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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed shows.
Wire, The
Season 5
EMAILPRINTSERIES: HBO, Sunday 9:00p (60 minutes)

Universal acclaim
Based on 24 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 73 votes
Read user comments
Rate this show >
Show Info
Genre(s): Crime, Drama
Created By: David Simon
First Air Date: January 6, 2008
Summary
Starring Dominic West, Clark Johnson, Clark Peters, Aidan Gillen, and Deirdre Lovejoy
The crime drama returns in its final season with the hot seat applied at creator David Simon's previous occupation (journalist).
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
New York PostAdam Buckman
This new 10-episode season boasts the same high quality of production that this series has always exhibited.
Read Full Review >USA TodayRobert Bianco
There's humanity in its victims and dark humor in the goal-oriented drive of its villains. With or without a strike, this is a show to treasure.
Read Full Review >San Francisco ChronicleTim Goodman
In the end, there will likely be a lot of unhappiness, dead bodies, same-as-it-ever-was institutional failure, lack of responsibility and the triumph of self-interest over the greater good. Not exactly a Hallmark card, but one hell of an artistic achievement.
Read Full Review >Entertainment WeeklyGillian Flynn
The fifth and final season of David Simon's peerlessly acted, stunningly scripted, revolutionary drama of 1,000 moving parts kicks off Jan. 6.
Read Full Review >San Jose Mercury NewsCharlie McCollum
In the end, The Wire is extraordinary television. It has a richness, a depth and an intelligence that transcend the medium and makes it the kind of superb literature that A.O. Scott found lacking in the world of books.
Read Full Review >TV GuideMatt Roush
HBO's brilliant and bleak The Wire may have saved the best for last.
Read Full Review >SalonHeather Havrilesky
Every single scene of The Wire is meticulously scripted and dramatically riveting.
Read Full Review >Wall Street JournalAmy Finnerty
Local stories can have more poetry than grand ones; that is the genius of The Wire. It's not what happens to the characters, or the societal trends the script explores, that matter so much as the authentic and precise way in which events are represented.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-IntelligencerMelanie McFarland
The fans, no doubt, will be content with the conclusion of the brutal street politics--usually the best aspect of each season--as we witness a brilliantly stormy resolution of the unrest between Proposition Joe (Robert F. Chew), Marlo Stanfield (Jamie Hector), who continues to expand his power, and the charismatic, elegant brute Omar Little (Michael K. Williams), a murderous thief worth cherishing.
Read Full Review >TimeJames Poniewozik
It's worth the effort, not because The Wire is good for you but because it is fantastic entertainment.
Read Full Review >VarietyBrian Lowry
Based on the seven episodes previewed, it's every bit as cynical, riveting and brilliant as the four flights that preceded it--a searing look at the decay of a major American city that puts most of what's on television to shame.
Read Full Review >Washington PostTom Shales
The absence of gimmickry and the presence of respect for the story and the audience give The Wire organic advantages over nearly all other TV dramas, whether they deal with cops and crime or birds and bees. Which is to say: If you want to see the television of tomorrow, it's on HBO tonight.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Daily NewsEllen Gray
While I'm thrilled to have something as deep and juicy as The Wire back after so long a break between seasons, I'm afraid that the show's very best years may be behind it.
Read Full Review >New York Daily NewsDavid Hinckley
The episodes that kick off this last 10-show run don't feel perfect. But they almost always feel intuitively right.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-TimesDoug Elfman
It's really quite good and oddly entertaining, as cynical as it is.
Read Full Review >Kansas City StarAaron Barnhart
As the last of my DVD screeners ended, and I found the story wrapped around me, constrictorlike, I had to agree with old Gus: It feels true. Very true.
Read Full Review >Newark Star-LedgerAlan Sepinwall
The fifth and final season may be the most overtly farcical, but only because things in this slightly fictionalized Baltimore have become, if you can imagine, worse than ever.
Read Full Review >The New York TimesAlessandra Stanley
The final season of The Wire is committed to proving him wrong; by leaving nothing out it offers viewers as close a chance as anyone can get to everything.
Read Full Review >NewsdayNoel Holston
Despite occasionally expressing Simon's concerns about journalism too pedantically, The Wire continues to deserve its accolades as the most remarkable drama series in television history.
Read Full Review >New York MagazineJohn Leonard
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 >Boston GlobeMatthew Gilbert
Why watch The Wire if it's such tough-going--so difficult to follow and then, once followed, so pessimistic? Because it offers the kind of earned understanding that leads to progress.
Read Full Review >Chicago TribuneMaureen Ryan
To watch the show is to be immersed in an interlocking series of utterly realistic worlds, from the street corner to the cop bar to the mayor's office.
Read Full Review >Baltimore SunDavid Zurawik
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.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this show is 9.4 (out of 10) based on 73 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chris S gave it a10:
Far and away the best show I have ever seen on television. Nothing comes close in this genre.
Nerijus D. gave it a10:
The greatest television series of all time!
Benjamin gave it a9:
While this may not be the best season of the wire by a long shot (that goes to season 1, 3 or 4), it is still better than any single season from any other show on TV.
Rick S gave it a10:
While A FEW of the disparaging posts listed below make at least some relevant and coherent arguments, it's PREPOSTEROUS to give even the last, so-called weakest season of The Wire anything less than a 10/10. The only real fault of this season, all overwrought and haughty criticism aside, is that the show probably tried to do too much, especially given that the season was limited to ten episodes. The irony is palpable in statements like "the serial-killer storyline was unrealistic"; the show had built so much credibility in the previous seasons that McNulty's transgressions were a bit far-fetched, even though no one would have admitted as much while they watched these brilliant final episodes. In the end, the major themes like the system's immovability and the ultimate triumph of evil despite the existence of nobility all rang true as much as ever. This show takes its rightful place atop all others in that its STORY was so massively complex yet succinctly coherent. It redefined drama, and turned the dial to "eleven".
cee jay gave it an8:
This season is could be described with the word "BLUFF" because you suddenly see all levels of every organization trying to trick each other. It is a little bit funnier than season 4, which was unbelievably heavy (in a good way). I enjoyed the wrap up for most of the characters, some people changed little for the better: some for the worse: some didn't change at all.
Aaron gave it a2:
It was the worst season EVER season four was much better.
Brad E gave it a10:
The greatest show ever...period.
