The fifth and final season of the television series The Wire commenced airing in the United States on January 6, 2008, and concluded on March 9, 2008; it was the show's shortest season with 10 episodes. The series introduced a fictionalized version of the Baltimore Sun newsroom, while continuing to follow the Baltimore police department and city hall, and the Stanfield crime syndicate.
The fifth season aired on Sundays at 9:00 pm ET in the United States. The season was released on DVD as a four-disc boxed set under the title of The Wire: The Complete Fifth Season on August 12, 2008 by HBO Video.
Production HBO announced on September 12, 2006, that a fifth and final season consisting of 13 episodesbut later reduced to tenhad been commissioned. Production for Season 5 officially began on April 30, 2007. Filming wrapped early in the morning of September 1, 2007 and the first episode aired on January 6, 2008.
In an interview with Slate on December 1, 2006, David Simon said that Season 5 would be about the media and media consumption. A major focus would be journalism, which would be dramatized through a newspaper modeled after The Baltimore Sun. The theme, according to Simon, would deal with "what stories get told and what don't and why it is that things stay the same."
Issues such as the quest for profit, the decrease in the number of reporters, and the end of aspiration for news quality would all be addressed, alongside the theme of homelessness. In the same interview, Simon indicated that no other theme seemed substantial enough to warrant a sixth season, except possibly the large influx of Latinos into Baltimore. He noted, however, that since no writer on the show spoke Spanish or had any intimate knowledge of the city's Latino population, the field work would be too cumbersome.
At the Night at the Wire event on June 9, 2007, Simon stated that Detective Sydnor is the only character who remains morally clean by the end of the show, but not perfectly since "after all, this is The Wire." He also hinted that Mayor Carcetti might make a run for governor.
The series continued the show's examination of the devaluing of human life and institutional dysfunction. The increased scope of the season to include the media allowed this theme to be explored through an examination of "the people who are supposed to be monitoring all this and sounding the alarm — the journalists." In particular Simon has spoken about the devaluing of the reporter in terms of downsizing a newspaper staff and the management expecting to do "more with less" when he asserts that in reality, you can only do "less with less."
The series realism has been reported as being maintained particularly through the accurate dialogue and use of contemporary slang. Series creator David Simon further expanded on the thematic content of season five in an interview with Fancast/Inside TV. Critic David Zurawik saw the unifying theme of the season as "public and private lies," particularly those perpetuated by the media and told by Jimmy McNulty in protest against cutbacks in the police department. TV Guide writer Matt Roush also saw the central theme as lies and characterized it as "deeply and darkly ironic."
Promotion
A preview for Season 5 of The Wire aired on HBO on October 28, 2007 and was later made available on YouTube. HBO sent critics the first seven episodes on DVD in December 2007.
HBO's On Demand and multiplatform marketing division approached creator David Simon about producing exclusive on-demand content and three short prequel clips were produced that take place prior to the linear storyline of the show. The clips were made available via Amazon.com from December 5 and through HBO's on-demand service from December 15.
The first video takes place in 1962 and focuses on the school days of drug kingpin Proposition Joe; the second is set in 1985 and focuses on Omar Little making an early robbery; the third video is set in 2000 and shows the first meeting of Jimmy McNulty (played by Dominic West) and Bunk Moreland (Wendell Pierce). The clips aired after Season 5 episodes as they premiered starting January 6, 2008.
Locations At that Night at the Wire event, fans were allowed to tour the Baltimore Sun newsroom constructed for the show. The real newspaper allowed the show to use their name but stipulated that no current employees could appear in the series. The newsroom was an entirely built set constructed at the show's out-of-town soundstage.
The actual Washington Post newsroom was also featured, as one reporter visits for an interview. The Wire is the first production to be allowed to film at the location; even the film All the President's Men about the paper's role in breaking the Watergate scandal had to build a set to represent the paper.
Cast
It was rumored in August 2007 that Homicide: Life on the Street stars Richard Belzer and Clark Johnson would guest star in the fifth season. Johnson was later confirmed as joining the starring cast to play Gus Haynes, "a city editor who tries to hold the line against dwindling coverage, buyouts, and pseudo-news."The New Yorker described an early scene from the season where Haynes rants about a reporter inserting a charred doll into scenes of fires to eke more sympathy from his readers. Johnson also directed the final episode of the show. In the episode "Took," Belzer made a cameo appearance as John Munch, the police detective he had portrayed since 1993 on Homicide: Life on the Street (1993–1999) and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999–2013).
The majority of the starring cast from the fourth season returned. On the police front, Dominic West returned as Jimmy McNulty with a larger storyline than the fourth season; John Doman as Deputy Commissioner William Rawls; Seth Gilliam as Western district Sergeant Ellis Carver; Corey Parker Robinson as Major Case Unit detective Leander Sydnor; Deirdre Lovejoy as prosecutor Rhonda Pearlman; Clarke Peters as veteran Detective Lester Freamon; Wendell Pierce as veteran homicide Detective Bunk Moreland; Lance Reddick as Colonel Cedric Daniels; and Sonja Sohn as Detective Kima Greggs.
In the political storyline, Aidan Gillen returned as ambitious Mayor Tommy Carcetti; as well as Reg E. Cathey as political aide Norman Wilson; and Domenick Lombardozzi as troubled defense investigator Thomas "Herc" Hauk.
