History Series / TheWire

** "Same as it ever was."

** Zig-zagged; in the first season, a detective tries to make one of the Barksdale clan's top soldiers (D'Angelo Barksdale) write an ''apology letter'' to the (fictional) family of a man killed for witnessing against him. AmoralAttorney Levy's reaction is something to behold. This also counts as a case of ShownTheirWork, as this is a common trick the police use to elicit written confessions from crooks who don't know better.

* TheFunInFuneral: The Baltimore police have a tradition of holding rowdy Irish wakes for their own, Landsman delivers a [[MeaningfulFuneral fair poignant eulogy]] and then it culminates in a passionate sing-along of the Pogues' "The Body of an American." Even the black cops seem to love the tradition.

[[UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} Baltimore]] is ''back'', baby. If you feel the need to make stories that blow past the boundaries of detective/crime drama, you need to be working a Baltimore setting. ''Series/HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' set the bar. ''The Wire'' doesn't just jump that bar, it executes a triple somersault and lands perfectly on the other side.

''The Wire'' is a show about Baltimore, taking you through a different segment of the city in each season.

The show's scope broadens from the street corners to show how all parts of Baltimore -- and by extension every US city -- are complicit in the social machine that keeps the drug trade alive and buoyant.

Counterbalancing the police are the city's drug dealers, who range from the the ruthless Marlo Stanfield and Avon Barksdale, to the more affable "Proposition Joe" and ambitious social climber Stringer Bell. Also in the mix is Omar Little, a deadly Robin Hood-like figure who robs drug dealers, the drug-addicted police informant "Bubbles", and the mysterious European crime lord known as "The Greek", who supplies both drugs and prostitutes to the city of Baltimore.

** Dominic West during much of the fourth season (his character, [=McNulty=], works as a beat cop); this was done largely to accommodate West, due to him landing several movie roles during the period that season four filmed.

* ActorAllusion: Mixed with RealPersonCameo: [[http://www.criminaljusticedegreesguide.com/features/10-real-people-that-inspired-characters-on-the-wire.html (Examples)]]
** Maryland Governor Robert Ehrlich playing a security guard at the governor's office.

* AffablyEvil:

* AmericanDream: The portrayal of Baltimore can be seen as the opposite, the American Nightmare where very few individuals have a chance to enjoy a decent life outside the criminal world and where the new generation just take over the roles of the older one in a neverending cycle.

* ArtifactTitle: A literal wire, rather than a metaphor for walking a thin line, only plays a major role in the first season. Wiretaps of one variety or another are central to several operations. The title also suggests [[PullTheThread pulling the thread]].
* AscendedExtra:
** Kenard is seen in a quick season-three scene playing with two other kids before he gains more screentime in the fourth and fifth seasons.
** Detective Colicchio was initially an unnamed background character in Major Colvin's unit before gaining an abrasive personality and more dialogue.

* AwesomenessByAnalysis: The Major Crimes Unit shines over regular units due to its painstaking police work and meticulous data gathering and interpretation, in radical contrast with the departments policy of drug-on-the-table and short-term arrests that lead to nowhere. At the core of it lies Lester Freamon, who in Daniel's words is by himself ''the'' MCU.

* BadassBoast:

* BigApplesauce: [=McNulty=] puts Omar on a bus there to get him away from drug deal retribution, the West Side's drug connection runs through there for the first few seasons, and drug deals (and eventually hitmen) show up from New York periodically.

* BlackComedy: Quite often. The most hilarious examples include Bodie ordering a wreath for his friend's funeral in Season 2 or Herc and Carver trying to apply GoodCopBadCop routine in Season 1.

