History TheWire / TropesMToR

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Many praise the show for its realism, however, some critics and opinion writers have criticized the show for going ''too far'' in the direction of institutional determinism to the point where it is more bleak than reality.

* PlotArcheology: [=McNulty=]'s FBI buddy gives him the results of an unfinished investigation that showed Lt. Daniels was dirty when he was on the Narcotics task force. [=McNulty=] doesn't trust him for most of the first season, but eventually the men grow to respect each other. This is not mentioned again until the series finale, when now-Commissioner Daniels is forced to resign rather than be manipulated by the threat of revealing that very same investigation.

* RealSongThemeTune: Music/TomWaits' "Way Down In The Hole" is the theme song, and is performed by a different artist each season (including Waits himself in Season 2).
** Season 1: The cover version by The Blind Boys of Alabama in a traditional blues/gospel style (note: this version is often considered [[CoveredUp the best]]).
** Season 2: Tom Waits' original rhythm & blues cover.
** Season 3: The Neville Brothers, which has distinct funk and reggae influences.
** Season 4: A contemporary R&B version by [=DoMaJe=], a vocal group brought together specifically for the purpose, consisting of actual Baltimore City public school kids.
** Season 5: A rock/alt-country version by Music/SteveEarle (who plays Bubbles' NA sponsor Walon and gets a substantial amount of screen time that season).

* MobWar: In Season 3, between the Barksdale and Stanfield crews.

* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Sergei points out that American prisons are not real prisons as he has been a 'guest' to the actually harsh Ukranian ones.

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: The Major Crimes Unit is so pre-occupied with bringing down Avon Barksdale throughout season 3 that they manage to bust his gang just as they were about to ''win'' their turf war with the Marlo Stanfield gang. That EvilPowerVacuum is then filled up by Marlo, who proves to be far worse than Avon.

* OmnidisciplinaryLawyer: Averted when [=McNulty=] has Rhonda, a prosecutor, represent him in an emergency hearing where his ex-wife wants to limit his custody following the incident at Northeastern Market. She freely confesses to the judge that she has absolutely no idea what she's doing, which leads the judge, already rather annoyed, to adjourn the hearing another day.[[note]]Of course, it seems possible from the ensuing dialogue between [=McNulty=] and his ex that he was aware of this and did it purely to spite her, since it was his affair with Rhonda that led to the divorce in the first place[[/note]]

* OldMediaAreEvil: Averted, as many of the staffers at the ''Sun'' decry the death of traditional newspapers, and are just trying to make it through the day without getting hit with buyout offers or a lack of people to cover story beats.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted surprisngly often, such as with Dennis "Cutty" Wise and Dennis Mello; Roland "Wee-Bey" Brice and Roland Pryzbylewski; William "Bunk" Moreland and William "Bill" Rawls; Thomas Klebanow, Tommy Carcetti, Thomas "Herc" Hauk and Thomas "Horseface" Pakusa; Johnny Weeks and Johnny "Fifty" Spamanto; Omar Little and Omar Isaiah 'Snotboogie' Betts; Ray Cole and Raymond Foerster. Note well though that in almost every case, nicknames distinguish them (nobody ever calls Wee-Bay Roland--and usually Roland Pryzbylewski is just called "Prez").

* OrganizationWithUnlimitedFunding: Averted by the BPD. In the early seasons money and budgetary limitations are frequently mentioned as constraints on investigations (senior officers regularly warn that they only have so many days they can afford a wiretap; two cops fear the financial consequences of losing an expensive piece of surveillance equipment) but never with any actual effect. In the fourth season, the city discovers its school system is running a multimillion-dollar deficit and immediately imposes austerity measures on the police, severely limiting overtime and deferring car repair to the point that one officer has to take a city bus to a crime scene. It gets so bad that two detectives resort to [[spoiler:fabricating a serial killer]] to reopen the financial spigots for the case they're trying to make against a major local drug dealer.

* ParkingGarage: Generally averted as most scenes in those settings (such as Levy briefly talking to Avon and Stringer after bailing the former out) are logical to the plot and rather short, save Perlman taking [=McNulty=] for [[AutoErotica a ride in the back seat of her car]], and none of them are bad moments for the characters involved.

** Averted when Carcetti shows up at Homicide to ask the assembled detectives for their suggestions on what the department can do better. Several are holding Diet Pepsi cans with the logos turned away from the cameras.

** Averted, apparently, by the white dealers Herc tells Kima he has been doing undercover buys from early in Season 2. They use the words "drugs" and "money" in setting up deals over the phone, and have the drugs as well as money from previous buys ''on their person'' ... something the dealers in the projects are too smart to do[[note]]as they are in real life[[/note]]. However, when we later see [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy black-acting and -dressing]] white dealers in action, they, too, follow the same operational security measures.

* RealisticDictionIsUnrealistic: Notoriously averted, such that the show has acquired a reputation for being occasionally incomprehensible to non-Baltimorians and/or people unfamiliar with ghettospeak.