In the street, Jamie Hector returned as West-side drug kingpin Marlo Stanfield. Also returning for the street storyline were Andre Royo as heroin addict Bubbles; and Michael K. Williams as underworld legend Omar Little.
Former recurring characters who joined the main cast were Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee, Gbenga Akinnagbe as Chris Partlow, Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems, Isiah Whitlock, Jr. as corrupt State Senator Clay Davis, Michael Kostroff as defense attorney Maurice Levy, and Neal Huff as Mayoral chief of staff Michael Steintorf.
In addition to Johnson, joining the main cast in the journalism story line were Tom McCarthy as morally challenged reporter Scott Templeton and Michelle Paress as reporter Alma Gutierrez.
Season 4 main cast members Frankie Faison, Jim True-Frost, Robert Wisdom, and Chad L. Coleman, who played Ervin Burrell, Roland "Prez" Pryzbylewski, Howard "Bunny" Colvin and Dennis "Cutty" Wise, respectively, had recurring but not starring roles in the season.
Other returning guest stars included Steve Earle as drug counsellor Walon; Anwan Glover as Slim Charles; Robert F. Chew as drug kingpin Proposition Joe; Method Man as drug lieutenant Melvin "Cheese" Wagstaff; Felicia Pearson as the eponymous criminal enforcer Felicia "Snoop" Pearson; Chris Ashworth as former enforcer for the Greeks Sergei "Serge" Malatov; Wood Harris as fallen kingpin Avon Barksdale; Marlyne Afflack as city council president Nerese Campbell; and Amy Ryan as McNulty's domestic partner Beadie Russell. The return of guest stars from past seasons was described in reviews as a reward to loyal viewers.
New recurring guest stars included David Costabile, Sam Freed, Bruce Kirkpatrick, Todd Scofield, Kara Quick, and Donald Neal.
Continuing the show's trend of using non-professional actors and real-life Baltimore figures, several ex-Baltimore Sun reporters appeared in recurring roles. The editor character Rebecca Corbett, played by actress Kara Quick, was named after and based on Simon's former editor at the Baltimore Sun who now works at The New York Times; the real Rebecca Corbett has a cameo near the end of the series. Writer and former political reporter William F. Zorzi gained further screen time after his season 1 cameo.
Steve Luxenberg, the editor responsible for hiring Simon at The Sun, also had a role. Simon's wife Laura Lippman also appeared as a reporter in an early scene alongside Michael Olesker, another former Sun reporter. Baltimore attorney Billy Murphy appeared as a lawyer for corrupt Senator Clay Davis, and former senator and current radio host Larry Young conducted a fictional interview with the character. Former police commissioner Ed Norris returned in his recurring role as a homicide detective with the same name.
Main cast Dominic West as Jimmy McNulty (10 episodes), an intelligent but egotistical BPD homicide detective who comes up with an outlandish plan to secure department funding. Reg E. Cathey as Norman Wilson (10 episodes), Carcetti's aide who is left disillusioned after he prioritizes running for governor over helping Baltimore. John Doman as William Rawls (9 episodes), the BPD's deputy commissioner. Aidan Gillen as Thomas "Tommy" Carcetti (10 episodes), Baltimore's mayor who is forced to choose between furthering his political ambitions or helping the city. Clark Johnson as Augustus "Gus" Haynes (10 episodes), a principled Baltimore Sun city editor who grows suspicious of Templeton's reporting. Deirdre Lovejoy as Rhonda Pearlman (9 episodes), the deputy chief prosecutor of the BPD's violent crimes unit and Daniels's partner. Tom McCarthy as Scott Templeton (10 episodes), a Baltimore Sun reporter who has a habit of embellishing and fabricating details of his stories. Clarke Peters as Lester Freamon (10 episodes), an intelligent BPD major crimes detective who pursues Marlo, Davis, and department funding. Wendell Pierce as William "Bunk" Moreland (10 episodes), an intelligent BPD homicide detective who looks for ways to connect Marlo to a murder. Lance Reddick as Cedric Daniels (9 episodes), a BPD commander who Carcetti has his eye on to succeed Burrell. Andre Royo as Reginald "Bubbles" Cousins (6 episodes), a friendly former heroin addict who struggles to make peace with his checkered past. Sonja Sohn as Shakima "Kima" Greggs (10 episodes), a BPD homicide detective who tries to reconnect with her young son. Seth Gilliam as Ellis Carver (7 episodes), a principled BPD sergeant. Domenick Lombardozzi as Thomas "Herc" Hauk (5 episodes), a former BPD sergeant who now works as an investigator for Levy. Michael K. Williams as Omar Little (6 episodes), an extremely dangerous robber who is forced out of retirement by the death of a friend. Gbenga Akinnagbe as Christopher "Chris" Partlow (9 episodes), Marlo's quiet, ruthless underboss. Jamie Hector as Marlo Stanfield (9 episodes), a drug kingpin that seeks revenge on his enemies now that he is fully in power. Neal Huff as Michael Steintorf (9 episodes), Carcetti's chief of staff who is most concerned with the budget and statistics of City Hall. Jermaine Crawford as Duquan "Dukie" Weems (8 episodes), Michael's intelligent friend who finds himself out of place in the Stanfield Organization. Corey Parker Robinson as Leander Sydnor (9 episodes), an ambitious BPD major crimes detective who works to crack the code Marlo communicates to his dealers with. Tristan Wilds as Michael Lee (9 episodes), a young Stanfield Organization soldier who begins to doubt Marlo's leadership.