I tuned in to ds106 radio tonight to listen to the members of WMAD radio discuss the central theme of corruption in The Wire. To support their topic, they bring up moments and characters from the show including the Baltimore PD, the Barksdale crew, and Sobotka’s dealings with The Greek.

Production-wise, there were lots of pros. I enjoyed the use of clips from the show to take us back to these powerful moments, that stick with you even if you can’t see it. I also liked the use of the HBO intro track during the transitions. It also allowed me to rethink events of the show.  Unfortunately it seems feels like the central message of the TV show is that people are inherently selfish, and will do whatever they can to satisfy their wants and needs. It’s crazy to hear just how many examples of corruption occur over just two seasons. Even people using questionable methods to achieve, in their minds, good ends fall victim to the consequences of their actions. There were a few weaknesses too though. A lot of the time the recording quality seemed to have issues, but having just gone through editing an hour of audio, it’s understandable that there’s only so much one can do to fix things. Audio levels of the transitions also seemed to be very loud compared to the speaking, and I wish that they were equally leveled more.

But overall, I am very pleased with what I heard. The parallels drawn between the police force and the crime organizations are fascinating to realize. In classical terms, the police are supposed to be the good guys, and the criminals the bad guys. Yet as I learned, a lot of the “good guys” were willing to sink to some terrible depths to achieve their goals of looking good to the public. And as we’re seeing in season 3, this seedy vanity seeps into the world of politics as well. I’ll probably keep this idea of corruption in mind as I continue to watch the show.

Many thanks to the presenters for all their hard work!