Nostalgia to the Test: The Wire

I watched The Wire about 4 years ago when HBO GO first launched. I came to series after it had become television legend, many critics heralding it as the greatest television drama of all time. When I sat down to watch the series for the first time it seemingly surpassed those lofty expectations. A testament to the shows quality and groundbreaking innovations that to this day have not entirely been surpassed. So here we are, 12 years after the show first premiered and 4 years since my first viewing, I've decided to revisit the series, on the one hand because HBO has remastered the entire series with direction and approval from the original creators. The changes aren't limited to higher resolution, the series which was original broadcast in standard definition with a 4:3 ratio can now be seen in high definition widescreen (16:9). Many scenes have also been color corrected to fix shots or entire scenes that were previously too dark or simply hued in a displeasing way. In this feature I'll not only discuss the pros and cons of the HD remaster of this beloved series but I will also reassess my thoughts on a show that till this day I've considered a masterclass of television and nigh untouchable.

Lets start with the technical analysis. This HD remaster has altered the show significantly, not only is every shot in widescreen displaying things that were previously just out of frame but I would argue that the change to widescreen has also altered the shows storytelling capabilities. First off, the show was shot in widescreen but broadcast in standard definition 4:3, this means those behind this remaster don't have to zoom in to get rid of the black bars that would appear on the sides of the frame on a widescreen display. This is a huge benefit, plenty of people have forcefully implemented widescreen, as you can see on the right, and the zoomed in effect is terrible, actors are cropped out and the entire feel becomes very claustrophobic. The Wire was shot in widescreen so this is thankfully not a problem, the original negatives contain the entire shot, with a little touch up it looks great on a modern widescreen display. The one problem the show runs into is that anything that was just outside the original 4:3 framing is now in the shot, this can create a slew of odd shots that would never have made it past the eye of even a woefully incompetent cinematographer. Most of these are minor issues, a distracting door or a car's side view mirror now in the frame, those issues are easy to overlook. The problem comes when this new widescreen format interferes with the storytelling. Everything in film making is there to serve the story including framing, a shot that once saw bystanders extend past the frame felt like the scene was bustling now the widescreen shows their were less people than the viewer had imagined. This remastering is a marked improvement overall but there are some pretty significant issues that people may not notice upon passive inspection but subconsciously they are missing out on the original story telling intent of a scene. Check out some examples below.

The pole creates a false frame in widescreen

The original shot uses the pole as a frame

This confrontation is messy and close up

In the remaster the shot breaths removing tension

A typical over the shoulder shot

Distracting pink couch and empty space on the left

None of these issues ruin the show and overall the widescreen presentation improves on more scenes than it diminishes. The higher resolution and color correction are nothing but positive results of this remaster. Scenes that were too washed out are toned down, scenes that were too dark are lightened up and various odd hues, particularly yellows, are removed completely for a cleaner look that you could mistaken was shot on modern cameras only yesterday. But does the show hold up.

I'm happy to say, it does. The Wire is rightfully considered one of the greatest television shows in history. Every character is a fascinating and multilayered person that you'll like in one moment and despise the next. Major character are gay but they are not defined by their sexuality, a problem even modern shows have. The way seasons explore different aspects of crime in the city of Baltimore through the eyes of the law breakers and enforcers has still never been done before. Season 1 follows the drug trade, season 2 city port smuggling, season 3 politics and so forth. This allows the show to change up the focus and explore different types of crime following the same characters, this can sometimes be a problem though when an episode has 2 minutes of a character in jail just to remind you he is there. The show can feel bloated as we check in with characters from 2 seasons ago, it feels tangential and takes focus away from the main plot and character arcs of the current season. Having said that every character is interesting and the upside of seeing the heroin addict with a penchant for helping the cops, Bubbles or the merciless gangster with a strong moral code, Omar Little is greater than never seeing those characters again.

The Wire manages to shake up enough of the core conceit season to season that the show feels fresh each time. I'm happy to say The Wire holds up brilliantly, with the exception of some pacing issues due to overstuffed episodes, I still believe The Wire is one of the best television dramas in history and absolutely on of the most influential.