* BreakTheCutie: Randy in season four may have been a mischievous and somewhat naive teen, but he's also a sweet and likable person that no one wanted to do bad things to. That is, until Randy told a teacher about [[spoiler:the vacant house murders]]. Once that happened, and once everyone in the neighborhood got wind of what Randy said, [[ItGotWorse things started getting really bad for him, very fast]]. At first, it was mild, with the kids at his school not wanting to associate with him. Then it escalated into daily fights; enough to the point that his legal guardian forcibly withdrew him until he can be transferred to another school. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:that never happened, because several nights later, two random thugs tossed Molotov cocktails into his guardian's house and set it on fire. While Randy was intact, his guardian was so horribly burned, she was unable to care for him anymore. As a result, Randy had to go to a [[DepartmentOfChildDisservices group home]] with other volatile neighborhood kids who beat him up everyday for what he did, despite Carver trying to adopt Randy to avoid that fate]]. Needless to say, when Randy briefly reappeared in season five, he had become a hardened, violent individual.

* BriefAccentImitation:
** [=McNulty=] HowsYourBritishAccent [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XBL2Wq5YjSw scene]].

* BriefcaseFullOfMoney:

* ButchLesbian:

* ByTheBookCop:

** [=McNulty=]: "The fuck did I do?"

* CelebrityParadox:
** Method Man plays Cheese, but Wu-Tang Clan songs have been heard on the radio at least once. We get a clear view of his Wu logo Tattoo on his hand in season 4.
** The reference to former Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke in Season 5 despite a guest appearance by the same in Season 3, playing a health official.
** In one episode [=McNulty=] pontificates that the core cop cast of the show are among maybe ten or twenty truly good cops in Baltimore, among the names he gives as examples of other cops is Ed Burns, who is of course one of the show's creators and was indeed a cop (though was many years retired by the time he made the show, possibly you could say it was a different Ed Burns).

** Omar is a Fan of HBO's ''{{Oz}}'' although many Actors (Herc, Carver, Rawls, Daniels, Bodie, Freamon and Cheese) on ''The Wire'' have appeared on it

** It's possible that Avon was merely mocking Prop Joe, given that they are rival dealers.

* ChekhovsGunman:

* ChildSoldiers: Not always the case for every West Baltimore kid, but it's certainly expected, given the ruthless nature of the drug game. In some cases like Bodie and Poot, they voluntarily joined for the monetary benefits and because it's almost encouraged by their environment. The most blatant and tragic case is [[spoiler:Michael]]. Although he became a very good soldier for [[spoiler:Marlo Stanfield]], he joined because he needed an escape from his horrible living conditions and neglectful parents.

* CluelessDetective:
** The deadwood and ''humps'' from other departments are dumped into the unconvenient special unit:
*** Straight example in Santangelo. Polk and Mahone up to pathetically comical levels, they are tasked with putting a face to Barksdale and come up with a photo of a middle-aged white man.

* ClusterFBomb: In season one, [=McNulty=] and Bunk spend an entire scene investigating a crime scene while muttering nothing but variations of the word "fuck."
* ComicallyMissingThePoint:

** "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ttbQTz8tAE Like a 40 degree day!]]"

* CommonNonsenseJury: The jury for Clay Davis's trial [[spoiler: are seemingly under the impression that massive campaign finance fraud ceases to be illegal if you give away all the money]].

* CorruptCop: The show is full of them. The top brass are so corrupt and so full of personal vendettas that it prevents them from doing any actual police work. When McNulty actually sets in motion the creation of the MCU, Rawls makes it his top priority to screw McNulty over. The Deputy Ops himself is reluctant to do any police work either.

* CountryMatters:

* DangerRoomColdOpen: The second to last episode of season 4 opens with Snoop and Chris chasing Michael down the streets, with guns and obviously intend to shoot him. It turns out they were firing paintballs and it was a training exercise for Michael, who delivers a very good performance.
* TheDanza:

* DeadGuyOnDisplay:

* DeathIsDramatic:

** [[spoiler:Bodie's]] last stand is also fairly meaningful up until its seemingly anticlimactic end.

** [[spoiler:Snoop's]] death is also surprisingly poignant.

* DisposingOfABody: Marlo's hit squad Chris and Snoop have a genius system that allows them to off a huge number of rival dealers before the police start to notice [[spoiler: (22 bodies are eventually recovered, but their actual hit count is unknown)]]. They take them at gunpoint into one of hundreds of derelict row-houses, kill them and cover the body in lime, then wrap them in a plastic sheet and board the house back up.
* DisproportionateRetribution:

* DivorceIsTemporary: In a season 2 episode [=McNulty=] and his ex-wife have a passionate one night stand, the next morning he thinks they're back together but she insists that its just a one time thing. [[spoiler: Averted trope. They never get back together for the remainder of the series]].

