The Wire: Complete HBO Season 4 [DVD]

With the fall of the Barksdale empire, and the ascent of a new young drug king in Baltimore, McNolty, Bunk and the rest of the detail continue to "follow the money" up the political ladder amidst a hotly contested mayoral campaign. Prez witnesses first-hand the role of inner-city education in the formation of youth as four students, Michael, Namond, Randy and Dukie, face dangerous decisions and adolescent angst in a city rife with the temptations of crime and easy money. The explosive fourth season of The Wire continues to blur the lines between good and evil, and incite the fires of urban unrest.

Episodes Comprise:

1. Boys of Summer
2. Soft Eyes
3. Home Rooms
4. Refugees
5. Alliances
6. Margin Of Error
7. Unto Others
8. Corner Boys
9. Know Your Place
10. Misgivings
11. A New Day
12. That's Got His Own
13. Final Grades

 

• Actors

Chris Bauer, Frankie Faison, Michael Kenneth Williams, Dominic West, Aidan Gillen, Deirdre Lovejoy, Seth Gilliam, Wood Harris, Paul Ben-Victor, Jim True-Frost, Larry Gilliard Jr., Sonja Sohn, Chad L. Coleman, Reg E. Cathey & Jamie Hector

• Certificate

18 years and over

• Year

2006

• Languages

English - Dolby Digital (5.1)

• Additional Languages

French

• Subtitles

English ; French ; Dutch ; Danish ; Finnish ; Greek ; Hungarian ; Norwegian ; Portuguese ; Swedish ; English for the hearing impaired

• Region

Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players.

Even if you missed the first three seasons (the character guides and thorough episode recaps on HBO's website are recommended), and with only one season left, it's not too late to get in under The Wire. In fact, season 4 is an accessible introduction for those who know The Wire only by its street cred as arguably the very best show on television. For them especially, this season will be, as befitting its theme, a real education. Without resorting to melodramatics that other ratings-challenged series employ to gain that frustratingly elusive audience, The Wire shakes things up this season in a way that is true to the series and its characters. A major character, Dominic West's McNulty, plays a minor role as a contented street cop and family man, while a former supporting player, Jim True-Frost's Roland Pryzbylewski, goes to the head of the class as a new eighth grade teacher at beleaguered Edward Tilghman Middle School. It may take a couple of episodes to orient yourself to the Baltimore backrooms, squad rooms, classrooms, and street corners where The Wire's intense dramas play out, and new viewers may miss something in character nuance, but they will easily grasp the big picture. A politically motivated shake-up sends Major Crimes detectives Freamon (Clarke Peters) and Greggs (Sonja Sohn) to Homicide. The gloves come off in the mayoral race between black incumbent Clarence Royce (Glynn Turman) and idealistic white challenger Tommy Carcetti (Aidan Gillen). Gang leader Marlo (Jamie Hector) quietly and deliberately becomes the city's new drug kingpin, managing to subvert all surveillance efforts. Meanwhile, while "Prez" tries to reach his students, four highly at-risk kids will be drawn into the drug trade.

Mere synopsis does not do The Wire justice. The series deftly juggles its myriad storylines and characters, all of whom make an impression, from Marlo's cold-blooded enforcers, Snoop (Felicia Pearson) and Chris (Gbenga Akinnagbe), to boxing instructor "Cutty" (Chad L. Coleman), determined to keep his young charges off the corners. There is not a false note in the performances or the writing. Richard Price (Clockers) and Dennis Lehane (Mystic River) again contributed episodes. That this series has only been nominated for only one Emmy (for writing) is a travesty. As engrossing as the finest novels and in a class by itself, this isn't television; it's The Wire. --Donald Liebenson