Over the past year or so, I had read repeatedly and been told multiple times how amazing HBO’s series The Wire is. When a friend of mine offered to loan me her Season 1 DVDs, I figured I’d see what all the fuss was about. Said friend did caution me that the show started off a bit slowly, and even after watching all of Season 1, I was admittedly undecided. However, she also hinted that persevering through the series would be rewarding and, having just finished the fourth of the show’s five seasons, I have become a full-fledged fan of The Wire.

The Wire was created by police reporter David Simon, who based the series on the experiences of his writing partner, former homicide detective Ed Burns. Set in Baltimore, the show presents an unflinching look at the city’s drug trade. By focusing on both the networks of drug dealers and the Baltimore police who pursue them, as well as overlapping sectors of municipal life including city politics, school systems, international commerce, and the media, Simon has painted a multi-faceted and tightly interwoven portrait of the twenty-first century American city. And as the series unfolds, Simon’s comprehensive portrayal of the city and its drug problem feels simultaneously premeditated and also dynamic. Unlike say, Lost, where one gets the feeling that the writers have figured their own show out along the way, The Wire feels very intentional in the way it unfolds. Yet it is unpredictable enough to also feel spontaneous.

In addition to The Wire’s complexity, perhaps its single-greatest achievement is the show’s commitment to realism. This commitment involves the shooting style, which relies on a relatively deep depth-of-field and gives the show a more news footage feel than film-like quality, as well as the choice to cast Baltimore natives as extras and small parts. This realism extends to the characters, who are said to composites of real-life Baltimore personalities, and most of all to the writing, which makes heavy use of contemporary slang language that is simultaneously eye-opening, bewildering, offensive, and humorous.

In a time when many shows manage to introduce and resolve a single case in a 45-minute span, The Wire instead chooses to spend 60 episodes showing how difficult it truly is to make change in the modern American city. In the context of the endless debates about the value or place of social assistance (be it healthcare or otherwise), it is important to consider the whole picture of lives like those depicted in this show. The Wire is at times quite hard to watch, mostly because it feels so honest. If you like shows that will force you to think and perhaps be uncomfortable, start watching The Wire on DVD today.