mess. It’s no wonder so many The Wire actors love season 4. It’s the show’s best.

The Wire

10/10

Release Date

2002 – 2008-00-00

Network

HBO

Showrunner

David Simon

Directors

Ernest R. Dickerson, Ed Bianchi, Steve Shill, Clark Johnson, Daniel Attias, Agnieszka Holland, Tim Van Patten, Alex Zakrzewski, Anthony Hemingway, Brad Anderson, Clement Virgo, Elodie Keene, Peter Medak, Rob Bailey, Seith Mann, Christine Moore, David Platt, Dominic West, Gloria Muzio, Jim McKay, Leslie Libman, Milcho Manchevski, Robert F. Colesberry, Thomas J. Wright

Writers

Richard Price, Joy Lusco, Rafael Alvarez, Dennis Lehane, David Mills, William F. Zorzi, Kia Corthron

• 

  Dominic West

  Jimmy McNulty

• 

  Lance Reddick

  Cedric Daniels