Is the show just not shot in widescreen?

Not that this is a particularly wild prediction but I would guess Omar probably dies. He would either need to die or leave town for good for the show to maintain any kind of realism after what happened last season, and the latter doesn't seem like something they would do.

Unlike, say, Law and Order, The Wire doesn't portray the defense bar generally; it portrays Maurice Levy, one defense attorney on retainer to an organized criminal enterprise; I wouldn't generalize from that data point. In any event, Levy is far more effective than the endless parade of incompetent defense lawyers on Law and Order.

it portrays Maurice Levy, one defense attorney on retainer to an organized criminal enterprise.

I'd endorse that view: Levy is not an ordinary defense lawyer, he's effectively what everybody thinks of as a mob lawyer who facilitates the activities of Barksdale/Bell's continuing criminal enterprise. Maybe I'm forgetting something, but there's not really many other criminal defense attorneys portrayed by the series.

Actually, I'd go the other way on Levy. How long could an attorney realistically expect to work that way without picking up a RICO indictment? Or even civil forfeiture of the fees he receives from the Barksdale/Bell people? (Both anyone start, yes, my question absolutely leads to an interest in and experience with the exciting career opportunities in the world of drug lawyering.) It seems like Levy operates with more impunity than he would have in real life.

"The Wire" is in the queue, but I'm still working my way through "The Sopranos" (currently halfway through season 4)

Yeah, I know I'm hopelessly behind, but I figure it's just TV, so what's the hurry? I may even rent an episode of Seinfeld eventually to see what all the fuss was about.

>I'd endorse that view: Levy is not an ordinary defense lawyer, he's effectively what everybody thinks of as a mob lawyer who facilitates the activities of Barksdale/Bell's continuing criminal enterprise.
***
>Actually, I'd go the other way on Levy. How long could an attorney realistically expect to work that way without picking up a RICO indictment? Or even civil forfeiture of the fees he receives from the Barksdale/Bell people?

In defense of the show's realism, remember that Levy's clients, and the enterprise they represent, were only the targets of state prosecutions. Defense lawyers only face a significant risk of fee forfeiture proceedings and RICO prosecutions when the U.S. Attorney's office joins the game.

Uh Clem: get S4 of The Wire as soon as possible, because S5 begins in early January. I missed the first few episodes of S4 on HBO, then had to listen to all the raves while I waited for months and months before it was released on DVD. Put The Sopranos on hold.

I can sympathize with the mild objection that the only criminal defense attorney is pretty much a stereotypical Jewish attorney. He's also the only Jew (I think) in the whole program, so in my mind he stands out even more. Here's what I didn't like very much: all of the black politicians were corrupt, incompetent, and interested only in personal or racial advancement at the expense of the public good. Every one. Only the white politician, the mayor, stands out. Unlike his portrayal in earlier episodes (ambitious, cutthroat, unfaithful to his wife), in S4 he became virtuous almost to a fault. Seriously, what other Wire character is that good through and through? The Wire gets and deserves great praise for its realistic portrayal of life in Baltimore, but the white mayor is the one exception, and is in sharp contrast to the black public servants. What's up with that?

I have other similar objections to The Wire, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying it.

I'll disagree with the characterization of Carcetti as virtuous to a fault in Season 4. Sure, they build him up throughout the season, but that is only to accentuate the rug pulling that takes place in the last episode.

*Spoilers*

In other words, we expect him to do the "right thing" (according to his wife) and take the money for the schools, but instead let's the her, the audience, and Norman Wilson (note the bar scene at the end) down by rejecting it with an eye toward becoming Governor in 2 years.

Uh clem: you are right. I'd assumed you'd watched the first 3 seasons.

C Miller: The choice between accepting and rejecting the money is a far more balanced one than you're giving it credit; the money comes only if the mayor cedes control of Baltimore schools to the state (and suffers the resulting local outrage). In any case, if choosing -- after tortured consideration -- to reject the state's money is his only visible fault, that kinda makes my point, no?

>>But why should this be so? Maryland certainly has its own forfeiture laws.

The Maryland statute is much narrower than the Comprehensive Crime Control Act under which U.S. Attorneys can bring forfeiture proceedings to seize fees paid to defense lawyers. Maryland law only applies to money found in close proximity to drugs and forfeitable records. By contrast, the CCC exposes to forfeiture as derivative contraband money previously paid as fees to defense lawyers who represent clients later convicted of drug offenses.

Local police departments and prosecutors lack the resources and sometimes the independence to build the kind of complex case required to prosecute the occasional lawyer who joins the game; they are much better at catching lawyers who use drugs than at catching lawyers who facilitate criminal enterprises.

Don't forget that The Wire's Levy is a rare bird; most defense lawyers are honorable men and women who would never become part of the game. There are plenty of fine ethical lawyers who still defend federal drug cases in Miami.

* Spoilers *

Specast, I admit that it was a complicated issue, but it seemed to me that Carcetti rejected the money mainly with an eye toward being governor. I know that his advisors raised the concerns you mentioned, but it seemed to me that he rejected the money mainly to save face. In fact, doesn't he say specifically that the reason he rejected the money was because the governor wanted to give it to him at a dog and pony show in front of the press? And while I know that the writers don't talk through any specific character, I think that the scene in the bar about "always letting you down" seemed to be the writers making their point pretty clearly.

(1) Humble Law Student writes that he or she found Season 3 boring. I completely disagree. I would contend that Season 3 is the best season so far (and Seasons 1 &4 were fantastic).

(2) On Levy, David Simon, who is himself Jewish, has said that Levy is a composite of several real people. Regarding Levy's Jewishness:

“If I have people from every other tribe in Baltimore portrayed negatively, everyone is maligned in some way, how can I not do that to the Jewish guy? How can I pull that punch? At that point I’m just being hypercritical. Here are good people from my own tribe who say how can you do that, and my answer is how can I not?”

(3) I agree with BDK that Deadwood is phenomenal. I'm not sure if I'd say that Deadwood is superior to the Wire, though. Deadwood explores some fascinating subjects--how is order established in the absence of law?--but I'm continually floored by the aching tragedy (and realism) of the Wire.