* TheDogBitesBack: Attempted in the fourth season of wherein Rawls reveals Burrell's manipulation of the stats to the newly elected Carcetti. Backfires when Carcetti lacks sufficient political clout to have Burrell fired.

* DontAnswerThat:

** It can refer to the act of "walking the wire"--that is, to the metaphorical "balancing act" that Baltimore cops must perform in order to fight crime while staying loyal to the forces that perpetuate it.

* DoYouWantToHaggle: The reason for Proposition Joe's name.

* DrivenToSuicide:

* DrunkDriver: Cops are regularly shown driving to an out-of-the-way spot to chat and get plastered on beer, then driving home.

* EnemyMine:

* EvenEvilHasStandards:

* EvilWillFail: In season 1, the nature of "The Game" of drug dealing has everyone looking out for themselves, to the point where innocent bystanders or even friends who might pose a risk have to be dealt with. It's this repeated brutality that ends up winning allies for the investigation team again and again from players who want out after someone they care about gets hurt.

* {{Expy}}: Johnny, Bubbles' friend and fellow addict, is basically an extension of Leo Fitzpatrick's character from ''Kids''. Carcetti is based on current Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley (though O'Malley himself apparently exists in the world of The Wire, having been referred to once in season 5.)

* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: No matter who gets put away, the Game is the Game.

* FlashBack: Used ''once''. In the ''{{Pilot}}''. ''To a scene from earlier in the pilot.'' [[ExecutiveMeddling Enforced by HBO]] against David Simon inclinations, who ended up conceding it was probably a good addition anyway.

* ForgottenFallenFriend:
** Subverted. It seems as though [[spoiler: Wallace]] has been pretty well forgotten by Poot and Bodie after season one, but the mention of his name in season four provokes Bodie into panicked alarm.

* FramingTheGuiltyParty:

* GangstaStyle:

* {{Gayngster}}:

* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery / SympatheticAdulterer: In season 1 D'Angelo hooking up with Shardene despite having a wife and young child (who he led Shardene to believe he was separated from) was depicted very sympathetically. His wife Donette hooking up with Stringer in season 2 wasn't depicted so sympathetically, especially since Stringer [[spoiler:was the one who arranged D'Angelo's death]].

* GreedyJew: Maurice Levy, the AmoralAttorney who profits handsomely by protecting drug dealers, makes a number of references to his Jewish culture, while Rhonda Pearlman, his honest counterpart, is also Jewish, but [[AllThereInTheManual you'd never know it]].

* HelloAttorney: Rhonda Pearlman. Both in and out of universe.

* HiddenInPlainSight: The Greek rarely meets contacts directly, instead sitting and inconspicuously reading a newspaper nearby while his second-in-command Spiros talks to them, allowing him to know what's going on and remain anonymous.

* IncompatibleOrientation:
** [=McNulty=] starts to pull the moves on Greggs, but he is informed better by Bubbles

* INeverSaidItWasPoison:

* InfantImmortality: True to the trope, not only do children get killed in the series (usually by stray bullets although if Wallace counts then not always), but Cheese also shoots his dog dead.

* IronicEcho: Many. Prominent examples include:

* JurisdictionFriction: Inverted.

* JustAKid:

'''Michael''': "And that's just a knee."\\ ]]

* KarmaHoudini: Subverted by [[spoiler:Marlo's]] ambiguous fate. Played straight many times: [[spoiler:Maurice Levy]], [[spoiler:Andy Krawczyk]], [[spoiler:Scott Templeton]], [[spoiler:Valchek]], [[spoiler:The Greeks]], and [[spoiler:Senator Davis]], among others.

