I loved the wire up until season 4. That season focused on the early part of the drug-dealing cycle: it followed some boys in middle school and showed how they get into it. It broke my heart. I couldn't watch it after 3 or so episodes. Too real and too depressing to see innocence shattered like that.
My husband is from Baltimore and he wants to get back into watching it again, but I don't know, I can only take so much ya know?
The mini series the show and 1st season was based on, The Corner (if I recall correctly) was good but also slightly depressing.
I love the characters, especially Omar, and Bubbles. I remember my favorite part was when the police created "Hamsterdam" (that cracked me the FUCK UP!
) and it WORKED! Great humor on that season.
And again, I really, really, really love Omar. Like Dexter, he's a bad guy that you can't help but root for because he definitely takes out the trash and comes up with so many gems of truth, real pearls of wisdom. I just recently read one of my favorite quotes from Omar: "Money ain't got no owners, only spenders."