Best show ever on television in history. I began watching this television show on its original debut and at the time my father was a police officer, more specifically a narcotics detective, in a medium sized city/department (nothing of course like the size of the Baltimore Police Department). Now when I began watching this I was fascinated as Law Enforcement was the career path I also wanted to take and I remember having previously watched some Police themed television shows (or movies) and having my father critique everything the Police did. When we began watching this I heard no negativity coming from my father and I asked him how close was this show to being like the "real thing" and he said "almost too close". This of course was him referring to the Police tactics used when doing surveillance or when the were doing an actual wire. I continued watching this show and prior to the final season I also became a Police Officer in the same Department as my father and although I worked patrol I understood how spot on this show was. So the long and short of my story is that I can speak as a Police Officer and assure anyone who has yet to watch this show or if they were thinking this was going to be another stereotypical cop show, that it is not, it is truly what the job is like from the way the criminals act, to the Police sense of humor, the demons a lot of Police Officers face such as alcohol abuse, marriage problems, the battle within your own department, the role the media plays in the job/life of cops and the politics that truly run and overtake the job of Police work. I can not say enough about the amount of research that went into creating this show and the creators truly did what I feel is the best job of preparing to create the show.
Along with this preparation and research the casting done is perfect. From experience I like how all of the Police Officers are not made out to be super heroes with flawless bodies and perfect personalities. I also like how the criminals working the street level drug trade are portrayed exactly how I observe them day in and day out in my profession. The interaction between cop and criminal is perfect and even from my point of view I sometimes find myself cheering for the bad guy. And probably the best character ever in any television show or movie is Omar. Without giving too much away Omar is like the Ghettos Robin Hood and despite your personal feelings I know that you will find yourself loving this character and truly routing for him.
Each season gives a different look into the working relationships between police and community. Be it the criminals both small time and big time. The political relationship between cops and the city/government. The role the school district plays and the important battle between the Police and the Media. Although most of the people I know who have watched this series say they lose some interest in season two as it somewhat gets away from the drug dealers on the streets and shows a more high level drug problem involving union workers on the Docks and overseas suppliers. Now after the drug slinging, gun shooting, body dropping search warrant door busting excitement of season one, it can be a little slow. But having said that I assure you that I too felt that way when I first watched this series but now that I have re-watched the entire series again I can say that season two, if paid close attention to is just as exciting and very important to the show in the end.
My only complaint I have with this show is that they stopped making episodes. It was truly a sad series to see end and although I understand it is hard to keep a good thing going for long, I miss the show because as I had said earlier I truly could relate to it. Highly recommend this series to anyone who has yet to watch, BEST SHOW in television history.
Along with this preparation and research the casting done is perfect. From experience I like how all of the Police Officers are not made out to be super heroes with flawless bodies and perfect personalities. I also like how the criminals working the street level drug trade are portrayed exactly how I observe them day in and day out in my profession. The interaction between cop and criminal is perfect and even from my point of view I sometimes find myself cheering for the bad guy. And probably the best character ever in any television show or movie is Omar. Without giving too much away Omar is like the Ghettos Robin Hood and despite your personal feelings I know that you will find yourself loving this character and truly routing for him.
Each season gives a different look into the working relationships between police and community. Be it the criminals both small time and big time. The political relationship between cops and the city/government. The role the school district plays and the important battle between the Police and the Media. Although most of the people I know who have watched this series say they lose some interest in season two as it somewhat gets away from the drug dealers on the streets and shows a more high level drug problem involving union workers on the Docks and overseas suppliers. Now after the drug slinging, gun shooting, body dropping search warrant door busting excitement of season one, it can be a little slow. But having said that I assure you that I too felt that way when I first watched this series but now that I have re-watched the entire series again I can say that season two, if paid close attention to is just as exciting and very important to the show in the end.
My only complaint I have with this show is that they stopped making episodes. It was truly a sad series to see end and although I understand it is hard to keep a good thing going for long, I miss the show because as I had said earlier I truly could relate to it. Highly recommend this series to anyone who has yet to watch, BEST SHOW in television history.