** [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death also qualifies, as it's a direct result of [[spoiler:his attempts to set Omar and Brother Mouzone against each other.]]
* KickTheDog:

* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: One editorial conflict at the Sun may very well apply to the show and its [[ViewersAreGeniuses intellectual respect for the viewer]]; [[AuthorAvatar Gus]] defends stories with uncompromising integrity and deep sociological examination while the editor thinks such [[ViewersAreMorons overcomplexity needs te be watered down]] to have any kind of success.

* LiesDamnedLiesAndStatistics:
** A source of disfunctionality and discontent among the ranks; the police work is not shaped to tackle the roots of the urban problems but to polish the clearence rates, cooking the numbers if necessary. Unmodified data is leaked as a political weapon against the Commissioner and detectives who alter with his actions the workload of the Homicide unit are heavily frowned upon.
-->'''Landsman:''' You know what he is? He is a vandal. He is vandalizing the board. He is vandalizing this unit. He is a Hun, a Visigoth, a barbarian at the gate, clamoring for noble Roman blood and what's left of our clearance rate.

* MamaBear:

** Wallace, Michael and Dukie's mothers were even worse, since they were all junkies who couldn't care less about their sons' well being. Wallace ran away from home and lived in the low rise projects with other (presumably) runaway kids for this reason. Dukie was constantly deprived of essential needs, and had to rely on what his teacher gave him, and eventually [[spoiler: stayed in Michael's place, which he acquired after getting involved in the drug game]]. In Michael's case, he was forced to take responsibility of the welfare money issued out to his mother every month, because she kept using it on drugs instead of food, clothes and other household essentials. If Michael didn't step up to the task, he and his little brother would have starved.
* ManlyTears:

* MarriedToTheJob: Kima and [=McNulty=], who gets a [[{{Foreshadowing}} prophetic]] "Get a life" [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QEHlxICU3I speech from Lester]].

* MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot: Season Two: Wharfie with [[SuspiciousSpending suspicious]] amounts of money buys a stained-glass window for a church + Shipping container full of dead prostitutes -> International drug and human smuggling cartel, city-wide crime organizations merging.

* TheMole:

* MommasBoy: D'angelo shoes some signs of this early on, but Namond fits this trope fully.

* MotivationalLie: Stringer likes to use them to control how people will act, such as getting Brother Mouzone and Omar to fight each other. Later, [[spoiler:after Stringer dies]], Slim Charles uses [[spoiler:Stringer's]] death as one to get the Barksdale crew ready to fight Marlo.

** D'Angelo is soft and not really cut out for the game, but his kinship with of Avon (his uncle) gives him great leeway.

* NewJobEpisode: Not an actual ''episode''. [=McNulty=] is forced to work in the Baltimore Marine Unit for half of the second season as revenge by his former commander.
* NeverHeardThatOneBefore:

* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished:
** Before season 1 started, Lester Freamon had been forced to work in the pawn shop unit for, well, doing his job investigating a homicide.
** [=McNulty=] gets a similar treatment at the end of season 1 for getting people in his homicide unit involved in the drug case that season 1 was all about.
** Haynes and Gutierrez also find this out the hard way in Season 5.

* NotSoDifferent:

* PacManFever:

** Omar showing affection to [[FriendToAllChildren the adorable baby of a dope fiend]] hitting him up for a free fix is the first sign that he's more than just a criminal. In season three, it's revealed that he also takes his grandmother to church once a month.

* PhraseCatcher:

* PlotArmor:

* PoliceProcedural: In this case a huge {{Deconstruction}}.

* {{Prequel}}: Omar, Proposition Joe, [=McNulty=] and Bunk's backstories were shown in short vignettes before the premiere of the fifth season, to heighten speculation about [[TonightSomeoneDies who would die]].

