9 Major Reasons It's Never Too Late to Watch The Wire

Each season of The Wire hones in on a different aspect of city government — from the police department to the mayor's office. The show is particularly good at depicting the frustrations brought on by bureaucracy and the inability to enact any sort of real change as a result. What's interesting is that the show also follows what happens when officials, like Police Major Howard "Bunny" Colvin, manage to circumvent the system and "f*ck the bosses."

As a terrorizing vigilante who robs drug dealers, Omar Little (Michael K. Williams) is a Shakespearean antihero for the ages. Everything about him frightens street-level dealers and bigger players alike — his hyperbolic shotgun, his complex masculinity, his homosexuality, and his moral code — because while he is deadly, his refusal to harm innocent civilians and bystanders makes him sympathetic and almost justified in his actions.

Detective Kima Greggs (Sonja Sohn) is reason enough to get into The Wire. Though she struggles with issues mainly related to her love life and other vices, she's damn good at her job and it is a joy to watch her show up the other detectives with such ease.

Though Idris Elba had acting gigs prior to The Wire, the show gave him a larger platform to show off his skills. Elba absolutely nailed this portrayal of Stringer Bell, a high-level dealer plotting his way out of the criminal world and into a housing development enterprise. His Baltimore accent is also so convincing that it's likely you'll forget he's British.

The show certainly doesn't lack surprising plot twists; however, it also doesn't manipulate its audience with gimmicky cliffhangers and unnecessary drama. Despite all of the action, it still manages to maintain a sense of realism.

Because of the violence and heartbreak, The Wire might not be a show you'd necessarily want to binge-watch — and that's OK! However, the show does do a really good job of juxtaposing the tension with amusing banter, ongoing inside jokes, and, of course, a character called Bunk Moreland — whom you will come to know and love.

Watching the series in 2016 is a pretty sobering reminder of how little the criminal justice and education systems have changed over the last few decades. The police brutality occasionally depicted throughout the five seasons certainly resonates with current social injustices and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement. President Obama even sat down with the show's creator, David Simon, to discuss law enforcement and the prosecution of drug offenses.

The Wire isn't a show that you can watch lazily. Even if you're the most mindful viewer, you'll still probably miss interesting details, subtle cues, and some deliberate foreshadowing — which makes it a show you could easily watch over and over again.