* PragmaticVillainy:

** In Season 3, once Stringer Bell tooks over Avon Barksdale's drug empire, he negotiates with other Baltimore players to create a co-op; his period of control marking what was almost certainly a low point in violent drug-crime, since it wasn't in the best interests of any of the dealers. Stringer had also been taking economics courses, and so this pragmatic course of action was a [[ShownTheirWork solid application]] of coordinated action to avoid the "tragedy of the commons". [[spoiler: Unfortunately for them, Marlo's refusal to join their cartel and continued use of violence also solidly illustrated the free-rider problem and "prisoner's dilemma".]]

* PunchClockVillain: Various individuals of the Barksdale organization would qualify; D'Angelo pretty much treats his criminal actions as a profession.

* RabidCop:

* RealMenWearPink:

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Quite a lot of them considering the cynical nature of the series, though none are without flaws. Cedric Daniels is shown to be a good cop at heart, but he's very ambitious. Howard Colvin is a father to his men, but he risks everything on a poorly conceived gambit that inspires some [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech angry tirades]] from cops. Frank Sobotka does everything he can to save the docks, but essentially sells his soul to do so. Carcetti seems to be one during his early career and political campaign, but his ambition causes him to go down the same roads as everyone else. Prez turns into one over the course of season 4, though he'd already shown himself to be a truley incompetent and even violent cop.

** Daniels, when he's assigned to Evidence Control.
** D'Angelo after he returns home from jail.

* ReformedButRejected:

** Potentially played straight with Michael's stepfather in Season 4, although the entire arc is shrouded in ambiguity.

* RightInFrontOfMe:

* RustproofBlood:

* SchmuckBait:

* SeriousBusiness:

* SexSlave: The plot of Season 2 kicks off when a shipping container full of dead Eastern European sex slaves are found on the Baltimore docks.

* ShoutOut:

** In season five, Dukie and Bug watch ''{{Dexter}}'' and are obvious fans. This is probably another TakeThat, calling the show childish.

** Omar and Dante are shown watching a season six episode of ''{{Oz}}'' together.
** Some of the cops choose music on their car stereos to compliment their mood. When rallying to shut down Hamsterdam, Rawls plays [[ApocalypseNow "The Ride of the Valkyries"]]. When prepping to chase drug runners down alleys, Herc chooses the {{Shaft}} theme.

** A TakeThat to ''{{CSI}}''; when Greggs lands in Homicide she suffers a number of [[NaiveNewcomer novice practical jokes]], she eventually asks if they are coming again with "some other "CSI" bullshit that don't exist?" . A second TakeThat via the [[SmugSnake petulant and not really competent]] FBI boss who says he is a consultant for that show.
** Senator Davis brings up ''Series/{{Survivor}}'', ''{{FearFactor}}'' and ''Theatre/PrometheusBound'' in his ChewbaccaDefense

* SirSwearsALot: Played straight with almost every character from the police, the politicians, corner boys, workers, and fiends. Notably averted by Omar Little, who ([[CharacterizationMarchesOn after one incident early in season one]]) never swears at all. When he finally breaks his habit in an explitive-laden public tirade against Marlo, it's a sign of his degenerating composure and state of mind.

* SophisticatedAsHell:

* StuffedIntoTheFridge: [[spoiler: Omar's boyfriend, Brandon Wright. [[DeadGuyOnDisplay Displayed on the hood of a car in the projects]]]].
* SuperWindowJump: Unfortunately, it [[{{Deconstruction}} doesn't work too well]] for [[spoiler:Omar]]; he ends up with a broken leg that never fully heals. [[hottip:*: RealityIsUnrealistic; the event actually had to be downplayed compared with the real life incident, which happened from a higher altitude and resulting in lesser injuries for Donnie Andrews]]

** On top of which Omar stood in front of him long enough for the witness to take a good look at his face.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Happens more often than the average show. [=McNulty=] has gotten more than one over the course of five season, even Rawls slipped one in while trying to console Jimmy in the wake of Kima getting shot. Omar got a nasty one from Bunk in Season 3. Carver got a rare lenient one from Colvin on how he isn't much of a police officer. Even Avon calls Stringer out when he grows tired of him trying to avoid war even after Avon is almost killed. The best one had to be Nick Sobatka slapping Frog hard with his "You Know You're White?" speech.

* ThreeWaySex: Jimmy has a threesome with two prostitutes while he is undercover during a bust; he ends up justifying it as, "I was outnumbered." and has to write a report on why he did it, as obviously he wasn't meant to "close the deal" before the other police arrived to arrest everyone. It becomes such a legend in the Baltimore PD that other characters are [[NeverLiveItDown still talking about it]] several seasons later.
* TooCleverByHalf:

* TookALevelInBadass:

** Lampshaded by Bunk and [=McNulty=] regarding Beadie, "She wasn't much when we started, now she's got game"

* TragicHero[=/=]SympatheticCriminal: Frank Sobotka is an intricate character and in consonancy with the complexity of the show he is portrayed with AntiVillain, WellIntentionedExtremist etc traits, but in any case he gets dragged into the nefarious game while his only goal is to save the comatose waterfront and the jobs of his workers.

* ViewerFriendlyInterface:

* VillainousBreakdown:

* VomitingCop:

* TheWarOnTerror:

** Season 2 has the closest FBI-BPD collaboration since waterfronts are a homeland security issue

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:

* WhiteGangBangers:

* WorthyOpponent:

* OutOfContextVillain: The smugglers and human trafficers in Season 2. The cop protagonists are very experienced in the customs and economy of the drug trade in Baltimore, but most are life-long Baltimore natives and not particularly worldly, with almost no knowledge of how the smuggling world operates.

* VillainsOutShopping: Several times. In the Third Season, Herc and Carver run into Poot and Bodie while all four of them are on dates. The fourth season opens with a hilarious scene of [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE-uY7P3pe4 Snoop buying a nailgun]] at Home Depot. In Season 1 [=McNulty=] catches Stringer Bell out grocery shopping and has his children tail him, a fact that doesn't impress his estranged wife. A reversed example has Stringer [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0oVG9bLHP0 trying to ''sell'']] a condo to [=McNulty=].

* UnwinnableByDesign: According to Bodie ("This game is rigged man") and Marla Daniels ("You cannot lose if you do not play.") amongst others, The system itself in The Wire is designed by those at the top to screw over those below them

* IShallTauntYou: Omar uses this against Marlo, who places his name and street reputation above everything.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: You're expected to keep up with multiple plot lines, a dozen-plus characters and their sub-stories, and all their field terminology with no {{Expospeak}} provided. David Simon's line "Fuck the average viewer" famously summarizes his writing sytle.

* ViewersAreGeniuses: You're expected to keep up with multiple plot lines, a dozen-plus characters and their sub-stories, and all their field terminology with no {{Expospeak}} provided.

* DeathGlare: The non-verbal part of the frequent WhatTheHellHero Bunk gives to [=McNulty=] in season 5. [[http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz352/WhammyBusiness/BunkHeadShaking.gif One downplayed example]]

* DirectedByCastMember: The season 5 episode "Took" was directed by Dominic West ([=McNulty=]). Clark Johnson also directed several episodes, even before he joined the cast as editor Augustus "Gus" Haynes.
* DisposableVagrant : Zigzagged; invoked and deconstructed. [[spoiler:[=McNulty=] brilliantly fabricates a fraudulent serial-killer case around or inverting this trope using forsaken vagrant victims in order to atract media and political attention and divert funds to real police work. He even "abducts" one live vagrant to further drive the point home.]]

-->'''Bubble''': You a dog [=McNulty=]? Cos if you are, [[DudeShesALesbian you are barking at the wrong pussy]].

* SurroundedByIdiots: Stringer feels this way at times in Seasons 3 and 2. Comically aggravated by his use of complex economics terms with hardly literate underlings.

[[UsefulNotes/{{Baltimore}} Baltimore]] is ''back'', baby. If you feel the need to make stories that blow past the boundaries of detective/crime drama, you need to be working a Baltimore setting. ''HomicideLifeOnTheStreet'' set the bar. ''The Wire'' doesn't just jump that bar, it executes a triple somersault and lands perfectly on the other side.